Heinz Holliger’s “dream opera” Lunea which was premiered, to great acclaim, at Opernhaus Zurich, interweaves strands from the life and mind of Nikolaus Franz Niembsch (1802-1850), the Hungarian-born Austrian poet who wrote under the name Nikolaus Lenau. Lenau’s last, fragmentary writings have fired Holliger’s imagination and led to the creation of an intricately inventive work with a marvellously evocative lead role for baritone Christian Gerhaher. Neue Zürcher Zeitung: “Here Gerhaher can display his full sensitivity in dealing with the finest nuances of language and bring to bear his almost unlimited spectrum of tonal-dynamic gradations in the intonation. The poet Lenau speaks most directly from the sounds and notes…”

Jean-Marie Leclair’s violin sonatas embody a stylistic fusion known as les goûts réunis in which the lyricism and the virtuosity of the Italian school are integrated with the dance idioms of French Baroque music. In this volume, the music reaches new heights of technical complexity in its filigree ornamentation and continuous multiple stopping while still incorporating much wistful beauty. In the Sonata in D major, however, Leclair’s ambition expands yet further, as he combines innate lyricism and rustic drones in a prototype concerto form.

Gifts From The Holy Ghost, Dorothy Martin's third studio album as frontwoman for their pseudonymous rock band Dorothy, is the album she's always wanted to make. Born from a sense of diving urgency, it's their most bombastic rock n' roll work yet. While the debut album was made on a combination of whiskey and heartbreak, Gifts was built on sobriety, health, and spiritualism, in a way that reverses the cliched "good girl gone bad" narrative.

Tess Roby joins that inventive milieu on her latest album, Ideas of Space. Released on her own SSURROUNDSS label, this 10-track follow-up to 2018’s Beacon pulses with the sort of lush, spacious synth-pop that deliciously blurs the line between haunting and dreamy. The combination of Roby’s lilting mezzo-soprano and the music’s sparse yet detailed arrangements call to mind a delirious blend of Brian Eno, Enya, and Goldfrapp.

Cities and Deserts started as fragments of songs written by Gabriel Zucker primarily in New York City during 2018 and 2019. It became a completed suite of music in 2020, in the New Mexico desert, at the height of the Covid 19 pandemic. The album features pianist Gabriel Zucker and percussionist Attila Gyarfas. Attila Gyárfás and Gabriel Zucker have been making music since they met in 2017 in New York. Their duo infuses sonic and rhythmic freedom into complex, maximalist compositions.

Sandro Fuga became a leading figure in Turin’s musical life in the mid-20th century. His passion for art and music was inherited from his eminent Venetian family which included grandfather Luigi Nono among its members.

Yayoi Toda studied in the music department of the Toho Gakuen High School in Tokyo and after graduating as top student from the Toho Gakuen College Music Department, she went to Europe for further studies at Amsterdam’s Sweelinck Music Academy. In 1993 she came to the attention of classical music world when she was awarded first prize at the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition in Belgium.

Hal Peters and His Trio's new album Takes on Carl Perkins features fourteen stunning versions of Carl Perkins songs.
As far as we know, no such tribute has been made to one of the greatest rockabilly songwriters and guitarists.
Hal Peters and His Trio's interpretations, as well as Eino Rastas' stunning guitar playing, also caught the attention of Hal Davis and Scott Parker.These two Sun Records and Carl Perkins historians wrote the liner notes of the album.

Während seines Studiums begann er sich neben der Gitarre auch den historischen Zupfinstrumenten wie der Theorbe und der Laute zu widmen und sich besonders für die historische Aufführungspraxis zu interessieren. Hieraus resultierte u.a. sein Mitwirken bei Opernproduktionen an der opera stabile in Hamburg und Zusammenarbeiten mit den Symphonikern Hamburg und der HansePhilharmonie Hamburg.

The righteous and bombastic nature of the great bassist/composer Charles Mingus made him a polarizing personality. His unique personality, combined with his groundbreaking music, were magnetic for open-minded listeners. Clarinetist Harry Skoler discovered Mingus and his music early in life. This discovery would change his entire trajectory as a person and musician, which Skoler celebrates on his new recording, Living In Sound: The Music of Charles Mingus.

Grace Kennedy was born at Montego Bay, Jamaica on 2 March 1958. She first came into the public eye after winning the TV talent show Opportunity Knocks in 1977 and then also featuring in a 1979 episode of Star Treatment.

In Sweden, "Mångata" refers to the reflection of the moon in the sea. For vibraphonist Matthias Hohmann, born in Bamberg in 1992, the title of his debut album is a tribute to early Scandinavian jazz with reference to Nordic folk songs.

This is the fourth and final volume in a series of albums recording all 81 of the folk songs in English that Ralph Vaughan Williams arranged for voice and piano or violin. 57 songs have not previously been recorded in these arrangements. This album has 19 tracks including 13 world premières.All but four of the songs were collected by Maud Karpeles in Newfoundland in 1929 and 1930. When she got back, she and Vaughan Williams spent some hours going through everything that she had found, selecting the 15 songs presented here - with an emphasis, it seems, on the sadder songs. As a result, many people will find this the most enjoyable album of the set. Maud Karpeles said that her life would have been worthwhile if collecting She’s Like the Swallow had been all that she had done.

Saluée comme une « musicienne très accomplie et sensible », Mélisande McNabney revient avec son dernier album, Fantasias, joué au pianoforte. Fantasias comprend des œuvres de Bach, Mozart, Koželuch et deux improvisations de McNabney elle-même d’après C.P.E. Bach. L’album a été enregistré sur un pianoforte fabriqué en 2019 par Rodney Regier, d’après un instrument du facteur viennois du XVIIIe siècle Anton Walter.

One of the oldest musical instruments we know of, the pan flute was played in many antique civilizations. The sophisticated type used in Romanian folk music is the most familiar to a contemporary audience. The virtuosos who brought fame to the pan flute in the second half of the 20th century include the Romanian musicians Damian Luca, Radu Simion, Nicolae Pîrvu, Gheorghe Zamfir and Simion Stanciu.