Written for The Tallis Scholars, Ikon of Light is scored for double choir and string trio, heard from a distance. The sonorous choral textures have a strongly mystical spirit which radiantly expresses the Greek concept of light.

Viennese church music of the generations before Haydn and Mozart is regrettably unfamiliar, and this attractive CD fills in something of the background and helps tell us where Haydn and Mozart were coming from. Antonio Caldara, Venetian by birth, spent several years in Rome, moved to Vienna in 1716 (he was in his mid-forties) as vice-Kapellmeister to Fux and (with regular trips to Salzburg to write operas) stayed 20 years, until his death. He wrote a large quantity of church music, including some 30 festal masses from his Viennese years, of which the main work here seems to me an excellent example. Caldara's rich textures and often very expressive and chromatic harmony, his fluent Italian melodic writing and his resourceful counterpoint, suffuse a work with many striking qualities.

Arrau was in his late fifties when he gave these performances; yet he had decades in front of him, too. The music of the Romantics was in his blood, and programs from 1933/34 reproduced in Joseph Horowitz’s book Conversations with Arrau reveal, for example, the Chopin B flat minor Sonata nestling between Beethoven and Ravel; Schumann, Liszt, Beethoven and Schubert all figure largely in those recitals. That the music on this present disc is music close to Arrau’s heart is an understatement.

A brand-new label from one of the world's finest early music ensembles makes an auspicious debut with this stunning new recording of Handel's oratorio Belshazzar. Les Arts Florissants, led by the great William Christie, have launched their new label with the goal of expanding the ensemble's connection to the listening public on a scale far beyond the concert hall. Belshazzar was first performed in 1745, and was frequently revised. Christie has chosen what he considers to be the most successful of the various versions of Belshazzar, resulting in the restoration of the piece in all its splendor. The libretto's subject, which focuses on the decline of a once glorious society and the ephemeral nature of Empire, is especially relevant today. This deluxe set also includes a bonus essay by Jean Echenoz entitled In Babylon, printed separately on special paper and included alongside the regular booklet. This specially commissioned work draws the reader deep into the ancient, majestic city, the seat of power of Belshazzar the King.

These are both exciting, high-powered performances very typical of Sir Georg. The dazzling qualities of the Chicago orchestra in achieving knife-edged precision of ensemble shine out consistently, and anyone who still thinks that Mendelssohn has Victorian cobwebs on him could hardly find more striking proof otherwise. The performances certainly bring out the exuberance of the inspiration, with the Scottish Symphony made almost as bright and athletic as the Italian.

Marcel Dupré had a long and busy career as a recitalist, composer, teacher, writer and editor and he exerted enormous influence on all aspects of the organist's art in the early part of this century. Dupré's place in the evolution of twentieth century organ music has yet to be fully understood or appreciated and there are those who would seek to detract from the enormous impact his playing and teaching had on countless students who studied with him. It cannot be ignored that the list of his Premier Prix students at the Paris Conservatoire contains nearly every important twentieth-century French organist and composer, including Marie-Claire Alain, Jean Langlais, Jean Guillou, Jeanne Demessieux, and Olivier Messiaën.

Lars Vogt continues his series of concerto recordings with the Royal Northern Sinfonia with this new recording of Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) First Piano Concerto together with Four Ballades (Op. 10) for solo piano. As in previous albums, Lars Vogt conducts from the keyboard. The evolution of Brahms 1st Piano Concerto took several steps. Originally conceived to become a Sonata for Two Pianos through orchestration it was developed into a four-movement Symphony until reaching into its final form of a Piano Concerto in three movements. During the process, which lasted from 1854 to 1856, some movements were also discarded and replaced by new material.

Giovanni Battista Velluti, born in 1780, was the last heir of the great Italian castrati. His exceptional voice, both powerful and agile, and his impressive vocal mastery opened the doors to the most prestigious opera houses in Europe. His talent for highly complex vocal ornamentation had a lasting influence on the style of vocal interpretation in the 19th century.

After her triumph with the album Offenbach Colorature (ALPHA437), Jodie Devos has chosen to follow in the footsteps of one of her compatriots, the Belgian coloratura soprano Marie Cabel (1827 -1885), who at the age of twenty-six scored a phenomenal success in Adolphe Adam’s opéracomique Le Bijou perdu, which she premiered in Paris. She then took on a more dramatic role in Halévy’s Jaguarita l’Indienne, whose great Invocation with chorus (‘À moi ma cohorte!’) again hit the bullseye in a run of 124 performances over just a few months.

“Santtu conducts Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10” is the fifth album from Philharmonia Records. Largely interpreted as depicting Stalin’s regime in Russia, the orchestra delivers tragedy, violence and gloom before the brief but triumphant finale. Conducted by Santtu-Matias Rouvali, this performance was recorded at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in April 2024.

The prizewinning Boston Early Music Festival, joined by the choicest soloists, once again presents a spectacular Baroque opera discovery with Christoph Graupner’s Antiochus and Stratonica. Graupner composed the musical play L’Amore Ammalato, Die kranckende Liebe, oder: Antiochus und Stratonica during his time as the harpsichordist at the Gänsemarkt Opera in Hamburg. The core subject of the opera is the love of the Seleucid prince Antiochus for his stepmother Stratonica. This match brings with it highly dramatic moments as well as deeply sad ones inasmuch as Antiochus is supposed to have an incurable illness – but then at the end three old and new romantic couples appear on the stage and everything comes to a happy ending.

Georg Joseph Vogler, called Abbé Vogler, was born in Würzburg in 1749. He became famous as an expert in music theory, conductor and composer. In 1772, he accepted a position at the court of Prince Elector Karl Theodor in Mannheim and later followed his employer to Munich. From 1786 onwards, he worked at the court of the kings of Sweden as a conductor.

From the face of it, Aulis Sallinen's interest in composing chamber music drops off precipitously in the mid-'80s as his symphonies and operas began to take hold in the international market. This would be a pity if it were entirely true, as it was through the chamber music medium that Sallinen made his initial reputation through such masterpieces as the String Quartets No. 3 ("Some Aspects of Peltoniemi Hintrik's Funeral March"), No. 4 ("Quiet Songs"), and the cello solo Elegy for Sebastian Knight. CPO's Aulis Sallinen: Chamber Musics III, IV, V, performed by members of the Virtuosi di Kuhmo under the general direction of pianist Ralf Gothóni, makes clear that Sallinen's later chamber music is not so much absent as it is in hiding, disguised as concertante works for soloist and string orchestra.

The second instalment of the complete keyboard works by Johann Wilhelm Hässler. Johann Wilhem Hässler lived from 1742 to 1822, the transition of the Baroque to the Classical era. His style embraces the Empfindsamkeit initiated by W.F. Bach and C.Ph.E. Bach and the heritage of J.S.Bach. These different idioms perfectly coexist to create his complex language, however, Hässler progressively abandoned the baroque heritage to develop a more modern style embracing a more classical aesthetic. The works on these 4 CD`s clearly mark the stylistic development of Hässler, from Baroque polyphony and counterpoint to the graceful classical language in Haydn style.

Vladimir Jurowski and the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin continue their exploration of Mahler with a new recording of Das Lied von der Erde, on which Dame Sarah Connolly and Robert Dean Smith provide the vocal contributions. Residing somewhere between symphony and song cycle, Das Lied is one of Mahler’s most profound and loved works, marking an important step in the composer’s career, as well as in his private life. Jurowski approaches the piece as Mahler’s deliberate move from a “heroic” Beethovenian model towards a more “lyrical”, Schubertian attitude.