In 1735, Porpora challenged Handel in London with Polifemo, a work that still resonates today as a vibrant ode to triumphant love. On the bewitching shores of Sicily, Galatea falls in love with the mortal Acis.

After falling in love with the quartets of Britten and Bartók, we developed a long-standing desire to record these masterpieces. For our debut CD Longing we chose their first quartets, as well as Webern’s first string quartet work Langsamer Satz. All three remarkable works resonate with a profound and unmistakable sense of longing. We felt a sense of kinship with these composers as they, like us, were still discovering their distinct style and identity when creating these works.

Joseph Haydn often said that he had enjoyed an “exem­plary destiny”: starting from nothing, he became one of the most celebrated composers of his time. He was born in Rohrau, some fifty kilometres east of Vienna, into a relatively modest family – his father was a wheelwright, a recognised and respected mas­ter craftsman.

For Jakob’s Mirror, composer and saxophonist Robin Verheyen (b. 1983) sought inspiration far from home, retreating to the Albers Foundation in Connecticut to reflect on the life and work of painter Jakob Smits (1855–1928). Smits, who settled in the Belgian Campine and captured its light and landscapes in a personal, timeless style, became a guide for Verheyen’s own exploration of identity, memory, and belonging.

British-Australian jazz vocalist Hetty Kate begins "Jazz in Four Seasons," an ambitious four-album series: four albums, four seasons, four cities. The first volume, "Spring" was recorded in Prague with four of the city's finest jazz musicians, blending timeless standards from Ellington to Brubeck with the distinctive voice of Czech artistry.

Judy Bailey was a pioneering force in Australian jazz, a brilliant composer and pianist, and a passionate educator whose influence shaped generations of musicians. This album, from pianist Lauren Tsamouras and trumpeter Tom Avgenicos, is a loving tribute to one of Australia's most important performers and composers.

The Dears have made some of the most beautiful music of the past quarter century, but also some of the most defiant, with an attitude and emphasis that seems to blend the operatic with a punk sensibility. On their new album, Life Is Beautiful! Life Is Beautiful! Life Is Beautiful!, The Dears are again at the top of their form, coming back with passionate, compassionate, urgent music that uplifts, explores dark corners, and ultimately shines out in a way that's absolutely gorgeous, with an edge. ""Life Is Beautiful! Life Is Beautiful! Life is Beautiful!" feels like a new masterpiece and provides further evidence that The Dears are a vital part of the musical landscape, and also just completely doing their own thing, as ever."

Ferruccio Busoni counted Johannes Brahms - alongside Alkan, Chopin, Liszt, and Schumann - among the five greatest composers of piano music after Beethoven. This assessment still holds true today: Brahms' piano works remain an essential part of the core repertoire for all pianists of stature. With her new Brahms anthology, Jimin Oh-Havenith continues the path set by her acclaimed recordings of the piano music of Robert Schumann - Brahms' mentor and devoted admi-rer. This album focuses on variations and character pieces, two genres to which Brahms turned with increasing intensity after composing his three early piano sonatas.

This inaugural title features an unreleased live recording by one of the true legends of jazz history—The Sophisticated Giant, tenor saxophone master Dexter Gordon, performing with his early-’80s quartet: Kirk Lightsey on piano, David Eubanks on bass, and Edward Gladden on drums. The concert was recorded in Genoa, Italy, in 1981, at Villa Imperiale, during the Festival Estate Jazz 81.

The first time Margarita Höhenrieder heard the Finnish pianist Antti Siirala, she was a member of the jury for the International Beethoven Competition in Vienna in May 1997. Many years later, Antti Siirala was appointed Professor for Piano at the University of Music and Theatre Munich – a happy coincidence that gave both the opportunity to make music together. The very first time they played together, we sensed a special musical relationship: a similar ideal of sound and a very deliberate way of listening to one another.

Brooklyn-based jazz-rock innovators Alex Skolnick Trio (AST) return this fall with PROVE YOU’RE NOT A ROBOT on Flatiron Recordings, the group’s sixth LP, arriving in November 2025. The album’s first single, a wildly inventive take on Tom Petty’s “Breakdown,” will be released Friday, September 5th.

Just like the well-known drama of Beethoven’s life, the biography of Anton Reicha would also make an exciting film, but this recording mainly shows us the friendship of the two great composers at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. They were born the same year, and from their first encounter as 15-year-olds in the Bonn court orchestra, they became close friends. They studied together at the university in Bonn, and they both became friends of Haydn.

Following his recordings of Tchaikovsky and Barber concertos (BIS-2440), honoured with a "Diapason d'or", Gramophone's "Editor's Choice" and BBC Music Magazine's "Concerto Choice", and Nielsen and Sibelius (BIS-2620), awarded Gramophone's "Editor's Choice", Swedish-Norwegian violinist Johan Dalene now takes on three of the most popular concertante works for violin in the entire repertoire, composed in three different eras.Felix Mendelssohn's Concerto in E minor needs no introduction: this masterpiece from the composer's mature period is one of the best known and most beloved works in all of classical music thanks to it's freshness, originality of writing, and magnificent themes.

Written in the latter part of the composer's life, it encompasses the zenith of Bach's exploration of possibilities of contrapuntal writing for instrument. This release offers the first integral recording worldwide of this famous work from the first 1751 printed version which appeared after the death of the composer. This recording allows listeners to enjoy that first publication verbatim for the very first time. Performing on a fine copy of the harpsichord by Johann Christoph Osterlein and concluding with the chorale setting for organ on Wenn wir in hochsten Noten BWV 668a recorded in Grauhof, Germany, listeners can enjoy the 1751 print verbatim for the first time. James is joined by Carole Cerasi (Gramophone Award-winning harpischordist) on two tracks requiring a duet partner.

These superb recordings of Tchaikovsky's complete symphonies are one of the highlights of Mstislav Rostropovich's career. Shortly after his exile from the USSR, he swapped his bow for a baton and delivered these passionate performances with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Newly remastered!