Home | Chamber Music
Their names were Laura, Livia, and Anna. Together, they were known in the late 1500s as the Tre Donne di Ferrara – the three ladies of Ferrara. Their ensemble was praised by contemporary poets and won highest renown throughout Italy and Germany. However, women were not supposed to become famous for their professional achievements. And so, one of them was …
Clarinetist Patrick Messina, violist Lise Berthaud, and pianist Fabrizio Chiovetta pair works by Mozart and Bruch on this new release. The trio celebrates the evolution of an innovative instrumental configuration established in Mozart’s 1786 “Kegelstatt” Trio, K. 498. Inspired by clarinettist Anton Stadler and written for a circle of close friends, the trio combines virtuosity and sensitivity, capturing the essence …
The Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective was conceived in 2017 by husband-and-wife duo Tom Poster, piano, and Elena Urioste, violin. The Collective operates with a flexible roster featuring many of today’s most inspirational musicians, both instrumentalists and singers, and its creative programming is marked by an ardent commitment to celebrating diversity of all forms and a desire to unearth lesser-known gems of …
The world music-leaning period instrument band L’Arpeggiata, led by theorbo player Christina Pluhar, celebrates nature in a mostly Baroque program (Monteverdi, Bononcini, Biber and Handel) coupled with traditional songs and ballads including eden ahbez’s “Nature Boy.” In Terra Mater (meaning Mother Nature), Pluhar writes, “You will hear the chirping of the nightingales, sweet birds, cuckoos, frogs and chicken, the whispers of the winds, …
Flutist Norman Menzales is Principal Flutist of Montana’s Great Falls Symphony, Colorado’s Fort Collins Symphony, and the Wyoming Symphony Orchestra. In Panoramas, he reflects on his Filipino heritage through a series of chamber ensemble collaborations. The album’s title work is by the groundbreaking Filipino composer Nicanor Abelardo (1893-1934). Panoramas, scored for flute, violin, viola, celeste, and piano, blends Filipino folk …
French clarinetist Arthur Stockel has established himself as a passionate and eclectic musician through his virtuoso career as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral musician. For his debut solo album, he is partnered with the Hanson Quartet and the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, where was appointed principal clarinet at the age of 21. The repertoire features the two concertos and …
As their first decade of performing together coincided with the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, the Calidore String Quartet embarked on a tour to perform the complete cycle of the composer’s sixteen string quartets. “Performing the Beethoven cycle is the musical equivalent of scaling Mount Everest,” said violinist Ryan Meehan, who once appeared on WFMT’s Introductions. “It is a grueling …
Théotime Langlois de Swarte has quickly become one of today’s most sought-after violin soloists. His almost super-human dexterity on both the baroque and modern instrument has mesmerized critics, while his passion and conviction has made him a star with audiences everywhere. In a recent review, Gramophone wrote, “I’m running out of ways to recount Théotime’s brilliance….Most of all, I’m in …
The Nash Ensemble presents Debussy’s String Quartet, Violin Sonata, Cello Sonata, Sonata for Flute, Viola & Harp, and a chamber ensemble arrangement of the Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune. From two players to twelve, the elite musicians of the Nash Ensemble respond with authority to the varied demands made by this wonderful collection of Debussy’s chamber music. Currently celebrating its …
Featuring works by composers spanning multiple generations—from the late Gloria Coates to emerging talents Tom Metcalf and Joel Järventausta—the Kreutzer Quartet’s latest album highlights the quartet’s unique role as both interpreters and collaborators. Three of the featured compositions emerged during the global pandemic, reflecting resilience through artistic partnership. With themes ranging from water to profound social responses, the album showcases …
This album pays homage to the composer Adèle Hugo (1830-1915), the fifth child of the great poet Victor Hugo. Suffering from lifelong psychological instability, she spent half of her tragic life in mental institutions, from the age of 42 until her death at 85. She became passionately fond of music from an early age, studying the piano and then composition. …
The Windsbacher Boys’ Choir is considered one of the best ensembles of its kind. Since its founding in 1946, it has stood for the synthesis of musicality, versatility, precision and purity of sound. Ludwig Böhme has been the new artistic director of the Windsbacher since 2022. The new Christmas album, for which they joined forces with the Berlin-based period instrument …
The acclaimed British cellist Steven Isserlis presents an imaginative selection of Luigi Boccherini’s cello concertos and cello-centric chamber music. The album shines a light on Boccherini’s graceful melodies and translucent scoring which makes the cello sound like a sister to the violins rather than their stern father.
Violinist Kristin Lee’s debut solo album offers a distinct and recognizable sound of American music and its rich history, encapsulating both Lee’s journey as an American, as well as the journeys of the composers in the United States. A native of Seoul, Korea, Lee was compelled to select repertoire that expresses her pride in the country she now calls her …
Black Moon Trio (violinist Khelsey Zarraga, hornist Parker Nelson, and pianist Jeremy Vigil) is an ensemble committed to collaboratively affecting positive change in communities through chamber music. Founded in 2022, the trio champions underrepresented voices in their programming and commissions and aims to prove classical music is for everyone by engaging diverse audiences, youth, and artists of every type. Black …
The title of the Boulanger Trio’s latest album alludes to Virginia Woolf’s seminal 1929 essay “A Room of One’s Own” discussing the barriers faced by female creative artists. The Boulanger Trio (Karla Haltenwanger, piano; Birgit Erz, violin; Ilona Kindt, cello) pay tribute to centuries of women composers who struggled with, and one way or another triumphed over, those barriers. Included …
Longtime collaborators, cellist Alisa Weilerstein and pianist Inon Barnatan, present Brahms’s two Cello Sonatas, alongside their arrangement of his Violin Sonata in G Major on the cello. This Brahms portrait follows the duo’s recent acclaimed double album dedicated to Beethoven’s complete Cello Sonatas. While Beethoven’s sonatas reveal the gradual ascendancy of the cello as the proper solo instrument over the …
The Austrian-based Janoska Ensemble (two violins, double bass, piano) has established it’s brand as an innovative, improvisational, boundary-defying quartet that bridge classical, jazz, pop, folk, and world music genres. Their fourth studio album is an idiosyncratic new arrangement of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons with newly composed passages by ensemble member, pianist, and composer František Janoska. Inspired by Vivaldi’s original sonnets, …
The original score for the upcoming Ken Burns documentary Leonardo da Vinci features 28 new compositions by Caroline Shaw. The album features performances by the composer’s longtime collaborators Attacca Quartet, Sō Percussion, and Roomful of Teeth as well as double bass player John Patitucci. David McMahon, one of the documentary’s directors, says “Caroline’s existing body of music—joyful, daring, at times …
French cellist presents a double album tribute to Clara & Robert Schumann pairing Robert Schumann’s Cello Concerto (with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Raphaël Merlin) with works and arrangements for cello and piano by both composers (with pianist Jean-Frédéric Neuburger). La Marca says “With this album, I wanted to bring to life one of the most beautiful love stories in …
The ARC Ensemble is devoted to righting sins of omission, unearthing 20th century music suppressed or marginalized as a result of political and racial discrimination. The ARC Ensemble’s Music in Exile series continues with this album of chamber music by Frederick Block, the first commercial recording of this composer’s works; hidden gems that richly deserve inclusion in the mainstream classical …
Founded in 2010 by students of the Lviv National Music Academy, Vivere String Quartet showcases three Ukrainian composers: Zoltan Almashi, Vasyl Barvinsky, and Hanna Havrylets. The program includes Maria’s City, an homage to Mariupol, composed by Zoltan Almashi from a bomb shelter in Kyiv; two works by Hanna Havrylets, who died from lack of medical care at the onset of …
Baroque violinist Sophie de Bardonnèche pays tribute to French female composers of the 18th century. The centerpiece works are three violin sonatas of Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre, one of which is unpublished. No fewer than ten female composers — most new to the WFMT library – are represented in this programme of sonatas, overtures and dances devised by de …
Grammy Award-winning Conductor and soprano Barbara Hannigan leads an ensemble of outstanding young musicians from the Royal Academy of Music and The Juilliard School on this new recording. Since 2002, the Academy and The Juilliard School, both international leaders in their field, have enjoyed collaborations in performances, exchanges and recordings. In this project, Hannigan conducts this transatlantic group in a …
Lars Vogt, who died at age 51, founded the Spannungen festival for chamber music in Heimbach, NRW, Germany. Vogt gave his last concert there, playing Brahms’s Piano Quartet No. 3 with Christian Tetzlaff, Barbara Buntrock and Tanja Tetzlaff in June 2022. Vogt had attempted to record the Piano Quartets No. 2 and 3, but only the No.2 was complete at …