UnderStories is a Baroque ensemble consisting of only bass instruments inspired by the botanical term “understory,” referring to the layer of plants that grow in the shade of the canopy of a forest. Founded in 2018, the group focuses on exploring the rise of the cello as a solo instrument, and especially the repertoire for two concertante cellos in the …

Rachel Barton Pine’s 25th album on the Cedille label unites her with pianist Orion Weiss and the Pacifica Quartet for French music of the turn-of-the-century and early mid-20th century. As a violinist who adores playing chamber music, but isn’t a member of a string quartet, Pine holds special fondness for the centerpiece work on this program: Ernest Chausson’s Concert for …

Founded in 1993, Onyx Brass has been a leader in cementing the place of the brass quintet as a medium for serious chamber music. The group has commissioned and performed the world premières of more than 200 new works with many more are in the pipeline for performance and recording. Their new album combines pieces for the ensemble’s core quintet …

For the ensemble’s tenth commercial album, New York Polyphony has assembled a program of Renaissance compositions by William Byrd and Orlando Gibbons, ingeniously complemented by 20th and 21st century works composed in the same timeless spirit – often by composers with personal and collaborative ties to New York Polyphony. The album’s evocative title comes from the text of a poem …

German cellist Marie-Elisabeth Hecker caused a sensation by winning both the First Prize and two Special Prizes at the eighth Rostropovich Competition twenty years ago, while her duo partner Martin Helmchen has also been performing on the most prestigious international stages for two decades. Partners both on and off the concert platform, the two artists are passionate advocates of chamber …

The Neave Trio explores the power and majesty of the ocean as the inspiration behind their newest album of French works for piano trio. La Mer includes: Trio No. 2, Op. 92 in E minor by Camille Saint-Saëns; Soir-Matin, Op. 76 by Mel Bonis; and La Mer by Claude Debussy, arranged by Sally Beamish. “La Mer is a meditation on …

This release from CPO marks two important anniversaries – the 150th anniversary of the death of French composer Louise Farrenc and the 75th birthday of Russian composer Elena Firsova. The USSR-born, UK-based composer’s piano quartet, now ten years old, is the centerpiece of this recording. For her piano quintet, Farrenc adopted the unusual scoring of her piano quintet from her …

Andreas Ottensamer, who recently announced he will step down as principal clarinet of the Berlin Philharmonic to focus on conducting, presents his latest album with pianist José Gallardo. Romanza features select movements from clarinet sonatas by Brahms, Poulenc, Saint-Saëns, Rota, and Joseph Horovitz. The album also includes Ottensamer’s own transcriptions of beloved classical melodies such as Satie’s Gymnopédie No. 1, …

Named “Instrumental Soloist Revelation” at the 2025 Victoires de la Musique awards, Lorraine Campet has been principal solo double bassist with the Paris Opera Orchestra since 2024. In her debut solo album with pianist Nathanaël Gouin, Campet explores German Romanticism with works by Schubert, Robert Schumann, Beethoven, and Josephine Lang arranged for the double bass. Under the deep and warm …

The boundary pushing Formosa Quartet continues its commitment to unexplored repertoire with their latest album featuring the first commercial recordings of string quartets by American composer George Frederick McKay (June 11, 1899-October 4, 1970). McKay was a prolific composer and author, born a year after Gershwin, whose music evokes “…a vigorous blend of influences, including Civil War Era folksongs sung …