The Sinfonia of London led by John Wilson presents the third in a series of albums of English music for string orchestra. The centerpiece is Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings, featuring hornist Christopher Parkes and rising star British tenor Laurence Kilsby, an alumnus of the Steans Institute and recent First Prize winner at the Wigmore Hall International Song …

Led by Gianandrea Noseda, the National Symphony Orchestra presents William Grant Still’s Symphony No. 2 “Song of a New Race” and Symphony No. 4 “Autochthonous.” Bringing together two of his most significant large-scale works, the program highlights Still’s pivotal contribution to 20th century American orchestral music and offers a vivid portrait of his evolving artistic vision. These symphonies lie at …

This twentieth volume of the complete Haydn symphonies, led by Giovanni Antonini, highlights the popularity of Haydn’s music in England during the 1790s. Although Haydn was unable to travel to London himself, no fewer than eleven of his symphonies were performed during the twelve evenings of the first season of the Grand Concert in 1782 – the year of the …

The RIAS Kammerchor Berlin led by Justin Doyle present an album of choral music by Benjamin Britten marking the 50th anniversary of the composer’s death. At the heart of the program are A Ceremony of Carols, A Boy was Born, and the Missa brevis in D, complemented by A Hymn of St. Columba and The Ballad of Little Musgrave and …

Apollo’s Fire led by Jeannette Sorrell with soloists soprano Rebecca Myers, mezzo-soprano Aryssa Leigh Burrs, contralto Emily Marvosh, tenor Jacob Perry, baritone Edward Vogel, and bass-baritone Paul Max Tipton, present a fresh, intimate, and intense interpretation of J.S. Bach’s Mass in B Minor. The recording preserves the passionate elan and dancelike joy of critically acclaimed live performances given by the …

Revered for her multi-award-winning scores for film and TV (Chernobyl, Joker, Tár), Hildur Guðnadóttir released her debut album, Mount A, in September 2006. Mount A’s 20th anniversary was an opportunity to take stock. “Seeing that number on the horizon felt like a good moment to pause,” says Guðnadóttir. “When I was trying to be a one-person string orchestra, I always …

Pianist, composer, and producer Max Richter presents new music drawn from his original score for MADDADDAM, a three-act post-apocalyptic ballet epic choreographed by Wayne McGregor inspired by Margaret Atwood’s acclaimed dystopian novel trilogy: Oryx and Crake, The Year of the Flood, and MaddAddam. Collaborating with the 12 Ensemble string orchestra, Tenebrae (choir led by Nigel Short), and guitarist John Parricelli, …

The Manchester Camerata led by John Andrews present a program spotlighting four distinct 20th century British composers — Ruth Gipps, Doreen Carwithen, William Alwyn, and Elizabeth Maconchy — whose works chart an alternative path through an era often confined to either pastoral lyricism or modernist edginess. Featuring soloists Alex Mitchell (viola), Alexandra Dariescu (piano), and Rachel Clegg (cor anglais), these …

In her latest album, celebrated violinist and composer Esther Abrami presents her own large-scale work, a nine-part suite for violin and orchestra exploring love in all its forms. The Amour Suite captures the full spectrum of emotions, from tenderness and passion to longing and heartbreak, and is the centerpiece of a program that blends original music with new arrangements of …

Luise Adolpha Le Beau remained undeterred by the headwinds of the male-dominated world of classical composers. Born in Rastatt, Baden, as the only child of an officer with a passion for the arts and his wife who was no less artistically inclined, Le Beau benefited from a music education from an early age. She was later studied privately with Joseph …

New Zealand-born American violinist Geneva Lewis is the recipient of a 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grant, has been Musical America’s New Artist of the Month, and was a BBC New Generation Artist in 2022–24.  Her solo debut album features a high-flying all-American program, accompanied by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra led by Gemma New. Starting with Samuel Barber’s neo-Romantic Violin …

Rumon Gamba and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra present an album of works by Sir Granville Bantock, featuring his Hebridean Symphony, Prelude to The Bacchae of Euripides, and English Scenes. Born into a wealthy family in central London in 1868, Granville Bantock studied music at both Trinity College and at the Royal Academy of Music. Early conducting engagements took him …

The debut album from violinist Himari features Henryk Wieniawski’s Violin Concerto No. 1, recorded live (when the violinist was 13 years old) with the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Sebastian Weigle during her debut performances with the orchestra at the Berlin Philharmonie in March 2025. Debut brings together music that has shaped Himari’s musical journey and reflects the repertoire she feels …

Queen Christina of Sweden (1626–1689) was one of the 17th century’s most unconventional and extraordinary figures. Crowned at the age of six, she then abdicated when she was 28 and travelled from Stockholm to Rome, where she became a celebrated patron of the arts. Her passion for music helped shape Rome into a cultural capital, where she fostered talents such …

2026 is the 150th anniversary of the birth of Manuel de Falla, arguably Spain’s greatest composer. He has been described by biographer Burnett James as “the most complete representative of the Spanish mind and spirit in music.” Spain for centuries stood apart from Western classical music and produced relatively few composers of stature until the late 19th century. The great …

Cellist Camille Thomas celebrates Philip Glass’s upcoming 90th birthday with a deeply personal project. It began with a unique exchange: impressed by her recordings, Philip Glass shared with her the scores of his two cello concertos, sparking the idea for this album. Thomas brings fresh attention to these rarely performed works, from the raw, lyrical power of the First Concerto …

Monteverdi’s Vespro della beata Vergine is a landmark work of the early Baroque, sitting at the crossroads of Renaissance polyphony and the novel use of basso continuo heard in his first opera, L’Orfeo. The “1610 Vespers” redefined what sacred music could sound like — emotionally immediate, virtuosic, both looking back to the past and driving forward into the future. Monteverdi …

In advance of the Metropolitan Opera’s season opening with Lise Davidsen starring as Verdi’s Lady Macbeth, Decca Classics presents the star soprano’s new album of Verdi arias. Recorded with Edward Gardner and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the album marks the Norwegian soprano’s first recording devoted entirely to Verdi, bringing together scenes from five of the composer’s greatest operas: Macbeth, Un …

Kent Nagano and the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra complete their Brahms symphony cycle with this landmark recording of the first two symphonies. Recorded in concert, Nagano brings unrivalled authority to this music having won the prestigious 2024 Prize of the Schleswig-Holstein Brahms Society. With this new album, Nagano crowns his decade leading the orchestra in Hamburg where was principal conductor …

Joshua Bell leads the Academy of St Martin in the Fields — where he is about to embark on his fifteenth season as Music Director — in Niccolò Paganini’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with a new cadenza by Bell. The Grammy Award-winner and honorary Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to Music …

Eldbjørg Hemsing and Oslo Philharmonic under the direction of Gergely Madaras present Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26. The recording reflects Hemsing’s long-standing engagement with one of the major works of the Romantic violin repertoire. She first performed the concerto with the Oslo Philharmonic as a child; now she considers her interpretation ready to be …

Violinist Midori and the chamber orchestra A Far Cry present Derek Bermel’s violin concerto Spring Cadenzas. The concerto was commissioned by Midori during the pandemic for her Orchestra Residencies Program to bring young musicians together despite the challenges of remote performance. What emerged is a vivid and deeply personal concerto built around a sequence of interconnected cadenzas, with the solo violin …

María Dueñas pays tribute to Jascha Heifetz, whose recordings have shaped the Spanish violinist since childhood. The album pairs – as Heifetz once did – Korngold’s Violin Concerto with Lalo’s Symphonie espagnole, and was recorded at London’s Abbey Road Studios with Gustavo Dudamel and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela. The program also features Debussy’s La fille aux cheveux …

Cellist Julian Schwarz presents the complete cello works of Arthur Foote including the world premiere commercial recording of the Cello Concerto in G Minor, Op. 33 performed with Gerard Schwarz conducting the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. The recording represents the culmination of a remarkable father-and-son effort to bring Foote’s concerto back to life. Julian Schwarz first discovered a listing for the …

Anne-Sophie Mutter presents works by two composers close to her heart: André Previn (1929–2019) and Sebastian Currier (b.1959). Mutter was married to Previn for several years and remained close friends until his death. As a jazz pianist, conductor, and composer, Previn was a great and multifaceted talent who opened new musical worlds for her. The program features his Piano Trio …