This fifth volume of the orchestral works of the late-Romantic Swiss composer Richard Flury (1896–1967) brings two works deeply bound up with his native Solothurn, in the north-west of the country. His Fastnachts-Sinfonie, or ‘Carnival Symphony’, is an expansive symphonic poem predicated on local legend and folk tradition, embracing both frolic and feeling. The Third Symphony – in which one can hear traces of Bruckner and Richard Strauss – celebrates the rolling hills and endless skies of the Bucheggberg, where he loved to go walking and where, the freewheeling music would suggest, his heart found freedom.

Three major works for piano and orchestra by English composers, all eschewing the traditional nineteenth-century model of a bravura virtuoso soloist pitted against an orchestra, in distinctive ways. Together with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under George Vass, Clare Hammond presents an original programme that provides a unique perspective on how the piano concerto reflected musical currents in mid-twentieth-century Britain.

This 1965 recording of Bartók's The Miraculous Mandarin and Divertimento for Strings, performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Antal Doráti, captures the raw energy and intricate brilliance of Bartók's compositions.

The continuing collaboration of SOMM Recordings and Lani Spahr has produced another exciting release of long forgotten and neglected recordings, which highlight Sir Adrian Boult's life-long championing of the music of Edward Elgar. The label remains grateful, as ever, to Spahr for resurrecting these lost treasures and for his sterling work on sound restoration.

Over the course of almost 10 years, Yevgeny Sudbin has been recording Sergei Rachmaninov's works for piano and orchestra. Reviewers remarked on the soloists transcendental virtuosity and kaleidoscopic keyboard colour (BBC Music Magazine) and enjoyed piano-playing with depth of tone, subtlety and richness of texture, and scintillating dynamism allied to acute lyrical sensibility (Gramophone). The grand finale of Sudbin's Rachmaninov cycle combines the two best-loved concertos No. 2 in C minor and No. 3 in D minor but it also constitutes a home-coming of a kind, as it was recorded in London, Yevgeny Sudbins base since 1997. For his partners in these monumental and almost iconic concertos, Sudbin has chosen the BBC Symphony Orchestra and its chief conductor Sakari Oramo.

Canadian pianist Stewart Goodyear, in a seminal year approaching his debut at the BBC proms, presents his new album of works by Sergei Prokofiev, alongside the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Andrew Litton.

The symphony orchestra may have its roots in the eighteenth century, but it’s having quite a moment in the twenty-first. On 30th August 2024 Platoon will release Dalia’s Mixtape - an album presenting some of the freshest sounds in contemporary music, each piece hand-picked by conductor Dalia Stasevska to broaden our understanding of what a large group of acoustic instruments can do. The ten tracks of Dalia’s Mixtape are performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and have been released individually over 6 months, each with a supporting podcast.

Miniatures and large forms.The work of a young musician of 25, the celebrated Concerto of Grieg combines the great Romantic tradition (Liszt was one of its most fervent admirers) and Norwegian folk music, with the halling and springdans of its thrilling finale. Yet the composer never wrote another, for he felt more comfortable writing in miniature forms. In 35 years he produced no fewer than 66 Lyric Pieces, every one a gem, from the truculent March of the Trolls to the poetic meditations of Homesickness and Remembrances.

After his symphonic poem Má vlast, Smetana’s The Bartered Bride, is arguably his most popular work. This recording, issued by Harmonia Mundi, is taken from a live concert performance at The Barbican in May 2011, and leaves one in no doubt as to why Jirí Belohlávek has made the Czech repertoire such a splendid calling card during his tenure as Chief Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

British composer Eleanor Alberga is renowned for her mastery of orchestral colour and form. With her distinctive blend of lyricism and rhythmic dynamism, Alberga crafts a sonic journey that is both exhilarating and deeply moving.

The celebrated violinist Francesca Dego is joined by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and her regular collaborator Dalia Stasevska for this recording of the violin concertos by Brahms and Busoni. A cornerstone of the repertoire, Brahms’s Concerto dates from 1878, a year after the Second Symphony, and was composed for (and dedicated to) the virtuoso Joseph Joachim. The Concerto takes the standard three-movement form, and as in Beethoven’s Concerto (considered by many as Brahms’s inspiration for the work) the first movement is significant in its length and its complexity.

His complete set of the Beethoven sonatas enjoyed extraordinary acclaim in the UK, culminating in the prestigious ‘Recording of the Year' award from Gramophone magazine for the fourth volume in 2008. Encouraged by what has now become a worldwide success, Paul Lewis has chosen to turn his attention to the five piano concertos with these distinguished partners.

The three works on this album were all composed between 1943 and 1953. Despite the extreme experiences and difficulties she faced during this undoubtedly most tragic time in Poland’s history, Grażyna Bacewicz managed to compose outstanding works which constitute splendid testimony to the vibrant creative potency for which she was renowned.

Sargent was a noted Sibelian. He recorded three of Sibelius’s seven symphonies for EMI and was slated to complete the cycle but the project was cancelled after Sibelius’s death. He was also honoured with the Knight Commander of the White Rose of Finland for his services to Sibelius’s music.

Public Service Broadcasting release This New Noise, the newly remixed and remastered live recording of their acclaimed 2022 BBC Proms show at London’s Royal Albert Hall, via Test Card Recordings.