“From song to symphony, from the Bim-Bom theatre to radio orchestral recordings, from theatre music to performances at the "Warsaw Autumn" International Festival of Contemporary Music.

ORCHESTRAL SOUNDS FROM THE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS: The musicians of the Tonkunstler Orchestra – and especially their concertmaster Kirill Maximov in soloist mode – want to tell you some fabulous stories.

Alongside his success directing the ensemble Ars Antiqua Austria, Gunar Letzbor has not let up on demonstrating his talents as a violinist.

"On A Cold Winter's Day", the first dhm album of the Quadriga Consort, became a bestseller, and the other albums of the ensemble were praised everywhere for their special repertoire and the successful interpretation: "Some songs move to tears, others almost invite you to dance. (…) Timeless beautiful." (WAZ)

HOME by acclaimed mezzo-soprano Blythe Gaissert is a collection of new works written for the artist from eight composers and librettists representing diverse backgrounds and musical styles.

On the album “Starry Night”, a new release from Berlin Classics, Alexej Gerassimez and the SIGNUM saxophone quartet explore new musical terrain. The unprecedented combination of percussion and saxophone quartet offers an innovative and inventive voyage in sound. Its focus is on infinity: it places familiar classics like Holst’s “The Planets” alongside contemporary works like Gerassimez’s own composition “Rebirth”. “Starry Night” shows off the five virtuosos in all their musical versatility and love of experimentation, as they journey through the cosmos and visit distant galaxies.

Johann Graf's life dates are almost identical to those of Johann Sebastian Bach.

Moritz Moszkowski (1854-1925) wrote a considerable quantity of piano music, but it is generally remembered today only for a single piece, Étincelles, which Horowitz enjoyed playing. The early works on this first instalment in Ian Hobson’s survey of Moszkowski’s complete music for solo piano reveal a debt to Mendelssohn and Schumann, but the craftsmanship already justifies a later remark of Paderewski’s: "After Chopin, Moszkowski best understands how to write for the piano, and his writing embraces the whole gamut of piano technique". © Toccata Classics

The orchestra is based in Turin, where it presents an annual season, as well as performing in special concert series. Since 2013 it has also taken part in classical music festivals held in the Piazza San Carlo, events organised each summer by Turin City Council. It is frequently invited to perform at major festivals such as the MITO SettembreMusica, the Venice Biennale, Ravenna Festival and the Sagra Musicale Malatestiana in Rimini, and plays a leading role in events such as the Assisi Christmas concerts, which are broadcast worldwide, and the celebrations held to mark Italy’s Republic Day.

With "Lagrime d'amante" La Compagnia del Madrigale turns again to the music of Claudio Monteverdi. This new Glossa publication faithfully conveys the beauty of the ensemble's vocal blend in a selection of five-part compositions, originating from Monteverdi in Cremona, Mantua and Venice, but focusing on the cornerstone of his art, the Sixth Book.

John Barbirolli studied cello as a boy, making his debut public appearance at the age of 12. He received a formal education at Trinity College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music, from which he graduated in 1916. Upon graduation, he found a position in the Queen's Hall Orchestra, becoming its youngest member. He made his professional solo debut as a cellist in Aeolian Hall, London, in 1917. During World War I he joined the British Army; while in the service he got his first taste of conducting by leading an all-volunteer orchestra. After his service ended in 1919, he returned to the Queen's Hall Orchestra. He also resumed performances as a cello soloist, appearing with the Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra. He joined and toured with the International String Quartet beginning in 1923. Soon after, he organized and conducted a chamber orchestra in Chelsea. The British National Opera Company engaged him to conduct on tour.

Richard Strauss is most conspicuously represented in the symphony hall through a handful of the tone poems he produced from the late 1880s through the early years of the twentieth century, some of which—like Death and Transfiguration, Till Eulenspiegel, and Thus Spake Zarathustra—represent high points of their genre. He seemed to draw a double-bar on that phase of his career after writing Symphonia domestica in 1902-03, and he returned to the genre only once more, when An Alpine Symphony occupied him from 1911 to 1915. Apart from that, his production of symphonic poems gave way to his growing interest in composing operas, which was most immediately manifested in Salome (premiered in 1905) and Elektra (1909).

Chinese pianist Niu Niu has announced he will release his new album Fate & Hope on 7 May 2021. The recording features Liszt’s extraordinary solo piano transcription of Beethoven’s epic Fifth Symphony, digitally released today, Beethoven’s ‘Pathétique’ and ‘Moonlight’ sonatas and Niu Niu’s debut composition Hope.

The personal generosity that made the Scottish composer Ronald Stevenson (1928–2015) such a warm and vibrant character extended also to his writing-desk: around a quarter of his enormous output is given over to transcriptions, mostly for piano, of music by other composers. Here he pays homage to three earlier colleagues whose music he particularly esteemed: Purcell, Delius and van Dieren. Stevenson described his version of Van Dieren’s String Quartet No. 5 (1931) as "transcribed as a piano sonata (which B. v. D. never composed)" – and thus it became the piano sonata which Stevenson himself never composed. The album ends with Stevenson’s brief but achingly beautiful harmonisation of Purcell’s The Queen’s Dolour – as exquisite an example of the transcriber’s art as anyone could wish. &copty; Toccata Classics

Kimberly Marshall is known worldwide for her compelling programs and presentations of organ music. She is an accomplished teacher, having held positions at the Royal Academy of Music, London, and Stanford University, California. Winner of the St. Albans Competition in 1985, she has been invited to play in prestigious venues and has recorded for Radio-France, the BBC, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and numerous American stations. She holds the Patricia and Leonard Goldman Endowed Professorship in Organ at Arizona State University and the Hedda Andersson Visiting Professorship at the Malmö Academy of Music.