Nils Kugelmann likes telling stories. That much is clear from the titles of his compositions…from the way he talks when he introduces them at concerts…and – naturally – from the music itself. ‘For me, making the connection between music and stories, feelings and situations is so important,’ says the bassist/ composer/ bandleader, now based in Berlin. ‘At concerts I consciously talk to the audience and go into the background of each piece in some detail. It’s something I enjoy. I can hardly imagine presenting music on stage without having this kind of communication.’ Above all, however, the music which Nils Kugelmann plays and composes has real urgency, strong energy and hypnotic power. As an artist he has broken through in a way that no other double bassist of the under-30 generation in Germany has done, in particular his way of making his instrument the central feature of his music. Immediately after completing his master's degree in 2022, Kugelmann launched his debut album ‘Stormy Beauty’ on ACT. German media called him a ‘bass berserker’ and a ‘mega-talent.’ Awards, sold-out concerts duly followed. Kugelmann has a core trio, but beyond that he is free to play in the contexts and styles he likes – first and foremost in a duo and quartet with pianist and composer Shuteen Erdenebaatar.

The young Argentine cellist Sol Gabetta has emerged at the top of the heap with some speed in the 2010s. She merits the double greatest-hits album represented by this release, and it will be welcomed by listeners who haven't quite focused on her meteoric career. You get only one full-scale concerto, but it's a good one: Gabetta has a real way with Elgar, and the compilers did well to feature his music on most of disc one. You get the fresh interpretations of repertory recital and encore pieces that have really endeared Gabetta to ordinary concertgoers. Sample the marvelous Fauré Pavane, Op. 50, an excellent example of how with Gabetta, less is often more.

Sol Gabetta has established herself as one of the most promising cellists to emerge in the first decade of the 21st century, with a substantial international career as a soloist and with a growing number of recordings. While she has drawn most attention for her performances of the standard concerto and chamber music repertoire, she has also championed contemporary works by composers as diverse as Takemitsu, Ligeti, Gubaidulina, Rihm, and Vasks.

Mariani Klavier quartett returns with Vol 3 of their critically acclaimed Brahms & Gernsheim series for Audax Records, pairing Johannes Brahms' dramatic Piano Quartet in C Minor, Op 60, a masterpiece of rich textures and emotional depth, with the lush Piano Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 41, by Friedrich Gernsheim-an exquisite, yet underappreciated gem of the Romantic repertoire. The ensemble's exceptional craftsmanship breathes new life into these pieces, drawing out the vibrant contrasts between Brahms' intense passion and Gernsheim's sweeping lyricism. A compelling exploration of two composers who shaped the late 19th-century chamber music landscape, this release offers a triumphant conclusion to the series.

Few people nowadays seriously believe Vivaldi wrote the same concerto five hundred times. But the view that there is little variety in Vivaldi's oeuvre is still widely held. Louis T. Vatoison, in the programme notes to this recording, has a strongly different perception: "a Vivaldi concerto must (…) be seen as an individual 'snapshot', whose instrumental layout or formal structure implicitly reveal at what period, and sometimes even for whom it was written". The music on this disc gives ample evidence for this view.

Together with its artistic director Julian Azkoul, the United Strings of Europe develop engaging programmes with the aims of finding threads between different works and epochs, musical cultures and backgrounds, of blending the familiar with the new and of encouraging people to listen to works in different ways and discover new repertoire.

A complete collection of Brahms’s work for trio, illuminating the span of his career in new, Italian-made recordings. Over the course of almost 40 years, the greater span of his career, Brahms composed five trios in different instrumentations. Whereas he wrote piano sonatas and later symphonies within specific periods of his life, Brahms always returned to songs and to chamber music. The piano is the central, unifying presence in the trios, and often the dynamic engine driving their material forward.

Violinist Arabella Steinbacher, the Luxembourg Philharmonic and conductor Gustavo Gimeno present violin concertos by Beethoven and Lentz. Beethoven's violin concerto may well be the most iconic contribution to its genre, and to Steinbacher, it is the most "sacred" and sublime in the repertoire, never ceasing to reveal new perspectives.

In this superb programme structured around major pieces composed in the last ten years of Mozart’s life, Anna Prohaska and Riccardo Minasi sweep away the image of the well-mannered figure that tradition has tended to impose. They paint a bracingly complex portrait of the Salzburger after his move to Vienna, subtly blending the maestro’s historical expertise with the vigour and freshness of Resonanz, here in electrifying form.

Greek mythology has profoundly shaped society, influencing cultural norms, traditions, and even giving rise to celebrated works like those of Claude Debussy, which redefined Western art music and revolutionized the flute’s role within it.

NOW is proud to present the next instalment in our ongoing ‘Yearbook’ series – and take a trip back 50 years in Pop history – with 82 tracks on 4 CDs, to celebrate a stellar year of Pop singles… NOW – Yearbook 1974. This format is Special Edition 4CD set housed in ‘hard-back-book’ packaging, including a 28-page booklet featuring a summary of the year, a track-by-track guide, a quiz. Opening with ‘Killer Queen’ the first Top 5 single for Queen, and followed by the classic ‘Jet’ by Paul McCartney & Wings, and the still breathtakingly original, and hugely influential ‘This Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both Of Us’ from Sparks - this epic beginning to the 1974 Yearbook continues with a run of ‘glamtastic’ Pop from Sweet and Slade, and including #1s from Suzi Quatro, Alvin Stardust and the years’ biggest seller ‘Tiger Feet’ from Mud. The #1’s keep coming with Pop gold from David Essex, The Rubettes and Paper Lace, plus a huge hit from Pilot and the first Top 3 singles for the Bay City Rollers with ‘Shang-A-Lang’, and Leo Sayer with ‘The Show Must Go On’. 1974’s biggest selling singles act was The Wombles, and their debut ‘The Wombling Song’ is up next along with the global smash ‘Kung Fu Fighting’ from Carl Douglas.

Festive baroque or sparkling virtuoso: the trumpet has many faces, and it is still an absolute exception to find a woman among the great virtuosos of this instrument. The young British trumpeter Alison Balsom is one of these exceptional phenomena. In 2006, Alison Balsom was crowned "Young British Classical Performer of the Year" by the quality watchdogs of classical music; the British Gramophone magazine also awarded her a Gramophone Award 2006. Their current album "Caprice" combines exotic and high virtuosity, lyrical and romantic.

For her marvelous new album, Luce e Ombra, soprano Myriam Leblanc assembled a collection of her favourite works by the Venetian composer Antonio Vivaldi. She chose opera excerpts, a chamber cantata, along with instrumental pieces transcribed or adapted for the Ensemble Mirabilia, consisting of Antoine Malette-Chénier on the baroque triple harp, Marie-Michel Beauparlant on the cello and Grégoire Jeay on the flute. The vocal performance, the arias’ nuances and the intimate relationship with the highly capable ensemble make for an accomplished and convincing album.

Heino Eller was much more than anything I can express in words. It was largely due to him that music in Estonia was able to achieve a cultural and professional dignity. - ARVO PÄRT. This second volume in a series dedicated to the orchestral works of Heino Eller (18871970) by the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra under conductor Olari Elts is a ground-breaking introduction to one of the founders of the Estonian school of music. The present volume consists of Ellers symphonic poems and contains some of Ellers earliest symphonic works, including one of his most well-known works, Dawn (Koit).

Tenor Cyrille Dubois and pianist Tristan Raës bring together Nadia and Lili Boulanger's finest works as they release their new record. The precocious early talent that is reflected in these mélodies echoes to their singular path. Nourished from Debussy and Fauré, these pieces also show a remarkable boldness and unusual nature that would probably have given birth to the most striking works of the twentieth century, if Lili's life hadn't been taken away aged 24, leading her sister Nadia to stop composing.