The 43 Ghiribizzi M.S. 43 is the last organic collection of works for solo guitar by Paganini. Written in Naples around 1820, they represent the last stage of a long journey into the guitar world beginning at least twenty years before when the composer was still far from being “Paganini”, and was making his first steps into the musical world during the years of Napoleonic domination over most part of Italy. Although the technical demands of the 43 Ghiribizzi are generally inferior to those of the 37 Sonatas or the Grand Sonata, they are still pieces written by Paganini; so the musical results are rich in inventiveness, pleasant themes and perfectly idiomatic writing for the instrument. In the hands of a gifted guitarist, not only with excellent technique but with a plentiful dose of imagination and interpretative flair, they can be very enjoyable and of sure effect, as it is shown by the constant popularity that these 43 small delicious compositions have in the world of the contemporary guitar world.

Dukes of the Orient will finally release their eagerly anticipated second album, “Freak Show” on August 7, 2020. The band’s sophomore album follows their impressive self-titled debut, which successfully launched the new international AOR with a touch of Mid-Atlantic Prog band.

Surprise album from the Queen Of Country Pop. Taylor Swift emerges from lockdown with a 17 track album of intimate indie folktronica, produced by Aaron Dessner from the National. Written by Taylor with Dessner, Justin vernon, Jack Antonoff and the mysterious William Bowery, it's an understated masterpiece of stripped back acoustic electronica, reminiscent of Sufjan Stevens in places; the Autumn to the Summery tie-dye pop of Lover. It also features a duet with Bon Iver.

Two years after his successful Deutsche Grammophon Debut Album “Home” Kian Soltani returns with a Dvořák Album featuring the famous cello concerto and five arrangements of some of the greatest pieces Antonin Dvořák composed. Dvořák‘s Cello Concerto op. 104 hasn’t been recorded for the yellow label since 2002 (Mischa Maisky with Mehta and Berliner Philharmoniker). Maestro Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin accompany Kian Soltani in the concerto, while for the other pieces (three of which have been arranged by Kian Soltani himself) he is joined by six cellists of the Staatskapelle Berlin.

David Fung delivered Beethoven’s Bagatelles as if he were telling an exquisite story, demonstrating a supreme maturity and a rare talent for the music of the classical style.

Steinway & Sons complete Beethoven Sonata cycle with pianist Konstantin Scherbakov winds down with Sonatas No. 28 and No. 29.

The composer Juan Arriaga was born in Bilbao on 27 January 1806. He studied and worked in Paris from his mid-teens, and died there just short of his 20th birthday. According to his father Arriaga composed his first piece at the age of 11, and his Op. 1 an Overture was written in 1818, scored for a wind and string nonet. In 1819 Arriagas opera Los esclavos felices appeared, of which only fragments remain. There were additionally some piano pieces, motets and patriotic hymns, amounting to about 20 works by 1821. In September of that year Arriaga left Spain. He met the Spanish ambassador in Paris, and the composer Cherubini, at that time one of the inspectors of the Paris Conservatoire. There he was admitted to the counterpoint class of a newly appointed professor Francois-Joseph Fétis (1784-1871), and to the violin class of Pierre Baillot. His Conservatoire prizes included those for counterpoint and fugue in both 1823 and 1824 the year that Fétistook him as a teaching assistant. During these years Arriaga revised, and perhaps destroyed, several earlier works as well as producing a regular flow of new compositions. The three string quartets, probably written before 1822, were published in 1824. This exploration of his works was recorded in 1954 by The Aeolian Quartet.

Arcangelo Corelliis one of the great composers of the Baroque era, a trailblazer who forever changed the relationship between soloist and orchestra, and did much to establish the violin as the star of the orchestra. He is considered the ‘father’ of the concerto grosso – apiece for several soloists accompanied by an orchestra – and his seminal Opus 6 volume became the benchmark for his contemporaries, including Handel, Vivaldi and Geminiani.

Acclaimed Chinese guitarist Xuefei Yang releases a new double-album - Sketches of China - featuring a unique collection of works ranging from the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD) to the 21st Century, many of which are world premiere recordings. For this album, Xuefei has sought out and arranged poignantly beautiful traditional melodies, commissioned new works from leading Chinese composers and collaborated with colleagues who are the musical superstars in her native land.

Since Oscar Straus began his career in the cabaret, it was only natural for him to bet on comedy in his first operetta, Die lustigen Nibelungen (1904), a parody of the Nibelungenlied, Wagner, and Wilhelminism. In this way, Straus, more than any of his Viennese contemporaries, became the heir to Jacques Offenbach, the founder of the genre, whose last period of flourishing influenced Straus (who was born in 1870) as well as Franz Lehár, Leo Fall, and Emmerich Kálmán. Straus’s Serenade for String Orchestra is written in an always-radiant classical style. Especially the last two movements, “Walzer” and “Alla marcia,” have an elegant structure already anticipating the later operettas.

BEETHOVEN 250: One of twelve monthly Digital Exclusive releases that focus on and celebrate a particular aspect of Beethoven’s work. This release highlights Beethoven’s contribution to the choral genre with folksong arrangements and original songs.

Tranceportation Volume 2 is the next destination in Sonar’s ongoing musical journey as the Swiss-based band celebrates 10 years of cutting-edge music-making.

Philadelphia-based period-instrument ensemble Night Music re-creates an afternoon of music making from October 1801 at the Austrian capital’s Palais Arnstein, with a flamboyant Quintet for flute and strings by Joseph Kraus, a duo by Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf for the unusual combination of viola and double bass, and a chamber arrangement – by the impresario Johann Peter Salomon in the same instrumentation as the Kraus Quintet – of perhaps the most notorious of symphonic surprises.

The five works brought together on our complete recording of Johann Kuhnau’s cantatas once again cover a wide spectrum of forms. Presumably, these works as a whole date from the first half of his tenure as music director at St. Thomas in Leipzig – presumably, because once again most of them have been transmitted only in secondary sources, which means that the dating process depends solely on stylistic criteria. Above all the concluding psalm concerto, “Singet dem Herr ein neues Lied,” is one of the most impressive examples of the outstanding artistry of the St. Thomas music director Kuhnau. The opulent instrumental ensemble with two trumpets, timpani, and five-part strings offers a tonally magnificent setting of Psalm 98.

Friedhelm Flamme’s series featuring organ works of the Northern German Baroque now finds its logical continuation with Dietrich Buxtehude, the leading master in the discipline of Northern German organ artistry. In order to underscore his special interpretive style, the result of his many decades of occupation with practically the entire Northern German repertoire, Flamme has selected the Treutmann organ in the Grauhof Monastery near Goslar, an instrument that has been preserved largely in its original form and conveys Buxtehude’s innovative, visionary musical artistry in a very different way than the well-known Schnitger organs in Northern Germany.