‘If you want to know who, for me, is the greatest living composer, I’ll tell you without hesitation – it’s Elgar, whom I place on the same level as my idols Beethoven and Brahms!’ So said the great virtuoso Kreisler.’ Nicolas Dautricourt continues: ‘This Concerto, with its unbridled lyricism and unique proportions, is an Everest for any violinist.’ In this, his first recording for Channel Classics, the French violinist brings together three works by two English composers. In 1888, in the same year Elgar wrote the famous Salut d’amour for his fiancée Caroline Alice Roberts, Frederick Delius composed his Suite for Violin and Orchestra, one of his very first works. The Suite, which only received its premiere in 1984, is heard here in this insightful arrangement by Frédéric Chaslin for violin, piano and string quartet.

Rob Mazurek graces the Keroxen Records waves with a genre defying album of field recordings, modular electronics, trumpet harmonies and spirit call chants.

This new album of chamber works featuring piano brings together Brahms' Piano Quartet No. 3 in C minor, and Schubert’s much-loved Piano Quintet in A Major, ‘the Trout’, delivered by the dynamic and energetic forces of Trio Vitruvi, a Danish ensemble that has risen to become one of the leading chamber groups in Europe since their formation a decade ago.

Sorrow can produce art of great hope and profound beauty. On this CD, four contemporary North American composers give musical expression to the poetry of four women poets and one unknown prisoner - all struggling with love, loss, grief and patience while searching for meaning in the trials of the soul. Featuring mezzo-soprano Sarah Fryer and flutist Brenda Fedoruk, these chamber works are variously combined with cello, piano and harp.

Four years have passed since Young Knives’ last studio outing – 2020’s aggressive and philosophical look at humanity’s propensity for hyper-violence, Barbarians – and during this time the band have taken a step to consider the changing of the world around them, their place in it, and the sometimes-futile pursuit of controlling what it is that we leave behind when we’re gone.

Our dreams and secrets are born from our childhood imagination; they are simple, beautiful, serene and limitless. Aren’t we trying to rediscover the spontaneity, plenitude and simplicity of this childhood? I tried to find this state of mind inspired by the soft sound of the flugelhorn and different influences like jazz, classical, cinematic and electro-pop. These are the influences that I encountered during my musical experience. This album was created to share and to pass on this experience. I aspire to create a journey where only the listener knows the destination. Velvet Syncretism was born of this desire.

The Musikkollegium Winterthur’s Chief Conductor, Roberto González-Monjas, took the three last sympho­nies that Mozart composed – in rapid succession in the summer of 1788 – as the inspiration for this large-scale seasonal triptych. While the first symphony (No. 39) in E flat major has a slow introduction, the last (No. 41), known as the “Jupiter Symphony”, ends with a breath-taking finale, so that “beginning” and “ending” – yes, let’s say “becoming” and “transcending” – are integral to the artistic concept of this trilogy. The central G minor Symphony (No. 40) stands for “being”: for “be­ing in the centre.”

The legendary Malian desert blues artist Samba Touré, has returned with a new album Baarakelaw (The Workers) – the follow up to his highly-acclaimed 2021 album Binga. The album received ecstatic, career defining reviews and led to Samba being named the "Best Artist" of 2022 at Songlines magazine.

Although it is not known to which mysterious figures they were dedicated, Joseph de Boismortier’s cantatas Les Quatre Saisons, published in 1724, resonate with the splendour of court festivities and the eloquence of the salons de conversation. The libretto, written by an anonymous but undoubtedly romantic hand, unfolds its poetry through the seasons, and the composer seems to have enjoyed recreating all its subtleties in his music. For her first recording as conductor, Chloé de Guillebon surrounded herself with young talent, accompanied by the skilful musicians of the Orchestre de l'Opéra Royal de Versailles.

Following two highly acclaimed albums, the Maxwell Quartet rounds off its Haydn mini-series with the composer’s two Op. 77 string quartets, juxtaposed with its signature pairing of Scottish folk music. The quartet, which has become known for its ‘infectious enthusiasm’ and ‘irresistible’ playing (BBC Music Magazine), showcases its compelling storytelling with Haydn’s last foray in the genre.

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788) was regarded as one of the greatest theoretical and practical musicians of his time even during his lifetime; arguably the most famous son of Johann Sebastian Bach, he broke new ground in the concerto genre between the Baroque and Classical periods. His flute concerti are not only technically exceptionally demanding but are particularly challenging “in the art of expression”, to quote one of his contemporaries. In this new recording of C.P.E. Bach’s flute concertos in A minor (Wq 166 / H. 431), G major (Wq 169 / H. 445) and D minor (Wq 22 / H. 425) the Georgian Chamber Orchestra Ingolstadt and Ariel Zuckermann (solo flute and conductor) invoke the zärtliche Empfindungen, the tender sentiments that the composer considered essential in order to reveal new aspects of music.

Fresh from his triumphant onstage success in Paris, Berlin and Brussels singing leading roles in the operas of Rameau and Mozart, tenor Reinoud Van Mechelen presents his long-awaited first Mozart recording. Together with his ensemble A Nocte Temporis, he has devised a highly imaginative programme.

Jazz vocalist Helen Humes’ second album on Contemporary Records, “Songs I Like to Sing!” was released in 1961 and is conducted by Marty Paich. Backed by musicians including Art Pepper (sax), Leroy Vinnegar (bass), Shelly Manne (drums), Barney Kessel (guitar) and Andre Previn (piano). This new edition features remastered hi-res audio from the original tapes.

Iggy Pop is an avant-garde icon and a punk pioneer. The Montreux Jazz Festival is a boundary-pushing event that brings the best of all musical genres to one gorgeous location every year. Live At Montreux Jazz Festival 2023 captures the dazzling Iggy Pop performance that could only happen here.

The trio of Mary Chapin Carpenter, Julie Fowlis, and Karine Polwart first came together as a writing experiment coming out of the pandemic lockdown. With touring off the calendar, multi-Award winning US singer-songwriter Carpenter was looking for something new and reached out to Fowlis and Polwart, two highly acclaimed Scottish singer-songwriters whose work she had long admired.