"Interpreted with flair and brilliance by the great flutist Mika Putterman and the virtuoso of the fortepiano and harpsichord Erin Helyard, Friedrich Kuhlau's sonatas have inspired many artists through time. Among them, Johannes Brahms who, so impressed by these works, wrote to Clara Schumann in 1854 that he wanted to learn the flute only to be able to interpret Kuhlau's works with her on the piano." - Arts et Culture

In this recording, it’s interesting to compare the two works for so-called ‘small orchestra’, Le Tombeau de Couperin and Ma mère l’Oye. For, when discussing Ravel’s orchestral music, one thinks more readily of the large symphony orchestra in all its luxuriance, of the teeming array of percussion, which often requires a timpanist and seven percussionists.

Formed in 1994 at the Royal College of Music in London, the Belcea Quartet has recorded the complete string quartets of Beethoven, Brahms, Bartók and Britten. For this new Alpha release it has chosen two works by one of the leading composers of twentieth-century chamber music, Dmitri Shostakovich. The Quartet no.3, of historic importance, was initially censured by the Soviet regime, then revised by Shostakovich for its first performance in 1946; the refined playing of the Belcea Quartet brings out all its contours.

Paul Lewis is internationally regarded as one of the leading musicians of his generation. His cycles of core piano works by Beethoven and Schubert have received unanimous critical and public acclaim worldwide, and consolidated his reputation as one of the world’s foremost interpreters of the central European classical repertoire.

Three-time Grammy Award-winning and multi-platinum-selling artist Pentatonix will release PTX Presents: Top Pop, Vol. I via RCA Records. The inaugural release for the group's PTX Presents series will feature 11 PTX-curated modern pop performances, including an arrangement of Camila Cabello's "Havana."

This beautiful collection of Nordic works for string orchestra is packed with Scandinavian passion and melancholy, and melodies that stay with you long after Sibelius’s devastating “Valse triste” has faded away. There are some gorgeous discoveries here, from Bræin’s intense “Serenade for Viola and String Orchestra” and Atterberg’s searing “Suite for Violin, Viola and String Orchestra”, hypnotic in its use of gorgeous, modal harmonies and sweeping lines. Sinding’s yearning “Serenade for Harp and String Orchestra” draws on folksong influences while Halvorsen’s “Chant de Veslemøy” has a simple, delightful charm. The LGT Soloists play with bags of expression and a clear love for this beautiful music.

Corine, prénom délicieusement suranné qui pourrait bientôt nous revenir. Pourquoi, pourquoi ? Et bien, parce qu’après un premier EP, les clips des titres 'Pourquoi Pourquoi' et 'Cocktail', plusieurs remixes de Polo & Pan, Lazare Hoche ou encore 'Délicieuse musique', ainsi que différentes scènes, Trabendo, La Fête de l'Huma, les Bars en Trans etc…

April 2018: Sony Classical releases the tenth solo album of Nils Mönkemeyer, with a very special program – works of German and French Baroque, with chamber music partners like the soprano Dorothee Mields and the lute player Andreas Arend, with whom he has collaborated since many years.

Live from Austin, TX, part of a series releases from the Austin City Limits archive, features a post-Sir Douglas Quintet and pre-Texas Tornados Doug Sahm recorded on November 14, 1975. On these 15 tracks, Sahm and his backup band, which included his faithful compadre Augie Meyers on organ, tackle fan favorites penned by Sahm from the SDQ days "At the Crossroads," "Nuevo Laredo," "Dynamite Woman," "Mendocino," and "She's About a Mover" along with a few country and blues tunes that had been in Sahm's repertoire since the late '50s. The medley of "Crazy Baby/One Night/Sometimes/Wasted Days and Wasted Nights" moves seamlessly from one song into the next, laid-back and natural, yet full of soul.

The Straight Hits! is the brand new album from Josh T. Pearson and is Josh's second solo album following the critically acclaimed, Rough Trade Album Of The Year, 2011's The Last Of The Country Gentlemen. Recorded in Texas with members of Lift To Experience and The Texas Gentlemen, the album includes Straight To The Top and You Set Me Straight.

A prolific songwriter for nearly twenty years, Laura Veirs proves the depth of her musical skill on her tenth solo album, The Lookout. Here is a batch of inimitable, churning, exquisite folk-pop songs; a concept album about the fragility of precious things. Produced by Grammy-nominated Tucker Martine, Veirs' longtime collaborator, The Lookout is a soundtrack for turbulent times, full of allusions to protectors: the camper stoking a watch fire, a mother tending her children, a sailor in a crows nest and a lightning rod channelling energy.

At just twenty six years of age, Emmanuel Christien is one of France s most diverse young pianists. Admitted by unanimous jury vote to the prestigious National Conservatory Superior of Music and of Dance, Paris (CNSMDP) as a student of Jacques Rouvier, he obtained the “ Diploma de Formation Supérieure” with a unanimous jury distinction, also receiving the “Feydau de Brou Saint-Paul” award.

Ian Bostridge, ‘one of the world’s great lieder tenors’ The Telegraph, praised for his sensitive and distinctive performances, is joined once more by Julius Drake as they continue to explore the genius of Schubert’s songs. From the strikingly dramatic ballad ‘Der Zwerg’ to the melancholic tenderness of ‘An Den Mond’, the duo examine the emotions of every word and every note in this delicately curated programme, recorded live at Wigmore Hall, London, on 16 May 2015.

I’ve thrown myself completely into the viola, and I play violin only in emergencies.” As a performer and composer, Hindemith is without a doubt one of the most important contributors to his favorite instrument’s repertoire.

Arnau Tomàs, cellist of the prestigious Cuarteto Casals, and pianist Kennedy Moretti, record the complete works for cello and piano (sonatas and variations) produced by N artistic director, Santi Barguñó.