All the themes from all of Beethoven’s symphonies, played live by an orchestra, concentrated into one hour and supplemented with electronics – that’s “Nine in One”. Or: a wild rollercoaster ride through the twists and turns of Ludwig van Beethoven’s brain. In the front carriage: Wolfgang Mitterer. He has a reputation, as a musician many’s the time he’s tormented the big concert organs of the continent, as well as composing for important orchestras, ensembles and opera houses, rocking it in jazz clubs or writing film music in his studio in Vienna. Off we go! Radial acceleration. Centrifugal force. Looping.

Composer/pianist Dirk Maassen’s Avalanche feels anthemic throughout. The opening “Eclipse,” a beautifully undulating piece that sways to its own natural rhythm, is a rock song in miniature, while the richly scored “Allewind” is full of tense, urgent drama. “Helios,” featuring sound artist Max Knoth and string orchestra accompaniment, harks back to Nyman’s score for the 1993 film The Piano, and “Nocturne” pays homage to the simple romance of the theme from Love Story. But while this is an album of many influences, Maassen, a master pianist, assimilates and crafts them into his own stunning, original whole.

Swans’ influential guitarist Norman Westberg returns with his most substantial album to date on the expansive, personal panoramas of ‘After Vacation’, a profoundly beautiful set of windswept soundscapes amplified by production from Lawrence English.

The entire Viola works from the composer Josef Tal, the outstanding Hindemith student and the founder of the studio of electronic music, one of the most important composers of Isrea.

Georgian/Swiss pianist Tamar Beraia was born in Tbilisi (Georgia) into a family of musicians. She received most of her training in Georgia: first piano lessons from her mother at the age of five, then continuing with Dodo Tsintsadze at the Z. Paliashvili Central Music School, and with Nana Khubutia at the Tbilisi State Conservatoire. She completed her studies with Ivan Klánský in Lucerne. She is a prizewinner of many national and international competitions, including the Third Prize ex-aequo, the Bronze Medal, and the Sony Audience Prize at the Seventeenth Paloma O‘Shea Santander International Piano Competition.

The combination of oboe, bassoon, and piano makes a wonderful sound, especially when the oboe is played by one of the instrument’s legendary exponents. Frenchman Maurice Bourgue, now in his late 70s, still plays with fabulous control and style, and can make a line genuinely sing. His two colleagues, Sergio Azzolini (bassoon) and Kimiko Imani (piano), play with enormous sympathy and clearly enjoy this music. Haydn, characteristically, spins magic while J.S. Bach’s two sons find inspiration in this unusual lineup, writing music of charm and elegance.

Birds In Row are a melodic/abrasive band from Laval, France. Blurring the lines between hardcore, punk, and related sub-genres, Birds In Row offer something of substantial weight to their listeners. Collectively carrying somber hearts and poignant souls, they navigate through melancholic seas to shape beautifully hook-laden songs unlike anything else out there today. “We Already Lost the World” is their latest, a stunning nine song album that blends post punk and angular rock influences into something emotional and electric. Recorded and mixed by Amaury Sauve at The Apiary, and mastered by Thibault Chaumont at Deviant Lab.

Queen Caroline was an emblematic female figure of the 18th century: the wife of King George II of England, a woman of great beauty, a champion of science and the arts, Caroline d’Ansbach was also the friend and patroness of Handel. The latter was entrusted with the solemn music composed for the grand ceremonies that marked the reign – be it «The King shall rejoice», given for the King’s coronation, the «Queen Caroline» Te Deum written for her own ascension to the throne, or «The Ways of Zion do mourn» performed at her funeral. This recording brings together, for the first time, three works underlining the strong link between the monarch and his favourite composer. This performance by the complete forces of the choir and orchestra of Les Arts Florissants brings to life these scores which are both flamboyant and brimming over with humanity.

Collective name given to musicians for a series of budget-price guitar-sound cover-versions of classic songs and hits by RCA Camden

Wellington psychedelic trio Womb (aka Charlotte Forrester, Haz Forrester, and Georgette Brown) have unveiled their long-awaited debut album Like Splitting the Head From the Body, following a sterling run of powerful live shows and mind-expanding singles. The eight-song collection leads listeners on a journey from gorgeously recorded alt-folk soundscapes to the outer boundaries of dream-pop, with epic feelings of grandeur evident throughout.

Once the intro to opener “Human” gives way to its fully-realized sonic purpose, it’s obvious that Harlan T. Bobo’s fourth proper album, A History of Violence, is quite different from his previous body of work. The classic historical emotional heft of a songwriter trying to make sense of life’s chaos, think mid-70s Lou Reed, especially Coney Island Baby, is a thread that can be heard running through the album’s mid-tempo tracks like “Human” and the miniature literary tragedy that is “Nadine”. The punchier tracks on the album, like “Spiders”, might conjure very early Green On Red, what X’s mid-80s output could have been, or even the roots-rock tendencies of overlooked genius, Cass McCombs.