Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! was first performed in 1943, and was a significant turning point in the history of musical theatre. It was the first musical to put drama and plot to the fore, portrayed by rounded, believable characters. It swept aside traditions that had their roots in vaudeville – star turns, comic sketches, and endless lines of high-kicking chorus girls. Oklahoma! does feature dance, but in the hands of the choreographer, Agnes de Mille, this was idiomatic to the plot, and revolutionary in terms of the fifteen-minute dream-sequence ballet at the close of Act I. The first collaboration between composer and writer, the show was a hit, running for more than five years on Broadway, and paving the way for their masterpieces to come.

Known for its championship of neglected repertoire, the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective presents a programme of works by members of the Second Viennese School, based around Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht. Probably Schoenberg’s best-known piece – in either of its two orchestral versions or the original string sextet version heard here, Verklärte Nacht is certainly not neglected!

Little is known about the cellist and composer Johann Stiastny, and what is known contradicts each other in the sources. František Jan Št’astný, also known as Jean Stiasny or, indeed, Johann Stiastny, was probably born in Prague around 1764. In his standard work The Violoncello and Its History, Wilhelm Joseph von Wasielewski wrote that Stiastny’s cello works “are qualified to be placed amongst the best productions of the older Cello literature, as they contained effects which for that period were entirely novel.” Alexander Hülshoff and Martin Rummel, two celebrated cellists of our time, present premiere recordings of Stiastny’s Trois Duos Concertans, Op. 6, creating a unique album for cello lovers and collectors of rare 18th century repertoire.

All Alone is a solo album by bassist Ron Carter recorded in 1988 and released on the EmArcy label.
Although it is hard to believe that only one man at one time made all of the sounds you hear on this recording, it is true nevertheless. And even more impressive, all of this music was recorded in a single three hour session.

Igra Staklenih Perli, the ultimate ex-Yugoslavian space/psychedelic rock band, was formed in 1976 in Belgrade, Serbia, having been named after the famous novel by Hermann Hesse - "Das Glasperlenspiel" (The Glass Beads Game). Igra Staklenih Perli labelled their music style as "stream of consciousness music". Their both studio albums, the first eponymous "Igra Staklenih Perli" from 1979 and the second "Vrt Svetlosti" from 1980, are pretty similar in sound and resemble the style from early Pink Floyd and Hawkwind psychedelia, to German krautrock (notably Can and Tangerine Dream), to Hillage-era Gong among many. Interesting music effort especially considering the fact it was the new wave boom period when they tried to pursue a quite different music philosophy.

24bit digitally remastered Japanese limited edition issue of the album classic in a deluxe, miniaturized LP sleeve replica of the original vinyl album artwork. According to his biographer, Charles Sawyer, this is King's personal favorite among his recordings. Unlike most of his albums from this period (which are mostly collections of singles), this was recorded in one session and takes him out of his usual big-band setting, using only bass, drums, and piano for accompaniment. The result is a masterpiece: a sparse, uncluttered sound with nothing to mask King's beautiful guitar and voice. "You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now" (its unaccompanied guitar intro is a pure distillation of his style), "Mr. Pawn Broker," "Someday Baby" (R&B Top Ten, 1961), "Walkin' Dr. Bill," and a great version of "Drivin' Wheel" are highlights.

British multireed player John Surman has enjoyed a long career, making significant marks in free jazz, modal, and fusion, and also developing his own distinctive blend of folk and jazz elements. His ability to bridge styles has even extended to 1999's treatment of Renaissance-era composer John Dowland's songs, In Darkness Let Me Dwell with the Hilliard Ensemble's John Potter. Coruscating is another unusual venture, with Surman and regular associate bassist Chris Laurence improvising on eight of Surman's compositions with the string quartet Trans4mation. There's a seamless beauty here, composition and improvisation becoming one. Beginning with the baroque clarity of melody on "At Dusk," Coruscating develops often dark, looming textures. While Surman has made his baritone fly, here he emphasizes intense lyricism, whether with a true, full-bodied, baritone sound or a light upper register. "Stone Flower" is dedicated to the great Ellington baritonist Harry Carney, and Surman's breathy, overtone-rich sound invokes Carney's own recordings with strings.

Pianist Sunwoo Yekwon is returning to the music that he knows best. The 34-year-old piano maestro’s second album "Rachmaninoff, A Reflection” is freshly out as of noon on Tuesday. It comes three years after his last album, "Mozart" (2020). “I don’t want the album to cheer people up, per se, but I'd like for it to be there for them, whatever he or she may be going through. I hope it can reach people’s hearts," Sunwoo told local press on Tuesday at Kumho Art Hall in Seodaemun District, western Seoul.

The Schumann Quartet dedicates its latest studio production "1923" to that year in which new musical paths were sought, found or questioned and at the same time the birth of radio heralded a new age for composers and the dissemination of their works. The CD programme brings together selected quartet music by Paul Hindemith, Alban Berg, Erwin Schulhoff and Leoš Janáček.

Legendary Percussionist Pete Escovedo is an artist who broke down the barriers between Smooth Jazz, Salsa, Latin Jazz and contemporary music. His name has been synonymous in the music industry for more than 60 years.

Named by The Economist as one of Twenty Living Polymaths, Sir Stephen Hough combines a worldwide career as a pianist with those of composer and writer. "My father said that I had memorised seventy nursery rhymes by the age of two. This sounds suspiciously like parental exaggeration to me, but I do know that such singing was my first form of musical expression, especially as we had no classical music in my childhood home. Then, by the age of six, the piano took over… but song remained in the background." "My first twenty years were filled with composing. Then followed almost twenty years of blank paper, writing virtually nothing except concert transcriptions for me to use as encores. Until, in my early 40s, I returned to composition with a passion…" This release celebrates Hough’s compositional output in works for choir and organ performed by the London Choral Sinfonia, with organist James Orford and conductor Michael Waldron.

Experience illuminates the path to clarity, and nowhere is this more evident than in No Goodbyes by guitarist John Stein. As his 18th recording and 13th for the renowned Whaling City Sound label, Stein, along with his exceptional trio partners Ed Lucie on bass guitar and Mike Connors on drums, showcases a transcendent musical experience. Building upon their previous collaboration on 2021’s Serendipity, the trio creates an enchanting collection of interactive, conversational, and expressive melodies.

"Darkness and Scattered Light" is an album of composer John Luther Adams’s darkly beautiful, mesmerizing, virtuosic music for double bass (two solos and a bass quintet), performed by the late bassist extraordinaire Robert Black (1956–2023).