Distilled sparingly over the course of Franz Schubert’s all too brief life, the few works that make up his output for violin and piano fascinate and intrigue, writing the episodes of a story that is undoubtedly fragmentary, yet in reality deeply unified in a mysterious yearning for elsewhere. Situated somewhere between the miniature of the lied and the large symphonic forms, these pieces open countless windows onto Schubert’s contrasted and tormented universe. Nathalia and Maria Milstein’s choice of a splendid Blüthner piano of 1857 plays a crucial role in the quest for unheard-of sound worlds on which this disc invites us.

If there is one place where Kaz Hawkins' talent is perfectly expressed, it is the stage. This album recorded at the Summer Camp Festival in Brezoi, Romania is irrefutable proof. Having become one of the most important blues festivals in Europe, Brezoi has long crowned Kaz Hawkins as one of its queens, with the Northern Irishwoman being one of the headliners of the event each year. This public recording of 12 tracks is a new stone in Kaz Hawkins' musical edifice which is growing day by day to now approach the summits of the genre. A pure treat.

Harpist Constance Luzzati’s new album Jupiter offers a fresh perspective on favourite pieces of the 18th century originally composed for the harpsichord and viola da gamba.

Distilled sparingly over the course of Franz Schubert’s all too brief life, the few works that make up his output for violin and piano fascinate and intrigue, writing the episodes of a story that is undoubtedly fragmentary, yet in reality deeply unified in a mysterious yearning for elsewhere. Situated somewhere between the miniature of the lied and the large symphonic forms, these pieces open countless windows onto Schubert’s contrasted and tormented universe. Nathalia and Maria Milstein’s choice of a splendid Blüthner piano of 1857 plays a crucial role in the quest for unheard-of sound worlds on which this disc invites us.

Welcome to Palette. Each work on this album invites you to a unique sonic universe. Together, the pieces represent a new era in my repertoire and practice. In several of these works, I have actively participated in the compositional process as a co composer, contributing with my creativity and knowledge. The pieces are constructed in partnership with a number of open and creative composers, and in several cases, years of collaborative work prepared the ground for their blooming colors. They result from intertwined contributions, generating works that none of us could have imagined alone.

Bringing together Brahms's three Sonatas for violin and piano is both an obvious choice and a challenge. Obvious because, as all three come from the composer's mature works, they share a similarity of inspiration – nature, the voice – and aesthetics; a challenge because each, however, has its own character and expression, the first melancholy, the last dramatic and the second lyrical and exalted. By placing them side by side, Sergey Ostrovsky and Natalia Morozova dive into Brahmsian interiority, all the facets of which the musicians capture with infinite delicacy.

The extensive body of work by Anton Bruckner (1824-1896), which is often limited to his monumental nine symphonies (eleven if the two scores prior to the First are included), is characterised by the expression of his deep Catholic faith. Bruckner received his training as a young singer at the age of thirteen at the Abbey of Saint Florian, located a few kilometres from Linz in Austria. His faith is exalted in both his religious and orchestral works, as evidenced by his dedication of his Ninth Symphony to 'Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam'. It is not surprising that almost half of Anton Bruckner's catalogue, which consists of around 150 opuses in the Werke Anton Bruckner (WAB), are choral scores.

During the années folles, Paris was both a temporary home base for many artists and a formidable creative laboratory, mixing jazz, Latin music and neo-classicism. The guitar benefited from this effervescence, expanding its repertoire and winning its place in the concert hall.

A trumpet-tuba duo: what an unusual idea! At the height of the pandemic, the brothers Thomas and Romain Leleu came up with the notion of creating a unique ensemble. While virtuosity (whose Latin origin in the word virtus, at once ‘strength’ and ‘virtue’, should never be forgotten) was a given for the two musicians, who play with an astonishing rapport, they are even more fascinated by the search for the appropriate sound world for the newly minted pieces they perform. An opportunity to meet two illusionists.

It all starts with the voice. At turns heavy and hulkingly powerful, yet agile and pointedly precise, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s vocal not only embodies the tradition of the Sufi qawwali but it is the emotive essence of singing itself.

The twelfth of her studio albums, Lemons, Limes, and Orchids is a crowning showcase of Joan's voice in all its metamorphic splendour. “I was ready to make an album that truly featured my voice. The basics were recorded like they used to be- with me singing live along with the band. My good friend said told me this is the sexiest album I’ve ever made. Honestly, I think she’s right. The record is a nocturne about love and loss — what else is there? — and a reckoning with our collective disorientation, part hymn to holding on and part benediction of letting go. Joan has toured the globe, performing in dive bars and symphony halls, at independent music festivals and on the BBC, and has collaborated with a kaleidoscope of luminaries, including Lou Reed, Rufus Wainwright, Tony Allen, Damon Albarn, John Cale, Laurie Anderson, Sufjan Stevens, Anohni, Beck, Meshell Ndegeocello, Toshi Reagon, David Byrne, and Daniel Johnston. She has participated in three Africa Express trips, teaches at NYU’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, lives in Brooklyn, and loves the world.

Johann Sebastian Bach is always seen as a keyboard virtuoso, but he must also have been a very good violinist. At least that is what his son Carl Phillip Emanuel reports and that he was better able to lead the orchestra with his violin than from the harpsichord. Whether Bach wrote his violin concertos for himself or for a guest soloist - possibly the virtuoso Johann Georg Pisendel, who was a friend of his - can no longer be determined today.

Alamire, under the direction of David Skinner, complete their survey of the choral works of William Byrd to mark the composer's 400th anniversary with this landmark recording of The Great Service and seven anthems. Emerging from centuries of obscurity, Byrd's Great Service, first revived in the early twentieth century, represents a pinnacle of English choral music. This recording commemorates the centenary of it's modern debut in 1924. With intricate polyphony and poignant text settings, Byrd's masterful use of ten voices reveals his unparalleled skill in capturing the essence of the Anglican liturgy. Complemented by seven anthems, thisalbum offers a comprehensive exploration of Byrd's rich, spiritual, and historical musical contributions.

The twelfth of her studio albums, Lemons, Limes, and Orchids is a crowning showcase of Joan's voice in all its metamorphic splendour. “I was ready to make an album that truly featured my voice. The basics were recorded like they used to be- with me singing live along with the band. My good friend said told me this is the sexiest album I’ve ever made. Honestly, I think she’s right. The record is a nocturne about love and loss — what else is there? — and a reckoning with our collective disorientation, part hymn to holding on and part benediction of letting go.

After the immense success of her Bach-Abel album (ALPHA783), Lucile Boulanger celebrates the French viol through the centuries: 'This transchronological dialogue traces the history of a dynasty of composers in a subjective, even emotional way', from the seventeenth century (Marin Marais, Sainte-Colombe, Nicolas Hotman) to the twenty-first, with contemporary works by Philippe Hersant, Claire-Melanie Sinnhuber and Gerard Pesson, some of which were specifically written for Lucile Boulanger: 'There is no longer any need to prove that my instrument is an integral part of our musical landscape. The viol is alive and well. For several decades now, it has inspired new compositions; its vocabulary is constantly expanding', concludes the violist.