Today's new releases include Schubert's Piano Sonata No. 17 and Schumann's Kinderszenen from Arcadi Volodos on Sony, Beethoven's complete cello sonatas from Paul Watkins and Alessio Bax on Signum, Reicha's six piano trios Op. 101 from Trio Bohémo on Supraphon, and the third instalment of De Profundis's Cristóbal de Morales series on Hyperion.
Arcadi Volodos plays Schubert & Schumann
Arcadi Volodos (piano)
The Russian-French pianist's first new album since 2019 was recorded live at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris back in 2022, and comprises Schubert's Piano Sonata No. 17 and Schumann's Kinderszenen. The recording has just been named as one of The Times's Best Classical Albums of the Month, with Geoff Brown applauding the 'continuity, balance and transparency on display in the Schubert and noting that 'each brief childhood memory [is] beautifully stroked into life' in Kinderszenen.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Beethoven: The Sonatas for Piano and Cello
Paul Watkins (cello), Alessio Bax (piano)
The former cellist of the Emerson Quartet joins forces with Italian pianist Alessio Bax for the five sonatas which Beethoven composed between 1796 and 1815; the first two works were dedicated to the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm II, a fine amateur musician, and the two later sonatas to Beethoven's friend and champion Countess Marie von Erdődy. Watkins reflects that 'the Beethoven cello sonatas have been my constant companions since I was about ten years old [and] have brought me endless pleasure and fulfillment throughout my life'.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Anton Reicha: The Complete Piano Trios
Trio Bohémo
Following their outstanding recording of Smetana and Schubert (which won Presto's Debut Album of the Year Award in 2024 and received five stars in BBC Music Magazine), the Czech trio turn their attention to the music of their compatriot Anton Reicha (1770-1836), whose Six Piano Trios Op. 101were published in Paris in 1824. The musicians recount that they were 'shocked at first by their technical demands and then by their expressive complexity', but fell in love with Reicha's 'inventiveness, a certain visionary quality, and above all his sense of humour.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Morales: L’homme armé Masses
De Profundis, Robert Hollingworth
The all-male vocal ensemble continues its survey of the music of Cristóbal de Morales (1500-53) with two masses based on the popular melody 'L'homme armé' (which inspired dozens of mass settings during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries as well as Karl Jenkins's 1999 The Armed Man - A Mass for Peace). The first volume of the series was praised by Fanfare for the 'rich, well-blended tone' of the ensemble, whilst Gramophone declared that 'we can feel confident that the future of this bold project is in the best possible hands'.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Allison Loggins-Hull: Patchwork
Laquita Mitchell (soprano), Cleveland Soloists, Allison Loggins-Hull
Hot on the heels of The Cleveland Orchestra's portrait album of the Chicago-born composer (who was their Daniel R. Lewis Composer Fellow between 2022 and 2025), Avie presents six new chamber works which were also written during that period and premiered by members of the orchestra. Scored for viola and cello, the title-work explores 'how two individuals continuously grow in different directions yet stay connected; the album closes with Shine, which sets texts by Zimbabwean-American poet U-Meleni Mhlaba-Adebo and features the composer herself on flute alongside soprano Laquita Mitchell.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Tchaikovsky: Piano Trio & Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht
Amsterdam Piano Trio
Originally scored for string sextet and subsequently arranged for string orchestra by the composer, Verklärte Nacht is presented here in a new arrangement for piano trio by violist and musicologist Henk Guittart, a member of the Schoenberg Quartet and co-founder of the Schoenberg Ensemble. It's preceded here by Tchaikovsky's Piano Trio in A minor 'In Memory of a Great Artist' (written in 1882 as an elegy to his friend and mentor Nikolai Rubinstein).
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Spiritillo Mediterraneo
Cristina Prats Costa (violin)
Inspired by Neapolitan composer and lutenist Andrea Falconieri’s Il Spiritillo Brando, the baroque violinist's debut on Pentatone explores the convergence of French, Italian and Spanish musical traditions during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, featuring music by Matteis, Sanz, Murcia, Nebra, Biber, Rebel and Vivaldi as well as Falconieri himself.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Vienna Philharmonic: The Exclusive Subscription Concert Series
Wiener Philharmoniker, Andris Nelsons
Launched in 1860, the Wiener Philharmoniker's subscription concerts are among the most exclusive musical events of each season, with potential patrons typically spending a decade on the waiting-list for tickets. This performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 7 took place in 2023, when Kurier detected 'magic' in the air and enthused that 'rarely has one heard this work so finely chiselled, so dynamically balanced'.
Available Format: Blu-ray
George Szell Edition
George Szell
This limited-edition box-set brings together Szell’s complete discography for Decca, Philips and Deutsche Grammophon, taped between 1949 and 1970; Szell was Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra for most of this period, but this collection showcases his work with European orchestras including the Berliner Philharmoniker, London Symphony Orchestra and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Repertoire includes Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart and Tchaikovsky concertos with Clifford Curzon, the Dvořák Cello Concerto with Pierre Fournier, and Hamilton Harty's arrangements of Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks and the Water Music Suite.
Available Format: 10 CDs
Artur Rodziński: The Complete Westminster recordings
Artur Rodziński
Captured in London and Vienna between 1954 and 1958 (the year of Rodziński's death), many of the recordings here make their first international appearance on this set, supplemented by previously unreleased rehearsal-excerpts. Highlights include the Chopin Piano Concertos with Paul Badura-Skoda, Kodály's Háry János Suite and Dances of Galanta, suites from Bizet's Carmen and L'Arlésienne and Rodziński's final Westminster recording of Beethoven and Schubert (followed by his speech of thanks to the players).
Available Format: 25 CDs
