A string quartet in search of home: With Dahoam, the award-winning Goldmund Quartet releases its most personal album to date. Blending the elegance of Mozart, Haydn, and Schubert with traditional Alpine melodies arranged by Karl Edelmann and Herbert Pixner, the ensemble explores the deep connections between classical music and its Bavarian heritage.

This album invites you to hear Mendelssohn as never before. Uxia Martinez Botana places the double bass at the heart of the string quartet with subtlety and imagination, replacing the traditional cello and opening up a world of unexpected textures and emotional depth. Joined by three exceptional musicians, she reshapes the balance of the ensemble while remaining faithful to the spirit of the music. From the warmth of Mendelssohn's joyful moments to the raw power of his grief, the double bass becomes both foundation and voice. This is not only a tribute to a great composer, it is also an artistic statement, offering a fresh lens on this beloved repertoire, and a moving exploration of how tradition can evolve without losing its soul.

Passing Fancy: Beauty in a Moment of Chaos, the AVIE debut by leading New York City early music ensemble Sonnambula, traverse music by several Renaissance composers who were forced to conceal their identities for social, religious or ethnic reasons. Yet their music transcended the disorder surrounding them, flourishing in the intersection of beliefs and styles.

Trailblazing outlet for forward-thinking Danish Jazz, April Records proudly presents the debut from trumpeter/composer Rolf Thofte; a vivid and personal record that blends lyrical melodies, inventive rhythms, and subtle harmonic exploration. Written while Thofte adjusted to fatherhood – the album captures moments of joy, reflection, and experimentation, brought to life by a handpicked quintet of Denmark’s most exciting young jazz talents.

Trombonist extraordinaire Michael Dease goes with the "Flow" for his 11th album for Posi-Tone. For this session Dease features some old friends, like alto saxophonist Sharel Cassity and pianist Geoffrey Keezer, while introducing the arrival of newcomers bassist Jared Beckstead-Craan and drummer Gary Kerkezou to his musical family. From start to finish, Dease's performances remain insightfully straight-ahead as he guides listeners through a well balanced program of original compositions and thought provoking arrangements. This carefully curated program promises to captivate discerning jazz enthusiasts with its balanced blend of technical prowess and emotional depth.

A Top Ten recording artist in her native Italy ever since her eponymous 1993 debut, Laura Pausini has sold tens of millions of albums worldwide, charting across Europe and Latin America. Her heartfelt adult contemporary pop and soaring vocals put her in the stylistic company of artists such as Celine Dion and Michael Bolton. Pausini went all the way to number one in Italy for the first time with her fourth studio effort, 1998's La Mia Risposta. After a couple more albums, including an attempt to break into English-speaking markets (2002's From the Inside), she returned to the top of the chart with 2004's Resta in Ascolto. It kicked off a streak of consecutive Italian number ones and lasted through the 2010s, including her 2016 Christmas album, Laura Xmas, which had songs performed in Italian, Spanish, English, and French. After winning a Golden Globe and earning an Academy Award nomination for "Io sì (Seen)" from the film The Life Ahead, Pausini celebrated 30 years in the business with the release of 2023's Anime Parallele.

Michael Hill International Violin Competition, with pianist Jeonghwan Kim, winner of the 2023 Sydney International Piano Competition. A Winners' Recital. Includes Camille Saint-Saëns' Violin Sonata No.1 and Giuseppe Tartini's Devil's Trill Sonata, with Gillian Whitehead's Bright Silence, Ysaye Sonata 5, and more. Yeyeong Jenny Jin - first prize at the 2023 Michael Hill International Violin Competition; also winner of the Chamber Music Prize; and winner of the Sheila Smith Prize granting a three-year loan of an exquisite Domenico Montagnana violin, c.1735 – 39, facilitated through the Rare Violins of New York Consortium. Jenny is accompanied by pianist Jeonghwan Kim, winner of the 2023 Sydney International Piano Competition.

Despite his age, 25, Sebastiaan Visser is already a household name among jazz fusion guitar aficionados in the Netherlands, known for his rich sound and energetic playing. He is part of a new emerging generation of jazz musicians, who musically think outside the box. Nevertheless, fusion is his great passion, and he finds inspiration in jazz-rock icons like Allan Holdworth and John McLaughlin. “Always There” is his 2nd album with Deborah Slijkhuis on electric bass and Sebastiaan Cornelissen/Christopher Verweij on drums and Igor Herstel/Matthijs Geerts on keys. Guest is Sean Freeman on tenor sax.

At the head of a luxury trio, Simon Chivallon—the most lyrical pianist of the new generation—magnifies his love of jazz in the service of song. Enriched on half of the tracks with subtle arrangements for string quartet, his Personal Songbook navigates with equal joy from Brassens and Nougaro to Broadway standards, from English pop to bebop, from Billy Strayhorn to bossa nova, revealing a constant freshness of inspiration, an obvious generosity in his playing, and an absolutely irresistible swing. A talent is born.

‘Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 & Three Intermezzi Op. 117‘ with Francesco Piemontesi, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Manfred Honeck is due for release in September 2025 on PENTATONE.

Incomparable virtuoso, called the Paganini of the harp, Felix Godefroid was also a composer and a teacher. This recording, performed by Sophie Hallynck, highlights the composer's studies in high virtuosity. Designed for his own use and that of professionals, partake of both "absolute music" - as with the deservedly famous etude in B Flat Minor, op. 193 - and the character piece, picturesque or sentimental.

Following his first album of French lute music, Alban Tixier invites us to join him as he explores the byways of European music dating from the 13th to the 15th century.

In addition to his reputation as a dancer, the Sun King was also a musician. Under the enlightened influence of his mother, Anne of Austria, the young Louis XIV learned to play the lute and then the guitar. Once relegated to commoners, this instrument became a symbol of royal refinement. Beyond simple entertainment, this musical craze served a political purpose: to seduce the court and the people, and to weave harmony between French, Italian and Spanish cultures. Like a new King David, monarch-musician par excellence, Louis XIV crafted the image of an Apollonian sovereign, master of the arts as much as of power. Together with exceptional musicians, Lea Masson reveals this forgotten facet of the guitarist king!

With “Constellation”, Virgil Boutellis-Taft reminds us that music provides one of the best ways to travel the world. In this programme, nourished by many influences, he presents some of the milestones of the violin repertoire (Chausson’s Poème, the Janáček Violin Sonata, Danse macabre by Saint-Saëns, arranged here for two violins…) together with several miniatures, reflecting a career marked by international concerts and a deep admiration for Yehudi Menuhin. The composer Tara Kamangar features alongside Philippe Hersant, André Hossein and Ernest Bloch, all of whom chart the course and show the sources of inspiration of this well-travelled violinist.

These contemplations and improvisations were partly inspired by an instrument called an Ondomo — a recreation by Naoyuki Omo of the Ondes Martenot, one of the earliest electronic instruments developed in 1928 by Maurice Martenot (Ondes Martenot translated as ‘Martenot’s waves’). For this set of recordings, Alan gravitated back to his primary instrument, the piano, for many of the improvisations, allowing the various background colours to inform the process. The result is an album of great beauty and invention, rich in sonorous textures and equally rich emotional resonances.