Iiro Rantala plays the piano with “emotional magnetism and musical intelligence”; he has a “virtuosic prowess as an improviser capable of enormous idiomatic and emotional range.” (Downbeat) This praise from the American magazine’s review of the Finnish pianist’s third and recent studio-recorded solo album for ACT, “My Finnish Calendar” (2019) sums up the astonishing variety which people who know his playing well might almost start to take for granted.

British-French multi-instrumentalist Memory Of Jane, aka Maïlé Doremus-Cook (pronounced "Miley"), releases his debut album, Unsinking The Cypress, on Blue Flowers.

The Symphony No. 13 in B-flat minor, Op. 113 for bass soloist, bass chorus, and large orchestra was composed by Dmitri Shostakovich in 1962. It consists of five movements, each a setting of a Yevgeny Yevtushenko poem that describes aspects of Soviet history and life. Although the symphony is commonly referred to by the nickname Babi Yar, no such subtitle is designated in Shostakovich's manuscript score.

Sonata for Cello and Piano No.1: The first movement ‘Quasi un Fantasia’ was composed in Hamburg in 1989/1990 with dance choreography in mind. The opening theme is catapulted forward for a short burst going through a number of distantly related keys, before a strongly contrasting theme appears in response. I was particularly keen on exploring the circle of mediants as can be heard in the waltz-like theme in the middle of the movement. In 2006 I made major revisions to the work, adding strong passages with much freer writing and ruthlessly cutting out other themes and passages.

Werner Müller was a German composer, kapellmeister and conductor of light classical music and, to a greater extent, popular music. In some of his works, he collaborated with Caterina Valente and Horst Fischer, the trumpeter. European light music fans came to know Müller from his many years as director of two of the leading popular radio orchestras in Germany. From 1948 to 1967, he led the Tanzorchester for the powerful station RIAS in Berlin.

Nathan Henninger, a Canadian composer and conductor, has released his orchestral debut, Five Scenes For Orchestra. The cinematic, emotionally layered, and deeply personal work was recorded with a hand-picked ensemble of musicians from some of Berlin’s most prestigious orchestras.

Will Gregory is an award-winning multi-instrumentalist, composer, record producer and one half of the electro-pop duo Goldfrapp. He is also the founding member of Will Gregory’s Moog Ensemble, who last year released their debut album Heat Ray: The Archimedes Project. Lost In The Forest: Music from the RSC’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the music Gregory created for the RSC’s production of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which originally premiered in Stratford and then transferred to London, in late 2024, for a sold-out, five-star run at the Barbican.

Duo Meyer II Waldburger is a musical duo composed of two classically and jazz-trained musicians who create a captivating and immersive listening experience by exploring the sonic and percussive potential of the piano and classical guitar interplay. Their unique style is characterized by a blend of influences, drawing inspiration from nature, elements, foreign cultures, jazz, world music, and contemporary music, resulting in melodic compositions that take the listener on a journey.

In the early 1960s Goffredo Petrassi’s idiom was almost indistinguishable from that of the Italian avant-garde. Completed in 1964, the Seventh Concerto evolves with mounting tension and a sense of underlying menace. The Eighth Concerto from 1972 was commissioned and premiered by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. It is a substantial piece of outright virtuosity, with dissonance, trenchant dialogues and a fraught atmosphere. The much earlier Sonata da camera for harpsichord and ten instruments finds Petrassi poised between neo-Classicism and a more modernist direction.

In 2016, Macy Gray arrived at The Hirsch Center, a former Roman Catholic Church in Brooklyn, to make "Stripped," one of the most unusual and extraordinary albums in her discography. A project put together by the audiophile label Chesky Records, Stripped was recorded in two days with Gray accompanied by guitarist Russell Malone, bassist Daryl Johns, drummer Ari Hoenig, and trumpeter Wallace Roney, all seasoned, well-pedigreed jazz cats. Gray served up remakes of several of her key back catalog titles, including 'I Try' and 'Sweet Baby.' Also included were some new songs, like the infectious 'Annabelle,' and jazzy makeovers of Metallica's 'Nothing Else Matters' and Bob Marley's iconic 'Redemption Song.' With it's pared-back arrangements allowing her inimitable voice to shine, Stripped revealed a side of Macy Gray that had never been heard before."Stripped" was Gray's first jazz album, and it was a commercial success and critically acclaimed. It debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart. This re-release will be available on SACD Hybrid Stereo.

After their multi-award-winning album Aus der Ferne, the Signum Quartett continues their Schubert journey for PENTATONE with Ins stille Land, another recording that explores the fascinating connections between his string quartets and songs, the latter arranged for string quartet by Xandi van Dijk, the ensemble’s violist.

Some smoking uptempo tunes, wailing ballads, and even interesting pop and novelty material.

Rammstein's iconic 1997 studio album featuring
"Du hast" and "Engel", is back on June 9, 2023 as the remastered "Sehnsucht Anniversary Edition"!

Patricia Kraus is an Italian-born Spanish singer. She is the daughter of well-known tenor Alfredo Kraus and studied classical voice as a child before switching to a more contemporary style.

On the occasion of Charlie Parker's 100th birthday in 2020, “Bird Lives” opens, produces and records a new, orchestral view of his music.