CONTEMPORARY TITLES IN BRIEF

Hayden: Solos/Duos [2 CDs]

This album features world premiere recordings of some of Sam Hayden’s most significant acoustic music for solos and duos, performed by an array of internationally renowned contemporary music specialists. (Metier)

2CD# MSV28622 $18.99

Landini: Piano Sonata No. 7

After the success of the “Missa novem vocum”, with this new production by composer Carlo Alessandro Landini we return to the profane genre with the Sonata No. 7 for piano. (Tactus)

1CD# TC951203 $16.99

Sivelöv: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 5

Niklas Sivelöv has proved a prolific symphonist over the past ten years or so, with six completed symphonies and a seventh currently in progress. (Naxos)

1CD# 8574508 $13.99

Maskats: Accordion Concerto, Tango, Cantus Diatonicus

Arturs Maskats (b. 1957) is an award-winning Latvian composer who has been at the center of Latvian cultural life for decades, especially in the field of theater and opera. (Ondine)

1CD# ODE 1419-2 $16.99

Vivaldi: La Stravaganza, Op. 4 – Transcriptions for Organ

The concerto played a leading role in the evolution of the language and style of instrumental music from the late 17th century onwards, with its popularity and importance continuing to grow throughout the 18th century. Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741) did not invent the concerto grosso or solo concerto, but he can, without a shadow of a doubt, be considered the composer who gave the greatest boost to the genre. (Brilliant Classics)

1CD# BRI96614 $12.99

Lauro:

Guitar Music [2 CDs]

Born in Venezuela to Italian parents, Antonio Lauro (1917–1986) was very young when he began taking music lessons. Lauro was a fervent nationalist, and it was his political convictions that drove him to celebrate, and make in-depth studies of, the origins and heritage of Venezuelan music. In 1951, Lauro was imprisoned, because of his democratic convictions, this however did not stop his composing activities. (Brilliant Classics)

2CD# BRI96627 $14.99

Medtner: Complete Songs, Vol. 4

New recordings of Goethe and Heine settings by a master Russian songwriter, by performers thoroughly versed in the composer’s complex harmony and heritage. On this album, recorded in 2022, Ekaterina Levental and Frank Peters couple the Opp. 6, 15 and 18 settings of Goethe with the three Op. 12 settings of Heine: a unique but natural pairing on record. (Brilliant Classics)

1CD# BRI96066 $14.99

Music for Soprano & Guitar by 19th Century Female Composers

Aiming to recreate the musical atmosphere of a 19th-century salon, this recording revolves around two fundamental objectives. The first, to perform music by women who, as composers, performers and hostesses, were absolute cornerstones of these spaces. Second, to perform the songs, originally accompanied by piano, with newly made guitar arrangements. (Brilliant Classics)

1CD# BRI96729 $12.99

Dvořák, Janáček, Martinů: Slavic Rhapsody

The soul of Bohemia: familiar masterpieces and little-known gems for string ensemble by the five most famous Czech composers of the 19th and 20th centuries. This performance by the Ciconia Consort lends it a new lease of life: as rhythmically springy and attentive to detail as the ensembles previous explorations of string-orchestra repertoire. (Brilliant Classics)

1CD# BRI96737 $12.99

Cherubini: Six Sonatas for Fortepiano

In the second half of 18th century, keyboard music in Tuscany was flourishing. The piano, a new instrument, was highly favoured by the new Tuscan court, and the potential of this new instrument was sought out with keen interest by composers. (Brilliant Classics)

1CD# BRI96246 $12.99

Music for Flute & Organ / Duo Les Brumes

This new album is made by a duo of Piedmontese musicians who have explored the riches of the flute-andorgan repertoire to come up with a balanced selection of pieces written by 20th- and 21st-century composers on both sides of the Atlantic. Duo Les Brumes begin with an undoubted masterpiece: the Sonata da Chiesa which the Swiss composer Frank Martin originally composed in 1939 for viola d’amore and organ. (Brilliant Classics)

1CD# BRI96562 $14.99

Dussek: Violin Sonatas, Vol. 2

Jan Ladislav Dussek (1760–1812) was a cosmopolitan piano virtuoso who studied with C.P.E. Bach, lived and performed in one European capital after another. Dussek’s music for his own instrument may now be much better known than half a century ago – not least thanks to the first period-instrument edition of his piano sonatas. (Brilliant Classics)

1CD# BRI96588 $12.99

From Venice to Leipzig – Organ Music

Whether or not they actually travelled south of the Alps, as Handel did early in his career, all 18th-century German composers of note were influenced by the Italian style of vocal and instrumental writing at the time. Manuel Tomadin’s latest album for Brilliant Classics explores the connections between these apparently disparate traditions, beginning with the Toccata, Adagio and Fugue BWWV564. (Brilliant Classics)

1CD# BRI96664 $12.99

J.S. Bach: Transcriptions for Guitar

In recent decades, Johann Sebastian Bach’s (1685–1750) works have undergone numerous transcriptions and adaptations. This album includes some famous works, among them the preludes from the French Suite No. 3 and Johann Peter Kellner’s collection. (Brilliant Classics)

1CD# BRI96687 $12.99