Astor Piazzolla’s Nuevo tango transcends categories and represents an amalgam of international influences. All the arrangements in this album are of instrumental works that Piazzolla composed for his Quinteto Nuevo Tango. Most prominent is the Vivaldi-inspired Las cuatro estaciones porteñas (‘The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires’) reimagined in concerto style for solo violin and string orchestra by Leonid Desyatnikov. The seven other companion pieces, arranged by Ken Selden, use printed sources for structure but incorporate improvisations transcribed from original recordings made by Piazzolla and his band. On this, his third Piazzolla album for Naxos, internationally recognised violinist Tomás Cotik pays homage to his birth city of Buenos Aires.

Auber’s overtures were once as popular as those by Rossini and Suppé, with no less a figure than Tchaikovsky commenting on the ‘elegant clarity of his harmonisation, his delightful and striking melodies … and beautiful instrumentation.’ Full evidence is provided here in music that ranges across Auber’s creative periods where finesse of orchestral detail and piquant harmonies are met by verve and wit. Some of his least well-known music is encountered, as are scores that explore vivid dance themes, all presented with Auber’s gossamer orchestration and lightness of touch.

The fifteenth volume of the Haydn2032 cycle is entitled ‘La Reine’. One might think that this nickname refers to Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, queen of numerous territories, but in fact the monarch honoured by the popular title of Symphony no.85 is her daughter, Marie Antoinette. It was said to be the favourite of ‘La Reine de France’, which is the full nickname of the work.

Brahms was a spirited, fair-haired youth of twenty-one when he composed his first chamber work, essaying the delicate art of the trio for piano and strings. The result was a masterpiece. Quartets, quintets, sextets followed… and many years went by before he returned twice more to the piano trio genre. The horn too was given its own trio, with a part that could be borrowed by the cello. The maturity and life experience he had gained left their mark over the years. The time had come for wisdom, gravity and nostalgia, while the inner passion and fire remained.

Since it was founded in 2015, this vivacious trio has revelled in big ideas and committed itself to refreshing great works of the piano trio repertory with a new dynamic. Following its debut recording of the complete Beethoven piano trios, no less, Trio Sōra has now delved into all that Brahms has to offer in the oeuvre for its second album, this Nme on the La Dolce Volta label.

David Pohle was one of Heinrich Schütz's most talented pupils although, unlike his master, Pohle did not compose only sacred vocal works; he also created a substantial body of instrumental music, including some thirty sonatas for four to eight instruments and a number of ballet suites. Pohle was very much an heir to the polyphonic tradition and was certainly influenced by the playing of Italian violinists, and particularly so by Carlo Farina, who lived in Dresden at that time. Pohle not only made use of Italian influences but also adapted models from French dance music: this explains the great diversity of structures in these sonatas, which in some respects also herald the outbursts of the stylus fantasticus. This is a revelatory first recording of Pohle’s complete sonatas.

Hailed by the international music press and highly praised by music connoisseurs, the recordings of Bach’s entire body of vocal music made by the Bach Collegium Japan (BCJ), its conductor Masaaki Suzuki and numerous prestigious soloists, many of whom have remained remarkably loyal to the undertaking from the outset, are here brought together to form the only complete set of these works in high-resolution format.

Violinists Simone Lamsma and Candida Thompson explore connections between J.S. Bach and Arvo Part on their new release Part uber Bach with Amsterdam Sinfonietta. Arvo Part's groundbreaking Tabula Rasa is presented alongside Bach's Concerto for Oboe and Violin in the version for 2 violins, and Part's own Collage uber B-A-C-H, written in 1964 wherein the Estonian master intertwines his own modernist music with phrases from J.S. Bach's music.

Luciano Pavarotti has long avoided doing the kind of solo crossover release often proffered by his Three Tenors comrades Plácido Domingo and José Carreras; indeed, in his liner introduction he claims that he was initially "very skeptical" of this project. He came around, though, and the result marks his first solo album of any kind in years.

A set of songs written by jazz musicians were arranged for this project by pianist Carlos Franzetti for piano, sax, bass, flute, clarinet, and a string quartet. The results are pleasing if not overly memorable. While the selections are often challenging, the interpretations are more middle-of-the-road and fairly accessible due to the strings. Franzetti and saxophonist Lawrence Feldman take most of the solos and their improvisations are excellent, although the utilization of strings and woodwinds smoothes over some of the rough edges of the compositions, making the results fairly safe if occasionally unpredictable.

The orchestral marimba is one of the most expressive instruments in the percussion battery, and enterprising performers such as Nathaniel Bartlett have the goal of expanding its repertoire by commissioning new pieces and arrangements of works originally written for other instruments. Bartlett has a special interest in creating multidimensional sound environments using computers and other electronics, and two of these pieces commissioned by Bartlett employ electronics. In purely musical terms, both Allan Schindler's Precipice and Greg Wilder's Interlude are attractive additions to the repertoire of music for marimba and electronics. Schindler's work in particular creates a vivid and mysterious soundscape that seamlessly integrates the acoustic and electronic worlds.

Although Mozart composed them in his early twenties, the three symphonies presented here can in no way be regarded as early works. Written around the time of his departure from Salzburg for Vienna, these symphonies show that Mozart could deliver attractive, varied, orchestrally colourful and characterful music to suit a variety of public tastes. They also show a young and ambitious composer seeking to forge an impregnable reputation in Europe’s musical capital city. These symphonies truly opened a new chapter in Mozart’s symphonic output, as he demonstrated his absolute mastery of orchestral writing. In addition to the three symphonies as we know them, this recording also includes a Minuet that may have been intended to form part of Symphony no.34.

The Dream of Gerontius by Edward Elgar is a two-part work for voices and orchestra composed in 1900 to text by John Henry Newman. Widely regarded as Elgar’s finest choral work, and by some his masterpiece, Gabrieli’s first-class performance, and McCreesh’s superb interpretation demonstrate why their recordings are seen as some of the best in classical music today.

Ennio is a captivating album by Gregoire and Collin Maret, released by Act. This collaboration showcases the unique blend of Gregoire's piano skills and Maret's harmonica expertise, resulting in a mesmerizing collection of tracks that effortlessly fuse jazz, classical, and cinematic influences.The album takes listeners on a musical journey filled with intricate melodies, emotive performances, and rich textures.

This recording is a reflection of several performances that took place over time and in varying acoustic environments, including collaborations with contemporary and aerial/vertical dance. The Cage works tend to be binary in form, and while meditatively free flowing in spirit, the architecture is clean and easily understood.