Darius Milhaud and Bohuslav Martinů – contemporaries during the early twentieth century: contrasting both composers’ complete works for string trio reveals four marvels of intimate music-making, realised by the Jacques Thibaud Trio with their own artistic instinct and flair.

Departing from home: in Schelomo, Bloch examines his cultural and religious roots; in his cello concerto, Dvořák illustrates both his old and his new native countries, whilst the forest scene Klid represents a bridge and also an atmospheric reminiscence.

The works of five North American composers spanning the years between 1790 and 1940 offer an impressive insight into the inexhaustible wealth of North American piano music.

Absolute faithfulness to the musical text and youthful vigour right up to old age: Carl Schuricht (1880-1967), one of the last representatives of the generation of old German conductors during the post-war decades, focused on clear structures rather than romantic pathos or personal eccentricity. These two Lucerne live recordings demonstrate the compelling persuasiveness of his inspired objectivity, especially when performing alongside the celebrated Mozart interpreter Robert Casadesus, whose choice of tempi is particularly striking.

A contrast of extremes: Szymanowski’s idiosyncratic, often experimental sounds meet the direct musical language of Franck’s Romantic Violin Sonata. Franziska Pietsch and Detlev Eisinger bring out the thrilling contrasts with great expressiveness.

Following the quintets, the Mandelring Quartet now presents a recording of Brahms’ string sextets, revealing vividly the breadth of Brahms’ musical thinking. The sextets not only feature darker hues than the quartets, but they also present a wide spectrum of differentiation; not just in the temptation of compact, full sound, but also in the art of light and transparent writing.

No less than fifty years before historical performance practice first rose to prominence, the Bogenhauser Künstlerkapelle (1899–1939) was already playing historical instruments – propelled not by academic interest, but by curiosity and the pure joy of music-making. Their unusual repertoire encompassed Bavarian folk music and ballads along with works from the Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, and Romantic periods. This rediscovery of an early music avant-garde is brought to life here by the ensemble arcimboldo in the original instrumentation.

Ina Siedlaczek’s pure, nuanced soprano paves the way to the opulent baroque texts. The varied colours of the obbligato solo parts and the continuo provide a fitting context. These spiritual contemplations remain fascinating to the present day: a timeless musical message.

Released for the first time, these Berlin radio recordings showcase the Amadeus Quartet performing fourteen string quartets by Joseph Haydn alongside the string quartet version of the “Seven Last Words”. Three string quartets from Haydn’s early period – Op. 9/3, Op. 20/5 and Op. 33/2 – which the Amadeus Quartet never recorded on disc, are presented here for the very first time in the ensemble’s interpretation.

This CD showcases Jeroen Berwaerts’ musical versatility on several levels: he developed the concept of this CD, performs as a trumpet soloist and jazz vocalist and directs the ensemble. Defying genre boundaries, spirituals and spiritual music by Takemitsu, Gabrieli, Monteverdi, Gershwin and Ellington are combined, creating a new harmony.

The Quartetto di Cremona have completed another stage in their adventurous journey through the cosmos of Beethoven’s String Quartets, visiting the Quartet in G major from the Op. 18 set and the last of the Op. 59 Quartets. Both end with an “earworm”; one in the classical spirit and one in the form of a rapid fugue – finale furioso!

Stravinsky’s rarely-performed Violin Concerto, coupled with the main works of his repertoire for violin and piano. The composer first hesitated to write a violin concerto, but he went on to compose a masterwork in “Neoclassical” style in close collaboration with violinist Samuel Dushkin. He also made numerous arrangements for violin and piano, joining again with Dushkin to enrich the violin repertoire with his imaginative genius.

Several works can be heard here in interpretations by the Amadeus Quartet for the first time on CD – over a third of the repertoire featured in this recording. Schumann and Grieg are composers who had been completely absent in the quartet’s discography up until now, and every recording is a first CD release – making this edition a truly historical document. The Amadeus Quartet was noted for their intensive commitment to Romantic chamber music for strings, with a particular emphasis on the works of Johannes Brahms. Notable soloists and guest musicians are involved in around half of the works recorded.

Brahms’s string quintets, masterworks of his late style, demand a precise and sensitive conjunction of contrasts: combining cheerfulness and melancholy, expansive ideas and compressed form, reminiscences of the past (including his own early works) and the desire to express a new and valid musical message – all this needs to be both perfectly balanced and clearly articulated. The Mandelring Quartet with Roland Glassl has pulled off such a “knowing” interpretation, masterfully balancing the works’ inner tensions.

An outstanding violinist of the twentieth century, Wolfgang Schneiderhan was not only celebrated for his interpretations of the classical repertoire, but he also distinguished himself by his commitment to contemporary music. This is demonstrated in three previously unreleased live recordings from Lucerne including the world premiere of Frank Martin’s Magnificat, performed by its two dedicatees.

A young duo introduces itself. The interpretations of Cheng² Duo are steeped in a rare balance of unfiltered youthful joy and enthusiasm in their playing on one hand, and mature, historically informed, and profound interpretations on the other, commanding attention from the very first note. With their debut CD, Bryan and Silvie Cheng present a panorama of French chamber music written between 1860 and 1916.

Seven commissioned works, eight world premieres and first recordings – the new pieces for brass ensemble are worth listening to at every moment, always enjoyable, and never aloof or elitist. The new release by Salaputia Brass presents works remarkable for their powerful sound that have never been heard until now.

Christmas carols from Europe and South America: these traditional songs have been newly adapted for voice, accordion, violin, and percussion instruments. The result is an impressive kaleidoscope of folkloristic, international Christmas carols above and beyond the well-known melodies.

The third audite recording of the PianoDuo Takahashi|Lehmann presents transcriptions of pre-existing works as well as new compositions permeated with musical quotes and allusions. Drawing on musical history, existing works are approached in diverse ways, from using almost original material through to dissolving the classical concept of time and epochs.

These two chamber works represent Camille Saint-Saëns’ early perfection and his expressive classical mature style. Brilliance and an unerring sense of form; calm, melancholy resting and energetic gestures; romantic vocal qualities and exquisite compositional art – the contrasts characterising Saint-Saëns’ musical idiom are perfectly realised by the Quartetto di Cremona.

Maureen Forrester was one of the few genuine alto singers during the period after 1945. Encouraged by Bruno Walter, she was one of the most important Mahler interpreters of her time. The recordings released here, for the first time, document her activities in the area of the Lied accompanied by piano to an extent unknown until now, including her collaboration with the legendary accompanist Michael Raucheisen.

A well-regarded composer in his own right, Leopold I transformed the Viennese court into a centre of European culture. The beautiful settings he wrote for the burials of his first two wives, as well as his music for the Feast of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary, are testament to the Emperor’s musical talent.

Once more, an early and a late work provide insight into Beethoven’s startling development. Both pieces reveal how Beethoven incorporated folk music into his own works – in all other aspects, the styles of these two string quartets could not be more different.

This recording of Georg Muffat's monumental mass alongside church sonatas by his contemporaries creates a vivid impression of the imposing sacred music heard at leading Catholic courts during the High Baroque. The Abbey Church of Muri with its four galleries and its historical Bossart organs proves to be a performance venue with perfect acoustics for these polychoral works.

Sergei Prokofiev’s two Violin Sonatas, written during the 1940s, embody the deep dichotomy that characterised the composer’s life, feeling and work. The tragic Sonata No. 1 in F minor and the predominantly cheerful Sonata No. 2 in D major appear as two contrasting poles within his oeuvre. Prokofiev’s emotionally intensive melodies also unmistakably emerge in his own arrangement of the Cinq melodies for violin and piano.

A rediscovery of a conductor who nowadays is considered an insider’s tip: having fled fascism and Stalinism, Paul Kletzki arrived in Switzerland in 1939 and advanced to become one of the leading conductors after the Second World War. This Lucerne live recording shows Kletzki at the height of his art: exciting interpretations, characterised by expressiveness and a stupendous sense of musical architecture.

The continuation of the complete edition of the works for piano trio: two key works of Beethoven, complemented by the underrated Variations, Op. 44.

Concluding audite’s Schumann edition, this CD combines the first symphony with the late overtures, whose compactness displays the composer’s symphonic mastery.

In Schumann’s œuvre for solo instruments and orchestra, the Konzertstücke complement his solo concertos. Confined to one movement, they are more concentrated, more pointed in their characters and freer in the development of their ideas than their bigger siblings. The covertly multi-movement piece for four horns also harnesses the formal and poetic experience of the Fourth Symphony: Schumann was a composer with open borders.

Schumann’s most underestimated and his most famous concertos: Patricia Kopatchinskaja takes the experimental qualities of the Violin Concerto, a late work, as a guiding principle for her individual interpretation, rising above clichéd Romanticist listening habits. In the Piano Concerto, Denes Varjon also expresses a particular Romantic clarity, characterised by fresh sounds and fluid tempi.

With their Suites for Solo Viola Max Reger, Adolf Busch and Justus Weinreich paid tribute to the special qualities of the instrument as a soloist even before the production of viola repertoire began to flourish in the twentieth century. This CD includes the premiere recording of the Suites by Justus Weinreich: a significant musical discovery.

This recording presents an orchestra steeped in tradition – the Zagreb Soloists performing under their long-standing director, Antonio Janigro. The ensemble’s characteristically pure string sound is created by just twelve musicians. These first releases from the RIAS archive reveal a cross-section of the Zagreb Soloists’ repertoire from their early years with Antonio Janigro as conductor and soloist.

Marc Coppey, winner of the Leipzig Bach Competition, is one of today’s leading cellists. This recording – featuring Marc Coppey in the dual role of artistic director and soloist of the Zagreb Soloists for the first time – presents Haydn’s Cello Concertos, milestones in the history of cello music. The original and free-spirited A major Concerto by C. P. E. Bach makes an ideal companion piece.

This live recording from 1954 of the Beethoven Violin Concerto with Gioconda de Vito and the RIAS Symphony Orchestra under Georg Ludwig Jochum is of particular documentary value as the Italian violinist made no studio recording of the work. Alongside music by Vitali and Brahms, her Beethoven interpretation comes to life thanks to her soulful, romantic tone.

In their fifth volume of the Complete Beethoven Chamber Music for Strings, the Quartetto di Cremona – currently Italy’s most exciting string quartet – present an enraptured late work, the Quartet Op. 132 with the great Adagio “thanksgiving”, alongside Beethoven’s only String Quintet, Op. 29.

The fifth and final volume of audite’s complete recording of Edvard Grieg’s orchestral works reveals a less familiar side of the Norwegian national composer: as arranger of his own lyrical and patriotic songs, surrounded by elegiac and dance-like melodies.

Five intensive and virtuoso works by five composers of the 20th century. In their respective aesthetics, each composer shares the ability to use forms and models of music history as inspiration for his own modern musical language. Existentially, they shared a common fate: all were persecuted by the National Socialists. Some were murdered in concentration camps and others fled to continue their lives in exile.

Two pearls of pianism: Annie Fischer in a sensitive, chamber-like and exceptionally poetic reading of the Schumann Piano Concerto – one of her favourite pieces. Leon Fleisher, a few months before he was to lose the use of his right hand (recovering it only in old age), with Beethoven’s Second Piano Concerto in an inspirationally bright and crystal clear tone.

Christmas carols for the drawing room: in the 1950s, RIAS produced Christmas carols with artists such as Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Rita Streich, Erna Berger and Elisabeth Grümmer. Without the slightest whiff of sentimentality, the performers transform these Christmas miniatures into small gems.

A female cellist on stage in front of a big symphony orchestra – a rare sight during the first half of the twentieth century. Zara Nelsova, however, marked the beginning of a new era: she became a pivotal figure in the history of playing the cello. The RIAS recordings, made between 1956 and 1965, complement her discography substantially and include works which she never recorded for a commercial label.