![Eric Ferring, Madeline Slettedahl, Quatuor Agate – We have tomorrow (2023) [FLAC 24 bit, 96 kHz]](https://imghd.xyz/images/2023/10/05/ybx6pngicvc6a_600.md.jpg)
Eric Ferring, Madeline Slettedahl, Quatuor Agate – We have tomorrow (2023) [FLAC 24 bit, 96 kHz]
The emotive young American tenor Eric Ferring delivers a moving and ambitious collection of art songs with a chamber music emphasis. In this follow-up release to his acclaimed debut album No Choice but Love (Lexicon Classics), Ferring is joined to great effect by pianist Madeline Slettedahl and the French ensemble Quatuor Agate.
![Ekaterina Siurina, Constantine Orbelian, Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra – Where is my beloved? (2023) [FLAC 24 bit, 96 kHz]](https://imghd.xyz/images/2023/10/24/o5lpzp19u10jc_600.md.jpg)
Ekaterina Siurina, Constantine Orbelian, Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra – Where is my beloved? (2023) [FLAC 24 bit, 96 kHz]
One of the leading sopranos of her generation, Ekaterina Siurina enjoys an international career that takes her to the top opera houses in Europe and America. She made her professional debut as Gilda in Rigoletto, singing opposite the world-renowned baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky. Commenting on her recent performance as Violetta in La bohème, Parterre Box called her singing “deeply touching, with arching beams of tone.”
![Eleonor Bindman – J.S. Bach: Partitas, BWV 825-830 (2022) [FLAC 24bit, 96 kHz]](https://imghd.xyz/images/2022/06/16/xbzkandvny9ca_600.md.jpg)
Eleonor Bindman – J.S. Bach: Partitas, BWV 825-830 (2022) [FLAC 24bit, 96 kHz]
The profound and delightful Partitas, J. S. Bach’s Opus 1, sparkle in Eleonor Bindman’s brilliant performance. Her unhurried tempos bring out the twists, turns and quick modulations of the dance movements and preludes of this unparalleled set of six suites — famous in Bach’s day and today for their vitality and depth. Bindman’s spirited recording enriches the listener’s experience by revealing the power and emotional nuances of the suites.
![Ekaterina Siurina, Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra, Constantine Orbelian – Amour éternel (2020) [FLAC 24 bit, 96 kHz]](https://imghd.xyz/images/2023/01/04/puuze6ufk6uya_600.md.jpg)
Ekaterina Siurina, Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra, Constantine Orbelian – Amour éternel (2020) [FLAC 24 bit, 96 kHz]
Internationally renowned soprano Ekaterina Siurina, in her first album for Delos, presents a choice array of beautifully sung French and Italian opera arias by Gustave Charpentier, Charles Gounod, Georges Bizet, Giacomo Puccini and Giuseppe Verdi. Siurina’s husband, acclaimed tenor Charles Castronovo, joins her in famous duets from Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette and Puccini’s La bohème. Sensitive and sonorous orchestral support comes courtesy of the Kaunas City Symphony orchestra under the baton of GRAMMY-nominated conductor Constantine Orbelian.
![Emanuele Segre, Orchestra I Pomeriggi musicali, Carlo Boccadoro – Italian Guitar Concertos (2020) [FLAC 24 bit, 88,2 kHz]](https://imghd.xyz/images/2023/01/08/lkyw7c5d36e2a_600.md.jpg)
Emanuele Segre, Orchestra I Pomeriggi musicali, Carlo Boccadoro – Italian Guitar Concertos (2020) [FLAC 24 bit, 88,2 kHz]
Spain may be the ancestral home of the guitar, but Italy has produced wonderful guitarists and guitar music – witness Italian virtuoso Emanuele Segre and his new release on Delos, Italian Guitar Concertos. Segre brings his “rhythmic buoyancy,” “delicate touch,” and “persuasive playing” to a delightful programme ranging from Vivaldi and Giuliani concertos to new creations.
![David Shifrin – The Cave of Wondrous Voice (2020) [FLAC 24 bit, 96 kHz]](https://imghd.xyz/images/2022/12/08/lzb8osl4jr3mb_600.md.jpg)
David Shifrin – The Cave of Wondrous Voice (2020) [FLAC 24 bit, 96 kHz]
The music in this album sings and dances, in Abels colorful blend of styles that serve the emotional nature of each work to bracing and poignant effect (Gramophone). It further clarifies why Abel is one of the most interesting figures in American contemporary music (Pizzicato). Composer Mark Abel has been based in California for the past three decades. Abels idiom eludes easy pigeon-holing. It includes chamber music and vocal works, whose contours extend from art song to larger forms with orchestra to a 103-minute chamber opera, Home Is a Harbor. This is Marks fifth release on Delos.
![Dawn Wohn, Emely Phelps – Unbounded (2023) [FLAC 24 bit, 96 kHz]](https://imghd.xyz/images/2023/09/02/ew5icyhu3t8ca_600.md.jpg)
Dawn Wohn, Emely Phelps – Unbounded (2023) [FLAC 24 bit, 96 kHz]
Unbounded: Music by American Women builds on the success of Perspectives, Dawn Wohn’s premiere album that showcased music by women from around the world.
Unbounded features Amy Beach’s Sonata for Violin and Piano, and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Jennifer Higdon’s “Smoky Mountain Air”. Works by two African American women, Dorothy Rudd Moore and Irene Britton Smith complete this exciting new recording.
Moore’s “Three Pieces for Violin and Piano” are succinct, condensed statements that juxtapose playful and serious exchanges between the players.
![David Shifrin – Nielsen: Clarinet Concerto & Chamber Music with Clarinet (2018) [FLAC 24 bit, 96 kHz]](https://imghd.xyz/images/2022/12/08/kvh6cwi81dvla_600.md.jpg)
David Shifrin – Nielsen: Clarinet Concerto & Chamber Music with Clarinet (2018) [FLAC 24 bit, 96 kHz]
This delightful and lighthearted album features virtuoso clarinetist David Shifrin performing Carl Nielsen’s Clarinet Concerto in a newly arranged accompaniment for chamber orchestra. The dramatic work unfolds unpredictably in short, contrasting episodes that allow the soloist to explore a range of moods and colours.
We are then treated to Nielsen’s charming Six Humorous Bagatelles, written for his children. From the simply put “Hello, Hello” to the final “Musical Clock,” these endearing pieces radiate good humor and adventure.
Nielsen’s early Fantasy Pieces with their varying moods and harmonic twists reveal Nielsen’s romantic side, and his Serenata in Vano for wind quintet shows off Nielsen’s affinity for wind instruments and his quirky, playful sensibility.
“If there is a bel canto school of clarinet playing, Shifrin is surely its finest exponent.” (The Los Angeles Times)
![Dominic Cheli – Erwin Schulhoff: Shapeshifter (2022) [FLAC 24 bit, 96 kHz]](https://imghd.xyz/images/2022/11/20/wcpkr2f88zuoa_600.md.jpg)
Dominic Cheli – Erwin Schulhoff: Shapeshifter (2022) [FLAC 24 bit, 96 kHz]
Dominic Cheli (26) won first prize at the Concert Artists Guild Competition and was named winner at Music Academy of the West Concerto Competition in 2017. Dominic has performed with symphonies including San Diego, Columbus, Princeton, and Virginia as well as Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie. Most recently, Dominic had his Carnegie Hall recital debut, and Naxos released his second album featuring the music of Liszt and Schubert. He debuted at several festivals including the Aspen Music Festival, Mostly Mozart Festival, and the Virginia Arts Festival. Dominic has performed as an artist for Project: Music Heals Us, a non-profit organization that presents interactive classical music performances to diverse audiences in order to provide encouragement, education, and healing with a focus on elderly, disabled, rehabilitating, incarcerated, and homeless populations. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music, a Master of Music degree from Yale University and an Artist Diploma from Colburn School. His past teachers include Zena Ilyashov, Peter Frankl, André-Michel Schub, Sylvia Rosenberg and Fabio Bidini.
![Christopher Atzinger – Piano Music of John Knowles Paine (2019) [FLAC 24 bit, 48 kHz]](https://imghd.xyz/images/2022/11/19/pr8ll39ady1ub_600.md.jpg)
Christopher Atzinger – Piano Music of John Knowles Paine (2019) [FLAC 24 bit, 48 kHz]
John Knowles Paine was the first American-born composer to earn widespread recognition for his larger-scale symphonic works. But his smaller-scale compositions—in particular his beautifully crafted piano pieces—have been largely forgotten. With this album’s lovely and wondrously performed music, the acclaimed pianist Christopher Atzinger seeks to redress such unjustified neglect. Being the eldest of the fabled “Boston Six” band of composers, Paine was also the first to receive advanced training in Europe. Some have called him the finest American composer of his time. And, as the nation’s first American-born music professor, the curriculum he developed at Harvard was adopted by academic music departments across the country and has profoundly influenced advanced American musical training ever since.
![Cappella SF, Ragnar Bohlin, Isabelle Demers, Mason Bates – Mass Transmission (2019) [FLAC 24 bit, 44,1 kHz]](https://imghd.xyz/images/2022/11/04/xyrcibuop0idb_600.md.jpg)
Cappella SF, Ragnar Bohlin, Isabelle Demers, Mason Bates – Mass Transmission (2019) [FLAC 24 bit, 44,1 kHz]
Named by Musical America as the 2018 ‘Composer of the Year’, Grammy-winning composer Mason Bates is widely renowned for his pioneering practice of creating music for conventional performing forces enhanced by electronic sounds. Of the two works presented in this remarkable album, Mass Transmission—in its world premiere recording—is a particularly winning example of Bates’ use of ‘electronica’, blended here with music for mixed choir and organ. Sirens, lacking electronica, still achieves mesmerizing vocal effects through its complex scoring for 12-part a cappella choir.
![Conspirare, Craig Hella Johnson – The Singing Guitar (2020) [FLAC 24 bit, 96 kHz]](https://imghd.xyz/images/2022/10/31/d3mxn3u81h2qa_600.md.jpg)
Conspirare, Craig Hella Johnson – The Singing Guitar (2020) [FLAC 24 bit, 96 kHz]
Music for choir and guitars with Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, Texas Guitar Quartet, Austin Guitar Quartet and cellist Douglas Harvey.
The wonderful Conspirare chamber choir, known for its interpretive depth and otherworldly sonic lushness, offers another of its captivating programs—this time joined by three superb guitar quartets—in a program remarkably relevant to our time.
![Conspirare, Miró Quartet, Craig Hella Johnson – House of Belonging (2023) [FLAC 24 bit, 96 kHz]](https://imghd.xyz/images/2023/09/16/kx7bemg8pqseb_600.md.jpg)
Conspirare, Miró Quartet, Craig Hella Johnson – House of Belonging (2023) [FLAC 24 bit, 96 kHz]
Conspirare, the nonpareil and GRAMMY®-winning choral ensemble from Austin, Texas, presents an emotionally rich and wide-ranging program with House of Belonging.
Known worldwide for “expanding the boundaries of choral performance” (Wall Street Journal), Conspirare has for this album teamed up with the superb Miró Quartet to present a tapestry of intriguing new works by both well-known and emerging American composers.
Conspirare’s founder and leader, Craig Hella Johnson, commissioned many of the pieces on House of Belonging and composed the opening track himself. The album’s texts convey and explore themes about spirituality, philosophy, the natural world and the human need for deep connection with others.
Composers Kevin Puts, Derrick Skye, Alex Berko, Moira Smiley, Ross Lee Finney, Shara Nova, Michael Schachter and Margaret Bonds were recruited for the project. The emotive texts include verses by Euan Tait, John Muir, William Stafford, Wendell Berry, Rabindranath Tagore, David Whyte, Langston Hughes, Ludwig van Beethoven and Hildegard of Bingen.
Throughout the album, one is struck again and again by the marvels of the Conspirare style — an uncommon transparency of choral sound with ethereal characteristics, surges of power at the right times and exceptional vocal solos.
![Conspirare, Craig Hella Johnson – The Hope of Loving (2019) [FLAC 24 bit, 176,4 kHz]](https://imghd.xyz/images/2022/10/31/brwgocorx6p7a_600.md.jpg)
Conspirare, Craig Hella Johnson – The Hope of Loving (2019) [FLAC 24 bit, 176,4 kHz]
Born in 1986, Jake Runestad, an Illinois native, has studied with such figures as Bernard Rands, David Lang, Tania León, Christopher Rouse and Jake Heggie: all composers with very diverse aesthetics. Runestad is clearly influenced by simplicity in harmony, and classicism in textures, which he will have found in Heggie, Lang or Rands to a lesser extent. His aim as a composer of vocal works? “A desire for beauty”. The music supports lyrics inspired by the poet Todd Boss (a great friend of the composer, upon whom he left a lasting imprint), which tell authentic stories of profoundly human experiences, all within the framework of an immediate, seductive writing style, which encourages communion with others. Jake Runestad is ecumenical, for sure. The works presented here, including the very beautiful Waves which opens the album, are given a magisterial interpretation in all their harmonic splendour, and not without the naïveté which we sometimes find in the performances of Craig Hella Johnson’s Conspirare ensemble, which is well-versed in contemporary music and has created many magnificent albums for harmonia mundi. How could one resist the engrossing Let My Love Be Heard, with its distant echoes of Adagio (or Agnus Dei) by Barber? – Pierre-Yves Lascar
![Brian Zeger, Isabel Leonard – Gathering (2022) [FLAC 24bit, 96 kHz]](https://imghd.xyz/images/2022/05/17/oc8lr5x81ix9a_600.md.jpg)
Brian Zeger, Isabel Leonard – Gathering (2022) [FLAC 24bit, 96 kHz]
This unabashedly eclectic album features stirring and varied songs by American composer Ben Moore, written over a period of some 30 years and ranging from modern art song to musical theater and cabaret. The texts span some 2,600 years from the ancient poet Sappho to contemporary lyrics. Conceived early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Gathering is united by its message of hope in troubled times and hope for a brighter future.
![Armen Badalyan – Komitas: Divine Liturgy (2020) [FLAC 24bit, 96 kHz]](https://imghd.xyz/images/2022/07/05/yv00i87ewysvb_600.md.jpg)
Armen Badalyan – Komitas: Divine Liturgy (2020) [FLAC 24bit, 96 kHz]
YEREVAN, JUNE 12, ARMENPRESS. On June 11, upon the initiative, organization, and support of the Embassy of Armenia in Latvia (residence in Vilnius), famous American Delos Productions record label has released Komitas’ “Divine Liturgy” full concert version exclusive CD to mark the 150th anniversary of the great composer and priest, the Embassy told Armenpress.
The recording of the “Liturgy” was preceded by the concert performance held on September 20, 2019, in Riga’s oldest St. John’s Church by the Latvian Radio Choir along with Armenian soloists Hovhannes Nersisyan and Armen Badalyan, conducted by Sigvards Kļava, after which the recording took place in the same church.
The release of the album is unique in the sense that for the first time in history a non-Armenian mixed choir, namely the Latvian Radio Choir, performed and then recorded the full concert version of Komitas’ Liturgy.
The preparatory works of the project lasted for about three years during which in 2017 and 2018 the Latvian Radio Choir performed excerpts from Komitas’ pieces at concerts organized by the Embassy of Armenia in Latvia. Then, composer Vache Sharafyan managed to transcribe Komitas masterpiece, originally designated for a performance by a male choir, into a mixed choir performance. The release of the album may further enhance the interest of the musical world towards Komitas. French-Armenian Komitas scholar-musicologist Mkrtich Mkrtchyan and Latvian Armenologist Valda Salmiņa also worked with the choir.
![Andrew Balio, Bruce Bengtson – Soli Deo Gloria (2020) [FLAC 24bit, 192 kHz]](https://imghd.xyz/images/2022/06/19/lp6doyzyn40sa_600.md.jpg)
Andrew Balio, Bruce Bengtson – Soli Deo Gloria (2020) [FLAC 24bit, 192 kHz]
Virtuoso trumpeter Andrew Balio’s superlative transcriptions of music by J.S. Bach delight the listener with both new and familiar sounds.
Bach affirmed that “the aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul.” At the end of his compositions he wrote Soli Deo Gloria “To God alone, the glory,” emphasizing his deep faith and devotion.
The trumpet sings, sighs, speaks and prays. Balio and organist Bruce Bengtson partner in this exceptional album of the enduring music of J.S. Bach.