Following their critically acclaimed albums of Schubert (BIS-2597), Mozart and Birchall (BIS-2647), works for clarinet trio (BIS-2535) and, more recently, Beethoven and Berwald (BIS-2707), the Wigmore Soloists now turn their attention to twentieth-century English chamber works which, while eschewing some of the continent’s modernist tendencies, are both deeply personal and supremely written, highlighting the specific colours of each of the instruments.

Charles Owen and Katya Apekisheva perform a stunning selection of French 20th-century music for piano four hands. Both Milhaud and Poulenc were members of Les Six, a band of composers who specialised in producing colourful, quirky and highly original scores. Milhaud’s Scaramouche epitomises the wit and joie de vivre of this approach and has become one of his most popular works – although at the time the composer nearly forbade its publication. Poulenc combined grace and sparkling humour with a nobility that reflected his desire for a ‘return to simplicity’.

"Dalida by Ibrahim Maalouf", the new album of Ibrahim Maalouf. For the anniversary of the 30th anniversary of Dalida's death, the Barclay label wished to entrust to Ibrahim Maalouf an original creation around his repertoire. Surrounded by his big band and prestigious guests (Alain Souchon, Ben L'Oncle Soul, Melody Gardot, Monica Bellucci, Izia, Mika, Thomas Dutronc, Rokia Traore, Arno and Golshifteh Farahani), the trumpet player, composer and French-Lebanese arranger went to get the essence of the titles of Dalida that he carefully selected, to rearrange them in his own way, with humility. The jazz approach of Ibrahim Maalouf sublimates the work of Dalida.

"The Singles Collection: 2001–2011" is a compilation album by British virtual band Gorillaz. The album is a collection of the group's singles released between 2001 and 2011.

Puccini’s purely instrumental compositions, whether for orchestra or in the field of chamber music, were almost all written while he was still a student at the Milan Conservatory from 1880 to 1883. These works reflect the musical spirit of the time that shaped the young composer: the melodic influences of his teacher Amilcare Ponchielli and also the impressions left on him by the music of Richard Wagner. At the same time, however, these pieces already point ahead to Puccini the opera composer. It seems only logical, therefore, that many of the themes echoed in them subsequently reappeared in his stage works and became much more famous there than in their original form.

Baritone Trevor Alexander and pianist Peter Crockford present an album celebrating English Song – art-songs by composers well and not-so-well known, and some of the best examples of what is often called the Parlour Ballad, so beloved of audiences in the early years of the 20th century.

The name 'Chandos anthems' is most frequently associated with Handel, but he was not the first, nor the last, composer in the extravagant household of James Brydges, the Duke of Chandos from 1719. Working concurrently with Handel at Cannons was the Berlin native, Johann Christoph Pepusch'snearly 20 years Handel's seniora who took over as Director of Music by early 1719 whereupon he adopted a distinctly Venetian approach to sacred music, in the manner of Lotti and Vivaldi.

The Cincinnati Pops announced the release of its newest recording, JOY!, led by Cincinnati Pops Conductor John Morris Russell. JOY! will feature recordings of live performances from the Orchestra’s popular Holiday Pops programs, including a diverse and eclectic collection of favorite holiday classics in new arrangements. The latest release will include a new recording of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s “Christmas Overture,” which is complemented with creative new takes on traditional melodies like “Silent Night” and “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” folk tunes like “Mis zeh Hidlik” and “The Ukrainian Bell Carol,” as well as contemporary songs like “Blue Christmas” featuring singer and trombonist Aubrey Logan.

The Te Deum in C major, WAB 45, is a setting of the Te Deum hymn, composed by Anton Bruckner for SATB choir and soloists, orchestra, and organ ad libitum.

"In conversations about Franz Schmidt the recurring theme emerging for many is that listening to a performance of his music at a young age became the turning point in their lives –the realization of how powerful music can be," says Jonathan Berman, whose longtime love of Franz Schmidt's work has its origins in a performance preparation for his Fourth Symphony.

This album hums and growls, it whispers very delicately and causes a pleasant feeling again and again. It is the warm, deep and full tone of the double bass that has taken hold of the young Viennese soloist Dominik Wagner. This is already the fourth album he is releasing on the label Berlin Classics. As on the three previous albums, he has placed the double bass at the center, and yet everything is different on the new album "Double Bass Rhapsody".

Just in time for the holiday season, Seraphic Fire’s 17th studio album, The Apple Tree: Christmas with Seraphic Fire, will be available to purchase and stream on all major platforms on Nov. 17. James K. Bass, the conductor of the album, said of the project, “One of the goals we were trying to achieve on the new Christmas recording was to capture the intimate atmosphere the audience experiences when they walk into the candlelit sanctuary surrounded by 13 a cappella voices singing such magnificent and meaningful music.”

French TV's newest CD, A Ghastly State Of Affairs is their 15th in their long history. It is also their first album not to be self-released. Headed up by charter member bassist/composer Mike Sary, he is joined again by guitarist Kasumi Yoneda (also from the Japanese band TEE), keyboardist Patrick Strawser (best known for his work in the 90's band Volare), and now by the original drummer from FTV's first three abums, Fenner Castner.

During the eighteenth century an oratorio was the dramatic setting of an action that was mostly of sacred character and was represented by several persons as well as by a choir and an orchestra. Various plot elements – even dramatic ones – determined the character of the particular composition. This also applies to the present Christmas Oratorio, which was pieced together in this form not by Telemann himself but for this new pre- sentation as a so-called pasticcio, a form that enjoyed popularity already in the eighteenth century.