Semyon Bychkov and the Czech Philharmonic's acclaimed Mahler cycle on Pentatone crosses the finishing-line next month, with other highlights for late spring including Austro-Hungarian operetta from Jonas Kaufmann, the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra and Dirk Kaftan on Sony, a live Ring Cycle from Fabio Luisi and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra on Delos (with Lise Lindstrom as Brünnhilde, Mark Delavan as Wotan/The Wanderer and Daniel Johansson as Siegfried), and French orchestral favourites from John Wilson and Sinfonia of London on Chandos.
Mahler: Symphonies Nos. 1-9
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Semyon Bychkov
The first five symphonies in Bychkov's Mahler cycle were released individually between 2022 and 2025, and have been praised for the 'superlative individual and collective quality in every orchestral department' (BBC Music Magazine on No. 2) and 'the orchestra’s magical combination of richness, precision and nuance' (The Times on No. 1). Symphonies Nos. 6-9 are released for the first time here; soloists in No. 8 include Kateřina Kněžíková, Jennifer Johnston and David Butt Philip.
Released 10th April.
Available formats: 11 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Magische Töne
Jonas Kaufmann (tenor), Hungarian State Opera Orchestra, Dirk Kaftan
Exploring late-Romantic opera and operetta from the Austro‑Hungarian Empire, this recital includes arias and duets from Emmerich Kálmán's Gräfin Mariza and Die Csárdásfürstin, Franz Lehár's Das Land des Lächelns and Giuditta, Karl Goldmark’s Die Königin von Saba, Paul Abraham's Viktoria und ihr Husar, Ferenc Erkel's Bánk bán, and Jenő Huszka's Bob herceg.
Released 10th April.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen
Mark Delavan (Wotan/Wanderer), Lise Lindstrom (Brünnhilde), Daniel Johansson (Siegfried), Sara Jakubiak (Sieglinde), Christopher Ventris (Siegmund), Stephen Milling (Hunding/Hagen), Tómas Tómasson (Alberich), Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Fabio Luisi
Released to mark the 150th anniversary of the first performance of the cycle at Bayreuth and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s 125th anniversary season, this Ring was recorded live in concert in October 2024, when Texas Classical Review enthused that 'Luisi's interpretation of the music and merging of the orchestra with the voices was superb'. The Italian maestro conducted Siegfried and Götterdämmerung at the Metropolitan Opera in 2012-13, when The New York Times praised his 'uncommonly articulate and nuanced account' of the latter opera.
Released 22nd May.
Available formats: 13 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
French Orchestral Favourites
Sinfonia of London, John Wilson
This all-French programme from Sinfonia of London comprises Dukas's L'Apprenti sorcier, Chabrier's March Joyeuse, Ravel's Une barque sur l’océan, Saint-Saëns's Danse macabre, Bizet's Carmen Suite (with the movements reordered by Wilson), and Wilson's own youthful orchestration of 'Clair de lune' from Debussy's Suite bergamasque.
Released 1st May.
Available formats: SACD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Albares
Pacho Flores (trumpet), Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Domingo Hindoyan
This triptych of Latin American works takes its title from Flores's own concerto for flugelhorns, which was greeted with a standing ovation at its Liverpool premiere in 2023; the programme is completed by Roberto Sierra's Salseando and Gabriela Ortiz's Altar de Bronce (both of which were written for Flores). Conductor and soloist have been friends since their youthful days in Venezuela's El sistema, with Flores coming to Liverpool as Artist in Residence during the 2022-23 season.
Released 24th April.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Alto Appassionato
Timothy Ridout (viola), Jonathan Ware (piano)
Ridout describes this album as 'a journey into a very tightly-knit musical world in Paris at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century'. The mainstay of the programme is his own arrangement of Franck's Violin Sonata, which is preceded by his transcriptions of six popular songs by Fauré, plus three pieces commissioned by the Paris Conservatoire under Fauré's directorship: Léon Honnoré's Morceau de concert, Enescu's Konzertstück, and Henri Büsser's Appassionato.
Released 24th April.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
Inferno
Behzod Abduraimov (piano)
The Uzbek pianist performed this programme at Wigmore Hall last week, when The Observer described his account of Stravinsky's solo piano transcription of Petrushka as 'a study in dazzling pianism, highly effective when delivered with such brio'. It's preceded on the album by Czerny's Variations on a Theme by Rode, 'Après une lecture de Dante' from Liszt's Années de pèlerinage and Debussy's Suite Bergamasque, with Brahms's Intermezzo Op. 119 No. 1 as a postscript.
Released 8th May.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Vesper
Sean Shibe (guitar)
The Scottish guitarist's fifth solo album for Pentatone opens with Thomas Adès's Forgotten Dances, composed for Shibe in 2023 and including movements dedicated to Max Ernst and Berlioz: the final movement (based on Purcell's An Evening Hymn) gives the album its title. The programme also features the world premiere recording of James Dillon's 12 Caprices, the Habanera from Adès's 2016 opera The Exterminating Angel, and Harrison Birtwistle's Beyond the White Hand: Construction with Guitar Player.
Released 17th April.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
De Hartmann: Esther
Corinne Winters (Esther), Yuriy Yurchuk (Assuérus), Andrew Foster-Williams (Mardochée), Bernard Richter (Aman), Olga Bezsmertna (Élise), Edwin Crossley-Mercer (Hydaspe /Asaph), Paul Appleby (Chantre); Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Kirill Karabits
This is the world premiere of Thomas De Hartmann's 1946 opera-oratorio, inspired by Jean Racine's play on the Biblical story of an orphaned Jewish girl who becomes Queen of Persia and foils a courtier's plots for a Jewish genocide. The Ukrainian-born Hartmann began work on the score shortly after his home outside Paris was seized during the Nazi occupation of France.
Released 24th April.
Available formats: 2 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Charles Silver: La belle au bois dormant
Thomas Dolié (Le Roi), Guylaine Girard (Aurore/La Reine), Kate Aldrich (La Fée Urgèle/Dame Gudule), Adrien Fournaison, Julien Dran (Le Prince/Le Chevalier errant), Matthieu Lécroart (Barnabé); Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra, Hungarian National Choir, György Vashegyi
A student of Massenet and Dubois, Silver won the Prix de Rome in 1891 and composed this opera on Perrault's Sleeping Beauty four years later; it was premiered in Marseilles in 1902, with Silver's wife Georgette Bréjean-Gravière (who had created the role of La Fée in Massenet's Cendrillon) as Aurore/La Reine.
Released 24th April.
Available formats: 2 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 48 kHz, 24 bit)
The Romantic Piano Concerto
1991 - 2007 Edition
Spanning the first twenty-six years of Hyperion's landmark series, this collection features 130 works, 59 composers and 19 pianists, with highlights including Scharwenka, Mendelssohn and Saint-Saëns from Sir Stephen Hough, Henselt, Korngold, Busoni and Alkan from Marc-André Hamelin, and Moszkowski, Paderewski, Parry and Delius from Piers Lane. A second volume covering 2008-present will be released in the autumn.
Released 10th April.
Available format: 50 CDs
