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These two Tenth Symphonies represent powerful statements by composers undergoing the greatest of crises in their eventful lives. Gustav Mahler’s last and incomplete symphony was kept a secret by his widow Alma for many years after his death, the desperate scrawl of ‘Almschi!’ on its final page an outburst at her betrayal of their marriage. Shostakovich’s intense and deeply symbolic Symphony No. 10, considered by many to be his finest, was kept hidden by the composer for fear of Soviet reprisals, and was only performed after Stalin’s death in 1953.

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Claudio Santoro’s prolific output includes a cycle of 14 symphonies that is widely recognised as the most significant of its kind from Brazil. All of the works in this programme come from Santoro’s remarkable final decade, in which he allied more traditional and eclectic styles to his earlier experiments. Both the Concerto Grosso and the Three Fragments on BACH were written for student orchestras, but are nonetheless substantial pieces which show his command of writing for strings. The Eleventh Symphony is one of the densest and most dramatic of the cycle, its finale exploding into an evocation of the opening of Brahms’ First Symphony, while the Twelfth Symphony is an unusual ‘sinfonia concertante’ for nine soloists and orchestra.

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The rediscovery of Florence Price’s music has revealed one of the most significant bodies of work by an African American composer in the 20th century. The variety of genres represented on this release place Price’s immense artistic imagination on full display. The two Concert Overtures explore her engagement with spirituals, both episodically and coloristically, in music that embraces the somber, the poignant and the ebullient. Songs of the Oak is a tour de force of Hollywood-influenced storytelling while The Oak offers a more anxious, ultimately tragic portrait. Price’s best-known work is the Suite of Dances – originally for piano it is heard here in the composer’s full, sumptuous orchestration.

This album presents a selection of Saint-Saëns’ incidental music and music from his operas. From Samson et Dalila – the only one of Saint-Saëns’ operas to remain in the repertory – we hear two memorable and adrenalin-fuelled dances including the famous Bacchanale. Henry VIII drew from the composer music of regal solemnity with plenty of colourful scoring, praised by Gounod. The lukewarm reception to Étienne Marcel came as a bitter disappointment to Saint-Saëns but the customary ballet includes a strong element of delightful 14th-century pastiche. The incidental music to the play Parysatis received tumultuous acclaim at its premiere in 1902 and includes the delightful Airs de ballet flecked by the use of crotales (antique finger-cymbals).

Hugo Alfvén’s music has always been close to the hearts of the Swedish people, and ranks among some of the most significant and representative of the spirit of the country. Alfvén is known as a cheerful entertainer in compositions such as Den förlorade sonen (‘The Prodigal Son’), but his symphonies reveal a different, more elegiac and often more dramatic side. The success of Alfvén’s symphonies fundamentally changed Sweden’s musical climate and, with a substantial collection of further orchestral music representing his gloriously rich and varied style, these recordings sweep us into the remarkable world of Scandinavian landscape and culture.

Symphonic in scale and ambition, the incidental music to Shakespeare’s play The Tempest was among the last orchestral works Sibelius composed before entering the mysterious ‘silence of Järvenpää’ that lasted until his death. Commissioned by leading Danish theatre producer Johannes Poulsen in 1925, the wide expressive demands of the play saw Sibelius calling on large musical forces. From the terrifying tone picture of the opening shipwreck via ethereal songs, boisterous character portraits and remarkable evocations of nature, Sibelius took full advantage of being set free to convert the themes of Shakespeare’s magical world into his own unique sound.

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Jettisoning the support of teaching and conducting appointments early in his career and working solely as a professional composer, Sir Edward German rose to prominence as a composer of orchestral music in the last decade of the 19th century. The popularity of his music resulted in prestigious commissions from festivals and theatrical producers, such as The Seasons written for the 1899 Norwich Festival, with its masterly evocations of nature, nostalgic yearnings and rustic festivities. The Theme and Six Diversions, one of the composer’s finest concert works, owed its inspiration to a suggestion by German’s friend and admirer Sir Edward Elgar.

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Concertante orchestral works for more than one keyboard instrument saw a revival after the First World War with the neo-Baroque trends of the time helping to revitalise the neglected concerto grosso genre. Recorded here in a new version with three pianos, Martin’s Petite symphonie concertante reflects the dark tensions of the Second World War, while Poulenc’s delightful Concerto for Two Pianos is infused with the spirit of Mozart in its rich and eclectic stylistic tapestry. Shostakovich’s Concertino, in a new orchestral version, shifts between superficial Soviet entertainment and heartfelt expressiveness, and the songs quoted in Aryeh Levanon’s Land of Four Languages symbolise a hope for peace and harmony in Israel.

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Since the 1960s the Polish accordion concerto has enjoyed increasing popularity and in recent years no one has inspired more composers to write for the instrument than Klaudiusz Baran. The three most important Polish concertos are showcased in this album. Marcin Błażewicz’s concerto possesses a fascinating wealth of colours with spectacular passages and melodic arabesques cast in a richly communicative language. Mikołaj Majkusiak’s youthful Concerto Classico is a virtuosic synthesis of old and contemporary forms, while in 1973 Bronisław Przybylski wrote a swashbuckling concerto full of the folkloric influence of Polish dances.

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Baroque works for oboe have long been fertile ground for transcription to the trumpet and there are several examples here of this refashioning. The sequence of concertos and sonatas include examples from Handel’s Italian years, and from Johann Gottfried Stölzel, who was strongly influenced by Vivaldi. Telemann’s marvellously inventive Concerto in D major is performed on the modern flugelhorn. In addition, there is the only known surviving work from Johann Michael Fasch, younger brother of the more famous Johann Friedrich.

The tetralogy of four operas that form Der Ring des Nibelungen (‘The Ring of the Nibelung’) explores the conjunction of love and power in a mythic landscape in which true power resides in possession of the ring. Composed over more than a quarter of a century, monumental in scale, and structured after the precedent of Greek drama, the cycle was first performed in 1876. Staged by the award-winning director Stefan Herheim, this innovative new production from Deutsche Oper Berlin features a leading international cast conducted by Sir Donald Runnicles.

Composed using his own libretto, Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov created this magical opera based on the short story by Nikolay Gogol ‘The Night before Christmas’ in which Vakula the handsome blacksmith wants to marry the rich farmer’s daughter Oksana, who in turn demands that he must first bring her the Tsarina’s shoes. Meanwhile a witch on her broomstick gathers the stars and the devil steals the moon – demonic forces trying to hinder this romantic union. There is little repertoire in musical theatre in which enchantment and enlightenment come together so happily as in Rimsky-Korsakov’s fairy-tale operas, and this Oper Frankfurt production was considered ‘a perfect seasonal tonic’ by the Financial Times.

Maria Kliegel celebrates her 70th birthday in 2022 and this collection brings together some of her most outstanding recordings, personally selected by Kliegel from her vast Naxos discography. Known as ‘La Cellissima’, Maria Kliegel’s playing is characterised by a warmth, sensitivity and refinement that complements everything she performs. Combining the best from her teachers János Starker and Mstislav Rostropovich, and working alongside excellent orchestras and pianists, Kliegel’s inspirational joie de vivre radiates from all of these performances. From her GRAMMY-nominated Bach Cello Suites to a Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto ranked among the top 50 recordings of the 20th century by Scala, this collection is a major celebration of Maria Kliegel’s fluent virtuosity and irreplaceable musicianship.

Antonín Dvořák’s gift for melody was apparent as soon as he began writing music, and this naturally tuneful inspiration has long captured the imagination of arrangers. An expert in arranging for both orchestra and piano, Peter Breiner has selected 33 melodies in simple yet revealing piano reductions that give the listener an opportunity to journey with Dvořák through his career in Prague and ultimately overseas to America. This carefully curated programme also brings moods ranging from rustic celebration to nostalgic melancholy, and from traditional Czech dumka dances to the famous Song to the Moon, Dvořák’s most prized operatic aria.

Unless one lived in a major European centre with an orchestra, the opportunity to hear large-scale works by the great composers of the age was well-nigh impossible. The insatiable demand for new chamber versions of famed orchestral works saw Hummel arranging Beethoven’s Symphonies Nos. 2 and 6 ‘Pastoral’ not long after the great composer’s death. Hummel approached his task with great care, bringing a fresh perspective to the works in his sensitive and compelling chamber music configurations. Hummel’s arrangements of Symphonies Nos. 1 and 3 ‘Eroica’ can be heard on 8.574039.

An accomplished horn and viola player, York Bowen is said to have preferred the tone of the viola to the violin. Inspired by the virtuosity and vibrato style of the distinguished violist, Lionel Tertis, Bowen wrote several works for him and became his accompanist. Bowen’s subtle shifts of key and heartfelt melodies are well in evidence here, including the powerful and poised Rhapsody, Op. 149, considered to be one of his most important works. Gustav Holst’s daughter Imogen is represented here by the open-air freshness of her Four Easy Pieces and the terse, laconic narrative of her Duo for Viola and Piano. Britten’s spiky Waltz is full of 1930s wit.

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Repertoire for solo guitar has gained in depth and quality in recent decades, with acoustic and electronic techniques enjoying an ever more imaginative coexistence. Arturo Tallini’s recital explores contrasting approaches for his instrument, beginning with the ostinato textures of Reich’s Electric Counterpoint, an acknowledged classic in this field. Tallini’s transcriptions of early piano works by Cage create a mood of reverie, while Carter’s Changes forms a mercurial dialogue. James Dashow’s iPiece fuses acoustic and electronic elements to stunning effect, while Arthur Kampela’s Percussion Studies have proved pivotal in exploring new sounds for the guitar.

From the late Romanticism of the music from Pearl Harbour to the delicacy and refinement of The Girl with the Pearl Earring, Anna Scheps brings the full resources of the piano to bear on some of the most beautiful and rousing film scores of the last half century. Her arrangements for piano exude eloquent virtuosity and Lisztian rhapsodic lyricism as well as razor-sharp dynamism in the case of Mission: Impossible. She also includes the evocative sound world of Isaac Albéniz and the sparkling elegance of Scarlatti sonatas to create an album of ambitious bravura and poetry.

This second album of Mozart’s complete Masses (Volume 1 is on 8.574370) pairs one work of exceptional dimensions and ambition with a miniature example. The ‘Great’ Mass in C minor is one of Mozart’s most spectacular and cast on such a scale that it embraces every human and spiritual emotion, reconciling the Salzburg tradition with that of Italian opera. The Mass was left incomplete by Mozart – it is heard here in a performing version made by the German musicologist and Mozart specialist Franz Beyer. By comparison the Missa brevis in C major exudes a spirit of festive concision.

The Christmas carol has its origins in the Middle Ages but it has since embraced a wide variety of musical backgrounds. In this album, religious sentiment is set in many different contexts – from the mystery plays to an African American spiritual, from its origins in Gregorian Chant and 16th-century secular dance to traditional examples rooted in poetry. Some of the most famous and beautiful examples are heard alongside energising contemporary carols to present a tapestry of the genre across the centuries.

Through much of history the language of women has been told through men, but La Femme turns this narrative upside down. All of these composers share an unrelenting will to be artistic, often in opposition to the societies in which they found themselves. From the very earliest medieval verses by Kassia via the blind virtuoso Maria von Paradis’ famed Sicilienne and holocaust victim Ilse Weber’s moving Wiegala, to powerful modern statements by the likes of Niloufar Nourbakhsh and Flaka Goranci’s own contribution, The Speech of Love – this entire project is dedicated to all creative women in music.

This month, there are some fantastic new additions to the playlist!

• Georg Philipp Telemann: Horn Concerto in D Major, TWV 51:D8: I. Vivace (arr. for flugelhorn and ensemble) (Reiner, Interpreti Veneziani)
• Yann Tiersen: Amélie: Le Moulin (Anna Scheps)
• Francis Poulenc: Concerto for 2 Pianos in D Minor, FP 61: I. Allegro ma non troppo (MultiPiano, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Yablonsky)
• Claudio Santoro: Concerto Grosso: III. Finale: Allegro vivo
• Marcin Błażewicz: Accordion Concerto: III. Allegro con fuoco (Baran, Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Klauza)
• Camille Saint-Saëns: Samson et Dalila, Op. 47, Act III: Bacchanale (Residentie Orkest The Hague, Märkl)