This impressive new recording of Elgar’s oratorio The Dream of Gerontius features an outstanding line-up of soloists (mezzo-soprano Christine Rice, tenor John Findon, baritone Roderick Williams) and a chorus comprising singers from five choirs representing both Finland and the University of Cambridge. Elgar considered The Dream of Gerontius to be his magnum opus, describing at as ‘the best of me’, and this new release is certain to claim a place among the best recordings of the work. The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, nominated in 2023 for Gramophone’s Orchestra of the Year Award, is directed by their chief conductor Nicholas Collon.

Remembered by ambitious amateur pianists for his Rustle of Spring, Christian Sinding was a more important figure in the music of his native Norway than this might suggest; there, in his time, he was second only to Grieg. Trained in Leipzig, he fell under the influence of Liszt and Wagner, producing a large quantity of music that, although it enjoyed contemporary popularity, remains forgotten in today's concert programmes. Revealing the inherent fervour of his four symphonies, this album enjoys sensitive and enthusiastic interpretations from the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra under Karl-Heinz Steffens, for whom Sinding has become a composer close to his heart.

Bartók's pantomime ballet The Miraculous Mandarin was his final work for the stage. The music is relentlessly abrasive for long stretches, garishly dissonant, radical, probably the most modern score Bartók created. The premiere in Cologne in 1926 was a scandal and Konrad Adenauer, then Lord Mayor of Cologne, immediately cancelled the performances. In contrast, his Second Violin Concerto quickly established itself after its premiere in Amsterdam in 1939, both as one of the pivotal violin concertos of the first half of the 20th century and as one of Bartók's greatest creations. The conductor on this recording is the legendary Michael Gielen.

Lino Liviabella was a well-known pianist and award-winning composer during the early to mid-20th century and was a pioneer within the movement that sought to emancipate Italian instrumental music from the influence of 19th-century opera. The spirit of Liviabella’s music manifests itself as a creative journey through evocative sounds, fleeting impressions and strong dynamic contrasts. From the brilliantly virtuosic Sonata in un Tempo to the passionate Concerto for Violin and Piano, this programme of Liviabella’s chamber music presents the first significant works for violin and piano written in Italy in the first half of the 20th century. The album features violinist Hans Liviabella, the grandson of the composer.