- "Dante" - Described by the New York Times as a "dizzying homage to Liszt," Thomas Adès' new 90-minute work Dante is a feat of creativity. The LA Phil and Gustavo Dudamel successfully tackle this beast of a score, which draws inspiration from the alternately chilling and sunlit landscapes of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. This is music that delights in the unexpected, falling fresh on the ears from start to finish.
- "On a Clear Day" - Vocal ensemble Chanticleer shines on this album comprised primarily of works commissioned for them over the past two decades, their first album since the start of the pandemic. The choir's collective sound is lambent and lucid, and the music leaves a lasting impression of hopefulness.
- "Franck & Martin: Piano Quintets" - Martin Klett and Berlin-based Armida Quartet perform piano quintets by César Franck and Frank Martin. Martin's Piano Quintet is the highlight: richly dark and almost elegiac in nature, the work oozes with influences of Ravel and late Fauré.
- "Rolling River" - The Choir of Clare College, Cambridge, delivers an album of choral works by American composers Leonard Bernstein, Samuel Barber, Nico Muhly, David Lang, Jennifer Higdon, and Eric Whitacre. Higdon's O magnum mysterium is simply celestial, layering hushed melodies, pealing chimes, and crystal glasses to great effect.
- "Geister Duo" - French pianists David Salmon and Manuel Vieillard share music written for two pianos from Debussy and Stravinsky in this new release. Debussy's droopy, yearning Six épigraphes antiques serve as a prime example of the composer's late harmonic language; the piece was his only completed composition in the year 1914, and much of the music is taken from the musical accompaniments he had written in 1901 for his friend Pierre Louÿs's erotic lesbian poems Les Chansons de Bilitis.
- "Bohemia" - Take a moment to enjoy this collection of lesser-known pieces by Bedřich Smetana, Zdeněk Fibich, and Vítězslav Novák, played here with zeal by Paris-based Trio Hélios.
