- "Letter(s) to Erik Satie" - composers John Cage (b. 1912, Los Angeles) and Erik Satie (b. 1866, Normandy) were both innovators who pushed the boundaries of what music can be. Pianist Bertrand Chamayou pairs Satie's three Gymnopédies and seven Gnossiennes in conversation with five piano works by John Cage on this new release, and Cage's In a Landscape is a highlight: eight minutes of soft, wandering meditation.
- "Tractus" - Arvo Pärt's music is humble and prayerful, though it simplicity is not to be confused with a lack of substance; here is a composer who clearly understands that less is more. This album from the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra focuses on his works for voices and strings and is almost guaranteed to lower your blood pressure.
- "Profesión" - music from Agustín Barrios, Heitor Villa-Lobos, and Alberto Ginastera fills out this album, which derives its name from Barrios’s “Profesión de Fe” (profession of faith), a poem which he often used as a preface to his concerts. Guitarist Sean Shibe plays with deft fingers and conviction, leaning in to the flowery excess of this genius South American music.
- "Daphnis et Chloé" - John Wilson and the Sinfonia of London make magic happen in this new recording of Maurice Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé, a masterpiece of sound awash with color and fervor. The music blooms and blushes, and Wilson's attention to texture is absolutely remarkable.
- "Schumann: Piano Quartet & Quintet" - Robert Schumann's bursts of creativity operated in narrow ranges of repertoire for his full life, and his Piano Quartet and Piano Quintet are no exception, both being composed in the summer of 1842 when he turned his attention to chamber music. (Perhaps it's more than a coincidence that both pieces are in the key of E-flat.) The works are performed on period instruments in this release, lending a welcome authentic, warm sound throughout.
