Pianist Rafał Blechacz announces his upcoming album, on which he performs a selection of Chopin’s Mazurkas. It is exactly 20 years after winning the prestigious International Chopin Competition in 2005 that he revives these works, which are part of the competition’s key repertoire. His brand-new interpretation of the Mazurkas opp. 6, 17, 24, 41, 50, 56 & 63 is the starting point of an overarching project to record the complete Mazurkas on DG.

Several years in the making, the record is a 78-minute collection of songs loosely based upon the concept of human and cosmic interaction and relationships. Produced by the band and mixed by acclaimed engineer Stephen W Tayler (known for his work with Kate Bush, Rush, Howard Jones, Rupert Hine, Tina Turner and many more), Relativity is a true group effort by John Lees, Craig Fletcher, Jez Smith and Kevin Whitehead and draws upon the fine musical heritage of Barclay James Harvest whilst also being a body of music made for these current times. The result is one of the finest albums by any incarnation of BJH in many years.

To celebrate 60 years of this incredible journey, From The First Sting takes you through the band's most iconic and defining eras. Featuring 16 handpicked tracks, this collection showcases the band’s decades of work featuring 2 unreleased song versions.

Sometimes in life, an unexpected detour leads you right where you belong. Boz Scaggs’ captivating new album is proof of that. “I had no intention of making a record when I started singing these songs,” the Grammy-winner confesses. “It was all very casual at first, just an opportunity to explore a style of music I’ve always liked, to get together with a friend and play for the sheer joy of it.”

Lang Lang’s Piano Book 2 presents a new collection of essential piano favorites—a rich blend of classical masterpieces, modern favorites and treasured themes from gaming, anime, and film. Following the unprecedented popularity of Lang Lang’s Piano Book (2019), global superstar Lang Lang extends the instrument’s canon with passion and joy, inviting listeners of all ages into the dynamic world of piano. “I hope this new collection helps you discover new favorites, reconnect with familiar melodies, and find renewed inspiration at the piano” – Lang Lang

Our 11th studio album “Legends” takes listeners on an epic journey through the stories of some of history’s most iconic figures. This album dives into the lives of legendary characters like Jeanne D’arc, Napoleon, Julius Caesar, and the master swordsman, Miyamoto Musashi, among many others who have changed the course of history and shaped the world we live in today.

The sound of this formation allowed me to fetch themes from different musical worlds, from jazz to brass bands or street performers. I called this project INDIA as a reference to the title of the album I first recorded as a band leader: CHINE.

Celebrated music icon Chrissie Hynde has announced a new album under ‘Chrissie Hynde & Pals’, titled Duets Special, due for CD release on 17th October via Parlophone/Rhino. The album consists of 13 extraordinary duets featuring a host of world-class collaborators including k.d. lang, the late Mark Lanegan, Dave Gahan, Cat Power, Brandon Flowers, Debbie Harry, Shirley Manson, Alan Sparhawk and more. The first single ‘Always On My Mind’ features singer songwriter Rufus Wainwright.

“Cooperation, interdependence and kindness” are the qualities that Meredith Monk emphasizes in Cellular Songs, “as an antidote to the values that are being propagated right now.” Of the work’s premiere performance the New York Times wrote, “Ms. Monk spun together divergent elements so fluidly that it created an unmistakable sense of hope. It’s much easier to conceive of bridging public divides — or even containing multitudes, as an individual — when you witness a synthesis like the one created in Cellular Songs.”

A central fixture in the world of string quartets for the past thirty years, the Zehetmair Quartett’s ECM recordings of Schumann, Hindemith, Bartók and Hartmann have received luminous praise—Gramophone lauded their Schumann as “Record of the Year”, while The Sunday Times described their Hindemith and Bartók performances as “playing of huge finesse in both pieces,” calling them “a real benchmark”. For this this newest entry to their New Series catalogue, the quartet turns to Johannes Brahms’s first two string quartets, Op. 51 Nos. 1 and 2—works of mature reflection and dramatic urgency that reveal Brahms’s mastery of form.

The Greek duo of lyra player Sokratis Sinopoulos and pianist Yann Keerim’s first studio statement is a deep well of inspired musical dialogues that cross the idiomatic space between European folk tradition and chamber-jazz seamlessly. Bartók’s six “Romanian Folk Dances” appear in newly shaped guises throughout the album, with Sokratis’s painterly lyra playing setting a lyrical counterpoint against Yann’s in turns rhythmically propulsive and quietly thoughtful accompaniment. This is the first time the duo is heard distilled from Sokratis’s acclaimed quartet (albums Eight Winds and Metamodal) and their conversations interlock gracefully, always responsive to one another and with a keen sense of space and atmosphere. Their own duo elaborations join the Bartók studies unnoticeably, as everything becomes connected by the pair’s fluid expression. Recorded in Athens, in February 2024, the album was produced by Manfred Eicher.

With Melancholia, Rick Wakeman completes a remarkable trilogy of solo piano works that began with Piano Portraits (2017) and continued with Piano Odyssey (2018) - both landmark albums that found him reaching new heights of popularity and critical esteem as a solo artist. But while those records looked outward, reinterpreting beloved melodies and exploring sweeping themes, Melancholia turns inward, inviting us into the most personal, introspective, and perhaps profound music of Wakeman’s storied career.