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Reviews

Nov 3, 2026
Label
Big Round Records
Released
2026
Length
18:00
Format
EP

The “folk collective” Floyds Row recently released “The Carlisle Sessions”: just five tracks and eighteen minutes of music.

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The Carlisle Sessions Floyds Row

Nov 2, 2026

Composers
PiazzollaCali
Label
Cicada Woods
Released
2026
Length
40:00

This Toronto-based string quartet has released their version of Astor Piazzolla’s Four Seasons of Buenos Aires or Cuatro estaciones…

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Seasons Cicada Woods

Nov 1, 2026

Composers
ShawCarpenterBryars
Label
Rubicon
Released
2026
Length
55:00

The common thread here is harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani, who brings into our living rooms three different conceptions of the harpsichord…

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Mondrian – 21st Century Harpsichord Concertos Esfahani

Oct 31, 2026

Composers
JSBach
Label
Arcana
Released
2026
Length
1:23:00

Of course, Mr. Baù teases us with these unknown gems for the viola da gamba by Bach. A recent discovery? No.

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J.S. Bach: Partitas for Viola da gamba Teodoro Baù

Oct 25, 2026

Composers
BeethovenSchubert
Label
HDB Sonus
Released
2026
Format
CD

I was a bit surprised to see another Italian conductor taking up Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony so soon after our earlier experience here with…

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Imprinting: Beethoven and Schubert Accademia Bizantina

Oct 22, 2026

Composers
JS Bach
Label
Alpha
Released
2026

The recorder occupies a distinctive place in Johann Sebastian Bach's sacred music, its gentle, breath-driven sound frequently associated…

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J.S. Bach: Komm!

Oct 18, 2026

Composers
Mendelssohn
Label
Erato
Released
2026

Felix Mendelssohn's Lieder ohne Worte hold an odd place in the repertoire.

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Songs without Words Bertrand Chamayou

Oct 17, 2026

Composers
CPE Bach, Telemann, JS Bach, Boismortier
Label
Challenge Classics
Released
2026

Bach wrote the Inventions to teach his students to play cleanly in two parts at the keyboard, and the four Duettos of Clavier-Übung III are…

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Duologues

Oct 12, 2026

Composers
Vivaldi
Label
Aparté
Released
2026
Length
1:22:01

Venice has always been a city of contradictions, where elegance and vulgarity, sacred tradition and popular entertainment, melancholy and…

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Venezia Sottosopra Gaillard & Daragó

Oct 6, 2026

Composers
JS Bach
Label
Mirare
Released
2026
Length
1:09:39

This generous recital of Bach's music speaks directly to those of us who are, perhaps, not the most accomplished keyboard players.

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Maitre Bach Hantaï

Oct 4, 2026

Composers
Palestrina
Label
Coro
Released
2026

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina's fourth book of motets (1584) sets poetry from the Old Testament as five-voice works, SSATB, SATTB, and…

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Palestrina: Song of Songs The Sixteen

Oct 3, 2026

Composers
JS Bach
Label
Note One

Miriam Feuersinger is here accompanied by the Capricornus Consort Basel in a program dedicated to works for soprano, an effort to present…

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Anna Magdalena Feuersinger

Sep 27, 2026

Composers
JS Bach

“You all seated here are a community.” I attended last evening a performance of violinist Johnny Gandelsman at the University of Richmond’s…

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Johnny Loves Johann

Sep 27, 2026

Composers
GraunMaraBendaGranel
Label
Audax
Released
2026
Length
1:12:45

When we think of the hundreds of concertos Vivaldi wrote, the violin is the star — though he was never opposed to offering us other colors.

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Berlin Viola Concertos Ensemble Diderot

Sep 26, 2026

Composers
Claudio MeruloGiovanni GabrieliGiovanni Pierluigi da PalestrinaClaudio Monteverdi
Label
Ricercar
Catalog no
RIC492
Released
2026

When you study Baroque music history with a Monteverdi specialist, you can imagine you get a proper education in the composer and his…

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Monteverdi: Vespro della beata Vergine InALTO

Sep 26, 2026

Composers
CastelloLocatelliQuantzVivaldiTelemannGesualdoSuprianiBlavet
Label
Genuin
Released
2026
Length
1:04:56

Presented across six "acts," Marsyas Baroque (Paula Pinn, recorder and bassoon; María Carrasco Gil, violin; Konstanze Waidosch, cello…

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Apollo & Marsyas Marsyas Baroque

Sep 19, 2026

Composers
Glass
Label
Deutsche Grammophon
Catalog no
7410184
Released
2026

The music of Philip Glass includes a substantial body of work for cello: a concerto, a second concerto drawn from his film score to…

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Philip Glass for Cello Camille Thomas

Sep 19, 2026

Composers
BiberCapricornusSchmelzerKriegerVilsmayerWesthoff
Label
Chateau de Versailles

Violinist Louise Ayrton describes this program as an attempt to trace the thread of time backward — to the foundations of the old masters…

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Aurora Germanica

Sep 13, 2026

Composers
Telemann
Label
CPO

This is volume 6 of Felix Koch's series of Telemann's cantatas; the title refers to the composer's choice of producing a series of cantatas…

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Telemann: Französischer Jahrgang 1714/1715

Sep 7, 2026

Composers
Beethoven
Label
Harmonia Mundi

This Harmonia Mundi release from the Munich Chamber Orchestra, with nearly three hours of music, works as three separate productions across…

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Beethoven & the Italians

Sep 5, 2026

Composers
François Couperin
Label
Challenge
Released
2026
Length
38:49

The liner notes describe Couperin's Pièces de violes (Paris 1728) as his "penaltimate publication" [sic] — his second-to-last, before the…

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François Couperin: Pièces de violes La Bellemont

Sep 5, 2026

Composers
Antonio Caldara
Label
Alpha
Released
2026
Length
1:08:22

The name of this album isn't particularly helpful in understanding what you're going to hear within; in a store you'd have the opportunity…

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48° North. Caldara, from Venice to Vienna BanXhies

Aug 30, 2026

Composers
JS Bach
Label
Universal

No booklet accompanied this album, which simply appears to have been released by Universal Music, without any label credited.

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J.S. Bach: Cello Suites Haruma Sato

Aug 30, 2026

Composers
JS Bach

Bach's motets, as the excellent liner notes to this release note, are among his most beloved vocal works.

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J.S. Bach: The Motets Gaechinger Cantorey

Aug 29, 2026

Composers
WA Mozart
Label
Alpha
Released
2026
Length
1:08:57

Mozart's "Complete" flute quartets may be a misnomer, as we may not have everything he wrote; what's offered here are 10 tracks' worth…

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Mozart: Complete Flute Quartets Besson

Aug 16, 2026

Composers
BuxtehudeAlbertiniCastelloGStrozziStradella
Label
Deux-Elles
Catalog no
DXL 1210
Released
2025

This album, directed by Pablo Devigo, puts on offer mostly Italian music from the earlier half of the baroque period.

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Still Life: Early Baroque Fantasy Música d’Outrora

Aug 16, 2026

Composers
JS Bach
Label
Brilliant

Among the most prolific recording artists, in addition to his roles as a teacher, Pieter-Jan Belder has recorded several large collections…

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Die Kunst der Fuga Pieter-Jan Belder

Aug 13, 2026

Composers
PachelbelBiberFrobergerPezelMuffatKerll
Label
Van Diemen's
Released
2025
Length
46:39

This short album (46 minutes) covers favorite repertoire of mine by composers as diverse as Johann Pachelbel, Heinrich Ignaz Franz von…

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Bohemia Van Diemen’s Band

Aug 9, 2026

Composers
Florence PriceChiquinha GonzagaMontague RingLViola KinneyEstelle Ricketts

This short album of solo piano music features compositions from, as the cover indicates, “female composers of colour.” Represented are…

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Herstory Luke Welch

Aug 8, 2026

Composers
Johann Sebastian Bach
Label
ABC Classics
Catalog no
481 9896
Released
2020

On the heels of the album of a young man's back gracing the cover of Viennese lute music, this album cover caught my attention too…

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Bach: Bass Cantatas Greco

Aug 8, 2026

Composers
Saint-LucWeichenberger
Label
Carpe Diem Records
Catalog no
CD-16317
Released
2018

This album, released nearly eight years ago on the Carpe Diem label, features music composed by François Ginter (Adam Franz Ginter)…

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Viennese Lute Music Satoh

Aug 4, 2026

Composers
Telemann
Label
Dux
Released
2016
Length
1:18:18

This recording features music that, for Telemann fans, has been recorded well enough already.

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Telemann: Recorder Music Roed

Aug 3, 2026

Composers
FaschHeinichenGraupnerTelemannVivaldi
Label
Linn Records
Catalog no
CKD 526
Released
2016

A friend recently sent me a picture of this recording, asking if I'd auditioned it.

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Concerti Bizarri Irish Baroque Orchestra

Aug 2, 2026

Composers
LockeBlow
Label
Paraty
Catalog no
PARATY 2221116
Released
2022

The verse anthem was England's answer to a problem the Reformation had created: how to make music that served an English liturgy without…

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Of grief and the divine Ensemble Cosmos

Aug 1, 2026

Composers
George Frideric HandelAntonio Vivaldi
Label
Signum

I'm not going to pretend I know what has happened to England's two great period-instrument ensembles — maybe nothing has — but their…

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Handel & Vivaldi: Sacred Works Grace Davidson

Jul 30, 2026

Composers
FalconieriMatteisBiberRebelde NebraVivaldiSchop
Label
Panatone

This album, featuring the Spanish violinist Cristina Prats Costa, was recorded in Toronto (where she is working toward her DMA), with works…

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Spiritillo Mediterraneo – Music for Violin and Continuo

Jul 29, 2026

Composers
Johann Sebastian Bach

The calculating machine on this album cover is a handsome image, but it doesn't tell us what lemniscate means—probably not a word in most…

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Lemniscate – Bach’s Die Kunst der Fuga New Collegium

Jul 28, 2026

Composers
Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber
Label
Accent

This album's cover is a little short on detail. The music is shared between Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber and Benedikt Anton Aufschnaiter…

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Biber: Vesperæ a 32 Ars Antiqua Austria

Jul 26, 2026

Composers
LocatelliScarlattiAvisonSammartini
Label
Claves

Six concerti grossi here — multi-movement works for string ensemble whose solo passages differentiate the texture and set up a dialogue…

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Alle lacrime – Concerti Grossi Le Moment Baroque

Jul 25, 2026

Composers
TelemannJSBachWassenaerRebel
Label
Fra Bernardo
Released
2024
Length
1:03:39

“Handcrafting baroque music since 2006” is this ensemble’s tagline, which can be found via their website, alongside information about its…

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l’Europe réunie New Collegium

Jul 18, 2026

Composers
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
Label
Challenge

This recital — recorded, presumably, at the home of Tini Mathot and producer Ton Koopman — gathers five sonatas for harpsichord and flute…

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C.P.E. Bach: Sonatas for Clavier and Flute Mathot/Verhagen

Jul 18, 2026

Composers
Christoph Schaffrath
Label
Prospero
Released
2026
Length
1:06:40

Christoph Schaffrath (1709–1763) served as a harpsichordist and composer alongside Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach at the court of Frederick the…

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Schaffrath: Harpsichord Concertos Anna Firlus

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