“As the figuration becomes increasingly complex, he astonishes me with its clarity and the deft realization of Beethoven’s ornaments…

Is the German pianist, Michael Wessel, one of those coveted players who can lift Mozart’s sonatas out of the ordinary? Listening to this recording it struck me that he indeed is someone who can.

The Life of a Showgirl is the upcoming twelfth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It is scheduled for release on October 3, 2025, through Republic Records. Swift created the album during the European leg of the Eras Tour in 2024, inspired by her life as an entertainer. She described it as a vibrant and lively project, departing from the bleak lyricism of its predecessor, The Tortured Poets Department (2024). Swift wrote and produced The Life of a Showgirl with the producers Max Martin and Shellback in Sweden, working with the duo for the first time since Reputation (2017). It contains 12 songs, including the lead single, "The Fate of Ophelia". The American singer Sabrina Carpenter is featured on the album's title track. Photographed by Mert and Marcus, Swift adopted a provocative, showgirl-inspired theme for the album, which journalists described as the most glamorous and flamboyant visual aesthetic of her career.

With his album "Esquisses", the 17-year-old high school student Leonard Schultsz presents an amazingly mature debut. The horn player, who hails from Basel, spans an arc from Russian late Romantics to classical modernism to Swiss contemporary composers.

Otto Klemperer (May 14, 1885 – July 6, 1973) was a German-born conductor and composer. (He took United States citizenship in 1937 and Israeli citizenship in 1970.) He is widely regarded as one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century.

Johann Sebastian Bach wrote more than 200 cantatas. This recording explores a selection of 12 tenor arias from those cantatas, ranging in instrumentation from rich tutti orchestra to intimate obbligato instruments.

After 15 years of propelling herself to key-player status in the scene of global techno, Belgian DJ and producer Charlotte de Witte presents her eponymous debut full-length album. Released on her own KNTXT imprint, the 11-track LP serves as both a consolidation of her club dominance and a tightly controlled showcase of her sonic identity. This is straight-ahead techno: propulsive, acid-laced, and engineered with clinical precision. Tracks like “The Realm,” “No Division (feat. XSALT),” “Vidmahe,” “Memento Mori,” and “Become,” deliver muscular grooves that fit comfortably into the current techno blueprint. They are flawlessly produced and effective on the dance floor, though they rarely stretch beyond genre convention. Charlotte de Witte herself has described the project as a “true DJ album,” and it succeeds squarely on those terms.

Simplicity, wistfulness, fragility: these are his music’s characteristics, and the veteran British pianist Paul Crossley cherishes them with the precision and tenderness expected of someone.

Izabella Simon, pianist, graduated at the Franz Liszt Music Academy in Budapest as a student of György Kurtág, Ferenc Rados, Jenő Jandó and Sándor Falvai.

FINGER ELEVEN enthusiastically completed their first new studio album, LAST NIGHT ON EARTH, in a decade, primed for a November 7th release via Better Noise Music. The band has always amalgamated their musical influences from the 1960s forward into their rock mix. They acknowledge that Phil Collins and Genesis were a big melodic influence on LAST NIGHT ON EARTH. And the new tunes explore time-honored FINGER ELEVEN concepts with fresh twists. While "Adrenaline" is a rousing, intense anthem about pushing forward against adversity, "Blue Sky Mystery," featuring Richard Patrick from Filter, is another hard-hitting rocker about being beguiled by something just out of reach. Further into the album, "The Mountain" rides musical peaks and valleys in its quest to chase the song, about the creative process expressed in a fantasy setting. Then there is the acoustic number "Last Night On Earth," which tackles relationship turmoil. It's the most personal new track for frontman Scott Anderson.

TWICE AS MUCH were a UK vocal duo – Dave Skinner and Andrew Rose – often compared to their more successful US counterparts Simon & Garfunkel. Their signature lush harmonies and accomplished songwriting skills attracted the attention of maverick indie record executive Andrew Loog Oldham who signed them to his fledgling Immediate Records. Their debut single in May 1966 was a cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Sitting On A Fence” which features here as the opening track to That’s All. The album stands apart from its contemporaries at Immediate due, in no small part, to its heavily orchestrated “wall-of-sound” production and the dazzling harmonies. It’s a fine example of baroque inspired sunshine pop from the feel-good summer of ’66 when Great Britain captured the imagination of the world. A polished and significant album earning its place as an official Immediate 60th Anniversary reissue.

We continue our exploration of Carlo Maria Giulini's discographic legacy, recently remastered in high resolution, with one of his most famous recordings: these superb renditions of French music in which the Philharmonia Orchestra shines brightly.

Kali Malone and Drew McDowall present Magnetism, their first collaborative album born from a decade-long friendship and ignited by a single day of creative synergy. When Malone stepped into McDowall’s Brooklyn home studio, a shared vision immediately took root and set the course for a remarkable collaboration between these two singular artists. On Magnetism, Malone’s poignant and evocative melodies manifest through McDowall’s signature timbral synthesis, creating a unified voice that soars freely and radiates with vitality. Technically, the duo employs an exquisite blend of Karplus-Strong synthesis, distortion and just intonation. Kali and Drew embrace these tools with refined grace while moving fluidly within their musical framework. Charged by the magnetic pull of repetition, saturation, and resonance, Magnetism pulses as a living music that captivates the senses and lingers long in the mind after the final notes fade.

Christmas Wishes is a seasonal studio album by Canadian country music artist Anne Murray. It was Anne's first Holiday recording, released by Capitol Records in 1981. The disc peaked at #34 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. It stands as one of Anne's biggest-selling career albums, earning double platinum certification from the RIAA. At the time of its deletion, it had sold nearly 3 million US copies.