ICYMI: Weekend Specials at ArkivMusic

Chopin Edition

This year sees a refreshed Chopin Edition from Brilliant Classics; retaining many of the definitive recordings from its predecessor of 2015 but boasting some exiting updates. The Concertos and piano concertante music are consolidated in a bright new cycle from Czechia; recorded last autumn by Siberian superstar Ekaterina Litvintseva and the KFPar under Mardirossian. Schmitt-Leonardy’s sonatas are joined by No.1 – recorded late in 2015 and therefore just missing inclusion in the previous edition – bringing the complete cycle under his fingers. The Études are featured in a stunning complete cycle recorded in 2014 by the phenomenal Chopinist and 2023 OPUS KLASSIK double-nominee Zlata Chochieva. Finally the complete Nocturnes are given over to another noted young Chopin interpreter; the 2018 Geza Anda winner Claire Huangci; who recorded the set two years earlier; in 2016.

Chopin, Granados & Albeniz: Echos

Charles Richard-Hamelin continues his exploration of the works of Chopin, combining them with rare Spanish works composed at the turn of the 19th century. Frédéric Chopin, Isaac Albéniz, and Enrique Granados were all virtuoso pianists whose music is characterized by rich melody, refined harmony, and fantasy. The pieces that make up this program echo each other by interweaving poetry and dance through both familiar and obscure melodies.

$15.99 $20.99 2025 Release

The Romantic Room – Chamber Works by Spohr

"The Romantic Room is an expansive six-volume set exploring the rich and often overlooked chamber music of Louis Spohr, brought vividly to life by the WDR Sinfonieorchester Chamber Players. Once hailed as the 'German Paganini' and revered across Europe, Spohr was a pivotal figure of early Romanticism—an innovator who shaped the transition from Classical refinement to Romantic expression. This collection showcases his elegant string quintets and sextets, daring double quartets, and characterful potpourri, offering a portrait of a composer whose expressive range and artistic integrity remain strikingly relevant today. Spohr's chamber works are richly crafted and musically intricate, offering both technical challenges and expressive depth. These performances reveal a composer deeply rooted in tradition yet unafraid to experiment, blending lyrical intimacy with bold structural ideas. 

A Winged Woman / Marian Consort

Following an album dedicated to the forgotten Renaissance master Vicente Lusitano (Gramophone Editor’s Choice, Der Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik Quarterly Critic’s Choice), The Marian Consort makes an enthralling leap forward to the present day. True to its core mission of expanding the vocal repertoire, A Winged Woman showcases the ensemble’s commissions from a crop of the UK’s finest composers – including seven world premiere recordings – with music by Dani Howard, James MacMillan, Electra Perivolaris, Howard Skempton, Chloe Knibbs and others. The works challenge traditions and tropes in imaginative and refreshing ways, bringing together a rich array of musical styles and textual approaches. 

Purnima - Music of Bang on a Can & Others / Rakhi Singh

Rakhi Singh is a violinist, music director, curator and composer based in the UK. In 2016 she co-founded Manchester Collective, a progressive group that the BBC describes as "transforming all our perceptions of what a classical music group can be." "Sabkha" is the first single from Singh's full-length debut album Purnima — a stirring stream-of-consciousness foray into signal processing and multi-tracking for violin, with Singh's own wordless vocals adding to the hypnotic mood. Purnima, which translates literally from the Sanskrit as "she who is the full moon,” is not only Singh's middle name — it's also a source of spiritual inspiration that has guided her own musical journey on her chosen instrument. Interpreting works by composers Alex Groves ("Trace I"), Emily Hall ("Outshifts"), Julia Wolfe ("LAD") and Michael Gordon ("Light Is Calling"), and augmenting them with unearthly electronic and electro-acoustic textures, Singh creates a haunting dreamworld of melody and sound that doesn't quite emit a completely "classical" aura — but instead suggests an altogether new one.

Nadia Boulanger: La ville morte

Long overshadowed by her towering legacy as one of the 20th century’s most influential music teachers, Nadia Boulanger’s creative voice as a composer is rediscovered in La ville morte (The Dead City) – a haunting opera of passion, loss, and psychological intensity. Composed in collaboration with Raoul Pugno and based on a libretto by Gabriele D’Annunzio, the work was originally slated for its world premiere in Paris in 1914, but the outbreak of World War I silenced it before it could be heard. More than a century later, this long-buried score rises from obscurity, where forgotten desires return to life against the backdrop of ancient ruins. Set in the crumbling city of Mycenae, the opera explores obsession, betrayal, and blurred boundaries, its emotional landscape shaped by impressionistic orchestral textures and arioso-style intimacy reminiscent of both Debussy and Wagner. Here, Boulanger reveals a daring and expressive side that transcends her image as the stern guardian of musical tradition.