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Liza Ferschtman: Brahms Violin Concerto & Suk Fantasy

Liza Ferschtman Violin

RCD1120
January 2025

Award winning Dutch violinist Liza Feschtman brings a passionate program of Johannes Brahms & Josef Suk. Brahms’ Violin Concerto was first premiered by Joseph Joachim whom the work was dedicated and performed by. Joachim was both a supporter of the young man’s musical career and a constructive and often blunt… more >

Les Arts Florissants

James Richman & The Dallas Bach Society Early Music Ensemble

RCD1128
November 2024

James Richman and the Dallas Bach Society, joined with the New York Baroque Dance Company bring to you a rare gem in the form of Chapentier’s ‘Les Arts Florissants’ which he labelled as both Idyle en musique and Opéra. The story depicts the eponymous arts and two warriors drawn into… more >

Lekeu, Ysaÿe, Ravel & Boulanger

Patrick Rafter Violin
Fiachra Garvey Piano

RCD1126
November 2024

Two Irish musicians bring to you their first album with Rubicon Classics. violinist Patrick Rafter and pianist Fiachra Garvey have selected repertoire by Belgian and French composers, including two great violin sonatas – Ravel’s famous violin Sonata in G, and the fabulous yet mostly neglected sonata in G by Guillaume… more >

Schubert: String Quartet No. 14 “Death & the Maiden”

Kuss Quartet String Quartet

RCD1104
November 2024

For their latest album for Rubicon, the Berlin based Kuss Quartet have programmed Schubert’s quartet ‘Death and the Maiden’ with two contemporary works by composers the quartet have often championed. Schubert’s disturbing, death obsessed quartet, composed in the winter of 1822 when the composer was suffering from syphilis that would… more >

Echoes Across Borders

Thomas Verity Clarinet
Michael Csányi-Wills Piano

RCD1189
December 2024

Our new album ‘Echoes Across Borders’ is brought to you by principal clarinettist of the Welsh National Opera Thomas Verity and British-Hungarian pianist and composer Michael Csányi-Wills. This album takes as its jumping-off point Polish composer Mieczysław Weinberg’s Clarinet Sonata. Its resonances are then answered in Csányi-Wills’s brand new Clarinet Sonata.… more >

Alexander Soares – Tippett, Beethoven, Knussen

Alexander Soares Piano

RCD1131
November 2024

Pianist Alexander Soares has provided a handful of previous recordings including the epic piano sonata by Frank Bridge, the Berg Sonata and the rarely performed Variations by Britten. In this new album releasing in November, Soares traverses a varied programme focusing on British composer Michael Tippett and music by composers… more >

Sofya Melikyan, David Haroutunian, Mikayel Hakhnazaryan – Brahms & Schoenberg

David Haroutunian, Sofya Melikyan, Mikayel Hakhnazaryan Piano Trio

RCD1195
November 2024

Sofya Melikyan, David Haroutunian & Mikayel Hakhnazaryan continue their Brahms project with their rendition of his Piano Trio No. 1, accompanied by Schoenberg’s magnificent Verklärte Nacht, a recording we are very keen to provide as this work isn’t recorded frequently. Schoenberg himself was heavily influenced by Brahms in his early… more >

Passione

Jesús León Tenor

RCD1122
October 2024

Jesús León’s first album with Rubicon Classics is a collection of timeless songs that have become synonymous with many of the greatest tenors of the past; Pavarotti, Domingo and Carreras among them. These songs have held a great significance to him, being a profound part of his childhood where he… more >

Joanna Kacperek – Variations

Joanna Kacperek Piano

RCD1197
September 2024

Joanna Kacperek’s auspicious debut album ‘Variations‘ brings a fascinating programme of challenging pieces fit for a virtuosic pianist from great romantic composers; Beethoven, Brahms, the Schumanns, Dutilleux, Chaminade & Chopin. Clara Schumann’s ‘Variations on a theme of Robert Schumann’ were a set of works Clara had dedicated to her husband… more >

Tango, mon Amour!

Maria Martinova Piano

RCD1121
October 2024

Maria Martinova’s electrifying and enticing new album is a “love letter” to the riveting universe of Tango. The revolutionary work of the Argentinian composer Astor Piazzolla was eye opening for Maria. Piazzolla was her gateway into the rich and vibrant world of Tango where she discovered its many facets: sadness,… more >

Karim Said – Beethoven, Mozart, Schoenberg, Webern

Karim Said Piano

RCD1123
May 2024

The first and second Viennese school is the focus of Karim Said’s third album for Rubicon Classics. Karim as a pianist received his education in renowned schools and colleges, including  the Purcell School of Music and the Royal Academy of Music. The music of this period spans nearly a century,… more >

PRISM

Fenella Humphreys Violin

RCD1127
April 2024

Violinist, Fenella Humphreys brings you a new album with Rubicon Classics after her 2023 BBC Magazine Premiere Award winning album ‘Caprices’. Fenella brings a unique programme called ‘Prism’, which focuses on unaccompanied violin works. These consist of  new works written by young British composers such as Michael Small, Bethan Morgan-Williams… more >

Dudok Quartet: Tchaikovsky – String Quartets Vol. 1

Dudok Quartet Amsterdam String Quartet

RCD1103
April 2024

The Dudok Quartet Amsterdam embarks on a traversal of three String Quartets by Tchaikovsky. This is the first of two volumes containing String Quartet’s 1 & 2. The circles in which Tchaikovsky and Brahms lived have a lot in common; it feels like a logical step in their artistic evolution.… more >

Dani Howard: Orchestral Works

Dani Howard Composer

RCD1125
March 2024

A Gardener’s World

Alessandro Fisher Tenor
Private: Anna Tilbrook Piano

RCD1087
February 2024

During the period of lockdown in 2020, tenor Alessandro Fisher and his wife spent many hours in their garden. A heightened awareness of the beauty of nature, the flowers in their garden and the changes to the garden as winter moved to spring, and then to summer formed the basis… more >

Schubert: Die Schöne Müllerin

Bjarte Eike & Barokksolistene Early Music Ensemble
Thomas Guthrie Baritone

RCD1086
November 2023

Thomas Guthrie writes – In 2001, I had studied for a PhD at York University under the guidance of the inspirational conductor, musicologist and all-round Lieder lover, Peter Seymour. Our subject was ornamentation in Schubert Lieder. I was a poor student, and never finished it, but my eyes and ears… more >

In Blue

Andrew Armstrong Piano

RCD1112
January 2024

Andrew Armstrong’s debut album for Rubicon is a fascinating recital of American piano music. The great George Gershwin is represented by his ‘3 Preludes’, ‘I Got Rhythm’, and his most popular work, the sparkling ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ which unbelievably is 100 years old in 2024. Two African American composers, Julia… more >

Brahms, Coll, Korngold: Trio Isimsiz

Trio Isimsiz Piano Trio

RCD1107
December 2023

Korngold was one of the most amazing prodigies in musical history, and more gifted than Mozart in that he arrived musically fully formed. He was just 12 years old when he composed his Op. 1 Piano Trio. This is a large-scale work, displaying great originality and simply stunning precociousness. Brahms’s… more >

Closing Statements

Sophie Rosa, Ian Buckle violin, piano

RCD1119
October 2023

How composers draw their creative lives to a close continues to fascinate. Are their final works the culmination of all that has gone before or suggest what might have come next? Did illness enhance their profundity or diminish their powers? Can we listen to such pieces without thinking of them… more >

Homelands

Aron Goldin Piano

RCD1117
October 2023

Homelands is a powerful album of classical art song about exile. Featuring Ian Bostridge, Jennifer France, James Atkinson, Wonsick Oh, and pianist Aron Goldin, who curated the project. The songs (including many favourites by Tchaikovsky and Fauré) are on the theme of exile and yearning for home. A performance of… more >

Sonya Bach: Mussorgsky

Sonya Bach Piano

RCD1118
September 2023

Sonya Bach’s fourth album for Rubicon is an all Mussorgsky programme. The famous Pictures at an Exibition and Night on the Bald Mountain bookend rarer repertoire such as the two Pictures from Crimea, Duma, and Méditation. Sonya Bach studied with two of the 20th century’s great pianists – Alicia de… more >

Présence lointaine

Sofya Melikyan Piano

RCD1113
September 2023

Sofya Melikyan’s fascinating album has as its inspiration the great Ricardo Viñes, composer and pianist, champion of young progressive composers (he was Satie’s favourite performer of his music), whose friends included among others Picasso, Gide, Colette, Cocteau. Cocteau said of him ‘Viñes does not play, he elucidates’ To define Viñes… more >

Maria Martinova Plays J.S. Bach, Chopin & Szymanowski

Maria Martinova Piano

DRC1120
August 2023

“…a tour de force of devilish technical mastery” International Piano Magazine “She gets right to the heart of Ravel’s inspiration and she does so with a display of absolutely fearless virtuosity…hers is a huge musical personality” Music Web International. “I came to appreciate her intelligently scaled dynamic gradations and rhythmic… more >

Dudok Quartet Amsterdam – What Remains Digital EP

Dudok Quartet Amsterdam String Quartet

DRC2110
June 2023

The title What Remains of String Quartet No. 4 (2019) by Joey Roukens can be understood in various ways. On a poetic level, the words correspond to the character of the music, which often seems to hark back to ‘something remaining’ from a previous era – ruins, ghosts, scraps or… more >

Arwel Hughes: Oratorio Dewi Sant

Owain Arwel Hughes Conductor

RCD1100
August 2023

Arwel Hughes (1909-1988) was the tenth son of a Welsh coal miner, and his progress through life was a remarkable one. Along the way, he studied composition at the Royal College of Music where his tutors were Gordon Jacob, Gustav Holst and, importantly, Vaughan Williams. During WWII, he worked for… more >

The Playhouse Sessions LP

Bjarte Eike & Barokksolistene Early Music Ensemble

RLP1096
June 2023

‘There are some things you just can’t fake. The chemistry of a group is one of those – the sparks of musical energy that fly when certain artists collide. Bjarte Eike’s Barokksolistene is an alchemical miracle of an ensemble…pure musical gold’ Gramophone magazine review for The Alehouse Sessions (RCD1017). Since… more >

Dudok Quartet Amsterdam – What Remains

Dudok Quartet Amsterdam String Quartet

RCD1110
June 2023

The title What Remains of String Quartet No. 4 (2019) by Joey Roukens can be understood in various ways. On a poetic level, the words correspond to the character of the music, which often seems to hark back to ‘something remaining’ from a previous era – ruins, ghosts, scraps or… more >

Mozart Piano Concertos: Nos 20, 21, 23, 27

Elizabeth Sombart Piano

RCD1109
May 2023

The four great concertos on this new album span the years 1785 – 1791, Mozart’s last year. The range of emotions these works convey is extraordinary. No.20 in D Minor left the audience at the premiere reeling. It is terse, angry and full of passion. The C Major concerto No.21… more >

Inner World

Mikayel Hakhnazaryan Cello

RCD1083
April 2023

‘When you leave your homeland, you leave behind something very important that is hard to describe in words. Itis that light and air which you unconsciously love, it is the smell of spring, the kindness of people under whose warm gaze you flourish and of course, the sounds of music.… more >

Tchaikovsky & Lalo – Ellinor D’melon

Ellinor D’Melon Violin

RCD1106
March 2023

Born to Cuban and Jamaican parents, Ellinor D’Melon started to learn the violin aged just two. Today at only twenty, ‘she is one of those rare players who gives the impression that her command – both technical and musical is total ‘ (The Irish Times). She has the 1st prizes… more >

Obscurus – Lucy Humphris & Harry Rylance

RCD1105
March 2023

Obscurus is an exploration of the obscured, in a programme which showcases some of the most incredible trumpet writing of the 20th and 21st century, as well as several reimaginings of older, more mainstream works for other instruments, arranged for trumpet by Lucy Humphris. In the Mists, written by Janáček… more >

The Poet’s Echo – Joceyln Freeman

Jocelyn Freeman Piano

RCD1115
March 2023

This project was initially inspired by the prophetic nature of Shostakovich’s ‘Four Pushkin Romances Op 46’, which Gareth Brynmor John introduced me to in 2019. Not only was I struck by the profundity of how the poetry echoed messages of censorship and exile forward through time; but also by similarities… more >

Piatti Quartet: Boyle Vaughan Williams Moeran & Ireland

RCD1098
January 2023

Until recently we were unaware of the rich output of Irish composer Ina Boyle, who was never quite forgotten becauseshe was the only woman composer to be published in the Carnegie Collection of British music with her atmospheric orchestral rhapsody The Magic Harp of 1919. Boyle spent her life living… more >

Kuss Quartet: Krise / Crisis

Kuss Quartet String Quartet

RCD1102
November 2022

We live in a time of turmoil, flux, stress and crisis. The stresses and strains of modern life during and after the pandemic, war raging in Ukraine, climate change, energy shortages, soaring cost of living, large numbers of refugees seeking safe haven, lack of trust in our leaders – this… more >

Dudok Quartet: Reflections

Dudok Quartet Amsterdam String Quartet

RCD1099
November 2022

As a string quartet of the 21st century, we are searching for the meaning of the music we perform. Our goal is to convey the image which emanates from the music in the most authentic way. As a kind of time-transcending minstrel, the Quartet is continuously searching for the best… more >

Johanna Rose: 7 Movements

Johanna Rose Viola Da Gamba

RCD1101
November 2022

7 Movements; three suites each with seven movements. In her intriguing new album, viola da gambist Johanna Rose places a prelude by Sainte-Colombe (father)in front of the six movement Bach suite in D Minor, and finished the D major Bach suite with a chaconne by Sainte-Colombe. The third ‘suite’ is… more >

Maria Martinova: Nuit et Jour

Maria Martinova Piano

RCD1108
November 2022

A wonderfully and sensitively curated recital of piano music with light and darkness, or night and day as the central theme. Water, fantastical dreams and visions also inhabit the world conjured by Maria Martinova from the music of Debussy, Ravel and the contemporary Swiss composer Gregorio Zanon, who’s two movement… more >

Jubilee Quartet – Schubert

Jubilee Quartet String quartet

RCD1082
November 2022

The Jubilee Quartet follow their critically acclaimed debut album of Haydn (RCD1039) with two contrasting quartets by Schubert. The sunny and joyful D.87, his 10th quartet dates from his 16th year. Already the singing quality of the writing is apparent. The late G Major quartet, the composer’s 15th and final… more >

Sibelius Symphonies Nos 5, 6 & 7

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Owain Arwel Hughes Orchestra

RD1073
September 2022

The final volume of the complete Sibelius Symphonies from the RPO and Owain Arwel Hughes contains the ever popular 5th coupled with the beautiful less well known 6th, and the ground breaking single movement 7th, the composer’s final word on the symphony. His 8th, apparently completed, was consigned to the… more >

The Playhouse Sessions

Bjarte Eike & Barokksolistene Early Music Ensemble

RCD1096
September 2022

‘There are some things you just can’t fake. The chemistry of a group is one of those – the sparks of musical energy that fly when certain artists collide. Bjarte Eike’s Barokksolistene is an alchemical miracle of an ensemble…pure musical gold’ Gramophone magazine review for The Alehouse Sessions (RCD1017). Since… more >

Esther Birringer: Debussy

Esther Birringer Piano

RCD1097
September 2022

For her second solo recital album for Rubicon, Esther Birringer turns to Debussy with a recital that includes both books of his Images. Composed in 1901-5 (book 1) and 1907 (book 2). The composer was very pleased with Images, writing about the first set ‘Without false pride, I feel that… more >

Songs by Warlock & Howe

Private: Mark Austin Piano
Private: Anna Harvey Mezzo soprano

RCD1095
June 2022

This delightful recital of English songs brings together one of the form’s most distinctive and prolific composers, Peter Warlock, with a composer born in 1951 who continues very much in the tradition of the older composer – Frederick Howe whose selection of his own folksong arrangements dovetail neatly this aspect… more >

Liszt: Piano Concertos 1 & 2, Sonata

Alexander Ullman Piano

RCD1057
June 2022

Alexander Ullman was the winner of the 2011 Franz Liszt International Piano Competition in Budapest. He studied at the Purcell School, the Curtis Institute and the Royal College of Music. His teachers include William Fong, Leon Fleischer and Dmitri Alexeev. Alexander’s debut album on Rubicon was a recital of great… more >

NEO

Oda Voltersvik Piano

RCD1059
May 2022

NEO reflects the use of classical forms in the 20th century – ‘neo classical’. It points to the future, and in music saw composers throwing off the romantic era’s excesses and striving for a new clarity and stability. However, the term NEO in this musical context shouldn’t always be seen… more >

Solitude: Joo Yeon Sir

Joo Yeon Sir Violin

RCD1076
May 2022

Joo Yeon Sir writes in the booklet to her solo recital album ‘Solitude’, ‘Solitude was the state I found myself in along with the rest of the world in 2020. Concerts were suddenly postponed…and I was left eerily by myself at home’. When, the following year, and the time had… more >

Doppler and Kuhlau: Romantic and Virtuoso Music for Flutes and Piano

Noemi Gyori & Gergely Madaras Flute
Alexander Ullman Piano

RCD1078
April 2022

The Doppler brothers and Friedrich Kulhau have yet to attract the public recognition that they already enjoy from the worldwide community of flautists. They certainly deserve to be better known and it is not unreasonable to think that the recognition that Paganini, Ysaye and Sarasate enjoy as famous composers for… more >

Sinding and Mendelssohn Violin Concertos

Lea Birringer Violin

RCD1081
April 2022

Lea Birringer’s first concerto recording is a fascinating programme of the well known and a delightful concerto that does not deserve the obscurity to which it has been consigned. Christian Sinding (1856-1941) composed his concerto 1898. It proved a great success, so its neglect today is difficult to understand. It… more >

Montgeroult: 6 Etudes for Piano

Ian Buckle Piano

DRC1084
March 2022

Montgeroult was a pioneer and a survivor. One of the founder members of the Paris Conservatoire, she was a key figure in the development of the piano and piano technique in the early romantic period. She became the institution’s first professor of piano. Montgeroult studied with Jan Ladislav Dussek, one… more >

Sibelius Symphonies Nos 2 & 4

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Owain Arwel Hughes Orchestra

RCD1072
March 2022

Symphonies 1&3 RCD1055 ‘Altogether a terrific start to Rubicon’s new cycle of the Sibelius symphonies’ Gramophone. Sibelius’s 2nd symphony of 1902 represents a big step forward in his development as a symphonist. The presence of Tchaikovsky in the 1st symphony has receded, and the big themes, though present, are not… more >

Fenella Humphreys Caprices

Fenella Humphreys Violin

RCD1074
March 2022

Fenella Humphreys turned time spent in lockdown to good use preparing this fascinating and eclectic programme of caprices. A collection of caprices ranging from Paganini to a wide selection of contemporary composers, some of whom contribute not only individual works, but who joined together for a splendid composite set of… more >

Beethoven, Voříšek

Lobkowicz Trio Piano Trio

RCD1075
March 2022

The Lobkowicz Trio are Jan Mráček violin and leader of the Czech Philharmonic, Lukas Klansky piano & Ivan Vokac associate principal cellist of the Czech Philharmonic. Beethoven’s Triple Concerto is his take on the old 18th century Sinfonia Concertante. Dating from 1803/4 it is from the particularly productive period that… more >

Brahms: Piano Trios 2 & 3

David Haroutunian, Sofya Melikyan, Mikayel Hakhnazaryan Piano Trio

RCD1079
November 2021

Brahms keenly sensed the shadow of Beethoven saying ‘You do not know what it is like, hearing his footsteps constantly behind one’. It was this towering presence that spurred the young Brahms to master his craft and establish his voice. The first piano trio in its original form (1854) quoted… more >

Infinite Bach

Christian Svarfvar Violin

RCD1053
November 2021

‘The Bach violin concertos are not only one of the Baroque period highlights, but are one of the foundations of the entire history of music’ writes Swedish violinist Christian Svarfvar on his new album of Bach Re Composed by fellow Swede Johan Ullén. ‘It’s a whole world of beauty in… more >

Brahms: The String Quartets, String Quintet No.2

Dudok Quartet Amsterdam String Quartet

RCD1077
October 2021

The Dudok Quartet Amsterdam is forging a reputation as one of the most creative and versatile quartets of its generation. The Guardian commented on their ‘lithe, lively sound and alert sense of structure and detail’. This recording, their first for Rubicon, of the Brahms Quartets and the 2nd of the… more >

The Landscapes of the Soul: Rachmaninov 24 Préludes

Fanny Azzuro Piano

RCD1070
October 2021

‘Recording the complete Preludes is like painting notes with an unlimited palette of sound!’ writes pianist Fanny Azzuro in the notes to her debut album for Rubicon. ‘Playing this music is exhilarating. The danger is that you lose control of your emotions and yield to the temptation to pile on… more >

Berlin FREIZeit

Kuss Quartet String Quartet

RCD1085
October 2021

The Kuss Quartet’s ‘KussPluss’ at the Klassiklounge of the Berlin Classical Radio station RBB and in the trendy Watergate riverside nightclub in Berlin is the inspiration for their latest album. Guests Sarah Maria Sun, the soprano in the Reimann Lieder, percussionist Johannes Julius Fischer and slam poet Bas Böttcher mark… more >

Transformation

Lea Birringer Violin

RCD1069
September 2021

Lea Birringer, for her first solo violin album, has selected three partitas for her instrument. Commencing with Bach’s great Partita No.3 in E major and ending with Auerbach’s 2007 example ‘par.ti.ta’. Lothar von Knorr’s Partita from 1946 will most likely be a discovery for most listeners. Partitas transformed over the… more >