Vivaldi's Opus 3 concertos are among the treasures of the Baroque era and these recordings illuminate what is special about the works. The playing on this release is so full of joy and drama, and the result is fresh, vibrant, and thrilling.

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Roomful of Teeth won a Grammy and a Pulitzer Prize with their first disc, so their sophomore release has been highly anticipated. They deliver an album that expands on their sound and showcases them as one of the most impressive new music groups today. One of the highlights is Wally Gunn's "The Ascendant" featuring So Percussion's Jason Treuting on drums. The piece and performance are hypnotic and intensely moving.

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From host Karla Walker: "I'm a sucker for anything Anne Akiko Myers records, and so I was ecstatic when this new release lived up to the hype.  What could have turned into a schmaltzy read of songs like 'When You Wish Upon a Star' in lesser hands becomes instead a lovely and reverent performance that makes the song feel like an orchestral classic rather than an old Disney tune. The CD is anchored by Leonard Bernstein's 'Serenade' and branches into many facets of love serenades from there."

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CPR Classical listeners were lucky to get a preview of this release last Winter when pianist Orli Shaham played much of this material in a live broadcast from her Aspen Music Festival winter concert series recital. Shaham frames three of Brahms' late piano sets -- Opus 117, 118, and 119 -- with works by Schubert, Schumann and Chopin that inspired Brahms, as well as contemporary works from Bruce Adolphe, Avner Dorman, and Brett Dean. 

Her playing across the board is warm and intelligent, shading the music with a range of emotions and creating some very special moments. Dorman's "After Brahms" is a standout, especially the thoughtful, intimate and beautiful final movement. If you want to hear just how great Shaham is, check out her performance on the Schoenberg. She imbues these brief atonal expressionist movements with personality and charm, and that is not an easy task.  

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From host David Rutherford: "What draws me to this recording is pretty simple: pride. This is the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, after all. The 'Dona nobis pacem' is an absolute gem of a piece by one of the patron saints of English choral music, Ralph Vaughan Williams. As a plea for peace, the work is as timely today as it was when he wrote it on the cusp of World War II. (Jeff also wrote about this earlier this year.) The companion work on the CD is the 'Missa Mirabilis' by Stephen Hough, so called because of a miraculous experience. He had written three of its movements in three days, and the next day he was in an 80-mph rollover crash on the highway. The wreck completely mangled the car, except for his door. He stepped out of the car, and under his arm he carried the manuscript."

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Brahms' lovely piano trios combine meticulous compositional craftsmanship with lyrical beauty. Brother and sister Christian and Tanja Tetzlaff join pianist Lars Vogt in these readings that are refined and understated, yet full of truly moving and sumptuous moments. The players convey the symphonic sweep and complexity of Trio No. 1 with both sweetness and power.

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From program director Monika Vischer: "It's a rare instance a classical ensemble can pull off a believable rendition of classic pop and rock songs like 'Hallelujah' by Leonard Cohen or 'Come Sail Away' by Styx (a personal favorite from my teen years). But, as Jeff noted shortly after the disc's release,  Sphere Ensemble hit the bullseye in an eclectic blend with choice classical works. The full-bodied engineering adds compelling dimension to this group that deserves the attention of Colorado and beyond."

From host Matt Weesner: "It can sometimes be a challenge to authentically mix classical with other styles of music. However, when it works, the result can be exciting. That's the case with the latest release from Boulder-based banjo player Jake Schepps. For 'Entwined,' he commissioned pieces from modern classical composers. The results mix contemporary classical music with traditional string band instrumentation. Schepps also enlisted some top musicians: mandolinist Matt Flinner, violinist Ryan Drickey, guitarist Ross Martin, bassist Eric Thorin, violinist Enion Pelta-Tiller and guitarist Grant Gordy."

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More than 30 years ago, John Adams made allusions to Beethoven's "Emperor" Concerto and other traditional works as reference points when he wrote "Grand Pianola Music." What were "winks" at Beethoven (Adams' description) in "Grand Pianola Music" become the full source material for "Absolute Jest." Elements of many Beethoven symphonies and quartets bubble up and froth over in thrillingly transformed fashion. The performances on this disc enhance the joy and energy of the writing, creating an exhilarating listening experience.

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Mahan Esfahani is a staggeringly gifted player who pairs virtuosic technique with a deep musical sensitivity. This disc of solo harpsichord music is a delight. His showcase performance of C.P.E. Bach's 12 Variations on "Les Folies d'Espagne" is a highlight.  The composition itself is packed with a variety of invention and is a wonderful example of why C.P.E. stands on his own as a composer outside of his father's shadow. 

But Esfahani embodies more than just sheer virtuosity. He really makes the harpsichord sing and wrings a surprising amount of color and texture from his instrument. That skill really pays off in his performances of Gorecki and Reich, where the textures and shading of his playing add a new dimension to the minimalist scores originally written for piano.

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Digital editor Brad Turner writes: "Composer John Luther Adams has written booming percussion music to be played in open spaces and a Pulitzer Prize-winning piece that makes a symphony hall sound like a tidal basin. By comparison, 'The Wind in High Places' is almost shockingly intimate. It calls for a string quartet to play only open strings and high-pitched harmonics, meaning the musicians never press their strings against the fingerboards of their instruments. The result -- the sound of violin strings swaying in the breeze -- has a wispy, haunting quality. Also worthwhile: the disc's murky second piece, 'Canticles of the Sky,' performed by a 48-member cello choir."

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When a top-notch artist records beloved material, you hope the results live up to the hype. Thank goodness this disc exceeds the hype. Kaufmann is one of the leading tenors in the world thanks to his astonishing voice, his movie star looks, and his ability to use those tools to make music come alive. His tone is dark and muscular while remaining buoyant and tempered with delicate phrasing. More impressive than just his voice is his connection to the material, bringing forth developed, three-dimensional characters in each aria.

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From audio editor Jon Pinnow: "You might think an hours-long composition meant to be heard while sleeping would be intrinsically boring. 'A lullaby for a frenetic world,' Sleep is also 'a manifesto for a slower pace of existence,' composer Max Richter says. In that light, there’s nothing boring about it, and even wide awake, it’s a richly musical listening experience. 

There are two ways into 'Sleep.' One version, as yet available only by download, is eight hours long; the other lasts exactly 60 minutes. This shorter record reveals a work that is basically built upon theme-and-variations: The velvety pulse of the 'Dream' movements dissolves into the wistful melody of the 'Path' movements. Between those are ambient movements called 'Space.' The longer version adds more dimension and variation. Some reviewers called 'Sleep' 'high-class chillout music.'  I prefer to see it as a journey through a vast landscape with subtly changing landmarks, and I know it’s music that will stick with me for years to come -- in waking life and asleep."

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Bryce Dessner and Nico Muhly collaborate here with eighth blackbird both as composers and performers, making this release an all-star new music collaboration. The disc opens with Dessner's "Murder Ballades," one of his most assured and compelling pieces to date. He makes wonderful use of the instrumental textures available from the chamber sextet, highlighting attractive melodies against shifting and propulsive accompaniments. Muhly pays homage to his mentor Philip Glass with "Doublespeak," a 21st century reworking of 1970s style minimalism. Melodies spin out and shimmer in developing combinations that are pretty and invigorating.

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Host Jean Inaba writes: "This was a tough choice but in the end, the brass players really got to me. (They impressed Jeff, too.) Remarkable convergence of tremendous virtuosity. Principal brass players from America's Big Five orchestras: the National Brass Ensemble.  Enough firepower to blow your socks off."

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Stephen Sondheim is a Broadway institution, but he also has classical training in his background, having studied composition with serialist guru Milton Babbitt. Pianist Anthony de Mare spent eight years commissioning classical, jazz, and Broadway composers to take Sondheim's songs and transform them into new solo piano works. The results reveal both the musical genius contained in the original songs as well as the immense creativity of the interpretations. The cross-genre collaboration yields music that is funny, moving and highly inventive. Ethan Iverson from jazz trio The Bad Plus strips away the schmaltz from "Send in the Clowns" and reveals the profound ache at the heart of the song. Mason Bates, Nico Muhly, and Steve Reich each manage to highlight Sondheim's musical material but retain their unique voices. Unifying the whole project is de Mare's bold, flexible, and nuanced playing. This is one of the most unique releases of 2015.

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Considering the depth of its recorded catalog and the length of its history, it is a bit amazing that this is the Takacs Quartet's first release of music by Dmitri Shostakovich. The wait was worthwhile as the results are electrifying. The disc opens with the dense, intense, yet tuneful Second String Quartet from 1944. The trick the quartet pulls off is the balance of four exceptional individual players always moving together as one cohesive whole to bring a depth of expression to the music. Even more thrilling is the performance of the Piano Quintet with Hamelin. The Quintet has been popular with performers and audiences since its 1940 premiere for its accessible and virtuosic writing. Unlike many performances that pit the piano against the strings, Hamelin blends into the ensemble for a very satisfying experience. The disc has earned a Grammy nomination for Best Chamber Music or Small Ensemble Performance.

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Host Richard Ray writes: "When James Horner died last June, he left an enormous legacy of movie music including the academy award winning score for 'Titanic,' the bestselling orchestra film soundtrack of all time. Horner was also a conservatory-trained musician, and 'Pas De Deux' is his first concert music since the 1980s. Melodic. Accessible. Twenty-first century Romantic."

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Here are three Haydn symphonies, each in D major and each from a different period of Haydn's development. Robin Ticciati and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra deliver wonderfully fresh and bold readings of all three. These performances combine energy, flexibility,and excitement without losing polish or precision. Hearing Haydn with this much vitality gives a sense of why London went so crazy for his symphonies more than 200 years ago.

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From host Charley Samson: "Geraldine Walther is the violist in the Takacs Quartet. David Korevaar teaches at the University of Colorado Boulder College of Music. Both have made frequent appearances in the CPR Performance Studio, and have recorded a marvelous CD of Hindemith viola favorites." 

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