With Solstice, guitarist Adam Cicchillitti and bandoneonist Denis Plante, accompanied by the Montreal Classical Orchestra under the direction of Jean-Marie Zeitouni, present a unique project: placing the guitar and bandoneon at the heart of the symphony orchestra as fully integrated solo voices.

Alana Springsteen releases her sophomore album, I Hope This Helps. The 16-track project is a deeply personal account of self-reclamation tracing Alana’s journey through identity, generational trauma, faith, and the process of choosing herself in real time. Rather than framing healing as a destination, the album documents the journey of transformation where old narratives are being unlearned and self-compassion becomes an act of defiance. At its core, the album’s title reflects its broader intention: to offer connection, understanding and a sense of solidarity to anyone on a similar path. Key moments include “note to self” “black sheep” and “same God.”

Featuring Dolly Parton, Vince Gill, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Sierra Hull, Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O’Donovan, and more The Fiddle and the Drum brings together 5x Grammy winning soprano Renée Fleming and 19x Grammy-winning banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck for a celebration of Appalachian folk music.

Depeche Mode/Yazoo/Erasure’s Vince Clarke, Blancmange’s Neil Arthur and the electronic producer-writer-synth-nerd Benge have joined forces to form the new project Doublespeak.

The newest addition to Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra's award-winning survey of Shostakovich's orchestral works takes on symphonies from the opposite ends of the composer's life. Shostakovich's first symphony, composed when he was only 19, announced his presence to the world, while his 15th seemingly grapples with his impending mortality. The Symphony No. 1 in F minor, Op. 10, was written as a graduation piece for his composition class at the Leningrad Conservatory. The composer's youth and the influences of Stravinsky and Prokofiev are evident in the work, but there are plenty of allusions to his later style. Slightly on the slower side overall, the emotion and forward motion of the music is not lost. The Symphony No. 15 in A major, Op. 141, written a few years before the composer's death, though not programmatic, seems to present a look at the cycle of life.

Gluck composed “Ezio” only one year after the success of “Orfeo”. It was premiered in 1763 at the Burgtheatre in Vienna. Although not as successful as “Orfeo” it contains many fine moments and this recording, in which Michael Hofstetter conducts a first rate cast, should introduce more opera listeners to this fine work. “….the representation of his (Gluck’s) early and middle years is patchy. All the more fitting then, to be able to welcome a thoroughly satisfactory issue of Ezio….. It is greatly to the credit of countertenor Franco Fagioli, who sings the part (Ezio, sung by the famous castrato Guadagni in the première) in this recording, that there is no sense of anticlimax: he produces firm, expressive singing, with delicacy where appropriate.”

Directing his finely honed ensemble of period-instrument performers from the harpsichord, Pinnock brought us music that makes its points through subtlety, charm and skillful manipulation of modest instrumental means.

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