Valentin Silvestrov was forced to leave his native Ukraine after the Russian invasion of 2022. His music has a prescient quality that unerringly seems to express the fate of his homeland. Raymond Bisha introduces the world premiere recordings of his intimate Violin Concerto and the heartfelt, single-span Eighth Symphony. Notable for their economy of expression and emphasis on beauty, depth and harmony, these are works that hover on the edge of silence in an uplifting homage to love and humanity, hope and renewal.

This album with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra features music by Australian composer Liza Lim, with whom the orchestra has an ongoing relationship. Over the past decade the orchestra has been involved in commissioning all three works on this album: The Compass for orchestra with solo flute and digeridoo, A Sutured World for Cello and Orchestra, and Mary / Transcendence after Trauma.

The music of Alan Hovhaness, one of America’s most prolific composers, enchants with his signature synthesis of East and West. Influenced by his Armenian heritage and a fascination with nature and spirituality, Hovhaness sought to create music “for all people, music which is beautiful and healing.” Raymond Bisha introduces the latest Naxos album of his works which features violinist Zina Schiff, a Heifetz protégée whose international career spans five decades on five continents.