Category Archives: News

New music – Sean Shibe presents Vesper (Pentatone)

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by Ben Hogwood, with text from the press release. Picture (c) Camilla Greenwell

Sean Shibe’s fifth Pentatone album, Vesper, is due for release on 17 April 2026.

On it he presents a typically inventive collection of contemporary guitar works by the late Harrison Birtwistle, James Dillon, and Thomas Adès, “all composed by musicians who do not play the instrument themselves”, says the press release. “Recorded here for the first time, these recent miniatures explore the guitar’s expressive range in profoundly different ways: ritualistic and evocative in Birtwistle, elemental in Dillon, and allusive in Adès. Shibe’s interpretations reveal the instrument’s extraordinary colour, subtlety, and capacity for transformation, bringing each work to life with imagination and nuance.

For some of Birtwistle’s pieces, Shibe performs on Sylvette (2021), a guitar made by luthier Simon Ambridge in collaboration with French-British artist Lydia Corbett. A muse to Pablo Picasso – who was himself an important influence for several of Birtwistle’s works on this album – Corbett also inspired Picasso’s celebrated Sylvette series. Modelled on the small, responsive instruments of the Andalusian luthier Antonio de Torres, the guitar features Corbett’s artwork on its body, adding a visual and symbolic layer to the performance.

You can watch the launch video for Vespers here:

The tracklisting for Vesper is:

Thomas Adès (b. 1971)
Forgotten Dances*
1 I. Overture, Queen of the Spiders
2 II. Berceuse, The Paradise of Thebes
3 III. Courante – Here was a swift (for Max Ernst)
4 IV. Barcarolle – The Maiden Voyage
5 V. Carillon de Ville (for Hector Berlioz)
6 VI. Vesper (for Henry Purcell)

Harrison Birtwistle (1934–2022)
7 Beyond the White Hand: Construction with Guitar Player**
8 Guitar and White Hand**

Thomas Adès
9 Habanera* from ‘The Exterminating Angel’

10 Oockooing Bird (arr. for guitar by Forbes Henderson)
11 Sleep Song
12 Berceuse de Jeanne (arr. for guitar by Forbes Henderson)
13 Sad Song (arr. for guitar by Forbes Henderson)
14 Je sui aussi

James Dillon (b. 1950)
12 Caprices*
15-26 1.-12.

You can explore purchase options for Vesper at the Pentatone website

Published post no.2,816 – Sunday 1 March 2026

In Appreciation: José van Dam

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by Ben Hogwood picture courtesy of Colbert Artists Management

Last week we learned the sad news of the death of the great Belgian baritone, José van Dam, at the age of 85. A suitable obituary can be read at the Presto Music website

van Dam’s discography is extremely impressive, and the Tidal playlist below taps in to a number of elements of it, not least his many recordings made with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Herbert von Karajan. Yet there are landmark recordings of French opera and melodies too, which are also included – with music by Massenet, Ibert and Ravel:

José van Dam – Tidal playlist

Published post no.2,810 – Thursday 26 February 2026

In Appreciation: Helmuth Rilling

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by Ben Hogwood picture courtesy of Opus Artists

Last week we learned the sad news of the death of conductor Helmuth Rilling, at the age of 92. An obituary can be found at the New York Times website

Rilling will forever be closely associated with the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, becoming the first conductor to record all of his cantatas in a project begun in October 1969 and completed on the occasion of Bach’s 300th anniversary in 1985. The results were released on the German label Hänssler, and immediately won the ‘Grand Prix du Disque’.

In honour of Rilling’s achievements, this Tidal playlist comprises his recordings of three Bach cantatas written for the Sunday before Lent – falling today – and excerpts from works he commissioned for Passion 2000, marking the 250th anniversary of Bach’s death, from the composers Tan Dun, Osvaldo Golijov, Wolfgang Rihm and Sofia Gubaidulina

Published post no.2,799 – Sunday 15 February 2026

In appreciation: John Wallace

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by Ben Hogwood Picture courtesy of Wikipedia / Thechisholm

Last week we heard the sad news of the death of trumpeter and conductor John Wallace, at the age of 76. There have been a number of affectionate obituaries for John that refer to his character, musicianship and academic influence among many other positive qualities. Wallace was principal trumpet of the London Symphony Orchestra from 1976 to 1995, and along the way blossomed into an international soloist of considerable repute.

In 1981 he played at the wedding of Price Charles and Princess Diana, joining soprano Kiri te Kanawa in a performance of Handel’s Let The Bright Seraphim:

He also formed The Wallace Collection in 1986, an influential brass ensemble whose flexible approach brought brass music to new audiences. Several composers wrote for Wallace, among them Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Sir Malcolm Arnold, Sir James MacMillan and Robert Saxton.

Arcana has put together a playlist in honour of John Wallace, featuring the concertos written by Arnold and Maxwell Davies, along with the latter’s Litany for a Ruined Chapel between Sheep and Shore, written for Wallace to perform solo in 1999.

Wallace also features as soloist in Haydn’s much-loved Trumpet Concerto, Prayer of St Gregory by Alan Hovhaness and a commanding performance by the Wallace Collection of Berlioz’s Grande Symphonie Funèbre et Triomphale. There is also a pop nugget, Wallace playing piccolo trumpet on The Alan Parsons Project’s Don’t Let It Show, from the album I Robot.

Listen, enjoy, and appreciate the ability of a wonderful player whose presence will be greatly missed

In appreciation: John Wallace

Published post no.2,774 – Wednesday 21 January 2026

New music – Daphni: Good Night Baby / Talk To Me (Jiaolong)

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by Ben Hogwood, with quotes taken from the press release

Daphni recently announced his first album since 2022’s Cherry, which Arcana reviewed here. The Dan Snaith pseudonym – which he somehow operates alongside Caribou – will release Butterfly on 6 February via Jiaolong. To give fans a couple more tasters ahead of the album, having already shared Waiting So Long (feat. Caribou) and Lucky, today he releases two new tracks, Good Night Baby and Talk To Me.

Good Night Baby has enjoyably skittish beats and a warm, playful side. Snaith says it is “a good illustration of how far a finished track can end up from its origin / of how rudderless I am when making music most of the time. This one started out more like the mostly drums only track that you hear towards the end… but somewhere along the way turned into a big mushy loved up track with all the feels.”

Talk To Me is very different, with a slightly sinister vocal that speaks of AI gone wrong. Snaith calls it “the polar opposite of Good Night Baby. It’s rare that I manage to keep my tracks as sparse and spare as this one—just wubs, drums, voices and occasionally a little synth melody. I didn’t think that this was done until I played it out but on a big soundsystem it struck me that this was all it needed.” Minimal is the word here, though there is still plenty going on with the beats and lightly ethereal backdrop.

Adding to the single releases, Snaith has prepared a BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix under his Daphni pseudonym, premiering on 17 January. It will feature music from Miles Davis, Liquid Liquid, Floorplan, Underworld through to MPH, Flava D, Champion, Mala and unreleased music by Daphni himself.

Daphni will also be hosting three radio shows on NTS leading up to the release:
21 January, 1-2pm GMT
28 January, 1-2pm GMT
6 February, 4-5pm GMT

Listen / Buy

You can listen to all the available audio from the Butterfly album below:

Published post no.2,765 – Monday 12 January 2026