Described as a "hymn to the abundance of the rain forest", in 1958 Heitor Villa-Lobos was commissioned by MGM to provide the music for Green Mansions, a film version of the 1904 novel by WH Hudson, set in the Amazon rainforest and starring Audrey Hepburn and Anthony Perkins. It was more or less his last work, and the music wasn't much used, but he later reworked it to a 23 movement piece based on the score. Floresta do Amazonas is an 80 minute long oratorio/symphonic poem. Conductor Simone Menezes has extracted an 11-movement concert suite, omitting the choral music but including four of the sections involving a solo soprano. The suite was originally assembled for the Amazônia project, accompanying an exhibition of Sebastião Salgado’s photographs of the river and its peoples, and it has been performed in concert with projections of those images, some of which are included in the CD booklet. It is wonderful music, obviously in part intended for a motion picture, but that matters not a jot. Coupled on this September 2023 release with a movement from Philip Glass’s ballet Aguas da Amazonia. Camila Provenzale, Philharmonia Zurich, conducted by Simone Menezes.

CD by "Percussionist extraordinaire Joby Burgess", this is an album of contemporary electronic percussion and marimba pieces. Described as "a collection of specially commissioned ‘songs without words’ from John Metcalfe, Tunde Jegede, Dario Marianelli, Yazz Ahmed, Graham Fitkin, Dobrinka Tabakova and Gabriel Prokofiev." The pieces are inspired by an eclectic mix of sources, including the poetry of Robert Graves and Birago Diop, by Michael Ondaatje and Isaac Asimov, work by philosopher Michael Sandel and songwriter Peter Gabriel, United Nation population growth statistics and Saudi Arabian folk tales. Joby Burgess (percussion). CD released September 2022.

Aram Khachaturian composed his Symphony-Poem in 1947, and scored it for for fifteen solo trumpets, organ and large orchestra. Loud and powerful! It went into obscurity after it's premiere, unpopular with the Soviet authorities, but is now known as the third symphony. On this disc it is coupled with music from the ballet Gayaneh, which includes the much loved "Sabre Dance".Robert-Schumann-Philharmonie, conducted by Frank Beermann. CD released June 2023.

Fun idea, an album full of organ works by J.S. Bach, transcribed for the orchestra by Judith and Tineke Steenbrink. To quote "Holland Baroque is an original and innovative baroque orchestra that approaches baroque repertoire through a fresh and contemporary approach, with a focus on improvisation and collaborations with outstanding artists from different traditions". Includes three Chorale Preludes, the Concerto in G major, the Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, the Keyboard Concerto in D minor, the Passacaglia in C minor and the Trio Sonata No. 2 in C minor. Holland Baroque. CD released February 2023.