25 July marks the release of Nicolas Altstaedt​’s recording of Liza Lim’s cello concerto A Sutured World in collaboration with BR-Klassik. Featuring alongside two other works by Lim on the album Musica viva, Vol. 47, it is described in a 5 star review in Limelight as ​“never less than enthralling” and ​“destined to become a signature work of the cello repertoire”, with special mention made of the soloist’s ​“extraordinary expressive capacity”.

Written specifically for Altstaedt and recorded on its world premiere in October 2024 with Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and conductor Edward Gardner, the concerto’s title references society’s fragmentation and the importance of welding the pieces back together. Lim was inspired by the Japanese art of Kintsugi, where ceramics are repaired using gold or silver glue to highlight the cracks in the porcelain, and by the ancient Indian art of sewing sutra manuscripts together with fine thread – not unlike the medical practice of suturing wounds. In A Sutured World, the cellist plays the role of the surgeon whose healing hand knits the disparate elements of the orchestra back into a single whole.

The piece has subsequently been performed by Altstaedt with Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. The Portuguese premiere with Porto Symphony Orchestra is scheduled for October 2025.

A Sutured World is now available for general purchase and streaming both in stores and online.