I've been in danger of overdosing on dark nights of the soul these past few weeks thanks to a raw and compelling new Mahler recording from Alice Coote and the Netherlands Philharmonic - but there are palette-cleansers aplenty in amongst this month's offerings, including some mettlesome Stravinsky from Ilya Gringolts and the gentle charm of a Donald Swann anthology curated by the British pianist Christopher Glynn.
Mahler: Song Cycles
Alice Coote (mezzo-soprano), Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Marc Albrecht
There may be more beautifully-sung Mahler recitals on the market, but none that I’ve heard to rival Coote for unflinching emotional candour, particularly in the insomniac angst of Um Mitternacht and the angry self-laceration of the third Wayfarer song. The Dutch players match her every nuance, with some particularly empathetic woodwind solos.
Available formats: SACD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
JS Bach: French Suites
Vladimir Ashkenazy (piano)
The veteran pianist celebrates his eightieth birthday with luminous and leisurely performances which unfold with a natural fluidity; the spaciousness and lyricism of his playing is underpinned by an unfaltering and unmannered awareness of the dance impetus behind the music. A worthy successor to his Well-Tempered Clavier and Partitas.
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Stravinsky: Music for Violin, Vol. 1
Ilya Gringolts (violin) & Peter Laul (piano)
Sparky, spirited, and deliciously abrasive when required, Gringolt’s Stravinsky is a force to be reckoned with – the pyrotechnics of the Petrushka take the breath away, and the almost schmaltzy rubato in more lyrical works like the Ronde des princesses is tempered by a pleasing astringency of tone. I can’t wait for volume two.
Available format: SACD
Buxtehude: Seven Sonatas
Sophie Gent (violin), Jonathan Manson (cello) & Thomas Dunford (lute); Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen
Until I test-drove this, I wasn't aware that Buxtehude could sound so lush and almost sensual: the string-playing is warm and glowing, the phrasing relaxed and elastic but never sloppy or anachronistic. The dance-inspired movements have a wonderfully spontaneous, almost folksy quality that makes them sound as if they're being improvised in front of the mics.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Dvorak: Symphony No. 9 & Sibelius: Finlandia
Chineke! Orchestra, Kevin John Edusei
An assured and instantly engaging debut disc from Europe’s first professional BME orchestra, who give fresh and unsentimentalised accounts of two orchestral warhorses: the sweep and surge of Finlandia, (with rhythms almost ‘swung’ in places), is particularly attractive, and there’s some wonderfully mercurial string-playing in the Scherzo of the New World.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
The Romantic Piano Concerto 72 - Cipriani Potter
Howard Shelley (piano & conductor), Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
Howard Shelley makes a typically persuasive case for three contrasting works by the British composer 'Chip' Potter (1792-1871), pointing up the gentle wit and charm of these tuneful and immediately appealing scores: the Sturm und Drang opening of the D minor concerto recalls Mozart's 20th, and the operatic brio of the Rossini Variations is irresistable.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 44.1 kHz, 16 bit)
Ristori: Cantatas for Soprano & Oboe concerto
María Savastano (soprano); Ensemble Diderot, Johannes Pramsohler
A happy discovery on two counts, this: firstly for the hugely appealing and melodically memorable writing of Giovanni Alberto Ristori, and secondly for the characterful and classy singing of the pleasantly tart-voiced Argentine soprano Savastano (a specialist in Mozart soubrette roles), who brings these three Classical heroines to life with panache.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Songs by Donald Swann
Dame Felicity Lott (soprano), Kathryn Rudge (mezzo), John Mark Ainsley (tenor), Roderick Williams (baritone), Christopher Glynn (piano)
I’ve been dipping into this treasure-trove of hugely varied miniatures by Michael Flander’s ‘other half’ for the past six weeks, and practically every song reveals another facet of Swann’s musical personality: it seems incredible that the whimsical Betjeman settings, charmingly brought off by Roderick Williams, and the Rachmaninov-lite Ya vas lyubil sprang from the same pen.
Available formats: 2 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Offenbach: Les Contes d'Hoffmann
Vittorio Grigolo (Hoffmann), Kate Lindsey (Nicklausse/Muse), Christine Rice (Giulietta), Sonya Yoncheva (Antonia), Sofia Fomina (Olympia), Thomas Hampson (Villains)
I was lucky enough to catch John Schlesinger's handsomely traditional production (recently retired at the grand old age of 36) just before Christmas, and what a send-off it gets here: Grigolo catches the anti-hero's naivety and nihilism to perfection, but the real star is Sonya Yoncheva's sumptuously sung Antonia, not so much tugging at the heart-strings as snapping them altogether.
Available format: DVD Video
