New Release Round-up,
New Release Round-up - 14th April 2017
François-Xavier Roth conducts a period instrument Daphnis et Chloé with his group Les Siècles; other orchestral highlights include Vaughan Williams from Andrew Manze in Liverpool, Mahler from Lorin Maazel and the Philharmonia and Simon Holt from Hallé. Vocal and choral highlights include soprano Julia Lezhneva presenting eleven world premiere recordings of music from the eighteenth century opera composer Carl Heinrich Graun, a recording of Bach's St John Passion in English and Donizetti from Bergamo.
The orchestral forces in Daphnis et Chloé are the largest Ravel ever employed, including a chorus that sometimes hums and sometimes sings. François-Xavier Roth has gone through the score with a fine-tooth comb to offer a performance with all the transparency and stylistic precision one could wish for in Ravel’s masterpiece.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
With 11 world premiere recordings, this is a journey of discovery for Julia Lezhneva, who spent days in a Berlin library unearthing these arias by Carl Heinrich Graun (1704-1759), one of the most important German composers of Italian baroque opera but almost unknown today. This is music of great virtuosity: vibrant, joyful and fiery arias contrast with tragic and deeply felt laments.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
This second volume in Andrew Manze’s cycle of symphonies by Vaughan Williams features two works influenced by the Great War and its aftermath. A repressed rage and sorrow at the futility of war pervades No.3, whilst the 4th is a turbulent work, reflecting the post-war world and the political turmoil of the 1930s.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The fourth volume in this series thrusts into the limelight one of the most important stock characters in the theatre of sounds and words, the Kapellmeister. It features three symphonies by the "Shakespeare of Music" - one of which is even associated with an actual play. Also on this release is a large-scale scene by his colleague Cimarosa.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Bach, J S: St John Passion, BWV245 (sung in English)
Sophie Bevan (soprano), Robin Blaze (countertenor), Benjamin Hulett (tenor), Robert Murray (Evangelist), Andrew Ashwin (Pilate, Peter), Neal Davies (bass-baritone), Ashley Riches (Jesus), Crouch End Festival Chorus & Bach Camerata, David Temple
The Crouch End Festival Chorus presents a landmark recording of J.S. Bach’s St John Passion sung in English – the first for over forty-five years. The narrative is immediately understood, and the power of the storytelling imbues Bach’s music with extra freshness and meaning.
Available Formats: 2 SACDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Simon Holt: a table of noises
Colin Currie (percussion) & Chloë Hanslip (violin), Hallé, Nicholas Collon
This album showcases Simon Holt's narrative orchestral compositions, including his Violin Concerto depicting the life and gruesome death of St Eulalia of Merida. The other concerto is a much more upbeat and quirky affair, written for percussionist Colin Currie. Finally, the short, dazzling, orchestral work St Vitus in the kettle depicts the grisly of this saint in a cauldron of boiling hot lead!
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Led by Lorin Maazel, the Philharmonia Orchestra are captured at their best in these live performances of Mahler’s symphonies. Recorded in concert at London’s Royal Festival Hall, the symphonies include performances by soloists and ensembles including Sarah Connolly, Michelle DeYoung, Philharmonia Voices and the BBC Symphony Chorus.
Available Format: 15 CDs
Donizetti: Olivo e Pasquale (DVD)
Bruno Taddia (Olivo), Filippo Morace (Pasquale), Laura Giordano (Isabella), Pietro Adaini (Camillo), Matteo Macchioni (Le Bross), Orchestra dell’Accademia Teatro alla Scala, Federico Maria Sardelli
This sparkling opera buffa, recorded at the 2016 Donizetti Festival of Bergamo, has the part of Pasquale performed in the Neapolitan dialect. It is the story of two rich merchant brothers from Lisbon who habitually weigh everything against its bargaining power. The show is very colourful, thanks to the rich sets and costumes.
Available Format: DVD Video
Donizetti: Olivo e Pasquale (Blu-ray)
Bruno Taddia (Olivo), Filippo Morace (Pasquale), Laura Giordano (Isabella), Pietro Adaini (Camillo), Matteo Macchioni (Le Bross), Orchestra dell’Accademia Teatro alla Scala, Federico Maria Sardelli
This sparkling opera buffa, recorded at the 2016 Donizetti Festival of Bergamo, has the part of Pasquale performed in the Neapolitan dialect. It is the story of two rich merchant brothers from Lisbon who habitually weigh everything against its bargaining power. The show is very colourful, thanks to the rich sets and costumes.
Available Format: Blu-ray
James Longstaffe - Head of Retail
