New Release Round-up,
New Release Round-up - 6th January 2017
This week sees the release of a new complete cycle of Bruckner's symphonies from Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin, plus the Elias Quartet continue their Beethoven cycle live from the Wigmore Hall, and soprano Renée Fleming gives the premiere recording of Anders Hillborg's The Strand Settings. Mstislav Rostropovich's career as both a cellist and a conductor is celebrated with a new box set from Deutsche Grammophon.
Leopold Kozeluch - another composer-pianist trying to make his way in 1780s Vienna - has not been treated kindly by posterity, suffering that posthumous obscurity shared by so many of Mozart’s contemporaries. But his brand of Rococo galanterie, much in evidence in these three piano concertos, is guaranteed to delight, especially in such affectionately attentive performances as these.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Sofia Gubaidulina: Sonnengesang
Christian Schmitt (organ) & Ivan Monighetti (cello), NDR Chor, Elbtonal Percussion, Philipp Ahmann
Sofia Gubaidulina's Jauchzt vor Gott is here being released on disc for the first time. The nine-minute piece for choir and organ sets three verses from Psalm 66. The organ work Hell und dunkel explores contrasts of colour and brightness. The large-scale Sonnengesang was dedicated to Mstislav Rostropovich. The choir sings the words of St Francis of Assisi’s celebrated ‘Canticle of the Sun’.
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Renée Fleming: Distant Light
Renée Fleming (soprano), Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Sakari Oramo
The title of Renée Fleming's new album comes from a poem in a new song cycle dedicated to her, here receiving its world premiere recording: Anders Hillborg’s The Strand Settings. Renée couples this with three songs by Björk in specially commissioned orchestrations by the Swedish composer Hans Ek, recorded here for the first time.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Two spectacular gala concerts are brought together here in their unforgettable glory. In the 1993 Winter Gala, singers (including Plácido Domingo, Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Kiri Te Kanawa) and dancers (including Darcey Bussell, Lesley Collier, and Irek Mukhamedov) celebrate the music of Tchaikovsky, in highlights from The Queen of Spades, Eugene Onegin, The Nutcracker, and Sleeping Beauty. In the glittering 1996 gala concert, Domingo is joined by a cast of opera stars including Angela Gheorghiu, Roberto Alagna and Susan Graham in a programme of great opera arias by composers including Bizet, Massenet, Gounod, Mozart and Donizetti.
Available Format: 2 DVD Videos
Katherine Cooper - Head of Editorial
