Coming Soon,
Barenboim's Brahms Symphonies and other forthcoming highlights
Promising releases for late summer and early autumn include Daniel Barenboim's second recording of the complete Brahms symphonies, the solo album debut of American soprano Nadine Sierra (who sang Gilda to Dmitri Hvorostovsky's Rigoletto on the great Russian baritone's final recording), a Chopin recital from Leif Ove Andsnes, and a second helping of Scriabin from Kirill Gerstein, the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and Vasily Petrenko.
Recorded in the Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin last October, this is only the second complete Brahms cycle on disc from both conductor and orchestra: Barenboim recorded the symphonies with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1993, and the Staatskapelle Berlin with Otmar Suitner in the mid-1980s. Released 24th August.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Andsnes pairs the complete Ballades with Nocturnes Nos. 4, 13 and 17 in his first all-Chopin album since his 1992 set of the complete sonatas on Erato, recorded when he was just 21; reviewing a recent recital including two of the Ballades, the Financial Times observed that ‘Andsnes brings to Chopin a classical sensibility allied to the most ethereal of touches’. Released 7th September.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Mozart: Grabmusik & Bastien und Bastienne
Anna Lucia Richter, Jacques Imbrailo, Anna Lucia Richter, Alessandro Fisher, Darren Jeffery; Classical Opera, Ian Page
The seventh volume of Classical Opera’s cycle of the complete Mozart operas presents two early works: the one-act pastoral singspiel which was supposedly commissioned by the Viennese magnetist Dr Mesmer (who would be later referenced in Così fan tutte) when the composer was just 12, and the ‘Cantata on Christ’s Grave’ which takes the form of a dialogue between an angel and a soul in torment. Released 14th September.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The American soprano (who will sing Maria in West Side Story for Antonio Pappano in Rome this autumn) makes her debut on Deutsche Grammophon with a programme celebrating the diverse heritage of composers who hailed from or settled in the Americas, including music by Stephen Foster, Golijov, Stravinsky, Villa-Lobos, Douglas Moore, and Bernstein himself. Released 24th August.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Scriabin: Symphony No. 1 & Prometheus
Kirill Gerstein (piano), Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Vasily Petrenko
Following the outstanding success of their collaboration on Scriabin’s Piano Concerto (one of our Top 10 Recordings of the Year in 2017), Gerstein and Petrenko join forces for the ‘Poem of Fire’ – you can read David’s interview with Gerstein about the experience of performing and recording this work (and about Scriabin in general) here. Released 28th September.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Currently taking Covent Garden by storm as Verdi’s Falstaff, the great Welsh bass-baritone returns to lighter repertoire for his forthcoming album: the full track-listing will be confirmed over the coming weeks, but will include Welsh folk songs, If I were a rich man from Fiddler on the Roof, the Irish ballad The Fields of Athenry and a variety of special guest appearances! Released 14th September.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Mephistopheles And Other Bad Guys
Kevin Short (bass-baritone), Orchestre Philharmonique de Marseille, Lawrence Foster
A superbly characterful gallery of rogues from the American bass-baritone, including Mephistopheles as imagined by Berlioz, Gounod, Getty and Boito, plus Beethoven’s Pizarro (Fidelio), Weber’s Caspar (Der Freischütz), Mozart’s Osmin (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), and Stravinsky’s Nick Shadow (The Rake’s Progress). Released 17th August.
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Weilerstein makes her debut on Pentatone with works from the First and Second Viennese Schools: Haydn’s two Cello Concertos and the 1943 version of Verklärte Nacht for string orchestra. The album also marks the beginning of the recording partnership between the cellist and the Trondheim Soloists – she was appointed Artistic Partner of the ensemble in 2017. Released 17th August.
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The Israeli cellist’s new album is something of a family affair, with cameos from his pianist daughter Lily and violinist son Sascha as well as his great friend Martha Argerich; the programme includes transcriptions of the Adagietto from Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, arias from Samson et Dalila and Die Zauberflöte, the Méditation from Massenet’s Thaïs, and Solveig’s Song from Grieg’s Peer Gynt. Released 17th August.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Almost a decade after her spectacular survey of Vivaldi’s operatic arias in Pyrotechnics (‘technically accomplished and warmly communicative’ - BBC Music Magazine), the Alaskan mezzo turns to the ‘Red Priest’’s sacred music with a programme which includes In turbato mare irato, Nisi Dominus and Sum in medio tempestatum. Released 10th August.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Chris O'Reilly - Chief Executive
