New Release Round-up,
New Release Round-Up - 14th September 2018
Today’s new releases include the world premiere recording of a song-cycle by Jake Heggie (plus new chamber arrangements of songs by Debussy and Strauss) from Joyce DiDonato and the Brentano Quartet, Langgaard symphonies from Sakari Oramo and the Vienna Philharmonic, two very early works by Mozart from Ian Page and Classical Opera, and Saint-Saëns from one of this week’s Presto interviewees, the French pianist Bertrand Chamayou.
Recorded live at Wigmore Hall last December, this recital includes Jake Heggie’s song-cycle Camille Claudel: Into the Fire (written for DiDonato in 2012, and inspired by the French sculptor and lover of Rodin), six songs by Richard Strauss and Debussy’s Trois chansons de Bilitis in new arrangements for voice and string quartet by the Brentano violinist Mark Steinberg.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Saint-Saëns: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 5 & pieces for solo piano
Bertrand Chamayou (piano), Orchestre National de France, Emmanuel Krivine
As well as two of the concertos, Chamayou explores the composer’s little-known works for solo piano, including selections from the Etudes Opp. 52 and 111, and the Valse nonchalante, written just two years after the ‘Egyptian’ concerto. You can read Katherine’s interview with him about the connections between Saint-Saëns and Ravel (whose complete piano music he recorded to great acclaim in 2016) here.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Though the music of the Danish composer Rued Langgaard (1893-1952) was well-received in Germany and Austria during his lifetime, he never enjoyed the same acclaim in his native country; this new recording pairs his Second Symphony (the pastoral Awakening of Spring) from 1914 with the apocalyptic Sixth (subtitled ‘The Stormy Heavens’) from the 1920s. Look out for David’s interview with Sakari Oramo about the project in the coming weeks.
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
Frang couples two youthful works by composers born in 1881 in present-day Romania: Bartók’s Violin Concerto No. 1 (reviewing her recording of his solo sonata in 2011, Gramophone observed that ‘her playing has the necessary physicality for Bartók, without ever appearing forced’) and Enescu’s String Octet – composed in 1900 but not premiered until 1909 due to its technical demands.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Mozart: Grabmusik & Bastien und Bastienne
Anna Lucia Richter (Der Engel), Jacques Imbrailo (Die Seele), Anna Lucia Richter (Bastienne), Alessandro Fisher (Bastien); 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
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Our congratulations to this Boston-based vocal ensemble in the wake of their Gramophone Awards victory last night! This boxed set brings together their complete set of world premiere recordings of Music from the Peterhouse Partbooks, which David discussed with their founder Scott Heron earlier this summer, and has been described as opening 'a unique window on one of the finest treasures of Renaissance English choral music' (Early Music Review).
Available Formats: 5 CDs, MP3, FLAC
Spanning two decades, this collection of live recordings from the Wiener Staatsoper includes excerpts from several of the great Russian baritone’s signature-roles (Eugene Onegin, Posa in Don Carlo, and Renato in Un ballo in maschera) as well as early forays into bel canto (Rossini’s Figaro and Bellini’s Riccardo Forth). The excerpts from Simon Boccanegra and La Traviata were made during the final eighteen months of his life.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Britten: Billy Budd (DVD)
Jacques Imbrailo (Billy Budd), Toby Spence (Vere), Brindley Sherratt (Claggart); Teatro Real Madrid, Ivor Bolton, Deborah Warner
Filmed at its Madrid premiere in early 2017, Warner’s visceral production (described as ‘an instant classic’ by BachTrack) sets the action in the 1940s, complete with 800 litres of water and a stage full of pulleys and hammocks; Imbrailo (who gave a career-defining performance of the title-role at Glyndebourne in 2010) was praised as ‘the soul of the evening’ by Opera Today, whilst Spence makes his role-debut as ‘starry Vere’ six years after illness forced him to withdraw from David Alden’s production at English National Opera.
Available Format: 2 DVD Videos
Britten: Billy Budd (Blu-ray)
Jacques Imbrailo (Billy Budd), Toby Spence (Vere), Brindley Sherratt (Claggart); Teatro Real Madrid, Ivor Bolton, Deborah Warner
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Available Format: Blu-ray
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