New Release Round-up,
New Release Round-Up - 12th October 2018
Today's new releases include an English-language version of Schubert's Schwanengesang from veteran Wagnerian Sir John Tomlinson, Bernstein rarities from Marin Alsop and the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, late Beethoven from Alexandre Tharaud, and a toe-tapping collection of songs and dances from eighteenth-century Peru from Jordi Savall and Hesperion XXI.
Savall and his Catalan ensemble explore music from the Codex Trujillo, a manuscript consisting of 1411 watercolours and 20 scores charting life in an eighteenth-century Peruvian diocese, edited by the Baltasar Jaime Martínez Compañón who held the post of choir-master at Lima Cathedral early on in his career before becoming Bishop of Trujillo in 1778. The music fuses Western European influences with local folk traditions.
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Following in the footsteps of William Primrose, the Armenian-American viola-player performs Bach’s suites in transcription; her interpretations are praised in this month’s Gramophone for the ‘wide tonal palette’, ‘invariable tendency to sing out’, and ‘appealing ease of movement’. Her 2010 recording of the gamba sonatas with Keith Jarrett was described by BBC Music Magazine as ‘a refreshing experience’.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Bernstein: Suite For Orchestra From 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, Marin Alsop
Some real rarities on this collection of shorter orchestral works by Alsop’s mentor (included on the complete Naxos recordings box from earlier this year, but receiving its first individual release here): as well as the suite from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, it features Slava! (composed for Bernstein’s friend Rostropovich in 1977), CBS Music (written to celebrate the broadcasting company’s 50th birthday), and birthday tributes to Bernstein by eight composers.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
The French violinist’s exploration of music for the silver screen includes excerpts from scores for Cinema Paradiso and Mission (Ennio Morricone), Out of Africa (John Barry), Schindler’s List (John Williams), The Adventures of Robin Hood (Korngold), The Godfather (Nino Rota), Legends of the Fall (James Horner), and La vita è bella (Nicola Piovani).
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The French pianist jumps in at the deep end for his first recording of Beethoven by tackling the mighty three final sonatas; reviewing a live performance at Zankel Hall (Carnegie's Hall's recital-venue) the New York Times praised his ‘poetic introspection’. He performs two of the sonatas at Wigmore Hall in November.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Schubert: Swansong
Sir John Tomlinson (bass), Christopher Glynn (piano), Sophie Bevan (soprano), Alec Frank-Gemmill (horn), Julian Bliss (clarinet)
Following Roderick Williams’s Winter Journey earlier in the year, the veteran bass performs Schubert’s Schwanengesang in a new English translation by Jeremy Sams; Sophie Bevan and Julian Bliss join Glynn for The Shepherd on the Rock, and the superb young horn-player Alec Frank-Gemmill makes an appearance in On the River (Auf dem Strom).
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Aaron Jay Kernis & James Newton Howard: Violin Concertos
James Ehnes (violin), Andrew Armstrong (piano) Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Ludovic Morlot, Cristian Măcelaru
All three works here were written for Ehnes, and all receive their first recordings: Kernis’s concerto was premiered last March in Seattle (impressing The Seattle Times with ‘Kernis’ command of the complete orchestral palette’), whilst James Newton Howard’s work dates from two years earlier. The third piece, Stream of Limelight (composed by the conductor Bramwell Tovey) is scored for violin and piano.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
For their debut recording, the BBC New Generation Artists perform four works composed as a response to personal loss and trauma: Mendelssohn's String Quartet No. 6, Janáček's Kreutzer Sonata, Prokofiev's String Quartet No. 2, and Golijov's Tenebrae. Read David's interview with all four members of the quartet here.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Korngold’s fourth opera was premiered in 1927, with Lotte Lehmann in the title-role, and later championed by Bruno Walter, but despite some ravishing music it has never achieved the same popularity as Die tote Stadt. Recorded in Freiburg last summer, this account features acclaimed British Wagner tenor Ian Storey as Der Fremde and Dutch soprano Annemarie Kremer as Heliane.
Available Formats: 3 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
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