New Release Round-up,
New Release Round-Up - 19th October 2018
Today's new releases include René Jacobs’s first recording of Schubert symphonies, two collections of Portuguese music (Renaissance choral gems from The Marian Consort and baroque concertos from the Orquestra Barroca Casa da Música Porto), Tchaikovsky’s original version of Swan Lake from Vladimir Jurowski, and a tribute to Ivor Gurney from Dame Sarah Connolly, the Aurora Orchestra and Tenebrae.
Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake
State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia “Evgeny Svetlanov”, Vladimir Jurowski
Jurowski and his Russian orchestra present Tchaikovsky’s ballet score in its original 1877 version rather than the more commonly heard 1895 revision; his previous recordings of the composer’s music have been described as ‘infectious, bracing and idealistic’ (BBC Music Magazine on Symphonies Nos. 1 & 6) and ‘as near-ideal as one can imagine’ (Gramophone Guide on Suite No. 3).
Available Formats: 2 SACDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Jacobs makes his debut on Pentatone with two symphonies which Schubert composed whilst still in his teens: the First (composed in 1813) pays homage to Haydn’s Symphony No. 104, whilst the Sixth (known as the ‘Little C major’ and composed in 1817/18 but not performed in public for another decade) looks forward to the early Romantic language of his later orchestral works.
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
This is Gergiev’s first recording of Petrushka, though he and the Mariinsky orchestra have impressive form in Stravinsky; their discography includes a Rite of Spring which Gramophone described as ‘the most extraordinary to have been dreamt up since Stravinsky's own’ and a Les Noces which impressed The Sunday Times with its ‘primitivist rhythmic verve’.
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Described by composer-cellist Gregson as ‘looking at the Cello Suites through a different lens’, this ‘recomposition’ takes its cue from Max Richter’s Four Seasons Recomposed and adds the sonorities of a quintet of cellos and a synthesised bass line (using Juno-60, Jupiter-4, Moog Voyager and DFAM drum synthesisers) to Bach’s original.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Andreas Staier and the Porto-based baroque ensemble explore the musical interplay between Portugal and England in the eighteenth century; concertos by Charles Avison, William Corbett and Carlos de Seixas are interspersed with keyboard sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti and rounded off by an arrangement of Boccherini’s quintet La musica notturna delle strade di Madrid for chamber orchestra.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
An earlier generation of Portuguese composers is the focus of the latest album from this young British vocal ensemble, which centres on Duarte Lôbo’s Missa veni Domine; the movements of the mass are interleaved with lamentations and motets by Manuel Cardoso, Aires Fernandez, Estêvão Lopes and Filipe de Magalhães. My colleague David has it earmarked as one of the finest early music albums of the year!
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
A Walk with Ivor Gurney
Dame Sarah Connolly (mezzo soprano), Simon Callow (narrator), Tenebrae & Aurora Orchestra, Nigel Short
As well as Gurney’s In Flanders Fields and By a Bierside (arranged by Howells) and Sleep (arranged by Finzi), this celebration of the composer includes music by Vaughan Williams and Howells, plus Judith Bingham’s A Walk with Ivor Gurney, written for Connolly and Tenebrae in 2013 and setting poetry by Gurney alongside texts from Roman memorials in Gloucestershire.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Massenet: La Navarraise
Aleksandra Kurzak (Anita: La Navarraise), Roberto Alagna (Araquil); Opera Orchestra of New York & New York Choral Ensemble, Alberto Veronesi
Hot on the heels of Sony’s reissue of Massenet’s short verismo opera with Lucia Popp as the ‘girl from Navarre’ Anita, another coloratura soprano tackles the low-lying title-role: Aleksandra Kurzak, who’s steadily moving into more dramatic repertoire, and appears here opposite her real-life partner Roberto Alagna.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The great Welsh bass-baritone performs a selection of favourite encores and light classics, including 'If I were a rich man' from Fiddler on the Roof, the Irish ballad 'The Fields of Athenry', and Augustin Lara's 'Granada', plus a newly commissioned work by Karl Jenkins, The Shepherd Poet of Passchendaele. Read Katherine's exclusive interview with him here.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Chris O'Reilly - Chief Executive
