Coming Soon,
Renée Fleming sings Mahler and other forthcoming highlights
Highlights for the summer include Mahler from Renée Fleming and Christian Thielemann, the world premiere recordings of two works composed for Nicola Benedetti by jazz legend Wynton Marsalis, Janáček from Nicky Spence, and the first album dedicated to the music of octogenarian composer Erika Fox.
Brahms, Schumann and Mahler: Lieder
Renée Fleming (soprano), Hartmut Höll (piano), Münchner Philharmoniker, Christian Thielemann
On her first Lieder album in nearly twenty years, the American soprano sings Schumann’s Frauenliebe und -Leben and a selection of Brahms songs (including Wiegenlied, Lerchengesang, Mondnacht, and Die Mainacht) with Hartmut Höll, and Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder with Christian Thielemann and the Münchner Philharmoniker. Released 14th June.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Marsalis: Violin Concerto & Fiddle Dance Suite
Nicola Benedetti (violin), Philadelphia Orchestra, Cristian Măcelaru
The Scottish violinist gives the world premiere recording of Marsalis’s Violin Concerto (his first composition for classical violin, written in collaboration with Benedetti and first performed in London in 2015), and the Fiddle Dance Suite for solo violin, premiered earlier this year and drawing on Scottish, Irish, jazz and ragtime influences. Released 12th July.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Salieri: Tarare
Cyrille Dubois (Tarare), JeanSebastian Bou (Sultan Altar), Karine Deshayes (Astasie) Les Talens Lyriques, Christophe Rousset
Following acclaimed recordings of Salieri’s Les Danaïdes and Les Horaces (praised in BBC Music Magazine for Rousset’s ‘fierce energy and musical intelligence’ and in Gramophone for the ‘incisive theatrical momentum’ on display), Les Talens Lyriques turn to the tragédie lyrique Tarare, which premiered in the same year as Mozart’s Don Giovanni and sets the only operatic libretto ever penned by Beaumarchais. Released 7th June.
Available Formats: 3 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Janáček: The Diary of One Who Disappeared
Nicky Spence (tenor), Václava Housková (mezzo), Julius Drake (piano)
Janáček has figured prominently in the Scottish tenor’s operatic schedule over the past few years (he’s had great success as Nikita/Tall Prisoner in From the House of the Dead, Tichon in Katya Kabanova, and Števa in Jenůfa), and now tackles his 1920 song-cycle about a village boy who falls for a fiery gypsy. Also includes Řikadla (Nursery Rhymes) and Moravian Folk Poetry. Released 28th June.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
For his fifth album on Pentatone, the Russian pianist presents a selection of personal favourites by Grieg and Mendelssohn, including The Bee’s Wedding, Venetianisches Gondellied, To Spring, March of the Trolls, Elves’ Dances, Booklet, and Wedding Day at Troldhaugen. We've had a sneak preview, and can confirm that it's a joy! Released 28th June.
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Sibelius: Kullervo
Benjamin Appl (baritone), Helena Juntunen (soprano), BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra & Lund Male Chorus, Thomas Dausgaard
Reviewing a recent performance of Sibelius’s first large-scale orchestra work which Dausgaard conducted in America, The Seattle Times praised his ‘precise, eloquent leadership’ and the ‘impassioned and impressive’ singing of German baritone Benjamin Appl in the title-role. Released 28th June.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
In a recent interview with Presto, NMC founder Colin Matthews selected this first solo album of works by the 82-year-old Austrian-born composer as one of his personal highlights on the label (which celebrates its thirtieth anniversary this year); composed between 1980 and 2005, the chamber works here include Café Warsaw 1944, Paths Where The Mourners Tread, and Malinconia Militaire. Released 28th June.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Conductor Peter van Heyghen describes the Czech composer’s third oratorio (premiered in Florence in 1771) as ‘clear proof of the sure judgement and the skilled hand of a master’; tenor Valerio Contaldo and mezzo Luciana Mancini sing the ill-fated couple, with sopranos Roberta Mameli and Alice Rossi as the angels who comment on their downfall. Released 21st June.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
Offenbach: La Périchole
Aude Extrémo, Stanislas de Barbeyrac, Alexandre Duhamel; Les Musiciens du Louvre, Marc Minkowski
Minkowski has championed the music of Offenbach throughout his career (his recordings of Orphée aux Enfers, La belle Hélène and La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein are widely regarded as library choices), and here he celebrates the composer’s bicentenary with a charming opera bouffe from 1868, highlights of which include the ‘Tipsy Aria’ Ah! quel dîner! and the insouciant Tu n'es pas beau, tu n'es pas riche. Released 14th June.
Available Formats: 2 CDs + Book, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Mozart: Die Zauberflöte (DVD)
Mauro Peter, Albina Shagimurotava, Christiane Karg, Adam Plachetka, Matthias Goerne; Wiener Philharmoniker, Wiener Staatsopernchor, Constantinos Carydis
Filmed at the Salzburg Festival last year, Lydia Steier’s production takes its cue from The Princess Bride by framing the action as a bedtime-story read by a grandfather and was praised by The New York Times as ‘a deeply personal reading of a staple without crossing a line and imposing an interpretation upon it’. Matthias Goerne, who debuted at the Festival as Papageno twenty years ago, sings Sarastro. Released 14th June.
Available Format: 3 DVD Videos
Mozart: Die Zauberflöte (Blu-ray)
Mauro Peter, Albina Shagimurotava, Christiane Karg, Adam Plachetka, Matthias Goerne; Wiener Philharmoniker, Wiener Staatsopernchor, Constantinos Carydis
SOUND FORMAT: BD: PCM Stereo, DTS-HD MA 5.0 PICTURE: NTSC, 16:9
Available Format: Blu-ray
Chris O'Reilly - Chief Executive
