Gramophone Choices,
Gramophone Editor's Choices - August 2019
A visceral, atmospheric account of Janáček’s song-cycle-cum-miniature-opera The Diary of One Who Disappeared from Scottish tenor Nicky Spence, Julius Drake and friends on Hyperion takes pride of place in Gramophone this month – you can read Katherine’s recent interview with Nicky about a work which he describes as ‘an absolute gem within the song repertory’ here.
Three other recent Presto interviewees also receive honourable mentions among the Editor’s Choices: Isata Kanneh-Mason, whose debut solo recording of music by Clara Schumann was our Recording of the Week on 5th July, and Guy Johnston and musicologist Jonathan Clinch, who jointly spoke to David about the process of reconstructing and completing Herbert Howells’s Cello Concerto at the end of June.
Recording of the Month
Janáček: The Diary of One Who Disappeared
Nicky Spence (tenor), Julius Drake (piano), Václava Housková (mezzo), VOICE, Victoria Samek (clarinet)
'Not only does Spence’s voice offer a rare mix of steely strength and velvety tenderness but his bright, vibrant timbre communicates a touching, wide-eyed sense of ardent longing, tinged with melancholy. He sings with sensitivity and intelligence, projects the words with consistent clarity and covers this wonderful cycle’s broad emotional range movingly and convincingly…[Drake] conjures up the cycle’s sound world superbly from the start…As persuasive an introduction to Janáček’s songs as you’ll find.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Editor's Choices
'The Petrenko release exudes confidence and swagger…There’s no lack of excitement or, where needed, bombast, and the Osloers’ sound at full throttle is thrilling, their playing superb. But what makes this account so special is that it also has room for patient musicality…It’s a performance that’s full of detail and loving touches to make you smile, while it also offers a sense of coherence to leave you deeply satisfied.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
'You don’t need a musicology PhD to guess that Schumann and Brahms will be important presences in Parry’s musical universe…But what is unexpected is the sheer strength of musical personality that emerges from behind the obvious influences…It all leaps off the page in these red-blooded and surely unsurpassable performances…Lovers of English music needn’t hesitate.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
'From its compelling programme, to the characteristic sound of an interesting instrument beautifully captured, to the intelligent performances which, for all their cultivated learnedness, speak with a disarming naturalness and simplicity, this is surely among the most satisfying discs I’ve encountered this year. Please, don’t miss it!'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Romance: The Piano Music of Clara Schumann
Isata Kanneh-Mason (piano), Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Holly Mathieson
'It ranks among the most charming engaging debuts I can recall…She brings weight and emotional heft to this uneven work [the Concerto] that are entirely convincing, and is well matched in the exuberant finale by Holly Mathieson and the RLPO…but it is the performances of the two song transcriptions that show what a gifted musician Kanneh-Mason is.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Beethoven: Missa Solemnis
Johanna Winkel (soprano), Sophie Harmsen (mezzo), Sebastian Kohlhepp (tenor), Arttu Kataja (bass) Kammerchor Stuttgart, Hofkapelle Stuttgart, Frieder Bernius
'Bernius coaches from his performers an assured and even (where appropriate) relaxed mastery of the notes and phrases before them…No less crucially, the soloists have had time to sing with each other: they form a notably well-matched team, not competing with each other or fighting for room with choir and orchestra…There’s so much to enjoy here.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Howells: Cello Concerto & An English Mass
Guy Johnston (cello), Stephen Cleobury (organ); Britten Sinfonia, King's College Choir Cambridge, King's Voices, Christopher Seaman
'Clinch’s compelling elaboration…acts as a satisfactory foil to its more consolatory companion movements to reveal a work of string personality, keen ambition and considerable expressive scope…It’s superbly championed by Guy Johnston, who in turn receives sterling support from the Britten Sinfonia under Christopher Seaman…Impeccably judged sound and balance throughout…All told, a hugely rewarding issue, and absolutely not to be missed.'
Available Formats: 2 SACDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
'One of the key differences between Vox Luminis and many other such ensembles…is how homogeneity is challenged as the default priority…The strong identities within the ensemble allow for new lyrical dimensions to emerge…Throughout this beguiling programme, Vox Luminis inhabit a world from which you’ll need to drag yourself away.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
'They do everything with verve and commitment, giving each piece its own colour and meaning. To say that their performances are technically flawless is perhaps to miss the point, but that helps everything to work…there is a quality of musical exchange, of understanding where the pressure-points must come and of clear projection that is a rare pleasure to hear.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Salieri: Tarare
Cyrille Dubois (Tarare), Jean-Sebastian Bou (Sultan Altar), Karine Deshayes (Astasie); Les Talens Lyriques, Christophe Rousset
'Salieri shows great skill in carrying the drama forwards…Gluck is a constant presence…Dubois makes a first-rate Tarare…Deshayes is a passionate Astasie…Rousset conducts with an unerring hand: the sforzandos in the Overture to the Prologue have a Beethovenian force that grips the attention right from the start. Great stuff.'
Available Formats: 3 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
DVD/Blu-ray of the Month
Barber: Vanessa (DVD)
Emma Bell, Virginie Verrez, Edgaras Montvidas, Rosalind Plowright; The Glyndebourne Chorus & London Philharmonic Orchestra, Jakub Hrůša, Keith Warner
'Warner’s handsome and perceptive staging has probably done more to silence the work’s naysayers than any in recent memory…Thanks to Warner’s perception and motivation this excellent cast really deliver…Shadowy, opulent, effulgent – Barber’s Vanessa is the opera that bridges Hollywood and the Broadway stage.'
Available Format: DVD Video
Barber: Vanessa (Blu-ray)
Emma Bell, Virginie Verrez, Edgaras Montvidas, Rosalind Plowright; The Glyndebourne Chorus & London Philharmonic Orchestra, Jakub Hrůša, Keith Warner
DTS-HD Master Audio
LPCM 2.0
Available Format: Blu-ray
Reissue/Archive of the Month
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 & Missa solemnis (Live)
Symphonie-Orchester und Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Rafael Kubelík
'Immediately establishes itself among the front-runners for a stereo Ninth which, although analogue, sounds wholly excellent…but what makes this double-pack unmissable is Kubelik’s inspired 1977 recording of the Missa solemnis…Without doubt a great Missa, this, one to place beside Toscanini, Bernstein (with the Concertgebouw) and, among period performances, Gardiner.'
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Chris O'Reilly - Chief Executive
