New Release Round-up,
New Release Round-Up - 15th May 2020
Today’s new releases include the inaugural volume of a new project exploring the Sturm und Drang movement from Ian Page and The Mozartists, opera arias by Leonardo Vinci from Argentinian countertenor Franco Fagioli and Il Pomo d'Oro, and Quatuor Ébène's complete Beethoven string quartets - recorded live over the course of their world tour to mark the composer's 250th anniversary.
This first instalment of a projected seven-volume series exploring the mid-eighteenth-century fascination with depictions of ‘storm and stress’ focuses on music of the 1760s, and includes Gluck’s ballet music for Don Juan, symphonies by Haydn and Franz Beck, and arias from Haydn’s La Canterina, Jommelli’s Fetonte and Traetta’s Sofonisba; the Sunday Times recently described the album as ‘a startling ear-opener’.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The Ébène's Beethoven cycle was recorded live over the course of a tour which took in São Paulo, Tokyo, Vienna, Philadephia, Nairobi, Paris and Melbourne; Gramophone described the first instalment (released last September) as ‘Beethoven unburdened by the weight of history or hindsight’ and observed that their ‘acute sense of emotional timing distinguishes the Ébènes from many of their contemporary rivals’.
Available Formats: 7 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The Argentinian countertenor has been a key figure in the revival of interest in the works of Leonardo Vinci ('one of the finest opera composers of his age' - Gramophone) over the past eight years or so, singing major roles on the world premiere recordings of Artaserse and Catone in Utica; this solo album features arias from Il Medo, L’Ernelinda, Il trionfo di Camilla, Gismondo, re di Polonia and Elpidia.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
The third volume of works by alumni of the LSO Discovery Panufnik Composers Scheme (set up in 2005 in memory of Sir Andrzej Panufnik) features world premiere recordings of music by Ayanna Witter-Johnson, Ewan Campbell, Cevanne Horrocks-Hopayian, Donghoon Shin, Alex Roth, Matthew Sergeant, Patrick Giguère, Sasha Siem, Bethan Morgan-Williams, Michael Taplin, Benjamin Ashby and Joanna Lee.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Telemann: Miriways
André Morsch, Robin Johannsen, Sophie Karthäuser, Lydia Teuscher, Michael Nagy, Marie-Claude Chappuis, Anett Fritsch; Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin Bernard Labadie
A rare outing on disc for Telemann's 1728 opera inspired by contemporary events in the Middle East (the piece takes its title from the librettist's mis-hearing of the name of the Pashtun chief Mirwais); the recording is taken from a live performance at the Telemann Festival Hamburg in 2017.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Following acclaimed recordings of music by Erkki-Sven Tüür, Arvo Pärt and Helen Tulve, the Estonian chamber choir Vox Clamantis continue flying the flag for choral music by their compatriots with this collection of works by Cyrillus Kreek (1889-1962), who dedicated much of his life to collecting and arranging folk hymns from the Haapsalu region. His music is interspersed here with instrumental interludes by Marco Ambrosini.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Moniuszko: Paria
Katarzyna Hołysz (Neala), Robert Jezierski (Akebar), Yuri Gorodetski (Idamor), Szymon Komasa (Djares), Tomasz warmijak (Ratef); Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra, Łukasz Borowicz
The Polish composer’s bicentenary last year spawned numerous rewarding accounts of his works for the stage, and this recording of his final opera comes hot on the heels of the release of his best-known work The Haunted Manor (with which it shares a librettist) earlier this month; sung in Italian, this concert performance was given last year at the Beethoven Easter Festival in Warsaw.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC
Mozart: Die Zauberflöte (Blu-ray)
David Portillo, Sofia Fomina, Björn Bürger, Caroline Wettergreen, Brindley Sherratt, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Glyndebourne Chorus, Ryan Wigglesworth, Barbe & Doucet
Filmed at Glyndebourne last summer, Barbe & Doucet’s thought-provoking new Flute sets the action in a Viennese hotel in the early twentieth century, with Sarastro as Head Chef and the Queen of the Night and her Ladies as a suffragettes. The production was deemed ‘a theatrical feast of eccentricity’ by The Guardian, whilst the Evening Standard praised Wigglesworth’s ‘stylish, irreproachable’ conducting and Bürger’s ‘lithe and engaging’ Papageno.
The DVD will be released next Friday.
Available Format: Blu-ray
Chris O'Reilly - Chief Executive
