New Release Round-up,
New Release Round-Up - 21st August 2020
Today's new releases include Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 from Kristian Bezuidenhout & Pablo Heras-Casado, Schumann's Symphonies Nos. 1 & 4 from François-Xavier Roth and the Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, vintage Elgar from America, and a French recital from oboist François Leleux and pianist Emmanuel Strosser.
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4
Kristian Bezuidenhout (fortepiano), Freiburger Barockorchester, Pablo Heras-Casado
The first instalment of Bezuidenhout and Heras-Casado's cycle of the Beethoven piano concertos was described by Gramophone as 'one of the choicest offerings thus far this celebratory Beethoven year', whilst The Sunday Times praised their 'scintillatingly dramatic, heroic, deftly articulated and, above all, fresh' account of the Emperor; this second volume also includes the Coriolan and Prometheus Overtures.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Schumann composed his Symphony in D minor in 1841, the same year as the Spring Symphony, but revised the work heavily ten years later; here the Gürzenich-Orchester Köln (whose relationship with the piece dates back to 1889) perform the original version, which Brahms considered superior to the revision and published in 1891 despite opposition from Schumann's widow Clara.
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
Elgar From America, Vol. II
Mischa Mischakoff, Edwin Bachmann, Carlton Cooley, Frank Miller, Yehudi Menuhin, Sir Malcolm Sargent, NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini
Restored and remastered by Lani Spahr, this is the first commercial release of three NBC Symphony Orchestra performances from the 1940s: Sir Malcolm Sargent conducts Cockaigne and the Violin Concerto (with Yehudi Menuhin as soloist), while Toscanini takes the reins for the Introduction and Allegro.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
On their third recording for Oehms Classics, the Zagreb Philharmonic perform Prokofiev's Scythian Suite and Summer Night Suite (based on music from Betrothal in a Monastery) and Khachaturian's Masquerade Suite (composed as incidental music for Mikhail Lermontov’s play of the same name), plus three excerpts from the ballet Spartacus.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Lluna and his Spanish orchestra present four relative rarities by their compatriot: Soleriana (1953), Tres viejos aires de danza (1930), Zarabanda lejana (1931) and the Dos Miniaturas Andaluzas, composed in 1929 but only premiered shortly after the composer's death in 1999. You can read David's interview with Joan Enric Lluna here.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
This all-French twentieth-century programme includes oboe sonatas by Saint-Saëns, Dutilleux and Thierry Pécou, Debussy's Rapsodie pour Orchestre et Saxophone (where Leleux switches to cor anglais), Gabriel Pierné's Pièce Op. 5, Eugène Bozza's Fantaisie Pastorale, and Pierre Sancan's Sonatine.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The Polish-born Austrian pianist performs his own virtuosic transcription of Glass's Eighth Symphony, which he has been working on since first hearing Orange Mountain's premiere recording of the piece in 2006; the recording was made in Raiding, the birthplace of Franz Liszt.
Available Format: CD
Larchet: Songs and Airs
Niall Kinsella (piano), Gavan Ring (baritone), Raphaela Mangan (mezzo), Mia Cooper (violin), Verity Simmons (cello)
Featuring a wealth of world premiere recordings, this is the first complete survey of the Irish composer's complete songs, and also includes two sets of Irish airs for violin and piano; born in 1884, Larchet spent almost three decades as music director of the Abbey Theatre Dublin, where he composed incidental music for the premieres of plays including WB Yeats's The Land of Heart's Desire and Deirdre of the Sorrows.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Weinberg: Wir Gratulieren!
Katia Guedes (Madame), Anna Gutter (Fradl), Olivia Saragosa (Bejlja), Jeff Martin (Reb Alter), Robert Elibay-Hartog (Chaim), Kammerakademie Potsdam, Vladimir Stoupel
Made in Berlin in 2012, this is the first commercial recording of Weinberg's 1975 opera Pozdravlyayem! (Congratulations!), conducted by Vladimir Stoupel, who attended the work's premiere in Moscow in 1983. Weinberg's own libretto is based on the Yiddish play Mazel Tov by Sholem Aleichem, whose short stories Tevye the Dairyman also provided the inspiration for Fiddler on the Roof. Sung in German.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Puccini: Gianni Schicchi (DVD)
Bruno de Simone (Gianni Schicchi), Francesca Longari (Lauretta), Anna Maria Chiuri (Zita), Dave Monaco (Rinuccio), Costanza Fontana (Nella), Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Valerio Galli
This is the second individual instalment of Denis Krief's 'economical but effective' (Classical Music Daily) Trittico, which was filmed in Florence last November and uses the same set for all three operas. Il Tabarro, released in July, received four stars in the latest issue of BBC Music Magazine and was praised for its 'lack of glitz and gimmicks' and 'excellent musical and dramatic performances'; Suor Angelica will be released next month.
Available Format: DVD Video
Puccini: Gianni Schicchi (Blu-ray)
Bruno de Simone (Gianni Schicchi), Francesca Longari (Lauretta), Anna Maria Chiuri (Zita), Dave Monaco (Rinuccio), Costanza Fontana (Nella), Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Valerio Galli
Sound format: PCM Stereo 2.0 / DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Picture format: 1080i60
Available Format: Blu-ray
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