New Release Round-up,
New Release Round-Up - 11th February 2022
Today's new releases include Bruckner's Symphony No. 7 from the Gürzenich-Orchester Köln and François-Xavier Roth, Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7 from the London Symphony Orchestra and Gianandrea Noseda, four-part consort music by John Jenkins from Phantasm, and Winterreise from Benjamin Appl and James Baillieu.
This is the first release in a projected Bruckner cycle from Roth and the Gürzenich Orchestra, which is scheduled to complete in time for the composer's bicentenary in 2024. Roth describes Bruckner as 'a trailblazer of Modernism', and his approach to the score in this live performance accordingly prioritises leanness and transparency, captured here in high-resolution DXD.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
Recorded live at the Barbican in December 2019, this is the sixth instalment of the Italian conductor's Shostakovich cycle with the LSO, which has been praised for 'the razor-sharp clarity of texture and dazzling precision of ensemble that Noseda secures from the orchestra' (BBC Music Magazine) and the 'vivid, up-to-date sonics' of the recordings themselves (Fanfare). You can read our 2019 interview with Noseda about his relationship with Shostakovich's music (and the challenges of recording it in the Barbican) here.
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Premiered in 2008, this set of ten canons for nine instruments was inspired partly by snowy winters in Abrahamsen's native Denmark and partly by the composer's earlier arrangements of a selection of JS Bach’s canons, through which he found that 'a profound new moving world of circular time was opened to me'. Material from the piece was subsequently incorporated into the song-cycle Let me tell you..., which Abrahamsen composed for soprano Barbara Hannigan five years later.
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
Rondeau describes the Goldbergs as 'an ode to silence', an assertion borne out by an interpretation which includes a number of judicious pauses as well as all marked repeats; the French harpsichordist consulted an original printed edition of the work (containing Bach’s own markings and corrections) during his preparation for the recording, noting that 'through delving into this precious musicological source, I was able to make what I felt to be the most authentic choices'.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
After enlisting the services of guests Mikko Perkola and Emilia Benjamin for their acclaimed recordings of Jenkins's five- and six-part consorts (hailed by The Strad for their 'unanimous articulation, rhythmic vitality and perfect balance' and by BBC Music Magazine for their 'fleet-fingered dexterity') Phantasm turn their attention to the four-part works. Organist Daniel Hyde (also Director of Music at King's College, Cambridge) joins for around half the programme, supplying the original accompaniments on a seventeenth-century-style instrument.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Pergolesi: Stabat Mater
Jodie Devos (soprano), Adèle Charvet (mezzo), Le Concert de la Loge, Maîtrise de Radio France, Julien Chauvin
After consulting numerous editions and manuscripts, Chauvin chose to record the Stabat Mater in the version for soprano and mezzo soloists and two-part children's choir, noting that 'the choir can play a real role in the narration of so powerful and poignant a text'; that role is fulfilled here by the Paris-based Maîtrise de Radio France, with which Adèle Charvet sang as a young girl. The Pergolesi is coupled with Haydn's Symphony No. 49 'La Passione', which is also in F minor and is thought to have been written for Good Friday.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
For his first project on Alpha Classics, Appl undertakes Schubert's Winter Journey in the company of his long-term collaborator James Baillieu (who was also his partner on the Gramophone Award-nominated Heimat back in 2017); the pair will perform the cycle at Wigmore Hall next Friday, and recently made a filmed version of it for the BBC, directed by John Bridcut and shot in and around the Julier Tower in Switzerland.
Look out for our in-depth interview with Appl about his perspectives on Winterreise next week...
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Though this is their debut recording-project together, Dankworth and the Brodskys have been regular collaborators in concert for almost twenty years; their programme includes new works by Harvey Brough, David Gordon, Charlie Wood, Dankworth herself and her brother Alec, as well as arrangements of songs by Kurt Weill, Björk, Sting, Diana Krall, and Elvis Costello (with whom the quartet created The Juliet Letters in 1989).
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Saint-Saëns: Phryné
Florie Valiquette (Phryné), Cyrille Dubois (Nicias), Thomas Dolié (Dicéphile), Anaïs Constans (Lampito), François Rougier (Cynalopex), Patrick Bolleire (Agoragine/Un Heraut); Orchestre de l'Opéra de Rouen Normandie, Choeur du Concert Spirituel, Herve Niquet
Premiered at the Opéra-Comique in 1893, Phryné was one of Saint-Saëns's most popular works during his lifetime and was much admired by Gounod and Messager, but fell into obscurity in the latter half of the twentieth century. Set in ancient Greece, the plot centres on the eponymous heroine's attempts to rebuff the amorous advances of her lover's wealthy uncle whilst ensuring that he clears his nephew's debts.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Ahead of the upcoming biopic starring Kelvin Harrison Jr., Samara Weaving and Minnie Driver, this documentary charts the remarkable life and adventures of the virtuoso violinist, composer, conductor, soldier and champion swordsman Joseph Bologne, born to a French father and African mother in Guadeloupe in 1745; directed by Martin Mirabel, the film is supplemented by a concert featuring Julien Chauvin and the Quatuor Cambini-Paris.
Available Format: DVD Video
Zandonai: Francesca da Rimini
Sara Jakubiak (Francesca), Jonathan Tetelman (Paolo), Ivan Inverardi (Giovanni), Charles Workman (Malatestino dall’Occhio); Deutsche Oper Berlin, Carlo Rizzi, Christof Loy
Filmed in Berlin last March, this production of Zandonai's 1914 opera was greeted enthusiastically by BachTrack, who noted that 'Loy’s directorial touches amplify rather than distract' and applauded the 'plush sound and ripe colors' which Rizzi draws from the Deutsche Oper orchestra. Stay tuned for further news of the Chilean-American tenor Jonathan Tetelman, who signed to Deutsche Grammophon in October after being scouted during the live-stream of this production...
Available Format: DVD Video
Katherine Cooper - Head of Editorial
