New Release Round-up,
New Release Round-Up - 18th February 2022
Today's new releases include violin concertos by Vivaldi, Leclair and Locatelli from Théotime Langlois de Swarte and Les Ombres, the complete Mozart piano sonatas from Elisabeth Leonskaja, piano works by seven African composers from Rebeca Omordia, and Italian baroque arias from Ian Bostridge and Cappella Neapolitana.
Following his compelling exploration of sonatas by Senaillé and Leclair with William Christie (which was one of our Recordings of the Week last summer), the young French violinist presents the latter composer’s concertos in A minor Op. 7 No. 5 and in D major Op. 10 No. 3, plus Vivaldi’s concertos RV 179a & RV 384 and the eighth concerto from Locatelli’s L'Arte del Violino.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The Tbilisi-born pianist renews her relationship with Warner Classics (which began in the 1980s and included a disc of Mozart sonatas arranged by Grieg with her mentor Sviatoslav Richter) with a set of works which have featured prominently in her live recitals over the past few years; reviewing a recent performance at Wigmore Hall, The Arts Desk’s David Nice described her interpretations of K280 and 570 as ‘kaleidoscopic Mozart with a lifetime's wisdom and experience behind it’.
Available Formats: 6 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The former BBC Young Musician of the Year makes her first appearance on Chandos with a programme of 'Tales From Prague To Budapest', including cello sonatas by Janáček and Kodály, and shorter works by Dvořák, Viteszslava Kaprálová and András Mihály. Van der Heijden's debut recording 1948 (featuring works by Prokofiev, Myaskovsky and Shaporin) won the Newcomer of the Year category at the BBC Music Magazine Awards in 2019, and was described by Gramophone as 'a thought-provoking disc from an impressive and intelligent young cellist'.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Barragán and Pacini’s recital of twentieth-century clarinet sonatas comprises works by Poulenc, Weinberg and Bernstein, plus a transcription of Prokofiev’s Flute Sonata (a work which the composer himself reworked as a violin sonata in collaboration with David Oistrakh) by Barragán and the late American composer Kent Kellar.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Released to coincide with Black History Month, the Nigerian-Romanian pianist’s programme takes its title from a work by JH Kwabena Nketia, and also features Ayo Bankole’s Egun Variations, Fred Onovwerosuoke’s Five Kaleidoscopes, Akin Euba’s Yoruba Songs without Words, three nocturnes by Nabil Benabdeljalil, Christian Onyeji’s Ufie (Igbo Dance), and David Earl’s ‘Princess Rainbow’ (from Scenes from a South African Childhood).
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
Chopin has occupied a special place in the Croatian pianist's repertoire ever since his controversial performance at the Tenth International Chopin Piano Competition in 1980, which prompted Martha Argerich to resign from the jury in protest after his elimination in the third round. His programme here focuses on works from the final decade of the composer's life: the Nocturnes Op. 48 No. 1 and Op. 62 No. 2, the Fantasy Op. 49, and Piano Sonata No. 3.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Focusing on Italian opera from the mid-seventeenth to the mid-eighteenth centuries, Bostridge's programme features arias from works including Cavalli's Eliogabalo, Caresana's Le Avventure di una fede, Stradella's Il Corispero, Vinci's Siroe, re di Persia, and Provenzale's Il Schiavo di sua moglie and La Stellidaira, plus orchestral excerpts from Cesti's L’Argia and Sartorio's Orfeo.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
The Hungarian soprano and French countertenor have appeared opposite one another on numerous recordings (including a fine Gluck Orfeo and a concept-album exploring the same myth), but in this instance Jaroussky appears in his relatively new capacity as conductor. The all-Handel programme features snapshots of soprano heroes and heroines from operas including Deidamia, Alcina, Arianna in Creta, Amadigi di Gaulo, Alcina, Giulio Cesare, and Radamisto.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
This ‘Ode to death in songs from Claudio Monteverdi to Billie Eilish’ features Wolfgang Rihm’s Zwei Gedichte von Marina Zwetajewa, Berg’s Vier Lieder Op. 2, Korngold’s Abschiedslieder, and individual songs by the late George Crumb, Randy Newman, Andrew Lippa, Charles Ives, Richard Strauss, John Cage, Gustav Mahler, and Robert Schumann.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Mozart: Idomeneo (DVD)
Bernard Richter (Idomeneo), Rachel Frenkel (Idamante), Valentina Nafornița (Ilia), Irina Lungu (Elettra), Pavel Kolgatin (Arbace); Wiener Staatsoper, Tomáš Netopil, Kasper Holten
Filmed at the Wiener Staatsoper in February 2019, this revival of Holten's 2014 production was praised for its dramatic coherence by Die Presse, whilst Kurier hailed Lungu's 'tragic grandeur' in her role-debut as Elettra, and Kronen Zeitung noted that Netopil delivered 'some gripping moments from the virtuoso overture onwards'.
Available Format: 2 DVD Videos
Katherine Cooper - Head of Editorial
