New Release Round-up,
New Release Round-Up - 18th March 2022
Today's new releases include Bach's St Matthew Passion from Pygmalion and Raphaël Pichon (with Julian Prégardien as the Evangelist and Stéphane Degout as Christus), orchestral works by James Lee III from the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra and Marin Alsop, Jóhann Jóhannsson's final major work Drone Mass, and a film version of Vivaldi's Stabat Mater from Jakub Józef Orliński and Capella Cracoviensis.
JS Bach: Matthäus-Passion
Julian Prégardien (Evangelist), Stéphane Degout (Christus), Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon
With soloists including Sabine Devieilhe, Lucile Richardot, Tim Mead, Reinoud Van Mechelen and Christian Immler, this Matthew Passion was recorded following a live performance at the Festival de Pâques in Aix-en-Provence which was acclaimed by BachTrack for the 'exceptional quality' of Prégardien's story-telling, Degout's 'implacable resolution' as Christus, and the 'natural buoyancy' of the performance as a whole.
Available Formats: 3 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The main event on this third volume of Somm's Elgar in America series is a live 1959 Carnegie Hall recording of The Dream of Gerontius, with Richard Lewis, Maureen Forrester and Morley Meredith as soloists; it's preceded by a recording of the Introduction and Allegro (in which the solo quartet is led by John Corigliano Snr.) from the same year, and two choruses from Scenes from the Saga of King Olaf, which receive their first release here.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Born in 1975, James Lee III studied with Betsy Jolas, Bright Sheng, William Bolcom and Michael Daugherty and has won acclaim for his 'bright, pure music' (Washington Post) and 'lush orchestration' (Chicago Tribune). This album features four of his orchestral works: Sukkot Through Orion's Nebula, A Different Soldier's Tale (inspired by his grandfather's personal experiences in World War II), Beyond Rivers of Vision, and Chuphshah! Harriet's Drive to Canaan (which celebrates the life of abolitionist Harriet Tubman).
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Himself a member of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Franssen takes the spotlight for six works from the first half of the eighteenth century, all of which belong to the 'Wenster' collection housed at the University of Lund in Sweden and have connections of some sort to the city of Dresden. As well as concertos by Förster, Graun and Quantz, the album includes a further concerto in an unknown hand and a trio sonata by Graun.
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
This recital from the Korros Ensemble (comprising flute, harp and clarinet) centres on the music of Elizabeth Poston, perhaps best-known today for her carol Jesus Christ the Apple Tree but also a prolific composer of chamber and instrumental music. In addition to her Trio for Flute, Clarinet & Harp (1958), Forma and Three Pieces for Flute & Harp, the programme features music by Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Howard Blake, Catrin Finch, and Korros clarinettist Nick Ellis.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
Begun in late 2018, Donohoe's Mozart series has won praise for the 'gloves-off spontaneity' (BBC Music Magazine) of his playing and 'fascinating and finely considered' interpretations (Gramophone). This fifth instalment comprises Sonata No. 3 in B flat K281 (written when the composer was in his late teens and featuring a cadenza composed by Donohoe in the final movement), Sonata No. 13 in B flat K333, and Sonata No.15 in F major K533/494.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
JS Bach: Sonatas for Violin and Continuo
Gottfried von der Goltz (violin), Annekatrin Beller, Torsten Johann
Four years on from his recording of the solo sonatas and partitas (which was one of The Sunday Times's Records of the Year in 2018), the Freiburger Barockorchester's Konzertmeister teams up with two colleagues for the sonatas BWV 1021, 1023 and 1024, plus the Fugue BWV 1026, the Telemann Sonata in A major which was previously attributed to Bach, and an anonymous sonata in C minor from the 1720s.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
This is the world premiere of Jóhann Jóhannsson's final major work, premiered in 2015 at the Egyptian Temple of Dendur in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. Scored for voices, string quartet and electronics, the piece was described by the composer as a 'contemporary oratorio', and draws on texts from the Nag Hammadi library as well as taking inspiration from Renaissance polyphony and the music of Arvo Pärt and Henryk Górecki.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Recorded in Gloucester Cathedral last June, this disc features the first recordings of eleven works which Ian King composed for the cathedral choir between 2012 and 2020, including The Gloucester Service, The St. John Passion, We beseech Thee, Almighty God, The Christmas Truce (setting a poem by Carol Ann Duffy), and Almighty God, give us grace. Although the composer died shortly before the sessions took place, he worked closely with Adrian Partington in the planning stages of the project.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Les Cris de Paris presents a selection of psalms and motets which testify to the inspiration which Heinrich Schütz drew from his time in Venice, and in particular from his work with Giovanni Gabrieli (with whom he studied from 1609–1612): the programme features the Psalms of David from the Moteten und Concerten (1619), excerpts from the Cantiones sacrae (1625) and Symphoniae Sacrae (1629), and Samuel Scheidt's Paduan dolorosa a 4.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
In addition to an audio recording of the Stabat Mater, this release includes a filmed version of the work, directed and written by Sebastian Pańczyk and also starring Polish actress Michalina Olszanska; you can watch a short trailer for the project here. (Please note the short running-time of this album: c. 19 minutes for each format).
Available Formats: CD + DVD Video, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Giordano: Siberia (DVD)
Sonya Yoncheva (Stephana), Giorgi Sturua (Vassili), George Petean (Gléby), Caterina Piva (Nikona), Giorgio Misseri (Il Principe Alexis), Antonio Garés (Ivan); Orchestra e Coro Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Gianandrea Noseda, Roberto Andò
This is the world premiere on video of Giordano's 1903 opera, which centres on Prince Alexis’s mistress Stephana and her doomed love for the soldier Vassili, who is sent into exile in Siberia after killing the Prince in a duel; though poorly received at its premiere, the work was highly regarded by Faurè, who thought it one of the most interesting operas of the period. This production was filmed in Florence last July, with British Theatre Guide hailing Yoncheva as 'a singer with the power to soar to thrilling heights...[and] infuse real emotion into the most pedestrian of plots'.
Available Format: DVD Video
Katherine Cooper - Head of Editorial
