BBC Music Magazine Choices,
BBC Music Magazine - July 2022 Choices
Harry Bicket's recording of Handel's 1708 oratorio La Resurrezione with The English Concert (and soloists including Iestyn Davies, Sophie Bevan and Lucy Crowe) on Linn scores another palpable hit this month, having also been named Recording of the Month in the June issue of Gramophone - reviewer Berta Joncus observes that 'Bicket and his stellar cast embrace Handel's radical approach', singling out Crowe's divine vocalism' as the Angel for particular praise.
In case you missed it back in May, you can read David's extensive interview with Bicket about why he considers this early work to be 'at the roots of everything that Handel ever wrote' and his own 'very Handelian solution' to the impact of lockdown restrictions on his recording plans here.
Recording of the Month
Handel: La Resurrezione
Lucy Crowe (Angel), Sophie Bevan (Mary Magdalene), Iestyn Davies (Mary Cleophas), Hugo Hymas (John the Evangelist), Ashley Riches (Lucifer) The English Concert, Harry Bicket
'La Resurrezione is one of Handel’s greatest works, and Harry Bicket has gifted us its greatest recording...Bicket and his stellar cast embrace Handel’s radical approach, turning sacred figures into intensely dramatic ones. Handel gave instruments their own actor-like parts, which The English Concert deliver ravishingly.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Orchestral Choice
'Every tempo choice seems perfect. Bychkov doesn’t make an adagio-esque meal of the radiant song that frames the innocence-versus-experience third movement...Dynamics from the quietest imaginable to the very loudest are perfectly handled by the Rudolfinum recording.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Concerto Choice
Saint-Saëns: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2
Alexandre Kantorow (piano), Tapiola Sinfonietta, Jean-Jacques Kantorow
'The virtuosity is breathtaking, yet nothing is hard-pressed, for the younger Kantorow has that hallmark of the greatest performers of always appearing to have plenty of time...In short, this disc completes a Saint-Saëns piano concerto set that has few peers and none that are better.'
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Opera Choice
Heinz Holliger: Lunea
Christian Gerhaher (Lenau), Juliane Banse (Sophie), Ivan Ludlow (Anton Schurz), Sarah Maria Sun (Marie/Karoline), Annette Schönmüller (Therese); Philharmonia Zurich, Basler Madrigalisten, Heinz Holliger
'Gerhaher is astonishing in the virtuoso principal role...traversing the gamut of language and expression from song to speech. Yet this is an ensemble piece, in which past and present lovers and relations are wonderfully performed here, matched by an excellent Basler Madrigalisten and 34-piece Philharmonia Zürich conducted live by Holliger.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Choral & Song Choice
'The rare beauty of Orliński’s countertenor makes the whole recital an unusually introspective experience – and by any standards of Polish song recitals, this is an extraordinarily wide programme, one equally shaped by the excellent pianist Michał Biel.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Chamber Choice
'The Gringolts Quartet play both works with absolute mastery, and it would be difficult to imagine more convincing performances. Lingering particularly in the memory is the middle section of the quasi-slow movement in the Quartet No. 1, with its radiant viola melody beautifully played by Silvia Simionescu. This is a really important release.'
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Instrumental Choice
'Her Diabelli Variations are a triumph of wit and character...Yet it's in her handling of the profundity lying beneath that Uchida makes her Diabellis stand out. Underneath the constantly changing surface runs a seam of solemnity and devotion, whether mystical, enigmatic, lyrical, or consolatory.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
World Choice
'Hárr is an exquisite musique concrete sound portrait of Maurseth’s native Hardangervidda region, making canny use of samples of local wildlife and a small ensemble featuring double bass, vibes, marimba and electronica...You might feel you’ve been vandring in the Hardangervidda National park once the piece ends.'
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Jazz Choice
Amaryllis
Mary Halvorson (guitar), Adam O'Farrill (trumpet), Jacob Garchik (trombone), Nick Dunston (bass), Patricia Brennan (vibraphone), Tomas Fujiwara (drums)
'Full of sonic surprises, the music nevertheless retains a coherent thread with arrangements that frequently place Halvorson more as a texturalist than soloist. The band is a revelation, its dazzling brass and ringing vibraharp carried aloft by a surging rhythm section.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
'Belladonna’s five pieces were through-composed for the Mivos Quartet and augmented by Halvorson’s guitar improvisations. Without the band there’s more focus on Halvorson’s technique; longer, sonorous lines are strung with bright notes or cranky counterpoint melodies overlaying the quartet’s intense and precise accompaniment.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Chris O'Reilly - Chief Executive
