New Release Round-up,
New Release Round-Up - 2nd September 2022
Today's new releases include Bach's Italian Concerto & French Overture from Mahan Esfahani, Brahms Lieder from Anna Lucia Richter (making her recording debut as a mezzo!) and Ammiel Bushakevitz, John Adams from Paavo Järvi and the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, and Haydn's String Quartets Opp. 42, 77 & 103 from the Takács Quartet.
In addition to the Italian Concerto and French Overture, Esfahani's third JS Bach recording for Hyperion includes the four duets BWV802-805 (which he notes have been 'practically ignored by harpsichordists, whether on record or in the recital hall'), the Capriccio sopra la lontananza del suo fratello dilettissimo, and the Capriccio in honorem Johann Christoph Bachii Ohrdrufiensis.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Having started her career as a light lyric soprano, Richter recently transitioned to become a mezzo, and this all-Brahms recital is her first solo recording project in what she calls her 'new identity'; the programme includes 'Von ewiger Liebe', 'Die Mainacht', 'Wiegenlied', 'Der Tod, das ist die kühle Nacht', and 'Sapphische Ode'. Her previous lieder recording, Heimweh, was nominated for an International Classical Music Award in 2019.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Järvi and his Swiss orchestra mark the American composer's 75th birthday with a programme comprising Slonimsky's Earbox (1996), Tromba Lontana (1986), Lollapalooza (1995), and My Father Knew Charles Ives (2003); Adams himself was in attendance for the recording-sessions earlier this year.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
After a decade-long hiatus, the Takács resume their Haydn series; the previous volumes were applauded by The Times for their 'characteristic imagination, contrapuntal rigour, sensitivity to texture and colour, and wit' and in The Guardian for their 'perfect weighting of every chord, buoyant rhythms, and sense of effortless transparency'.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 4
Anna Fedorova (piano), Sinfonieorchester St. Gallen, Modestas Pitrenas
With views currently pushing 36 million, the Ukrainian pianist's live 2013 performance of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 is the most watched classical concerto video on YouTube; this studio recording follows her 2020 account of the Piano Concerto No. 1 with the same forces, which received five stars in BBC Music Magazine thanks to her 'reflective yet never over-indulgent style of playing'.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
Brahms & Berg: Violin Concertos
Christian Tetzlaff (violin), Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Robin Ticciati
Tetzlaff's previous recording of the Brahms concerto, with Thomas Dausgaard and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra back in 2006, was described as 'unusually fresh and impressive' by BBC Music Magazine. Now he returns to the work with new partners and a new coupling - Berg is a composer who has featured prominently in his discography to date, with highlights including the Chamber Concerto for Piano and Violin with Mitsuko Uchida, the late Pierre Boulez and Ensemble Intercontemporain.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Mozart: Violin Concertos, Vol. 2
Francesca Dego (violin), Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Sir Roger Norrington
The first volume of Dego's Mozart concertos with Norrington (who recently announced that this will be his final recording project) was BBC Music Magazine's Recording of the Month last November, whilst The Sunday Times declared that the set 'promises to be one of the freshest of recent cycles'. This second instalment features Concertos Nos. 1, 2 and 5.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Recorded live at the Großes Festspielhaus last August, Kissin's Salzburg Festival recital was dedicated to the memory of his teacher Anna Pavlovna Kantor (who had died just a month earlier) and was hailed by BachTrack as 'something extraordinary'; his programme includes Berg's Piano Sonata Op. 1, Gershwin's Three Preludes, Kissin's own Dodecaphonic Tango, and pieces by Khrennikov, Chopin, Mendelssohn, and Debussy.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC
Recorded at the Konzerthaus Dortmund in 2021, this programme features the Brahms Clarinet Clarinet Trio plus the Rachmaninoff Cello Sonata and Brahms's Cello Sonata No. 1; the Rachmaninoff, released digitally last year, was praised by Fanfare as 'a reading of pure pleasure for the listener', whilst The Strad described their live performance at Carnegie Hall as 'a study in contrasts...a mini-masterclass'.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The first instalment of Jones's survey of Lutyens's piano works (released last October) was praised in The Guardian for his 'meticulous, clearly affectionate performances', whilst Gramophone noted that 'it is tribute to his expressive intelligence and natural (self-effacing?) pianism that it is Lutyens that one hears throughout, not Jones, which is exactly as it should be'. This second volume includes The Check Book, The Ring of Bone, and the Five Bagatelles Op. 49.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
As well as the Vivaldi psalm-setting which gives the album its title, Dumestre's 'musical journey centred on the figure of woman and on divine praise' includes the Red Priest's motet Invicti, bellate and Sinfonia 'Al Santo Sepolcro', Locatelli's Sinfonia Funebre composta per l'esquie della sua Donna, and rarities by Serafino Razzi and Soto de Langa.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
For her first song-recital on her own label, the Latvian soprano has assembled a fascinating programme of mélodies by French composers on texts in Italian, German, and Russian as well as their native language; highlights include five settings of German poetry by Marie Jaëll, Pauline Viardot's 'L'innamorata' and 'Willow Song', Saint-Saëns's 'La Madonna col Bambino' and 'Alla Riva del Tebro', and Cécile Chaminade's 'Chanson Slave'.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The Crown: Heroic Arias For Senesino
Randall Scotting (countertenor), Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Laurence Cummings
The star alto castrato Francesco Bernardi (aka 'Il Senesino') is best-known today for creating leading roles in Handel operas including Giulio Cesare, Orlando and Rodelinda, but American countertenor Randall Scotting's programme explores music written for him by lesser-known composers including Ariosti, Giaj, Giacomelli, Bononcini, and Orlandini.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Featuring music by Puccini, Pärt, Borodin, JS Bach, Villa-Lobos and Morricone, this documentary was filmed in Rome and explores the connections between music, dance and the visual arts, including conversations with Antonio Pappano, the dancer and choreographer Valerio Longo and the painter Michael Triegel along the way.
Available Format: DVD Video
Katherine Cooper - Head of Editorial
