New Release Round-up,
New Release Round-Up - 30th December 2022
Late December new releases include a Purcell double-bill from the young Geneva-based ensemble Les Argonautes, an all-Mozart programme from French soprano Julie Fuchs with the Balthasar Neumann Orchestra and Thomas Hengelbrock, the conclusion of Seoul-born pianist William Youn's Schubert sonatas project, and Italian baroque Christmas music from soprano Dorothee Mields, recorder-player Dorothee Oberlinger and Ensemble 1700.
The French soprano makes her debut on Sony with an all-Mozart recital, which she explains takes its title from 'the signature that Mozart reserves for letters sent to his family, to his closest circle'. The programme features excerpts from early works including Thamos, König in Ägypten, Zaïde, the one-act ballet Les petits riens and Davide Penitente, as well as arias from Le nozze di Figaro, Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Die Zauberflöte.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The Munich-based, Seoul-born pianist concludes his survey of the complete Schubert sonatas with this 3-CD set, including sonatas Nos. 15-17 and the Adagio in D flat, D505. Reviewing the first volume, BBC Music Magazine noted that 'Youn’s lightness of touch is matched by weighty emotional depths, deep understanding and keyboard poetry', whilst Gramophone praised his combination of 'quiet conviction' and 'muscular energy'.
Available Formats: 3 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Described in the Christmas edition of BBC Music Magazine as 'an atmospheric Yule from another time and place', this programme of Italian Baroque seasonal works includes Corelli's Concerto Grosso 'fatto per la notte di Natale', Marcello's Oboe Concerto and Handel's Organ Concerto No. 5 (all arranged for recorder), Alessandro Scarlatti's 'Cantata pastorale per la Nativita', and Alfonso Liguori's 'Tu scendi dalle stelle'.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
Liszt: Legends of the Saints, Vol. 1
Stephanie Houtzeel (mezzo), Tomasz Konieczny (baritone), Florian Kaier (organ), Orchester Wiener Akademie, Chorus Ad Libitum, Martin Haselböck
This first chapter of a projected series exploring Liszt's fascination with the lives of the saints focuses on three figures: St Cecilia (via the Cantantibus organis), St Francis of Assisi and St Francis of Paola (who are respectively depicted communicating with birds and walking on water in the Deux légendes which Liszt originally conceived as solo piano pieces). The programme also includes the cantata Die Glocken des Strassburger Münsters, dedicated to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and inspired by his poem The Golden Legend.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Purcell: Dido & Aeneas, Circe
Camille Allérat (Dido), Renato Dolcini (Aeneas), Julie Roset (Belinda/Second Witch), Anthea Pichanick (Sorceress), Ana Veieira Leite (Second Woman/First Witch); Les Argonautes, Jonas Descotte
For their commercial recording debut, the Geneva-based baroque ensemble couple Purcell's only opera with his incidental music for Charles Davenant's tragedy Circe (which also features an incantation-scene and a powerful sorceress). BBC Music Magazine recently described the results as 'a commendable start to Les Argonaute’s recording career', singling out Allérat's 'passionate' Dido and praising Dolcini for 'insert[ing] drama into the somewhat pallidly written role' of Aeneas.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Based in Reims, Les Monts du Reuil specialise in the rediscovery of French operatic music, and here they present world premiere recordings of two comic works inspired by the fables of Jean de La Fontaine: André Grétry's Le Magnifique and Nicolas Dalayrac's L'Éclipse totale, both reconstructed especially for this project. They are supplemented by six arias 'dans le gout de La Fontaine' by Louis-Nicolas Clérambault, including 'Le corbeau et le renard' and 'Le loup et l'agneau'.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Trésors du Paradis
The Choir of Lincoln College, Oxford, Daniel Mathieson & William Foster (organ), Matthew Foster
Lincoln's Director of Music Matthew Foster describes this project as 'a celebration of the human spirit against adversity' - like many such institutions, the Turl Street college's choir had 'more or less fizzled into nonexistence' during the lockdowns, and this ambitious recording marks their return to form after a two-year hiatus. The programme features Duruflé's Requiem, Yves Castagnet's Messe Salve Regina, and Jonathan Dove's Treasures in Heaven & Seek him that maketh the seven stars.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC
Katherine Cooper - Head of Editorial
