Presto Editor's Choices,
Presto Editor's Choices - March 2023
Personal favourites from March's crop of new releases include sleek but savage Stravinsky from the Orchestre de Paris & Klaus Mäkelä, Haydn red in tooth and claw from René Jacobs, Rubbra's complete published songs for voice and piano/harp from Iain Burnside and three well-contrasted British singers, and world premiere recordings of works for piano and orchestra by Maconchy, Lutyens & Wallen from Martin Jones, Rebeca Omordia, John Andrews and the BBC Concert Orchestra.
Haydn: Stabat Mater
Birgitte Christensen (soprano), Kristina Hammarström (mezzo), Steve Davislim (tenor), Christian Immler (bass-baritone), Zürcher Sing-Akademie, Kammerorchester Basel, René Jacobs
Using the 1803 edition of the score for expanded wind section which Haydn prepared in collaboration with Sigismund Neukomm, Jacobs gives the Stabat Mater full-scale operatic treatment on this arresting recording, which grabs you by the scruff of the neck right from the opening bars; bass-baritone Christian Immler supplies blood and thunder aplenty in the Pro peccatis, and in Jacobs's hands the Flammis orcis ne succendar would scarcely sound out of place in the Verdi Requiem...
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
The young Finn gets the balance between sleek polish and raw energy absolutely spot-on on in both works on his debut recording with the Paris orchestra. There's a gorgeous, vibrant sheen to the string sound in the Rite's 'Rondes printanières' and 'Cercles mysteriéux des adolescentes' and the 'Danse de la terre' zips along like a mint-condition sports car, throwing the earthiness of the 'Cortège du sage' and of Kastchei's music from The Firebird into sharper relief than ever.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
There are some absolute gems in this classy treasure-trove charting the history of the French ténor de grâce from the 1830s to the 1900s: listen out for the foreshadowings of Lohengrin (premiered five years later) in the first extract from Louis Clapisson's Gibby la cornemuse, or the verismo-ish sweep of arias from Charles Silver's Myriane and Théodore Dubois's Xavière. Cyrille Dubois's elegant phrasing, immaculate diction and inherent sweetness of tone provide enormous pleasure throughout.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
This collection of orchestral music by Páll Ísólfsson (1893-1974) and Jórunn Viðar (1918-2017) is great fun, with part of the pleasure stemming from the contrasts between their two sound-worlds. Sounding for all the world like the soundtrack to an Errol Flynn film, Viðar's 1950 ballet suite Eldur gets proceedings off to a swashbuckling, high-energy start, whereas Ísólfsson's music for Ibsen's Veislan á Sólhaugum is a far starker, folk-inspired affair: Grieg's music for Peer Gynt is the obvious point of comparison, but you may also detect echoes of Peter Warlock's Capriol Suite along the way...
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Maconchy, Lutyens & Wallen: Works for Piano and Orchestra
Martin Jones (piano), Rebeca Omordia (piano), BBC Concert Orchestra, John Andrews
There's a wonderful economy of expression to Elizabeth Maconchy's Dialogue for Piano and Orchestra from 1941 (which like the rest of the programme receives its world premiere recording here) - and if Lutyens's rich and strange Eos takes a little longer to yield its secrets, Jones and Andrews are the most clear-eyed of advocates. Performed with huge panache by its dedicatee Rebeca Omordia, Errollyn Wallen’s 2022 Piano Concerto makes for a lively finish, paying homage to Ravel in the opening movement and incorporating elements of blues and Eastern European folk-dance later on.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
The Jade Mountain – Songs by Edmund Rubbra
Claire Barnett-Jones (mezzo), Iain Burnside (piano), Marcus Farnsworth (baritone), Lucy Crowe (soprano), Timothy Ridout (viola), Catrin Finch (harp)
Rubbra enjoyed experimenting with larger instrumental forces than usual in his solo songs, but this lovely recital provides ample evidence that he was equally imaginative when painting on a small canvas. Highlights include the luminous cycle on Chinese poetry (a perfect fit for Lucy Crowe's bright soprano) which gives the album its title, and the Two Sonnets by William Alabaster, where Tim Ridout's viola blends seamlessly with Claire Barnett-Jones's inky mezzo. She and Farnsworth also have lots of fun with the delightfully silly final track, but I won't spoil the surprise here...
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The Poet’s Echo
Gemma Summerfield (soprano), Gareth Brynmor-John (baritone), Abi Hyde-Smith (cello), Jocelyn Freeman (piano)
Taking its title from the song-cycle which Britten composed for Galina Vishnevskaya and Mstislav Rostropovich, this thoughtfully-programmed and beautifully-performed recital of works inspired by Pushkin showcases two distinctive, characterful voices in Summerfield (whose fresh, youthful sound is capable of packing quite a punch when required) and Brynmor John, who rather put me in mind of Matthias Goerne in the Shostakovich. Freeman is an illuminating presence throughout, and Hyde-Smith equally eloquent in the Britten - where the addition of a solo cello line in deference to the Rostropovich connection feels absolutely organic.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Katherine Cooper - Head of Editorial
