Coming Soon,
Katie Mitchell's staging of Handel's Theodora and other forthcoming highlights
Julia Bullock, Joyce DiDonato and Jakub Józef Orliński star in the British director's hard-hitting Covent Garden production from 2022, with other highlights including Dvořák and Coleridge-Taylor from the Takács Quartet, Shostakovich from the London Symphony Orchestra and Gianandrea Noseda, scenes of childhood from Isata Kanneh-Mason, and American countertenor Reginald Mobley's debut recording on Alpha Classics (featuring spirituals and songs by Black composers).
Handel: Theodora (DVD)
Julia Bullock (Theodora), Joyce DiDonato (Irene), Jakub Józef Orliński (Didymus), Ed Lyon (Septimius), Gyula Orendt (Valens) The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Royal Opera Chorus, Harry Bicket, Katie Mitchell,
Set in a contemporary dystopia, Mitchell's staging of Handel's oratorio depicts Theodora, Irene and their fellow Christians as members of an underground resistance movement, operating out of the kitchens of the corrupt 'Roman' embassy; The Arts Desk described it as 'one of her most vivid and focused reimaginings', whilst Opera Today deemed it 'a compelling drama, which draws us into the characters' psychologies and decisions'. (Contains scenes of sexual violence and terrorism).
Released 26th May and also available on Blu-ray.
Available Format: DVD Video
Ravel: L'heure Espagnole & Boléro
Isabelle Druet (Concepción), Julien Behr (Gonzalve), Loïc Félix (Torquemada), Thomas Dolié (Ramiro), Jean Teitgen (Don Iñigo Gomez); Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth
A year on from their superb recording of the piano concertos, Roth and his period-instrument orchestra continue their much-praised Ravel series with a double-bill of works inspired by Spanish dances: the one-act comic opera about a Toledo clockmaker's wife struggling to juggle multiple assignations during her husband's brief absence, followed by Boléro (commissioned by the dancer Ida Rubinstein in 1928).
Released 16th June.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The Takács couple Dvořák's String Quartet No. 13 (written in 1895, shortly after he returned to Europe from America) with a far less well-known work composed the same year: Coleridge-Taylor was just 21 when he wrote this set of five character pieces, which draws inspiration from Schumann and Tchaikovsky as well as Dvořák himself. It received its first performance at the Royal College of Music, where Coleridge-Taylor was a student at the time, and is dedicated to his teacher Charles Villiers Stanford.
Released 7th July.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
This sixth instalment of Noseda's Shostakovich series with the LSO couples Symphony No. 6 (written in 1939 and inspired by what the composer described as 'moods of spring, joy and youth') and the final symphony from 1970/71, shot through with quotations from Rossini, Glinka and Wagner. The recordings were made at the Barbican in October 2019 (No. 6) and February 2023 (No. 15); reviewing the latter concert, BachTrack observed that 'Noseda plumbed the depths of this score. Balance was ideal and the pace always felt right'.
Released 26th May.
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
Isata Kanneh-Mason's third solo album for Decca celebrates what she describes as 'a time when one’s love of music is at its most uncomplicated', and comprises Mozart's Variations on ‘Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman', Debussy's Children's Corner, Schumann's Kinderszenen and Dohnányi's Variations on a Nursery Tune; for the latter work, she's joined by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and their Chief Conductor Domingo Hindoyan.
Released 26th May.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The American countertenor's debut solo recording celebrates spirituals and the music of Black composers, taking its title from a song by Florence Price; the programme includes arrangements of 'Deep River', 'There is a Balm in Gilead', 'Steal Away, 'Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen', and 'Bright Sparkles in the Churchyard'. Mobley's discography to date has included solo appearances on Bach's St Matthew Passion and Magnificat in E flat (both with Sir John Eliot Gardiner) and Nico Muhly's Britten-inspired Lorne Ys My Likinge with tenor Nicholas Phan.
Released 26th May.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
This intriguing recital of nineteenth-century female monodramas comprises Zingarelli's Ero, Donizetti's Saffo, Rossini's Giovanna d'Arco, Wagner's Les Adieux de Marie Stuart, Viardot's Scène d'Hermione (on a text by Racine), Mel Bonis's Salomé, and Respighi's Shelley setting Aretusa. The Donizetti receives its world premiere recording, and the Zingarelli and Respighi their first recordings in the voice and piano versions.
Out digitally this Friday; released physically on 26th May.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
This postscript to Albion's series of recordings commemorating Vaughan Williams's 150th birthday last year features On Wenlock Edge, and takes its title from a new work for the same forces by Ian Venables: Portraits of A Mind sets texts by Ursula Vaughan Williams, Robert Louis Stevenson, Christina Rossetti; and Walt Whitman (all poets associated with Vaughan Williams). Vaughan Williams's Four Hymns completes the programme, in a new arrangement for for tenor, piano and string quartet by Iain Farrington.
Released 19th May.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Christie's second recording of Handel's Milton-inspired pastoral ode coincided with a run of live performances, including one at the Barbican last March: The Times declared that 'Christie’s energy throughout was infectious' and praised the 'incisive clarity and finesse' of the choir, whilst the Evening Standard described the American-French conductor's interpretation as 'a masterclass in the Handelian style'.
Released 23rd June.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The Gesualdo Six mark the 400th anniversary of Byrd's death with this recording of his great five-part mass, the movements of which are interspersed with the motets Tristitia et anxietas, Circumdederunt me and Emendemus in melius. The programme also includes the Ave verum corpus, Afflicti pro peccatis nostris, and De lamentatione Jeremiae prophetae.
Released 2nd June.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
Alec Roth & Vikram Seth: The Traveller, Earth and Sky
Philippe Honoré (violin), Mark Padmore (tenor), Vayu Naidu (speaker), Ex Cathedra, Britten Sinfonia, Jeffrey Skidmore
Ex Cathedra continue their long-term relationship with Roth on this recording of two works on texts by Vikram Seth, both involving children's choir and solo violin: The Traveller received its premiere at the Lichfield Festival in 2008 (when The Guardian noted its 'Brittenesque moments, and highly accessible anthem-like choral writing'), whilst Earth and Sky* was commissioned for the BBC Proms in 2000. Released 7th July.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Katherine Cooper - Head of Editorial
