BBC Music Magazine Choices,
BBC Music Magazine - June 2023 Choices
In case you missed it, you can watch David's post-match interview with Matilda (filmed backstage at Wigmore Hall after the launch-concert last month) below...
Recording of the Month
Casta Diva - Operatic arias transcribed for trumpet
Matilda Lloyd (trumpet), Britten Sinfonia, Rumon Gamba
'The flawless tone, purity of line and dynamic subtlety she coaxes from her instrument are shown off to particularly impressive effect in Arban's set of variations from Norma...Overall, this is immensely assured and really great fun.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Orchestral Choice
'Adès takes Liszt’s legacy of demonic harmony and develops it further away some of the orchestral layers to reveal recorded voices from the congregation at the Great Ades Synagogue in Jerusalem, whose prayers imaginatively represent the lost souls in purgatory.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Concerto Choice
Polish Music for Cello and Orchestra
Marcin Zdunik (cello), Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrzej Boreyko
'Marcin Zdunik brings clean, elegant playing and reserves of warmth to all the solo parts, also making the case for the Gdańsk-born Henryk Hubertus Jabłonski’s C-67, a compact score sitting between modernism and post-Romanticism.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Opera Choice
Cavalli: L'Egisto
Marc Mauillon (Egisto), Ambroisine Bré (Climene), Zachary Wilder (Lidio), Sophie Junker (Clori), Romain Bockler (Hipparco); Le Poème Harmonique, Vincent Dumestre
'This beguiling early opera by Francesco Cavalli is given an equally beguiling performance in this premiere recording...Dumestre provides both sensitive and spirited direction. All the singers give superlative accounts, with near-perfect Italian diction.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Choral & Song Choice
'VOCES8’s gorgeous sound, impeccable ensemble and intense responsiveness to text, harmony and melodic shape is all of the highest quality...when Whitacre deploys a touch more harmonic bite, his work is richly rewarding and could not hope for better advocates than VOCES8.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Chamber Choice
Saint-Saëns: Violin Works
Cecilia Zilliacus (violin), Christian Ihle Hadland (piano), Stephen Fitzpatrick (harp)
'Cecilia Zilliacus is more than up to the challenge. Her lightly-worn virtuosity and crystalline phrasing ensures nothing feels forced in the First Sonata...With everything captured in superb sound this is a joy from start to finish.'
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Instrumental Choice
'[His] supple sensitivity underpins a formidable yet remarkably unshowy expressive power...Feuillâtre’s acute musical intelligence allies with frequent ornamentation...It ’s an exquisite, joyfully presented programme.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Chris O'Reilly - Chief Executive
