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Verbier Festival Gold on Deutsche Grammophon
Launched in October 2022, Deutsche Grammophon's Verbier Festival Gold series features live performances from pianists such as Martha Argerich, Yuja Wang and Daniil Trifonov; singers including Thomas Quasthoff, Barbara Hendricks and Bryn Terfel; and conductors such as Daniel Harding, Michael Tilson Thomas and Kent Nagano at the helm of its hand-picked Festival Orchestra.
Wang's Verbier debut featured two Ligeti Études ('Fanfares' and 'Der Zauberlehrling'), the Liszt Piano Sonata, Scriabin's Piano Sonata No. 2 and Ravel's La Valse, plus Rachmaninoff's transcriptions of Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee and the Scherzo from Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream. The recording was an Editor's Choice in the September edition of Gramophone, with Jeremy Nicholas declaring: 'Many of us will have in our collections recordings of certain live piano recitals that have achieved legendary status...Yuja Wang’s Verbier debut should be placed alongside them.'
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Martha Argerich in Verbier
Martha Argerich (piano), Vadim Repin (violin), Mischa Maisky (cello) Verbier Festival Orchestra, Yuri Temirkanov
This concert from the 2000 festival sees Argerich teaming up with her long-term musical partners Mischa Maisky and Vadim Repin for Haydn's Piano Trio No. 39 (the 'Gypsy') before delivering what Fanfare described as her 'best account of the Prokofiev Third, which means it could easily be anyone’s first choice'. Gramophone was similarly enthusiastic: 'perhaps the most astonishing thing about the present performance [of the Prokofiev], given when she was 60 years of age, is that it sounds as though it is played by her 18-year-old self.'
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Argerich and Kissin first joined forces in 2000, in an electrifying account of the 'Romance de Warlamoff' from Brahms's Souvenir de la Russie (featured towards the end of this album); this collection of highlights from their performances together between 2000 and 2011 includes 'Nuages' and 'Fêtes' from Ravel's arrangement of Debussy's Nocturnes, 'Laideronnette, impératrice des Pagodes' from Ravel's Ma mère l'Oye, Milhaud's Scaramouche, and Lutosławski's Variations on a Theme by Paganini.
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Taken from two concerts in July 2009, this album features Mendelssohn's early Piano Sextet (for which Wang is joined by Kirill Troussov, David Aaron Carpenter, Maxim Rysanov, Sol Gabetta and Leigh Mesh) and the Piano Concerto No. 1 (written around the same time as the 'Italian' Symphony). The latter performance was released on DVD in 2010, when Gramophone noted that 'her articulation, speed and flawless accuracy [are] matched only by her lingering caressing of the slow movement'.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Mikhail Pletnev: Concerti & Encores
Mikhail Pletnev (piano), Verbier Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer, Kent Nagano
The concerti are question are Haydn's Keyboard Concerto No. 11 in D (conducted by Iván Fischer and recorded in 2014) and Alexander Tsfasman's Jazz Suite for Piano and Orchestra (recorded the previous year under Kent Nagano). Pletnev's encores include Rachmaninoff's Oriental Sketch, the 'Presto e con leggierezza' from Moszkowski's Quinze Études de Virtuosité, Glinka's L'Alouette, and Chopin's Mazurka in C sharp minor Op. 63 No. 3.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The Hungarian violinist had already made several acclaimed studio recordings of this milestone of the solo violin repertoire before he gave this pair of day-time concerts at the Verbier village church in July 2016, which was the first time that he had committed the works to the microphone live. Reviewing the performance, Strings Magazine applauded his 'passionate playing and understanding of the works’ underlying architecture'. (Baráti returned to Verbier last summer to perform more Bach with French pianist Julien Quentin).
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The Symphonies: A Beethoven Journey
Iulia Maria Dan (soprano), Ema Nikolovska (mezzo), AJ Glueckert (tenor), Mikhail Petrenko (bass), Verbier Festival Orchestra, Münchener Bach-Chor, Gábor Takács-Nagy
Released in 2023 to mark the Festival's thirtieth birthday, this Beethoven cycle was recorded live over a period of thirteen years; Takács-Nagy observes that he 'somehow knew that magic was on the horizon' from his first rehearsal of Symphony No. 1 with the orchestra in the summer of 2009. The set was Record Review's Record of the Week last July, whilst Gramophone argued that 'for the insights of a lifetime’s accumulated wisdom in this music, it’s required listening'.
Available Formats: 5 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The Verbier Festival Celebrates Rodion Shchedrin At Ninety
Martha Argerich (piano), Mischa Maisky (cello), Rodion Shchedrin (piano), Sol Gabetta (cello), Roland Pöntinen (piano), Yuja Wang (piano); Verbier Festival Orchestra, Neeme Järvi, Mikhail Pletnev
This birthday celebration for the Soviet-Russian composer includes his double concerto Romantic Offering (with Argerich and Maisky as the soloists), the Concerto for Orchestra No. 1 'Tschastuschi' ('Naughty Limericks'), and the Seven Impromptus 'Artless Pages' (played by Wang); Shchedrin himself joins forces with Roland Pöntinen for his seven Romantic Duets, and with Sol Gabetta for the Ancient Traditional Russian Melody.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Barbara Hendricks in Verbier
Barbara Hendricks (soprano), Anatol Ugorski (piano), Dmitry Sitkovetsky (violin), David Geringas (cello), Yefim Bronfman (piano); Collegiate Chorale, Curtis Symphony Orchestra, Kent Nagano
This collection of highlights from the American soprano's regular appearances at the festival comprises a 2006 account of Schubert's setting of Psalm 92 Mirjams Siegesgesang, a 1996 performance of Shostakovich's Seven Romances on Poems of Alexander Blok (written for Galina Vishnevskaya and scored for soprano and piano trio), and the Moonlight Music and final scene from Strauss's Capriccio (conducted by Kent Nagano and recorded at the 1999 festival).
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
These recordings of Les noces and Le Sacre du printemps were made in 1996 and 2013 respectively; the latter performance, given as part of the closing concert of that year's festival, marked the centenary of the work's premiere and also anticipated the festival's twentieth-birthday celebrations.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
The Finnish conductor has been a regular visitor to Verbier since 2007, with highlights including an incandescent performance of Strauss's Elektra in 2017 and a superb account of Berlioz's Les nuits d'été with Joyce DiDonato (when he jumped in at the eleventh hour to replace James Levine) two years earlier. This album includes a performance of Schumann's 'Rhenish' Symphony from the latter concert, plus Bartók's The Miraculous Mandarin and Sibelius's Symphony No. 5 (taken from Salonen's first concert at Verbier).
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All three performances here took place during the American conductor's residency at the festival in 2016: the album opens with his own brass quintet Street Song (written in 1988), which is followed by John Cage's 1947 ballet The Seasons (the composer's first work for full orchestra). The finale from Mahler's Symphony No. 3 completes the programme; Tilson Thomas returned to Verbier in 2021 to conduct the symphony once more, shortly before scaling back his conducting activities in the wake of being diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Trifonov plays Chamber Music
Daniil Trifonov (piano), Ilya Gringolts (violin), Truls Mørk (cello), Leonidas Kavakos (violin), Gautier Capuçon (cello)
The Russian pianist joined Ilya Gringolts and Truls Mørk for Beethoven's 'Ghost' Trio in 2015, and returned the following year for Smetana's Piano Trio in G minor with Leonidas Kavakos and Gautier Capuçon; revisiting material from his earlier Piano Sonata, the latter piece was coolly received at its premiere in 1855, but Smetana was persuaded to persevere and revise it when Liszt privately expressed his admiration for the work.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
In 2011 the two Welsh musicians teamed up for a recital including Schumann's Liederkreis Op. 39, Ibert's Chansons de Don Quichotte, Quilter's Three Shakespeare Songs, and individual songs by Schubert, John Charles Thomas, Daniel E. Kelley, Charles Wolseley and Alma B. Androzzo. Reviewing the recording last August, Gramophone observed that 'it doesn’t take long for Terfel’s qualities to assert their iron grip'.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Thomas Quasthoff in Verbier Vol. 1
Thomas Quasthoff (bass-baritone), Verbier Festival Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnányi, James Levine
Recorded between 2003 and 2005, this programme includes Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen and JS Bach's Cantata BWV56 'Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen', plus a selection of Schubert lieder in orchestrations by various composers: 'Ständchen' (orch. Offenbach), 'Der Wegweiser' & 'Tränenregen' (orch. Webern), 'Erlkönig' (orch. Reger), and 'Memnon' (orch. Brahms).
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Thomas Quasthoff in Verbier Vol. II
Thomas Quasthoff (bass-baritone), Evgeny Kissin (piano), Martha Argerich (piano), Emanuel Ax (piano), James Levine (piano)
Complete performances of Die schöne Müllerin and Schwanengesang (with Emanuel Ax and James Levine respectively) sit at the heart of a programme which also includes Ravel's Don Quichotte à Dulcinée (with Martha Argerich) and five Schubert songs with Evgeny Kissin: 'Ganymed', 'Prometheus', 'Der Zwerg', 'Erlkönig' and 'Seligkeit'.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Storytellers
Peter Ustinov (narrator), Roger Vignoles (piano), Barbara Hendricks (soprano), Carmina Quartet, Michel Dalberto (piano)
British actor and film-maker Peter Ustinov joins Vignoles in a 1999 performance of Poulenc's L'histoire de Babar, le petit éléphant - based on the composer's memories of improvising along to a picture-book for the entertainment of his young cousins, the piece was written in the first half of the 1940s. Hendricks offers story-telling of a rather more grown-up nature in Fauré's song-cycle La Bonne Chanson, which sets nine poems by Paul Verlaine.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Verdi: Requiem
Maria Agresta (soprano), Daniela Barcellona (mezzo), Piotr Beczała (tenor), Ildar Abdrazakov (bass); Verbier Festival Orchestra, Coro Teatro Regio Torino, Gianandrea Noseda
Previously only available on DVD, this performance of the Requiem took place at the 2013 festival to mark Verdi's 200th birthday. Reviewing the live performance, BachTrack reflected that 'this Requiem promised much, and on the whole it delivered...Noseda certainly drew the best from his four soloists. Piotr Beczała seems made for the tenor role in this piece, and sang with a piercing clarity, welcome diction, and an effortless ping.'
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Verdi: Falstaff
Bryn Terfel (Falstaff), Erika Grimaldi (Alice Ford), Luca Salsi (Ford), Yvonne Naef (Quickly), Ying Fang (Nannetta), Atalla Ayan (Fenton); Verbier Festival Orchestra, Oberwalliser Vokalensemble, Jesús López Cobos
Having recorded the role for Claudio Abbado back in 2001 and performed it at many of the world's major opera-houses in the intervening years, Terfel was already fully under the skin of 'vecchio John' by the time this semi-staged performance took place in 2016. Reviewing the recording last summer, Fanfare declared that 'I’ve never heard a better recording in the modern era than this one…In the end, Terfel at last delivers the magnificent Falstaff that was always in him waiting to get out'.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Franck: Psyché
Marthe Keller (narrator), Orchestre Mondial des Jeunesses Musicales, Chœur La Psallette, Kurt Masur
The 1997 festival saw a rare outing for Franck's final symphonic poem, which was completed in 1887 and tells the story of Psyche and Eros; the narrator is Swiss actress Marthe Keller, whose filmography includes Marathon Man, Bobby Deerfield, Black Sunday and the role of Mathilde Wesendonck (opposite Richard Burton in the title-role) in Tony Palmer's Wagner.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
