New Release Round-up, New Release Round-Up - 24th May 2024

The mainstays of this programme are two song-cycles from the 1930s: Chants de Terre et de Ciel and Poèmes pour Mi (setting Messiaen's own poems based on the New Testament, and dedicated to his first wife Claire Delbos). The album received four stars in The Guardian last week, with Andrew Clements observing that 'it’s hard to imagine a weightier voice bringing such beguiling, soft-edged intimacy to parts of each cycle as [Hannigan] does.'

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Following recent recordings of Bartók, Messiaen and Vassos Nicolaou, the French pianist turns his hand to ostensibly simpler fare with this collection of rustic dances by Schubert. Reviewing the album this week, The Times's Geoff Brown remarked that 'It’s abundantly clear that Aimard’s approach to these miniature jewels is entirely suitable and rewarding. He shapes and shades the notes with poise and subtle inflections, yet nothing becomes overdone, precious or brittle.'

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Although the title-role of Massenet's opera was created by Belgian tenor Ernest Van Dyck (and continues to be largely sung by tenors today), the composer adjusted the part slightly for 'King of Baritones' Mattia Battistini in 1901, leaving the other roles and overall fabric of the score unaffected. Christoyannis (singing the role for the first time) was described as 'the platonic ideal of a baritone Werther' by BachTrack in one of the concerts from which this recording was made, with praise also lavished upon Gens's 'consummate, elegant vocal artistry' in her role-debut as Charlotte.

Available Formats: Book + 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC

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In this first instalment of a three-volume series, the Kaleidoscope couples Brahms's Piano Quartet No. 1 (premiered in 1861 with Clara Schumann as pianist) with the sole work in the genre by Luise Adolpha Le Beau, who studied piano with Clara and composition with Lachner and Rheinberger; composed in 1884, the piece was premiered at the Leipzig Gewandhaus later that year. Reviewing the album in the June edition of Gramophone, Peter J. Rabinowitz observed that 'this light-fingered and harmonically attentive reading makes a strong argument for an unknown work'.

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Released to commemorate the anniversary of Debussy’s death and Armenian Genocide Memorial Day, Gerstein's programme includes Debussy's two books of Études, Six Épigraphes antiques, Trois chansons de Bilitis and En blanc et noir (for which he is joined by Thomas Adès), and Komitas's Armenian Songs and Armenian Dances. The accompanying 172-page illustrated book features three specially-commissioned essays and a conversation on Debussy between Gerstein and Heinz Holliger.

Available Formats: 2 CDs + Book, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC

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Born in Ireland and of African descent, the soprano and actress Rachel Baptist (also known as Rachael Crow) was a popular figure on the Dublin stage in the early 1750s, performing opposite the celebrated castrato Tenducci. This programme of works which she might have performed at a 'Grand Concert of Vocal and Instrumental Musick' in 1752 includes excerpts from Handel's L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato and Alexander's Feast, his cantata Diana cacciatrice, Purcell's 'Fairest Isle', and arias by Niccolo Pasquali.

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The title-work on this triptych of orchestral pieces by the Estonian composer (b. 1971) is inspired by the phrase 'Mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur' ('The world seeks to be deceived, therefore let it be deceived') - words which Reinvere finds especially apt in the age of social media. It is preceded here by And Tired From Happiness, They Started to Dance (premiered by Järvi in Parnu in 2018) and the Concerto for Two Flutes, Strings and Percussion.

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This final instalment of Weithaas and Várjon's Beethoven cycle is Recording of the Month in the June edition of Gramophone, with Rob Cowan enthusing that 'Weithaas and Várjon are stimulating interpreters of these wonderful works: you learn, listen and love as never before'. Reviewing the previous volume last summer, The Strad's Carlos Maria Solare was similarly impressed, noting that 'the two bring bags of temperament to a trio of highly strung performances'.

Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC

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The Paris-based string quartet makes its debut on Harmonia Mundi with the three quartets which Schumann composed in 1842; the works were premiered privately that September as a birthday-present for his wife Clara, who praised them as 'lucid and finely-worked'. The Piano Quintet was written shortly afterwards, and received its first public performance at the Gewandhaus the following January, with Clara (its dedicatee) at the piano: she described the piece as 'splendid, full of vigor and freshness', and performed it regularly throughout her career.

Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC

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This collection of choral works by Giovanni Bononcini (1670-1747) includes the world premiere recordings of Ave maris stella, Laudate pueri and the original D major version of his Te Deum, plus the large-scale orchestra anthem When Saul was King (composed for the funeral of John Churchill, first Duke of Marlborough at Westminster Abbey in 1722). Born in Modena, Bononcini lived and worked in London from 1720 to 1732, where his popularity rivalled that of Handel: the satirist John Byrom referred to the pair as 'Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee'.

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Released to mark the 150th anniversary of Schoenberg's birth, this recital of songs and solo piano pieces is arranged into eight chapters, each corresponding with one of the composer's paintings; the programme includes the early song 'Erwartung', 'Galathea' and 'Der genügsame Liebhaber' from the Brettl-Lieder, ' Jane Grey', the German folksong 'Mein Herz ist mir gemenget', and the 'Lied der Tove' from Gurrelieder. The artists write: 'For anyone who believes that Schoenberg is cold, cerebral and unapproachable, we can only say this: try the songs'.

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Filmed at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in October 2022, this Walküre attracted mixed reviews for Tcherniakov's staging, but was widely praised for the quality of the musical performances: The Guardian applauded Thielemann's 'detailed and expansive, yet analytical' approach to the score and the 'outstanding singing from the entire cast', whilst Neue Zürcher Zeitung described the orchestral playing as 'spectacular and breathtakingly precise'.

Available Format: Blu-ray

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This 2023 production of Rusalka from Covent Garden was described by BachTrack as 'a pretty straight retelling of the story, minus any weighty concept, but using the environmental emergency and man’s exploitation of nature as a hook'; reviewer Mark Pullinger also praised the 'emotional truth' which Grigorian brings to the title-role, but deemed Butt Philip the star of the evening thanks to the 'immense power and tender beauty' which he brought to the Prince's demanding music.

Available Format: Blu-ray

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