New Release Round-up,
New Release Round-Up - 10th January 2025
Beethoven: Missa solemnis
Chen Reiss (soprano), Varduhi Abrahamyan (mezzo), Daniel Behle (tenor), Tareq Nazmi (bass); Le Cercle de l’Harmonie, Audi Jugendchorakademie, Jérémie Rhorer
Le Cercle de l'Harmonie celebrates its twentieth anniversary this year, and marks the occasion with this recording of one of the most challenging works in the choral repertoire, made live at the Philharmonie de Paris last April. In an interview in this month's issue of Gramophone, Rhorer explains that his tempi in the fugal sections are on the fast side, in order to highlight the 'overall contour' of the lines and avoid making unreasonable demands on the singers in terms of breath-control.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
In its sixtieth anniversary season, the Nash presents Debussy's sole string quartet (from 1893) alongside David Walter's chamber ensemble arrangement of the Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, the Violin Sonata (with Stephanie Gonley and Alasdair Beatson), the Cello Sonata (with Adrian Brendel and Simon Crawford-Phillips), and the Sonata for Flute, Viola & Harp (with Philippa Davies, Lawrence Power and Lucy Wakeford).
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Two years on from their recording of his Dixit Dominus, Armonico Consort continue exploring the work of Francesco Scarlatti (younger brother of Alessandro and uncle of Domenico) with this account of his sole surviving oratorio, thought to have been composed in the 1710s and setting the story of Daniel in the lions' den. Scarlatti styled the work as a 'dialogue for five voices': Daniel and an Angel (sopranos), King Darius (alto), Habbakuk (tenor) and Demone (bass).
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Featuring music by Lully, Jean-Henri d'Anglebert, Nicolas Lebègue, Jacques Champion de Chambonnières, Louis Couperin and Gaspard Le Roux, this collection of seventeenth-century and early eighteenth-century keyboard music prompted Gramophone to describe Yates as 'a player of poise and sensitivity'; Yates plays a modern copy of a Vaudry family harpsichord, currently held at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Fauré: Pelléas et Mélisande Suite
Ruth Rosique (soprano), Tara Erraught (mezzo), Julien Dran (tenor), RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Choir Ireland, Jean-Luc Tingaud
The Dublin-based orchestra marked the centenary of Fauré's death by recording this album of orchestrated songs and music for the stage: as well as the suite from the incidental music which Fauré composed for the London premiere of Maeterlinck's play in 1898, the programme features excerpts from the tragédie lyrique Prométhée, the score for Edmond Haraucourt's Shakespeare adaptation Shylock, and songs including 'Les Roses d'Ispahan' and 'En Priere'.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Éric Montalbetti: Orchestral Pictures
Emmanuel Pahud (flute), Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Jonathan Nott, Duncan Ward, Kazuki Yamada
Having attended classes by Boulez in his youth, Montalbetti spent two decades as Artistic Director of the Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France and only went public with his composing activities in 2015. Following albums of his solo instrumental and chamber works, Alpha now presents a triptych of his orchestral works: the Ouverture philharmonique (described by the composer as 'un mini-concerto pour grand orchestre'), the flute concerto 'Memento vivere' (for Emmanuel Pahud), and Eclair physionomique - fantaisie symphonique d'après Paul Klee.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
This first instalment of the French pianist's projected Schumann survey includes the two sets of Three Romances (Opp. 11 and 21), the trio of Bach-inspired Preludes & Fugues which were published in 1845, the transcription of Robert's 'Er ist's' from the Lieder-Album für die Jugend, Op. 79 and the Variations on a Theme of Robert Schumann - composed as a gift for her husband's 43rd birthday, and using a theme from his Bunte Blätter.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
This sequel to Mr. Händel im Pub (2023) explores the range of music (light and 'serious') which was on offer to patrons in 1720s Hamburg, juxtaposing works by Telemann, Weiss, Keiser, Graupner and Haltmeier with Low German folk-songs and dances. Telemann's solo bass cantata Sagt Ihr allerschönsten Lippen and Flute Sonata TWV 42:a4 are given complete.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Born into a family of organists in 1672, de Grigny spent much of his short life in his home-town of Reims (barring a two-year spell in Paris in his early twenties, when he studied with Nicolas Lebègue and worked as organist of the Basilica of Saint-Denis). This album features numerous pieces from his Livre d'orgue, first published in Paris in 1699 and subsequently copied by JS Bach in 1713; the recording was made on the great organ of the Royal Chapel at Versailles, which was inaugurated by François Couperin in 1710.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Donizetti: L'aio nell'imbarazzo
Alessandro Corbelli (Il marchese Giulio Antiquati), Alex Esposito (Gregorio Cordebono), Francesco Lucii (Enrico), Marilena Ruta, Lorenzo Martelli (Pippetto), Caterina Dellaere (Leonarda), Lorenzo Liberali (Simone); Orchestra e Coro Donizetti Opera, Vincenzo Milletarì, Francesco Micheli
One of Donizetti's first big successes, L'aio nell'imbarazzo ('A Tutor in a Jam!') was premiered at the Teatro Valle in Rome in 1824; tasked with keeping his charges ignorant of the facts of life until they reach middle age, the titular tutor Gregorio finds himself in a pickle when one secretly marries and fathers a child and the other falls in love with a much older housemaid. This production was filmed at the Bergamo Donizetti Festival in 2022, and was released on DVD and Blu-ray last year.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Katherine Cooper - Head of Editorial
