Today's new releases include a Pan-European programme from La Serenissima and its founder Adrian Chandler on Signum, four-hand versions of Stravinsky's Le Sacre du printemps and Ravel's Ma mère l'Oye from Pavel Kolesnikov and Samson Tsoy on Harmonia Mundi, JS Bach's English Suites from Francesco Tristano on Naïve, and Brahms's clarinet sonatas (in new orchestrations by Stephan Koncz) from Daniel Ottensamer and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin on Pentatone.
Crossing Borders
Adrian Chandler (director/violin), Katy Bircher (flute), Tabea Debus (recorder), La Serenissima
Following their recording of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons in a new edition back in February, La Serenissima's second album of 2025 features concertos and sonatas by Telemann, Sieber, Durante, Vivaldi and Brescianello - composers who navigated the cultural borders between Italy, Germany, France and England either in their working lives or in terms of the musical influences which they drew upon. Founded by Chandler in 1994, the ensemble has won Gramophone Awards for Vivaldi: The French Connection Vol. 1 (2010) and The Italian Job (2017), and featured in The Times's list of 20 Best Classical Albums of 2024 for Vivaldi X2².
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Stravinsky: Le Sacre du printemps & Ravel: Ma mère l'Oye
Pavel Kolesnikov (piano), Samson Tsoy (piano)
Partners at the piano and in life, Kolesnikov and Tsoy first encountered Stravinsky's own four-hand version of Le Sacre du printemps in 2013 (the centenary of the work's premiere) and have 'never stopped working on the piece' over the last twelve years; their live account of the work in London in 2023 was likened to 'a hypnotic duel or dance' by The Standard, whilst The Irish Times described a performance at the Kilkenny Arts Festival as 'always absorbing...like a Rite of Spring from a parallel universe'. In the latest edition of Gramophone, David Fanning declared that 'however many or few piano duet albums you want on your virtual or actual shelves, I’d struggle to recommend any above this one.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Brahms/Koncz: Sonatas for Clarinet and Orchestra
Daniel Ottensamer (clarinet), Stephan Koncz (cello), Christoph Traxler (piano), Noah Bendix-Balgley (violin), Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
Currently Principal Clarinet of the Wiener Philharmoniker, Ottensamer joins the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin for Brahms's two clarinet sonatas in new arrangements by cellist, conductor and composer Stephan Koncz (a friend of Ottensamer's since their student days). The album also includes Walter Rabl's Clarinet Quartet, which won first prize in an 1896 competition for young composers which was sponsored by the Vienna Tonkünstlerverein - Brahms chaired the jury, and was so impressed with that piece that he recommended it to his publisher Simrock.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Although Tristano's projected Bach project was launched last November with the Six Partitas, this set of the English Suites was actually recorded first (back in December 2022); the Toccatas will follow in the autumn, and the French Suites are scheduled for release next year. The Luxembourg pianist coupled Bach and Cage on his debut album for Deutsche Grammophon back in 2011, when Gramophone observed that his account of the Partita No. 1 was 'played straight with immaculate fingerwork, neat staccato, impeccable rhythm and no gimmicks'.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
This seventh instalment in Viner's survey of Alkan's complete piano works includes sets of variations on Daniel Steibelt's Piano Concerto No. 3 'Orage', a traditional Neapolitan barcarolle, 'Ah! segnata e la mia morte' from Donizetti's Anna Bolena and 'La tremenda ultrice spada' from Bellini's I Capuleti, plus a selecton of shorter pieces: the 'Rondeau chromatique', 'Rondo brillant', the rondoletto 'Il était un p'tit homme', and 'Les Omnibus'. Viner's playing on previous volumes has been described as 'simply astonishing' (The Sunday Times) and 'remarkable in every respect' (BBC Music Magazine), whilst Gramophone hailed him as 'one of the pre-eminent Alkan players de nos jours'.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Born in Bavaria in 1814, the composer-pianist Adolf von Henselt studied with Hummel and spent much of his life in St Petersburg, where he spent time as court pianist to Alexandra Feodorovna (wife of Emperor Nicholas I); although his career was curtailed by severe performance-anxiety, he was so highly renowned as a virtuoso that Liszt reportedly exhorted his students to 'find out the secret of Henselt's hands'. This album comprises his Douze Études caractéristiques de concert Op. 2 and Douze Études de salon Op. 5 (both from the late 1830s), a stand-alone Étude in A Minor, and 'La Gondola' from the Op. 13 set.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
This programme of songs from turn-of-the-century Vienna includes Alma Schindler's own Fünf Lieder (composed during her liaison with Alexander Zemlinsky and the early stages of her relationship with Gustav Mahler) and Lieder by composers in her social circle, including Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Hans Pfitzner, Franz Schreker and Bruno Walter. Steffani's debut solo album Deep in a Dream was warmly welcomed by American Record Guide for offering 'first-rate, refined singing with lucid diction, elegant technique, and a palpable affinity for what he is singing'; last year he won the Nederlandse Muziekprijs, the highest award that can be given to a musician by the Dutch State.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Taking its title from a poem by Buddhist priest-poet Saigyō (1118–90), this album of musical reflections on life, death and the afterlife includes Byrd's Ecce quam bonum, Tavener's The Lamb, Father Ivan Moody's Canticum Canticorum I, two Walt Whitman settings by Paul Moravec, and two New York Polyphony commissions: Becky McGlade’s Of the Father’s Love Begotten and Akemi Naito’s Tsuki no Waka (which sets text by Saigyō). LeStrange Viols join the vocal quartet for three pieces: Nico Muhly's My Days (described by the composer as 'a ritualised memory piece about Orlando Gibbons'), Gibbons's The Silver Swan, and the Agnus Dei from Byrd's Mass for Four Voices.
Available Format: SACD
This limited-edition set brings together all of the recordings which Kaufmann made for Decca between 2002 and 2012, including three complete operas: Weber's Oberon (with John Eliot Gardiner), Humperdinck's Königskinder (with Armin Jordan), and Beethoven's Fidelio (with Claudio Abbado). Other highlights include a recital of verismo arias with Antonio Pappano, the multi-award-winning Wagner album from 2013, Die schöne Müllerin with Helmut Deutsch, and the Verdi Requiem (with Daniel Barenboim); bonus material includes an aria from Mascagni's Iris, an ensemble from Puccini's La rondine, and an interview in which Kaufmann discusses Wagner (in German and English).
Available Format: 15 CDs
