Today's new releases include Thomas Adès's Violin Concerto and The Exterminating Angel Symphony from Leila Josefowicz and Thomas Søndergård in Minnesota on Pentatone, Nikolai Kapustin from young British pianist Ophelia Gordon on Divine Art, the complete works of Louis Couperin from Jean Rondeau and friends on Erato, and a Sibelius anthology from the late Leif Segerstam in Helsinki on Ondine.
Thomas Adès: The Exterminating Angel Symphony & Violin Concerto
Leila Josefowicz (violin), Minnesota Orchestra, Thomas Søndergård
This is the world premiere recording of the 'orchestral rendering' which Adès crafted from his 2016 opera about an uncanny dinner-party which the guests are unable to leave; inspired by Luis Buñuel’s 1962 surrealist movie of the same name, the piece was hailed as 'the most important opera of the year' by the Los Angeles Times and welcome for its 'music of lingering beauty' by The Guardian. It's coupled here with the violin concerto 'Concentric Paths', which was composed for Anthony Marwood in 2005.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Louis Couperin: The Complete Works
Jean Rondeau (harpsichord)
Released in anticipation of Couperin's 400th birthday next year, this set brings together all of the French composer's works for keyboard (running to well over a hundred pieces), supplemented with music from a range of his contemporaries (including his brothers Charles and François [the elder]). The recordings were made over a period of eight months, using some of the oldest organs and harpsichords in Europe. Rondeau writes: 'Couperin placed the harpsichord at the heart of musical life through his work. He succeeded in making the instrument sound like no one else could, thanks to rich polyphony and boundless inventiveness, all within the traditional framework of the dance suite.'
Available format: 11 CDs
Sibelius Recordings
Leif Segerstam & Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra
This 15-disc collection comprises all of the Sibelius recordings which the late Leif Segerstam made with the Helsinki Philharmonic during his twelve-year tenure as Chief Conductor. As well as the complete symphonies and tone poems, the set includes an album of orchestral songs with Soile Isokoski (which was BBC Music Magazine's Recording of the Year in 2007), plus works by other Finnish composers such as Oskar and Aarre Merikanto, Selim Palmgren, Erkki Melartin, and Leevi Madetoja. Reviewing the set of symphonies back in 2006, Gramophone described Segerstam's interpretations as 'provocative, big-hearted and occasionally just plain bonkers', going on to enthuse that 'raw emotion, recreative spark and edge-of-seat drama combine to often revelatory effect.'
Available format: 15 CDs
Kapustin: Between The Lines
Ophelia Gordon (piano)
This is the debut recording from British pianist Ophelia Gordon, an alumna of the BRIT School in Croydon (other former students include Adele, Tom Holland and Amy Winehouse). Active on the jazz and pop scenes as well in classical repertoire, Gordon was drawn to Kapustin because of his passion for breaking down boundaries, elaborating that 'this isn’t just classical meets jazz: it's structure meets spontaneity, tradition meets rebellion'. Her programme includes the Eight Concert Etudes, a selection of the 24 Preludes in Jazz Style, the solo version of Big Band Sounds, and Paraphrase on Dizzy Gillespie’s Manteca for Two Pianos (where Gordon plays both parts).
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Vivaldi 8+, Volume 2
Adrian Chandler (violin/director), La Serenissima
The first instalment of La Serenissima's Vivaldi 8 project featured an account of The Four Seasons which thrilled BBC Music Magazine with its ' energy and audacity'. This sequel includes the violin concertos 'La Caccia' and 'Per Pisendel' - the latter work is dedicated to the German composer-violinist who met Vivaldi whilst on a tour to Venice with the Dresden Court Orchestra, and whose music featured on Chandler's debut solo recording back in 2003.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Händel
Xavier de Maistre (harp), Julien Quentin, Martynas (accordion), Festival Strings Lucerne
The French harpist's programme includes the Harp Concerto in B flat (the piece which made him realise that the instrument was his vocation as a young boy), the Tema con Variazioni, his own arrangement of the Organ Concerto in D minor HWV 309, and Jan-Peter Klöpfel's transcription of the Air from the Water Music Suite No. 1 for harp and accordion (with a cameo from recent Opus Klassik Award-winner Martynas). Gramophone observed that 'the Festival Strings Lucerne prove winning and convincing exponents of this repertoire', whilst BBC Music Magazine deemed their playing 'a constant delight'.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Transcriptions
Tim Rumsey
This debut album from the British pianist includes his own Variations on Gershwin's 'Shall We Dance?' and arrangements of Dukas's LʼApprenti Sorcier, Purcell's 'When I am Laid in Earth' and Walton's Orb & Sceptre, plus transcriptions by Percy Grainger (works by Dowland, Bach and Fauré), Alexis Weissenberg (Charles Trenet's 'En avril à Paris'), and Earl Wild (Gershwin's 'Liza').
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Porpora: Polifemo
Julia Lezhneva (Galatea), Éléonore Pancrazi (Calypso), José Coca Loza (Polifemo), Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian (Ulisse), Franco Fagioli (Aci); Orchestre de l'Opéra Royal, Stefan Plewniak
Premiered in London in 1735, Porpora's Polifemo originally starred two of great castrati of the age: Farinelli portrayed Galatea's lover Aci (who is murdered by the eponymous cyclops out of romantic jealousy), and Senesino took the role of Ulisse (who blinds the monster at the close of the opera). The work became one of Porpora's most popular compositions, although its fame today rests chiefly on the aria 'Alto Giove', in which Aci thanks Jove for bringing him back to life. Reviewing this live performance at Versailles last year, Gramophone described Bénos-Djian's Ulisse as 'a dream, on top form throughout' and Lezhneva's Galatea as 'superb'.
Available formats: 3 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Strauss: Intermezzo (Blu-ray)
Maria Bengtsson (Christine), Philipp Jekal (Robert Storch), Thomas Blondelle (Baron Lummer), Clemens Bieber (Stroh), Markus Brück (Notary), Nadine Secunde (His Wife); Deutsche Oper Berlin, Sir Donald Runnicles, Tobias Kratzer
Described by the composer as a 'bourgeois comedy with symphonic interludes', Intermezzo was partially based on Strauss's own marriage to the soprano Pauline de Ahna (who was reputedly very unimpressed with the result). Filmed in Berlin last year and set in the present day, Tobias Kratzer's staging was described as 'pitch-perfect' by MusicOMH, whilst the Financial Times's Shirley Apthorp noted that 'gags fly freely and the audience is kept laughing' even as 'misogyny is exposed and somewhat subverted'.
Available format: Blu-ray
