Today's new releases include Mahler's Symphony No. 9 from the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Vladimir Jurowski on the orchestra's own label, Das Lied von der Erde from Les Siècles and François-Xavier Roth (with soloists Marie-Nicole Lemieux and Andrew Staples) on Harmonia Mundi, Bach's Clavier-Übung III from British organist James McVinnie on Pentatone, and a compline-inspired EP (the first of a new series entitled 'Headspace') from The King's Singers on Signum.
Mahler: Symphony No. 9
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski
Recorded live at the Southbank Centre in December 2022, this account of Mahler's final completed symphony was described as 'to die for' by BachTrack and 'a performance to make the heart beat faster' (The Arts Desk). Jurowski served as the orchestra's Principal Conductor from 2007 until 2021, when he was succeeded by Edward Gardner; this was one of his first performances as Conductor Emeritus.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde
Marie-Nicole Lemieux (contralto), Andrew Staples (tenor), Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth
Following superb accounts of Titan and Symphony No. 4, Roth and his period instrument orchestra turn their attention to one of Mahler's last works, using brass and woodwind instruments from fin de siècle and early twentieth-century Vienna. In a five-star review of Symphony No. 4, The Times applauded the 'clarity, balance, transparency and differentiation' on display, whilst The Guardian predicted that 'later instalments of his Mahler series, if it continues, will be more revealing.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Head Space: Candlelight
The King's Singers
The King's Singers launch a new series of EPs to promote calmness and reflection with a programme inspired by the liturgy of compline, including Robert Parsons's Ave Maria, Judith Bingham's Ave Virgo Sanctissima, Grieg's Ave Maris Stella, Anna Þorvaldsdóttir's Heyr þú oss himnum á, John Cage's 4'33, and three wordless songs by Orlando Gibbons.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Bach: Clavier-Übung III
James McVinnie (organ)
A year on from his Pentatone debut Dreamcatcher (which was hailed as 'little short of mind-blowing' by The Times), the British organist presents Bach's first published volume of organ music, composed in the 1730s; McVinnie recounts how hearing the late Martin Neary perform the Prelude and Fugue in E flat at Westminster Abbey as a child was 'a thrilling, life-changing moment'. The recording was made on the 1702 Arp Schnitger Organ of Aa-kerk in Groningen.
Available formats: 2 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 48 kHz, 24 bit)
Crossing the Bar
Mika Stoltzman (marimba), Richard Stoltzman (clarinet), Members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Boston Modern Orchestra Project
This wide-ranging album from the Japanese marimba virtuoso culminates with the world premiere recording of her compatriot Miho Hazama's Marimba Concerto No. 1, which features prominent roles for Stoltzman's clarinettist husband Richard, jazz bass player Eddie Gómez and legendary drummer Steve Gadd. The programme also includes John Zorn's Breathturn: Part 1, and new arrangements of Debussy's Rêverie and the Chaconne from Bach's Partita No. 2 in D minor.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
The Bassoonist’s Songbook
Amy Harman (bassoon), Tom Poster (piano)
Currently Principal Bassoon of the Aurora Orchestra, Harman writes: 'I was always drawn to either transcriptions of songs or repertoire in which I felt that the bassoon could leave behind its sometimes comedic image and become a voice.' Her programme includes her own transcriptions of three Lieder by Clara Schumann and a viola da gamba sonata by JS Bach, Robert Schumann's Drei Romanzen Op. 94, Henri Dutilleux's Sarabande et Cortège, and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's Five Fairy Ballads.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Heimat
Kenji Miura (piano)
A prizewinner at the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition and the Long-Thibaud-Crespin Competition, Kenji Miura made his debut on Warner in 2022 with Identity (featuring music by Takemitsu, Franck, Ravel and Debussy). This sequel focuses on works by composers from his adopted homeland of Germany: Beethoven's 'Appassionata' Sonata, Schumann's Kinderszenen, and Brahms's Op. 116 Fantasies.
Available format: CD
JS Bach: Cello Suites
Miriam Prandi (cello)
This is the debut solo album of Italian cellist (and sometimes pianist) Miriam Prandi, who joined the Delian Quartet in the latter capacity for their 2018 recording of Bach's Art of Fugue on Oehms. Prandi writes that Bach 'has accompanied me through every stage of life' as both soloist and continuo-player; as a young student, she performed the first cello suite in a masterclass with the late Antonio Meneses, which she describes as a transformative experience. Prandi plays a Giovanni Grancino cello from 1711, but performs at modern pitch, with a 'new' bow and metal strings.
Available formats: 2 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Listen. It is here
Helen Charlston (mezzo), Harriet Burns (soprano), Alexander Chance (countertenor), Elgan Llŷr Thomas (tenor), Edward Picton-Turbervill (piano)
This is the first full-length album from the young British composer Edward Picton-Turbervill, a recent Britten Pears Young Artist and former organ scholar at St John’s College, Cambridge. The works here include Poems of the Sky (on texts by Rainer Maria Rilke), Songs for A (Harold Pinter), To the Old Gods (Wilde, Edwin Muir and Cavafy), the Tennessee Williams setting 'We have not long to love', and the 'megasongs' The Prize Song of Taliesin and I Want To Be A Cow.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
