Today's new releases include Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 from Gianandrea Noseda and the London Symphony Orchestra on the orchestra's own label, a musical autobiography from Romanian pianist Alexandra Dariescu on Signum, Poulenc from Pascal Rogé on Onyx, and Clara Schumann, Dora Pejačević and Cécile Chaminade from the Neave Trio on Chandos.
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6
London Symphony Orchestra, Gianandrea Noseda
Recorded live at the Barbican in December 2023, this account of the 'Pathétique' was deemed 'outstanding' by BachTrack, who described the third movement as 'a roller-coaster ride of breathtakingly virtuosic orchestral playing'. As with the Italian conductor's acclaimed recordings of Symphonies Nos. 4 and 5 with the orchestra, the album also includes a shorter work by one of Tchaikovsky's compatriots: in this case the Prelude to Mussorgsky's Khovanshchina.
Available formats: SACD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
Pascal Rogé plays Poulenc
Pascal Rogé (piano)
Especially renowned for his interpretations of music by his countrymen, the French pianist celebrates his upcoming 75th birthday with an album devoted to Francis Poulenc: Elena Font joins him for the early Sonata for Four Hands (1919) and Sonata for Two Pianos (1952/3), and Lidy Blijdorp is his partner for the 1948 Cello Sonata. The programme also includes the Mouvements perpetuels, three Improvisations, and Nocturne No. 1 in C.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
A Child’s Dream
Alexandra Dariescu (piano), Academy of St Martin in the Fields
The Romanian pianist describes this album as 'a reflection of my personal journey in the music world, from some of the very first pieces I played as a child to some hidden gems by neglected composers throughout history'. Her programme includes Mozart's Rondo for Piano & Orchestra in D (K382), Nadia Boulanger's Trois pièces for cello and piano, shorter pieces by Emmy Schäfer Klein, Missy Mazzoli, Amy Beach, Florence Price, and music by Dariescu's compatriots Tudor Ciortea and Carl Filtsch.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
In Her Hands
Neave Trio
A year on from their ICMA-nominated album A Room of Her Own (featuring works by Ethel Smyth, Cécile Chaminade, Germaine Tailleferre and Lili Boulanger), the Neaves devote another album to piano trios by female composers: Clara Schumann's sole composition in the genre from 1846, Dora Pejačević's Piano Trio No. 2 from 1910 and Chaminade's Piano Trio No. 2 from the late 1880s, which was dedicated to the French cellist Jules Delsart and enjoyed substantial popularity during the composer's lifetime.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Lugansky plays Schumann
Nikolai Lugansky (piano)
The Intermezzo from Faschingsschwank aus Wien featured on Lugansky's arresting debut recital album back in 1987, which was recorded live at Moscow Conservatory just a week after his fourteenth birthday. Now in his mid-fifties, he presents the complete work, bookended by the Fantasie in C major and the Humoreske.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Reflection
Tamsin Waley-Cohen (violin), Huw Watkins (piano)
The centrepiece of this recital is the Violin Sonata which Watkins composed for Waley-Cohen in 2019/20; premiered at an empty Wigmore Hall (who co-commissioned the piece) during lockdown, it was described as 'very rewarding' by BachTrack. The programme also includes Oliver Knussen's Reflection (dedicated to Waley-Cohen and Watkins), Stravinsky’s Duo Concertant, and Prokofiev's Violin Sonata No. 1 in F minor.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
De Profundis
Charles Owen (piano)
Owen's 2021 recording of 'Suisse' from Années de Pèlerinage was praised by Gramophone for his 'thorough and refined pianistic skill and wholehearted identification with Liszt’s message', whilst BBC Music Magazine noted that 'Owen’s thoroughly sympathetic treatment redeems Liszt from his own excesses and demonstrates effortless control'. This sequel features 'Les jeux d'eaux à la Villa d'Este' from the Troisième Année, the Variations on 'Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen' and the Deux Légendes, plus Franck's Prélude, Choral et Fugue.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
Armande de Polignac: Piano Works
Bruno Belthoise, João Costa Ferreira (piano)
Born into an aristocratic family in Paris in 1876, Armande de Polignac studied composition with Fauré, Gigout and d'Indy, and composed several stage works as well as a significant body of songs, chamber music and solo piano pieces. This album features the early Six Préludes, Cloches, the Russian-influenced Échappées, and the two -piano version of the 1913 symphonic suite Les mille et une nuits.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Augusta Read Thomas: Sol
Grossman Ensemble, DePaul Wind Ensemble, Jeffrey Milarsky, Erica Neidlinger
This collection of world premiere recordings of works by the American composer (b.1964) comprises Solstice Ritual (an 'Homage to Varèse and Ravel for 14 virtuosi'), Magical Flights Of The Adarna Bird for solo cello, the 'Fanfare Sinfonia' Illuminations, Light Pearls Through Prisms for solo piano, and Equinox Ritual (an 'Homage to Igor Stravinsky for percussion quartet').
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Betsy Jolas: Works for Organ
Angela Metzger (organ), WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Titus Engel
A pupil of Milhaud and Messiaen (whom she eventually succeeded in a teaching position at the Paris Conservatoire), the Paris-born composer will celebrate her hundredth birthday this August. This first comprehensive collection of her organ music opens with the large-scale concerto Musique d'Hiver from 1971, and also includes Musique de jour, Leçons du petit jour, and the Trois Études Campanaires.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 48 kHz, 24 bit)
Gounod: Faust (Blu-ray)
Piotr Beczala (Faust), Luca Pisaroni (Méphistophélès), Marina Rebeka (Marguerite), Stéphane Degout (Valentin), Isaac Galán (Wagner), Serena Malfi (Siebel), Sylvie Brunet-Grupposo (Marthe); Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro Real Madrid, Dan Ettinger, Àlex Ollé
Filmed at the Teatro Real Madrid in 2018, this production from La Fura dels Baus was described by BachTrack as exhibiting 'all the usual traits of the company: clear narrative, effective transitions, good use of the stage, visual coherence and some good fun in the Walpurgis Scene.' Rebeka's Marguerite was hailed as 'sensational', whilst Beczala was praised for 'singing every note with total command and overwhelming confidence'.
Available format: Blu-ray
