The editorial team's personal favourites from the July crop of new releases include a Berlin cabaret album from Anne Sofie von Otter on BIS, youthful Mahler from Joseph Middleton and friends including Sir Simon Keenlyside and Mauro Peter on Signum, choir-and-organ arrangements of large-scale Finzi works from the Choir of Trinity College Cambridge on Hyperion, and Franco-Belgian rarities from Elena Urioste and Tom Poster on Chandos.
Berlin! Berlin! Berlin! Kabarett und Exil
Anne Sofie von Otter (mezzo), Salon Orchestra of the Komische Oper Berlin, Adam Benzwi
'One of the stand-out tracks on this enthralling collection of songs 1930s and 40s Berlin is a paean to the expressive joys of singing in a low register, and von Otter revels in the darker, grainer colours which her voice has taken on in her early seventies, channelling Lotte Lenya as she snarls her seductive way through the 'in the mood for love' opening number by Nico Dostal. Two desolate Eisler songs and an excerpt from Weill's Berliner Requiem form the dark heart of the programme, but there's subversive levity too - not least in Michael Jary's upbeat hits about a harmlessly lecherous uncle and a street flirtation in Montmartre.' (Katherine Cooper)
(Katherine Cooper)
Available format: SACD
Mahler: Lieder der Jugend
Katharina Konradi (soprano), Sophie Rennert (mezzo), Mauro Peter (tenor), Simon Keenlyside (baritone), Joseph Middleton (piano)
'In this delightful collection of Mahler’s early songs, Katharina Konradi brings great character to songs such as Selbstgefühl and Um schlimme Kinder artig zu machen, whilst Sophie Rennert provides perhaps the highlight of the album, her account of Ich ging mit Lust durch einen grünen Wald full of exquisite tone. Mauro Peter does a wonderful job of conveying the varying moods in Zu Strassburg auf der Schanz and Serenade aus Don Juan. Last but not least, Simon Keenlyside brings all of his interpretive expertise to the Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, world-weary in the first song and resignedly restful in the fourth. The anchor of it all is the radiant playing of Joseph Middleton, capturing the many subtexts and nuances of Mahler’s music.' (James Longstaffe)
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
Finzi: Requiem da camera & Other Choral Works
Hilary Cronin (soprano), Gwilym Bowen (tenor), Florian Störtz (bass-baritone), The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge, Steven Grahl
'Some much-needed organ arrangements here, of Finzi's larger works for choir and orchestra that can easily be off-putting for organisations with limited budgets. Robert Gower’s adaptations of the elated For St Cecilia and the exquisite In terra pax don’t seem to be trying directly to emulate the richness of the orchestral originals, which is for the best - better to have the organ version stand on its own two feet, which it absolutely does here. The result is a soundworld that meshes perfectly with that of Lo, the full, final sacrifice - presenting the two works as super-sized anthems alongside the late, great Francis Jackson’s organ version of the Requiem da camera.' (David Smith)
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
Thème Varié
Elena Urioste (violin), Tom Poster (piano)
'Franck is a silent thread running through this programme, but France was so culturally rich at the turn of the twentieth century that even silence of such magnitude isn’t deafening when it leaves space for the repertoire presented here. Sohy’s Thème Varié opens the album with mournful gravitas and sets a standard of musicianship from Urioste and Poster that continues throughout, especially in the rich lyricism of Leleu’s sonata. They adapt to the gentler qualities of the Bonis pieces with sensitivity, and Poster’s playing in the Messiaen leaves me wanting to hear him play the solo repertoire.' (Matthew Ash)
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
John Williams: Flute Concerto & Bernard Herrmann: Souvenirs de Voyage
Jin Ta, Ma Yue, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Darrell Ang, Joshua Tan
'Four works by a trio of composers known mostly for their film scores, starting with a mesmerising account of John Williams’s Flute Concerto. Inspired by the timbre of the shakuhachi and with stylistic nods to Takemitsu and Varèse, it’s a fascinating work that sounds worlds away from the composer’s film scores, and is coupled with a dramatic reading of Wlliams’s brooding Essay for Strings. Alongside this are an arrangement for clarinet and string orchestra by the late Hans Sørensen of Bernard Herrmann’s final concert work, Souvenirs de Voyage, and Hugo Friedhofer’s Suite for Five Woodwinds, a Webernesque work that receives its world premiere recording here.' (James Longstaffe)
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
John McCabe: Symphonies 2 & 3 and Cello Concerto
Raphael Wallfisch (cello), BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Kenneth Woods
'John McCabe was an extraordinary musician – a pianist and composer with a voracious appetite for exploring a vast range of music, which influenced his compositional voice without compromising its individuality. Hommages is a clear demonstration, as is the flavoured originality of his cello concerto Songline, especially in its orchestration. McCabe’s writing for wind is especially fine in evoking the far-reaching atmospheres of the second symphony. Brilliantly played throughout, and beautifully recorded.' (Matthew Ash)
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Douglas Moore: Giants in the Earth
Michael J. Hawk (Per Hansa), Meredith Lustig (Beret Hansa), Andrew Gilstrap (Hans Olsa) Sarah Nordin (Sorrine Olsa), Dylan Morrongiello (Syvert Tonsenten), Megan Koch (Kjersti Tonsenten), South Dakota Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Delta David Gier
'It's very good to hear Moore's Pulitzer-winning 1951 opera at long last: perhaps the long stretches of recitative-like writing proved a barrier to its success in the theatre, but this tale of Norwegian settlers in Dakota Territory has much to recommend it: Copland-esque depictions of the landscape are shot through with Scandinavian folk accents, whilst the psychological unravelling of the central female character calls Janáček's Káťa Kabanová to mind. The prevailing bleakness is leavened by some quirky comic interludes (a waltz-time hymn to a new coffee-grinder draws laughs on this live recording) and the strong cast give the piece their all, with Meredith Lustig outstanding as the fragile Beret.' (Katherine Cooper)
Available formats: 2 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
