Hyperion
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18th-century Portuguese Love Songs
Sandra Medeiros (soprano) & Joana Seara (soprano), Joana Seara (soprano), Taro Takeuchi (guitar) & Zak Ozmo (guitar), Sandra Medeiros (soprano), David Gordon (harpsichord) & Zak Ozmo (guitar), Sandra Medeiros (soprano) & David Gordon (harpsichord), David Gordon (harpsichord)
L'Avventura...
Stylistically, the songs are a curious fusion of polite salon music of a somewhat saccharine sentimentality - epitome of the fashionable and graceful Galant style - and the sensual melodies... —
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The Romantic Piano Concerto 46 - York Bowen
Danny Driver (piano), James Horan (cor anglais) & Scott Dickinson (viola)
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Martyn Brabbins
Absolutely stunning … what a way to be introduced to the music of York Bowen! —
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…Holl's interpretation really does stand alone in its musical truthfulness and depth of insight. —
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Indy: Wallenstein and other orchestral works
Lawrence Power (viola)
BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Thierry Fischer
D'Indy's early three-part tone poem Wallenstein used to be fairly well known. A performance like this is likely to bring it back into circulation, full of vitality and warmth with bright brass... —
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Thanks principally to Stephen Layton's advocacy, Pawel Lukaszewski's reputation is growing rapidly, and rightly so. All the performers evince an emotional commitment to the content as well... —
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they're all tales and Finley is a fine tale-teller. In Loewe, he sounds as though he's singing just for you, the listener, so rapt and intense is his communication. Drake is a fine accomplice,... —
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Herrick is at his most persuasive in the chorale-embroidering preludes...commanding in the large-scale Magnificat Fantasia, to-the-point in the extended fugue which concludes BuxWV 145, and... —
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Eriks Ešenvalds: Passion & Resurrection
& other choral music
Carolyn Sampson (soprano)
Polyphony & Britten Sinfonia, Stephen Layton
Ešenvalds responds to the purpose of the words he sets, occupying similar choral territory to the likes of Whitacre and Shchedrin, character rather than ego dominating. Carolyn Sampson is the... —
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The Songs of Robert Schumann - Volume 11
Hanno Müller-Brachmann (baritone) & Graham Johnson (piano) with Katherine Broderick (soprano), Geraldine McGreevy (soprano), Stella Doufexis (mezzo-soprano), Adrian Thompson (tenor) & Stephan Loges (baritone)
A real disc of discovery: this is Schumann as he is seldom heard. In this final volume of his revelatory Songs of Robert Schumann series, Graham Johnson perceptively writes about, accompanies... —
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Jonathan Harvey: The Angels, Ashes Dances Back & Marahi
Jonathan Harvey (electronics), Carl Faia (electronics) & Clive Williamson (synthesizer), Carl Faia (electronics), Clive Williamson (synthesizer), Ilona Meija (flute) & Arne Deforce (cello)
Latvian Radio Choir, James Wood, Kaspars Putninš
both Ashes and Awakening are visionary pieces, and have the makings of modern masterpieces. They require, and will undoubtedly repay, repeated listening. A magnificent disc, superbly performed... —
