Coming Soon,
Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata from Marc-André Hamelin and other forthcoming highlights
The Canadian pianist tackles one of the most daunting peaks of the keyboard repertoire, with other stand-outs for October including the first two volumes of Opera Rara's Donizetti Song Project, the Walton and Elgar Cello Concertos from Gautier Capucon, the London Symphony Orchestra and Antonio Pappano, a four-disc collection of music by Michael Tilson Thomas, and an EP of Bach transcriptions from Víkingur Ólafsson.
The Canadian pianist told us that a recording of the 'Hammerklavier' Sonata was in his sights at the beginning of 2022, reflecting that he was 'going to wait a while, because that piece is something that you just don’t rush!' This recording was made twenty months later at St Silas the Martyr in London, after Hamelin had played the work many times in concert; reviewing a recent performance at Queen Elizabeth Hall, BachTrack's Michelle Assay observed that 'the ferocious fugue [...] could hardly have been more daring. Hamelin allowed its near-chaos to unfurl with terrifying determination'.
Released 4th October.
Available Format: CD
This postscript to the Icelandic pianist's Goldberg Variations (our best-selling recording of the past decade) features solo piano arrangements of six sacred pieces by Bach: Ólafsson's own transcriptions of 'Es ist vollbracht' (from the cantata BWV 159), 'Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis', 'Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich' and 'Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen', Harold Bauer's arrangement of 'Komm, süßer Tod', and György Kurtág's four-hand transcription of 'Das alte Jahr vergangen ist' (for which Ólafsson is joined by his wife Halla).
Released 18th October.
Available Format: Vinyl Record
Grace: The Music of Michael Tilson Thomas
San Francisco Symphony, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Bay Brass, Isabel Leonard, Audra McDonald, New World Symphony, Renée Fleming, Thomas Hampson, John Wilson
Released to mark Tilson Thomas's eightieth birthday, this 4-CD collection of his works spans more than five decades of his compositional career and includes From The Diary of Anne Frank, Street Song, Meditations on Rilke, Island Music, Poems of Emily Dickinson and Upon Further Reflection.
All proceeds from this recording will be donated to brain cancer research at the University of California, San Francisco Brain Tumor Center.
Released 4th October.
Available Formats: 4 CDs, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Both of these concertos will feature in Pappano's first season as Chief Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, with principal cellists David Cohen (Elgar) and Rebecca Gilliver (Walton) as the soloists. For this studio recording, conductor and orchestra are joined by Gautier Capuçon, whose brother Renaud recorded the Violin Concerto with the LSO and Pappano's predecessor Simon Rattle back in 2020.
Released 11th October.
Available Format: CD
Orliński and Dębicz join forces with Polish pop musicians Marcin Ułanowski and Wojciech Gumińki for a new twist on Baroque songs and arias including Purcell's 'Fairest Isle', 'Sound the Trumpet' and 'Music for a While', Monteverdi's 'Zefiro torna', 'Vedrò con mio diletto' from Vivaldi's Il Giustino, and 'Pena tiranna' from Handel's Amadigi di Gaula.
Released 27th September.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Building on the success of Omordia's African Pianism project, this recital includes Ayo Bankole's 'Àdúrà fún Àláfíà', 'Òjò máa rọ̀̀!' and Akin Euba's Six Yoruba Songs, 'Ne Nkansu' and 'Ngulu' from Fred Onovwerosuoke's Twelve African Songs, and two arias from Joseph Bologne's 1780 opera L’Amant anonyme. The programme also features two pieces by Black British composers: Shirley Thompson's Psalm to Windrush and Errollyn Wallen's Peace on Earth.
Released 18th October.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Bellini: Norma
Marina Rebeka (Norma), Karine Deshayes (Adalgisa), Luciano Ganci (Pollione), Marko Mimica (Oroveso), Anta Jankovska (Clotilde), Gustavo De Gennaro (Flavio); Orquesta y Coro del Teatro Real, Madrid, John Fiore
This studio recording uses Roger Parker's new critical edition for Casa Ricordi, which features additional material in the Act One finale and an alternative ending to the Act Two chorus 'Guerra, Guerra' - and also requires the soprano to sing 'Casta diva' in G major (a tone higher than the standard edition). Next summer Rebeka will become the first singer to perform Norma at Teatro alla Scala since Montserrat Caballé in 1977; look out for our interview with her in October...
Released 4th October.
Available Format: 3 CDs
Roger Parker was also the driving force behind this major new Donizetti project for Opera Rara: during the lockdowns of 2020/21, he set about tracking down the composer's entire output of solo songs, almost half of which have never been heard in modern times. This first volume includes the popular 'Me voglio fà ’na casa' plus rarities such as the early 'Lunge ne vai' and 'Non v'è più barbaro', and the more mature 'Corri destrier' (which the composer upcycled for Edgardo's great scena in Lucia di Lammermoor).
Released 4th October.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Volume Two of the Donizetti Song Project features Italian baritone Nicola Alaimo, who has previously appeared on Opera Rara's recordings of the composer's Belisario and L'esule di Roma; the repertoire includes 'J'aime trop pour être heureux', 'L’amor funesto' (with cellist Hetty Snell), and 'Non v'è nume, non v'è fato' (with harpist Daniel Fry).
Released 4th October.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Korngold's Violin Concerto (threaded with material from his film scores) sits at the centre of a programme which centres on themes from the worlds of television, cinema, anime and gaming - taking in Squid Game, Pokémon, How to Train Your Dragon, The Promised Neverland, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Chen plays the 1714 ‘Dolphin’ Stradivarius which was previously owned by Jascha Heifetz (who premiered the Korngold concerto in 1947).
Released 18th October.
Available Format: CD
Gluck: Iphigénie en Aulide
Judith van Wanroij (Iphigénie), Stéphanie d'Oustrac (Clytemnestre), Tassis Christoyannis (Agamemnon), Cyrille Dubois (Achille), Jean-Sébastien Bou (Calchas); Le Concert de La Loge, Les Chantres du Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles Julien Chauvin
Premiered in Paris in 1774, Gluck's opera centres on Agamemnon's resolution to sacrifice his daughter in order to gain a fair wind for his voyage to Troy - although in this version of the myth his decision is overruled at the last minute by the goddess Diana. To mark the 250th anniversary of the first performance, the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles presents the first-ever recording of the work on period instruments, conducted by Julian Chauvin in his debut opera recording.
Released 4th October.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
