New Release Round-up,
New Release Round-Up - 4th October 2024
Brahms: Piano Concertos & Solo Piano Works Op. 116-119
Igor Levit (piano), Wiener Philharmoniker, Christian Thielemann
This is Levit's first concerto album since his debut recording of Beethoven's Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 (made when he was just 20, with the Kölner Kammerorchester). Reviewing his performance of the first Brahms concerto with Thielemann and the Wiener Philharmoniker in Vienna earlier this year, Der Standard declared that 'an irresistible dose of emotion was conveyed – but at the same time the sophisticated structure of Brahms’ masterpiece remained crystal clear'. By way of encore, Levit and Thielemann play the four-hand Waltz Op. 39 No. 15 together.
Available Formats: 3 CDs, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
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'.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Born in Nizhny Novgorod in 1991, Trifonov moved to the US aged seventeen to study with Sergei Babayan in Cleveland; the main events on this programme tracing his 'immigrant’s journey' are Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F and the world premiere recording of Mason Bates's Piano Concerto (written for Trifonov and the Philadelphia Orchestra, who gave the first performance in 2022). The album also includes Copland's Piano Variations, John Adams's China Gates, John Corigliano's Fantasia on an Ostinato and Trifonov's own transcription of Bill Evans’s version of When I Fall in Love.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Mendelssohn: Elijah
Gerald Finley (bass-baritone), Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha (soprano), Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano), Allan Clayton (tenor), London Symphony Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra, Antonio Pappano
Captured live at the Barbican in January, this recording is released to mark the beginning of Pappano's tenure as Music Director of the LSO as well as the label's 25th anniversary. The performance was described as 'Mendelssohn in HD' by The Guardian, whilst The Telegraph observed that 'Pappano seized every chance to make the drama blaze' and singled out Rangwanasha as the star of the evening, enthusing that her interpretation of "Be Not Afraid" 'made one think this is a masterpiece after all'.
Available Formats: 2 SACDs, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Adrian Sutton: Violin Concerto and other works
Fenella Humphreys (violin), BBC Philharmonic, Michael Seal
This is the world premiere of the Violin Concerto which Sutton composed after receiving a cancer diagnosis in 2022: drawing inspiration from Vaughan Williams's The Lark Ascending and Richard Bach’s novel Jonathan Livingston Seagull, the work was described by its dedicatee Fenella Humphreys as 'beautifully crafted music, full of virtuosity, emotion, colour and sublime line'. The album also includes the orchestral suite from Sutton's score for the stage version of War Horse, A Fist Full of Fives, and music for the plays Coram Boy, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Murder on the Orient Express, and Dr Semmelweis.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV
The Swedish violinist writes that 'the repertoire we have chosen for this album consists mainly of pieces that have been with me since my childhood' - the programme includes Ravel's Tzigane, the Méditation from Massenet's Thaïs, Tchaikovsky's Souvenir d'un lieu cher, Waxman's Carmen Fantasy, Saint-Saëns's Introduction & Rondo capriccioso, and what Dalene describes as 'a gem full of spirit!' by his compatriot Amanda Maier.
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Released to mark Tilson Thomas's eightieth birthday (and coinciding with his receipt of Gramophone's Lifetime Achievement Award this week), this 4-CD collection of his own compositions 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.
Available Formats: 4 CDs, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV
With the activities of his ensemble Les Talens Lyriques on hold during 2020, the French harpsichordist and conductor immersed himself in Bach's solo keyboard works; in late November/early December of that year, he recorded what Gramophone described as a 'satisfying and authoritative' interpretation of The Art of Fugue as well as this set of the seven toccatas (both using a mid-eighteenth-century German harpsichord from his own private collection).
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Following albums dedicated to JS Bach and Handel, the Italian harpsichordist turns his attention to the third great keyboard composer born in 1685: his programme focuses on works composed in the years 1752 and 1753, when Scarlatti was stretching the boundaries of sonata form to their limits. The recording was made at the Royaumont Abbey, using a Philippe Humeau harpsichord on loan from Bertrand Cuiller.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV
A year on from their recording of the Roman Baroque composer's Missa Tu es Petrus (based on Palestrina's motet and thought to have been written to celebrate the completion of St Peter's basilica), I Fagiolini continue their exploration of Benevoli's sacred works with the four-choir Missa Benevola, which employs the 'tenere la mula’ ('holding back the mule') technique that Handel subsequently borrowed in Messiah. The mass is followed by Carissimi's Jephte, written in around 1650 and performed here at Roman pitch (a tone down from modern pitch).
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
The musicologist Roger Parker was 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 'Il sospiro' (with its echoes of Edgardo's great scena in Lucia di Lammermoor).
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).
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 later this month...
Available Formats: 3 CDs, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
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.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Offenbach: La vie parisienne
Marc Mauillon, Anne-Catherine Gillet, Véronique Gens, Artavazd Sargsyan, Sandrine Buendia; Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, Chœur de l’Opéra national du Capitole de Toulouse, Romain Dumas
The genesis of Offenbach's 1866 slice of contemporary Parisian life was a rather fraught one: a few days before opening night, librettist Ludovic Halévy (nephew of the composer Fromenthal) grumbled that rehearsals were 'driving me insane' as the singers struggled with the more complex numbers. As a result, hundreds of pages were simplified or cut altogether, but were recently rediscovered by the the Palazzetto Bru Zane team and have been restored for this recording - the reinstated passages include a Diplomatic Trio, a Seduction Quintet, a Roadsweeper's Song, an air for the servant Urbain, and a Fabliau for the Baroness of Gondremarck.
Available Formats: CD2+Book, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Katherine Cooper - Head of Editorial
