10th june classical releases

harmonia mundi UK

Classical new releases

available June 10th 2016, call-off June 3rd

JUNE 10

BBC Music Magazine June 2016 Choral & Song Choice

harmonia mundi HMC802236/37 Bach St John Passion René Jacobs “It’s a beautifully recorded version.”

BBC R3 Record Review, 19th March 2016

“The results are predictably dramatic, and the narrative is gripping thanks to Werner Güra’s commanding interpretation of the Evangelist.”

Sunday Times

Opera Choice

Pan Classics PC10320 Sebastian Duron Lágrimas Amor Eva Juarez, A Corte Musical, Rogério Gonçalves

On the occasion of the 300th anniversary of Duron’s death in 1716, Rogério Conçalves and his ensemble A Corte Musical, present a fine selection of arias taken from his zarzuelas, that confirm Durón as one of the most important Spanish composers of stage music.

Chamber Choice

ONYX4159 Debussy, Elgar and Respighi Violin Sonatas James Ehnes, Andrew Armstrong

“James Ehnes and Andrew Armstrong make of them a satisfying recital disc that showcases Ehnes’s warm tone and purposeful phrasing” The Guardian, 17/01/2016

ACCENT RECORDS, ACTES SUD, ALIA VOX, APARTE, BELVEDERE, THE CHOIR OF KINGS COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE, CHRISTOPHORUS, CSO RESOUND, EDITION CLASSICS, EVIDENCE CLASSIQUES, FRA MUSICA, GLOSSA, harmonia mundi, HERITAGE, LA DOLCE VOLTA, LES ARTS FLORISSANTS EDITIONS, LSO LIVE, MARIINSKY, MIRARE, MYRIOS, NAÏVE, ONYX, PAN CLASSICS, PRAGA DIGITALS, RCO LIVE, SIGNUM CLASSICS, UNITED ARCHIVES, UNICORN, WIGMORE HALL LIVE

Gramophone June 2016 Editor’s Choice

Accent ACC24301 Zelenka Missa Divi Xaverii, ZWV12.

Litaniae de Sancto Xaverio, ZWV156 Collegium 1704 / Václav Luks “soprano Hana Blažiková adding a beautiful sheen through her solos… this feels like a major addition to the bohemian composer’s discography in typically searching performances” BBC R3 Record Review, 12th March 2016 “These large-scale works...The orchestration, high natural horns and all, is magnificent, and his theatrical inventiveness shines through.”

Sunday Times, 3rd April 2016

Editor’s Choice

Glossa GCDP32110 Machaut Messe de Nostre Dame Graindelavoix / Björn Schmelzer

“Always guaranteed to stimulate thought, Björn Schmelzer’s readings of early choral music are never less than controversial, and this recording is no exception...” Early Music Review

RELEASE DATE 10TH JUNE 2016

Granada 1013-1526 Hespèrion XXI / La Capella Reial de Catalunya / Jordi Savall Jordi Savall examines 500 years of history in this portrait of a city that symbolises like no other the fruitful, and at the same time, conflictual encounter of the three monotheistic religions. The succession of the Zirid, Almoravid, Almohad and Nasrid dynasties, their relationship with the neighbouring Christian kingdoms and the often precarious situation of the Jews (the first inhabitants of this area) are reflected in this wide musical fresco, in which each culture displays its most advanced refinement.

SONGLINES FEATURE ON DAY OF RELEASE

Label: Alia Vox File Under: Classical/Orchestral Catalogue No: AVSA9915 Barcode: 8435408099158 NORMAL Price Format: 1 SACD Packaging: digipack Hespèrion XXI La Capella Reial de Catalunya Jordi Savall

1. Invocación Qamti be-Ishon Layla (Cantar de los Cantares. Inspirado en Cantar 3, 1-4) 2. Taqsim instrumental & Danza morisca (Ney) 3. Moaxaja: Billadi askara min aadbi Llama - Al-Andalus 4. Preces: Penitentes orate - Plegaria mozárabe s. XI 5. Ductia (instr.) - Cantiga de Santa María (CSM 123) - Alfonso X El Sabio 6. Siónida: Yefe Nof - Yehudá Haleví (1075-1141) 7. Taqsim (Kanun) - Improvisación - Moaxaja: Ya gosan naqa - Ibn Zuhr - Tradición Al-Ándalus 8. Fragmento de la Carta sobre la conversión forzosa Iggeret ha-Shemad, cap. IV - Las Estrellas de los cielos 9. Danza morisca 10. Lamento: Plange Castella misera - Anónimo, Códice de Las Huelgas, f. 160, s. X 11. Danza de iniciación (instrumental) 12. Lamento hebraico-andaluz Dror yiqrá - Dunash ben Labrat, s. X 13. Poema en piedra de la Alhambra de Granada. Texto en árabe de Ibn Zamrak - Taqsim 14. Pero que seja a gente - Cantiga de Santa María (CSM 181) - Alfonso X El Sabio 15. Romance fronterizo: Cerco de Baeza - Anónimo, Cancionero de Palacio (CMP 106) 16. Lamento: El camino – La angustia - Improvisación andalusí 17. Propiñan del Melyor (instr.) - Anónimo, s. XV 18. Villancico: Aquella mora garrida - Gabriel, Cancionero de Palacio (CMP 254) 19. Villancico: Viva el gran Re Don Fernando - Carlo Verardi 20. Romance: El pan de la aflicción - Plegaria sefardí 21. Diario de abordo de Cristóbal Colón, Noche del 11 al 12 octubre 1492 22. Villancico: Todos los bienes del mundo - Juan del Enzina 23. Crónica de los Reyes de Castilla, cap. CXCVI 24. Lamento andalusí Maqam hijaz - Ibn Zaydún (Córdoba 1003-Sevilla 1071) photographs c Carlos Choin / Alia Vox

RELEASE DATE 10TH JUNE 2016

William LAWES: Complete Music for Solo Lyra Viol Richard Boothby Some of the most famous English composers of the 17th century wrote pieces for the lyra viol, or even entire anthologies. These composers include John Cooper, John Jenkins, Christopher Simpson, Charles Coleman, and William Lawes. Due to the number of strings and their rather flat layout, the lyra viol can approximate polyphonic textures, and because of its small size and large range, it is more suited to intricate and quick melodic lines than the larger types of bass viol.

Employed as “musician in ordinary for lutes and voices” at the court of Charles I, English composer Lawes (1602-1645) is most admired today for his sublime suites for viol consort. His less familiar solo repertoire for lyra-viol is performed here

by Richard Boothby, a founder member of Fretwork, on the best preserved instrument of the period (Richard Meares, c.

1647-1725) which is now part of the Kessler Collection in the museum of the Royal College of Music, London. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2pK0XDBzVk Lawes: Coranto VdGS 544 for lyra viol tuned in 'eighths'. Richard Boothby

Label: harmonia mundi File Under: Classical/Instrumental Catalogue No: HMU907625 Barcode: 093046762520 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Richard Boothby [viola da gamba]

Prelude, VdGS 435, Country Coll, VdGS 421, A Jigge, VdGS 422, Almain, VdGS 491, Coranto, VdGS 512, Almain, VdGS 461, Coranto, VdGS 423, Air, VdGS 596, Almain, VdGS 462, Coranto, VdGS 424, Almaine, VdGS 511, Coranto, VdGS 513, Saraband, VdGS 514, Almain, VdGS 463, Coranto, VdGS 465, Saraband, VdGS 467, Almain, VdGS 543, Coranto, VdGS 541, Almaine, VdGS 464, Corrant, VdGS 425, Saraband, VdGS 434, Almain (Pavan), VdGS 542, Coranto, VdGS 544, Almain, VdGS 430, Corant, VdGS 426, Saraband, VdGS 433, Corant, VdGS 427, Saraband, VdGS 591, Corant, VdGS 428, Saraband, VdGS 466, Coranto, VdGS 545, Coranto, VdGS 546, Corant, VdGS 429, Corant, VdGS 431, Saraband, VdGS 432, “an incredibly technically perfect recording … Richard Boothby…has been very skilful and imaginative and inventive …

Fretwork do the most extraordinary job of maintaining that integrity between the parts … it’s extremely skilful” BBC Radio 3, 21st November 2015 [on HMX2908742/44 Fretwork: A Viol Consort plays JS Bach]

RELEASE DATE 10TH JUNE 2016

TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphonies 1, 2 & 5 Symphony No.1 ‘Winter Dreams’ Symphony No.2 ‘Little Russian’ Symphony No.5

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Vasily Petrenko The eagerly awaited Tchaikovsky Symphony cycle from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Vasily Petrenko gets underway with Symphonies 1, 2 & 5. In 2015 The Tchaikovsky Album with Petrenko and the RLPO, released to coincide with the orchestra’s 175 anniversary, became one of the best-selling classical CDs in the UK and met with fulsome praise from reviewers. Volume I of the Symphonies looks set to replicate that success and indeed critical acclaim.

Label: Onyx Classics File Under: Classical/Orchestral Catalogue No: ONYX4150 Barcode: 880040415022 2 FOR 1.5 Format: 2 CD Packaging: cristal Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vasily Petrenko

Other RLPO recordings on ONYX: ONYX4145 Elgar Symphony No.1, Concert Overture ‘Cockaigne’. Vasily Petrenko ONYX4135 Tchaikovsky Piano Concertos 1&2. Simon Trpceski, Vasily Petrenko ONYX4155 Vaughan Williams Symphonies Vol.1 Nos. 2 ‘A London Symphony’ & 8, Andrew Manze Advertised in BBC Music Magazine

RELEASE DATE 10TH JUNE 2016

PURCELL: Come all ye songsters Recorded live at Wigmore Hall, London, on 17 March 2015

Carolyn Sampson Carolyn Sampson has enjoyed notable success worldwide in repertoire ranging from early Baroque to the present day.

She is in high demand by leading opera companies around the world, and regularly makes recital appearances too.

Following the success of her first release ‘Not Just Dowland’, [WHLIVE0034] we are now delighted to present her second release on the Wigmore Hall Live label. She is joined by some of Britain’s most exciting exponents of historical performance – lutenist Elizabeth Kenny, harpsichordist Laurence Cummings, and viol player Jonathan Manson.

This leading ensemble examines the colourful world of Purcell songs. Unlike his European counterparts, Purcell was unused to traditionally operatic terms and was unconstrained by them. Ignorance was certainly bliss in this case; for him ‘Song’ was a performers’ medium. Thoughout the course of this recital, recorded live at Wigmore Hall, we hear the musicians discovering and revealing the meaning of the texts, as they bring to life the works with sensitivity and charm.

Label: Wigmore Hall Live File Under: Classical/Secular Vocal music Catalogue No: WHLIVE0083 Barcode: 5065000924843 MID Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: cristal Carolyn Sampson [soprano] Elizabeth Kenny [lute] Jonathan Manson [viol] Laurence Cummings [harpsichord]

1 Come all ye songsters, 2 Sing while we trip it, 3 A dance of fairies (instr.), 4 Ye gentle spirits of the air [The Fairy Queen Z629] 5-9 Harpsichord suite no. 5 in C major (with Jig) Z666 (instrumental) 10 The cares of lovers from Timon of Athens Z632, 11 Fly swift, ye hours Z369 12 Not all my torments Z400, 13 Giovanni Battista DRAGHI: An Italian Ground 14 From rosy bow’rs, 15 Let the dreadful Engines of Eternal Will [Don Quixote Z578] 16-17 Music from the guitar book of Princess Anne (instrumental): Mystery, If love's a sweet passion from The Fairy Queen 18 ANON: Minuet, 19 CORBETTA: Passacaille, 20 I see she flies me from Aureng-Zebe Z573, 21 What a sad fate is mine Z428a, 22 Pious Celinda goes to prayers Z410, 23 SIMPSON: Divisions on a ground from The Division Viol (instrumental) 24 'Tis Nature's Voice [Hail, bright Cecilia Z328] 25 Lucinda is bewitching fair [Abdelazar, or The Moor’s Revenge Z570] 26 Hark! The echoing air [The Fairy Queen] 27 spoken intro to encore 28 I attempt from Love's sickness to fly [The Indian Queen Z630] 29 spoken intro to encore 30 Fairest isle [King Arthur Z628/38]

audio https://app.box.com/s/ucu56eonutdj5ghdci9u48372oxhq9lp

RELEASE DATE 10TH JUNE 2016

Steve REICH: Sextet, Clapping Music, Music for Pieces of Wood Recorded live, in DSD 128fs, at LSO St Luke’s, London 30th October 2015

Label: LSO Live File Under: Classical/Instrumental Catalogue No: LSO5073 Barcode: 822231507321 MID Price Format: 1 SACD Packaging: cristal Neil Percy, LSO Percussion Ensemble separate marketing plan available

LSO Live explore the music of America’s most influential living composer with performances of three of his most iconic works: 'Sextet', 'Clapping Music' and 'Music for Pieces of Wood'.

Employing Reich’s universally recognisable sound world, 'Sextet' uses hypnotic repetitions of a sequence of harmonies, which gradually overlap and interweave, resulting in a complex yet utterly compelling musical landscape. Introducing more dissonance and aggressive rhythms than previous compositions, the relationship of the five movements is that of an arch form, A-B-C-B-A. Changes of tempo are made abruptly at the beginning of new movements by metric modulation and sections are also organised harmonically with a chord cycle for the first and fifth. Reich says of the work, "The ambiguity here is between which is melody and which is accompaniment. In music that uses a great deal of repetition, I believe it is precisely these kinds of ambiguity that give vitality and life."

Composed in 1972, 'Clapping Music' strips back to the bare essentials, taking traditional African rhythms as its starting point. Conceived from a desire to compose music "that would need no instrument beyond the human body" it is perhaps the most elemental example of phasing in the composer’s catalogue. The whole work consists of a single rhythmic cell which becomes staggered as the work progresses, creating an entrancing and hypnotic effect. Having previously performed the work with the composer, Neil Percy delivers an inspired performance alongside his LSO Co-Principal, Sam Walton.

'Music for Pieces of Wood' takes this concept a step further, adding pitches, in the form of claves tuned A, B, C#, D# and D# an octave above. The claves are chosen for their resonant timbre and the piece is one of the loudest the composer has written, despite using no amplification whatsoever.

Neil Percy, LSO Principal Percussionist and Ensemble Director, says of his relationship with these pieces and the composer: "The thing I enjoy most about playing the music of Steve Reich is its diversity, its complexity, its challenging nature… We’ve played so many pieces of Steve’s over the years with him being present, so it’s got a very personal set of challenges that I find completely irresistible. That’s why, on this particular project for LSO Live, we tried to put together a programme that reflected all of the pieces that the group themselves really like to play."

Neil Percy, Ensemble Director, has enjoyed 20 years as Principal Percussionist of the London Symphony Orchestra and 12 years as Head of the Timpani and Percussion at the Royal Academy of Music. During this time, he has worked closely with many major artists and conductors and as a soloist with Steve Reich, Sir Colin Davis, Pierre Boulez, Karl Jenkins, Ravi Shankar, Kent Nagano and Elgar Howarth.

"Reich provided one pair of hands, the LSO’s percussionist Neil Percy the other. It was intriguing to see how something so mechanical could be so revealing of character, and how the patterns appeared to change before our very ears." ***** The Telegraph

audio https://soundcloud.com/london-symphony/lso5073-03-sextet-i-crotchet-192-44k-16b/s-6tOep

RELEASE DATE 10TH JUNE 2016

RACHMANINOV: All-Night Vigil / Vespers London Symphony Chorus Simon Halsey

Label: LSO Live File Under: Classical/Choral Catalogue No: LSO0781 Barcode: 822231178125 MID Price Format: 1 SACD Packaging: cristal London Symphony Chorus Simon Halsey

In their first LSO Live solo release, the London Symphony Chorus deliver a passionate performance of Rachmaninov’s 'All-Night Vigil', under the baton of acclaimed LSO Choral Director, Simon Halsey.

Formed in 1966 to complement the work of the LSO, 2016 sees the London Symphony Chorus celebrate its 50th Anniversary as one of the UK’s most well-established choirs. Made up of over 160 amateur singers from all walks of life, the Chorus has recorded widely for LSO Live, the partnership resulting in several award-winning releases - including three Grammy Awards, received for Berlioz' 'Les Troyens' and Verdi's ' Falstaff'.

Hauntingly beautiful, the 'All-Night Vigil' or 'Vespers' is a cornerstone of the choral repertoire, its 15 a cappella movements considered amongst the composer’s finest achievements. Composed in 1915, against a backdrop of political turmoil in Russia and the early throes of The First World War, the sense of spiritual transcendence in the work may be interpreted as the composer’s response to the chaos and suffering around him. While Rachmaninov was no conventional believer, the rituals and traditions of the Orthodox Church were an essential part of his cultural background, evident in his use of chants from the Russian Church as the basis for ten of the work’s fifteen sections. For the remaining five, Rachmaninov composed entirely new music, though these are so heavily influenced by tradition that it is near impossible to tell the difference.

Throughout the Vespers, Rachmaninov’s immense compositional skill is on display - exploring a variety of textures, timbres, rhythms and registers, all of which are beautifully handled by the Choir and Simon Halsey.

Sharing choral music with the community is a key mission for the London Symphony Chorus and in 2015 Halsey prepared LSO Discovery and Community Choirs for the UK premiere of Jonathan Dove’s children’s opera 'The Monster in the Maze'. Halsey and the LSC will continue this community work in 2016, with the world premiere of another children’s opera 'The Hogboon', conducted by Sir Simon Rattle and performed in memory of its composer, the late Sir Peter Maxwell Davies.

RELEASE DATE 10TH JUNE 2016

DVORAK: Violin Concerto in A minor Op.33 Romance in F Op.11, Mazurek Op. 49, Four Romantic Pieces Op. 75 for violin & piano

Jan Mrácek [violin] Czech National Symphony Orchestra James Judd [conductor] Lukás Klánsky [piano]

Label: Onyx Classics File Under: Classical/Orchestral Catalogue No: ONYX4160 Barcode: 880040416029 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: cristal Jan Mrácek [violin] Czech National Symphony Orchestra James Judd [conductor] Lukás Klánsky [piano]

"Jan is a worthy winner. He has fascinated us from the first round. Not only with his technical skills, but also with his charisma on stage" the chairman of the jury of the 2014 Fritz Kreisler Competition announced after Mrácek’s performance with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra was met with thunderous applause. Prior to this Mrácek has studied with the great Czech master Václav Hudecek, as well as with Levon Chilingirian, Gavriel Lipkind and Ida Haendel.

For his debut CD, Jan Mrácek has chosen an all Czech programme devoted to Dvorák. The violin concerto sits on the margins of that exclusive club of 'great' concertos but this is to misunderstand the originality and genius of this concerto, dedicated to Joseph Joachim, written by a superb violinist with a deep understanding of the capabilities of his instrument.

The easy charm and lyricism of the music has always appealed to the public.

The haunting 'Romance in F' originally formed the slow movement of an early String Quartet Op. 9, and has the ability to stick in the listener’s memory long after the music has stopped. 'Mazurek' Op.49 was dedicated to Pablo de Sarasate and is typical of Dvorak’s Slavonic style. The 'Four Romantic Pieces' Op. 75 were composed for a group of friends of varying musical abilities, and are charming, easy-going works.

Advertised in BBC Music Magazine

RELEASE DATE 10TH JUNE 2016

Hidden Music of the Russian Church Sacred Chants after the Revolution 1917

Moscow Patriarch Choir Ilya Tolkachev

Label: Christophorus File Under: Classical/Choral Catalogue No: CHR77402 Barcode: 4010072774026 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack Moscow Patriarch Choir of Christ the Saviour Cathedral Ilya Tolkachev [conductor]

The Patriarch Choir of the Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow conducted by Ilya Tolkachov devotes the second of their CDs issued by Christophoros to Russian sacred music composed after the 1917 Revolution. Under the Soviet regime, most churches and the majority of monasteries were closed and the priests and monks expelled; ecclesiastical life became extremely difficult and was permanently under threat of reprisal. Numerous celebrated composers of sacred music were only permitted to publish secular compositions, but continued to work in secret. It is these hidden compositions which the Moscow Patriarch Choir would like to bring to light. The composers featured include prominent Russian personalities such as Golovanov, the director of the Bolshoi Theatre, and Alexandrov, the composer of the Russian national anthem (still sung today).

It is highly symbolic that the Moscow Patriarch Choir has devoted itself to this task as the Christ the Saviour Cathedral is itself a reflection of political developments and their consequences for the Russian Church. Consecrated in 1883 as a new centre for the Russian Church (under the musical direction of Rimsky-Korsakov and Balakirev), the building was blown up under Stalin’s rule (he had plans for the construction of a gigantic Soviet palace on the same site) and reconstructed according to the original plans in the 1990s during the era of Perestroika, thanks to donations by the Russian people. Today, the cathedral is the seat of the Russian Orthodox patriarch Kyrill and the centre and symbol of the reinvigorated Russian Church.

Alexander ALEXANDROV (1883-1946): Bless the Lord, O My Soul, In Thy Kingdom Remember Us, O Lord, We Hymn Thee, The Lord’s Prayer “Our Father”, Praise the Name of the Lord (A major), Praise the Name of the Lord (D minor) , From My Youth Nikolai GOLOVANOV (1891-1953): He Who Closed the Abyss, Cherubic Hymn Alexander NIKOLSKY (1874-1943): O Gladsome Light, We Hymn Thee Pavel CHESNOKOV (1877-1944): Cherubic Hymn, It Is Meet and Right to Bless You, O Theotokos Alexander KASTALSKY (1856-1926): St Simeon’s Prayer, Let God Arise

audio https://www.dropbox.com/sh/s12ffjcuxguv7im/AAAxJJcwm4jzExcennZY8P3Sa?dl=0 CHR77402 Track 1 Alexandrov -Bless the Lord o my soul

RELEASE DATE 10TH JUNE 2016

Camilla de ROSSI: Sant‘ Alessio Oratorio, Vienna 1710

Musica Fiorita Daniela Dolci

Label: Pan Classics File Under: Classical/Choral Catalogue No: PC10347 Barcode: 7619990103474 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack Graham Pushee [countertenor] Rosa Dominguez [soprano] Agnieszka Kowalezyk [soprano] William Lombardi [tenor] Musica Fiorita, Daniela Dolci [harpsichord & direction]

Several women are known to have composed music in Northern Italy and Austria during the period 1670 to 1725. Of those women, though there is no remaining biographical information, Camilla de Rossi (fl. 1707–1710) by far has the most surviving works. The only known biographical detail about Camilla is her Roman citizenship: she always signed the title pages of her manuscripts as Romana, or a woman of Roman descent. Where she learned the skills as a musician and as a composer are entirely unknown today.

Rossi composed four oratorios for solo voices and orchestra, all of which were commissioned by Emperor Joseph I of Austria and performed in the Imperial Chapel in Vienna. In many details the style of the instrumental parts resemble those of Arcangelo Corelli, who at this time was Rome’s musical magnet, so to speak, and whose Classical instrumental works were extensively studied by every composer. The elaborate fashioning of the individual voices, the variety of tonal colours and the diversity in the orchestration are, besides the plasticity of the representation of the musical effects, characteristic of Camilla de Rossi’s oratorios.

Also available: PC10333 Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre Chamber Music Daniela Dolci / Musica Fiorita

RELEASE DATE 10TH JUNE 2016

DEBUSSY: The Edgar Allan Poe Operas The Fall of the House of Usher, The Devil in the Belfry

Label: Pan Classics File Under: Classical/Opera Catalogue No: PC10342 Barcode: 7619990103429 2 FOR 1.5 Format: 2 CD Packaging: digipack CD1: William Dazeley [Roderick Usher] Eugene Villanueva [Roderick's friend] Virgil Hartinger [doctor] Lin Lin Fan [Lady Madeline] CD2: Eugene Villanueva [Le Bourgmestre] Lin Lin Fan [Jeannette] Michael Dries [Le Haut-sonneur] Virgil Hartinger [Jean] Göttinger Symphonie Orchester Christoph-Mathias Mueller [conductor]

Claude Debussy's opera 'Pelléas et Mélisande' premièred in 1902 and is regarded as a very special masterpiece, albeit a solitary one. The composer’s relationship with opera however was not as distanced as one could suppose from focusing on this single work which is in fact not an isolated component within the artist’s oeuvre.

Plans existed for further operatic projects and Debussy devoted himself intensely to two operas based on texts by Edgar Allen Poe during the last few years of his life which were dominated by ill health. He continued working on 'The Fall of the House of Usher' until shortly before his death and was distraught at not being able to complete this composition. 'The Devil in the Belfry' has only survived in sketch form. The English musicologist Robert Orledge, a renowned expert within the field of French music, reconstructed both operas with great sensitivity to Debussy’s compositional style, augmenting missing passages.

Debussy had promised the New York Metropolitan Opera the premiere of the Poe operas, apparently still believing that he would still complete them both. The composer received contractual confirmation that both works would only be performed consecutively on the same evening, meaning that the gloomy melancholy of one work would serve as a counterweight to the mocking humour of the other. This production featuring the Göttinger Symphonie Orchester is therefore a world première: according to Debussy’s wishes, the two operas would have been performed at the New York Metropolitan Opera in this exact juxtaposition.

RELEASE DATE 10TH JUNE 2016

Francisco José de CASTRO: Trio sonatas Op. 1 Bologna, 1695 La Real Cámara

Label: Glossa File Under: Classical/Chamber music Catalogue No: GCD920314 Barcode: 8424562203143 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack La Real Cámara: Emilio Moreno, Enrico Gatti [violins] Mercedes Ruiz [cello] Pablo Zapico [Baroque guitar & theorbo] Aarón Zapico [harpsichord]

The 17th century violinist-composer, Francisco José de Castro, who travelled from his birthplace in Seville to the Northern Italian city of Brescia where he composed chamber music, provides the focus for Emilio Moreno’s latest exploration of the forgotten and ignored in Iberian Baroque.

Castro’s 'Trattenimenti armonici', Op 1, a set of ten trio sonatas da camera were published in 1695, by which time their composer had earned a deserved reputation for his musicality, especially as a follower of the innovative Arcangelo Corelli (Castro’s first opus was issued by a leading publisher in Bologna). These trio sonatas are the only known Spanish examples from the 17th century.

The sonatas – consisting of preludes followed by dance movements including those in the French manner – show the young Sevillian embracing the stylus phantasticus and the new violin virtuosity which he would have encountered in Spain (he may have been taught by Italian violinists) but whose full glory was to await him when he moved to Brescia.

The performances from La Real Cámara – being issued by Glossa – here are led by two modern virtuosi skilled in this genre, Emilio Moreno and Enrico Gatti, who are ably supported by Mercedes Ruiz, and Pablo and Aarón Zapico. Emilio Moreno regards Castro as the 'Spanish Corelli', a compliment which is borne out by this elegant and imaginative music, rich in harmonic and melodic ingenuity whilst continuing to be influenced by Francisco José de Castro’s 'Spanish Muse'.

Trattenimenti armonici da camera, opus 1: 1-4 Sonata Sesta 5-8 Sonata Nona 9-12 Sonata Terza 13-15 Sonata Settima 16-18 Sonata Decima 19-22 Sonata Seconda 23-26 Sonata Ottava 27-29 Sonata Quinta 30-34 Sonata Prima 35-38 Sonata Quarta

RELEASE DATE* now 10TH JUNE 2016

Hymns from King's Choir of King's College Cambridge / Stephen Cleobury 'Hymns from King’s' is a collection of hymn arrangements by Stephen Cleobury from the Peters Edition book of the same name. Covering the entire church year including Christmas and Easter, 'Hymns from King’s' contains arrangements, accompaniments and descants for some of the world’s most popular hymns as they are sung at King’s College.

The release will be accompanied by an international press and marketing campaign and extensive touring and joins the label’s other critically-acclaimed recordings including 'English Hymn Anthems', a celebrated Fauré 'Requiem' [Recording of the Month in BBC Music Magazine] and '1615: Gabrieli in Venice': the first classical album ever to use Dolby’s new Atmos technology.

Label: Kings College Cambridge File Under: Classical/Choral Catalogue No: KGS0014 Barcode: 822231701422 MID Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: cristal Choir of King's College Cambridge Stephen Cleobury CONCERTS: 27th June Fauré Requiem Sheffield, Cathedral Church of Saint Marie *NB revised release date

1 Thine be the glory [Maccabaeus] G F Handel 2 Alleluya, sing to Jesus [Hyfrydol] Richard Huw Pritchard 3 Angel-voices ever singing [Angel Voices] E G Monk 4 All creatures of our God and King [Lasst uns Erfreuen] R V Williams, based on Geistliche Kirchengesange 5 Love divine, all loves excelling [Blaenwern] William Rowlands 6 Praise, my soul, the King of Heaven [Praise my soul] John Goss 7 Now thank we all our God [Nun danket alle Gott] Johann Crüger 8 Glorious things of thee are spoken [Abbot’s leigh] Cyril Vincent Taylor 9 Let all mortal flesh keep silence [Picardy] French carol melody (Chansons Populaires, Vol. 4) 10 Jesus Christ is risen today [Easter Hymn] Adapted from Lyra Davidica 11 Lord of all hopefulness [Slane] Traditional Irish, harm. Erik Routley 12 Christians, awake, salute the happy morn [Yorkshire (Stockport)] John Wainwright 13 Abide with me [Eventide] W H Monk 14 As with gladness men of old [Dix] Conrad Kocher, arr. W H Monk 15 My song is love unknown [Love Unknown] John Ireland 16 O God, our help in ages past [St Anne] William Croft 17 O come, O come, Emmanuel! [Veni Emmanuel] 15th-century French melody 18 Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty! [Nicaea] J B Dykes 19 Just as I am, without one plea [Saffron Walden] Arthur Henry Brown 20 Come, ye thankful people, come [St George’s, Windsor] George Elvey