Classical 28th oct wp

OCTOBER 28 2013

harmonia mundi UK

Classical new release NEW LABEL!

DISTRIBUTED LABELS: accent, actes sud musicales, agogique, alia vox, ambronay, aparte, arte verum, audite, bel air classiques, the choir of kings college cambridge, christophorus, cso resound, delphian, ducale, fra musica, glossa, harmonia mundi, hat[now]art, K617, la dolce volta, les arts florissants, lso live, mariinsky, melisande films, mirare, mode, muso, naïve, onyx, opella nova, orfeo, pan classics, paradizo, pearl, philharmonia baroque, phil.harmonie, praga digitals, radio france, royal academy of music, real compañia ópera de cámara, rco live, sfz music, signum classics, stradivarius, united archives, wahoo, walhall eternity, wergo, wigmore hall live, winter & winter, ysaye

available 28 October, call-off 18th Oct

BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE

RECORDING OF THE MONTH NOVEMBER Signum SIGCD348 Britten Peter Grimes [On the Beach] Steuart Bedford

RECORDING OF THE

MONTH

DVD CHOICE NOVEMBER Bel Air Classiques BAC080 /480 Mozart Don Giovanni / Tcherniakov

INTERNATIONAL RECORD REVIEW IRR Outstanding harmonia mundi HMC902169 Charpentier Litanies de la Vierge Ensemble Correspondances / Sebastien Dauce

GRAMOPHONE

EDITOR’S CHOICE October Orfeo C854131A Schumann: Violin Concerto; Violin Concerto Baiba Skride, Danish National SO/John Storgards EDITOR’S CHOICE October Glossa GCD922801 Marenzio: First Book of Madrigals La Compagnia del Madrigale ICS DISTRIBUTOR OF THE YEAR 2013: harmonia mundi UK

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

Che puro ciel The Rise of Classical Opera

Bejun Mehta Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin René Jacobs Arias & scenes from l’Orféo et Euridice, Ascanio in Alba, Antigona et Ifigenia in Tauride (Traetta), Il trionfo di Clelia (Hasse), Artaserse (Bach), Ezio (Gluck), Mitridate (Mozart) In the famous Preface to Alceste (1767), Christoph Willibald Gluck and his librettist Ranieri de' Calzabigi posited a new direction for opera. They spoke of moving beyond Baroque forms, of striving for a new naturalism in opera. They wanted, in Calzabigi's lovely phrase, to liberate the language of the heart. Taken from the height of this Reform period, the arias on this disc reveal composers exploring and experimenting, at struggle and at play, as they create the new forms that bring to opera the noble simplicity of the Classical era.

Label: harmonia mundi File Under: Classical/Secular Vocal music Catalogue No: HMC902172 Barcode: 3149020217221 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack Bejun Mehta [counter-tenor] Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin René Jacobs

Bejun Mehta returns to the Wigmore Hall and Covent Garden in 2014 [Mitridate].

ALSO AVAILABLE: HMC902077 Ombra Cara: Handel Arias Sunday Times Classical CD of the Week ***** The Guardian “Bejun Mehta’s disc towers above the other Handel ‘medley’ recordings currently fashionable among opera stars.

Musicality and a brilliant intelligence emanate from every track. Mehta and René Jacobs, by contrast, achieve a perfect meeting of musical minds…This is not just another aria collection, but a celebration of genius, in composition and performance alike.” BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2010 *****/***** "AMERICAN Bejun Mehta is a phenomenon among today's countertenors...he explores a universe of colour and emotion, and demonstrates the sheer effortlessness of his delivery (never once do you sense that slight unnatural unease so common among average countertenors) with the supremely stylish backing of the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra under René Jacobs. Welsh soprano Rosemary Joshua also features."

9 November 2010, Kenneth Walton, The Scotsman *****

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

RIAS Kammerchor: Christmas!

RIAS Kammerchor Hans-Christoph Rademann

Label: harmonia mundi File Under: Classical/Choral Catalogue No: HMC902170 Barcode: 3149020217023 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD RIAS Kammerchor Hans-Christoph Rademann [conductor]

MENDELSSOHN: Frohlocket, ihr Völker auf Erden op.79/1 UWE GRONOSTAY: Die Nacht ist vorgedrungen JOHANN ECCARD: Ich lag in tiefster Todesnacht, Nun liebe Seel, nun ist es Zeit, Über's Gebirg Maria geht BRUCH: In der Christnacht op.60/1 BRAHMS: O Heiland, reiß die Himmel auf op.74/2 PÄRT: Magnificat BRUCKNER: Ave Maria, Virga Jesse POULENC: Salve Regina GRIEG: Ave maris stella SWEELINCK: Hodie Christus natus est PRAETORIUS: In dulci jubilo, Es ist ein Ros entsprungen POULENC: Quatre motets pour le temps de Noël Eusebius MANDYCZEWSKI: Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!

The great painters have always known how to combine the different perspectives of the Nativity into a single picture.

Here the RIAS Kammerchor tells the Christmas Story in music: Mendelssohn frames the painting, to which the darkness and the promise of promise of heavenly light form the background. The Virgin Mary leads us to the heart of Christmas Night and to rejoicing at the Saviour’s birth. We come full circle with the Four Motets of Poulenc, which sum up all the facets of Christmas and its emotions.

Founded in 1948 under the auspices of ‘Radio in the American Sector’, the RIAS Kammerchor played an important role in the revival of post-war musical life in Berlin. The core of its repertoire is the music of the Baroque era, together with the modern classics and the music of today. It swiftly acquired an international reputation for premiering new works by such composers as Penderecki, Reimann, Kagel, Gundermann and Tan Dun. After Uwe Gronostay, Marcus Creed, and Daniel Reuss, Hans-Christoph Rademann has directed the ensemble since 2007, in close collaboration with Concerto Köln, Freiburger Barockorchester, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, and the Orchestre des Champs-Élysées, with such conductors as Frans Brüggen, Roger Norrington, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, René Jacobs and Philippe Herreweghe.

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

TCHAIKOVSKY: Piano Trio Op. 50 ARENSKY: Piano Trio Op. 32

Trio Wanderer

Label: harmonia mundi File Under: Classical/Chamber music Catalogue No: HMC902161 Barcode: 3149020216125 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Trio Wanderer

CONCERT: Bath 12th November

Tchaikovsky’s celebrated large-scale Trio Op.50 sets the tone of this recording, at once elegiac and virtuosic. Dedicated to his friend Nikolay Rubinstein with the French epigraph ‘À la mémoire d'un grand artiste’, it shows great originality both in its dimensions and in its style, which calls for highly skilled performers. A similarly ambitious work is the Trio Op.32 of Anton Stepanovich Arensky, also dedicated to the memory of a musician, the cellist Karl Davidov (1838-89). This gem of chamber music, much less often played, constitutes the true discovery of the programme.

The Trio Wanderer celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2012. Feted by the international press for its extraordinarily sensitive playing, its almost telepathic complicity, and its complete instrumental mastery, the Trio Wanderer is one of the finest chamber music formations in the world today. Dubbed ‘Wandering Star’ by The Strad magazine, it is invited to appear in the most prestigious concert series and at the leading festivals.

Since 1999 the trio have recorded for harmonia mundi: 13 recordings have appeared so far, repeatedly winning awards from the critics (Choc de l’Année in Le Monde de la Musique, Critics’ Choice in Gramophone, CD des Monats in Fono Forum, CD of the Month in BBC Music Magazine, Diapason d’Or de l’Année, Midem Classical Award). The group’s recent interpretation of the Mendelssohn trios was chosen as the benchmark version by the New York Times.

MUSIC FOR MY EARS FEATURE FOR BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

Les Sons et les Parfums Debussy meets Chopin

Javier Perianes

Label: harmonia mundi File Under: Classical/Instrumental Catalogue No: HMC902164 Barcode: 3149020216422 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD+bonus DVD Javier Perianes [piano]

CHOPIN • Berceuse DEBUSSY • Clair de lune CHOPIN • Etude op.25 n°1 DEBUSSY • Etude XI CHOPIN • Ballade op.52 DEBUSSY • Prèludes, Premier Livre: 4. Les sons et les parfums CHOPIN • Grande valse brillante op.34 n°2 DEBUSSY • La plus que lente. Valse CHOPIN • Prèlude op.28 n°1 DEBUSSY • Prèludes, Premier Livre: 1. Danseuses de Delphes CHOPIN • Nocturne op.15 n°2 DEBUSSY • Prèludes, Deuxième Livre: 7. La terrasse des audiences CHOPIN • Barcarolle op.60 DEBUSSY • L’Isle joyeuse Chopin and Debussy: the connections between them are as numerous as they are subtle, never obvious, yet so very profound. The achievement of Javier Perianes here is to have teased out the artistic thread linking two geniuses who soar high above their respective centuries.

CD+DVD BONUS ALSO AVAILABLE: HMC902099 Falla: Nights in the Gardens Of Spain; Solo Piano Works "Not all the best Spanish music was composed by Debussy and Ravel. Here’s a bewitching disc of piano music by the Andalusian-born Manuel de Falla... Javier Perianes’s performance was recorded with the BBCSO live at the Barbican in January; what immediately impresses is the sharpness, the steeliness of Josep Pons’s accompaniment. He too loves this piece but never wallows in it. The last few minutes of En los jardines de la sierra de Cordoba are overwhelming in their sultry headiness, with Perianes’s keyboard beautifully integrated into the orchestral sound...Perianes spent time consulting Falla’s autograph scores before making these recordings; it’s hard to imagine them being bettered."

Graham Rickson, The Arts Desk, 29 October 2011

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

Vadym Kholodenko, Gold Medalist Van Cliburn International Piano Competition LISZT: Transcendental Études, STRAVINSKY: Trois mouvements de Pétrouchka

Vadym Kholodenko

Label: harmonia mundi File Under: Classical/Instrumental Catalogue No: HMU907605 Barcode: 093046760526 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Vadym Kholodenko [piano]

Winner of the coveted gold medal at the Fourteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Vadym Kholodenko captured the attention of jury, audience, and critics alike for “mesmerizing and exhilarating” performances that brought the crowd to their feet, “[cheering] him like a rock star” (Cincinnati Enquirer).

Also taking home prizes for best performance of the piano quintet and best performance of the commissioned work, he showed his aptitude in both recital and chamber music, then highlighted the Final Round with two stunning concerti with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra under Maestro Leonard Slatkin. His cadenza in Mozart’s Concerto No. 21 in C Major, K. 467—which he composed himself on the plane from Moscow to the Competition—was praised as “fascinatingly contrapuntal,” showing “the guts of a true superartist” (San Francisco Classical Voice).

Kholodenko will perform in over 50 engagements in 2013–14 as part of his debut season as gold medalist, also part of his prize package: this live CD of his Competition performances will be followed by a studio recording, both on the harmonia mundi label.

PRESS QUOTES “Kholodenko was, well, awesome. (…) This was not simply a display of grand tone and steely technique, but a case study in how to put such attributes to consistently musical use.” — Montreal Gazette “There seemed to me to be a real joy in his playing that communicated itself to the highly appreciative audience. It certainly won me over.” — Stage Left “In Kholodenko’s hands, the music [of Stravinsky’s Pétrouchka] danced. It lilted and twirled and zipped and jolted with dizzying speed and accuracy. (…) this was a virtuosic display not of piano playing, but of thrilling music-making.” — Dallas Observer “He played the music, but he also played the intent, and that is a rare quality. Suddenly, this music stopped being an elaborate etude and became a piece of theater music.” — theaterjones.com

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

Beatrice Rana, Silver Medalist Van Cliburn International Piano Competition SCHUMANN: Symphonic Études, Op. 13 RAVEL: Gaspard de la Nuit BARTOK: Out of Doors, Sz. 81

Beatrice Rana Silver Medal and Audience Award

Label: harmonia mundi File Under: Classical/Instrumental Catalogue No: HMU907606 Barcode: 093046760625 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Beatrice Rana [piano]

With performances heralded as “sheer enchantment, alternately out-of-body and almost fearsome in intensity” (Dallas Morning News) and “an endlessly fascinating piece of humanity that had the orchestra riveted on every note” (Huffington Post), Italian pianist Beatrice Rana drew mass attention during the 2013 Cliburn Competition, capturing second prize, as well as the Audience Award.

A prizewinner many times over, Ms. Rana was named “One to Watch” by International Piano magazine just before her Cliburn appearance. Highlights of her 2013–14 season include invitations to perform with Yannick Nézet-Seguin and the Orchestre Métropolitain, Miguel Harth-Bedoya with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, and Fayçal Karoui with the Orchestre Lamoureux in Paris’ Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, and tours of the United States arranged by the Cliburn.

Beatrice has previously been invited to several festivals around the world, including the Busoni, La Folle Journée, La Roque d’Anthéron, Lanaudière and Radio-France Festivals. In 2012, she released her first CD of works by Scriabin and Chopin on ATMA Classique.

Born in Copertino (Apulia) into a family of musicians, Beatrice Rana began musical studies at the age of 4 and made her concerto debut when she was 9. She currently studies with Arie Vardi at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover, having previously graduated from the Nino Rota Conservatory of Music where she studied with Benedetto Lupo.

“Gaspard de la nuit was one of the finest, a spellbinding mix of diaphanous textures, hypnotic pealings and scurries alternately mischievous and menacing. Bartók’s Out of Doors suite displayed all extremes — including, finally, a legitimate occasion to treat the piano as a percussion instrument. Brava.” — Dallas Morning News

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

Sean Chen, Crystal Award 14th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition BRAHMS: Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 21, No. 1 BEETHOVEN: Sonata No. 29 'Hammerklavier' in B-flat major, Op. 106 LISZT: Three Études, Op. 18

Sean Chen Sean Chen captivated audiences and critics at the 2013 Cliburn Competition with concerts “that had the crowd not just standing…but cheering loudly,” (KDHX, St. Louis) earning the crystal award and winning three years of concert tours in the United States—the first American to win a prize since 1997. Markedly, in his Final Round performance of Rachmaninov’s Concerto No. 3, “he summoned massive, orchestral sonorities, yet he could also play with enormous delicacy. It was a muscular, impassioned performance, and you felt like he is an artist with something to say” (Cincinnati Enquirer).

Label: harmonia mundi File Under: Classical/Instrumental Catalogue No: HMU907607 Barcode: 093046760724 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Sean Chen [piano]

Highlights of the 2013–14 season include return invitations to perform with the Indianapolis and Fort Worth Symphony Orchestras, performances at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and Jordan Hall in Boston, and recital and concerto appearances across the United States and Europe.

Born in Florida, Sean. Chen grew up in Oak Park, California and has collected awards that include the 2010 Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship, Los Angeles Music Center’s Spotlight Award, and an NFAA ARTSweek award. He now resides in New Haven, Connecticut, where he is pursuing his artist diploma at the Yale School of Music under Hung-Kuan Chen.

He previously studied with Jerome Lowenthal and Matti Raekallio at The Juilliard School, where he earned his bachelor’s degree.

PRESS QUOTES “Outstanding stage presence combined with an extraordinary technique and musicianship” — TheaterJones.com “An artist with something to say.” — Cincinnati Enquirer “There’s an undeniable spark in Chen’s playing that keeps the ears engaged.” — The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

Carols from the Old and New Worlds Theatre of Voices Paul Hillier With Paul Hillier and his Theatre of Voices, discover some of the most famous Christmas carols, from Austria, Finland, Germany, England and the USA, in this much requested reissue from 1994, now at budget price.

Label: harmonia mundi File Under: Classical/Choral Catalogue No: HMA1957079 Barcode: 3149020707937 BUDGET Price Format: 1 CD Theatre of Voices Paul Hillier [conductor]

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

HANDEL: Belshazzar Oratorio in three acts

Les Arts Florissants William Christie A new label by an Artist for the Artists; an outstanding first release

Label: Les Arts Florissants Editions File Under: Classical/Opera & Vocal Catalogue No: AF001 Barcode: 3760138170972 3 FOR 2 Format: 3 CD Packaging: box set Allan Clayton [Belshazzar, King of Babylon] Rosemary Joshua [Nitocris] Iestyn Davies [Daniel, Hebrew Prophet] Caitlin Hulcup [Cyrus: Persian Prince] Jonathan Lemalu [Gobrias, Assyrian Nobleman] Jean-Yves Ravoux [Arioch, Babylonian Lord] Geoffroy Buffière, Thibaut Lenaerts, Michael-Loughlin Smith, Damian Witheley Les Arts Florissants, William Christie

“Belshazzar was first performed in 1745, under difficult conditions. Ever the pragmatist, Handel did not hesitate to revise his work to adapt to the various constraints of the premiere and its subsequent revivals.

Surprisingly unscrupulous, he frequently accepted the most dreadful compromises involving mutilating cuts, transpositions, sacrificing his inspiration in order to facilitate a performance. For this recording we have chosen what we consider to be the most successful of the various versions of Belshazzar given in his lifetime, resulting in the restoration of the piece in all its splendour, with the best of the music and a coherent libretto.

I am particularly pleased that the first production for our new label does justice to a libretto whose subject is so relevant today: the decline of a once glorious society and the ephemeral nature of Empire. In Belshazzar everything hits the spot: the emotional power, the vivid imagery, the contemporary resonance. How could one not be struck by the majestic architecture of the choruses; by the characterisation of Belshazzar himself, irascible, alcoholic, affronting the divine word? Andwho could not be deeply moved by Nicrotis’grief at witnessing the downfall of her son, or by the extraordinary complicity that develops between herself and Cyrus, the conquering King of the persians? From beginning to end the piece is carried along by Jennen’s humanity and the universality of Handel’s music.

I have opted for a very fine and entirely Anglophone cast. All of us had our hearts set on restoring the dramatic force and emotional power to this magnificent music. Other considerations influenced our choice — the very scale of Belshazzar made it possible to draw on a large number of musicians and singers who have been part of Les Arts Florissants for many ears, ensuring the recording bears the unmistakeable stamp of the company” William Christie + Bonus Essay by Jean Echenoz: In Babylon A specially commissioned work which draws the reader deep into the ancient, majestic city, the seat of power of Belshazzar the King. Printed apart on special paper and included in the boxset, alongside the regular booklet.

Future releases in Spring 2014: Le Jardin de Monsieur Rameau Rameau and his contemporaries performed by William Christie's young singers' academy Le Jardin des Voix Handel: Music for Queen Caroline BBC RADIO 3, CD REVIEW INTERVIEW TO COINCIDE WITH RELEASE CLASSICAL MUSIC MAGAZINE FEATURE ON THIS NEW LABEL

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

Orient Occident II A Tribute to Syria

Jordi Savall Hespèrion XXI Ahla Zahra (Chant), Semaimakam Bayati, Creirem’en fach, The Dawn (Chant), Shaouia, Dum Pater familias, A Alab (Chant), Isabella, Ce Brun (Chant), Trotto, Ya Mariam el bekr (Chant), Ghazal, Qalaq (Chant), Cantiga Virgen, madre de nostro Sennor, Hija mia - Et dodimkala (Israël), Una Pastora, A Damas (Chant), Improvisation Ney - Final March

Label: Alia Vox File Under: Classical Catalogue No: AVSA9900 Barcode: 7619986399003 NORMAL Price Format: 1 HYBRID SACD Packaging: cd book Jordi Savall Hespèrion XXI CONCERT: 6TH DECEMBER BRISTOL - Les Voix humaines

The first volume of Orient Occident - released in 2006 - turned out to be a landmark in Jordi Savall’s discography : for the first time, the Maestro had explored an extra-European repertoire, demonstrating the same musicological expertise he had shown with composers such as Marin Marais.This album soon became a best seller.

His new opus is a focus on Syria, alternating instrumental and vocal pieces. Musicians from Syria, Lebanon and Israël play alongside Hespèrion XXI and illustrate the artistic and humanist process we have come to expect from Jordi Savall, A process more necessary than ever.

ALSO AVAILABLE: AV9848 Orient Occident 1200-1700 “as a Persian or Moroccan dance is followed by an Italian istampitta or Spanish saltarello, an innocent ear would often struggle to decide which piece originated where - proof that to travel in space is to travel in time.” Elizabeth Roche, The Daily Telegraph, 4 August 2006 “Recorded sound and packaging are up to Alia Vox’s usual high standard. This is a rich feast indeed for music lovers of all persuasions.” Robert Levett, , International Record Review, September 2006 "THIS superb CD takes early-music maestro Jordi Savall out beyond his native Spain to encompass the medieval music of the entire Mediterranean. The idea sprang out of his search for a spiritual antidote to the clash of civilisations which erupted with the outbreak of war in Afghanistan in 2001.

The performers come from Afghanistan, Turkey, and North Africa as well as from Spain; Savall himself plays a gamut of different bowed instruments with expressive warmth, often accompanied by the oud and santur, as well as the Afghan rebab and a variety of drums."

Michael Church, The Scotsman, 10 August 2007, *****

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

Douce France Anne Sofie von Otter CD1: Mélodies HAHN: L’Heure exquise, Le plus beau présent, Quand je fus pris au pavillon, Puisque j’ai mis ma lèvre, Cimetière de campagne, RAVEL: D’Anne jouant de l’espinette, Ballade de la reine morte d’aimer, DEBUSSY: Trois chansons de Bilitis, FAURE: Le Secret, SAINT-SAENS: Clair de lune, Si vous n’avez rien à me dire, Vogue, vogue la galère**, Danse macabre, LOEFFLER: La Cloche fêlée*, Sérénade* CD2: Chansons Barbara: Göttingen, Quel joli temps (septembre), Edith Piaf: Padam Padam, La Vie en rose, Léo Ferré: À Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Le Pont Mirabeau, Yves Montand: À Paris, Les Feuilles mortes, Georges Moustaki: Le Facteur, La Carte du tendre, Michel LEGRAND: Chanson des jumelles, Je vivrai sans toi, Charles Trenet: Douce France, Boum!

Que reste-t-il de nos amours, Reynaldo HAHN:Chanson d’automne, Lucienne Boyer: Parlez-moi d’amour

Label: NAÏVE File Under: Classical/Secular Vocal music Catalogue No: V5343 Barcode: 822186053430 MID Price Format: 2 CD Packaging: digipack Anne Sofie von Otter [mezzo soprano] Bengt Forsberg [piano] Antoine Tamestit [viola]* Björn Gäfvert [harmonium]** CD2: Per Ekdahl [percussion], Mats Bergström [guitar] Carl Bagge, Bengt Forsberg [piano] Olle Linder [bass], Bengan Janson [accordion] Margareta Bengtson [voice, harp]

A loving tribute to French Song, by one of the greatest voices. With exceptional sensibility and understanding of the French language, the renowned Swedish singer pays a loving homage to French melody and song.

Known for her artistic journeys which transcend the borders of musical genre, Anne Sofie von Otter’s collaborations include those with Elvis Costello and Brad Mehldau, with whom she recorded her ‘Love Songs’ album on Naïve.

Anne Sofie von Otter here presents a unique panorama of French song spanning two centuries, from the melodies of Fauré and Debussy to the classic songs of Piaf, Trenet, Barbara, Ferré, Montand and Moustaki. United by a shared beauty of language and emotively simple melody, each work is a timeless treasure encapsulating French tradition and spirit. All captured with the legendary class of the great Anne Sofie von Otter.

ALSO AVAILABLE: V5241 Love Songs / Brad Mehldau "All the French songs are superb, not least because von Otter has a special rapport with the language. Jacques Brel's Chanson des vieux amants, a tears-and-laughter saga of a long-lasting love affair, may be the pick of the bunch." The Daily Telegraph “The Swedish mezzosoprano’s rounded diction lifting powerfully over Mehldau’s jazz-flavoured accompaniment enchants as much on this double CD as it did in concert earlier this year at the Wigmore Hall.” The Financial Times

CONCERT: DOUCE FRANCE 23 Nov. LONDON Milton Court

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

BRITTEN: Saint Nicolas Hymn to St Cecilia, Rejoice in the Lamb

Andrew Kennedy The Choir of Kings College Cambridge Britten Sinfonia Stephen Cleobury

Label: Kings College Cambridge File Under: Classical/Choral Catalogue No: KGS003 Barcode: 822231700326 NORMAL Price Format: SACD+CD Packaging: cristal Andrew Kennedy [tenor] Britten Sinfonia, Sawston Village College Choir Cambridge University Musical Society CONCERT: 26TH NOVEMBER Symphony Hall, Birmingham, this rep

The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge under conductor Stephen Cleobury presents Britten’s enchanting choral masterpiece Saint Nicolas, with Hymn to St Cecilia and Rejoice in the Lamb, celebrating 100 years since Benjamin Britten’s birth. The recording features soloist Andrew Kennedy, a former choral scholar at King’s College, Cambridge, the renowned Britten Sinfonia, Sawston Village College Choir and Cambridge University Musical Society.

The album’s release will be accompanied by an extensive international press and marketing campaign, supported by advertising and video for online and instore use.

The Choir will be touring the release repertoire in the UK in the Autumn, with concerts in Cambridge, Eton, Barbican and the Birmingham Symphony Hall.

Press coverage achieved for Mozart Requiem: Realisations, the second album released on the King’s College, Cambridge label included: BBC Radio 3, In Tune, and a reception with UK Prime Minister David Cameron, in addition to news, preview and review coverage in key music and trade publications such as BBC Music Magazine, Gramophone, Choir & Organ, and International Record Review. The Choir’s Christmas 2012 release of Nine Lessons & Carols reached number 2 in the UK Specialist Classical Chart.

The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge is one of the world’s foremost choirs and unquestionably among the most widely heard.

It owes its existence to King Henry VI, who envisaged the daily singing of services in his magnificent chapel. This remains the Choir’s raison d’être, and is an important part of the lives of its 16 choristers, who are educated at King’s College School, and the 14 choral scholars and two organ scholars, who study a variety of subjects in the College.

The Choir has been a breeding ground for numerous professional singers, including James Gilchrist and Christopher Purves.

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

WAGNER: The Flying Dutchman Pierre-Louis DIETSCH: Le Vaisseau Fantôme

Les Musiciens du Louvre Grenoble Marc Minkowski

Label: NAÏVE File Under: Classical/Opera & Vocal Catalogue No: V5349 Barcode: 822186053492 SPECIAL Price Format: 4 CD Packaging: box set Evgeny Nikitin [Der Holländer] Ingela Brimberg [Senta] Eric Cutler [Georg] Mika Kares [Donald] Bernard Richter [Der Steuermann] Helene Schneiderman [Mary] Russell Braun [Troïl] Sally Matthews [Minna] Bernard Richter [Magnus] Ugo Rabec [Barlow] Eric Cutler [Éric]

When he arrived in Paris on 17 September 1839, the young Richard Wagner aspired to one single ambition: to have his music performed on the stage of the Opéra, for the French capital was, for an operatic composer, the sole temple of posterity. Inspired by reading a novella by Heine he began composing 'Der fliegende Holländer'. Unfortunately, Léon Pillet, the director of the Opéra who took up his post during the summer of 1840, shattered Wagner’s hopes at a stroke.

He proposed merely to buy from Wagner his ‘idea’, which he found appealing. To meet an urgent need for funds, Wagner sold the subject of the work to the new management for 500 francs. More precisely, he submitted a synopsis in broken French summarising an operatic adaptation of the story of the Flying Dutchman.

Entrusted to Paul Foucher and Bénédict-Henri Révoil in the summer of 1841, Wagner’s synopsis soon assumed the form of a French libretto, enriched with new influences: Walter Scott’s 'The Pirate', the writings of James Fenimore Cooper, and especially 'The Phantom Ship' by Frederick Marryat (translated into French in 1839 under the title of 'Le Vaisseau fantôme'). Once it had been set to verse by Foucher, it was handed over to the composer Pierre-Louis Dietsch, Léon Pillet's friend and protegée, newly-appointed chorusmaster at the Opéra. Wagner’s missed opportunity with the Paris operatic stage (the first in a long series) therefore gave rise to two distinct works: Dietsch’s 'Le Vaisseau fantôme', performed for the first time at the Paris Opéra on 9 November 1842, and Wagner’s 'Der fliegende Holländer', premiered in Dresden on 2 January 1843.

Founded in 1982 by Marc Minkowski, Les Musiciens du Louvre Grenoble breathes new life into the Baroque, Classical and Romantic repertoires, performed on period instruments. Recent operatic successes include a Mozart gala for the orchestra’s 30th anniversary and Offenbach’s 'Les Contes d’Hoffmann' (Salle Pleyel); Wagner’s 'Der fliegende Höllander' (Opéra de Versailles, MC2 Grenoble, Theater an der Wien, Palau de la Música in Barcelona); and Mozart’s 'Lucio Silla' at the Salzburg Mozartwoche and Festival, and at the Musikfest Bremen where it has appeared regularly since 1995. The orchestra’s recordings for naïve include the complete ‘London’ Symphonies of Haydn in 2010 and the Schubert symphonies in 2012, bestsellers on the naïve label.

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

VIVALDI: Concerti per due violini e archi I Riccardo Minasi Dmitry Sinkovsky Il Pomo d’Oro Concerto RV 523 in la minore Concerto RV 510 in do minore Concerto RV 509 in do minore Concerto RV 517 in sol minore Concerto RV 515 in mi b maggiore Concerto RV 508 in do maggiore

Label: NAÏVE File Under: Classical/Orchestral Catalogue No: OP30550 Barcode: 709861305506 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack Riccardo Minasi [violin] Dmitry Sinkovsky [violin] Il Pomo d’Oro

This is the 51st title in the Vivaldi Edition and the 6th volume, out of approximately 12, of the series dedicated to the violin concertos whose manuscripts are held in the National Library of Turin.

Following two successful volumes of concertos for solo violin and orchestra recorded separately in the Vivaldi Edition, virtuosos Riccardo Minasi and Dmitry Sinkovsky now join forces to record pyrotechnic concertos for two violins and orchestra. This series of 6 concertos is an overview of the complete art of Vivaldi as a composer and violinist: large of musical scale, invention, expression, energy, and of course, virtuosity.

ALSO AVAILABLE: OP30538 Concerti per violino V ‘Per Pisendel’ [Sinkovsky] OP30533 Concerti per violino IV ‘L’imperatore’ [Minasi] “The artful bounce and artness of Minasi’s versions hints at new levels of romantic dalliance.” Gramophone

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

BRITTEN: The Canticles Mark Padmore Iestyn Davies Marcus Farnsworth Julius Drake Lucy Wakeford Richard Watkins Canticle I: My Beloved is Mine Canticle II: Abraham and Isaac Canticle V: The Death of Saint Narcissus Canticle IV: Journey of the Magi Canticle III: Still falls the Rain – The Raids, 1940. Night and Dawn

Label: Wigmore Hall Live File Under: Classical/Secular Vocal music Catalogue No: WHLIVE0064 Barcode: 5445000924652 MID Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: cristal Mark Padmore [tenor] Iestyn Davies [countertenor] Marcus Farnsworth [baritone] Julius Drake [piano] Lucy Wakeford [harp] Richard Watkins [horn]

"A masterclass in producing expressively direct and unaffected Britten" was the Guardian’s verdict on the sold-out Wigmore Hall concert on 30th November 2012 featuring all five of the composer’s Canticles. British tenor Mark Padmore’s sweet and round timbre is central to these works, five focal points of the composer’s output which subtly blend religious and secular themes with his distinctive sound-world to captivating effect.

Pianist Julius Drake brings his carefully considered and sensitive playing to the stage and his close artistic partnership with Padmore is wonderfully displayed in the first Canticle. Countertenor Iestyn Davies, renowned for his charming and insightful interpretations, joins them for a performance of spine-chilling purity in ‘Abraham and Isaac’. The disc then features the enchanting sonority of Lucy Wakeford’s harp accompaniment for the fifth Canticle, before continuing with an intoxicating blend of voices when Marcus Farnsworth joins Padmore and Davies for ‘Journey of the Magi’. The disc concludes with the third Canticle, which received its world première at Wigmore Hall in 1955. Another fine tribute to Benjamin Britten in his centenary year.

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

Songs by Schumann & Reimann Recorded live at Wigmore Hall, London, on 14 December 2010 SCHUMANN: Mein Wagen rollet langsam Op. 142 No. 4, Es leuchtet meine Liebe Op. 127 No. 3, Der arme Peter Op. 53 No. 3, Abends am Strand Op. 45 No. 3, Die beiden Grenadiere Op. 49 No. 1, In der Fremde Op. 39 No. 1, Die Stille Op. 39 No. 4, Mondnacht Op. 39 No. 5 REIMANN: Nachtstück SCHUMANN: Wehmut Op. 39 No. 9, Zwielicht Op. 39 No. 10, Schöne Fremde Op. 39 No. 6, Kerner Lieder Op. 35 encores Trost im Gesang Op. 142 No. 1 Sängers Trost Op. 127 No. 1

Label: Wigmore Hall Live File Under: Classical/Secular Vocal music Catalogue No: WHLIVE0063 Barcode: 5065000924515 MID Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: cristal

Since making his Wigmore Hall debut and launching his career in 1989, baritone Wolfgang Holzmair has enjoyed an international reputation as one of the finest recitalists of his generation. His outstanding artistic relationship with Imogen Cooper has led to many critically acclaimed performances; their bewitching story-telling and searching interpretations are world-renowned.

To mark Holzmair’s retirement from the recital platform, this Wigmore Hall Live disc features a delightful selection of Schumann Lieder, including some highlights from Liederkreis Op. 39, some lesser-known settings of Heine and Kerner Lieder and the final cycle of his fruitful Liederjahr. The disc frames the cycle 'Nachtstück' by composer Aribert Reimann, which sets four poems by the celebrated poet Eichendorff. This insightful and passionate performance promises to be a touching memento as we bid a sad farewell to Holzmair from the recital platform.

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

A Festival of Britten National Youth Choirs of Great Britain Rejoice in the Lamb Festival Cantata Op. 30 - National Youth Choir / Robert Isaacs Festival Te Deum Op. 32, Jubilate Deo in C, A Hymn of St Columba, Hymn to St Peter Op. 56a - Training Choir South / Greg Beardsell Antiphon, Jubilate Deo in E flat - Training Choir North / Rachel Staunton Te Deum in C, A Hymn to the Virgin - Training Choir North / Dominic Peckham The Ballad of Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard - Cambiata Voices / Niall Crowley Three Two-part Songs, Fancie - Boys' Choir / Greg Hallam A Ceremony of Carols Op. 28 - Girls' Choir / Esther Jones Deus in adjutorium meum, Hymn to St Cecilia Op. 27 - Chamber Choir / Ben Parry

Label: Delphian File Under: Classical/Choral Catalogue No: DCD34133 Barcode: 801918341335 MID Price Format: 2 CD Packaging: cristal National Youth Choirs of Great Britain James Sherlock [organ, piano] Vicky Lester [harp] Ben Parry

In the 30 years since the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain were born, they have continued to blossom and flourish.

New director Ben Parry was quick to notice they share their birthday in 2013 with Britten's centenary, and the result is this celebratory double album.

Over the course of a year the Delphian engineers have followed the various choirs on their courses, and for the first time all eight groups appear on disc: 600 singers, eight conductors, in three different venues.

The vast range of Britten's choral output encompasses work to match the character of each of the different choirs, from the fresh-faced eagerness of the Training Choirs to the maturity and sophistication of the elite National Youth Chamber Choir. The rigorous training all these singers enjoy bears abundant fruit. Their vocal discipline, their energy, their sheer enthusiasm is vividly conveyed in this unique double birthday celebration.

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

Ronald STEVENSON [b.1928]: Passacaglia on DSCH James Willshire Passacaglia on DSCH, Promenade Pastorale*, Waltzes*, Fugue, Variations and Epilogue on a Theme by Arnold Bax*, Nocturne (Homage to John Field)*, Variations on a Theme of Pizzetti*, Sonatina No 2* * premiere recordings

Label: Delphian File Under: Classical/Instrumental Catalogue No: DCD34119 Barcode: 801918341199 MID Price Format: 2 CD Packaging: cristal James Willshire [piano]

Music of extraordinary range and power composed at the dawn of the Space Age, Ronald Stevenson’s 'Passacaglia on DSCH' was long claimed as the biggest single stretch of music ever written for piano. It is a veritable world tour of styles as well as a single-minded exploration of its generating motif, and rising star James Willshire, Who received five-star acclaim in 2011 for his Delphian debut disc of music by Rory Boyle, has the technique and vaulting ambition to match both the work's grandeur and its immense wealth of detail.

Willshire gave the 1955 'Variations on a Theme of Pizzetti' its belated concert premiere just this year, and now commits it to disc as one of a number of premiere recordings. The more recent, and equally substantial 'Fugue, Variations and Epilogue on a Theme by Arnold Bax' crystallises Stevenson’s lifelong devotion to a Celtic aesthetic as well as being the foreground for his innovative approach to variation technique. A clutch of shorter works completes the picture, bringing to light some of Stevenson’s less often remarked qualities: charm, exuberance, wit and grace.

In 2000, at the age of 15, James was awarded an Educational Scholarship in the London International Piano Competition, the youngest British pianist to be thus recognised. He has performed at festivals throughout the UK and abroad, including the Lichfield, Cheltenham and Winchester Festivals and many more.

THE LAUNCH OF THIS RECORDING WILL BE CELEBRATED BY A RECITAL IN THE GUILDHALL SCHOOL OF MUSIC AND DRAMA EVENING OF MONDAY 11 NOVEMBER, 2013.

Praise for James Willshire on Delphian: "A FABULOUS TECHNICIAN … TORRENTIAL VIRTUOSITY" The Herald, March 2011 "THRILLING … BRILLIANTLY SUSTAINED" The Arts Desk, May 2011

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

War & Peace: Music for Remembrance The Choir of Jesus College Cambridge As the centenary of the Great War approaches, the choir of Jesus College Cambridge present a new programme of works titled War & Peace, a beautiful and moving collection of choral works that are united in various ways by the experiences and impact of war.

Label: Signum Classics File Under: Classical/Choral Catalogue No: SIGCD328 Barcode: 635212032824 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: cristal The Choir of Jesus College Cambridge Mark Williams [director]

PARRY: Crossing the Bar WOOD: Nunc dimittis PART: The Beatitudes MACMILLAN: A Child's Prayer IRELAND: Greater love hath no man PARRY: There is an old belief BLATCHLY: September 1914: For the Fallen BRAHMS; Geistliches Lied THALBEN-BALL: Elegy STETSENKO: Blahoslovy dushe moya hospoda MARTIN: Justorum animae LEWIS: The souls of the righteous HARRIS; Faire is the heaven GUEST: For the Fallen TRAD KIEV Kontakion of the Dead VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Lord, thou hast been our refuge

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

MAHLER: Symphonies 1-3 Philharmonia Orchestra Lorin Maazel Lorin Maazel leads the Philharmonia Orchestra and a star-studded ensemble of performers in Mahler's first three Symphonies. This is the first set in a series that will encompass Mahler's Nine Symphonies, featuring live orchestral recordings, from London's Royal Festival Hall, of Maazel and the Philharmonia's much-lauded Mahler Cycle.

Label: Signum Classics File Under: Classical/Orchestral Catalogue No: SIGCD360 Barcode: 635212036020 BUDGET Price Format: 5 CD Packaging: box set Symphony 2: BBC Symphony Chorus Sally Matthews [soprano] Michelle DeYoung [mezzo-soprano] Symphony 3: Philharmonia Voices Tiffin Boys' Choir Sarah Connolly [mezzo-soprano] Philharmonia Orchestra Lorin Maazel [conductor]

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

GRIEG: Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16 PROKOFIEV: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Op. 26 Nikolai Lugansky Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin Kent Nagano For his third recording on Naïve / Ambroisie, and following an extremely successful Rachmaninov sonatas recording, Nikolai Lugansky pairs with one of the most refined conductors, Kent Nagano (with whom he already recorded several successful discs) and the excellent DSO-Berlin to perform brilliant, breathtaking performances of the virtuoso Grieg and Prokofiev Piano Concertos.

Nikolai Lugansky records exclusively for the Naïve-Ambroisie label. His most recent recording, featuring Rachmaninov’s two Piano Sonatas, was released in Autumn 2012 and won a number of awards including the Echo Klassik, the Diapason d’Or, ‘Gramophone Choice’, ‘Choc’ de Classica and Scherzo ‘Excepcionales’. This followed his disc of solo Liszt works, which led Le Monde to write that "Nikolai Lugansky has entered the inner circle of great Lisztians".

Label: NAÏVE File Under: Classical/Orchestral Catalogue No: AM210 Barcode: 822186002100 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack Nikolai Lugansky [piano] Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin Kent Nagano

29th Sep. LONDON Barbican Centre Prokofiev: Piano concerto no.3 with London Symphony Orchestra / Gianandrea Noseda ALSO AVAILABLE: AM208 Rachmaninov Piano Sonatas 1-2 AM205 Liszt

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

STRAUSS: Die Frau ohne Schatten [DVD] Mariinsky Orchestra / Valery Gergiev

Label: Mariinsky File Under: Classical/Opera & Vocal Catalogue No: MAR0543 Barcode: 822231854326 NORMAL Price Format: 2 DVD Packaging: long box Avgust Amonov [Emperor] Mlada Khudoley [Empress] Olga Savova [Nurse] Edem Umerov [Barak] Olga Sergeyeva [Barak's Wife] Jonathan Kent production

In October 2013, the Mariinsky label releases a DVD & Blu-ray of Strauss’ most Wagnerian of operas, Die Frau ohne Schatten. Filmed in the historic Mariinsky Theatre in 2011, it stars Russian tenor Avgust Amonov as The Emperor, Mlada Khudoley as The Empress, Olga Savova as The Nurse, and is conducted by Valery Gergiev. The Mariinsky Theatre is one of the few opera houses capable of staging Die Frau ohne Schatten, due to the demanding soloist roles, elaborate sets and large orchestral forces required.

This epic production, premiered in 2009, is a collaboration between two British artists, director Jonathan Kent and designer Paul Brown, and has become a regular fixture in the opera company’s schedule. Kent has a long established relationship with the Mariinsky, and with Strauss in particular.

'Die Frau ohne Schatten' (The Woman without a Shadow) is an outstanding display of virtuosity, presenting one of Strauss’ most complex and colourful scores. The three-act opera, with libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, is an exotic fairytale with a strong moral dimension, focusing on themes of the unborn and the supernatural.

Avgust Amonov, who plays the role of The Emperor, has been a Mariinsky Theatre soloist since 2003. Prize-winner at the XIX International Glinka Vocalists’ Competition (2001) and the Irina Arkhipova Foundation (2004), his title roles include Shostakovich’s 'The Nose', Verdi’s 'Don Carlo' and Wagner’s 'Parsifal'. Soprano Mlada Khudoley was named “Singer of the Year” by the St Petersburg Theatre Society for her performance of the role of Sieglinde (Die Walküre) opposite Plácido Domingo in 2001. Her concert repertoire includes the soprano roles in Stravinsky’s 'Les Noces', Mahler’s Eighth Symphony and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Russian mezzo-soprano Olga Savova joined the Mariinsky Opera Company in 1996, and was nominated for a Grammy award in 2001 for her recording of Prokofiev’s 'Semyon Kotko'. Her repertoire also includes the mezzo-soprano roles in Verdi’s Requiem and Berlioz’s dramatic legend 'La damnation de Faust'.

DVD9 (REGION 0), NTSC 16:9 DURATION 3 hours 30' RECORDED at the Mariinsky Theatre, December 2011 Henning Kasten [film director] Jonathan Kent [stage director] Performed in German. Subtitles – Russian, English, spanish, German and French

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

STRAUSS: Die Frau ohne Schatten [BLURAY] Mariinsky Orchestra / Valery Gergiev

Label: Mariinsky File Under: Classical/Opera & Vocal Catalogue No: MAR0544 Barcode: 822231854425 NORMAL Price Format: 1 Blu-ray Packaging: long box Avgust Amonov [Emperor] Mlada Khudoley [Empress] Olga Savova [Nurse] Edem Umerov [Barak] Olga Sergeyeva [Barak's Wife]

In October 2013, the Mariinsky label releases a DVD & Blu-ray of Strauss’ most Wagnerian of operas, Die Frau ohne Schatten. Filmed in the historic Mariinsky Theatre in 2011, it stars Russian tenor Avgust Amonov as The Emperor, Mlada Khudoley as The Empress, Olga Savova as The Nurse, and is conducted by Valery Gergiev. The Mariinsky Theatre is one of the few opera houses capable of staging Die Frau ohne Schatten, due to the demanding soloist roles, elaborate sets and large orchestral forces required.

This epic production, premiered in 2009, is a collaboration between two British artists, director Jonathan Kent and designer Paul Brown, and has become a regular fixture in the opera company’s schedule. Kent has a long established relationship with the Mariinsky, and with Strauss in particular.

'Die Frau ohne Schatten' (The Woman without a Shadow) is an outstanding display of virtuosity, presenting one of Strauss’ most complex and colourful scores. The three-act opera, with libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, is an exotic fairytale with a strong moral dimension, focusing on themes of the unborn and the supernatural.

Avgust Amonov, who plays the role of The Emperor, has been a Mariinsky Theatre soloist since 2003. Prize-winner at the XIX International Glinka Vocalists’ Competition (2001) and the Irina Arkhipova Foundation (2004), his title roles include Shostakovich’s 'The Nose', Verdi’s 'Don Carlo' and Wagner’s 'Parsifal'. Soprano Mlada Khudoley was named “Singer of the Year” by the St Petersburg Theatre Society for her performance of the role of Sieglinde (Die Walküre) opposite Plácido Domingo in 2001. Her concert repertoire includes the soprano roles in Stravinsky’s 'Les Noces', Mahler’s Eighth Symphony and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Russian mezzo-soprano Olga Savova joined the Mariinsky Opera Company in 1996, and was nominated for a Grammy award in 2001 for her recording of Prokofiev’s 'Semyon Kotko'. Her repertoire also includes the mezzo-soprano roles in Verdi’s Requiem and Berlioz’s dramatic legend 'La damnation de Faust'.

BLU -RAY BD50 (ALL REGIONS) 1080i HD 16:9DVD9 (REGION 0), NTSC 16:9 DURATION 3 hours 30' RECORDED at the Mariinsky Theatre, December 2011 Henning Kasten [film director] Jonathan Kent [stage director] Performed in German. Subtitles: Russian, English, spanish, German, French

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

SCHUBERT: String Quintet in C D956 Schubert’s last great chamber work, his String Quartet in C of 1828 remained unperformed and unpublished for at least 20 years after his death. It is now regarded as one of the pinnacles of chamber music, and seen by performers as one of the great challenges to their artistry. It is by no means as dark a work as the G major Quartet, or 'Winterreise', and much of the writing shows the composer in a lighter mood, successfully combining weight, profundity, melodic charm with breath-taking technical assurance. On this recording The Kuss Quartet are joined by cellist Miklos Perényi.

The Kuss Quartet’s earlier ONYX disc of the G major Quartet received stunning reviews.

ALSO AVAILABLE: ONYX4066 String Quartet in G D887, Berg String Quartet op3 "The Kuss Quartet hit hard: a performance of ferocity and concentration – The Kuss hold back nothing in their spine chilling power" Gramophone

Label: Onyx Classics File Under: Classical/Chamber music Catalogue No: ONYX4119 Barcode: 880040411925 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: cristal

ONYX4090 Theme Russe "a performance of his (Tchaikovsky’s) First String Quartet that encapsulates all the panache of the Kuss’s playing" The Daily Telegraph ADVERTISED IN GRAMOPHONE AND BBC MUSIC MAGAZINES

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

SCHUBERT: String Quintet in C major D956 Anne Gastinel Quatuor Diotima As is the case with most of Schubert’s chamber music, it took several decades for the quintet to be discovered and published. The first performance took place more than 20 years after the composer’s death, on the initiative of the violinist Joseph Hellmesberger and his quartet (Vienna, Musikverein, 1850), and the score was published only in 1853 (Spina, Vienna). The work then circulated rapidly through Europe; for example, it received its Paris premiere on 7 February 1866 under the auspices of the Société de Musique de Chambre of Jules Armingaud and Léon Jacquard.

Here Anne Gastinel joins the Quatuor Diotima in Schubert's monumental chamber work that takes almost an hour to perform but contains some of his most sublime melodies.

Label: NAÏVE File Under: Classical/Chamber music Catalogue No: V5331 Barcode: 822186053317 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack Quatuor Diotima: Yun-Peng Zhao [violin] Guillaume Latour [violin] Franck Chevalier [viola] Pierre Morlet [cello] Anne Gastinel [cello]

Quatuor Diotima UK Concerts: 17th Oct Cheltenham 19th Oct Wigmore Hall 22nd Oct Edinburgh 17 & 19th November Huddersfield Festival

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

BRAHMS: String Sextets Nos 1 & 2, Op.18 & 36 Prazak Quartet Zemlinsky Quartet Brahms dominated the sextet form, with the sweetness and variety of colours of summer and autumn, as well as the power and brilliance of a string orchestra, due to the prominence of low register strings.

Mendelssohn had revealed its possibilities of luminous, dreamy summer fêtes. Reger and Schoenberg would be Brahms' heirs...

ALSO AVAILABLE: DSD250220 BRAHMS String Quartet Op 67, Piano Quintet Op 34 with Ivan Klansky (piano)

Label: Praga Digitals File Under: Classical/Chamber music Catalogue No: DSD250297 Barcode: 3149028012729 NORMAL Price Format: 1 HYBRID SACD Packaging: cristal Quatuor Prazak members of the Quatuor Zemlinsky: Petr Holman [viola] Vladimír Fortin [cello]

“this account [of the Piano Quintet] by Ivan Klansky and the Prazak Quartet is irresistible in its dramatic sweep and expressive intensity.”

David Cairns, The Sunday Times, 20 August 2006

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

TURNAGE: Speranza, From the Wreckage Håkan Hardenberger London Symphony Orchestra Daniel Harding

Label: LSO Live File Under: Classical/Orchestral Catalogue No: LSO0744 Barcode: 822231174424 MID Price Format: 1 HYBRID SACD Packaging: cristal Håkan Hardenberger [flugelhorn, trumpet, piccolo trumpet] London Symphony Orchestra Daniel Harding [conductor]

LSO Live presents the world premiere recording of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s large-scale orchestral work 'Speranza' (Hope), a piece commissioned by the LSO as part of Turnage’s residency with the orchestra in early 2013. Turnage is one of the most admired composers of his generation and has long been associated with the London Symphony Orchestra. Daniel Harding appears in his conducting debut for LSO Live.

'Speranza' is in many ways Turnage’s most ambitious and symphonic composition for orchestra to date. The piece is a monument to the power of optimism in a bleak world: "I started working on the piece while thinking about the absence of hope. I wanted to lift people up", says Turnage. Each of the four movements are titled ‘Hope’ in a different language: Arabic, German, Irish and Hebrew.

'Speranza' is coupled here with 'From the Wreckage', described by The Times as "outstanding: the music begins hellishly but gradually picks up a bluesy swing". Premiered in 2005, the original soloist, Håkan Hardenberger, reprises the role.

The three internal sections of 'From the Wreckage' are marked by the soloist’s change of instrument – first flugelhorn, then trumpet, and finally piccolo trumpet.

Concert Reviews: "Make no mistake – Speranza is a serious statement by a composer with the substance and technique to bring it off."

Classical Source [Speranza] "It’s one of the best of Turnage’s recent scores. Harding did superb things with its tensions and textures." The Guardian [From the Wreckage] "It’s a piece with an exquisitely careful structure, and Harding’s shaping of it was ideal. Hardenberger was exemplary, and particularly impressive in his tonal control in the piercing, high scale which ends the work." bachtrack.com [From the Wreckage]

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

Fazil SAY: Symphony No.2, Op.38 Mesopotamia Symphony No.3, Op.43 Universe Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra Gürer Aykal This is the fourth recording of works composed by Fazil Say, following successful 'Black Earth' released in 2003, '1001 Nights in the Harem' released in 2009 and 'Istanbul-Hezarfen' released last year.

Label: NAÏVE File Under: Classical/Orchestral Catalogue No: V5346 Barcode: 822186053461 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD + DVD Packaging: digipack Carolina Eyck [theremin] Bülent Evcil [bass flute] Çaatay Akyol [bass recorder] Aykut Köselerli [percussions] Fazil Say [piano] Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra Gürer Aykal

“In constructing the Mesopotamia Symphony, Fazil Say attempts to narrate the story of the present day Middle East as well as the culture of Mesopotamia throughout history. It is a land which cradles within it the history of the Sumerians, the culture and beliefs of Assyria, Babylon and Urartu. From there we move to our own day and the contemporary issues facing the Middle East and Turkey; the Kurdish problem, the never-ending wars, terror. In the words of the philosophers, this is a “culture of death.” The region known as Mesopotamia is known as the cradle of culture and humanity; so many things which define us as human being emerged here thousands of years ago. There is a particular “Opera of Instruments” technique prevalent in Say’s symphony. The composer narrates the symphony through two solo instruments, the bass flute and the bass recorder, which represent two children, or more specifically two brothers. These two instruments symbolically and simply represent the “innocent human being.” Tragically, one of the brothers will be shot. The Theremin on the other hand is the symbolic “Angel,” the protector of Mesopotamia in its harrow-ing drama. For the composer, the Mesopotamia Symphony signifies a call to peace.”

“The Universe symphony is created from astronomic as opposed to astrologic data. Astronomic data is of course directly dependent on changes in current science and in this work, the composer is using scientific data available in 2012. In this sense, the Big Bang, the expansion of the universe, the contention that Gliese 581 g may be an earth-like planet, the supposition that the God Particle may be found after analysis of dark matter – all of this may be deemed to contain no truth by the future world of science.

Meanings of the harmonic construction 1- Nature: Major tonality 2- Humans: Minor tonality 3- Chaos: Atonality 4- Frequency of the void of the universe: D Note”

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

Michelangelo FALVETTI: Nabucco Keyvan Chemirani Fernando Guimarães, Alessandro Meerapfel, Fabián Schofrin Caroline Weynants, Mariana Flores, Magdalena Padilla Cappella Mediterranea Leonardo García Alarcón Of all Falvetti's numerous compositions the only ones which have come down to us intact are two magnificent 'dialoghi' for five or six voices respectively: 'Il diluvio universale' [1682] and 'Il Nabucco', performed in Messina in 1683. In these two masterly scores, Falvetti's music is characterised by a sensuality and a thoroughly Mediterranean expressivity, along with a profound knowledge of Baroque musical traditions. Two years ago Leonardo Garcia Alarcôn at the head of Cappella Mediterranea introduced us to 'Il Diluvio', prompting a press response that included Editor's Choice in Gramophone magazine. If anything 'Nabucco' is even more rewarding, both musically and in the choice of casting.

Label: Ambronay File Under: Classical/Choral Catalogue No: AMY036 Barcode: 3760135100361 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack Fernando Guimarães [Nabucco] Alessandro Meerapfel [Daniele] Fabián Schofrin [Arioco] Caroline Weynants [Anania] Mariana Flores [Azaria, Idolatria] Magdalena Padilla Osvaldes [Misaele] Matteo Bellotto [Eufrate] Capucine Keller [Superbia] Chœur de Chambre de Namur Cappella Mediterranea Keyvan Chemirani [percussions] Kasif Demiröz [ney] Leonardo García Alarcón (direction)

ALSO AVAILABLE: AMY026 Falvetti Il Diluvio universale “Mariana Flores is simply ravishing as Rad…Il diluvio universale is a lovely score and a major rediscovery, there are delights a-plenty in this very enterprising recording.” Andrew O’Connor, International Record Review, December 2011 “the rehabilitation of a composition bursting with imagination and gripping drama…The performers make the most of the lovely present they have been handed, with Leonardo García Alarcón leading a committed and compelling reading which revels in the music’s freedom of dramatic expression…this thrilling release proves that Baroque music can still hold a few surprises yet.” Lindsay Kemp, Gramophone Choice, March 2012

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

J.S. BACH: Cantatas for the complete liturgical year Vol 17 Widerstehe doch der Sünde, BWV186, 168, 134, 54

La Petite Bande Sigiswald Kuijken In the beginning there was great scepticism towards the thesis that Bach’s sacred vocal works were originally written for solo voices. Now this interpretation is establishing itself more and more. With this edition of one cantata for each Sunday and the great feasts of the ecclesiastical year Sigiswald Kuijken and La Petite Bande want to strengthen this new approach and prove it with their excellent performances.

This Vol. 17 of 18 offers four cantatas: one for the Seventh Sunday after Trinity, Ninth Sunday after Trinity, third day of Easter and Oculi.

Label: Accent Records File Under: Classical/Choral Catalogue No: ACC25317 Barcode: 4015023253179 NORMAL Price Format: 1 HYBRID SACD Packaging: digipack Siri Thornhill, Elisabeth Hermans, Yeree Suh [soprano] Petra Noskaiová [alto] Christoph Genz [tenor] Jan Van der Crabben [bass] La Petite Bande, Sigiswald Kuijken

"Among current cantata series Sigiswald Kuijken‘s has a distinctive place, his one-to-a-part voices and few instruments achieving striking delicacy. His vocal soloists sing with disarming simplicity and ease in arias, and blend superbly in ensemble. A rare treat, Kuijken – and Bach – at their very best.” BBC Music Magazine, March 2010, review vol. 9

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

GABRIELI: Sacrae Symphoniae Oltremontano Gesualdo Consort Amsterdam Wim Becu

Label: Accent Records File Under: Classical/Choral Catalogue No: ACC24282 Barcode: 4015023242821 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack Oltremontano Gesualdo Consort Amsterdam Wim Becu

Giovanni Gabrieli (1554/7?- 1612) is one of the most important representatives of Venetian polyphony; his "Sacrae Symphoniae“ printed in 1597 are a monumental collection reflecting the power and esteem of the Venetian state.

The Ensemble Oltremontano and their director, Wim Becu, have selected the works for this recording primarily from this collection, forming a cross-section of Gabrieli's vocal and instrumental oeuvre. The ensemble, the core of which consists of baroque trombones and zinks, is expanded here by the inclusion of strings and organ; the vocal parts are sung by the Gesualdo Consort Amsterdam.

In the vocal concertos of the "Symphonia Sacrae", we find not only Psalm motets bound to the earlier, lofty Renaissance style, but also hymn-like settings of Marian prayer texts. In addition, there are also purely instrumental works in the "Sacrae Symphoniae" – a novelty for this period. The exactitude with which Gabrieli at times called for specific sound dynamics is shown, first of all, in the "Canzon in echo", but most emphatically in the "Sonata pian e forte", one of the earliest examples of dynamic notation in music history. The predilection of the period for the effects of echoing, changes in timbre and spatial antiphony is reflected in all the works; they are particularly magnificent in the 18-part "Hic est filius Die", which forms the brilliant culmination of this CD.

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

German Baroque Cantatas Hana Blažíkóva CordArte

Label: Pan Classics File Under: Classical/Opera & Vocal Catalogue No: PC10293 Barcode: 7619990102934 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack Hana Blažíkóva [soprano] CordArte

The young Czech soprano Hana Blažíkóva is currently one of the most exciting voices in the baroque scene today. After receiving her final diploma at the Conservatory of her native city Prague in 2002, the singer very rapidly gained an excellent reputation as a baroque interpreter. Conductors such as Philippe Herreweghe, Masaaki Suzuki and Vaclav Luks frequently invite her for CD recordings, concerts and tours. She regularly appears at renowned festivals including Prague Spring, Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht, Resonances in Vienna and the Early Music Days in Regensburg.

The present recording introduces Hana Blažíkóva as a solo artist for the first time. She has selected cantatas and sacred concertos from the second half of the 17th century, during the period when the so-called stylus phantasticus was crystallising in the German-speaking world. This style is characterised by the alternation between freely rhapsodic monodies creating the effect of improvisations with sections of great contrapuntal, polyphonic density. Ranging from virtuoso coloraturas, declamatory calls to prayer and intimate, heartfelt courtly love for Jesus, the works of Johann Schop, Johann Philipp Förtsch, Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber, Johann Pachelbel, Dieterich Buxtehude, Samuel Capricornus and Samuel Ebart are typical for their time.

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

Bach remixed: Six "New" Flute Sonatas Michael Form Dirk Bรถrner Six new recorder sonatas by Johann Sebastian Bach? This would be a truly sensational discovery that will probably remain wishful thinking forever. All the more regrettable, for the parts that Bach dedicated to the recorder in over 25 cantatas and the Brandenburg Concertos are amongst the most beautiful and demanding music ever written for this ostensibly limited instrument.

Fired by this vision, flautist Michael Form and harpsichordist Dirk Bรถrner have plunged into the adventure of "what if?" and arranged six "new" flute sonatas from the most diverse Bach works. Completely in the manner of self-quotation or recycling that Bach himself cultivated, as is well known, they have assembled movements from the cello suites, sonatas and partitas for violin solo, Anna Magdalena Bach's Little Notebook, the French and English suites and organ works to form conclusive new constellations. The two musicians have provided a detailed description of the sources and compositional process of these pieces in the booklet text.

Label: Pan Classics File Under: Classical/Instrumental Catalogue No: PC10299 Barcode: 7619990102996 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack Michael Form [recorder] Dirk Bรถrner [harpsichord]

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

Mille Consigli 17th Century Italian Violin Sonatas

Ensemble Aurora, Enrico Gatti

Label: Glossa File Under: Classical/Instrumental Catalogue No: GCD921208 Barcode: 8424562212084 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack Ensemble Aurora: Enrico Gatti [violin] Elena Bianchi [dulcian] Gabriele Palomba [theorbo] Fabio Ciofini [organ]

FONTANA: Sonata seconda à violino solo PALESTRINA / ROGNONI: Motetto “Pulchra es” BERTALI: Chiacona a violino solo PICCININI: Toccata decima FONTANA: Sonata duodecima a due PALESTRINA / VIRGILIANO: Madrigale “Vestiva i colli” MERULA: Canzone “La Cappellina” UCCELLINI: Sonata op. V nº 11 à violino solo BERTOLI: Sonata seconda ROSSI: Toccata settima LEGRENZI: Sonata op. II nº 8 “La Foscari” UCCELLINI: Sonata op. VII nº 3 CASTELLO: Sonata ottava a due There is always poetry as well as virtuosity coursing through Enrico Gatti’s violin playing, and nowhere more so than when he turns to Italian early Baroque music, as here in 'Mille consigli' with his Ensemble Aurora. The album title reflects the multiplicity of emotional ideas and colours possible in violin music from this time (Gatti’s earlier recordings of similar music have recently been re-released by Glossa as L’arte del violino in Italia).

Amongst Baroque stylistic practices beginning to flourish at the time, the basso continuo was gaining increasing importance and Fabio Ciofini provides an exemplary lesson here in accompanying on the restored 1647 Luca Neri organ in the church of San Nicolò in Collescipoli.

ALSO AVAILABLE: GCD921203 Vivaldi Ens Aurora “Enrico Gatti restrained approach emphasizes clarity and musicianly grace, in which he is well partnered by his colleagues in the Aurora Ensemble.” Lindsay Kemp, Gramophone, July 08 GCD921204 Bach Flute Concertos “Marcello Gatti, Michele Barchi and the single strings of Ensemble Aurora are all superb, playing with grace and style.

This disc is very warmly recommended.” Richard Lawrence, Gramophone recommends, April 2009

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

Opera Zapico Opera from Monteverdi to Mozart arranged as instrumentals by Forma Antigva

Forma Antiqva

Label: Winter&Winter File Under: Classical/Instrumental Catalogue No: 910206-2 Barcode: 025091020621 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack Forma Antiqva: Aarón Zapico [organ, harpsichord] Daniel Zapico [theorbos] Pablo Zapico [baroque guitar, archlute] with Alejandro Villar [recorder] David Mayoral [percussion] François Joubert-Caillet [viola da gamba] Lluís Coll i Trulls [cornetto] El León de Oro [chorus]

MOZART:Deh vieni alla finestra, Batti, batti, o bel Masetto [Don Giovanni] RAMEAU: Air pur les Sauvages [Les Indes galantes, Rameau] CALDARA: Quella Clizia innamorata [Il più bel nome] J.C. BACH: Overture [Artaserse] LANDI: O morte gradita [Il Sant'Alessio] HANDEL: Lascia ch'io panga [Rinaldo], Se giunge un dispetto [Agrippina], Ritorna, oh caro e dolce mio tesoro [Rodelinda] DE NEBRA: A Dios, prenda de mi amor [Amor aumenta el valor] CAVALLI: Mogli mie sconsolato [La Calisto] MONTEVERDI: Vi ricorda ò boschi ombrosi [L'Orfeo] PURCELL: Chaconne: Dance for the Chinese man and woman [The Fairy Queen], When I am laid in earth, Thanks to these lonesome vales [Dido and Aeneas] Follwing Vivaldi's 'The Four Seasons' Forma Antiqua presents 'Opera Zapico', a selection of 17th and 18th operatic arias played with charm and elan.

The Zapico Brothers have carefully chosen a wonderful collection of popular opera pieces and arias from Monteverdi to Mozart and arranged the music as instrumental works. The adaptions are made for harpsichord/organ played by Aarón Zapico, theorbo by Daniel Zapico and baroque guitar/archlute by Pablo Zapico plus special guest artists. 'Opera Zapico' presents melodies from Italian, French, English and German music-theatres. The viola da gamba, cornetto, recorder and percussion resound!

ALSO AVAILABLE BY FORMA ANTIQVA: 910162-2 Amore x Amore 910173-2 Concerto Zapico 910185-2 Vivaldi The Four Seasons

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

TCHAIKOVSKY: Piano Concerto No. 2 Pièces Op.40 (excerpts), Valse sentimentale Op.51 No. 6 Theme and variations Op. 19 No. 6 Andante cantabile from String Quartet Op. 11

Boris Berezovsky Sinfonia Varsovia Alexander Vedernikov The Second Piano Concerto, presented here in its original version, was long known only in the 'Ziloti' Edition of 1897 which drastically abbreviated the work, notably its most original feature: the central Andante calling for three soloists, here played by Boris Berezovsky with Jakub Haufa [violin] and Marcel Markowski [cello]. Both the concerto and the piano pieces that accompany it here illustrate the richness of Tchaikovsky's melodic inspiration, whether it draws on Russian of Ukrainian folk music.

Label: Mirare File Under: Classical/Orchestral Catalogue No: MIR200 Barcode: 3760127222002 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack Boris Berezovsky [piano] Henri Demarquette [cello] Sinfonia Varsovia Alexander Vedernikov [conductor]

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

HAYDN: Cello Concertos 1 & 2, MOZART: Symphony No. 29 Tatjana Vassiljeva Augustin Dumay Appointed Musical Director of the Royal Chamber Orchestra of Wallonia twelve years ago, Augustin Dumay wished to record Mozart Symphony 29 KV201 with them. After many chamber music recitals with Tatjana Vassiljeva, he chose to add the Haydn two Cellos Concertos as an ideal complement.

Label: Mirare File Under: Classical/Orchestral Catalogue No: MIR220 Barcode: 3760127222200 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack Tatjana Vassiljeva [cello] Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie Augustin Dumay [conductor]

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

John CAGE: The Piano Works 9 Haiku (1950-51) Sixteen Dances (1950-51) version for piano, edited by Walter Zimmermann BONUS: alternate versions of the last two movements for piano & percussion

Jovita Zähl Thomas Meixner

Label: Mode Records File Under: Classical/Instrumental Catalogue No: MODE259 Barcode: 764593025924 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: cristal Jovita Zähl [piano] Thomas Meixner [percussion]

"It is rare to discover a previously unknown work by John Cage today. So, what are the chances of discovering two major piano pieces from the same period of 1950-51? Thanks to the dedicated work of Don Gillespie, who was Cage’s contact at the publisher C. F. Peters Corp., and composer Walter Zimmermann, we have the two works recorded here. Both were discovered at the New York Public Library at Lincoln Center.

These 'Haiku' are not to be confused with the previously published 'Seven Haiku' (1951-52). They reflect a fascinating musical path from the almost tonal 'Haiku I', in a language similar to the 'Sixteen Dances', to a completely atonal style, akin pitch-wise to the 'Music of Changes' (1951), but without using chance methodology. They confirm the powerful influence on Cage of the Zen Buddhist master Daisetz Suzuki, whose lectures Cage attended at Columbia University in March 1951.

I can recall the excitement when composer Walter Zimmermann approached me about his discovery of a major piano work by Cage — the 'Sixteen Dances'. He was convinced that this was not just a piano sketch for the well-known ensemble version, nor a reduction for rehearsal and performances of the Cunningham choreography for that piece.

And so it is: a piano piece which is at times both virtuostic, showing Cage’s influence of Boulez, and at other times mystical and open to chance.

The ensemble version calls for 100 percussion instruments. Cage’s piano score gives sonic allusion to these, and the sound of gongs and tam tams are a major part of the last two dances. Zimmermann used this influence to score alternate versions of these dances for piano & percussion.

This recording presents both the full piano solo version and the movements for piano and percussion. Includes booklet with essays by Gillespie & Zimmermann." Brian Brandt, mode records Cologne based pianist Jovita Zähl studied with Jean-Claude Vanden Eynden, Aloys Kontarsky, David Levine and others.

She is active as a soloist and chamber musician, and half of the pianoduo elaeis. She has recorded on the Mode (works of Crumb & Brown), Wergo and Fidula labels.

Percussionist Thomas Meixner studied with Christoph Caskel in Cologne. He is a member of the Schlagquartett Köln and MusikFabrik, of which he is a founding member.

MAJOR NEW DISCOVERIES: FIRST RECORDINGS

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

John CAGE: Solo for Piano Sabine Liebner As long ago as the 1950s John Cage tried to make the genesis of his compositions dependent on random processes.

Several years later this randomness of the compositional process was reflected in the indeterminacy of the performance, with the aim of separating the compositional design from the interpretive result.

The piano part of the 'Concert for Piano and Orchestra', a piece that stands on its own under the name 'Solo for Piano', emerged on the other hand without the use of chance operations. However, the principle of indeterminacy of performance also applies here. 'Solo for Piano' comprises 63 pages with 84 different types of graphical structures, which, due to their shape, are reminiscent of musical notation, but on the other hand represent no clearly reproducible notes.

Here, the notation is modified into a 'proposal' for the performer, thus, all kinds of implementation of the score are infinitely possible.

On the present CD, Sabine Liebner presents her unique interpretation of 'Solo for Piano'. She is a pianist of high renown throughout the world and regarded as “currently most important interpreter of the piano works by John Cage” (Andreas Göbel, Kulturradio rbb).

Label: Wergo File Under: Classical/Instrumental Catalogue No: WER6768-2 Barcode: 4010228676822 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: cristal Sabine Liebner [piano]

ALSO AVAILABLE: WER6745-2 Earle Brown Abstract Sound Objects WER6740-2 John Cage Etudes Australes (4) "one of Cage’s most deliberately complex works … [Liebner’s version is] expansive and dynamically varied" International Piano Sept/Oct 2012 WER6747-2 Morton Feldman Early Piano Pieces

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

Karlheinz STOCKHAUSEN: Amour, Wochenkreis, Der kleine Harlekin Michele Marelli “This CD aims to be a direct expression of the joy that the act of composing aroused in Stockhausen and, at the same time, to pick up the pieces that made me more attached to him and to his music in the 10 fortunate years of artistic collaboration with him that have totally changed my life not only from a musical point of view.” Michele Marelli

Label: Wergo File Under: Classical/Instrumental Catalogue No: WER6785-2 Barcode: 4010228678529 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: cristal Michele Marelli [basset horn, clarinet] Antonio Pérez Abellán [synthesizer]

'Amour' is a series of 5 pieces for clarinet based on 5 short poems written as gifts for women whom Stockhausen was deeply connected to. All these pieces carry something magical within them; the most complex and hypnotic of these is 'Die Schmetterlinge spielen' [The Butterflies are Playing]. 'Der kleine Harlekin' [Little Harlequin] is probably the most known and extreme among Stockhausen’s theatrical works: the clarinetist faces a musically demanding score while wearing a costume and performing a range of dance movements precisely indicated in the score, involving and amusing the audience both visually and acoustically.

'Wochenkreis' [Circle of the Week], derived from the opera 'Montag' from Stockhausen’s seven-opera cycle 'Licht', is a series of songs. The basset horn player represents a man who walks through seven stations, each one representing a day of the week. At the same time, 'Wochenkreis' musically describes an initiatory journey from birth to ascension to God, accompanied by the synthesizer player, who has the role of the antagonist Lucifer.

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

Rolf RIEHM: Hammamuth-Stadt der Engel, Wer sind diese Kinder Nicolas Hodges The piano work 'Hammamuth-Stadt der Engel', premiered at the Darmstadt Summer Courses in 2006, and the piano concerto 'Wer sind diese Kinder', premiered at the Donaueschingen Music Festival three years later, are two attempts which aim to broaden the spectrum of political music.

In 'Hamamuth–Stadt der Engel', the composer Rolf Riehm tries to the omnipresent violence experienced during the Iraq War. “This is about prevailing perceptions. 'Stadt der Engel': They refer to the pictures of devastation in Iraq which can be regularly seen on TV” – this is the beginning of Riehm's detailed introductory text which is incorporated in the score of the work. In 'Wer sind diese Kinder', this approach is continued; the political is deeply engrained in the texture of Riehm's works, as a reflection on the omnipresence of international political conflicts.

PREMIERE RECORDINGS

Label: Wergo File Under: Classical/Orchestral Catalogue No: WER6755-2 Barcode: 4010228675528 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: cristal Nicolas Hodges [piano] SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg Beat Furrer [conductor]

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

SCHUMANN: Complete Symphonic Works Vol. I Symphony No. 1 in B flat Major, Op. 38 ‘Spring’ Overture, Scherzo and Finale in E Major, Op. 52 Symphony in D Minor, Op. 120 (original version of 1841)

WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln Heinz Holliger

Label: Audite File Under: Classical/Orchestral Catalogue No: AUDITE97677 Barcode: 4022143976772 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln Heinz Holliger [conductor]

This CD launches a complete series of recordings of Robert Schumann’s orchestral works, performed by the WDR Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Heinz Holliger.

The series will contain all the symphonies (including both versions of the Fourth) as well as all the overtures and concertos. Holliger’s performances draw on a lifetime study of Schumann’s music, thought, personality and fate. His approach imparts lightness and lucidity to these opulent scores through a hierarchical balance of parts, delicately gradated dynamics and invigorating tempos. The widespread image of this romantic composer as a weak orchestrator receives a refreshing and well-grounded correction.

Volume 1 of the series presents the First Symphony in B-flat major (Op. 38), Overture, Scherzo and Finale (Op. 52) and the original 1841 version of the Fourth Symphony in D minor (Op. 120).

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

J.S.BACH: Christmas Oratorio Agnes Giebel Charlotte Wolf-Matthäus Helmut Krebs Walter Hauck RIAS-Kammerchor Karl Ristenpart

Label: Audite File Under: Classical/Choral Catalogue No: AUDITE21421 Barcode: 4022143214218 MID Price Format: 3 CD Packaging: box set Agnes Giebel (soprano / angel) Charlotte Wolf-Matthäus (alto) Helmut Krebs (tenor / evangelist) Walter Hauck (baritone / Herodes) RIAS-Kammerchor, RIAS-Knabenchor RIAS-Kammerorchester Karl Ristenpart (conductor)

Following the Bach cantatas edition with Karl Ristenpart, Audite now continue their series of historic recordings from the archives of RIAS Berlin with a complete recording of the Christmas Oratorio. As soloists, Ristenpart engaged leading Bach singers of the time, thus ensuring that the recitatives of the Evangelist, the arias and ensembles were of particularly high quality. Alongside the RIAS Chamber Choir and the RIAS Chamber Orchestra a recording was created in December 1950 which both validly represents Bach interpretation of that time, and also heralds, notably in Parts 4 and 5, historically informed performance practice.

Karl Ristenpart responded to the accession to power by the Nazis in 1933 by retreating to work with chamber ensembles: a sphere which was able mostly to escape the cultural-political interference by the state authority. The Nazi nomenklatura felt that Wagner was the bringer of a new era. Ristenpart countered with Bach: the 'Wagner Ring' vs. the 'Bach Ring': Wagner’s 'Ring' depicting the demise of Germanic gods and heroes; opposed by the Bach cantata cycle concerning the emergence of Christianity and its 'Saviour'.

After the war, Ristenpart championed a cultural ideal which turned away from the drive for monumentalism. In this, Bach served him as a catalyst for mental renewal and as a guide to retreat from the craze surrounding Wagner. Ristenpart’s decisions of the 1930s thus permeate his Bach interpretations in the cantatas (audite21415) as well as the Christmas Oratorio of 1950.

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

VERDI: Otello, Salzburg 1951 Ramón Vinay, Paul Schöffler Anton Dermota, Josef Greindl Dragica Martinis Sieglinde Wagner Vienna Philharmonic Wilhelm Furtwängler Orfeo are proud to present the only recording of an Italian opera by Wilhelm Furtwängler, with the greatest Otello of his day, from the summer of 1951, on the 50th anniversary of the composer’s death, now in fully restored sound.

Label: Orfeo File Under: Classical/Opera & Vocal Catalogue No: C880132i Barcode: 4011790880228 MID Price Format: 2 CD Packaging: box set Ramón Vinay [Otello] Paul Schöffler [Jago] Anton Dermota [Cassio] August Jaresch [Roderigo] Josef Greindl [Lodovico] Georg Monthy [Montano] Un Araldo Franz Bierbach [Herald] Dragica (Carla) Martinis [Desdemona] Sieglinde Wagner [Emilia] Chor der Wiener Staatsoper Wiener Philharmoniker Wilhelm Furtwängler

It was one of those coups that give a festival its particular appeal. At the helm of the Vienna Philharmonic, Furtwängler succeeded in turning the audience’s surprise into enthusiasm. The thoroughly symphonic conception of this late opera score of Verdi’s was brilliantly transformed by Furtwängler into a kind of “psychological drama” of its title hero, sung by Ramón Vinay, a tireless heldentenor with a rich variety of shadings in his voice. As the scheming Iago, Paul Schöffler’s extraordinarily sophisticated baritone was his equal, just as Dragica Martini, at the beginning of her international career, proved a perfect Desdemona, possessed as she was of a most graceful soprano voice.

Great pains had been taken to cast the production, right down to the less extensive roles (for example, Anton Dermota sang Cassio and Josef Greindl was Lodovico). The result was a performance that is regarded as exemplary to this day.

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

BEETHOVEN: Symphony 8, STRAUSS: 4 Last Songs BARTOK: Concerto for Orchestra Live Recording August 11, 1962 Mozarteum

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf Berlin Philharmonic István Kertész István Kertész’s early death from a swimming accident in 1973, aged just 44, meant that he performed very little in Salzburg. In Salzburg in 1962 he confirmed his reputation, as a first-class conductor of the younger generation, conducting the Berlin Philharmonic in a programme that made evident his stylistic flexibility. This concert, two days after the death of Herman Hesse, the poet of three of the songs, was further enriched by the presence of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf – a Strauss interpreter without peer to the present day.

Label: Orfeo File Under: Classical/Orchestral Catalogue No: C881132B Barcode: 4011790881126 MID Price Format: 2 CD Packaging: cristal Elisabeth Schwarzkopf [soprano] Berliner Philharmoniker István Kertész [conductor]

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

Shura Cherkassky Recital, Salzburg 1961 MOZART: Sonata K330, SCHUMANN: Fantasy Op. 17 CHOPIN: Andante spianato et Grande Polonaise brillante, Nocturne Op. 55/1 MUSSORGSKY Pictures at an Exhibition, BARBER: Excursions

Shura Cherkassky Shura Cherkassky was characterised by a degree of 'unpredictability' not least in matters of programme planning. He was an occasional guest in Salzburg, but it was perhaps his ability in music of the most varied constellations and epochs that meant he remained less fixed in the collective memory of Festival audiences than many a prominent colleague.

However, this solo concert from 1961, displays the brilliance of Cherkassky’s piano playing, and some of his infamous twinkle, not least when he arrives at Chopin, the composer with whom his name is perhaps most associated today.

Live Recording July 31, 1961, Mozarteum

Label: Orfeo File Under: Classical/Instrumental Catalogue No: C882132B Barcode: 4011790882123 MID Price Format: 2 CD Packaging: cristal Shura Cherkassky [piano]

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms: Emil Gilels BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonatas Opp. 26 & 31/1 SCHUMANN: Toccata Op. 7, Arabeske Op. 18 BRAHMS: Four Ballades Op. 10

Emil Gilels The Soviet pianist Emil Gilels began his international career at a relatively late date and impressed, in particular, with the carefully considered sense of unity and interconnectedness of his concert programmes. This was certainly the case in Gilels’ penultimate concert at the Salzburg Festival, in the summer of 1976. Beethoven’s middle-period sonatas can rarely have been heard in such a rounded, masterful interpretation, devoid of any superficial effects as is here. After the interval he moved on to Schumann and Brahms in far more than a mere musico-historical progression, as you would expect.

Live Recording August 9, 1976, Großes Festspielhaus

Label: Orfeo File Under: Classical/Instrumental Catalogue No: C883132B Barcode: 4011790883120 MID Price Format: 2 CD Packaging: cristal Emil Gilels [piano]

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

SCHUBERT: Die Winterreise Live Recording August 23, 1978 Kleines Festspielhaus, Salzburg

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau Maurizio Pollini The honour of performing Schubert’s 'Winterreise' at the Salzburg Summer Festival is reserved for only remarkable artistic personalities. In 1978, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Maurizio Pollini came together for the first and only time as a lieder duo to perform this cycle and thankfully Austrian Radio were there to record this unique encounter.

Fischer-Dieskau’s legendary balance of words and music remains unsurpassed; Pollini not surprisingly provided much more than mere accompaniment, with tempi and dynamics, at times quite startling.

Two artists whose intellectual and expressive stature needs no further introduction.

Label: Orfeo File Under: Classical/Secular Vocal music Catalogue No: C884131B Barcode: 4011790884127 MID Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: cristal Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau [baritone] Maurizio Pollini [piano]

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

Franz SCHREKER: Die Gezeichneten 'The Branded' or 'The Stigmatised' Franz Crass [Adorno] Thomas Stewart [Tamare] Ernst Wiemann [Lodovico] Eveyn Lear [Carlotta] Helmut Krebs [Salvago] Julius Katona [Usodimare] Manfred Schmidt [Negroni] Chorus and Orchestra of North German Radio Winfried Zillig [conductor] FIRST RELEASE ON ANY FORMAT Master Tape Quality. Great cast and conductor, Hamburg 9-11/5/1960

Label: Walhall File Under: Classical/Opera & Vocal Catalogue No: WLCD0376 Barcode: 4035122653762 BUDGET Price Format: 3 CD Packaging: box set

Schreker wrote the libretto in 1911 at the request of Alexander Zemlinsky. However he set the text himself and completed the composition in 1915. The complete opera was first performed on 25 April 1918 by the Frankfurt Opera in the Alte Oper, conducted by Ludwig Rottenberg. It established Schreker as the pre-eminent opera composer of his generation and won him the support of Germany's foremost music critic, Paul Bekker. Before the composer's music was banned in 1933 due to his Jewish ancestry, a further two dozen productions followed in fifteen different cities in Germany and Austria.

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

Jaromir WEINBERGER: Schwanda the Bagpiper Folk Opera in 2 Acts Schwanda der Dudelsackpfeifer / Schwanda, il suonatore di cornamusa Karl Schmitt-Walter [Schwanda] Betina Brucker [Dorota] Karl Friedrich [Babinsky] Christa Ludwig [Die Königin] Josef Lindlar [Der Magier] Eugen Willmann [Der Richter] Oskar Wittazscheck [Der Scharfrichter] Wolf Heide [Der Teufel] Willy Hoffmann [Der Teufels Famulus] Hans Kasperzyk [Der Höllenhauotmann]

Label: Walhall File Under: Classical/Opera & Vocal Catalogue No: WLCD0377 Barcode: 4035122653779 BUDGET Price Format: 2 CD Packaging: cristal

Chorus & Symphony Orchestra of Radio Frankfurt / Winfried Zillig 1948 First release on any format. Master Tape Quality.

A great operatic rarity, difficult to perform – here you get it with the best cast imaginable, a skilled conductor and the young Christa Ludwig.

Bonus: Leyla Gencer in 'Schwanda', 4 tracks recorded at Milan RAI with Nicola Rescigno, 10/8/1958

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

Christmas in Spain and Mexico La Colombina Renaissance Vocal Music for the festive season by Morales, Victoria, Guerrero, Fernandez, Padilla et al, originally issued in 2003, now budget price. La Colombina at the time comprised the now household names of Maria Cristina Kiehr, Claudio Cavina, Josep Benet and Josep CabrĂŠ.

Label: Christophorus File Under: Classical/Choral Catalogue No: CHE0189-2 Barcode: 4010072018922 BUDGET Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: cristal La Colombina

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

Johann Gottfried MUTHEL: Klavierwerke Bach's last pupil

Zane Stradyna Sonata in B flat major Sonata in C Arioso with 12 Variations in C min Arioso with 12 Variations In G major Originally released in 2002, now at budget price

Label: Christophorus File Under: Classical/Instrumental Catalogue No: CHE0190-2 Barcode: 4010072019028 BUDGET Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: cristal Zane Stradyna [piano]

RELEASE DATE 28TH OCTOBER 2013

Bach and the Italians Works by Pergolesi, Marcello & Conti adapted by Bach

Monika Frimmer Kai Wessel Neue Hofkapelle M端nchen/ Christian Brembeck BACH: Tilge, H旦chster, mein S端nden [Psalm 51] BWV1083, after Pergolesi Stabat Mater BACH: Concerto in D BWV974 after Marcello - Concerto for Oboe & Strings Op. 1 BACH: Languet anima mea after Francesco Bartolomeo Conti Originally released in 1996, now at budget price

Label: Christophorus File Under: Classical/Choral Catalogue No: CHE0191-2 Barcode: 4010072019127 BUDGET Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: cristal Monika Frimmer [soprano] Kai Wessel [countertenor] Neue Hofkapelle M端nchen/ Christian Brembeck [direction]

GRAMOPHONE WINNERS 2013

RECORD OF THE YEAR 2013 CONCERTO

naive V5285 Bartok, Eotvos, Ligeti Violin Concertos Patricia Kopatchinskaja, HR-SO/Eotvos BAROQUE INTRUMENTAL

harmonia mundi HMC902143 Pour passer la mĂŠlancholie Andreas Staier EARLY

Signum Classics SIGCD287 A New Venetian Coronation Gabrieli Consort / Paul McCreesh