July 15 Classical new releases

harmonia mundi UK

Classical new releases DISTRIBUTED LABELS: 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

available July 15th 2016, call-off July 8th

JULY 15

RELEASE DATE 15TH JULY 2016

LISZT: Transcendental Etudes S. 139 (1852) Kirill Gerstein Preludio, Molto vivace, Paysage, Mazeppa, Feux follets, Vision, Eroica, Wilde Jagd, Ricordanza, Allegro agitato molto, Harmonies du soir, Chasse-neige "Liszt‘s Transcendental Etudes are a quintessential distillation of the mid-19th century romantic project: they’re like sounding images of romanticism’s nervous system, its otherworldly experiences, and its transcendence." Tom Service (excerpt from the liner notes interview with Kirill Gerstein)

Label: Myrios Classics File Under: Classical/Instrumental Catalogue No: MYR019 Barcode: 4260183510192 NORMAL Price Format: 1 SACD Packaging: cristal Kirill Gerstein [piano]

The multi-faceted pianist Kirill Gerstein has rapidly ascended into classical music’s highest ranks. With a masterful technique, discerning intelligence, and a musical curiosity that has led him to explore repertoire spanning centuries and styles, he has proven to be one of today’s most intriguing and versatile musicians. His early training and experience in jazz has contributed an important element to his interpretive style, inspiring an energetic and expressive musical personality that distinguishes his playing.

Last year, Myrios Classics released Kirill Gerstein’s world première recording of Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto in the author’s own final 1879 version newly published as urtext by the Tchaikovsky archive in Russia. The recording won an ECHO Klassik award and was nominated for a BBC Music Magazine award. Gerstein will perform this version for the first time in the UK at the BBC Proms on 7 August and, in the US at Chicago’s Grant Park Festival on 12 August. Later in October, he will join Semyon Bychkov and the BBC Symphony Orchestra for Beloved Friend: Tchaikovsky Project when he will perform Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 3 (19 and 24 October).

CONCERT: Kirill plays the Tchaikovsky Concerto [MYR016] at the Proms on 7th August ALSO AVAILABLE: MYR016 TCHAIKOVSKY/PROKOFIEV Piano Concertos, DSO Berlin, James Gaffigan Concerto Finalist BBC Music Awards 2016 "the kind of serious, intelligent and virtuosic music-making that keeps classical music alive.”

The Observer, 15th March 2015 **** MYR013 IMAGINARY PICTURES Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition, Schumann: Carnaval MYR005 Liszt: Sonata in b minor, Schumann: Humoreske, Knussen: Ophelia‘s Last Dance MYR008 SONATAS FOR VIOLA & PIANO VOL. 2 MYR004 SONATAS FOR VIOLA & PIANO VOL. 1 BBC R3 Building A Library Choice Oct 2015

RELEASE DATE 15TH JULY 2016

Sir Peter MAXWELL DAVIES: The Martyrdom of St. Magnus Chamber Opera in one act with nine scenes

Music Theatre Wales Scottish Opera Ensemble Magnus was a 12th-century earl of the Orkney Islands, a Viking unusual for his pacifism, martyred in a dynastic struggle.

Peter Maxwell Davies' opera is a presentation of his story, based on George Mackay Brown's novel 'Magnus'. The Unicorn performance presented here is the only available recording.

Label: Unicorn File Under: Classical/Opera & Vocal Catalogue No: DKPCD9100 Barcode: 053068910026 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: cristal Music Theatre Wales Scottish Opera Ensemble Michael Rafferty (conductor)

"This hauntingly beautiful chamber opera is one of the finest of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies's Orkney-inspired pieces (it opened the first St Magnus Festival there in 1977) and of all his stage works it seems especially well suited to recording.

Certainly in the present performance, based on a staging that has toured extensively over the last two years, it grips from the very first moment, an unaccompanied vocal line emerging from silence and apparent darkness, and doesn't let go for the whole of the opera's 72-minute span... The performance is a fine one, splendidly paced and of powerful impetus; the recording is extremely clear, yet spacious and very atmospheric." Michael Oliver, Gramophone

RELEASE DATE 15TH JULY 2016

Bernard HERMANN: Symphony, The Fantasticks Herrmann’s 1941 Symphony in a 1974 recording conducted by the composer coupled with the song cycle 'The Fantasticks'.

The symphony displays influences of Walton, Vaughan Williams and Stravinsky within a Sibelian framework producing, in effect, a musical self-portrait.

The song cycle, virtually a cantata, sets words by the Elizabethan poet Nicolas Breton and is deeply felt, displaying more of the film composer’s personality.

"Herrmann and the National PO bring a greater epic feel to bear (Symphony)...Based on texts by the Elizabethan poet Nicolas Breton, these (The Fantasticks) are five most evocative, consistently imaginative settings, given here with disarming commitment." Gramophone "Admirable performances and very good recording (Symphony)……… the soloists are excellent and the orchestral playing quite lovely. Most rewarding when the sound is so atmospheric (The Fantasticks)." Penguin Guide

Label: Unicorn File Under: Classical/Orchestral Catalogue No: UKCD2063 Barcode: 053068206327 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: cristal Michael Rippon, Meriel Dickinson, John Amis, Gillian Humphreys, Thames Chamber Choir National Philharmonic Orchestra, Bernard Herrmann (conductor)

RELEASE DATE 15TH JULY 2016

GRIEG: Lyric Pieces Books 1-10 (complete) Peter Katin Grieg’s popular piano miniatures receive an extremely fine reading from the late Peter Katin. The recordings, which appeared in the 1990s, are typical of the artist’s Indian summer which focused on the romantic repertoire with which he had a close affinity. This is the first time they have appeared as a set. "playing of considerable insight and great sensitivity...Katin's acutely sensitive, searching interpretations". Gramophone "Peter Katin is a persuasive and sensitive exponent…….. a recording of exceptional presence and clarity. His performances are by far the most sensitive and idiomatic survey of the complete set." Penguin Guide

Label: Unicorn File Under: Classical/Instrumental Catalogue No: UKCD2033/5 Barcode: 5060332661695 3 for 2 Price Format: 3 CD Packaging: cristal Peter Katin (piano)

RELEASE DATE 15TH JULY 2016

William STERNDALE BENNETT: Piano Concerto No. 4, Fantasia in A Op. 16, Symphony in G Minor For Sterndale Bennett’s bi-centenary year, Unicorn presents a re-release of three of the composer’s most important works, expertly played by Davan Wetton’s Milton Keynes forces and piano soloist, Malcolm Binns.

Sir William Sterndale Bennett (13 April 1816 – 1 February 1875) was an English composer, pianist, conductor and music educator. At the age of 10 Bennett was admitted to the London Royal Academy of Music (RAM), where he remained for ten years. By the age of 20, he had begun to make a reputation as a concert pianist, and his compositions received high praise. Among those impressed by Bennett was the German composer Felix Mendelssohn, who invited him to Leipzig and where he became friendly with Robert Schumann.

In 1837 Bennett began to teach at the RAM, with which he was associated for most of the rest of his life. Bennett had a significant influence on English music, not solely as a composer but also as a teacher, as a promoter of standards of musical education and as an important figure in London concert life. In recent years, appreciation of Bennett's compositions has been rekindled.

Label: Unicorn File Under: Classical/Orchestral Catalogue No: UKCD2032 Barcode: 053068203227 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: cristal Malcolm Binns (piano) Milton Keynes Chamber Orchestra Hilary Davan Wetton (conductor)

"The sound is first class, with a particularly seductive quality of piano tone. Here is an enterprising and well-produced debut record from Milton Keynes."

Gramophone "Both performances are uncommonly good ones. Malcolm Binns is a persuasive advocate…Wetton paces both works admirably and clearly has sympathy for them… excellent sound and a good balance."

Penguin Guide