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available June 15th, call-off June 5th
JUNE 2015
June BBC Music Magazine RECORDING OF THE MONTH
ORFEO C895151A Tchaikovsky Manfred Symphony, Marche Slave / CBSO/Andris Nelsons
Concerto Choice
harmonia mundi HMC902196 Schumann Violin Concerto, Piano Trio No. 3 Isabelle Faust; Freiburg BO/Pablo Heras-Casado
Instrumental Choice
La Dolce Volta LDV19 Mozart Piano Sonatas Menahem Pressler (piano)
RELEASE DATE 15TH JUNE
Label: Alia Vox File Under: Classical/Opera & Vocal Catalogue No: AVSA9911 Barcode: 8435408099110 NORMAL Price Format: 2 SACD Packaging: digipack
MONTEVERDI: L'Orfeo La Musica - Montserrat Figueras Orfeo - Furio Zanasi Euridice - Arianna Savall Messaggiera - Sara Mingardo Speranza - Cécile van de Sant Caronte - Antonio Abete Proserpina - Adriana Fernández Plutone - Daniele Carnovich Apollo - Fulvio Bettini Ninfa - Mercedes Hernández Ninfa - Marília Vargas Pastore & Eco - Gerd Türk Pastore & Spirito - Francesc Garrigosa Pastore - Carlos Mena Pastore & Spirito - Iván García La Capella Reial de Catalunya Le Concert des Nations Direction: Jordi Savall This live recording made on January 31st, 2002 at the Liceu Theatre in Barcelona is already a cornerstone of any Monteverdi discography. It has been released on DVD by Opus Arte (but is now unavailable in most countries and reaches pretty high scores on the market place...), with a slightly different editing. This new and original multichannel mastering reveals the full scale of the inspiration of Jordi Savall and his ensembles, as well as the soloists, who include the late Montserrat Figueras, Furio Zanasi and Sara Mingardo.
RELEASE DATE 15TH JUNE 2015
Alvorada Ophélie Gaillard Argentina: Alfredo Gobbi, Juan Carlos Cobián & Enrique Domingo Cadimaco, Julián Plaza, Félix Lipesker, José Dames & Horacio Basterra, Egberto Gismonti & Geraldo Carneiro, Astor Piazzolla Spain: Gaspar Cassadó, Manuel de Falla, Enrique Granados Cuba: Isolina Carillo, Moisés Simons Brasil: Tom Jobim, Baden Powell & Vinicius de Moraes, Carlos Cachaça & Cartola Toquinho, Heitor Villa-Lobos
Label: Aparté File Under: Classical Catalogue No: AP104 Barcode: 3149028059625 MID Price Format: 2 CD Packaging: digipack Luiz de Aquino, Rudi Flores, Emmanuel Rossfelder [guitar] Sandrine Chatron [harp] Fabien Cyprien [trombone] Sabine Devieilhe [soprano] Gerardo Di Giusto, Fernando Maguna [piano] Cyril Garac [violin], Nicolas Genest [trumpet] Romain Lecuyer [bass] Juanjo Mosalini [bandonéon] Sandra Rumolino [voice] Cellists of Haute Ecole de Genève Rubens Celso Lopes, Christian Paoli, David Chupete, Florent Jodelet [percussions]
'Alvorada' or an invitation to travel with cellist Ophélie Gaillard and her magical cello: a musical tour from Spain to Latin America (Brazil, Argentina, Cuba) featuring, in particular, the composers Villa-Lobos, Granados, Piazzolla and Jobim. In an exceptional mixture of classical pieces and arrangements of the greatest themes of this intense music, the cello sings with the bandoneon, dances with the piano, guitar or percussion, and abandons itself in amorous intimacy with the voices. 'Alvorada' immerses us in a sound universe where the feverish energy of the rhythms of this Hispanic and South-American music entrances us and from which a sensual nostalgia responds to a dizzying tango. All the senses are aroused when hearing these spellbinding songs and rhythms. "Some years ago in Seville, basking in the heat of the afternoon sun and still dazzled by the multi-coloured tiles in the streets of the old city, I was sitting under the majestic trees in the exquisite garden of Casa de Pilatos and began to toy with the idea of one day being able to share the feelings and revelations I had enjoyed in my many journeys through southern parts—both in the course of my frequent tours of Spain but also throughout Latin America. With only my cello for travelling-companion, I visited the four corners of the globe, often playing the Catalan master Gaspar Cassadó’s cello sonata, a living metaphor for Spain, his native territory. From the very first note, we are standing on the hard-baked earth of Andalusia under a burning sun. The silvery olives, gnarled and desiccated though they are, bear wondrous fruit; the scent of the orange trees and jasmine invades our senses so recently wakened from the depths of a stolen siesta as we sit beneath an arbour by a Mozarabic fountain. Cassadó’s piece was the inspiration that engendered this recording, albeit in secret, and allowed me to fulfil my deep wish to touch your hearts with the vivid impressions and emotions I experienced in the course of my travels. To share this dream, I needed to surround myself with outstanding musicians, each one of them alive to all the nuances of their respective art and traditions, deeply-rooted and yet free to go where they pleased and open to every suggestion." Ophélie Gaillard
http://www.apartemusic.com/ophelie-gaillard-alvorada-new-album/
RELEASE DATE 15TH JUNE 2015
MOZART: Mass in C minor Meistermusik K477
Christiane Oelze, Jennifer Larmore Scott Weir, Peter Kooy La Chapelle Royale, Collegium Vocale Gent Orchestre des Champs-ÉlyséesPhilippe Herreweghe "It has rightly been said that this torso is the only work that stands between the B minor Mass of Bach and the D major Mass of Beethoven." Alfred Einstein
Label: harmonia mundi File Under: Classical/Choral Catalogue No: HMG501393 Barcode: 3149020139318 MID Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack Christiane Oelze Jennifer Larmore [sopranos] Scott Weir [tenor] Peter Kooy [bass] La Chapelle Royale Collegium Vocale Gent Orchestre des Champs-Élysées Philippe Herreweghe [conductor]
"Herreweghe covers the Kyrie’s opening with dark strokes, the devotional gloom giving way to a radiant soprano solo, here sung by the pure-voiced Christiane Oelze who discreetly blends the operatic flair of Mozart’s writing with the piety of the text. Oelze is impressive throughout; her intimate singing draws the listener into the music, irresistibly so in the marvelous Et incarnatus est. Jennifer Larmore takes the second soprano part. Her darkish mezzo means that the usually blended ensemble singing of two light-voiced sopranos is replaced here by a strongly contrasted duo...I can’t see how anyone can be immune from responding to the beauties of their duet in the Domine Deus or in the trio of the Quoniam. The men are lesser presences in this work, but they acquit themselves well in their relatively brief parts. The expert period-instrument band plays with mellow timbres, and the chorus superbly negotiates the Handelian fugues of the Cum Sancto Spiritu and the Osanna. They’re powerful too, in the brief but potent Gratias and in the Qui tollis, where Herreweghe elicits a sense of the tragic through his handling of the sharp accents. The Mass is preceded by the brief Meistermusik with men’s chorus, whose role was dropped when Mozart reworked the piece a few months later into the purely orchestral Masonic Funeral Music. The sound is up to today’s standards. This disc belongs in the small handful of recommended recordings of Mozart’s 'Great Mass.' Classicstoday.com 10/10 [3/10/2006] "The most gentle rendition of this work that I've ever heard..." Fanfare
RELEASE DATE 15TH JUNE 2015
STRAVINSKY: Les Noces, Mass, Cantata RIAS Kammerchor MusikFabrik Daniel Reuss This tribute to Stravinsky at his fines,t from the combined talents of the RIAS Kammerchor and MusikFabrik, includes the extraordinary, pioneering 'Les Noces' which took Stravinsky more than ten years to complete, plus the 'Mass' of 1948 and the 'Cantata' of 1952. "a joy, MusikFabrik's four pianists and six percussionists produce an electrifying sound, as do the impeccable RIAS Kammerchor, the silver-toned soprano Carolyn Sampson, and mezzo Susan Parry, whose maudlin mother-ofthe- bride is superb…Jan Kobow's Cantus Cancrizans is riveting." The Independent on Sunday
Label: harmonia mundi File Under: Classical/Choral Catalogue No: HMG501913 Barcode: 3149020191316 MID Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack Carolyn Sampson [soprano] Susan Parry, Jan Kobow, Vsevolod Grivnov & Maxim Mikhailov, RIAS Kammerchor musikFabrik Daniel Reuss [conductor]
“a feeling of rhythmic joy, is what makes this new performance so exhilarating. The rhythms are unrelenting, spellbinding, only pausing for the blessing, the two mothers' lament, and the moment the mother lets her daughter go. The performance is terrific, directed with superb exuberance by Daniel Reuss. Why is the Mass not better known? ... The pungent harmonies give it bite, especially in the thrilling Sanctus, and the Agnus Dei is haunting in the same way that the 'alleluias' at the end of the Symphony of Psalms are unforgettable. The Cantata, too, opens gloriously and is lyrically inspired throughout... The music is extraordinarily beautiful – and here is another surprise: it is possible to write serial music worth listening to! The performances are all marvellous: who would have expected to hear Carolyn Sampson singing Stravinsky? This record is not to be missed.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010
RELEASE DATE 15TH JUNE 2015
DVORAK: Lieder Bernarda Fink Roger Vignoles Gypsy Melodies (7), Op. 55 (B104), In Folk Tone - four songs, Op. 73, Lieder aus der KÜniginhofer Handschrift Op. 7, Vier Lieder, Op. 82 3 Songs to poems of Eliska Krasnohorska, Vier Lieder, Op. 2 Dvoråk wrote no fewer than 93 songs for solo voice and piano, not counting the solo pieces for voice and organ and the numerous duets. In his songs he carried on the tradition of Schubert and Schumann, but – as the composer’s biographer Kurt Honolka has put it – with additional Czech folk vitamins.
*5$023+21( (',725 6 &+2,&( -XO\ &+25$/ 621* ',6& 2) 7+( 0217+ %%& 0XVLF 0DJD]LQH $XJXVW
Label: harmonia mundi File Under: Classical/Secular Vocal music Catalogue No: HMG501824 Barcode: 3149020182413 MID Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack
Bernarda Fink [mezzo-soprano] Roger Vignoles [piano]
"A wholly delectable disc, and one that should win many new friends for these songs in the composer's centenary year." CHORAL & SONG DISC OF THE MONTH, BBC Music Magazine, August 2004 “this new issue is most welcome: tasteful and often lovely performances and a generously comprehensive selection.� Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010
RELEASE DATE 15TH JUNE 2015
La bele Marie Songs to the Virgin from 13th-century France
Anonymous 4 A radiant and varied collection of 13th-century French conductus and chansons in praise of the Virgin Mary from 2002. Drawn from the Notre Dame repertoire, or adapted from vernacular lyrics of the northern French trouvères, these ardent songs echo the European prehistoric culture of goddess worship. “Anonymous 4 cast a spell difficult to resist.” The Times "sublime...Coupled with superb production, the quartet’s programme explores thirteenth-century song, largely from the northern French trouveres tradition, with exquisite clarity and warmth." Tarik O’Regan, Classical CD of the Week, The Observer, 6 October 2002
Label: harmonia mundi File Under: Classical/Choral Catalogue No: HMG507312 Barcode: 3149020731215 MID Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack Anonymous 4
RELEASE DATE 15TH JUNE 2015
GINASTERA: Estancia, Variaciones concertantes, Harp Concerto Orquestra Ciudad de Granada Josep Pons Alberto Ginastera, 'the great hope of Argentine music' (Aaron Copland), wrote in every genre. 'Estancia' uses the elements of his national folklore (melody, rhythms, tonality) to depict rural life in Argentina, work on the land and the life of gauchos. The more abstract 'Variaciones concertantes' offer a synthesis of art and folk music. “What makes this spectacularly engineered Harmonia Mundi disc especially attractive is the inclusion of the Variaciones concertantes, arguably the masterpiece of Ginastera’s nationalist period. Pons chooses some extreme speeds, often pushing his first-desk players to great feats of virtuosity, yet there is plenty of character, too.” Andrew Farach-Colton, Gramophone, April 2004
Label: harmonia mundi File Under: Classical/Orchestral Catalogue No: HMG501808 Barcode: 3149020180815 MID Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack Magdalena Barrera [harp] Orquestra Ciudad de Granada Josep Pons
RELEASE DATE 15TH JUNE 2015
MONTEVERDI: Vespro della Beata Vergine 1610 Sanctissimae Virginis Missae Senis Vocibus ac Vespere (Venice)
Concerto Vocale René Jacobs 0RQWHYHUGL V 9HVSHUV ² ZKLFK UHFRUGLQJ LV EHVW" )RU RXWJRLQJ VSOHQGRXU
Label: harmonia mundi File Under: Classical/Choral Catalogue No: HMG501566/67 Barcode: 3149020156612 BUDGET Price Format: 2 CD Maria Cristina Kiehr Barbara Borden Andreas Scholl John Bowen Victor Torres Andrew Murgatroyd Antonio Abete Jelle Draijer Nederlands Kamerkoor Nederlands CO
"René Jacobs’s 1995 recording is a sudden return to full-blooded choral singing, supplied by the Netherlands Chamber Choir, robustly buoyed by instrumental doubling. The choir is not the most refined or transparent but Jacobs draws a vibrant and flamboyant performance from them, in which lyrical expression is never forgotten. Interestingly, the vocal lines are largely unadorned but the cornett embellishments are almost balmily florid. There is also a lovely and unhurried “Pulchra es” from Maria Cristina Kiehr and Barbara Borden...John Eliot Gardiner’s explosive second recording takes some beating, and Robert King is eager and spontaneous though less imaginative, but it is René Jacobs’s outgoing and richly doubled performance that perhaps does most both to excite and please the ear." Lindsay Kemp, Mon 9th February 2015, Gramophone, "...combines brilliance with richness..." BBC Music Magazine
RELEASE DATE 15TH JUNE 2015
Carmina Burana - The Passion Play Ensemble Organum Marcel Pérès Originating in the monastery of Benediktbeuren, the manuscript of the 'Carmina Burana' contained very little religious music. 'The Great Mystery of the Passion' is one of these rare pieces: a far cry from the ribaldry of most of the others to which the collection owes its popularity. Composed during the 13th century, it is an admirable example of the traditional liturgical drama, presenting a staged dramatisation of the characters which prefigure the great Mysteries of the 15th century. A masterpiece of a certain medieval classicism, this Passion was restaged in 1988 by the Atelier Lyrique du Rhin, in collaboration with the Ensemble Organum. This is a recording of that performance. This title was released for the first time in 1990.
Label: harmonia mundi File Under: Classical/Secular Vocal music Catalogue No: HMG501323/24 Barcode: 3149020132319 BUDGET PRICE Format: 2 CD Marcel Pérès (narrator), François Fauché (Jesus), Josep Benet Caiaphas), Josep Cabré (The Priest, Longinus), Astrid Maugard (Mary), Pasquale Mourey (Martha, a courtesan), Bruno Boterf (Judas), Cyrille Gerstenhaber (Mary Magdalena), Dominique Visse (the Angel), Antoine Sicot (the merchant), Philippe Cantor (Pilate), Samuel Husser (the Lover, John), Florence Limon (a courtesan, the maid-servant), Malcolm Bothwell (Peter, Herode), Laurence Brisset, Pascale Poulard
RELEASE DATE 15TH JUNE 2015
Altbachisches Archiv Johann Sebastian's Archives : works by Johann, Johann Michael, Johann Christoph & Johann Sebastian Bach
Cantus Cölln The musical testament of the ancestors of J. S. Bach If Bach had not lovingly preserved the works of his forefathers, we would know almost nothing about them. His collection, known since the 18th century as the ‘Altbachiches Archiv’, was published for the first time in 1935. The original manuscripts, lost during the Second World War, were located in the Archives in Kiev and recorded in 2003 for hm. "superb" Anthony Holden, Classical CD of the Week, The Observer "Cantus Cölln are incomparable consort singers" Hugh Canning, The Sunday Times, 27 April 2003, Outstanding
Label: harmonia mundi File Under: Classical/Choral Catalogue No: HMG501783/84 Barcode: 3149020178317 BUDGET Price Format: 2 CD Cantus Cölln Concerto Palatino Konrad Junghänel
"Performances by Cantus Cölln are exemplary." Andrew Clements, The Guardian, 2 May 2003 "This is one of those rare discs that seems to have taken up permanent residence in my CD player. I do so love it when a recording of real historical importance also turns out to be of superlative musical quality. This one has it all – music with an intriguing history, a dramatic story of rediscovery, lovingly revived by exactly the right performers." Simon Heighes, International Record Review, June 2003 "an issue of outstanding interest." Nicholas Anderson, BBC Music Magazine, August 2003
RELEASE DATE 15TH JUNE 2015
SCHUMANN: The Complete Symphonies 1-4 Philippe Herreweghe 1841-1851: ten years elapsed between the premieres of the most popular symphonies of Robert Schumann. Commentators have long deplored the ‘thickness' of the composer's orchestration; however, performance on period instruments not only demonstrates conclusively that this is not the case, but also underlines even more clearly the duality of his personality. From the ‘Spring' to the dark presentiments of the ‘Rhenish', should we not see Schumann's extraordinarily dense counterpoint as the reflection of his inner demons? Schumann Symphonies Nos 1 & 3 (HMC901972) Classic FM CD of the Week “everything a period-instrument Schumann performance should be - full of muscular, energetic playing, with every fleck of colour in the orchestration thrillingly clear” Andrew Clements, The Guardian, 18 May 2007
Label: harmonia mundi File Under: Classical/Orchestral Catalogue No: HMG508190/91 Barcode: 3149020819012 BUDGET Price Format: 2 CD Orchestre des Champs-Élysées Philippe Herreweghe [conductor]
“sheer enchantment” Julian Haylock, Classic FM Magazine, July 2007
RELEASE DATE 15TH JUNE 2015
HAYDN: Piano Trios nos. 32-37 Patrick Cohen Erich Höbarth Christophe Coin Haydn’s piano trios undoubtedly form the keystone of a genre created just a short time before he began writing them; the Romantic literature offers no body of works of such consistent excellence. In this domain, even the great Mozart did not manage such a perfect match between instrumental style and the musical language of the time. 200 years after these trios were written, three artists, two formerly of the Mosaïques quartet, set out to revive them on period instruments. The result was quite simply revelatory; and here is the quintessence of their efforts. Patrick Cohen plays a fortepiano by Anton Walter, Vienna, 1790; Erich Höbarth plays a violin by G. Guarnerius filius Andreae, Cremona, 1683; Christophe Coin plays a cello by C. A. Testore, 1758. This title was originally released in 1990/93.
Label: harmonia mundi File Under: Classical/Chamber music Catalogue No: HMG508298/99 Barcode: 3149020829813 BUDGET Price Format: 2 CD Patrick Cohen [fortepiano] Erich Höbarth [violin] Christophe Coin [violin]
“Delightfully conversational playing from three fine musicians, especially Patrick Cohen on fortepiano." BBC Music Magazine, April 2009 ****
RELEASE DATE 15 JUNE 2015
HANDEL: The complete sonatas for wind instruments Barthold Kuijken Peter Van Heyghen Marcel Ponseele Solo Sonatas for Transverse Flute: E minor HWV 359 b, G major HWV 363 b, B minor HWV 367 b, D major HWV 378, A minor HWV 374, E minor HWV 375, B minor HWV 376, E minor HWV 379 Recorder Sonatas in G minor HWV 360, F major HWV 369, D minor HWV 367 a, B flat major HWV 377, C major HWV 365, A minor HWV 362 Oboe Sonata in C minor HWV 366, B flat major HWV 357, F major HWV 363 a
Label: Accent Records File Under: Classical/Instrumental Catalogue No: ACC24308 Barcode: 4015023243088 MID Price Format: 2 CD Packaging: digipack Flute Sonatas: Barthold Kuijken [transverse flute] Robert Kohnen [harpsichord] Wieland Kuijken [viola da gamba] Recorder Sonatas: Peter Van Heyghen [recorder] Kris Verhelst [harpsichord] Oboe Sonatas: Marcel Ponseele [oboe] Ewald Demeyere [harpsichord] Richte Van Der Meer [violoncello]
In the year 1712 Handel permanently settled in England, where he was able to concentrate on his chief passion - opera. His obligation to his patrons, connected with the fact that operas could not be performed the whole year round, ensured that Handel also composed a not inconsiderable number of instrumental works, including solo sonatas for transverse flute, recorder and oboe with basso continuo accompaniment. It is clear from the autograph manuscripts and early printed editions of these solo sonatas that, in this case as well, Handel made plentiful use of the recycling procedure so typical of him. Many sonatas exist in versions for various wind instruments as well as for violin, which in some cases differ in their respective keys and number of movements. It is also striking that many sonatas were reworked in later printed editions so that they would be playable on the transverse flute, an instrument that was becoming ever more popular in England at that time. The Accent label has now compiled all the solo sonatas for woodwinds on a double CD that also takes the different versions of the pieces into account. The soloists are proven experts in their field:
RELEASE DATE 15 JUNE 2015
FRENCH FLUTE CONCERTOS Works by Leclair, Blavet, Buffardin & Naudot
Les Buffardins Frank Theuns LECLAIR: Concerto in C major, Opus 7 No. 3 BLAVET: Concerto in A minor CORRETTE: Concerto in G minor, Opus 4 No. 4 BUFFARDIN: Concerto in E minor NAUDOT: Concerto in G major, Opus 17 No. 5 BOISMORTIER: Concerto in G major, Opus 21 No. 3
Label: Accent Records File Under: Classical/Chamber music Catalogue No: ACC24297 Barcode: 4015023242975 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack
The transverse flute was especially popular at the French court; decisive impulses for the instrument's further technical and sonorous development came from France. A genuine "boom" for this instrument developed, initiated by the publication of Hotteterre's Principles de la Flute Traversiere in 1707. At the same time, Italian tastes in music found their way into the metropolis of Paris. Many travelling virtuosos and child prodigies came to the city as a result of the founding of the public series Concerts spirituels in 1725; they were enthusiastically received by a large audience consisting of members of the bourgeoisie and the nobility. The French flute virtuosos – especially Blavet and Buffardin – seized on this trend and appeared in public with Italian-inspired flute concertos. With his new CD, Frank Theuns and his ensemble Les Buffardins offer an overview of the development of the late-baroque transverse flute repertoire in France, introducing concertos by such great composers of the age as Jean-Marie Leclair, Michel Blavet, Pierre Gabriel Buffardin and Jacques Christophe Naudot.
Les Buffardins Frank Theuns [transverse flute, piccolo & direction]
Also available: ACC24258: Johann J. Quantz - The King's Flute Master / rank Theuns, Les Buffardins
RELEASE DATE 15 JUNE 2015
Elisabeth Jacquet de la GUERRE: Chamber Music Musica Fiorita Daniela Dolci Sonata IV in G minor (1695) for violin, oboe, viola da gamba obbligata & b. c. Sonata III in D major (1695) for violin, flute, viola da gamba obbligata & b. c. Sonata I in D minor (1707) for violin & b. c. Suite III in A minor (1687) for harpsichord Sonata II in C minor (1695) for 2 violins, cello obbligato & b. c. Sonata V in G major (1707) for violin & b. c. Sonata I in B flat major (1695) for violin, oboe, viola da gamba obbligata & b. c.
Label: Pan Classics File Under: Classical/Chamber music Catalogue No: PC10333 Barcode: 7619990103337 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack Musica Fiorita Daniela Dolci
Elisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre was the best-known woman composer in France’s Ancien régime under the rule of Louis XIV and Louis XV. From the vantage point of today, she embodies the ideal of the modern, emancipated woman, regarding both her personality and her way of living and working. She was a harpsichordist, organist, virtuoso, a genius at improvisation, teacher and composer: in her, we encounter one of the most extraordinary personalities in the history of music. In regard to her music, too, this composer has modern traits. She was one of the most experimental musicians of her time and adopted numerous innovative developments in her works. In the vehement quarrel over the supremacy of French or Italian music, she was clearly on the side of the representatives of the réunion des gouts - the unification of musical styles - in opposition to the traditionalists. More or less prominent Italian influences can be heard in all of her works. Jacquet de La Guerre composed in all genres, writing sacred and secular music either in the French style or by using Italian “imports”. The quality of her music has maintained its fascinating effect to the present day. The present recording by the ensemble Musica Fiorita (including such illustrious musicians as David Plantier, Xenia Löffler and Rebeka Rusó), re-issued to celebrate the composer's 350th birthday and the 25th anniversary of the ensemble, offers an interesting insight into the diverse instrumental works of this outstanding composer. Also available: PC10316: Giovanni Paolo Cima - VESPRO DELLA BEATA VERGINE Musica Fiorita, Daniela Dolci
RELEASE DATE 15 JUNE 2015
L‘ARTE DEI PIFFARI Cornetts and Sackbuts in Early Baroque Italy
Ensemble Ventosum William Dongois
Label: Pan Classics File Under: Classical/Instrumental Catalogue No: PC10332 Barcode: 7619990103320 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack Ensemble Ventosum William Dongois Stefan Legée Franck Poitrineau
William Dongois, Franck Poitrineau and Stefan Legée founded the Ensemble Ventosum in order to perform historically correct interpretations of the music for their instruments – cornetts and sackbuts (baroque trombones). An important concern of the ensemble is cooperation on equal terms between all the musicians without any fixed hierarchical structure; this enables them to play freely and creatively, combining musicological knowledge with a zest for improvisation. Both instrumental groups existed in various sizes and ranges and were considered brass consorts – which is not actually correct, for cornetts were made out of wood, after all. These kinds of consorts were used in the areas of both secular and sacred music because their full, sustainable sound made them ideally suited for playing in churches, large spaces and outdoors. The Ensemble Ventosum introduces Italian music from the "golden age" of cornetts and sackbuts - which lasted from about 1580 to 1650 - on the CD L’Arte dei Piffari. It includes works for grand princely weddings and dances as well as instrumental motets and madrigals, providing a representative overview of the wide variety of applications of these instruments and the "art of the winds" (L’Arte dei Piffari) of this epoch.
RELEASE DATE 15 JUNE 2015
Transcriptions & Beyond PianoDuo Takahashi|Lehmann STRAVINSKY: Concerto per due pianoforti-soli (original composition), Le Sacre du Printemps (original transcription) NANCARROW: Sonatina (re-arrangement) Arnulf HERRMANN: Hausmusik
Label: Audite File Under: Classical/Instrumental Catalogue No: AUDITE97708 Barcode: 4022143977083 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack PianoDuo Takahashi|Lehmann
The PianoDuo Takahashi|Lehmann once again manage to combine passionate expressivity, intellectual programme conception and virtuoso piano technique. In the works presented in this second volume, the lines between original and arrangement are blurred: art prevails over genre boundaries. In the suspense between faithfulness to the original and interest in arrangements, Norie Takahashi and Björn Lehmann take their own position. The pianists perform original works or arrangements made or sanctioned by the composers themselves. Igor Stravinsky adapted the score of his 'Le Sacre du Printemps' for piano duet so that it could be played in rehearsals – creating a work with its very own sound character. His Concerto for Two Pianos, on the other hand, is an original composition, referring, however, to a long history of arrangements that adapted works for solo instruments and orchestra for keyboard instruments. Conlon Nancarrow became famous for his works for player pianos. His 'Sonatina', in the version presented here, is a re-arrangement: originally conceived for piano (two hands), the composer – dissatisfied with the performance results – arranged it for player piano. Yvar Mikashoff adapted this version for piano duet – with brilliant results and much to the delight of the original composer. In his 'Hausmusik', Arnulf Herrmann turns the relationship between original and arrangement upside down. The colourful and rhythmically vivacious cycle opens with an adaptation of an ensemble piece, and closes with a composition which he later reworked into an ensemble piece. The PianoDuo Takahashi|Lehmann was founded in Berlin in 2009. The musicians perform in many European countries as well as in Korea and Japan. Norie Takahashi first came to prominence by winning awards at numerous competitions, including the International Beethoven Competitions in Bonn and Vienna, the Schubert Competition in Graz, the Leeds International Piano Competition and the Queen Elizabeth Competition in Brussels. Björn Lehmann studied in Hamburg, Lausanne and at the Universität der Künste Berlin with Klaus Hellwig. He also received important artistic inspiration from Ferenc Rados, Leonard Hokanson, Robert Levin, Zoltan Kocsis, members of the Amadeus Quartet, Hartmut Höll and Irwin Gage. ALSO AVAILABLE: AUDITE97706 Originals & Beyond
RELEASE DATE 15 JUNE 2015
JS BACH: Partita No.4 BWV828, Caprice BWV992, English Suite No.1 BWV806, Toccata in D min BWV911 Rémi Geniet Only 21 years-old when this recording was made, Rémi Geniet offers us a fascinating portrait of Bach on the piano. From the virtuosity of the early works like the Toccata to the supreme mastery of the dance suites (Partita and English Suite), the drama and brio of Bach's keyboard music can vie with that of operas or concertos. Rémi Geniet was one of the last students of the great pianist Brigitte Engerer and is now under the guidance of Prof. Evgeni Koroliov in Hamburg. At the age of 20, he was awarded the second prize of the Queen Elisabeth 2013 International Piano Competition in Belgium. This debut recording has already been distinguished by a Diapason d'Or by the french classical music magazine Diapason.
Label: Mirare File Under: Classical/Instrumental Catalogue No: MIR268 Barcode: 3760127222682 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack Rémi Geniet [piano]
RELEASE DATE 15 JUNE 2015
JS BACH, BEETHOVEN: Quasi una Fantasia Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos.13 Op. 27 No. 1 Bach: Fantasy & Fugue in A min BWV904, Fantasy & Fugue in C min BWV906 Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 31 Op. 110
Audrey Vigoureux Pianist Audrey Vigoureux, a native of Aix-en-Provence in southern France, started playing at the age of eight. She studied with Sébastien Risler and Jacques Rouvier at the Conservatoire Supérieur of Geneva and the CNSM de Paris, graduating with honours from both. Her awards include the De Agostini Foundation prize and a first prize from the Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe. This recording features 'Fantasias' by Bach and Beethoven. Beethoven subtitled two Piano Sonatas 'Quasi una Fantasia' – Op.27 No.1 and Op.110. These works are paired with two Fantaisies and Fugues by Bach, in performances that focus on the music's lyrical properties.
Label: Evidence Classics File Under: Classical/Instrumental Catalogue No: EVCD010 Barcode: 3149028070422 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack Audrey Vigoureux [piano]
RELEASE DATE 15 JUNE 2015
Hör, Kristenhait! / Listen, Christendom! Sacred Songs by the Last of the Minnesingers
Ensemble Leones Marc Lewon
Label: Christophorus File Under: Classical/Secular Vocal music Catalogue No: CHR77395 Barcode: 4010072773951 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack Ensemble Leones: Sabine Lutzenberger [voice] Raitis Grigalis [voice] Baptiste Romain [vielle, crwth, bagpipes] Marc Lewon [voice, lute, gittern, vielle & direction]
Michel BEHEIM (c 1420-1472/9): Vom heiling geist / Heiliger geist, rat und volleist Kurze Weise, Beh 29; M291 WOLKENSTEIN (c 1376-1445): Keuschlich geboren Kl 38; WolkB, ANON: Pulcherrima de virgine (instr.) Bux 228 Der Mönch von Salzburg (late 14th c.): Von anegeng der sunne kchlar (instr.) G 21, W4494 WOLKENSTEIN: Hör, kristenhait! Kl 4; WolkB, Der Mönch von Salzburg: Heyligs kreucz ein paum gar aine G 25; M715 WOLKENSTEIN: Mich tröst ain adeliche mait Kl 78; WolkA & B, ANON: Indescort (instr.) Faenza, Nr. 14 Der Mönch von Salzburg: O Maria pya G 9; Kolmar & Donaueschingen Richard LOQUEVILLE (?-1418): O regina clementissima (instr.) MuEm, Nr. 28 WOLKENSTEIN: In Suria ain braiten hal Kl 35; WolkB Fridolin SICHER (1490-1546): Resonet in laudibus (instr.) SG530, Nr. 23 Der Mönch von Salzburg: Maria ward ein pot gesanndt G 46, Egh 3 ANON: Virginem mire pulchritudinis (instr.) Bux 75 Der Mönch von Salzburg: Das guldein vingerlein des münchs / Mein trost Maria raine mait G 11; Mondsee ANON: Maria tusolacium (instr.) Bux 74, WOLKENSTEIN: Ave, mater, o Maria Kl 109a; WolkB & BU The greatest German poets of song lyrics during the late Middle Ages, the Monk of Salzburg and Oswald von Wolkenstein, as the 'last of the Minnesingers', are not only representatives of the flowering of the secular poetry and music of their time. They were also important composers of sacred music in the German language, an aspect that has hardly received attention so far. This recording, 'Hör, kristenhait!', by the Ensemble Leones, presents this profoundly devout side of both musicians in which they employ their entire poetic and compositional energy: the Monk of Salzburg, with his own German texts sung to Gregorian melodies, and Oswald von Wolkenstein with his new and splendid tunes. The song-speech poet Michel Beheim also makes his voice heard with the invocation to the Holy Spirit that opens the programme. The CD is completed by instrumental adaptations of sacred works by composers of this epoch. The highly experienced singers Sabine Lutzenberger and Raitis Grigalis stand by the side of the ensemble director Marc Lewon, who accompanies them with Baptiste Romain on various instruments of the period. Also available: CHR77379: THE COSMOPOLITAN – Songs by Oswald von Wolkenstein / Marc Lewon, Ensemble Leones
RELEASE DATE 15 JUNE 2015
La Ciaccona Ensemble Anthonello Midori Suzuki MERULA: Aria di Ciaccona “Su la cetra amorosa”, FRESCOBALDI: Partite sopra Ciaccona, SALAVERDE: Canzon decima a 2 soprani, MONTEVERDI: Aria “Quel sguardo sdegnosetto” SALAVERDE: Canzon quarta, ROSSI: Aria di Bergamasca, “Quel augellin che canta” BARTOLOTTI: Ciaccona, D'INDIA: Aria “Piangono al pianger mio” SALAVERDE: Fantasia sobre el Canto del Caballero, FERRARI: Aria “Amanti io vi sò dire” STORACE: Ciaccona, FALCONIERI: Folias, KAPSBERGER: Capona FALCONIERI: L’Eroica & Ciaccona, “O vezzosetta dalla chioma d’oro”
Label: Christophorus File Under: Classical/Secular Vocal music Catalogue No: CHE0203-2 Barcode: 4010072020321 BUDGET Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: cristal Midori Suzuki [soprano] Ensemble Anthonello: Kaori Ishikawa [viola da gamba] Marie Nishiyama [harpsichord, double harp] Rafael Bonavita [ baroque guitar, theorbo] Junichi Furuhashi [recorder] Itsuko Noto [organ] Yoshimichi Hamada [cornett, recorder & direction]
The lives and works of many of these composers were interconnected – they would pass through the same courts and cities of Italy and abroad, leaving their mark and being inspired by what they heard there. Each had his own cultural baggage, each his own instrument or predilection and so the ciaccona would naturally have become part of a repertoire for a composer looking to delight his audience or patron. Chacona is the name of a dance-song in triple meter and (most often) major mode with its own particular harmonic progression. It originated in the 16th century in Latin America, which by that time had been colonized by the Spanish. The chacona then travelled back to Spain where it was enthusiastically received and quickly became fashionable and from there found its way to Italy, where it became known as the ciaccona.
RELEASE DATE 15 JUNE 2015
Eugen D'ALBERT: String Quartets Op. 7 & Op. 11 Sarastro Quartet Before his 30th birthday, the year in which his first opera Der Rubin had its premiere, d’Albert composed two string quartets, in 1886 and 1893, his only chamber music works. Following the success of the concertante performance of the Sarastro Quartet, and reports on its effect on the public at the time of its composition, it is surprising that it is performed so rarely nowadays. The Quartet no. 2 in E flat major, op. 11 is dedicated “in reverence” to Brahms. In his letter of thanks, Brahms points out the similarity to the beginning of Beethoven’s last E flat major String Quartet, op. 127. The Andante con moto shows d’Albert to be a master of organised, polyphonic composition. Even more than in the first quartet, his mature feeling for form unites with his inventive sensitivity in the development of a fundamental idea and compositional strength.
Label: Christophorus File Under: Classical/Orchestral Catalogue No: CHE0202-2 Barcode: 4010072020222 BUDGET Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: cristal Sarastro Quartet
RELEASE DATE 15 JUNE 2015
GLAZUNOV: The Piano Concertos Karl-Andreas Kolly Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra Howard Griffiths Concerto for piano and orchestra No. 1 in F minor, Op. 92 Concerto for piano and orchestra No. 2 in B major, Op. 100 Carnaval Overture, Op. 45
Label: Christophorus File Under: Classical/Orchestral Catalogue No: CHE0201-2 Barcode: 4010072020123 BUDGET Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: cristal Karl-Andreas Kolly [piano] Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra Howard Griffiths [direction]
Glazunov trod new ground with his first Piano Concerto, composed in 1911 and dedicated to the Polish piano virtuoso Leopold Godovsky. The first movement, with much expressive chromaticism and heroic pathos is followed by eight contrasting variations, which form the slow movement, thus making a reference to the Piano Concerto in F sharp minor Op. 20 by Scriabin. The Finale, in F major, consists of the final ninth variation, picks up themes from the first movement, and combines pianistic bravura with orchestral refinement. This is characteristic of the imaginative orchestrator Glazunov. Similarly, the Piano Concerto no. 2, composed in the year of the October Revolution (1917), also has a rather unusual formal concept. It consists of only one movement, but clearly demonstrates a structure of four parts, largely resembling a work with several movements in different keys. Beginning with a reference to Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2, its romantic sound in no way reminds the listener of Russian avant-garde music of Scriabin and Schoenberg. The Carnaval Overture written already in 1893, and published by the composer in his own four-hands transcription, is dominated by vital rhythm and brilliant tone colours.