Classical releases
MARCH 24
Easter special
DISTRIBUTED LABELS: ACCENT RECORDS, ACTES SUD, ALIA VOX, APARTE, BELVEDERE, KINGS COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE, CHRISTOPHORUS, CSO RESOUND, EDITION CLASSICS, EVIDENCE CLASSIQUES, FRA MUSICA, GLOSSA, harmonia mundi, LA DOLCE VOLTA, LES ARTS FLORISSANTS, LSO LIVE, MARIINSKY, MIRARE, MYRIOS, NAÏVE, ONYX, PAN CLASSICS, PRAGA DIGITALS, RUBICON CLASSICS, SIGNUM CLASSICS, UNITED ARCHIVES, WIGMORE HALL LIVE
available March 24th 2017, order from Cinram
RELEASE DATE 24TH MARCH 2017
PERGOLESI: Stabat Mater BACH: Cantatas BWV54 & 170
Lucy Crowe / Tim Mead La Nuova Musica / David Bates
Label: harmonia mundi File Under: Classical/Choral Catalogue No: HMM907589 Barcode: 3149020758922 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack Lucy Crowe [soprano] Tim Mead [counter-tenor] La Nuova Musica David Bates CONCERT: Pergolesi Stabat Mater, St John's Smith Square, May 12th [Early Opera Company/Curnyn]
Two of Bach’s finest cantatas, both for solo alto, composed in Weimar (1714) and Leipzig (1726) respectively, are here coupled with the delicious agony of grief that is Pergolesi’s 'Stabat mater', an acknowledged masterpiece by one of the 18th century’s most influential composers. Bach so admired the composition of his Neapolitan colleague that he made his own ‘parody’ of it to a German text. On this recording, La Nuova Musica, in its 10th anniversary year, and its two eminent soloists display equal mastery of both idioms. Counter-tenor Tim Mead is praised for his “alluring...consistently excellent” interpretations (The New York Times). With his “rich, mellifluous sound” (Guardian), he is recognised as one of the finest across the generations of counter-tenors. Described as having a voice of bell-like clarity with an impeccable vocal technique and powerful stage presence, Lucy Crowe has established herself as one of the leading lyric sopranos of her generation. Lucy Crowe and Tim Mead reunite to perform the 'Stabat Mater' at St John's Smith Square on May 12th [Early Opera Company/Curnyn] 1-3 J.S. BACH: Widerstehe doch der Sünde BWV54 [Cantata for alto solo] 4-16 G.B. PERGOLESI: Stabat Mater for soprano, alto, strings and basso continuo 17-21 J.S. BACH: Vergnügte Ruh! beliebte Seelenlust! BWV170 [Cantata for alto solo] "Lucy Crowe dazzles with her every appearance, a young singer blessed with look-at-me-and-listen charisma." The Sunday Times
RELEASE DATE 24TH MARCH 2017
Pange Lingua - Music for Corpus Christi Choir of Clare College Cambridge Graham Ross
Label: harmonia mundi File Under: Classical/Choral/Easter Catalogue No: HMM907688 Barcode: 3149020768822 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack Michael Papadopoulos | organ "every bit as successful as its predecessors … An exceptionally satisfying CD.” Choir & Organ, January 2017 ***** HMU907653 Mater Ora Filium "The Clare College choir is among the finest of the UK’s collegiate choirs and this new release is fully up to the standards we’ve come to expect from them.” MusicWeb International, 27th October 2016 HMU907654 Remembrance
Continuing its series of music for the liturgical year, the Choir of Clare College now turns its attention to the feast of Corpus Christi, with a number of pieces setting the hymns of St Thomas Aquinas. Considered one of the Catholic Church’s greatest philosophers and influential theologians, Aquinas (c.1225–74) led a busy life of study, teaching and travelling. In 1264, at the request of Pope Urban IV, he wrote five Eucharistic hymns at the institution of the Feast of Corpus Christi. Within these relatively brief writings – just 188 verses in total – Aquinas has gained himself the reputation of being one of the great ecclesiastical poets. Corpus Christi remains as one of the most important days in the liturgical calendar: it emphasises the joy of the institution of the Eucharist, having previously been observed only on Maundy Thursday in the sombre atmosphere of the forthcoming Good Friday. The centre-piece of this CD is a complete performance of Josquin’s Missa Pange lingua, [c1515-21] one of the earliest masses and which heralded the Renaissance. The programme ends with Finzi’s ecstatic 'Lo, the full, final Sacrifice'. The piece was commissioned by the great Reverend Walter Hussey (also responsible for commissioning major works by Benjamin Britten, Henry Moore, Graham Sutherland, Leonard Bernstein and others); Finzi composed it directly after the Second World War in 1946 for the 53rd anniversary of the consecration of St Matthew’s Church, Northampton, where Hussey was vicar. Franncis Grier’s setting of 'Panis Angelicus' was composed in 2015 in memory of David Trendell, Director of Music of King’s College, London, who died suddenly in 2014 at the age of 50. 1 Pange lingua gloriosi - plainchant Josquin DESPREZ: Missa Pange Lingua 2 Kyrie | 3 Gloria | 4 Credo | 5 Sanctus & Benedictus | 6 Agnus Dei 7 Tomas Luis de VICTORIA: Lauda Sion salvatorem 8 Pierre DE LA RUE: O salutaris hostia 9 William BYRD: Cibavit eos 10 Edward BAIRSTOW: Let all mortal flesh keep silence 11 Pierre VILLETTE: O sacrum convivium 12 Olivier MESSIAEN: O sacrum convivium 13 Francis GRIER [b.1955]: Panis angelicus 14 Graham ROSS [b.1985: Ave verum corpus -world premiere recording 15 Gerald FINZI: Lo, the full, final Sacrifice
RELEASE DATE 24TH MARCH 2017
HAYDN: The Seasons 1801 Hob. XXI:3
Carolyn Sampson, Jeremy Ovenden and Andrew Foster-Williams The Gabrieli Consort continue their series of award-winning collaborations with the National Forum of Music, Wroclaw, Poland with a new version of Haydn’s great oratorio 'The Seasons'. Using a new performing edition by Paul McCreesh this recording is the first to feature the large orchestral forces that Haydn called for, including a string section of 60, 8 horns and a choir of 70. As well as the combined forces of the Gabrieli Consort & Players, Wroclaw Baroque Orchestra and National Forum of Music Choir, the recording features solo performances from British singers Carolyn Sampson, Jeremy Ovenden and Andrew Foster-Williams. All booklet texts printed in both English and Polish translations. ADVERTISED IN BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE (MAY) & GRAMOPHONE (APRIL)
Label: Signum Classics File Under: Classical/Choral Catalogue No: SIGCD480 Barcode: 635212048023 2 FOR 1.5 Price Format: 2 CD Packaging: CD BOOK Gabrieli Consort & Players National Forum of Music Choir Wroclaw Baroque Orchestra Paul McCreesh [conductor]
RELEASE DATE 24TH MARCH 2017
Vaughan Williams: Symphonies 3 & 4 Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Andrew Manze Andrew Manze’s interpretations of Vaughan Williams’ Symphonies have met with acclaim from audiences and critics alike. This second volume in the cycle from the RLPO and Andrew Manze feature Nos 3 & 4: two works heavily influenced by the Great War and its aftermath. A repressed seething rage and sorrow at the futility of the war pervades No.3, "It is really wartime music – a great deal of it originated when I used to go up night after night in the ambulance wagon at Ecoivres" said the composer. The 3rd has been called RVW’s ‘War Requiem’. The 4th is a violent and turbulent work, reflecting the post Great War world and the political turmoil of the 1930s. The audience was perplexed by the nature of the music "I don’t know if I like it, but it’s what I meant" he said after the premiere.
Label: Onyx Classics File Under: Classical/Orchestral Catalogue No: ONYX4161 Barcode: 880040416128 NORMALPrice Format: 1 CD Packaging: cristal Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Andrew Manze [conductor]
Also available by Andrew Manze from ONYX: ONYX4155 Vaughan Williams Symphonies Vol.1: Nos 2 ‘A London Symphony‘ & 8 "A very special recording" 5 stars. BBC Music Magazine review for Volume 1 Symphonies 2&8 "The clarity of texture...lightness, and illuminating qualities of Andrew Manze's interpretation with the RLPO...All in all an excellent start to this new cycle...The sound is excellent." BBC Radio 3 Record Review "I have not enjoyed a performance as much as this since John Barbirolli’s, and the playing here is in every measure richer and more vivid than those post-War recordings, certainly the liveliest available" Norman Lebrecht "a promising start of a complete Vaughan Williams cycle by the RLPO and Andrew Manze...lets the the music blossom.The RLPO and its excellent soloists make a warm, lustrous sound". The Observer Advertised in BBC Music Magazine
RELEASE DATE 24TH MARCH 2017
Sacred Salterio Lamentations of the Holy Week
Miriam Feuersinger Il Dolce Conforto Franziska Fleischanderl In spite of its noble past, the Italian salterio is almost unknown today. But hundreds of compositions for virtuosos and laymen demonstrate the interest of the upper classes in this instrument. In 1749 the salterio was banished from the church by order of Pope Benedict XIV. Nevertheless, in the second half of the century, the it came into fashion in sacred repertoire and was played especially in nunneries. The present recording was recorded with a salterio built in 1725 by Michele Barbi. The playing practice is based on research by Franziska Fleischanderl on the Italian salterio in the 18th century. For this reason, the recording represents an important scientific contribution to the subject.
Label: Christophorus File Under: Classical/Choral/Easter Catalogue No: CHR77408 Barcode: 4010072774088 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack Miriam Feuersinger [soprano] Il Dolce Conforto: Franziska Fleischanderl [salterio & direction] Jonathan Pesek [cello, Raffaele Desideri, Ascoli (1837)] Deniel Perer [organ, Giovanni Pradella, Caiolo (2011)]
In the 'Lamentations for the Holy Week' for obbligato psaltery, soprano and basso continuo, coming from the Benedictine monastery of San Severio (Apulia), we find a fine example of Italian Rococo, full of colourful textures and unusual sounds, masterly rendered by the soprano Miriam Feuersinger and the psaltery specialist, Franziska Fleischanderl. 1-10 MEROLA: Lezzione Seconda 11-15 Anonimo: Lamentazione seconda p(er) Giovedi Santo la Sera (1781) 16-22 Gennaro MANNA: Lezzione Terza del Venerdi Santo 23 Anonimo: Atto di dolore di Metastasio: Io ti offro il proprio figlio (Largo assai)
RELEASE DATE 24TH MARCH 2017
Samuel CAPRICORNUS: Lieder von dem Leyden und Tode Jesu, Songs on the sufferings and death of Jesus, Theatrum Musicum
La Chappelle Rhénane Benoît Haller The figure of Samuel Capricornus has been unfairly neglected by modern historians of music, editors and performers. Not only was Capricornus admired by his contemporaries even beyond the frontiers; the extraordinary standard of his works and the originality and variety of his output make him quite simply one of the greatest composers of religious music of the 17th century. Capricornus’ most original compositions are the 'Lieder von dem Leyden und Tode Jesu' and 'Theatrum musicum'. The former are a kind of German equivalent to the leçons de ténèbres of French Baroque. The texts by Paul Gerhardt are handled ‘in the manner of a concert for two voices and four viols’. The collection entitled Theatrum musicum consists of twelve ‘sacred scenes’ for three voices (alto, tenor and bass), four viols and basso continuo. As their title indicates, these pieces are dramatised sacred poems.
Label: Christophorus File Under: Classical/Choral/Easter Catalogue No: CHR77407 Barcode: 4010072774071 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack Tanya Aspelmeier [soprano] Barbara Ostertag [mezzo] Jean-François Lombard [counter tenor] Benoît Haller ]tenor] Benoît Arnould [bass] Rebeka Rusó, Barbara Leitherer, Silvia Tecardi, Jakob David Rattinger [gambas] Armin Bereuter [violone] Margret Köll [harp] Andreas Arend [theorbo] Sébastien Wonner [organ]
1 Dulcissime, amantissime (Theatrum Musicum, Nr. 1) 7:30 2 O tu vita felicissima (Theatrum Musicum, Nr. 2) 4:28 3 Ein Lämmlein geht und trägt die Schuld (Lieder von dem Leyden und Tode Jesu, Nr. 1) 4:57 4 O Wunderlieb, o Liebesmacht (Lieder von dem Leyden und Tode Jesu, Nr. 2) 4:04 5 O felix jucunditas (Theatrum Musicum, Nr. 7) 3:27 6 Da mihi, Domine Deus meus (Theatrum Musicum, Nr. 8) 4:28 7 O süßes Lamm (Lieder von dem Leyden und Tode Jesu, Nr. 3) 4:17 8 Erweit’re dich, mein Herzens Schrein (Lieder von dem Leyden und Tode Jesu, Nr. 4) 4:25 9 O quam gloriosum est regnum (Theatrum Musicum, Nr. 9) 4:01 10 O amor qui semper ardes (Theatrum Musicum, Nr. 10) 7:27 11 Was schadet mir des Todes Gift? (Lieder von dem Leyden und Tode Jesu, Nr. 5) 4:52 12 O Traurigkeit, o Herzeleid (Lieder von dem Leyden und Tode Jesu, Nr. 6) 8:45 13 Quis dabit capiti meo aquam (Theatrum Musicum, Nr. 11) 6:54 14 Protector in te sperantium Deus (Theatrum Musicum, Nr. 12) 4:36
RELEASE DATE 24TH MARCH 2017
JOMELLI: La Passione di Gesù Cristo Oratorio 1749
Berliner Barock Akademie Ensemble Vocale Sigismondo d‘India Ensemble Vocale Eufonia Alessandro De Marchi
Label: Pan Classics File Under: Classical/Choral/Easter Catalogue No: PC10376 Barcode: 7619990103764 MID Price Format: 2 CD Packaging: digipack Maddalena: Anke Herrmann [soprano] Giovanni: Debora Beronesi [mezzo-soprano] Pietro: Jeffrey Francis [tenor] Giuseppe d‘Arimatea: Maurizio Picconi [baritone]
'La Passione di Gesù Cristo' is the title of a libretto by Metastasio which was repeatedly set as an oratorio by many composers of the late Baroque and early classical periods. The four central roles are San Pietro, San Giovanni, Maria Maddalena, Giuseppe d’Arimatea – with John, Mary Magdalene and Joseph of Arimathea answering Peter’s questions about the crucifixion. Jommelli was among Italy‘s most admired composers between Baroque and early Classicism. The music historian Dr. Charles Burney considered him “indisputably one of the first of his profession now alive in the universe”. The first part of the oratorio deals with the events on Calvary and their effect on those who endured it. In the arias of the second half, where the characters grapple with their loss, Jommelli achieved some remarkable mystical effects: Joseph’s reflection on the enormity of Jerusalem’s fate is strong yet strangely subdued; John’s aria captures the mystery of God’s incarnation through subtle, juxtaposed contrasts; muted strings accompanying Magdalena’s aria seem at once ethereal and cold; Peter’s aria brings hope in the work’s only spectacular virtuosic display. Full track listing available on request
RELEASE DATE 24TH MARCH 2017
Honegger – Le Roi David Ensemble Vocal de Lausanne Orchestre de la Suisse Romande Daniel Reuss With 'Le Roi David', written when he was less than 30 years-old, Honegger produced one of his first great masterpieces. The piece has a Stravinskian bite and primitivism, while also revealing Honegger flexing his compositional muscles, even creating an effective Sprechstimme melodrama scene for witch and orchestra. In 27 numbers overflowing with astonishing musical invention, the oratorio brilliantly recreates a distant biblical past in a resolutely modern hybrid of Middle Eastern-influenced music which can sound, to modern ears, like Miklós Rózsa’s much later film score to'Ben-Hur'. It enjoyed immediate and lasting popular success.
Label: Mirare File Under: Classical/Choral Catalogue No: MIR318 Barcode: 3760127223184 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack Christophe Balissat [le récitant] Athéna Poullos [la pythonisse] Lucie Chartin [soprano] Marianne Beate Kielland [mezzo-soprano] Thomas Walker [tenor] Ensemble Vocal de Lausanne Orchestre de la Suisse Romande Daniel Reuss [direction]
Le Roi David, H 37, Part. 1 1 Introduction | 2 Cantique du berger David | 3 Psaume « Loué soit le Seigneur » 4 Chant de victoire | 5 Cortège | 6 Psaume « Ne crains rien » 7 Psaume « Ah ! si j’avais des ailes de colombe » | 8 Psaume "Cantique des Prophètes" 9 Psaume « Pitié de moi, mon Dieu » | 10 Le Camp de Saul | 11 Psaume « L’éternel est ma lumière infinie » 12 Incantation « La Pythonisse » | 13 Marche des Philistins | 14 Lamentations de Guilboa Le Roi David, H 37, Part. 2 15 Cantique de fête | 16 La Danse devant l’arche Le Roi David, H 37, Part. 3 17 Cantique « De mon coeur jaillit un cantique » | 18 Chant de la servante | 19 Psaume de pénitence 20 Psaume « Je fus conçu dans le péché » | 21 Psaume « Je lève mes regards vers la montagne » 22 La Chanson d’Ephraïm | 23 Marche des Hébreux | 24 Psaume « Je t’aimerai, Seigneur, d’un amour tendre » 25 Psaume « Dans cet effroi » | 26 Couronnement de Salomon | 27 Mort de David
RELEASE DATE 24TH MARCH 2017
Entrez dans la Danse Anne Queffélec The musical France of the Belle Époque and interwar period found refuge in the exhilaration of rhythm; but, in that ‘dance age’, it was only one short step from celebrations to nostalgic reverie. Anne Queffélec invites us to a crepuscular ball where dance, in its contrasted forms, becomes the medium for her meditations.
Label: Mirare File Under: Classical/Instrumental Catalogue No: MIR320 Barcode: 3760127223207 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack Anne Queffélec and Gaspard Dehaene*
1 MOMPOU: Cancion y Danza 4 | 2 RAVEL: Pavane pour une infante défunte, M. 19 3 RAVEL: Valse noble et sentimentale, No. 2, M. 61 | 4 DEBUSSY: The snow is dancing 5 CHABRIER: Feuillet d’album | 6 ROAPARTZ: Ronde | 7 HAHN: Danse de l’Amour et de l’Ennui 8 SCHMITT: La ronde des lettres boiteuses* | 9 POULENC: Bransle de Champagne 10 MASSENET: Valse folle | 11 POULENC: Pavane | 12 DEBUSSY: Ballet* | 13 RAVEL: Menuet antique, M. 7 14 DEBUSSY: Danse | 15 SAINT-SAENS: Valse Nonchalante Op. 110 | 16 SATIE: Danses de travers 17 PIERNE: Valse impromptu, Op. 27* | 18 HAHN: Danse de l’Amour et du Danger 19 POULENC: Le bal fantôme | 20 FAURE: Le pas espagnol* | 21 FRANCK: Danse lente, FWV 22 22 DEBUSSY: Pour la danseuse aux crotales* | 23 POULENC: Sicilienne | 24 CHAUSSON: Pavane ALSO AVAILABLE: MIR189 Satie & Compagnie “Queffelec has crafted an inpired 80-minute sequence anchored around some of Satie’s best-known works … Just wonderful!” Classical Music, February 2013 “This musical jardin a la francaise is dedicated to the memory of Brigitte Engerer, whose death in June last year Anne Queffelec heard of on the very morning she began recording this disc...That is not to say that it's all doom and gloom. Far from it. There are plenty of Gallic high spirits...Altogether an enchanting disc with which to mark your 65th birthday.” Gramophone Magazine, April 2013 “Queffelec has a knack for stimulating programmes and this is no exception...Queffelec's personality is stamped on every note of this generously filled and enjoyable disc.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2013 ****