harmonia mundi UK
Classical new releases
DISTRIBUTED lABELS:
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available May 27th 2016, call-off May 20th
MAY 27
BBC Music Magazine June 2016 Choral & Song Choice
harmonia mundi HMC802236/37 Bach St John Passion René Jacobs “It’s a beautifully recorded version.” BBC R3 Record Review, 19th March 2016
“The results are predictably dramatic, and the narrative is gripping thanks to Werner Güra’s commanding interpretation of the Evangelist.” Sunday Times “a powerful and individual reading...He favours strongly profiled rhythms, chorales with end-of-line pauses, and full-throated singing from the RIAS Chamber Choir (16 singers, augmented for the chorales).” The Guardian, 3rd April 2016 ****
Opera Choice
Pan Classics PC10320 Sebastian Duron Lágrimas Amor Eva Juarez, A Corte Musical, Rogério Gonçalves
On the occasion of the 300th anniversary of Duron’s death in 1716, Rogério Conçalves and his ensemble A Corte Musical, present a fine selection of arias taken from his zarzuelas, that confirm Durón as one of the most important Spanish composers of stage music.
Chamber Choice
ONYX4159 Debussy, Elgar and Respighi Violin Sonatas James Ehnes, Andrew Armstrong
“James Ehnes and Andrew Armstrong make of them a satisfying recital disc that showcases Ehnes’s warm tone and purposeful phrasing” The Guardian, 17/01/2016
Gramophone June 2016 Editor’s Choice
Accent ACC24301 Zelenka Missa Divi Xaverii, ZWV12. Litaniae de Sancto Xaverio, ZWV156 Collegium 1704 / Václav Luks “soprano Hana Blažiková adding a beautiful sheen through her solos… this feels like a major addition to the bohemian composer’s discography in typically searching performances” BBC R3 Record Review, 12th March 2016 “These large-scale works...The orchestration, high natural horns and all, is magnificent, and his theatrical inventiveness shines through.” Sunday Times, 3rd April 2016
Editor’s Choice
Glossa GCDP32110 Machaut Messe de Nostre Dame Graindelavoix / Björn Schmelzer
“Always guaranteed to stimulate thought, Björn Schmelzer’s readings of early choral music are never less than controversial, and this recording is no exception...” Early Music Review
RELEASE DATE 27TH MAY 2016
J.S.BACH: The French Suites BWV 812-817
Richard Egarr Noted for his idiosyncratic and probing performances, British keyboard player and conductor Richard Egarr continues his Bach cycle with these captivating readings of the complete French Suites, BWV812-817. “High octane, muscular, a rush of blood to the head... Moments of calm between the storm ... were suddenly stark, raw and searching. … I was gripped by the energy of it all, by the urgency of the ornamentation, by the aching crunches in the Allemandes.” Herald Scotland, concert review
Label: harmonia mundi File Under: Classical/Instrumental Catalogue No: HMU907583/84 Barcode: 093046758325 2 FOR 1.5 Format: 2 CD Packaging: slipcase Richard Egarr [harpsichord]
CONCERT: 21st May Milton Court Handel Acis and Galatea wt the Academy of Ancient Music
ALSO AVAILABLE: HMU907591/92 Bach: English Suites Nos. 1-6, BWV806-811 "The best harpsichord recital of these Suites on disc.” BBC Music Magazine, March 2013 ***** BBC Music Magazine, Instrumental Choice, March 2013, Finalist, Awards 2014 HMU907425/26 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV988, Goldberg Canons, BWV1087 "an interpretation to be treasured...." Gramophone HMU907431/32 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1 “Uninhibited virtuosity… This is playing of real stature. Richard Egarr is the doyen of English harpsichordists” Gramophone HMU907433/34 Bach, J S: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2 “If you’ve ever found Book 2 daunting or heavy going, here’s the antidote: these performances are a revelation and a joy.” Graham Lock, Early Music Today, June/August 2010
RELEASE DATE 27TH MAY 2016
J.S.BACH: Solo & Double Violin Concertos Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, BWV1043 Concerto for Two Keyboards in C minor, BWV1060 Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, BWV1041 Violin Concerto No. 2 in E major, BWV1042
Andrew Manze Rachel Podger The Academy of Ancient Music One of the best-selling discs ever made by harmonia mundi. "Manze is a violinist with extraordinary flair and improvisatory freedom, the Grappelli of the Baroque... [the ensemble has] unparalleled energy, an irresistibly bounding pulse and sparkling articulation from top to bottom." BBC Music Magazine
Label: harmonia mundi File Under: Classical/Orchestral Catalogue No: HMA1957155 Barcode: 3149020715536 BUDGET Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack Academy of Ancient Music Andrew Manze [conductor, violin] Rachel Podger [violin]
"[Manze and Podger] allow the poetry of Bach's music to unfold in a comfortably measured, lucidly punctuated and eloquently inflected way." Gramophone "Even more to my taste is the beautifully matched pairing of Andrew Manze and Rachel Podger. It is not just that gut strings and shorter, Baroque bows give the outer movements an extra clarity and dancing lightness. What clinches my choice is the fire and fantasy of the playing, the way Manze and Podger constantly goad each other to new flights of imagination in their colour and phrasing. The fast movements (and the finale really goes like the wind) have a glorious spontaneous exhilaration, while the largo, expressively embellished, is the perfect counter to those who still equate period instruments with emotional austerity." Richard Wigmore, Daily Telegraph, March 2007
RELEASE DATE 27TH MAY 2016
BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonatas Nos. 29 Op.106 'Hammerklavier' & 30 Op.109
François-Frédéric Guy François-Frédéric Guy has performed the complete cycle of 32 Sonatas in Washington, Paris, Monaco and recently at the Festival Berlioz in La Côte-Saint-André (August 2013). His eclectic and varied discography has been warmly welcomed by the critics including this from BBC Music Magazine: "it [the Emperor Concerto] confirms Guy as one of the foremost pianists of his generation.” His most recent recording of Beethoven's Complete Works for Cello & Piano was Disc of the Month in January Gramophone . This title was released for the first time in 1997.
Label: harmonia mundi File Under: Classical/Instrumental Catalogue No: HMA1951639 Barcode: 3149020163931 BUDGET Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack François-Frédéric Guy [piano]
RELEASE DATE 27TH MAY 2016
HANDEL: Coronation Anthems NDR Choir Göttingen Festival Orchestra Laurence Cummings Handel wrote the impressive 'Coronation Anthems' for George II. At the express wish of the new ruler he took British citizenship in order to meet the formal requirements for the task. Their festive character brought the work exceptional popularity even after the coronation. And hence 'Zadok the Priest' has not only been heard at every British coronation ceremony since, but also inspired the writer of the theme music for the UEFA Champions League! The present recording is a live production from the 2014 International Händel Festival in Göttingen, highly praised by the critics and the audience. Laurence Cummings, the Festival's Artistic Director, a renowned Handel specialist stands at the helm of the Göttingen Festival Orchestra and the NDR Choir.
Label: Accent Records File Under: Classical/Choral Catalogue No: ACC26405 Barcode: 4015023264052 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack NDR Choir Göttingen Festival Orchestra Laurence Cummings [director]
1 Zadok the Priest HWV 258 2-4 Let thy hand be strengthened HWV 259 5-8 The king shall rejoice HWV 260 9-12 My heart is inditing HWV 261 'Esther' Choruses from the 1732 version 13 Sinfonia 14 Shall we the God of Israel fear: Chorus of Persian soldiers 15 Ye sons of Israel mourn: Chorus of Israelites 16 Tyrants may a while presume: Chorus of Israelites 17 Save us, O Lord: Chorus of Israelites 18 God is our hope: Chorus of Israelites “The chorus are all-important in this work, and the NDR Chor do not disappoint, with very good English and flexible singing that responds fittingly to every situation. ..Cummings directs the whole thing with an unfailing ear for the drama but never losing sight of the music's beauty.” MusicWeb International, 16th June 2015
RELEASE DATE 27TH MAY 2016
Why not here: Music for two Lyra Viols Around 1600 composers of English music for viols followed a specific style direction known as lyra viol music. From the time between 1601 and 1692, 18 printed sources as well as more than 50 manuscripts sources have survived to the present day. The lyra viol is not primarily a different instrument, to be distinguished from a normal viol, but the term rather refers to a style of playing: the art of playing “lyraway� as the title pages of many of the sources indicate. The main characteristics of this kind of playing are the use of the chordal playing, implied polyphony with a changing number of voices, the use of plucked strings as well as bowed sounds and the use of a multitude of different tuning systems (scordatura): in the sources we find almost 60 different ways of tuning the viol. A small bass viol or a large tenor would be generally used for this kind of playing. It became the solo bowed instrument par excellence during the course of the 17th century. Friedricke Heumann and Hille Perl began playing as a duo during the solar eclipse of the year 1999 in Paris. Their speciality is incredible music for two viols.
Label: Accent Records File Under: Classical/Instrumental Catalogue No: ACC24317 Barcode: 4015023243170 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack Hille Perl [viola da gamba] Friederike Heumann [viola da gamba] Lee Santana [renaissance lute] Michael Freimuth [renaissance lute]
Thomas FORD: 1 A Paven M. Maynes choice, 2 The Galiard, 3 Forget me not, 4 The Baggepipes Sir Charles Howards delight, 5 Why not here M. Crosse his choice, 6 Cate of Bardie The Queenes Jig John JENKINS: 7 Fantasia John DANYEL: 8 Passymeasures, 9 A Fancy Alfonso FERRABOSCO: 10 Almaine, 11 Galliard, 12 Coranto Anthony HOLBORNE: 13 Goe from my window Richard ALISON: 14 Goe from my window Thomas FORD: 15 A Paven Sir Richard Westons delight, 16 The Galiard, 17 An Almaine M. Westovers farewell, 18 Whipit and Tripit M. Southcotes Jig Alfonso FERRABOSCO: 19 The Spanish Paven William LAWES: 20 Paven, 21 Aire
RELEASE DATE 27TH MAY 2016
Di Guerra e di Pace Renaissance music for winds and percussion
La Pifarescha
Label: Glossa File Under: Classical/Chamber music Catalogue No: GCD923901 Barcode: 8424562239012 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack La Pifarescha: Stefano Vezzani [recorders, pipe and tabor, shawms] Marco Ferrari [recorders, shawms, bagpipes] Mauro Morini [sackbuts, slide trumpet, buisine] David Yacus [sackbuts, buisine] Fabio Tricomi [fiddle, pipe and tabor, percussion] Svetlana Fomina [fiddle] Gabriele Miracle [dulcimer, percussion]
Given the prevalence of war in Europe during the Renaissance it is no real surprise that warlike themes and echoes of battles should find their ways into music, such as the many 'L’Homme armé' and 'La Bataille' masses of the time. With 'Di guerra e di pace', La Pifarescha captures the contrast between the roar and rhythms of battle and the celebrations of courtly and popular festivities as would have been performed by an alta cappella ensemble from the Middle Ages through to the dawn of the Baroque: shawms, slide trumpets and sackbuts, plus other wind instruments buttressed by percussion instruments. The music of well-known composers from the period – Josquin, Isaac, Willaert, Phalèse, Susato and Senfl – is conjured up in virtuosic performances from this Italian ensemble, making its first appearance on Glossa, although its members regularly contribute to instrumental performances by the likes of Cantica Symphonia or La Venexiana. This modern journey, creating a Renaissance 'soundtrack', embraces not just war and peace but also the contrast of European and Arabic and Asiatic influences from the times of the Crusades through to civic bands playing for residents of Renaissance Venice or Bologna. In creating this enjoyable and improvisation-filled entertainment the members of La Pifarescha wear their scholarly knowledge lightly as they play their way from the popular to the erudite and back. 01 Moritz von HESSEN-KASSEN: Pavana del povero soldato, 02 Pierre PHALESE: Pavane de la guerre, 03 Gaillarde de la guerre 04 Josquin DESPREZ: Adieu mes amours, 05 Adrian WILLAERT: Vecchie letrose 06 ANON: Basse dance 1, 07 Tielman SUSATO: Entrée du fol 08 Ludwig SENFL: Im Maien hört man die Hanen kreen, 09 Heinrich ISAAC: La Morra 10 Jean d’ESTREES: Les Bouffons, 11 Pierre PHALESE: Pavana Ferrareze, 12 Gaillarda Ferrareze 13 SENFL: Patientia, muss ich han, wohl kann 14 ANON: Die vollen Brüedren, 15 Symphonia nobili sirene organa / In laudem summi Regis 16 Jehan TABOUROT: Belle qui tiens ma vie, 17 HESSEN-KASSEL: Pastorella 18 Giovanni AMBROSIO: Amoroso, 19 DESPREZ: Mille Regretz, 20 Tielman SUSATO: Pavane Mille Regretz 21 HESSEN-KASSEL: Pastorella, 22 Paul KUGELMANN: Nichts werders ist, 23 ANON: O partita crudele 24 DESPREZ: Scaramella, 25 ANON: Allemande
RELEASE DATE 27TH MAY 2016
HOLST: Choral Hymns from Rig Veda (Groups 1-4) Two Eastern Pictures for women’s voices Hymn to Dionysus RPO Royal College of Music Chamber Choir Sir David WiIllcocks Rarities abound in this re-release of Holst’s choral music, expertly conducted by the late Sir David Willcocks.
Label: Unicorn File Under: Classical/Choral Catalogue No: DKPCD9046 Barcode: 053068904629 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: cristal Osian Ellis [harp] RPO, Royal College of Music Chamber Choir, Sir David WiIllcocks
"This is a skilfully assembled collection of choral music from Holst's so-called Sanskrit period, the years roughly between the beginning of the century and the outbreak of the Great War. Some of the Rig Veda Hymns are reasonably well known, but there are one or two real rarities here, and very welcome it is to have them revived. There cannot, for instance, have been many performances of the Hymn to Dionysus in recent times: it is a setting for women's chorus and orchestra of part of ''The Bacchae'', in the now unfashionable translation by Gilbert Murray... the virtually complete collection of the four Rig Veda groups for women's voices is valuable. The extraordinary ''To Varuna'' is another anticipation of the Choral Symphony, as is ''To the Unknown God''; ''To Agni'' has, perhaps inevitably, some of the fire music of 'The perfect fool' in it...The Royal College of Music choir sing well...The recording is as lucid as Holst himself might have wished." John Warrack, Gramophone, March 1986 "the warmth and thrust of the music are beautifully caught...The Hymn to Dionysus...a rarity...makes a welcome and substantial fill-up...Beautifully clean and atmospheric recording." Penguin Guide to Compact Discs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_RlvDi6Uxc
RELEASE DATE 27TH MAY 2016
Piano Music of Chabrier Kathryn Stott Rarely performed in the concert hall, Chabrier’s solo piano oeuvre is unjustly neglected. Kathryn Stott gives first class performances. "This is fun: the music is full of pleasing character, exuberance and memorable melodies, with Chabrier’s fondness for Spanish flavours much in evidence………. Kathryn Stott’s playing has delightful inner élan and bounciness – she sounds as if she’s enjoying every minute." Jessica Duchen, BBC Music Magazine
Label: Unicorn File Under: Classical/Instrumental Catalogue No: DKPCD9158 Barcode: 053068915823 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: cristal Elizabeth Burley (piano)* Kathryn Stott [piano]
"Recorded in 1994, Kathryn Stott's selection of Emmanuel Chabrier's keyboard pieces first appeared on the now hibernating Unicorn Kanchana label. Its reappearance...offers highly idiomatic accounts of a corner of the 19th-century piano repertory that is rarely explored in any depth. The major work here is the set of ten Pièces Pittoresques, every one of which would make an ingratiating encore, but there are also six independent pieces and the Trois Valses Romantiques, in Alfred Cortot's arrangement for two pianos...she certainly uncovers the wit and charm of these pieces, and demonstrates why Chabrier's music was so admired by later French composers such as Ravel and especially Poulenc." Andrew Clements, The Guardian 23/5/2003 Pièces pittoresques (10) Impromptu for Piano in C major Pièces posthumes (5) Valses romantiques (3) for 2 pianos*
RELEASE DATE 27TH MAY 2016
SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphonies 5 Op. 47 & 12 'The Year 1917' Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra Yevgeny Mravinsky Shostakovich was genuinely trying to break new ground but had been sharply brought into line (viz. the edict issued against his opera 'Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk'). His 5th Symphony seems to cast doubt on the Marxist purity of the Party in power. He conveyed his rage in unexpectedly neo-Mahlerian style, but concluded with politically correct optimism. A quarter of a century later he produced 'The Year 1917', a skilfully produced commission which sounds like a film score. Even today Mravinsky is still the most effective interpreter of these pieces, capable of rendering both their intrinsic power and resounding ambiguities.
Label: Praga Digitals File Under: Classical/Orchestral Catalogue No: DSD350122 Barcode: 3149028086126 NORMAL Price Format: 1 HYBRID SACD Packaging: cristal Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra Yevgeny Mravinsky
Symphony No. 5 live radio recording, Moscow, Great Hall of the Conservatory 24/10/1965 [previously available on PR250085] Symphony No. 12 6/1/1962, broadcast by Prague Radio of the first public performance [Leningrad 1/10/1961] [previously available on PRD254017]
RELEASE DATE 27TH MAY 2016
Novus Quartet #1 Novus Quartet « This ensemble’s playing is incredibly solid and well-balanced. All four musicians perform at the same level and their music-making is enthralling. »
Label: Aparté File Under: Classical/Chamber music Catalogue No: AP125 Barcode: 3149028077827 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack Novus Quartet: Jaeyoung Kim, Young-Uk Kim (violin) Seungwon Lee (viola) Woongwhee Moon (cello)
It was with these words that Lukas Hagen, first violinist of the renowned Hagen Quartett, described the four musicians’ artistic quality after their performance at the International Mozart Competition, held in Salzburg in February 2014, where Hagen was the Head of the Jury. The quartet went on to win First Prize at the Competition. This first album represents a crossing of their influences, both Korean (Yun, Arirang) and German (Webern, Beethoven). Here, the Novus demonstrate prodigious technique in the service of exceptional musicality. Their versions of Werbern’s 'Langsamer Satz' and Beethoven’s 'Quartetto Serioso' will not pale in the game of comparisons. In the style of a Bartók, Isang Yun’s Quartet, a discovery, takes up material from brilliantly colourful Korean musical folklore. 'Arirang' is Korea’s best-known and most popular folk song (inscribed on the Representative List of UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity), a moving tribute from the four musicians to their homeland. Established at the Korean National University of Arts in 2007, the Novus String Quartet is one of the leading chamber music ensembles in Korea. The Quartet studies under Professors Christoph Poppen and Hariolf Schlichtig at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich. 1.WEBERN: Langsamer Satz 2-5. BEETHOVEN: String Quartet in F minor 'Quartetto Serioso', Op. 95 6-8. Isang YUN (1917-1995): String Quartet No. 1 9. Arirang (arr. Sung-Min Ahn)
RELEASE DATE 27TH MAY 2016
BACH: Keyboard Suites Fabrizio Chiovetta "J.S. Bach's music has accompanied me since I first started playing the piano. I have always been powerfully drawn by the polyphonic genius of this composer, by his mind as both architect and improviser, and I have continually presented his works in my concerts." Fabrizio Chiovetta This programme, carefully chosen from amongst the hundreds of works by the composer, starts first with the French Overture in B minor: a monumental, complex work, rarely performed in concert. It was during a recital by Grigory Sokolov that Chiovetta fell in love with this pièce. He next chose one of the fundamental pieces that marks the culmination of the suite genre: the sublime Partita No.1 in B flat major. He concludes with the English Suite No.4, with the wish of restoring some of the honour it deserves.
Label: Aparté File Under: Classical/Instrumental Catalogue No: AP126 Barcode: 3149028077926 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack Fabrizio Chiovetta [piano]
Overture in the French style, BWV 831 1. Ouverture, 2. Courante, 3. Gavotte I & II, 4. Passepied I & II, 5. Sarabande, 6. Bourrée I & II, 7. Gigue, 8. Echo Partita No. 1 in B flat major, BWV 825 9. Prelude, 10. Allemande, 11. Courante, 12. Sarabande, 13. Menuet I & II, 14. Gigue English Suite No. 4 in F major, BWV 809 15. Prelude, 16. Allemande, 17. Courante, 18. Sarabande, 19. Menuet I & II, 20. Gigue https://soundcloud.com/apartemusic/9-piste-audio