OCTOBER 14 & 21 2013
harmonia mundi UK
Classical new release
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available 14 October, call-off 4th Oct
OCTOBER
GRAMOPHONE
EDITOR’S CHOICE [Awards issue] • harmonia mundi HMC902146 Bartok Violin Concertos Isabelle Faust, Swedish Radio SO / Daniel Harding EDITOR’S CHOICE • Myrios MYR010 Hindemith Viola Works 1 Tabea Zimmermann, DSO-Berlin / Hans Graf EDITOR’S CHOICE • ONYX4116 RACHMANINOV Cello Sonata Leonard Elschenbroich (vc) Alexei Grynyuk (pf)
BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE
ORCHESTRAL CHOICE • Myrios MYR010 Hindemith Viola Works 1 Tabea Zimmermann, DSO-Berlin / Hans Graf ORCHESTRAL CHOICE • Naïve V5338 Three Centuries at Notre Dame de Paris Olivier Latry [organ]
NEW LABELS!
ACCENT, LES ARTS FLORISSANTS EDITIONS
RELEASE DATE 14TH OCTOBER 2013
J.S. BACH: St Matthew Passion Werner Güra Johannes Weisser, Sunhae Im Bernarda Fink Topi Lehtipuu Konstantin Wolff RIAS Kammerchor Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin René Jacobs
Label: harmonia mundi File Under: Classical/Choral Catalogue No: HMC802156/58 Barcode: 3149020215623 Price: 3 for 2 Format: 2 HYBRID SACDs + DVD Werner Güra [Evangelist] Johannes Weisser [Christus] Sunhae Im, Christina Roterberg [sopranos] Bernarda Fink, Marie-Claude Chappuis [altos] Topi Lehtipuu, Fabio Trümpy [tenors] Konstantin Wolff, Artuu Kataja [basses] Staats- und Domchor Berlin RIAS Kammerchor Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, René Jacobs
It has haunted René Jacobs since childhood: first as a boy soprano in Ghent, then as a countertenor, he has constantly frequented the supreme masterpiece that is the 'St Matthew Passion'. Jacobs uses the layout of the Good Friday Vesper service from Bach's time, with choirs front and back, rather than side-by-side. He also gives us extra soloists to complete the bi-choral effect. For Bach, the two halves were 28 metres apart. At that distance, coordination difficulties begin to appear between the speed of light, and the speed of sound, and we cannot determine how Bach dealt with this problem. However the wonders of SACD multichannel surround sound can at last give an impression of what Bach intended for St Thomas’ Church in Leipzig. As ever, harmonia mundi's production values are such that we are given several essays on the concept of the layout in Bach's time, reflections on the new recording by René Jacobs, full texts and biographies in a 176 page booklet, with sumptuous packaging. This is, somewhat surprisingly, René Jacobs' first recording of 'St Matthew'. ADVERTISED IN CLASSICAL MUSIC PRESS EPK imminent and hm youtube channel clips Gramophone online session report and interview with Lindsay Kemp pitching to Classic FM and Magazines briefed
RELEASE DATE 14TH OCTOBER 2013
STRAVINSKY, PROKOFIEV Violin Concertos STRAVINSKY: Violin Concerto in D PROKOFIEV: Violin Concerto No.2 in G minor
Patricia Kopatchinskaja London Philharmonic Orchestra / Vladimir Jurowski Gramophone and BBC Award-winner Patricia Kopatchinskaja records exclusively for Naïve. Releases to date have included Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with Philippe Herreweghe, a CD entitled 'Rapsodia' which explores the roots of George Enescu’s music with examples of Moldovan and Romanian folk music. Her most recent release was an all-Hungarian disc featuring concertos by Bartók, Ligeti and Eötvös which has won the concerto category in the Gramophone Awards 2013. Patricia's high profile in the UK has been enhanced by the recent James Naughtie interview in BBC Music Magazine plus there's a summary of PR activity below.
Label: NAÏVE File Under: Classical/Orchestral Catalogue No: V5352 Barcode: 822186053522 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack Patricia Kopatchinskaja [violin] London Philharmonic Orchestra Vladimir Jurowski [conductor]
The two violin concertos coupled on this recording display as many affinities as they do divergences. Both stem from creators in conflict with their native Russia – one choosing to return there, the other settling permanently in exile; both belong to the aesthetic of the ‘return to order’ observed from 1920 onwards and characterised by the reappropriation of models from the past. If Prokofiev preserves the traditional bases of the concerto, he combines them with a search for a new lyricism. As for Stravinsky, he reworks tried and trusted models while offering a deliberately neutral, distanced expressivity. PR ACTIVITY: September •FT Arts pages interview – confirmed to run 21 September •Radio 4 Front Row – setting up now. Interview should run in week of the Gramo awards •Radio 3 In Tune (Weds 18th) OR CD Review (Sat 21st) – trying to get snippet quote from Pat to about her category win to be played on-air, Setting this up now. •Good coverage around awards win in print, online and radio. October – CD release and Philharmonia dates CONCERTS: 15 Sept Wigmore Hall Mozart, Britten 16/10 Leicester Stravinsky [wt Philharmonia/Ashkenazy] 17/10 London RFH Stravinsky [wt Philharmonia/Ashkenazy] 18/10 Canterbury Stravinsky [wt Philharmonia/Ashkenazy]
RELEASE DATE 14TH OCTOBER 2013
MOZART: Clarinet Quintet K581, String Quartet K421 Arcanto Quartett Jörg Widmann
Label: harmonia mundi File Under: Classical/Chamber music Catalogue No: HMC902168 Barcode: 3149020216828 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Arcanto Quartett: Antje Weithaas [violin] Daniel Sepec [violin] Tabea Zimmermann [viola] Jean-Guihen Queyras [cello]
We owe these two masterpieces to the musical friendships Mozart made during his years in Vienna. The celestial beauties of the Quintet K581 were tailor-made for the great clarinettist Anton Stadler, while the Quartet K421, more severe in tone, is one of the six Mozart dedicated to his ‘caro amico’ Joseph Haydn. Here then is the ideal programme for the four friends of the Arcanto Quartett to show their affinities with the Mozartian repertoire – for the very first time on CD. After trying out several different chamber combinations, Antje Weithaas, Daniel Sepec, Tabea Zimmermann and Jean-Guihen Queyras founded the Arcanto Quartet in 2002. The four musicians, who in addition to their musical affinities also share a close personal friendship, attracted the attention of the musical world right from their first concert in Stuttgart in 2004. Since then the quartet has performed at all the leading concert halls, including the Beethovenhaus in Bonn, the Théâtre du Châtelet and Cité de la Musique in Paris, the Wigmore Hall in London, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Berlin Philharmonie, and the Edinburgh, Helsinki and Montreux festivals, not forgetting regular tours to Japan and North America. Jörg Widmann studied the clarinet with Gerd Starke at the Munich Hochschule für Musik and later with Charles Neidich at the Juilliard School in New York. He regularly performs chamber music with partners including Tabea Zimmermann, Heinz Holliger, András Schiff, Christian Tetzlaff, Renaud Capuçon and Hélène Grimaud. As a soloist, he appears with major orchestras under conductors such as Christoph von Dohnányi, René Jacobs, Christoph Eschenbach and Kent Nagano. Several clarinet concertos have been dedicated to and premiered by him, notably works by Wolfgang Rihm, Aribert Reimann and Heinz Holliger. Widmann studied composition with Wolfgang Rihm and Hans Werner Henze, among others, and has won many prizes for his works. The 2012/13 season saw the premiere of his opera 'Babylon' at the Bavarian State Opera under Kent Nagano, and performances by the HRSinfonieorchester and Paavo Järvi and the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Sir Simon Rattle.
RELEASE DATE 14TH OCTOBER 2013
SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony No. 8 Mariinsky Orchestra Valery Gergiev
Label: Mariinsky File Under: Classical/Orchestral Catalogue No: MAR0525 Barcode: 822231852520 NORMAL Price Format: 1 SACD Packaging: cristal Mariinsky Orchestra Valery Gergiev
Valery Gergiev continues his Shostakovich symphony cycle with the release of the Eighth Symphony. The work, imbued with a deep sense of sorrow and fear, is considered to be one of the composer’s finest scores. The authorities expected a victorious anthem in light of the Nazi retreat, but Shostakovich appeared too affected by the casualties and ruin of the war. The New York Times recently hailed Gergiev for demonstrating a "powerfully intuitive connection to these works and a keen ear for the intricacies of Shostakovich’s musical voice." Previous releases in Gergiev’s Shostakovich cycle include Symphonies 1 & 15, Symphonies 2 & 11, Symphonies 3 & 10 and Symphony No. 7. Between them they have received two Grammy Award nominations, as well as Chocs from Classica (France) and Editor’s Choices from Gramophone. Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra will tour the US in October with an all-Russian programme including performances of Shostakovich Symphonies 5 & 8 and Stravinsky’s Firebird. "Impressively recorded in the sumptuous acoustics of the new Mariinsky concert hall" BBC Music Magazine PERFORMANCE ***** SOUND ***** (NOS 1 & 15) "His vast experience as an opera conductor pays real dividends in maximising the theatricality ... gripping performance" BBC Music Magazine PERFORMANCE ***** SOUND **** (NOS 2 & 11) Performance **** Recording ***** (No.7) BBC Music Magazine Editor’s choice (NOS 3 & 10) Gramophone "Gergiev works wonders with the Third… wonderfully expressive woodwind playing" BBC Music Magazine Performance ***** (No.3) **** (No.10) Recording ****
RELEASE DATE 21ST OCTOBER 2013
LULLY: Phaeton Les Talens Lyriques / Christophe Rousset
Label: Aparté File Under: Classical/Opera & Vocal Catalogue No: AP061 Barcode: 3149028040326 Price: 2 FOR 1.5 Format: 2 CD Packaging: special Emiliano Gonzalez Toro [Phaéton] Ingrid Perruche [Clymène] Isabelle Druet [Théone, Astrée] Gaëlle Arquez [Libye] Andrew Foster-Williams [Épaphus] Frédéric Caton [Mérops, Automne, Jupiter] Benoît Arnould [Protée, Saturne] Cyril Auvity [Triton, le Soleil]
Founded in 1991 by Christophe Rousset, Les Talens Lyriques are now internationally recognised for their excellence in the Baroque repertoire and their latest recordings in the genre, for Aparté, have earned them international acclaim. After the huge success of 'Bellérophon', they now present Lully's 'Phaéton', recorded at the Salle Pleyel in Paris in October 2012. The critics commented on the admirable clarity and precision of the performance, the perfection of the choruses, sung with veracity by the Namur Chamber Choir, and an ideal cast. 'Phaéton' was the eighth tragédie lyrique to emerge from the successful collaboration between Jean-Baptiste Lully and his faithful librettist, Philippe Quinault, and it is one of their most remarkable creations. First performed in 1683, it proved so popular that it was referred to as the ‘opéra du peuple’. As Christophe Rousset puts it, "Its airs were whistled at Versailles and on the bridges of Paris." In keeping with the tastes of the time, the work is laden with allegory. Phaéton describes a young man’s temerity in wishing to drive the chariot of the sun god, his father, and his subsequent downfall. It presents a moral lesson and also served the image of the king: Jupiter brings to an end the chaos that prevails in the world, just as Louis XIV brought peace to Europe, while promising his people a Golden Age. "There are glorious things in the score, though, all of them presented by Rousset with his customary brilliance... The vocal honours, inevitably perhaps, went to Emiliano Gonzalez Toro in the title role and the great Cyril Auvity as his father, both of them wonderfully at ease with Lully's stratospheric tenor writing. Ingrid Perruche's majestic Clymène, Isabelle Druet's embittered Théone, and Andrew Foster-Williams as Libye's vengeful lover Epaphus were all outstanding." Tim Ashley, The Guardian ALSO AVAILABLE: AP015 Lully Béllérophon Sunday Times Top 100 Albums of 2011 BBC Music Magazine Opera Choice C D Review Disc of the Week Guardian ***** Opera Now***** CONCERTS: 6th December Wigmore Hall, Christophe Rousset, Couperin Apothéoses 6th March Barbican Les Talens Lyriques, Rameau Les Indes Galantes
GRAMOPHONE WINNERS 2013
BAROQUE INTRUMENTAL
harmonia mundi HMC902143 Pour passer la mĂŠlancholie Andreas Staier CONCERTO
naive V5285 Bartok, Eotvos, Ligeti Violin Concertos Patricia Kopatchinskaja, HR-SO/Eotvos EARLY
Signum Classics SIGCD287 A New Venetian Coronation Gabrieli Consort / Paul McCreesh