September 9 Classical Releases 2016

harmonia mundi UK

Classical new releases

SEPTEMBER 9

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 September 9th 2016, call-off August 26th

RELEASE DATE 9TH SEPTEMBER 2016

COUPERIN: Trois Leçons de TÊnèbres, BROSSARD: Stabat Mater

La Nuova Musica Lucy Crowe Liz Watts David Bates François Couperin's 'Leçons de TÊnèbres' (c. 1713-17), a setting of the Lamentations of Jeremiah, fused devotional expression with a dramatic performing style embodied here by sopranos Lucy Crowe and Elizabeth Watts. Two Trio Sonatas and a 'Stabat Mater' by SÊbastien de Brossard round out this luminous programme.

Label: harmonia mundi File Under: Classical/Choral Catalogue No: HMU807659 Barcode: 093046765965 NORMAL Price Format: 1 SACD Packaging: digipack La Nuova Musica Lucy Crowe, Liz Watts [sopranos] David Bates [conductor]

La Nuova Musica was founded by its artistic director David Bates in 2007 whilst in residency at Snape Maltings and was hailed by BBC Radio 3 as “one of the most exciting consorts in the early music field�. They are regular contributors at Aldeburgh Music, St John’s Smith Square, London Handel Festival, Wigmore Hall and Spitalfields Music. Highlights of 2015 were a performance of 'Acis and Galatea' at SJSS which received a 5* review in The Times, describing it as “a reading that sparkled from the giddy overture to the consoling final chorus� followed by a concert performance of Cesti’s 'Orontea', where “Bates’ conducting had superb poise, and the cast was impeccable, with not a weak link anywhere�

(The Guardian).

In 2016 LNM will also record Pergolesi's 'Stabat Mater' and Bach Cantatas with Lucy Crowe and Tim Mead.

Concert performance highlights for 2016 include Handel’s 'Berenice' at the GÜttingen Internationale Händel Festspiele; their debut at the Salzburg Festival with Bejun Mehta; and an exciting collaboration with American choreographer Zack Winokur on Purcell’s 'Dido and Aeneas' at the Brighton International Festival, with Dame Ann Murray singing the title role.

ALSO AVAILABLE: +08 6DFULILFHV %URVVDUG &KDUSHQWLHU &DULVVLPL "This is a disc of much promise from a new generation of British Baroque performing talent.� Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2014 “Buy this, sit back and enjoy.� MusicWeb International

RELEASE DATE 9TH SEPTEMBER 2016

DURUFLE: Requiem, Messe Cum Jubilo, Four Motets The Choir of King's College Cambridge

Label: Kings College Cambridge File Under: Classical/Choral Catalogue No: KGS0016 Barcode: 822231701620 MID Price Format: 1 SACD Packaging: cristal Patricia Bardon Ashley Riches The Choir of King's College Cambridge OAE / Stephen Cleobury

For this new recording the choir are reunited with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment to perform Maurice Duruflé’s 1947 'Requiem', in the composer’s own version for soprano, choir, organ and small orchestra. The album is completed with the 'Messe Cum Jubilo' for male voices and the Four Motets, mirroring Fauré’s 'Messe Basse' for boys on the earlier album, to which this is very much a partner.

The most famous of the Four Motets is 'Ubi Caritas' (‘Where charity and love are, God is there), a staple of the choir’s Easter repertoire and which was sung at Downing Street when the choir attended the Prime Minister’s Easter reception in 2013.

The choir is joined by Patricia Bardon, youngest ever prize-winner of the Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, for the 'Pie Jesu' of the Requiem, with the other solo sections sung by the men of the choir in accordance with Duruflé’s instructions. Former choral scholar Ashley Riches, also a former member of the Royal Opera House Jette Parker Young Artists programme, returns to the choir as soloist in the 'Messe Cum Jubilo'.

This recording represents the last time the organ at King’s was played before it was removed for substantial restoration.

King’s College’s Fauré Requiem [KGS0005] was the best-selling core classical album of 2014, reaching #2 in the UK Specialist Classical Chart and nominated for Classic FM Album of the Year 2014: “what’s not to like about this release? Highly recommended.” Choir & Organ “The viola-led OAE offer superb support throughout and the baritone Gerald Finley is at his most tonally liquid...”

Gramophone

CONCERTS: 13th December, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester Fauré Cantique de Jean Racine/Duruflé Requiem

“beautifully realised here by the period instruments of the OAE and the King’s College Cambridge Choir.”

The Times ****

24th December, King’s College Chapel, Cambridge A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols

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RELEASE DATE 9TH SEPTEMBER 2016

MENDELSSOHN: Symphonies 1 & 4 'Italian' London Symphony Orchestra / Sir John Eliot Gardiner

Label: LSO Live File Under: Classical/Orchestral Catalogue No: LSO0769 Barcode: 822231176923 NORMAL Price Format: 1 SACD/BLURAY Packaging: cristal London Symphony Orchestra Sir John Eliot Gardiner SACD Hybrid + 1 Pure Audio Blu-ray $'9(57,6(' ,1 &/$66,&$/ 086,& 35(66

Constantly in the vanguard of enlightened interpretation, Sir John Eliot Gardiner stands as a leader in today’s musical life. His award-winning Mendelssohn cycle on LSO Live showcases his period performance expertise; the LSO muscians standing to play, highlighting their individual musicianship. As Gardiner notes: "It gives a different type of dynamism and energy... it means that the fiddles are freer in the way that they attack the extremely virtuosic lines and it gives a tremendous sense of occasion to the music making."

Dramatic and harmonically adventurous, Mendelssohn’s Symphony No 1 is presented here in a unique format, with both the original and revised versions of the third movement. As Gardiner said when introducing the work in concert: "It’s not every evening that you get to hear a symphony by a 14-and-a-half-year-old genius and there’s an intriguing complication to this piece. When Mendelssohn came to London in 1829, he performed the symphony and he wrote back to his parents saying: “well, I looked over my symphony and, lord, the minuet bored me to tears! So what I did was to take the scherzo from my Octet and I added a few airy trumpets and it sounded lovely.� Well, actually he did an awful lot more than that; he re-orchestrated absolutely brilliantly. And it’s so good, we thought you should hear that version. But what about the minuet and trio? Why, when he came to publish the symphony did he use that version and leave out the scherzo? I happen to think they’re both really remarkable, as is the whole symphony, and perhaps you’d let us know which you prefer...?"

The Fourth Symphony is inspired by the sights, sounds and atmosphere of Italy and is among the best loved of all the composer’s works. Mendelssohn himself described it as: "the jolliest piece I’ve written so far."

Symphony No 1 was broadcast across Europe on Mezzo TV, alongside Mendelssohn’s 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream', and this rich video content will be shared to support the release.

Previous releases in the cycle have received widespread praise: LSO0765 Symphony No 3 ‘Scottish’, The Hebrides Overture, Schumann Piano Concerto reached #3 in the UK Specialist Classical Chart and was awarded Editor’s Choice by Gramophone.

LSO0775 Symphony No 5 and Overtures: Ruy Blas, Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage also charted in the UK, reaching #12, received featured airplay on Classic FM and was received warmly across international press, including 4* and 5* reviews from BBC Music Magazine and The Financial Times.

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RELEASE DATE 9TH SEPTEMBER 2016

BERLIOZ: Symphonie Fantastique Recorded Live at Concertgebouw Amsterdam on 31 March and 1 & 3 April 2016

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Daniele Gatti With the release of this live recording of Hector Berlioz's 'Symphonie fantastique', RCO Live celebrates the start of its collaboration with Daniele Gatti as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra's seventh chief conductor on 9 September 2016.

His unconventional take on this spectacular score evokes the astonishment audiences must have experienced at the time of the 1830 premiere. It is exactly this sense of surprise and freshness – founded on a thorough knowledge of the score – and the sheer joy of making music together, that prompted the members of the RCO to choose Daniele Gatti as their new chief conductor.

Press quotes: "Gatti's triumphal march to the scaffold" De Volkskrant

Label: RCO Live File Under: Classical/Orchestral Catalogue No: RCO16006 Barcode: 814337019297 NORMAL Price Format: 1 SACD Packaging: cristal Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Daniele Gatti [chief conductor]

"Gatti takes nothing for granted" Trouw "Daniele Gatti's unconventionality is exciting" NRC Formats: Hybrid SACD, 5.0, 2.0 (RCO 16006) Coming soon: DVD+BLURAY late September 2016 (RCO16108+9) with Wagner and Liszt 2LP, 180gr, 45 rpm, Ltd Ed. November (RCO 16007)

RELEASE DATE 9TH SEPTEMBER 2016

BERIO: Sinfonia BERIO/MAHLER: 11 Early Lieder

Matthias Goerne "Since it was first performed in 1969, Luciano Berio's Sinfonia has become a classic, certainly the most widely known of all his works and arguably the most successful concert piece by a composer of his generation." The Guardian

Label: harmonia mundi File Under: Classical/Secular Vocal music Catalogue No: HMC902180 Barcode: 3149020218020 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack Matthias Goerne BBC Symphony Orchestra Juan Pons Synergy Vocals

This release is dedicated to the pioneer of Italian modernism Luciano Berio. His 5-movement 'Sinfonia', is undoubtedly his most well-known work, written for the New York Philharmonic and dedicated to Leonard Bernstein. It has become one of the key works and principle musical manifestations of the 1960s bringing together collage technique and modernism.

A few years later, Berio went on to orchestrate a number of songs on texts from 'Des Knaben Wunderhorn', which Mahler had scored for piano and voice, as if they had been written at the time of the later 'Kindertotenlieder'. A symphonic backcloth tailor-made for the great baritone voice of Matthias Goerne [whose 'Knaben Wunderhorn' songs are already available on DVD, with Andris Nelsons, from Lucerne]. His warm, dark voice allows him to capture the sombre and tragic atmosphere of this music like no one else.

Des Knaben Wunderhorn 1 VI. Ablösung im Sommer 2 V. Zu Strassburg auf der Schanz 3 VIII. Nicht wiedersehen!

4 I. Um schlimme Kinder artig zu machen Lieder und Gesänge, Book 1 5 II. Erinnerung Des Knaben Wunderhorn 6 Hans und Grete 7 II. Ich ging mit Lust Lieder und Gesänge, Book 1 8 I. Frühlingsmorgen 9 V. Phantasie aus "Don Juan" Des Knaben Wunderhorn 10 VII. Scheiden und Meiden 11-15 Sinfonia

RELEASE DATE 9TH SEPTEMBER 2016

RACHMANINOV: Symphony No 1 BALAKIREV: Tamara

Valery Gergiev London Symphony Orchestra

Label: LSO Live File Under: Classical/Orchestral Catalogue No: LSO0784 Barcode: 822231178422 MID Price Format: 1 SACD Packaging: cristal Valery Gergiev London Symphony Orchestra

Rachmaninov’s music reveals Gergiev at his very best and this LSO Live cycle of the complete symphonies has received widespread acclaim. The LSO are clearly at ease with these challenging works, earning a Gramophone Editor's Choice with Symphony No. 2 for its "warm and irresistibly propulsive [performance] ...‘Andrew Marriner’s almost introverted account of the great clarinet solo is beautifully accompanied, a real heart-stopper."

Symphony No 3, coupled with Balakirev’s Russia, was also well-reviewed by critics and received featured airplay on BBC Radio 3 along with 5* reviews from both BBC Music Magazine and Classic FM. Completing the cycle, Gergiev conducts Symphony No 1, coupled with another Russian masterpiece, Balakirev’s 'Tamara'.

Rachmaninov’s First Symphony has a somewhat chequered history, in no small part due to a, quite possibly, drunk Glazunov conducting the first performance. However, it is now seen as a vibrant depiction of Russian civilisation and culture, recognised for its fluid longing and expressive features.

Balakirev was a member of Russia’s ‘Mighty Handful’, and 'Tamara' is widely considered his greatest work - a sensuous and melodic work influenced by exotic and oriental culture, popular in the music of 19th-century Russia.

Aside from Rachmaninov’s symphonies, Gergiev and the LSO have also recorded the composer’s popular 'Symphonic Dances' for LSO Live. Charting at #7 in the UK Specialist Classical Charts, it makes a beautiful addition to the cycle: "How beautifully blended and responsive they [LSO] are under Gergiev’s direction … there is much to enjoy here, not least an orchestra that is at the very top of its game under its charismatic conductor." International Record Review Concert reviews: "Full blooded and engrossing… the performance revealed the genius of this strange, haunted piece." The Telegraph, [Symphony No. 1] "Rachmaninov surely dreamt of a performance such as this. [Balakirev’s Tamara] deserves more exposure."

Seen and Heard International "This music [Rachmaninov] would appear to form part of Gergiev’s cardiovascular system, the LSO playing throughout at its considerable best. [Balakirev’s Tamara] drew from Gergiev and the LSO a performance of distinction."

Classical Source "This is music Gergiev clearly believes in and that translated itself to his players…Here was Gergiev at his best."

Bachtrack

RELEASE DATE 9TH SEPTEMBER 2016

Craig Hella JOHNSON: Considering Matthew Shepard Conspirare Craig Hella Johnson Craig Hella Johnson leads Conspirare in this world premiere recording of his Passion 'Considering Matthew Shepard', his musical response to the tragic death of a young gay man who was beaten and subsequently died, and who has become an American icon and a symbol for hope and empowerment. This major new work for chorus, soloists and chamber ensemble sets a rich variety of texts by Lesléa Newman, Michael Dennis Browne, the composer himself and many others, leading us from anguish to understanding. Many Conspirare singers are featured as soloists, and the vocal group is joined by a small ensemble of strings, piano (Craig Hella Johnson), guitar, clarinet, and percussion.

“One of the most original and innovative American works of the past several decades.” Robert Kyr

Label: harmonia mundi File Under: Classical/Secular Vocal music Catalogue No: HMU807368/69 Barcode: 093046763862 2 FOR 1.5 Price Format: 2 SACD Packaging: digipack Conspirare Craig Hella Johnson

http://conspirare.org/project/considering-matthew-shepard/ http://conspirare.org/inspire/craig-hella-johnson-why-matthew-shepard/ http://conspirare.org/inspire/considering-matthew-shepard-what-youll-hear/

RELEASE DATE 9TH SEPTEMBER 2016

PROKOFIEV: Semyon Kotko filmed at Mariinsky II, St Petersburg 2013, duration 148m

Valery Gergiev Mariinsky Orchestra and Chorus

Label: Mariinsky File Under: Classical/Opera & Vocal Catalogue No: MAR0592 Barcode: 822231859222 NORMAL Price Format: 1 Blu-ray +1 DVD Disc 1 BD50 16:9 HD1080 Disc 2 DVD9 REGION O 16:9 NTSC Viktor Lutsyuk: Semyon Kotko Gennadi Bezzubenkov: Tkachenko Tatiana Pavlovskaya: Sofya Varvara Solovyova: Frosya Evgeny Nikitin: Remenyuk stage director: Yuri Alexandrov film director: Anna Matison

"Valery Gergiev is a born Prokofiev interpreter" The Guardian 2016 marks the 125th anniversary of Sergei Prokofiev’s birth and Valery Gergiev is widely regarded as one of the composer’s greatest interpreters. Joined by a fine cast of soloists, Gergiev and the Mariinsky celebrate the great Russian’s genius with a world-first DVD & Blu-ray release of his raw, thrilling and utterly engrossing opera, 'Semyon Kotko'.

Based on the novel 'I, Son of Working People' by Valentin Katayev, who also wrote the libretto with Prokofiev, the perceived propagandist nature of the story meant its inherent musical quality was initially overlooked. Though not by all, as celebrated pianist Sviatoslav Richter remarked: "The premiere of the opera was a momentous event in my life [...]

That evening, when I first heard Semyon Kotko, I understood that Prokofiev was a great composer."

Directed by award-winnning stage director Yuri Alexandrov, and filmed by celebrated Mariinksy director Anna Matison, this staging of 'Semyon Kotko' originated in 1999 and has been awarded two key Russian prizes, both the Casta Diva and the Golden Mask awards. Semyon Kotko is now a key work performed regularly in Russia, as well as internationally, and is presented here as a stunning DVD & Blu-ray package, featuring HD audio (inc. surround sound) and with a wide range of subtitles including English, French, German, Spanish, Japanese and the original Russian.

Valery Gergiev’s award-winning DVD & Blu-ray releases on the Mariinsky Label include: 0$5 3URNRILHY 7KH *DPEOHU WINNER Best DVD 2013 - Stage and Drama 51st Record Geijutsu Academy Awards WINNER DVD Performance 2014 International Classical Music Awards "Gergiev is on his home territory here, and he has the orchestra and singers eating out of his hand. The orchestra, in particular, play brilliantly for him, illustrating every nuance of Prokofiev’s endlessly pictorial score with delicacy and virtuosity." Music Web International "It’s a fine work, too little known outside Russia... But the Mariinsky presents it with a world-class cast which gives it its very best chance of success, as does the excellent quality of picture and sound in this release… Terrific singing and acting." Sinfini Music

RELEASE DATE 9TH SEPTEMBER 2016

Mstislav Rostropovich plays Prokofiev Cello Sonata Op. 119, Symphony-Concerto Op.125 [rec. 25/2/64] Concertino Op.132 [rec 13/5/64] live Moscow Conservatory

Mstislav Rostropovich Gennadi Rozhdestvensky Prokofiev was in poor health and making fewer public appearances when he asked Rostropovich for help in rewriting Concerto Op. 58. Slava premiered the work, renamed Symphony-Concerto Op.125, and worked on the unfinished Concertino Op.132. He waited until 1st March 1950 to premiere Op.119 with Sviatoslav Richter, a piece he played more than a hundred times during his career. It was to become a cello & piano classic, gloriously following in the wake of Beethoven’s Op. 69.

Label: Praga Digitals File Under: Classical/Orchestral Catalogue No: PRD250337 Barcode: 3149028083620 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: cristal Mstislav Rostropovich [cello] Alexander Dedyukshin [piano] USSR Symphony Orchestra USSR Radio & Television Large Symphony Orchestra Gennadi Rozhdestvensky

RELEASE DATE 9TH SEPTEMBER 2016

Maria Yudina: A Great Russian Pianist BEETHOVEN: Eroica Varistions, BERG: Piano Sonata Op. 1 STRAVINSKY: Serenade 1925, Concerto for piano & wind instruments BARTOK: Mikrokosmos 128, 132, 137, 142, 144, 145, 146, 149/2 Maria Yudina [1899-1970] was famous in the 20th century for her uncompromising religious beliefs and standing up to Stalin. It is often forgotten that she was not only a consummate player of Bach (like Richter or Gould), but also of Beethoven and ‘decadent’ composers such as Bartók, Berg, Krenek and Stravinsky, the ‘cosmopolitan’ Russian, at a time when these composers were not only unknown but effectively banned in Soviet Russia. A genuinely unforgettable musical testimony.

Label: Praga Digitals File Under: Classical/Orchestral Catalogue No: PRD250342 Barcode: 3149028095128 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: cristal Maria Yudina [piano] USSR Radio Symphony Orchestra Gennadi Rozhdestvensky

Recorded: April 1961 Eroica, June 10 1964 Piano Sonata, March 2 1962 Serenade, Jan 8 1964 Mikrokosmos Sept 1962 Concerto