Classics & Jazz Fall 2021
All Prices Good through 1/31/22
New Boxed Sets beginning on page 4
Jazz New Releases see page 48
HBDirect Classics & We are pleased to present the HBDirect Classics & Jazz Catalog for Fall 2021, with a wide array of offers we’re sure will be of great interest to our customers. With this issue, you’ll notice new item numbers for each title which will be more convenient when placing your order. Also, be sure to view our updated shipping policy located on the order form. For classical, look for dedicated label pages from Alpha, Brilliant Classics, Capriccio, Naxos, Ondine, Pentatone, Toccata Classics, as well as a page dedicated to the Music of Brazil! In jazz, we are excited to feature two pages of the best new titles from Storyville Records. Hold on to this catalog. Prices may change slightly, but most titles will remain available for a long time. We look forward to serving you, and thank you for your business!
Catalog Index 4 7
Classical – Boxed Sets
Classical – Recommendations
10 New from Naxos 14 Critics’ Choice 20 New by Era
46 DVD & Blu-ray
48 Jazz – New Releases 50 Jazz – Storyville Jazz
52 Jazz – Recommendations
Featured Jazz
Shipping Policy
Go to Pages 48–55
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In addition to this specialty Classical & Jazz catalog, HBDirect regularly publishes a Mixed-Genre Catalog featuring World Music, Classic Rock, Folk, Roots of American popular music, Retro and Stage & Screen – in addition to classical and jazz favorites!
New Jazz Releases Marieke Koopman, Sarah Vaughan, John Stein, Dexter Gordon Quartet, Brian Bromberg, George Cables and more! See Page 48 New Jazz Releases Tommy Flanagan, Jim Hall Quartet, Dexter Gordon, Duke Ellington, Geri Allen, Champion Jack Dupree and more! See Page 50 Nostalgic Jazz titles Louis Armstrong, Anita O’Day, Coleman Hawkins, Art Blakey, Ronnie Scott, Helen Humes, Tubby Hayes, Earl Hines, and more! See Page 54
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cs & Jazz
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Jazz
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Fall 2021
Kapustin: Piano Concerto No. 4, Double Concerto / Frank Dupree, piano Drawing parallels to another famous composer of symphonic jazz, Kapustin is occasionally considered a ‘Russian in Gershwin’s clothing’. Most of his compositions are influenced by jazz and expertly combine jazz elements with those of the tradition from Bach to Prokofiev and Stravinsky. The aesthetic diversity with which classical garb and the stylistic devices of jazz are amalgamated in Kapustin’s output could be taken as the byword for all three compositions included on this recording. (Capriccio) 1CD# 941329 $16.99
Camino / Sean Shibe, guitar
Camino is guitarist Sean Shibe’s first Pentatone album, an introspective program exploring French-Spanish musical borders, a pilgrimage leading from Ravel’s Pavane pour une Infante défunte, and José’s Pavana triste all the way to Mompou’s Canços i dansas 6 and 10, as well as his Suite compostelana. Shibe has deliberately granted Mompou a central role on this album, as his music demonstrates that melancholy, aimlessness and a whole host of other feelings are not things to be avoided or solved, but experiences to be felt deeply: not with sad nostalgia, but with genuine wonder and excitement at what this means for the future. (Pentatone) 1CD# 942769 $15.99
The Original Three Tenors – In Concert, Rome 1990 [Blu-ray]
This very special release includes the legendary concert of the Original Three Tenors – José Carreras, Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti, conducted by Zubin Mehta at the Terme di Caracalla, Rome 1990 on the eve of the Football World Cup in Italy, watched by 1.6 billion spectators worldwide. For the first time available on Blu-ray, digitally remastered! This edition includes several new interviews, as well as the new documentary The Three Tenors – From Caracalla to the World. (C Major) 1Blu-ray 944166 $31.99
Mozart Momentum 1785 / Leif Ove Andsnes, piano [2 CDs]
Mozart wrote a series of masterpieces and revolutionized the nature of the piano concerto. The five piano concertos, Nos. 20–24, are game-changers in the history of the form. Mozart began to re-examine the roles of the soloist and orchestra and created a dialogue between the two entities in a way that had not been heard before. “It changes completely with Mozart’s Piano Concerto No 20 [in D minor K466],” says Andsnes. “This is the moment, which points to the future and the development of the piano concerto and of the beginning of the Romantic piano concerto, which is so beloved.” (Sony) 2CD# 849815 $16.99
Dialogo / John-Henry Crawford, cello
American cellist John-Henry Crawford was named “Young Artist of the Year” by the Classical Recording Foundation in 2019, and his debut album demonstrates exceptional insight and nuance in a varied and fascinating program, performed with pianist Victor Asuncion. Playing a rare 200-year-old cello smuggled out of Austria by his grandfather, Crawford performs sonatas by Brahms and Shostakovich alongside Ligeti’s Solo Sonata. Brahms insisted that the piano was the cello’s equal in his Cello Sonatas, and the F major Sonata gives Victor Asuncion plenty of opportunities to shine. (Orchid Classics) 1CD# 854944 $16.99
Hymns of Kassianí / Cappella Romana; Alexander Lingas
Discover the world’s earliest music by a female composer: 9th-century nun, poet, and hymnographer Kassianí. The same men and women of Cappella Romana who brought you the bestseller Lost Voices of Hagia Sophia now sing the earliest music we have by a female composer, including longsuppressed hymns recorded here for the first time. They close with two medieval versions of her beloved hymn for Orthodox Holy Week. Cappella Romana is the world’s leading ensemble in the field of medieval Byzantine chant, and this is the first of a planned series to record all of Kassianí’s surviving works. (Cappella Romana) 1SACD# 833691 $19.99
New Recommended New Releases Wagner: The Bayreuth Edition [30 CDs] This epic collection brings together all of Opus Arte's recordings from the Bayreuth Festival. Included are many of Wagner's much-admired operas which show how the mastery of composer, conductor, and performer can combine to create a true musical excellence. Wagner's epic four-opera cycle, Der Ring des Nibelungen, is a work of extraordinary scale and is given an interpretation that is both thrilling and sensitive by the conductor Christian Thielemann and a cast of renowned Wagner interpreters. (Opus Arte)
30CD 942708
$89.99
Idil Biret: Best of Turkish Piano Music [4 CDs] In November 1949, at the age of eight, Idil Biret made her first recordings; these were works by Couperin, Bach, Beethoven and Debussy. In the following decades she made nearly 100 LPs and CDs, including the complete piano works of Brahms, Chopin and Rachmaninov. This collection is a showcase of Turkish Piano Music and is made up of recordings made between 1958 and 2021. (Naxos)
4CD 856929
$29.99
Beethoven: The Complete Piano Trios [4 CDs] The 11 works Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) created for piano trio make up a group of pieces equally remarkable as his 16 string quartets. This four-album set features the Suk Trio, who soon after their establishment in 1951 gained international renown and recognition. The singularity of the trio and their recordings alike rests in sonic refinement, admirable interplay and profound musicality devoid of any showboating. (Supraphon)
4CD 937441
Mozart: Essential Symphonies / Roger Norrington [6 CDs]
Graupner: Complete Harpsichord Music / Fernando De Luca, harpsichord [14 CDs]
The Mozart symphonies on this album were recorded within two weeks at the European Music Festival Stuttgart in September 2006. More than 20 symphonies, ranging from the earliest to the last ten, were chosen to represent the superb range of the composer’s output, while the aim was to recreate as far as possible the playing style of the period. (SWR Classic)
6CD 845007
Making his Brilliant Classics debut, one of Italy’s most accomplished harpsichordists, in the music of a composer fast making up for centuries of neglect as one of Bach’s most original and gifted contemporaries. Fernando de Luca has recorded Baroque music for a variety of early music specialist labels. Now in newly released recordings made for Brilliant, he presents the harpsichord music of Christoph Graupner (1683–1760). (Brilliant Classics)
$24.99
Tosti: The Song of a Life – Complete Vocal Chamber Music [18 CDs]
14CD 856520 $49.99 Thalberg: Fantasties on Italian Operas [6 CD]
Paolo Tosti (1846–1916) preferred to set the popular poets of his day in English, French and Italian with natural singable melodies. Charm and suavity are Tosti’s trademark expressions. His songs swept through the parlours and salons of Europe, as he brought the salon song to a peak of aesthetic perfection. These songs were once the repertoire of every great Italian singer from Lauri-Volpi to Bergonzi, Caruso to Gigli. (Brilliant Classics)
18CD 832788
Sigismond Thalberg was a Wunderkind and one of the most accomplished virtuoso pianists of the 19th century. His fantasies and other works are presented now in a comprehensive set by the Italian pianist Francesco Nicolosi. Nicolosi specializes in the interpretation of Thalberg’s composition and the result is truly remarkable, with an exquisite technique, a wonderful sound and an impeccable legato. (Naxos)
6CD 845031 Albeniz: The Complete Piano Music / Miguel Baselga, piano [9 CDs]
$52.99
Carr: Piano Music / Kirsten Johnson, piano [4 CDs]
$49.99
The piano works by Isaac Albéniz range from indisputable masterpieces to ravishing salon music, the composer painting with bright Spanish colors as well as the hues of Classicism and Romanticism. On nine discs, originally released between 1998 and 2017 and gathered here, Miguel Baselga guides listeners through the music of his compatriot, earning acclaim from reviewers worldwide. ‘...pianism of the highest order’ (MusicWeb) (BIS)
Benjamin Carr (1768–1831) was prolific as a composer, writing operas, pantomimes, masses, sacred hymns and anthems, many songs and a prodigious amount of music for organ and pianoforte. Kirsten Johnson is a pianist, composer and recording artist of international acclaim. She has recorded 18 albums of solo piano music, including the complete piano music of Arthur Foote, James Hewitt and Amy Beach. (Centaur)
4CD 854891
$42.99
$31.99
9CD 941312
$79.99
Strauss: Complete Tone Poems [5 CDs] While many of his contemporaries held tightly to the classical concept of the symphony, Richard Strauss and his comrades in the New German School preferred the tone poem as a more modern mean of musical expression. Legends, myths, and even novels can be conveyed in this program music. This 5-disc set features all the tone poems that Strauss wrote during his life. (SWR Classic)
5CD 398033
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Boxed Sets English Song Collection [25 CDs]
Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas / Boris Giltburg, piano
The acclaimed English Song Series celebrates the richness and diversity of British composers, performed by leading interpreters of the repertoire. Growing out of an ancient tradition that still echoes in the folk song arrangements of Benjamin Britten, the British art song draws its inspiration from the English poetic language, the nation’s unique land and seascapes, and the suffering and joy of human emotions. This collection is a repository of the essence of British musical craftsmanship at its finest. (Naxos)
25CD 845030
This project to record all of Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas is a personal exploration for Boris Giltburg. These exceptional performances received widespread critical acclaim upon their original digital release and this premiere release includes extended personal and informative booklet notes written by the pianist. From the vivid energy of the early sonatas, through Beethoven’s middle period, to the awe-inspiring transcendence of the final sonatas – this cycle runs the full gamut of human emotion. (Naxos)
$119.99
9CD 945174
Schubert: The Complete Piano Sonatas / Paul Badura-Skoda, piano [9 CDs]
Lehár: The Operetta Edition [5 CDs] This Operetta Edition presents popular works by Franz Lehár that were recorded at the Mörbisch Festival and feature the Mörbisch Festival Choir and Orchestra under the direction of Rudolf Bibl and Wolfdieter Maurer. “Arguably one of the strongest recordings in the whole Mörbisch operetta series, this is strongly recommended, and not just to die-hard operetta fans.” (Fanfare) (Oehms Classics)
After the tremendous success of the complete Beethoven piano sonatas, Arcana re-releases the companion set of Schubert sonatas with a new design and the addition of the indispensable booklet notes written by Paul Badura-Skoda. The choice of period instruments responds to a search for colors and sound ranges favoring a great intimacy with the composer’s music. (Arcana)
9CD 854874
$54.99
5CD 856936
$39.99
$26.99
The Polish Collection / The Sixteen [5 CDs]
Mozart: Imperial Hall Concerts [6 CDs]
This spectacular collection comprises The Sixteen’s five acclaimed Polish recordings with the group’s Associate Conductor, Eamonn Dougan. “The Sixteen luxuriate in textures and sonorities, offsetting serene, arching lines with more urgent declamatory passages...basses plummet while sopranos soar into the stratosphere in a swirl of all-embracing sound.” (BBC Music Magazine) (Coro)
Germany’s oldest Mozart festival celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2021. This jubilee boxed set presents previously unpublished treasures from the archive of the Bavarian Broadcasting. All live recordings from the Baroque Imperial Hall at Würzburg Residence are digital remasters. The Mozart Festival Würzburg, like the Salzburg Festival, ranks among the most well-known festivals of classic music in the German-speaking world. (Orfeo)
5CD 863795
$49.99
6CD 856937
Shostakovich: The Symphonies / Mark Wigglesworth [10 SACDs]
Boccherini: Complete Flute Quintets [3 CDs]
Mark Wigglesworth recorded his cycle of Shostakovich’s symphonies between 1996 and 2010, collaborating with two different orchestras, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and BBC National Orchestra of Wales. In spite of the long gestation and the change of orchestra midway, the cycle was described as one never “compromising its particular characteristics of high seriousness, fine detailing and a certain fierceness of articulation...” (Gramophone) (BIS)
10SACD 854975
$69.99
By 1770, Boccherini had become court composer and cellist to the royal chamber of Prince Luis Antonio de Borbón. The ensemble at his disposal must have included an excellent flautist, for he wrote several sets of chamber music in which the flute plays the starring role, including the Quintets, Op.17 in 1773. (Brilliant Classics)
3CD 397616
$12.99
$83.99
NEW PROFIL BOXES IN BRIEF Wilhelm Backhaus Edition – Recordings 1908–1961 [10 CDs] This 10-disc set is a showcase of some of Wilhelm Backhaus’ finest interpretations, including works from Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms as well as Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Haydn, and more. (Profil)
10CD 833764
$41.99
Hélène Boschi plays Bach, Couperin, Soler, Rameau, Haydn, Mozart [10 CDs] This compilation presents Francophone Swiss pianist Hélène Boschi as an acclaimed solo pianist, a chamber musician and as a concert artist and keyboard accompanist. (Profil)
10CD 399547
$41.99
Artur Balsam plays Brahms, Beethoven, Mozart, Strauss, Hindemith [10 CDs] After settling in New York in 1940, pianists and music teacher Artur Balsam made a name for himself on the American chamber music scene and was the favorite accompanist of many famous soloists. (Profil)
10CD 399549
$41.99
Louis Kentner plays Brahms, Bartók, Walton, Balakirew, Dvořák [10 CDs] This 10-album compilation illustrates Louis Kentner as a successful soloist, chamber musician and concert pianist. (Profil)
10CD 399548
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Best Selling Boxed Sets Buxtehude: Opera Omnia (Challenge) [30 CDs] 30CD 291062 $299.99
Haydn Edition (Brilliant Classics) [160 CDs] 160CD 80356 $199.99
Baroque (Brilliant Classics) [25 CDs] 25CD 291050 $69.99
Mozart Complete (Brilliant Classics) [170 CDs] 170CD 57510 $199.99
Cesar Franck Edition (Brilliant Classics) [23 CDs] 23CD 56506 $57.99
Grieg: Complete Piano Music (Naxos) [14 CDs] 14CD 57061 $64.99
Complete Grainger Edition (Chandos) [21 CDs] 21CD 397458 $79.99
Monteverdi: Complete Madrigals (Naxos) [15 CDs] 15CD 291443 $49.99
Field: Piano Concertos, Nocturnes (Naxos) [6 CDs] 6CD 75411 $38.99
British String Quartets (Naxos) [20 CDs] 20CD 272929 $72.99
Vivaldi Edition (Brilliant Classics) [66 CDs] 66CD 65840 $139.99
Ivan Moravec Edition (Haenssler Classic) [4 CDs] 4CD 397957 $22.99
Barbirolli: Warner Recordings (Warner Classics) [109 CDs] 109CD 395861 $209.99
New Year’s Concert – Complete (Sony) [26 CDs] 26CD 396961 $69.99
J.S. Bach Complete (Brilliant Classics) [142 CDs] 142CD 84407 $179.99
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Classical Recommendations Beethoven: Fidelio / Lisa Davidsen; Marek Janowski [2 CDs]
Grayston Ives: Requiem / Choir of Jesus College, Cambridge
After their acclaimed recording of Weber’s Freischütz, the Dresdner Philharmonie and its Principal conductor Marek Janowski present yet another German opera classic with Beethoven’s Fidelio. They work together with a stellar cast which is well-seasoned in German opera. Beethoven’s opera on the power of love and the enlightening power of humanity still resonates with us today, and its music continues to delight and inspire. (Pentatone)
Grayson Ives’ choral music comes from the heart, and this deeply personal reaction to the texts enables the performer or listener to engage with and enjoy the music to its full extent. This recording represents two ‘firsts’ for the choirs of Jesus College, Cambridge: The first time the choir have collaborated on a recording with the Britten Sinfonia, as well as is the first time both chapel and college choirs they have joined forces for an entire album. (Signum)
Amjad Ali Khan: Masterpieces for Sarod & Violin [2 CDs]
Herrmann: Whitman (radio drama by Norman Corwin) / Post-Classical Ensemble
2SACD 937424
1CD 937436
$15.99
Bernard Herrmann was famous for his film scores, but he was also a leading figure in music for radio, to which he brought his inimitable palette of mood and sonority. Whitman, whose subject is Walt Whitman’s collection of poems Leaves of Grass, was a 1944 radio drama. Psycho: A Narrative for String Orchestra is not a suite or excerpts from the film but a concert work, re-ordered and re-composed. (Naxos)
This double-album presents Amjad Ali Khan’s compositions for Sarod and Violin as a collection comprising the works previously premiered in three separate albums. The recordings included in this collection represent the culmination of a collaboration that came about through a serendipitous meeting of the artists in 2014 – Amjad Ali Khan, his sons, Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash; and the distinguished American violinist Elmira Darvarova. (Affetto)
2CD 863760
1CD 396549
$19.99
“I find many musicians and audience members have a similar experience with Busoni’s music. They might at best give it some polite respect once they know a bit about his extraordinary personality, but rarely have an emotional connection to it. At the same time, I personally know several people who, either through exposure or through their own study, have slowly turned relative indifference into ardent admiration.” (Victor Nicoara) (Haenssler Classic)
After Rachmaninoff, Scriabin and Prokofiev, Vadym Kholodenko continues his exploration of the Russian repertory with a pair of rarely recorded works: Tchaikovsky’s two solo piano sonatas. Imaginative, colorful and dreamy, capable of an infinite range of emotions, he reveals both the masterly architecture and the subtleties of the writing that are often sacrificed to mere demonstration of virtuosity. (Harmonia Mundi)
$18.99
1CD 853398
Wranitzky: Orchestral Works, Vol. 2 / Czech Chamber Philharmonic
$19.99
Élégie / Anita Rachvelishvili, mezzo Anita Rachvelishvili’s second album Élégie showcases her in the song repertoire to which she has a special connection despite being best known as a star of the world’s greatest opera houses. Riccardo Muti has called the Georgian singer “without doubt the best Verdi mezzo-soprano today on the planet”, but here she reveals another side to her art. (Sony)
Czech by birth, Paul Wranitzky settled in Vienna where he became highly respected as an orchestra leader and composer. Today overshadowed by his friends Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, Wranitzky was the most important symphonist in Vienna in the late 1790s. The colorful overture to Der Schreiner (‘The Carpenter’) is followed by three contrasting symphonies. (Naxos)
1CD 937417
$11.99
Tchaikovsky: Piano Sonatas Opp. 37 & 80 / Vadym Kholodenko, piano
Busoni: The 6 Sonatas / Victor Nicoara, piano
1CD 937426
$17.99
1CD 863674
$11.99
$11.99
CLASSICAL RECOMMENDATIONS IN BRIEF Seven Sacred Names / Michael Harrison, piano Created by pianist and composer Michael Harrison, Seven Sacred Names is meant as a companion album to the book Nature’s Hidden Dimension by author and modern Sufi mystic W.H.S. Gebel. (Cantaloupe)
1CD 856526
$19.99
Martin: Lim Fantasy of Companionship for Piano & Orchestra / London SO; London Voices Exploratory and revelatory release from Tedd Joselson and the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Arthur Fagen, together with solo voices and choral ensemble, London Voices. (Signum)
1CD 845052
$11.99
Buxtehude: Membra Jesu Nostri / Ensemble Correspondances [2 CDs] The Ensemble Correspondances has devoted itself chiefly to French sacred music of the 17th century, and pursue this work with infectious enthusiasm today. (Harmonia Mundi)
2CD 816177
$21.99
Barber, Sibelius, Scriabin: One Movement Symphonies / Michael Stern; Kansas City Symphony A unique album of one movement symphonies composed by Barber, Sibelius and Scriabin, in an outstanding interpretation from Michael Stern and the Kansas City Symphony. (Reference)
1CD 849949
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New Classical New Recommendations Joan Tower: Strike Zones / Evelyn Glennie, percussion; Albany SO Joan Tower is widely regarded as one of today’s most important American composers. The works heard here in their world premiere recordings are part of a growing legacy that one pundit has described as “The Power of Tower.” Strike Zones is tailor-made for percussionist Evelyn Glennie’s dazzling technique and impeccable musicianship. The work’s orchestration is crafted to enhance a stage filled with percussion instruments. (Naxos)
1CD 937410
$11.99
Journey Through a Century / Sueye Park, violin Exploring the repertoire for solo violin, the young Korean violinist Sueye Park has chosen works spanning exactly 100 hundred years – from Max Reger’s Prelude and Fugue from 1909 to Penderecki’s Capriccio, composed in 2008. Framing the 20th century, the program starts as a relay race of famous violinist-composers; Reger dedicating his piece to Kreisler, who dedicated his Recitativo and Scherzo-Caprice to Ysaÿe, who wrote his Sonata No. 6 for the Spanish virtuoso Manuel Quiroga. (BIS)
1SACD 854884
$19.99
One Hundred Years of British Song, Vol. 2 / Nathan Williamson, piano; James Gilchrist, vocals SOMM Recordings announces Volume 2 of its revelatory survey of “One Hundred Years of British Song” with tenor James Gilchrist and pianist Nathan Williamson. Volume 2 focuses on five composers whose belated involvement with song straddled the Second World War. Maconchy’s “Three Donne Songs” are described in the notes as “substantial, ambitious songs, imbued with a genuine sense of drama by an assured composer at the height of her powers”. (Somm Recordings)
1CD 856561
More Honourable than the Cherubim / PaTRAM Institute Male Choir
Bruckner: Symphonie No. 3 / Mariss Jansons The Munich concert year of 2005 began at the end of January with two highlights: the two performances of Bruckner’s Third Symphony with Mariss Jansons conducting the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks in the Philharmonie im Gasteig. The live recording makes it possible to experience one of the landmarks of the Late Romantic symphonic repertoire, conducted by an outstanding Bruckner connoisseur. (BR Klassik)
The Patriarch Tikhon Russian-American Music Institute strives to present Russian Orthodox choral music in its highest possible form, uniting deep spirituality, a profound love for the rich traditions of Orthodox Christian singing, and an uncompromising standard of musical professionalism rooted in the great traditions of Russian choral composers. (Chandos)
1SACD 937451
1CD 843628
$19.99
Following the success of their previous album, English Music for Strings, John Wilson and his Sinfonia of London turn their attention to the music of Henri Dutilleux. Both the Sarabande et Cortège and Sonate pour hautbois are virtuosic tours de force for their soloists, as is the Sonatine pour flûte, which displays the lyricism, agility, and sparkling incisive qualities of the flute in what became Dutilleux’s most performed work. (Chandos)
Zachary Carrettín writes: “I chose ‘Metamorphosis’ as the title of this album for several reasons. Having lived with these works for a quarter century, they have changed me, and I have changed along the way. During this project my dear friend of 33 years, and former mentor, passed away....his influence is with me all the time.” (Sono Luminus)
$15.99
1SACD 854898
Shulman: The Tattooed Stranger-Historic Soundtrack Recordings (1946–1950)
$19.99
Misión Tango / Cuarteto Sol Tango The Cuarteto Sol Tango epitomizes the next generation of authentic tango, combining the luscious sound of a traditional orquesta típica with the verve of true chamber musicianship. With the unique combination of violin, cello, bandoneón and piano, they connect the Argentine Tango of the “Golden Age“ with the tradition of chamber music concerts. (Challenge)
Alan Shulman was a composer and arranger, and the cellist of the Kreiner String Quartet (1935–38). Shulman's first successful composition was Theme and Variations for Viola and Orchestra, which received its première over NBC in 1941. Alan Shulman's most extended orchestral writing appears in his film scores, made for RKO in the 40s and 50s. These soundtrack recordings have been restored and are being issued here for the first time. (Bridge)
1CD 863782
$16.99
Dutilleux: Le Loup / John Wilson; Sinfonia of London
Metamorphosis – Bach Cello Suites 1, 2, & 3 / Zachery Carrettin, cello
1CD 833777
$18.99
1CD 854876
$16.99
$17.99
Magical Memories for Trumpet & Organ / Tine Thing Helseth, trumpet; Kåre Nordstoga, organ Norwegian trumpeter Tine Thing Helseth presents her new album Magical Memories. The recording is deeply personal; made up of Helseth’s favorite pieces which explore the full sound, range, and moods of the instrument. It includes music she remembers hearing during her childhood such as Purcell’s “Trumpet Tune in C major” as well as modern songs for special occasions such as Sjöberg’s “Den första gång jag såg dig” – a Swedish love song translated as ‘The First Time I Saw You.’ (Lawo Classics)
1CD 854922
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Releases
Bach’s Long Shadow / Francisco Fullana, violin
Stravinsky: Le Sacre Du Printemps / Isabelle Faust, violin
Spanish-American violinist Francisco Fullana has taken the Partita No. 3 in E by J.S. Bach and built around it a program of interlinked yet contrasting works, resulting in an original and intricately constructed album. J.S. Bach’s output has had a far-reaching impact, casting the Long Shadow that gives this album its name. Fullana uses gut strings, a Baroque bow and historically informed ornamentation for his performance of Bach’s E minor Partita. (Orchid Classics)
1CD 849923
Stravinsky’s “Le sacre du printemps” gets top billing on this Harmonia Mundi release, kicking off the 50th-anniversary of the composer’s death. Heras-Casado gets the Orchestre de Paris orchestra to punch above its weight with fine work in the winds and brass. This is an important and enjoyable recording, with fine Harmonia Mundi sound from the Grande Salle Pierre Boulez at the Philharmonie de Paris. (Harmonia Mundi)
$16.99
1CD 816858
Spotlight on John Williams / City Light Symphony Orchestra [2 CDs]
Mahler: Symphony No. 7 / Kirill Petrenko; Bayerisches Staatsorchester
American composer, conductor and producer John Williams can be called the ‘king of film music’ without exaggeration. Prospero honors the master with this lavishly designed double-album: Disc one features the well-known and extremely popular themes from Jurassic Park, the “Harry Potter” series, Star Wars and more, while disc two presents soloist-influenced works by the composer, interpreted by renowned classical artists such as clarinetist Paul Meyer and trumpeter Reinhold Friedrich. (Prospero)
2CD 849946
$19.99
What better way to launch the Bayerische Staatsoper’s new label than with this outstanding live concert recording. Kirill Petrenko, general music director of the Bayerische Staatsoper from 2013 until 2020, conducts Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 7 – a pinnacle of the symphonic repertoire in a dramatic interpretation. This is the first audio-recording with Petrenko as chief conductor. (Bayerische Staatsoper)
1CD 849862
$29.99
$20.99
Double Echo – New Guitar Concertos from the Americas
American Quintets / Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective
This album of guitar concertos from the Americas features pieces composed for David Tanenbaum. Building on a tradition of prominent guitarists generating repertoire through new commissions, these works present the guitar in a variety of settings. Sierra’s concerto asserts a rhythmic and percussive character, while Piazzolla’s dark and sentimental double concerto is one of his least-known works. (Naxos)
Hailed by The Times for its ‘exhilarating performances’, the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective was dreamed up in 2017 by Tom Poster and Elena Urioste, who met through the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme. The Collective operates with a flexible roster which features many of today’s most inspirational musicians, both instrumentalists and singers, and its creative programming is marked by an ardent commitment to celebrating diversity of all forms. (Chandos)
1CD 863826
$11.99
1CD 854897
Gershwin: Porgy & Bess (Highlights) / Morgan State University Choir; Philadelphia Orchestra
Last Song / Tinna Thorsteinsdottir; Una Sveinbjarnardóttir
The Philadelphia Orchestra and conductor Marin Alsop present a live recording with highlights of Gershwin’s self-proclaimed American “Folk Opera” Porgy and Bess, together with a stellar cast and the Morgan State University Choir. Since its premiere in 1935, Porgy and Bess has been one of the most significant attempts to – following Antonin Dvořák’s famous instruction of 1893 – create American classical music inspired by African-American styles such as jazz, spirituals and the blues. (Pentatone)
1SACD 863836
$18.99
The title of this release refers to a daily tradition on Icelandic radio Ra’s 1, where a song, “last song before the news” would be played just before the news hour at noon. The song would typically be an Icelandic one, sometimes a lullaby, or a love song. Jo’runn Viðar’s piece Icelandic Suite sums up all these elements, a piece written for the 2000 years anniversary of inhabitation in Iceland. (Sono Luminus)
$19.99
1CD 856941
$15.99
NEW RELEASES IN BRIEF
Piazzola: Aconcagua / Las Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas Astor Piazzolla’s music has fascinated accordionist Martynas Levickis from an early age, and so it goes without saying that he is dedicating himself to this exceptional composer in his anniversary year. (Accentus)
1CD 856892
$19.99
In Memoria Eterna – A Spiritual Vigil for the New Century / Ensemble Organum In 1997, the seeds of this album were planted when Marcel Pérès discovered a great kinship between the Mozarabic rite and the Samaa spiritual practices of Morocco. (Harmonia Mundi)
1CD 853399
$19.99
Picchi: Complete Harpsichord Music / Simone Stella, harpsichord Harpsichordist Simone Stella presents works by Giovanni Picchi, as well as other jewels from Venetian composers of the time including Annibale Padovano, Claudio Merula, and more. (Brilliant Classics)
1CD 937369
$9.99
Beethoven: Complete Symphonies, Vol. 6 / Paul Kim, piano This is Vol. 6 of the Beethoven Complete Symphonies, performed by pianist Paul Kim, in his own piano transcriptions. Includes Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92 and Symphony No. 8 in F major, Op. 93. (Centaur)
1CD 937376
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New Releases Haydn: Baryton Trios – Treasures from the Esterháza Palace 1CD 937416 $11.99
History of the Russian Piano Trio, Vol. 5 / The Brahms Trio 1CD 863825 $11.99
Music for Brass Septet, Vol. 7 / Septura 1CD 845036 $11.99
Villa-Lobos: Complete Violin Sonatas 1CD 863827 $11.99
Xiaogang Ye: Scent of Green Mango 1CD 854939 $11.99
Poot: Symphonies Nos. 1–7 [2 CDs] 2CD 845037 $23.99
Sullivan: Incidental Music / RTÉ Concert Orchestra 1CD 863824 $11.99
History of the Russian Piano Trio, Vol. 4 / The Brahms Trio 1CD 845032 $11.99
Auber: Overtures, Vol. 4 1CD 849821 $11.99
Music From the Promised Land / Duo Mantar 1CD 854937 $11.99
Liszt: Music on National Themes (Complete Piano Music, Vol. 58) 1CD 845033 $11.99
Beethoven: Triple Concerto Reinecke: Piano Trio No. 1 1CD 849819 $11.99
Lopes-Graça: Songs and Folk Songs, Vol. 2 1CD 863828 $11.99
Skalkottas: Dance of the Waves, 36 Greek Dances, Series 1 1CD 845034 $11.99
Wranitzky: Orchestral Works, Vol. 1 1CD 493205 $11.99
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from Naxos Inca Trail Connections 1CD 833742 $11.99
Beethoven: 13 Times the Same and 13 Times Different [2 CDs] 2CD 833739 $23.99
Mayr: Messa di Gloria in E minor & Messa di Gloria in F minor 1CD 833741 $11.99
Gottsch: Sunset – Princess Yurievskaya 1CD 854926 $11.99
Wolf-Ferrari: Dreams & Drama – Violin Sonatas Nos. 1–3 1CD 833744 $11.99
Sir Malcolm Arnold: The Best of Arnold 1CD 856553 $11.99
Kaprálová: Waving Farewell 1CD 856552 $11.99
Di Vittorio: Sinfonias Nos. 3 & 4 1CD 833748 $11.99
Addinsell: Goodbye Mr. Chips & The Prince and the Showgirl 1CD 856550 $11.99
Széchényi: Waltzes & Hungarian Marches 1CD 856934 $11.99
Adam: La Filleule des fées [2 CDs] 2CD 833745 $23.99
Korngold: Songs, Vol. 2 1CD 856551 $11.99
Archivo de Guatemala: Guatemala City Cathedral Archive 1CD 833743 $11.99
British Guitar Music, Vol. 2 1CD 833740 $11.99
Koryakin: Piano Recital 1CD 849822 $11.99
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Chamber Music Recommended Chamber Releases Feigin: Music for Chamber Orchestra It might seem that modern classical music rarely expresses happiness – but Aviv, a piano concerto by Joel Feigin suggests the warmth and optimism of the coming of spring. The angular, even anguished, essay for strings Surging Seas, by contrast, was inspired by the devastation wrought by the tsunamis of 2004 and 2011. The Two Songs from Twelfth Night have their origins in the tradition of American orchestral song established by Samuel Barber. (Toccata Classics)
1CD 863861
$18.99
Trios from the City of Big Shouders / Lincoln Trio The twice GRAMMY-nominated Lincoln Trio — violinist Desirée Ruhstrat, cellist David Cunliffe, and pianist Marta Aznavoorian — offers engaging, rarely heard piano trios by 20th-century Chicago composers Leo Sowerby, winner of the Rome Prize and Pulitzer Prize for music, and Ernst Bacon, recipient of three Guggenheim Fellowships and a Pulitzer Fellowship. (Cedille)
1CD 854407
$16.99
Zemtsov: Chamber & Instrumental Music & Arrangements The Russian composer Yevgeny Zemtsov (1940–2016) may be better known for the dynasty of musicians – most of them violists – that he fathered than he is for his own music. This first album ever to be devoted to his music features works from the beginning and end of his career: some early violin works, influenced by Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev, a Bartókian string quartet, an oblique piano elegy and five late, enigmatic, almost ritualistic settings of Japanese haikus. (Toccata Classics)
1CD 863859
Homage To Bach / Brodsky Quartet
Mozart: Clarinet Quintet, Horn Quintet
The set of six sonatas and partitas for solo violin is widely regarded as one of the summits of Bach’s output as a composer, and of the entire repertoire for the violin. With this new album the Brodsky Quartet give us the opportunity to hear some of this legendary music in an entirely new way, in these world-première recordings of Paul Cassidy’s arrangements for string quartet of the three solo sonatas. (Chandos)
1CD 854896 Sean Hickey: Left at the Fork in the Road
$18.99
In June 2021, the Klenke Quartet celebrate their 30th anniversary and have been inspiring international concert life with an unchanged line-up since their foundation in 1991. After the successful recording of the string quintets by W. A. Mozart together with Harald Schoneweg, this recording again features quintets by Mozart, this time with natural horn player Stephan Katte and the clarinetist Nicola Jürgensen as guest musicians. (Accentus)
$18.99
1CD 832764 $19.99 Farkas: Chamber Music, Vol. 5 – Works with Flute & Oboe
This recording features a striking selection of Sean Hickey’s solo and chamber works. Of Sagesse, which draws from the famous text by French poet Paul Verlaine, Hickey writes, “I wished to find a text that contained a strong element of music within it, not necessarily in the meaning of the words, but rather an inner music found in great poetry that all but begs to be set.” (Naxos)
This exploration of the music of Ferenc Farkas (1905–2000) once again puts his chamber music with flute in the spotlight. As with previous albums in this series, the music highlights the characteristics that make Farkas’ music so appealing: catchy tunes, transparent textures, buoyant rhythms, a fondness for Baroque forms and a taste for the folk-music of his native Hungary that marks him out as a true successor to Bartók and Kodály. (Toccata Classics)
1CD 234987 $11.99 Französische Sehnsucht – Facetten des Impressionismus für Violoncello und Klavier / Duo Avad
Spheres / Trio Eclipse
Just how much wonderful French music there is to discover from the period circa 1900 is revealed to us by Duo Avad on their new album. Cellist Clemens Krieger and pianist Rieko Yoshizumi present original compositions and arrangements that reach far beyond the standard repertoire. The release features tiny treasures of little-known composers such as Gabriel Pierné and Louis Vierne as well as unknown works by composers such as Debussy, Ravel and Fauré. (Genuin)
1CD 854916 $18.99 Divertissement! / C/O Chamber Orchestra
1CD 863858
$18.99
The young exceptional musicians of the clarinet trio “Eclipse” from Switzerland and Hungary met for the first time during their studies at the Music Academy in Basel. Their shared passion for chamber music led to the founding of the clarinet trio. Their interpretations are characterized above all by the homogeneity of timbre and texture in the interaction of the individual instruments. (Prospero)
1CD 293519
$19.99
The c/o chamber orchestra is a collective of 30 young musicians from a dozen different countries. Playing without a conductor, the orchestra is dedicated to that particular collaborative process which is the essence of chamber music. For their first album, the members have chosen to highlight a genre more difficult to pin-point...its very name, divertimento, implies that it is simply a diversion, light music for entertainment – but many of the best-known examples of the form transcend that definition. (BIS)
1SACD 854885
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Toccata Classics
Naoumoff: Complete Piano Music / Gregory Martin, piano
Boissier: Two Piano Concertos & a Sonata / Ukrainian Festival Orchestra
Emile Naoumoff, born in Sofia in 1962, has tended to record the music of other composers, and so this recital of his piano music has been recorded by Gregory Martin, who has worked with him in various capacities. It presents music from across Naoumoff’s career – from that gifted childhood to a piece inspired by the sight of Notre Dame Cathedral in flames in 2019 – absorbing influences from Slavic folk-dance to Gabriel Fauré, whose ‘grand-student’ he is. (Toccata Classics)
The phrase ‘unashamed Romantic’ might not have been coined for the French composer Corentin Boissier, born in the Paris suburbs in 1995, but it certainly fits him well. As the titles of his Glamour Concerto and Philip Marlowe Concerto suggest, he revels in the full-textured sound of 1940s and ‘50s Hollywood, the golden age of Addinsell’s “Warsaw Concerto”, Rota’s “Legend of the Glass Mountain,” and other such high-calorie classics. (Toccata Classics)
Moszkowski: Complete Music for Solo Piano, Vol. 1
Wordsworth: Orchestral Music, Vol. 3 / Liepaja SO
1CD 863860
1CD 845065
$18.99
The music of William Wordsworth (1908–88) – a great-great-grandson of the poet’s brother Christopher – lies downstream from that of Vaughan Williams and Sibelius; like that of his contemporary Edmund Rubbra, Wordsworth’s music unfolds spontaneously, as a natural process. This third volume of his orchestral works brings two major scores in their first studio recordings. (Toccata Classics)
Moritz Moszkowski (1854–1925) wrote a considerable quantity of piano music, but it is generally remembered today only for a single piece, “Étincelles”. The early works on this first installment in Ian Hobson’s survey of Moszkowski’s complete music for solo piano reveal the craftsmanship which justifies a later remark of Paderewski’s: ‘After Chopin, Moszkowski best understands how to write for the piano, and his writing embraces the whole gamut of piano technique’. (Toccata Classics)
1CD 845066
Sparre Olsen: Complete Piano Music / Øyvind Aase, organ
1CD 845067
$18.99
The personal generosity that made the Scottish composer Ronald Stevenson (1928–2015) such a warm and vibrant character extended also to his writing-desk: around a quarter of his enormous output is given over to transcriptions, mostly for piano, of music by other composers. Here he pays homage to three earlier colleagues whose music he particularly esteemed: Purcell, Delius and van Dieren. (Toccata Classics)
1CD 845068
$18.99
Schelb: Orchestral Music, Vol. 2 – Three Concertos
$18.99
Woelfl: Piano Music, Vol. 2 / Adalberto Maria Riva, piano
Josef Schelb (1894–1977) is one of the better-kept secrets of German music. His output was substantial: he lost most of his early music in a bombing raid in 1942 but, as if to make up for lost time, wrote some 150 more works after that, in the tonally liberated, quasiExpressionist contrapuntal tradition of Hindemith and Hartmann. These three concertos show him at his most engaging. (Toccata Classics)
1CD 854970
$18.99
Stevenson: Piano Music, Vol. 5 / Christopher Guild, piano
Norwegian folksong and dance constitute the very DNA of the music of Carl Gustav Sparre Olsen (1903–84), on both a large and a small scale – from Draumkvedet, the 1936 oratorio that was his first major success, to the tiny miniatures that form most of his piano music, recorded here in its entirety for the first time. (Toccata Classics)
1CD 854968
$18.99
Joseph Woelfl (1773–1812), a friend of the Mozart family from childhood, was one of the best-known musicians of his day. His late-Classical piano music sits between Mozart, Haydn and Clementi and looks forward to Schubert and Mendelssohn. This first-ever project to examine it in any detail hopes to rescue Woelfl’s once starry reputation from the folds of history. (Toccata Classics)
1CD 493306
$18.99
$18.99
TOCCATA RELEASES IN BRIEF Munn: Complete Music for Solo Piano / Arta Arnicane, piano Douglas Munn was a fine pianist, professor, and a gifted composer. His piano music has its origins in Chopin, Brahms and Bartók but is clearly also inflected by Scottish folksong. (Toccata Classics)
1CD 493304
$18.99
Tabakov: Complete Symphonies, Vol. 6 / Bulgarian National SO The music of the Bulgarian composer-conductor Emil Tabakov (b. 1947) explores the darker side of the human spirit in epic scores as austere as they are powerful. (Toccata Classics)
1CD 493305
$18.99
Ruoff: Complete Works for Organ, Vol. 2 / Jan Lehtola, orgran The organ works of Axel Ruoff, born in Stuttgart in 1957, constitute one of the most important contributions to the literature for the instrument by any composer since Messiaen. (Toccata Classics)
1CD 854969
$18.99
Hermann: Complete Surviving Music, Vol. 1 / Lviv International SO This series presents all of Hermann’s surviving compositions, most of them in first recordings. The major work on this first album, Hermann’s Cello Concerto of 1925 bids fair to become a staple of the cello repertoire. (Toccata Classics)
1CD 493303
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Critics’
Tansy Davies: Nature
Weber: Complete Works for Piano & Orchestra / Orchester der Kölner Akademie
“Nature is the first full-length collection of orchestral pieces by the English composer Tansy Davies. Like Bennett, Davies isn’t afraid of obvious debts to cinema; some of the high-flown motifs in the first movement of her “What Did We See?” might bring to mind John Williams’s “Star Wars” scores. But the rest of her four-piece suite has its own ruggedly lyrical identity.” (New York Times) (Signum)
1CD 833734
“The First Concerto doesn’t reveal a great deal of Weber’s personality, but No. 2 is notable for its slow movement – a mysterious and sensuous piece featuring muted solo strings, and with an episode throwing the spotlight on a solo cello. Both concertos have a presto finale which calls for dazzling virtuosity – something which Brautigam has in spades: his fearless pyrotechnics are truly astounding.” (BBC Music) (BIS)
$18.99
1SACD 399475
Poul Ruders: Dream Catcher
Craig Ogden in Concert
The Danish composer Poul Ruders has long written works that subtly blend ravishing sounds, abundant imagination – and intricate modernist technique. But, as he writes in the liner notes for this new recording of “Sound and Simplicity” (2018) for accordion and orchestra, four of the seven movements of this mysterious, volatile piece are “very simple” — that is, with an “absence of any structural and metric complexity.” (New York Times) (Bridge)
1CD 399473
“This latest album in Craig Ogden’s extensive discography is neither themed on a book or a concept, nor the time of year, as some of his previous recordings, but a wellchosen programme of his favourite regular repertoire pieces. The less widely familiar works here counter any presumed familiarity with the Granados, Albéniz and Villa-Lobos war horses.” (BBC Music) (Chandos)
1CD 843633
$16.99
“APR’s The French Piano School series is going from strength to strength, unearthing rare recordings of pianists, many who seem to have migrated off the radar. One such is Emma Boynet (1891–1974). You’ll never be let down by APR’s documentation. The Fauré recordings are the plums of the set and, for me, stand shoulder to shoulder with those of that other grande dame of the keyboard Germaine ThyssensValentin.” (MusicWeb) (APR)
“Not content with convincingly recording two major concertos aged 19, the Swedish violinist Johan Dalene promptly recorded this recital just after he had turned 20. Youthful passion occasionally pushes him to stylistic excess, but for most of the time he’s beauty incarnate and in perfect step with his composers’ various voices. He’s also blessed with a superbly understanding piano partner, Christian Ihle Hadland, who proves especially magical in the Grieg Sonata.” (Classical Music) (BIS)
2CD 397810
$19.99
“Part of a series devoted by the choir Contrapunctus to the Baldwin Partbooks, a major repository of 16th century English polyphony, this album focuses on the little-known genre of the psalm motet, which, as the name suggests, includes psalms set in polyphonic motet style. Except for the pieces by William Byrd, the music here is little known, with more than half of the pieces receiving their world premieres.” (AllMusic) (Signum)
“What might one expect from an album entitled ‘Clair-Obscur’? Art songs from Debussy, Fauré, or Duparc perhaps with a particularly nocturnal ambiance? The program from soprano Sandrine Piau in her latest Alpha release focuses not on French chanson, but on German, early-to-late twentiethcentury Viennese orchestral songs. Not repertoire immediately associated with Piau, who recorded extensively earlier music in recent times.” (TheClassicReview ) (Alpha)
1CD 398013
$18.99
“The Orchestra Gli Originali and the Coro Donizetti Opera are excellent and stand out, as the best things in this production of the opera. The musical and singing performances are as a whole rather satisfying and accomplished, thanks mostly to outstanding Maestro Rinaldo Alessandrini. He makes an unmemorable score sound exceptionally attractive and extracts superb renditions from his musicians.” (MusicWeb) (Dynamic)
‘It is about creating something again, about reinventing and breathing life into masterpieces we know from the past.’ Thus Zlata Chochieva sets out her stall for this selection of 21 transcriptions from the three great pianist-composers whom she admires most. This is music-making of real purpose and conviction.” (Gramophone) (Accentus)
www.hbdirect.com
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Donizetti – Pietro il Grande [DVD or Blu-ray Video]
(Re) creations / Zlata Chochieva, piano
1CD 397594
$19.99
The Sweetest Songs – Music from the Baldwin Partbooks III
Clair Obscur / Sandrine Piau, soprano
1CD 399336
$18.99
Complete Solo 78-rpm Recordings & Fauré LPs [2 CDs]
Nordic Rhapsody / Johan Dalene, violin; Christian Ihle Hadland, piano
1SACD 399346
$19.99
1Blu-ray 397649 2DVD 397648
$19.99
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Choice
Beethoven & Schnittke: Violin Concertos / Vadim Gluzman, violin; Luzerner Sinfonieorchester
Suckling: This Departing Landscape “It’s still rare that a recording of contemporary music from a specialist label in the field hits classical music sales charts, but this NMC release of music by Martin Suckling has done so, and hearers will quickly understand why. The physical album benefits from elegant notes by Julian Anderson and the composer himself; these together give an excellent introduction to the music of this composer who, as of 2021, had just entered his 40s.” (AllMusic) (NMC)
“A student of, among others, the famous violin pedagogue Zakhar Bron, Vadim Gluzman carries forwards a RussianJewish playing tradition that hails back to Jascha Heifetz, David Oistrakh and Leonid Kogan. Listen from 9’57” in the first movement and you’ll hear Gluzman’s mellow tone, sensitively judged chords, unforced passagework, neat trills and (at 11’28”) athletic leaps that hit their target each time.” (Gramophone) (BIS)
1SACD 843612
1CD 397974
$19.99
Holmboe: String Quartets Vol. 1 / Nightingale String Quartet
David Matthews: A Vision of the Sea / BBC PO, Jac Van Steen
“It must be said that these new accounts by the Nightingale Quartet are at the very least competitive with their forebears and the finest to date sonically. In many respects, they follow similar trajectories through the works as did the Kontra, though in No. 1 they are more measured in the opening Affettuoso – animato but more energised in the dancelike finale.” (Gramophone) (Dacapo)
“Born in 1943, David Matthews started composing aged 16 upon discovering a particular love of orchestral music. Nine symphonies and many other works later, he remains committed to what he’s described as ‘rich traditional forms’ filtered through early 20thcentury modernism, Britten, Tippett and a tonality ‘grounded in song and dance’. The two pieces at the heart of this release date from 2013, Matthews’s 60th year.” (BBC Music) (Signum)
1CD 397704
1CD 291439
$17.99
“Patricia Kopatchinskaja’s extraordinary, freewheeling virtuosity appears to have unlocked a new vein of immediacy and expressiveness in Coll’s music, which the Violin Concerto seems to me to take on to another plane altogether. It’s a fabulously assured piece in three evocatively labelled movements – Atomised, Hyperhymnia, Phase – which outline the shape of a traditional concerto, complete with solo cadenza.” (The Guardian) (Pentatone)
“This album, by the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, conducted with a brilliant ear for detail and clarity by James Gaffigan, begins with a hard-edge take on Leonard Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, but gets better as it goes on, ending with two rare gems. Before those come Ives’s Third Symphony — the complexity behind its quilt of folk songs and dances here gently revealed — and Barber’s early Overture to “The School for Scandal.” (New York Times) (Harmonia Mundi)
1SACD 849944
$19.99
$19.99
[Blue] Compositions & Arrangements by Lars Hannibal
Ed Bennett: Psychedelia “The music of composer Ed Bennett is marked by the unusual combination of repetition and substantial forward motion. It has a good deal of intensity that belies the blissed-out title Psychedelia, although that serves well enough for the slow-building title work. Several of the present works involve electronics, and the threemovement ‘Song of the Books’ (this one too has an interesting program) is especially compelling.” (AllMusic) (Signum)
1CD 396861
$15.99
Francisco Coll: Works / Patricia Kopatchinskaja, violin
Americans – Bernstein, Crawford, Barber, Ives
1CD 853397
$18.99
“Blue is a musical project which embraces the family of composer/ guitarist Lars Hannibal: his ex-wife, the famed recorder player, Michala Petri and his daughters Agnete and Amalie. The title Blue was chosen because, for Hannibal, it reflects a specific state of mind: ‘the feeling where things flow freely and calmly in a light where both performers and listeners are equally open to let their thoughts and minds wander safely.” (MusicWeb) (Our Recordings)
$18.99
1CD 396766
$18.99
CRITICS’ PICKS IN BRIEF Belle Époque – French Music for Wind “Exquisite performances of stalwarts such as Chaminade’s Concertino nestle among lesser-known but equally delectable fare.” (BBC Music) (Chandos)
1SACD 493243
$19.99
Prokofiev: Complete Piano Sonatas / Dinera Klinton, piano [3 CDs] “You cannot dispute Klinton’s intelligent scaling of dynamics and climaxes...I’m more than happy to make shelf space for such unpressured and genuinely musical interpretations as hers.” (Classics Today ) (Piano Classics)
3CD 399546
$18.99
Journeys – Orchestral Music from Five Continents / Audun André Sandvik, cello A diverse, energetic and wholly rewarding survey of nine contemporary composers from across five continents. (BBC Music ) (Naxos)
1CD 397786
$11.99
Tchaikovsky: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 4 / Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich/Paavo Järvi “Symphonies Nos. 2 and 4 are played here, but it is the former, the ‘Little Russian’ that impresses most; the extraordinary opening with its bleak orchestral chord overtaken by a horn solo…” (BBC Music) (Alpha)
1CD 493215
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Capriccio Zemlinsky: Anniversary Edition [6 CDs]
Schule: 50 Years of the University of Music Karlsruhe [3 CDs]
When Zemlinsky died in 1942, there was no telling if or when posthumous recognition of his work would take place. He was celebrated as the director of Prague’s New German Theatre. And yet, still in his lifetime, his work succumbed to political and stylistic changes; he had been persecuted and was forgotten. Zemlinsky is once again considered a great composer, and with this special Anniversary Edition Capriccio reveres the huge spectrum of his outstanding compositions. (Capriccio)
6CD 854901
The composers and educators Eugen Werner Velte and Wolfgang Rihm as well as alumni whose music is presented here demonstrate the characteristics of a school. The main function of an institution such as the University of Music Karlsruhe is first and foremost as a site for studies and second, a place for individual composition and pedagogic work. Jörg Widmann, Rebecca Saunders and Markus Hechtle, among others, contribute to the further development of the unique Karlsruhe School. (Capriccio)
$24.99
3CD 493236
Eisler: Deutsche Sinfonie
Vladigerov – Orchestral Works, Vol. 2 [2 CDs]
The October Revolution of 1917 and the assumption of power by the Bolsheviks in Russia shaped young Hanns Eisler already for the rest of his life. Eisler wanted to make a musical stance against Fascism with his Opus 50; he wanted to show that there was another, better Germany. The Deutsche Sinfonie is arguably Eisler’s most important composition; she is unique in its ingenious combination of symphony, cantata, and oratorio. (Capriccio)
1CD 397874
The most-performed work of Pancho Vladigerov’s is undoubtedly his Bulgarian Rhapsody Op. 16 “Vardar” from 1922. The most outstanding must be his Seven Symphonic Bulgarian Dances Op. 23 (1931), with which he might have wanted to create a counterpart to Brahms’ Hungarian Dances, Dvořák’s Slavonic Dances, or Grieg’s Norwegian Dances or similar such popular aural nationalistic postcards. (Capriccio)
2CD 493237
$16.99
When the German troops occupied Austria in 1938, Alexander Zemlinsky fled with his wife Louise via Prague to New York, with the short score of Canduales in his luggage. He attached great hopes of producing the piece at the Met but on account of the somewhat delicate bed scene in the 2nd act they dismissed the production. For Zemlinsky’s 150th birthday anniversary, Capriccio presents a new remastered edition of this legendary first recording from 1996. (Capriccio)
Nowadays William Stanford’s fame is largely based on his teaching activities in London while his reputation as a “great composer” has waned considerably. His œuvre covered a wide variety of sacred and secular music and his works carry within them elements of Irish folklore and mysticism. His many chamber works have a definite air of Brahms about them… never by way of direct quote or paraphrase, but by making Brahms’ style his own. (Capriccio)
2CD 854900
$16.99
$16.99
Feldman – Coptic Light
Braunfels: Orchestral Works
Morton Feldman’s final completed work Coptic Light, written in 1986, displays an even more gigantic orchestra than that in String Quartet and Orchestra. In his sensitive works we always gain the impression that they are cautious attempts to achieve coherent musical results, without running against the character of the instruments. (Capriccio)
Walter Braunfels is a composer whose music died twice: Once when the Nazis declared his music “degenerate art”. Then again when post-war Germany had little use for the various schools of tonal music. This 9th release of Capriccio’s Braunfels Edition shows us also an open-minded composer who experimented with Jazz elements in his Divertimento for radio-orchestra in 1929. (Capriccio)
1CD 843638
1CD 291960
$16.99
By the 1890’s Zemlinsky had already acquired a reputation as a promising young composer and pianist. In October 1897 Gustav Mahler had become director of the Vienna Hofoper and was determined to do what he could to help him. With characteristic energy Mahler worked his way through the opera with Zemlinsky, advising on and making changes in the music and the libretto. The resulting score provides a fascinating and little explored document for both Zemlinsky and Mahler studies. (Capriccio)
The positive response to Capriccio’s first recording of his Piano Quartet and Piano Quintet (C5390) has enabled this series to be continued now with three works representative of Labor’s oeuvre from the early 1890s. In Vienna, Labor was part of Johannes Brahms’s close circle of friends. His music is very skillfully composed, always sensuous, and first and foremost melodious. (Capriccio)
1CD 843639
$16.99
Zemlinsky: Es war einmal [2 CDs]
Labor: Violin Sonata, Op. 5, Cello Sonata, Op. 7, and Theme and Variations, Op.10
www.hbdirect.com
$16.99
Zemlinsky: Der König Kandaules [2 CDs]
Stanford: Piano Quintet, Op. 25 & Fantasies for Horn and Clarinet
1CD 843637
$27.99
2CD 854899
$16.99
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$16.99
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The Music of Brazil Villa-Lobos: Complete Symphonies [6 CDs]
Guarnieri: Chôros, Vol. 1 / São Paulo SO; Olga Kopylove, piano
Heitor Villa-Lobos has been described as ‘the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music. Every aspect of Villa-Lobos’s remarkable inspiration is represented in these works, with Brazilian national rhythms and extremes of ambition in terms of scale and dramatic content, alongside neo-Classical transparency and lyrical charm. These critically acclaimed performances from São Paulo are both idiomatic and expertly played. (Naxos)
6CD 396971
Camargo Guarnieri’s catalog of works represents a legacy of incalculable worth for Brazilian culture, as has his influence as a teacher on several generations of younger composers. The series of seven Choros and the Seresta for Piano and Orchestra represent Guarnieri’s personal approach to the concerto form, with striking contrasts between potent rhythm and dense, emotionally charged soundscapes and melodies full of Brazilian inspiration. (Naxos)
$38.99
1CD 291531
Nepomuceno: Symphony in G minor / Minas Gerais PO Alberto Nepomuceno was a herald of Brazilian musical nationalism. The prelude to O Garatuja, an incomplete opera, is one of his best-known works and an example of a truly Brazilian lyric comedy. Série Brasileira is a vivacious suite that employs maxixe rhythms and ends with the feverish batuque dance, while the Symphony in G minor displays a heroic and lyric structure revealing the influence of Brahms. (Naxos)
1CD 52692
$11.99
Villa-Lobos: Gutar Concerto / Manuel Barrueco, guitar; São Paulo SO The concertos and chamber works on this album show Heitor Villa-Lobos’s unceasing enthusiasm for new colors and sonorities in his music. The Concerto for Guitar and Small Orchestra was his last work for the instrument and written for Segovia. A cornerstone of the repertoire, it contains soaring melodies and rhythmic vitality couched in virtuosic writing. (Naxos)
$11.99
1CD 284071
$11.99
Almeida Prado: Piano Concerto No. 1 / Sonia Rubinsky, piano
Brouwer: The Book of Signs – Bellinati: Concerto Cabocio
At the time of his death in 2010, Almeida Prado was one of Brazil’s most internationally admired composers, one who created music of unique sonority and colour, rooted in his native country. In Aurora (‘Dawn’) he employs his newly developed ‘transtonality’ to radiant effect, while the Concerto Fribourgeois features a collage technique. In his Piano Concerto No. 1, Almeida Prado explores a cogent structure in which the soloist transforms the theme and variations, in a work that is both grandiose and luminous. (Naxos)
These two concertos show the increasing importance of the guitar duo on the world’s concert stages. Leo Brouwer has written many admired guitar concertos but The Book of Signs is his first for two guitars, a double concerto of great virtuosity. Paulo Bellinati deploys luxurious harmonies and brilliantly effective techniques to pay tribute to the country music of São Paulo State in Concerto Caboclo. (Naxos)
Gomes: Lo Schiavo DVD
Leopoldo Miguez and Glauco Velásquez were both leading figures in Brazil’s classical music scene at the turn of the 20th century. The lyrical character of Miguez’s ambitious Violin Sonata, Op. 14 is developed in a far more sophisticated and contrapuntal manner to anything previously experienced in Brazil, while Velásquez’s two sonatas are even richer in nuance. The tropical Romanticism of these three works marked an important change in Brazil’s chamber music. (Naxos)
1CD 291535
1CD 235468
Miguez: Sonata for Violin & Piano, Op. 14 – Velasquez: Sonatas for Piano & Violin, Nos. 1 & 2
$11.99
Brazilian composer Antônio Carlos Gomes was among the many musicians who travelled to Italy to master the language and the rules of operatic works. This recording of the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari’s production documents the opera’s first performance in modern times and reveals Gomes’ flamboyant richness of melodic creativity, his sound grasp of construction, and a technical mastery of theatrical mechanisms. (Dynamic)
1DVD 280778
$11.99
$27.99
1CD 273435
$11.99
BRAZILIAN FAVORITES IN BRIEF
Almeida Prado: Complete Cartas Celestes, Vol. 2 Cartas Celestes (‘Celestial Chairsʼ) is a colossal 18-movement cycle of works depicting celestial bodies to be seen in the Brazilian sky, for which Almeida Prado invented a new harmonic language called “transtonality”. (Grand Piano)
1CD 91248
$16.99
Villa-Lobos: Complete Guitar Manuscripts [3 CDs] This set from award-winning Italian guitarist Andrea Bissoli includes both the rare and the recently discovered, as well as some of Bissoli’s completion of some of the unfinished guitar works of Heitor Villa-Lobos. (Naxos)
3CD 234179
$49.99
Brazilian Sentiments / Christiane Roncaglio, vocals Capriccio presents Brazilian lyric soprano Cristiane Roncaglio, on their latest release Brazilian Sentiments. Roncaglio studied at the Academy of Music Hanns Eisler in Berlin. (Capriccio)
1CD 171286
$16.99
Oswald: Works for Piano / Sergio Monteiro, piano This program provides an excellent overview of Henrique Oswald’s stylistic development, from the youthful salon music aesthetic of Pagine d’album to the French impressionism of the Album Op. 36. (Grand Piano)
1CD 165968
1/800/222-6872
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$16.99
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New from Hindemith: Complete Sonatas for Wind Instruments and Piano [2 CDs] 2CD 849849 $11.99
Sainz de la Maza: Complete Music for Guitar [2 CDs] 2CD 856908 $11.99
Quintessence Dvořák – Complete Piano Music [5 CDs] 5CD 397622 $14.99
Roncalli: Complete Guitar Music [2 CDs] 2CD 849850 $11.99
Spanish Baroque Music & Mexican Folk Music 1CD 856911 $9.99
Quintessence Locatelli – Complete Violin Concertos [5 CDs] 5CD 397623 $14.99
Espona: Complete Piano Sonatas, Vol. 1 1CD 849851 $9.99
Kraus: Complete Piano Music 1CD 856519 $9.99
Quintessence Tchaikovsky – Complete Ballets [5 CDs] 5CD 397624 $14.99
Graun: Chamber Music 1CD 849857 $9.99
Philidor: Suites for Flute and B.C. [2 CDs] 2CD 856909 $11.99
Quintessence Handel – Complete Organ Concertos [5 CDs] 5CD 397625 $14.99
Veggio, Rodio & Bertoldo: Complete Organ Music [2 CDs] 2CD 856518 $11.99
Stradella: Complete Violin Sinfonias [2 CDs] 2CD 856910 $11.99
Quintessence Bach: Famous Concertos [5 CDs] 5CD 397626 $14.99
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Brilliant Classics Piazzola: Para El Ángel [2 CDs] 2CD 856913 $11.99
Zachow: Complete Organ Music [2 CDs] 2CD 832794 $11.99
Sollima: Chamber Music / Ensemble Kinari 1CD 856912 $11.99
Giardini: 6 Sonatas for Flute & Harpsichord 1CD 937366 $9.99
Siret: The French Harpsichord Suites [2 CDs] 2CD 832795 $11.99
Rebay: Complete Music for Viola and Guitar 1CD 849858 $9.99
Reger: Piano Trio, Op. 102 1CD 832791 $9.99
Granados: Piano Music 1CD 832796 $9.99
Aguilera de Heredia: Organ Music 1CD 849854 $9.99
Baroque Concerti from The Netherlands [4 CDs] 4CD 832792 $14.99
Torelli: Amorose Faville 1CD 832797 $9.99
Marcello: Psalm 42 & 50 1CD 849852 $9.99
English Guitar Music of the 20th Century 1CD 832793 $9.99
Caccini: Amarilli – Le Nouve Musiche 1601 1CD 856521 $9.99
Rózsa & Herrmann: Music for String Quartet 1CD 849856 $11.99
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Early Music
Hildegard: Ordo Virtutum / Seraphic Fire
Jistebnický Kancionál: Sound of the Bohemian Pre-Reformation
Seraphic Fire, GRAMMY-nominated professional choir, presents it’s newest recording, Hildegard of Bingen: Ordo Virtutum. This recording is the first complete performance of the 12th century masterpiece on album. Composed by 1151 CE, Ordo Virtutum tells the story of a wandering soul, Anima, and her struggles between the forces of good and evil. (Seraphic Fire)
1CD 854959
Bohemian songs for mass and prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours from the early 15th-century Prague university milieu. The manuscript contains a Latin hymn translated into Czech, as well as original music to Czech texts. When, in 1872, the student Leopold Katz discovered an old manuscript of Czech songs, he might not have realized just how enormous its value was. Yet the most notable aspect of the hand-written hymnbook is that it features songs in Czech for mass and prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours. (Supraphon)
$16.99
Con Arte E Maestria / Oliver Webber, violin; Steven Devine, organ; Monteverdi String Band
1CD 833778
$19.99
The decades around 1600 bore witness to the flourishing of a remarkable musical tradition: the art of diminution, in which simple melodies were given exquisitely virtuosic embellishments, effectively creating new works. Giving new life to this tradition was the inspiration for this unique program: alongside iconic works from the diminution canon, Monteverdi String Band members Oliver Webber and Steven Devine present newly ornamented versions of a selection of 16th- and early 17th-century works. (Resonus Classics)
Guerrero: Magnificat, Lamentations & Canciones
Music for the King of Scots / Binchois Consort
Around 1600, when opera was invented in Italy, Venice was resplendent with the works of Giovanni Gabrieli in the Basilica of San Marco. A daring amalgamation of Flemish and Italian styles, this is a corpus of virtuoso pieces in which voices compete with cornets and trombones for polyphony of rare beauty. In an Italy ravaged by wars, where the Condottieri were the modern heroes, the souls of these captains rise again thanks to the music of the brilliant Gabrieli. (Chateau de Versailles)
1CD 937433
Francisco Guerrero is still insufficiently well known by comparison to his great contemporary and compatriot Victoria. El León de Oro here affirms his rightful place in the history of the Golden Age of Spanish polyphony. (Hyperion)
1CD 815996
Gabrieli: Gloria A Venezia! / La Guilde des Mercenaires
$16.99
A re-creation of the music combined with a technological reconstruction of the acoustics in Linlithgow Chapel, this project from The Binchois Consort and Andrew Kirkman offers a fascinating perspective on how such repertoire might originally have been heard. (Hyperion)
1CD 816855
$19.99
1CD 854895
Marais at Midnight / Catherine Liddell, theorbo; Laura Jeppesen, viola da gamba French composer Marin Marais (1656–1728) was one of the greatest French composers of the Baroque. He was probably the greatest of all Baroque composers in terms of his compositions for viola da gamba. Laura Jeppesen and Catherine Liddell are among the finest American artists at their respective instruments. Laura Jeppesen studied the viola da gamba at the Hamburg Hochschule and the Brussels Conservatory. (Centaur)
1CD 849869
Gothic Voices’ eagerly awaited new album features music from The Old Hall Manuscript: a wonderful collection of classy compositions from late 14th- to early 15th-century England. It embodies the English ‘flavor’ of music of the time, with its smooth melodies and sweet harmonies, irresistible to Franco-Flemish composers writing a generation or so later, and known by them as the ‘Contenance Angloise’. (Linn)
$15.99
1CD 854923
$18.99
The Early Music Collection [30 CDs] The Early Music Collection is a wideranging survey that traces the history of Western music from plainchant, the music of the Catholic Church, through polyphony, to the end of the 17th century. Many of the individual albums have been critically lauded as they include leading ensembles and instrumentalists. For this release we limit the term ‘Early Music’ to cover a period ranging from plainchant to the end of the 17th century. (Naxos)
The year 2021 marks the 500th anniversary of the birth of Philippe de Monte. This Flemish Renaissance master was one of the greatest composers of his generation. He held the prestigious position of Hofkapellmeister to the Imperial Court for 35 years, first in Vienna and then in Prague. This selection of madrigals, motets and chansons is a contribution to the restoration of his much-merited fame. (Ramee)
www.hbdirect.com
$18.99
Echoes of an Old Hall / Gothic Voices
Monte: Madrigals and Chansons / Ratas Del Viejo Mundo
1CD 833770
$19.99
$18.99
30CD 50102
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Albums
D’India: Lamenti & Sospiri [2 CDs]
Paradisi Porte: Hans Memling’s Angelic Concert
“Sigismondo d’India has a “twin”, a “mirror” in music: Claudio Monteverdi. Both men developed, in parallel, a style that radically changed the history of music. A style inherited from composers such as Luca Marenzio and Carlo Gesualdo, but which d’India and Monteverdi were to transform through the creation of new techniques, theorised by the latter in 1638 under the name seconda pratica, which consisted in breaking the rules of counterpoint in order to express heightened emotion. (Ricercar)
Around 1490, the painter Hans Memling created his “Concert of Angels”. It consists of three paintings for the outside of an altar and shows God the Father surrounded by angels singing and playing instruments. What might the music have sounded like that inspired Memling to this painting? Very precisely, the painter depicted the instruments of his time, grouped into the “alta” and “bassa capella” typical of the period – the loud and the quiet instruments. (Accentus)
2CD 854951
1CD 832768
$18.99
$18.99
Jacob Van Eyck / Der Fluyten Lust-Hof
Dowland: Semper Dowland / Mike Fentross, lute In Dowland’s words: “ingenuous profession of Musicke, which from my childhoode I have ever aymed at,... the better to attain so excellent a science”. Mike Fentross achieves this “divine science of musicke” by wooing his audience by “speaking harmony” on his sweet lute. His art entwines harmony and poetry, albeit often a melancholic art, which is then framed by the proportions of rhythm. Since 1996 Mike Fentross is guest professor at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. (Zefir)
Published in Amsterdam in the mid17th century, Der Fluyten Lust-Hof (‘The Garden of Flute Delightsʼ) is a collection of variations for solo flute on the ‘hits’ of European music of the time, borrowed from such composers as Caccini, Dowland, Bull and Moulinié. For this recording, François Lazarevitch uses instruments characteristic of Dutch compailer Jacob Van Eyck’s time: not only the recorder, but also and above all cylindrical transverse flutes, as well as a 17th-century musette. (Alpha)
Erlebach: Lieder / Le Banquet Céleste, Damien Guillon, countertenor
Josquin: Motets & Mass Movements / Brabant Ensemble; Stephen Rice
1CD 849969
$18.99
1CD 832769
Accompanied by his ensemble Le Banquet Céleste, the countertenor Damien Guillon places his voice at the service of a program of vocal pieces by the German Baroque composer Philipp Heinrich Erlebach, a large part of whose output was destroyed in a fire at Rudolstadt Castle in 1735. Among the works that have come down to us are the two collections Harmonische Freude musikalischer Freunde, containing respectively fifty and twenty-five arias for one to four solo voices, instrumental ensemble and basso continuo. (Alpha)
1CD 843598
Biographical and musicological certainties may be in short supply in the life and work of Josquin, but there’s no gainsaying the magnificence of the music. This program of shorter works, from The Brabant Ensemble and Stephen Rice, most in unusual guise, celebrates his 500th anniversary. (Hyperion)
1CD 815574
The 32 polyphonic madrigals by Michelangelo Rossi, which are preserved only in manuscript in a score and a set of partbooks, have only recently become known. The specialist Johannes Keller leads the Ensemble Domus Artis, a group especially created for the study and interpretation of madrigals intended originally to be performed in tavolino conditions. (Glossa)
A talent eagerly sought by Lorenzo de’ Medici in Florence and later by Maximilian I in Vienna, Heinrich Isaac enjoyed a distinguished reputation during his lifetime. Listening to these idiomatic accounts from Cinquecento, it’s easy to understand why. (Hyperion)
1CD 856927
$19.99
New Baroque Sessions is Luc Beauséjour’s second album of Baroque works played on the piano. It includes works by Jean-Sébastien Bach, Domenico Scarlatti, François Couperin, Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck and Claude Balbastre. “I have chosen a repertoire that I like and which, while being primarily intended for the harpsichord, lends itself well to interpretation on the piano” says Luc Beauséjour. Beauséjour’s playing is inspired and sensitive and the program is wonderful. Essential! (Analekta)
The cello was a beneficiary of the remarkable flowering of high culture sponsored by both ecclesiastical and aristocratic patrons in early 18th-century Naples. In 1717, Rocco Greco (1650–1718) became the last appointed player of the viola da gamba in the Royal Chapel dedicated to the treasure of St Januarius, the patron saint of Naples. (Brilliant Classics)
1/800/222-6872
$18.99
Beauséjour / New Baroque Sessions
Early Neapolitan Cello Music / Schola Gregoriana Scivias Ensemble
1CD 856522
$19.99
Madrigali Al Tavolino – Multitonal madrigals by Michelangelo Rossi
$18.99
Isaac: Missa Wohlauff gut Gsell Von Hinnen & Other Works
1CD 844973
$18.99
$9.99
1CD 843599
21
$18.99
www.hbdirect.com
Pentatone Recommended Pentatone Picks First Light / Pekka Kuusisto, violin; Norwegian Chamber Orchestra Violinist Pekka Kuusisto and the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra present First Light, the first fruit of Kuusisto’s tenure as the ensemble’s Artistic Director, on which two eminent New York composers are cast in a Nordic light. The album offers the world premiere recording of Nico Muhly’s Shrink (Concerto for Violin and Strings), a unique, remotely-recorded rendition of Philip Glass’ “The Orchard” by Kuusisto and Muhly, and Kuusisto’s new string orchestra arrangement of Glass’ “Mishima” String Quartet No. 3. (Pentatone)
1CD 854947
$15.99
Beethoven: Piano Sonata, No. 29 / Pierre-Laurent Aimard After his acclaimed interpretation of Messiaen’s Catalogue d’Oiseaux, pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard returns with a recording of Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata and Eroica Variations. The Hammerklavier Sonata is one of the pinnacles of Beethoven’s creative output, and arguably one of the highest mountains to climb for any pianist. To Aimard, it poses one of the most frightening tests of a performer’s life, but one that is as irresistible as it is insurmountable. (Pentatone)
1CD 863835
$15.99
Brabant 1653 – Baroque Vocal Music from Brabent / Holland Baroque Holland Baroque explores the monastic musical traditions of 17th-century North Brabant, together with a group of established early music vocalists. Brabant 1653 unveils hidden gems of Dutch music history, as well as of baroque music at large. The album’s central figure is Benedictus à Sancto Josepho, pre-eminent organist and composer of Brabant in the late seventeenth century, and known in France as “le grand Carme”. (Pentatone)
1SACD 849943
Mozart: Ombra Compagna – Concert Arias / Lisette Oropesa, soprano
Brahms: Symphony No. 2, Academic Festival Overture
Soprano Lisette Oropesa presents her solo debut album Ombra Compagna, a kaleidoscope of concert arias by Mozart, whose music is very dear to her heart. These concert arias, written for important sopranos in his life, contain the most lavish and virtuosic music Mozart composed, both for the voice and for the orchestra. The emotional centre of the album is the aria “Ah, lo previdi”, in which the most sublime music accompanies the journey between life and death, as the spirit of a loved one slips away. (Pentatone)
1SACD 845045
$19.99
Maestro Herbert Blomstedt and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig continue their integral Brahms symphonies project with a recording of the composer’s Second Symphony in D major, alongside his Academic Festival Overture. Although idyllic and pastoral at first sight, Brahms himself remarked that he had “never written anything so sad”. Blomstedt and the orchestra bring out all the different moods and colors of this exceptional work, while the Academic Festival Overture provides a jubilant, glorious conclusion. (Pentatone)
$19.99
1CD 833759
Bach: Unbuttoned
$15.99
Aus Wien / Alasdair Beatson, pianist On her third Pentatone album Bach Unbuttoned, Ana de la Vega brings together a group of exciting young soloists and the Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn to present a lively and fresh perspective on Bach as man and composer. The program contains Brandenburg concertos Nos. 2, 4 & 5, a unique rendition on flute and oboe of the double violin concerto, as well as the breath-takingly virtuosic “Badinerie” for flute. (Pentatone)
1CD 845078
After his acclaimed Mendelssohn album with cellist Johannes Moser, Alasdair Beatson presents his first Pentatone solo album Aus Wien, on which he brings together piano music from Schubert, Schumann, Schoenberg, Korngold and Ravel. Ranging from treasures of late-Romantic and early atonal music to carnivalesque, grandiose dance pieces, the works on Aus Wien constitute a picture of the vibrant city of Vienna, a hub of musical creativity without parallel, and the capital of the waltz. (Pentatone)
$15.99
1CD 856940
In Umbra Mortis – A Chromatic Journey / Cappella Amsterdam
Viktor Orri Árnason: Eilífur Eilífur (‘Eternalʼ) is Icelandic contemporary composer Viktor Orri Árnason’s solo debut and first Pentatone album, on which the prospect of living forever is contemplated. Eilífur weaves together a lucid, near-future narrative via a combination of abstract Icelandic lyrics and adept musical storytelling, sparked by the concept that medical advances could soon eradicate death by natural causes. The scope and scale of Eilífur is reflected in the extremes of its sound. (Pentatone)
Cappella Amsterdam and its artistic leader Daniel Reuss make their Pentatone label debut with In Umbra Mortis. The album brings together Wolfgang Rihm’s contemporary Sieben Passions-Stücke and Passion-related motets by the Flemish 16th-century polyphonist Giaches de Wert, revealing unexpected kinship between two composers four centuries apart. (Pentatone)
1CD 845046
$15.99
$15.99
1CD 856557
$15.99
Schumann: String Quartets / Emerson String Quartet The Emerson String Quartet makes it Pentatone debut with a recording of Schumann’s three string quartets. Penned in the summer of 1842 during an exceptional peak of creativity, these quartets formed the beginning of a six-month surge during which most of Schumann’s best chamber music saw the light. Inspired by the example of Beethoven, Schumann’s quartets display a mastery of traditional forms, combined with typically Schumannian fantasy and lyricism, particularly in the inner movements. (Pentatone)
1CD 396873
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$15.99
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22-6872
Bach: 6 Violin Sonatas and Partitas, BWV 1001–1006 [2 CDs]
Alpha
Frescobaldi: Canzoni da sonare a una, due, tre et quattro
The violinist Amandine Beyer interprets Bach’s famous Sonatas and Partitas, veritable bravura pieces that push back the limits of the instrument, at the intersection between the German solo tradition and the Italian concerto. (Alpha)
2CD 856503
With his Canzoni, Frescobaldi affirmed the genre, rather than renewing it, but brought it to its peak. For this recording, Les Basses Réunies reconstructed a consort of low-pitched members of the violin family, which are joined by the smooth sound of the cornett and a sumptuous continuo section. (Alpha)
$10.99
1CD 856506
Bononcini: La nemica d’Amore fatta amante Ensemble 415 and Chiara Banchini revive the serenata a tre La nemica d’amore fatta amante by Giovanni Bononcini, a prodigious composer who was Handel’s ‘rival’ in London and just as prolific as Alessandro Scarlatti in producing cantatas in the early eighteenth century. The singers are the soprano Adriana Fernández, the countertenor Martín Oro and the baritone Furio Zanasi. (Alpha)
1CD 856504
Inspired by the practice of Nuove Musiche advocated by Caccini in 1602, this album takes us to the foundations of modern Italian vocal music: a journey to the heart of the musical innovation that led to opera, presented by the singer Marco Beasley, the organist and harpsichordist Guido Morini and the Ensemble Accordone. (Alpha)
$10.99
1CD 856894
Claude Lejeune, who moved in Protestant circles but was also in the service of the royal court, composed both Huguenot polyphonic psalms in French and Catholic liturgical pieces in Latin. The genres are juxtaposed in this recording by Olivier Schneebeli directing Les Pages et Les Chantres of the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles. (Alpha)
Printed in Nuremberg in 1694, Erlebach’s Six Sonatas for violin, viola da gamba and basso continuo, marked by both French and Italian influences, are among his few instrumental pieces to have survived. They are performed here by the Stylus Phantasticus ensemble, joined by the baritone Victor Torres for several expressive arias focusing on the theme of the ‘volatile destiny of the human being’. (Alpha)
1CD 856507
$10.99
$10.99
Marais: La Rêveuse et autres pièces de viole
Févin: Requiem d’Anne de Bretagne
The late Sophie Watillon displays her extreme sensitivity in the finest chamber music of Marin Marais, taken from his books of pieces for viol: La Rêveuse, Dialogue, Plainte, Caprice, Les Folies d’Espagne, and the Tombeau pour Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe he wrote in homage to his teacher. Here are fourteen new titles which offer a chance to discover other treasures, whether Baroque or dating from an earlier or later era. (Alpha)
The attachment of King Louis XII and a whole people to Queen Anne of Brittany can be heard on this disc, where Denis Raisin Dadre and his ensemble Doulce Mémoire juxtapose Antoine de Févin’s Missa pro defunctis with Breton folk songs for solo voice in commemoration of this emblematic Queen Consort of France. (Alpha)
1CD 856893
$10.99
Le Jeune: Motets pour le culte Catholique et psaumes Protestants
Erlebach: Zeichen in Himmel / Victor Torres, baritone; Stylus Phantasticus
1CD 856505
$10.99
La bella noeva / Marco Beasley, vocals; Guido Morini, organ
$10.99
1CD 856895
$10.99
NEW ALPHA RELEASES IN BRIEF Mozart: Concertone / Ensemble 415 Banchini This program, performed by Chiara Banchini and Ensemble 415, gives a glimpse of Mozart’s early compositions, written in Salzburg, most of which were intended for performance at social events. (Alpha)
1CD 856896
$10.99
Scarlatti: Sonates, Naples, 1685 / Olivier Cave These sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti seem to contain all the vivid colors of Naples: in the hands of Olivier Cavé, they spring to life as playful tableaux, dreams where the notes resemble reminiscences. (Alpha)
1CD 856897
$10.99
Vivaldi: Gloria & Magnificat Hervé Niquet and his Concert Spirituel offer a program to the glory of Antonio Vivaldi: his Gloria and Magnificat, genuine masterpieces of sacred vocal music. (Alpha)
1CD 856898
$10.99
Westhoff: Sonates Pour Violon / David Plantier, Les Plaisirs du Parnasse Published in 1694, these sonatas by Johann Paul von Westhoff are among the most fascinating pieces in his repertory. (Alpha)
1CD 856899
1/800/222-6872
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$10.99
www.hbdirect.com
The Baroque Baroque Era Recommendations Handel: Six Concerti Grossi, Op. 3 / Van Diemen’s Band, Martin Gester Selected from various sources, these six concertos certainly don’t form an organic cycle – in complete contrast to the future Op. 6 Concerti Grossi, which Handel carefully conceived as a set. The fact remains that Opus 3 contains some of Handel’s best-loved music, in instrumental combinations that are colorful and often unexpected – aspects that Martin Gester and his musicians in the Tasmanian period band Van Diemen’s Band make the most of. (BIS)
1SACD 843611
$19.99
Bach – Brandenburg Concertos / La Petite Bande Kuijken [2 CDs] Anyone who believes that everything has already been said about the Brandenburg Concertos will be proven wrong by this release. Sigiswald Kuijken uses pure natural instruments without these modern auxiliary bores, as he has excellent musicians at his disposal for this venture in Jean-François Madeuf and colleagues. The result is convincing all around and once again underlines the artistic standing of Kuijken and his ensemble La Petite Bande. (Accent)
2CD 849829
$24.99
Purcell: Royal Welcome Songs for King Charles II, Vol. 4 Despite only living until the age of 36, Purcell is undoubtedly one of the most remarkable musical geniuses of all time. The Sixteen continues its exploration of his music written for royalty illuminating two more of Purcell’s Welcome Songs – “Swifter, Isis, Swifter Flow” and “The Summer’s Absence Unconcerned We Bear.” In his music for Nathaniel Lee’s tragedy Theodosius we witness the young Purcell displaying his playhouse wares in strokes of astonishing versatility some ten years before he made a serious impact as a master of music for the stage. (Coro)
1CD 854906
Telemann: 12 Fantasias for Solo Flute / Leonard Garrison, flute
Bach: Cello Suites / Hopkinson Smith, theorbo & lute [2 CDs]
Telemann’s twelve Fantasias, TWV 40:2–13 hold endless fascination, not only for flutists, but for a variety of instrumentalists. These works represent a unique, thorough, and systematic exploration of writing for unaccompanied flute. Leonard Garrison brings these great works fully to life. Leonard Garrison is University Distinuished Professor of Flute and Associate Director of the Lionel Hampton School of Music at the University of Idaho. (Centaur)
The complete Suites for Solo Cello by Bach, are recorded here by lutenist/theorbo player Hopkinson Smith. This double album does restorative justice to a complete edition that up to now was split into two albums, appearing separately between 1981 and 2013. It also offers the chance of surveying in full Bach’s six Suites for solo violoncello BWV 1007 to 1012 in the new, colorful light of their arrangement for lute and theorbo. (Naive)
1CD 854892 $15.99 Steffan: Harpsichord Sonatas / Mitzi Meyerson, harpsichord
2CD 833731
$19.99
Pachelbel: Magnificat / Himlische Cantorey This recording spreads out before us the rich musical panorama covered by Pachelbel’s Magnificat compositions. The natural flow of Pachelbel’s music includes a steady stream of musical rhetorical interpretations, and the richly pictorial Magnificat text offers plenty of opportunities for them. On this recording two sacred concertos and a Mass in three movements complement the four very different Magnificat settings and serve as contrasts to them. (CPO)
Mitzi Meyerson is a world-renowned American harpsichordist and teacher, based in Berlin for many decades now. She maintains a sterling reputation for her concerts and recordings, and has taught hundreds of students over the last 30 years, many of whom went on to be successful artists in their own right. She specializes in researching little-known or lost works for the harpsichord which she then brings to light in recordings. (Glossa)
1CD 291433
1CD 845004 $18.99 Monteverdi: L’Orfeo / Ensemble Lundabarock [2 SACDs]
$16.99
The Royal Chapel of Madrid: Sacred Music after the Great Fire of 1734 In the history of Spanish monarchy, the Royal Chapel is a fundamental entity for the establishment and dissemination of political and religious doctrine. It constitutes the heart of religious life centered around the kings. In the Royal Chapel, liturgical music plays an essential role as a means of legitimation of the catholic monarchy´s divine origin. With this recording, music that was formerly exclusively intended for royalty is uncovered for the first time. (Pan Classics)
L’Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643) is often described as the first opera. The composer himself used another term for his work, however: ‘favola in musica’, a musical tale. Taking this as their point of departure, the performers on the present recording place the emphasis on the libretto’s direct narrative, and how the music alone is used to express emotions, a music which underpins the plot and the text word for word. (BIS)
2SACD 843615
$18.99
1CD 833755
$39.99
$18.99
Dreyer: Sonatas for Recorder / Issac Makhdoomi, recorder A veritable discovery from the Italian High Baroque. The flute sonatas by Domenico Maria Dreyer, a contemporary of Antonio Vivaldi are presented here, recorded by Swiss recorder player Isaac Makhdoomi. Makhdoomi provides a fine interpretation, joined by Sebastian Bausch on the harpsichord. In this integral compilation, these works are recorded on an album for the first time. (Prospero)
1CD 833765
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Bach: Horn Concertos / Radek Baborák, french horn; Berlin Baroque Soloists
Graf: Sonaten für Violine und Basso continuo Johann Graf’s life dates are almost identical to those of Johann Sebastian Bach. The Rudolstadt court Kapellmeister was one of the most esteemed violinists of his time. Violinist Anne Schumann, violist Klaus Voigt, and harpsichordist Sebastian Knebel are now releasing an album on Genuin featuring his violin sonatas, which, although significant in music history, have rarely been performed. (Genuin)
The musicians of the Berlin Baroque Soloists, who for the most part are members of the Berlin Philharmonic, are well known to Radek Baborák from his time as solo horn player of the orchestra from 2003 to 2010. “That is why the recording with the Berlin Baroque Soloists was not such an unusual project,” says Radek Baborák, “but it was a dream of mine to play something by Bach with this ensemble, which plays modern instruments. (Haensler Classic)
1CD 863841
1CD 844996
$18.99
Tessarini: Concerti & Sinfonie / Compagnia de Musici
Destouches: Sémiramis [2 CDs]
Carlo Tessarini belongs to that generation of Italian violin virtuosos of the early 18th century who were widely known in Europe during their lifetime but are now largely forgotten. The Compagnia de Musici under Francesco Baroni has compiled an anthology from his large instrumental oeuvre, which includes Tessarini’s works from the early Italian “Concerti” in the style of Vivaldi to his “Grandes sinfonies”, which can clearly be assigned to the “Stile galante.” (Pan Classics)
Sémiramis tortured by Zoroastre’s spells, violence, incest, murder and magnificence: this is one of the most astonishing tragédies-lyriques! From this powerful libretto, Destouches calls upon striking effects that make his final work a veritable torrent of passion. Margaux Blanchard and Sylvain Sartre bring this opera of impossible love to a state of incandescence. (Chateau de Versailles)
2CD 856524
$27.99
1CD 856938
Rameau: Rameau Triomphant / Mathias Vidal, tenor
Alongside his success directing the ensemble Ars Antiqua Austria, Gunar Letzbor has not let up on demonstrating his talents as a violinist. After the recording of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas, the 12 Fantasias by Georg Philipp Telemann present him again completely “a solo”. Telemann’s Fantasias for Solo Violin are reflections both of his full maturity as a composer and of being highly proficient violinist himself. (Pan Classics)
1CD 845044
$18.99
$18.99
Rigatti: Vespro Della Beata Vergine / I Disinvolti UtFaSol Ensemble
Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1 / Luca Guglielmi, harpsichord [2 CDs]
Two young Italian ensembles join forces to revive a Vespers setting of the Venetian school dating from the year of Monteverdi’s death. Regarded by musicologists as one of the leading Italian composers of the early seventeenth century, Giovanni Antonio Rigatti pursued the major part of his musical career in Venice, in the shadow of the ‘divine Claudio’. The framework of this Vespro is taken from the 1643 collection Messa e Salmi ariosi a tre voci. (Arcana)
Luca Guglielmi: “Bach himself did not see the autograph manuscript as a ‘definitive’ version. He kept it as an ‘open manuscript’ on the rack of his harpsichord up to his death. Bach’s hands-on approach to his work in progress proves just how modern he actually was and remains. For this recording we have had the fortune to use an original Christian Zell 1737 harpsichord, a favorite of Gustav Leonhardt to whose memory this Volume 1 is dedicated.” (AVI)
2CD 843607
$9.99
Telemann: 12 Fantasias for Solo Violin / Gunar Letzbor, violin
Master of 18th century French opera, Rameau wrote for the stage for three decades (1733–1764). His 30 or so operatic works give considerable space to the haute-contre voice, the quintessence of most of the title roles. Mathias Vidal, a brilliant representative of this haute-contre tessitura, is one of its foremost specialists. For this passionate singer of the French repertory, to record a recital dedicated to Pierre de Jelyotte, Rameau’s haute-contre, makes the theatricality of his music resound to a thrilling climax! (Chateau de Versailles)
1CD 854893
$18.99
1CD 832774
$19.99
$10.99
BAROQUE ERA RELEASES IN BRIEF
Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 / Peter Watchorn, harpsichord This recording is one the final volumes of Peter Watchorn’s complete survey of Bach’s entire harpsichord output. (Musica Omnia)
1CD 833725
$17.99
Fux: Arias for the Emperor / Maria Ladurner, soprano; Biber Consort This present recording with the young Austrian soprano Maria Ladurner is therefore more than welcome, giving a somewhat deeper insight into the Johann Joseph Fux’s stage works. (Pan Classics)
1CD 845043
$18.99
Marais, Sainte-Colombea: A Deux Violes Esgales Two viola da gamba players, two inspired soloists, two major composers of the century of Louis XIV: Marais and Sainte Colombe. What could be more sensually French? (Chateau de Versailles)
1CD 856915
$18.99
Fux: Dafne in lauro / Zefiro, Bernardini [2 CDs] With a cast of Baroque vocal specialists, this set of Dafne in lauro marks the beginning of a new series in which Arcana will release the recordings made in the course of the six-year cycle. (Arcana)
2CD 856509
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Mendelssohn Bartholdy: The Complete String Symphonies [3 CDs]
The Classical Pasquini: Fifteen Sonatas for Two Harpsichord
The recording of the two harpsichord sonatas by Bernardo Pasquini is a particularly interesting cameo in the panorama of the music dedicated to the genre of the partimento, advanced practice of the basso continuo that in Italy formed the basis of compositional and keyboard teaching in the 18th century Neapolitan school. Marina Scaioli and Francesco Tasini face this instrumental ‘challenge’ on two Italian historical harpsichords copies: a 1725 Giovanni Ferrini and a 1778 Roberto and Federigo Cresci. (Tactus)
This CD box setcombines Mendelssohn’s twelve string symphonies, his “Symphoniesatz“ in C minor (No. 13) and his early violin concerto in D minor in the form of studio recordings made by the Münchner Rundfunkorchester under its leader Henry Raudales. The violinist has won several awards and made numerous recordings with the orchestra as a conductor and soloist. (BR-Klassik)
3CD 854887
$29.99
1CD 845069
Schubert: Song Cycles / Christoph Pregardien [3 CDs]
Mozart: Sonatas for Fortepiano & Violin, Vol. 3 / Isabelle Faust; Alexander Melnikov
Is this an homage to Schubert? Or just to a leading Lieder tenor of our time? This release is probably both and it represents a clear reference for anyone who is a seasoned Lieder lover or a neophyte wanting to approach this genre. Christoph Pregardien has been through the last two decades one of the most important and interesting voices confronting this engaging repertoire. (Challenge)
3CD 856916
By modifying the balance of the dialogue between the two protagonists, whom he turns into genuine alter egos, Mozart leads the genre of the sonata for fortepiano and violin onto the road to modernity. Isabelle Faust and Alexander Melnikov present here the third volume of an exciting complete set on period instruments. Their playing is distinguished by “a tender and delicate expressiveness served by exceptionally subtle nuances.” (Classica) (Harmonia Mundi)
$24.99
1CD 858486
Ferrari: Music for Harp & Piano / Roberta Alessandrini, harp; Corrado Ruzza, piano
Together with familiar music from Prince Igor, this album features the world premiere recording of the unusual Requiem, (which is based on “Chopsticks”), and Glazunov’s orchestration of the charming Petite Suite. Australian conductor Geoffrey Simon is resident in London and has appeared there with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and English Chamber Orchestra. (Signum)
$16.99
Mozart: Requiem in D minor, K. 626 / Kuijken String Quartet
1CD 359852
Sony Classical presents this recording of Symphony No. 7 – the long-awaited sister-recording to Teodor Currentzis and musicAeterna’s Beethoven Symphony No. 5 album. Recorded at the Vienna Konzerthaus in August 2018, both albums are the Russiabased musicians’ seminal contribution to the composer’s 250th anniversary celebrations. (Sony)
$16.99
1CD 397748
Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 ‘Eroica’ / Francois Roth – Xavier
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$14.99
Agnesi: Arias from the Opera Sofonisba
Continuing their exploration of Beethoven’s symphonies, FrançoisXavier Roth and Les Siecles give us an opportunity to rediscover the Eroica in all its modernity and power. Thanks to the magic of period timbres, Beethoven’s intended instrumental balances and effects are restored in revelatory fashion. The overture to Mehul’s opera Les Amazones, written eight years later, will be a discovery for many listeners. This time it was a French composer who established a further milestone n the new aesthetic of Romanticism. (Harmonia Mundi)
1CD 858485
$17.99
Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92 / Teodor Currentzis
What makes this string-version of Mozart’s Requiem special, is the circumstance of the original Requiem itself. It is known that Mozart left the majority of the work incomplete, and that on request of Mozart’s widow, his pupil Süssmayer did the finishing job. Where one’s work ends and the other’s starts, no one knows. But incomplete as the Requiem is, Mozart’s universal genius radiates through the notes in any version. (Challenge)
1CD 849861
$19.99
Borodin: Requiem / BBC Symphony Chorus; Philharmonia Orchestra
Giacomo Gotifredo Ferrari (Rovereto 1763 – London 1842) was an Italian composer and theoretician. In this recording dedicated to the unusual harp and piano ensemble, Roberta Alessandrini and Corrado Ruzza reveal a musical cross-section typical of the aristocratic salons of the late classicism, characterized by a pleasant and elegant style. The pieces are also completed by other instruments such as the hunting horns and the tambourine. (Tactus)
1CD 854973
$16.99
This selection of seven arias plus the licenza from the opera Sofonisba by the Milanese composer Maria Teresa Agnesi (1720–1795) appears in the 300th anniversary year of her birth. This recording is thus all the more welcome following the absence of celebratory performances in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic. After the Arie con Istromenti, the voice of Elena de Simone becomes the interpreter of this new unpublished chapter dedicated to the rediscovery of the composer. (Tactus)
1CD 845070
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Beethoven: Hope Amid Tears / Emanuel Ax & Yo-Yo Ma [3 CDs]
Brunetti: Complete Oboe Sextets [2 CDs] Opposing the deprecatory view of a backward and isolated Spain that has prevailed until recently, Brunetti’s music shows that what was composed in the rest of Europe was widely and intensely welcomed in Madrid. Lightness, emotion, brilliance, and complexity is what gives these sextets their peculiar beauty, which is hardly found in chamber music written during the second half of the 18th century. (IBS Classical)
Yo-Yo Ma and long-time friend and musical partner Emanuel Ax present Hope Amid Tears, a new recording of Beethoven’s complete works for cello and piano. Hope Amid Tears presents Beethoven’s five sonatas for cello and piano in the order in which they were composed, tracing an important arc in Beethoven’s development and approach as a composer. Joining them are Beethoven’s three sets of variations for cello and piano. (Sony)
3CD 856322
2CD 849900
$18.99
Mozart: Violin Concertos Nos. 3 & 5 / Sebastian Bohren, violin
Haydn: The London Symphonies / SWR RadioSinfonieorchester Stuttgart [4 CDs]
Swiss violinist Sebastian Bohren, whose star is rapidly in the ascendant, makes his AVIE label debut with two concertos from Mozart’s “year of the violin” – Nos. 3 and 5 – paired with the composer’s youthful Symphony No. 29. Sebastian’s interpretations bring out the sparkling energy of the concertos, written when Mozart was just 19 years old, yet at the same time a brandish a smoothly burnished sense of style. (Avie)
In September 2009 the SWR Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart and Sir Roger Norrington celebrated the memory of Joseph Haydn by performing and recording live all 12 London symphonies. They focused – with regards on orchestra size, seating, tempo, phrasing, articulation and sound – on historical performing style, their aim being to render the majesty, the folk-like simplicity, the infectious sense of dance, the surprises, and the humor characteristic to the Father of the Symphony. (SWR)
4CD 854920
1CD 856903
In addition to his famous large-scale song cycles, Schubert also composed and published numerous smaller song compilations. Some of these “miniature cycles” consist of songs written at different times and under different circumstances, but which Schubert himself assembled on the basis of thematic and textual connections. The selected cycles appeared in print during Schubert’s publishing career of just eight years. (Pasacaille)
Friedrich Kuhlau is known as Beethoven’s strongest advocate in Denmark and the man who wrote Elverhøj. But Kuhlau was first and foremost a pianist, one whose works for the instrument have a depth and character of their own. In the first of a new series, Marie-Luise Bodendorff reassesses Kuhlau’s contribution to the piano literature with fresh, muscular performances of music including the previously unrecorded Divertissement, Op. 37. (Dacapo)
1CD 849936
The transcendental heroics of Paganini’s Caprices have presented the ultimate test for generations of violinists. Alina Ibragimova’s account of this most exclusive repertoire joins a select few of the most celebrated. “Ibragimova’s principal strength, aside from an all-facilitating technique, is her amazing imagination, an ability to turn each individual piece into a vivid narrative.” (Gramophone) (Hyperion)
Irish cellist Ailbhe McDonagh and world renowned Beethoven specialist John O’Conor celebrated Beethoven’s 250th anniversary year with this recording of his complete sonatas for cello and piano. “Out of several performances of the Beethoven A major sonata heard over 30 years, McDonagh’s was the most musically complete and satisfying.” (Irish Times) (Steinway)
2CD 829153
Long known as Beethoven’s pupil, Liszt’s teacher and the bane of countless piano students ever since as the prolific author of exercises and studies which have won foundational status in their importance for piano technique, Carl Czerny (1791–1858) is finally gaining recognition as a composer in his own right. This set boasts pleasures including the C major Prelude which puts a rhapsodic gloss on Bach’s immortal introduction. (Piano Classics)
The Larghetto and Allegro for two pianos and orchestra in E flat major is mature Mozart – contemporary with Idomeneo and Die Entführung – but remains incomplete. Tomer Lev has finished the job brilliantly, making it the perfect companion for Mozart’s official multipiano concertos. Accompaniment by the English Chamber Orchestra. (Hyperion)
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Czerny: Der Pianist im klassischen Style; 48 Preludes & Fugues [2 CDs]
$24.99
Mozart: The Complete Multipiano Concertos / Multipiano Ensemble
1CD 816856
$18.99
Paganini: 24 Caprices / Alina Ibragimova, violin [2 CDs]
$15.99
Beethoven: Complete Cello Sonatas / Ailbhe McDonagh, cello; John O’Conor, piano [2 CDs]
2CD 845062
$17.99
Schubert : The Small Song Cycles / Marcus Schafer, tenor; Zvi Meniker, fortepiano
$34.99
Kuhlau: Works for Solo Piano, Vol. 1 / Marie-Luise Bodendorff, piano
1CD 844981
$19.99
2CD 856556
$19.99
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The Romantic Romantic Era Recommendations Beethoven: Diabelli Variations / May Phang, piano Praised by critics and audiences for her imaginative programming and compelling performances, pianist May Phang enjoys discovering and performing a wide range of repertoire from Bach and Liszt to Libby Larsen and Alexina Louie. Described as “vibrant”, “colorful”, and “evocative,” May strives to deeply understand and bring fresh insights into the masterpieces of composers such as Beethoven and Chopin. (Centaur)
1CD 863786
$15.99
Tchaikovsky: Works for Violin & Orchestra / La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra Exchanging roles between soloist and Konzertmeisterin, the accomplished young violinist Saténik Khourdoïan here makes her recording debut in an exciting program with La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra and its acclaimed Music Director Alain Altinoglu. Perhaps best known to the general public for his ballet Swan Lake, the ardently Romantic composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is also much admired for his concertante works. (Fuga Libera)
1CD 854914
$18.99
Messager: Passionnément / Munchner Rundfunkorchester Normandy in the Années Folles. Romantic encounters, changes of identity and unexpected comic twists: in Passionnément, André Messager places himself at the intersection of café-concert, American popular music and French operetta. The score is swept along with great spirit by Véronique Gens, Étienne Dupuis, Nicole Car and a team of enthusiastic soloists accompanied by the Münchner Rundfunkorchester under Stefan Blunier. (Bru Zane)
1CD 854888
Weber: Works / Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin
Brahms – Clarinet Sonatas, Op. 120 / Julian Bliss, clarinet; James Baillieu, piano
The premiere of Carl Maria von Weber’s Der Freischütz on June 18, 1821 was a highlight of the opening year of what is known today as the Berlin Concert Hall. The work became his most popular opera and one of the key works of the 19th century. Principal conductor Christoph Eschenbach is joined in this program by two artists who reside at the Konzerthaus Berlin and are also Alpha artists: soprano Anna Prohaska and pianist Martin Helmchen. (Alpha)
1CD 849834 Chopin, Dussek: Romantic Revolution / Michael Dussek, piano
Julian Bliss and James Baillieu present a recording Johannes Brahms’ Clarinet sonatas, Op. 120 and an arrangement of his 4 Ernste Gesänge, Op. 121 arranged by Bliss. These late works were inspired by the great clarinetist Richard Muhlfeld, principal clarinet of the Meiningen Court Orchestra, without whom we would not have had this clarinet repertoire. (Signum)
1CD 845053 $17.99 Halka: Moniuszko / Poznań State Moniuszko Opera House Orchestra [2 CDs]
$18.99
Polish composer, conductor and teacher Stanisław Moniuszko is widely known as ‘the father of Polish national opera’. Halka tells the tragic story of its title character, a peasant girl whose love for the noble Janusz is betrayed when he abandons her to wed Zofia, daughter of the Esquire. Recorded here in an acclaimed production by Poznań Opera House, Halka possesses a deeply lyrical character making it one of the composer’s greatest works. (Naxos)
SOMM Recordings is pleased to announce the return of pianist Michael Dussek to explore the music of his ancestor Jan Ladislav Dussek and its relationship to one of the piano repertoire’s most illustrious champions, Fryderyk Chopin. This fascinating recital reveals Dussek – a colorful character and favorite of Marie Antoinette whose talents took him throughout Europe and Russia. (SOMM)
1CD 849953 Emilie Mayer: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2
$36.99
2CD 849825 $23.99 Raff: Lieder / Frederike Schulten; Johannes Wedeking; Wolfgang Klose [2 CDs]
$18.99
No woman composer of the time compiled an oeuvre as extensive as that of Emilie Mayer, who made contributions to a wide range of musical genres. She succeeded in doing what remained a mere dream for most women composers of her generation: she reaped great praise from the critics and pursued a successful career as a composer. Emilie Mayer wrote her eight symphonies between 1845/46 and 1857. (CPO)
This release features a selection of Lieder by composer Joachim Raff. “Despite the abundance and the high quality of Joachim Raff’s songs, this part of his composition is little known and documented – in contrast to his instrumental works, which are recorded several times.” (Hedayet Jonas Djeddikar ) (Sterling)
2CD 845055
$29.99
1CD 291384 $16.99 Chopin: Preludes / Charles Richard-Hamelin, piano This new album by Charles Richard-Hamelin presents two important works from Frederic Chopin’s repertoire, 24 Preludes, Op. 28 and Andante spianato et Grande polonaise brillante, Op. 22, and confirms that he is one of the world’s elite pianists. Writing about Richard-Hamelin, BBC Music Magazine characterized his playing as “fluent, multifaceted and tonally seductive… a technician of exceptional elegance and sophistication.” (Analekta)
1CD 843600
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Sibelius: Orchestral Works / Lise Davidsen, soprano
Bendix: Music for Piano / Isabel Carlander, piano [2 CDs]
Following their acclaimed recordings of Schoenberg and Britten’s Peter Grimes, Edward Gardner and the Bergen Philharmonic turn their attention to the music of Sibelius. Written in 1913 for the diva Aino Ackté, the tone poem Luonnotar draws on text from the Finnish national epic poem, the Kalevala. Its virtuosic demands are ably met here by award-wining soprano Lise Davidsen, who also feature in the Suite from Pelléas and Mélisande. (Chandos)
The Danish composer, pianist and conductor, Victor Bendix, was a key figure in Danish music. He composed more than 100 works and performed as a soloist, chamber musician and conductor for over half a century. Bendix had an idiomatic feel for the piano and was much admired by Liszt. This is the first complete recording of all his printed piano music scores. (Danacord)
2CD 844983
$33.99
1SACD 863792
Saint-Saëns: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2 / Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liege
Arne: Artaxerxes / The Mozartists; Ian Page [2 CDs]
Prodigiously gifted, Camille Saint-Saëns entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1848, at the age of 13. There he discovered the symphonies of the great German and Austrian composers and soon began to try his own hand at the genre. Symphony in A major stems from this period and although it was most likely never performed in his lifetime it demonstrates his exceptional talent to the full. (BIS)
1SACD 849847
A composer inextricably linked with London’s Covent Garden, Thomas Arne’s greatest opera, Artaxerxes, was premiered at the Theatre Royal on 2 February 1762. The young Mozart almost certainly attended a performance when he came to London in the mid-1760s, and Haydn was also acquainted with the work, enthusiastically exclaiming that he “had no idea we had such an opera in the English language.” (Signum)
$19.99
2CD 845054
Bruckner: String Quintet in F major & String Quartet
$25.99
Haydn: Die Uhr – Mozart: Jupiter
The Altomonte Ensemble presents two chamber music works by Anton Bruckner: the string quartet, composed 1861/62 at the suggestion of Joseph Hellmesberger, and the string quintet, composed in 1878/79, which is considered the highlight of Bruckner’s chamber music oeuvre. The latter work was premiered by Hellmesberger and his extended quartet only after prolonged hesitation, since he originally had considered it in part as unplayable. (Gramola)
1CD 856541
$19.99
Klangkollektiv Wien presents a concert recording of Mozart’s Figaro-Overture, his equally popular Jupiter Symphony and Haydn’s Symphony No. 101 “The Clock”, which he wrote for his London journey. The connecting element of the program is Joseph Haydn’s famous saying to Leopold Mozart: “I tell you before God, and as an honest man, your son is the greatest composer known to me in person and by name; he has taste, and, what is more, the most profound skill in composition.” (Gramola)
$18.99
1CD 856540
$18.99
Tchaikovsky: Complete Works for Piano and Orchestra / Andrej Hoteev, piano [3 CDs]
Mascagni: Lodoletta [2 CDs]
All Tchaikovsky’s works for piano and orchestra exist, as do Bruckner’s symphonies for instance, in multiple versions. Traditionally, these works have been played without commentary, mostly in versions shortened in one way or another. The aim of this Edition is to present the unabridged versions of Tchaikovsky’s works for piano and orchestra as a box set. (Haenssler Classic)
Lodoletta was once part of the usual repertoire; nowadays we can consider this work one of the most interesting creations of Mascagni last style: a Mascagni who partly recycles the atmosphere of the youthful Fritz, but seems to approach also a type of musical dramaturgy reserved to an exploration of the female soul, similar to that of the colleague-friend-rival Puccini. (Bongiovanni)
3CD 849899
$22.99
2CD 849898
$31.99
NEW NAXOS RECORDINGS IN BRIEF
Brahms: Complete Sonatas and Variations for Solo Piano / Carlos Grante, piano [3 CDs] Carlo Grante is among the most prolific recording pianists today. This release marks his first recording of the music of Johannes Brahms. (Music & Arts)
3CD 856546
$33.99
Chopin: In My Voice / Chelsea Guo, piano Chelsea Guo is a musical polymath who brings her dual gifts as pianist and soprano to this, her debut album. Guo performs solo piano works that show all facets of Chopin’s style. (Orchid)
1CD 856555
$16.99
Bruckner: Symphony No. 3 in D minor WAB 103 The second installment of Christian Thielemann’s complete cycle of Anton Bruckner’s symphonies with the Vienna Philharmonic – the orchestra’s first Bruckner cycle under a single conductor. (Sony)
1CD 835234
$14.99
Mendelssohn: The Complete Solo Piano Music Vol. 5 / Howard Shelley, piano On Volume 5 of Howard Shelley’s complete Mendelssohn piano music series, he continues to overturn the conventional wisdom about the composer’s unjustly neglected piano music. (Hyperion)
1CD 829152
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$19.99
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Post-Romantic Post-Romantic Album Recommendations Má vlast / Jana Boušková, harp Jana Boušková is one of the most globally distinguished harpists of the present day. Her acclaim comes as no surprise – she has garnered numerous prestigious accolades, performed at major venues all over the world along with renowned artists (Rostropovich, Vengerov, Bashmet, Tetzlaff, and others), and she has gained recognition as a musician and teacher – to name but a few of her accomplishments. (Supraphon)
1CD 845057
$19.99
Hallén: Missa Solemnis Missa Solemnis (1920–21) is a monumental, hour-long work for choir, a quartet of vocal soloists, organ, piano, and celesta. The work was premiered in 1923 at Engelbrekt Church in Stockholm but has since been seldom performed. The work is now available on album for the first time. This recording is part of the Swedish Musical Heritage project sponsored by the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. (Swedish Society)
1CD 845063
$18.99
Dvořák & Martinů: Cello Concertos / Victor Julien-LaFerriere, cello The winner of the very first Queen Elisabeth Competition for cellists in Brussels in 2017, Victor Julien-Laferrière also won the Victoire de la Musique Classique in 2018 in the category ‘Soloist of the Year’. After a first recital album devoted to Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich and Denisov, he now presents two cello concertos by Antonín Dvořák (op.104) and Bohuslav Martinů (no. 1, H196), accompanied by the Liège Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Gergely Madaras. (Alpha)
1CD 832770
The Early Songs of Alban Berg / Steven Kimbrough, baritone; Margaret Jackson, soprano
Gablenz, Paderewski: Romantic Piano Concerto, Vol. 83 / Jonathan Plowright, piano
Alban Berg left behind a wonderful group of songs. These early songs were unpublished during Berg’s lifetime. They deserve a serious listening. This album presents these songs in the excellent performances they so richly deserve. Steven Kimbrough is an internationally known operatic, concert, and musical theater singer who has performed on the professional stages of North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. (Centaur)
Ignacy Jan Paderewski is a familiar name, but the same can hardly be said of Jerzy Gablenz. On Vol. 83 of Hyperion’s Romantic Piano Concerto series, Jonathan Plowright makes the strongest case possible for Gablenz’s piano concerto: a substantial work rich in melodic invention and thunderous pianism. (Hyperion)
1CD 844972
$19.99
Respighi: Concerto All’Antica / Davide Alogna, violin; Chamber Orchestra of New York
1CD 833693 $15.99 Solo Piano Works of Nikolai Medtner, Vol. 1 / Frank Huang, piano
Ottorino Respighi was in the vanguard of the 20th-century rebirth of Italian symphonic music. Famed for his Roman Trilogy, Respighi was also prominent in the synthesis of pre-Classical melodic styles and late-Romantic harmonies and textures. These are the elements that make Ancient Airs and Dances so captivating and expressive, as Respighi draws on dances by 16th-century composers to brilliant effect. (Naxos)
Russian composer Nikolai Medtner left behind an amazing body of works for solo piano. This is the first volume in what will be an integral recorded edition of Medtner’s solo piano works, performed by Frank Huang. Frank Huang is a Steinway Artist and currently serves as an Associate Professor of Piano at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. (Centaur)
1CD 397780 $11.99 Ibert: Orchestral Works / Helen Dabringhaus, flute; Brandenburger Symphoniker
1CD 833694 $15.99 Debussy & Franck: Sonates pour violon et piano For their debut album on ATMA Classique, violinist Marie Bégin and pianist Samuel Blanchette-Gagnon present sonatas for violin and piano by Claude Debussy and Cesar Franck, as well as Karol Szymanovski’s Mythes, Op. 20, a rarity in the modern repertoire for violin and piano. Canadian violinist Marie Bégin has performed in recitals in Canada, the United States, Europe, the United Kingdom and China. (ATMA)
1CD 856511
$18.99
After Schubert and Brahms, Jacques Ibert is at the center of the third production Peter Gülke has recorded with his Brandenburg Symphony Orchestra for MDG. It has become much more than a “stopover”: Gülke presents the special, very individual qualities of this music between impressionism and neo-classicism, between romanticism and modernism, between virtuosity and sound painting with apparent matter-of-factness that testifies to deep knowledge and great respect. (MDG)
$16.99
1SACD 845015 Novák: Pan – A Tone Poem for Piano, Op. 43 / Tobias Borsboom, piano
$18.99
For his debut on Piano Classics, the Dutch pianist Tobias Borsboom presents a unique new recording sure to attract the attention of pianophiles everywhere: the five-movement, hour-long tone-poem which Vítezslav Novák (1870–1949) composed in 1910. The work is marginally better known through the orchestration made by the composer two years later, but the great breadth, melodic richness and sumptuous harmonies of Pan still await discovery by all but the most devoted follower of Slavonic byways. (Piano Classics)
1CD 833757
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Ondine Records Ķeniņš: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 6 1CD 849125 $16.99
Rautavaara: Concertos [4 CDs] 4CD 54717 $29.99
Hindemith: Kammermusik Nos. 4–7 1CD 359812 $16.99
Lindberg: Aura – Marea – Related Rocks 1CD 849126 $16.99
Saariaho: Works for Orchestra [4 CDs] 4CD 68000 $29.99
Bruckner: Latin Motets 1CD 397088 $16.99
Ravel: Boléro – La valse – Rapsodie espagnole 1CD 493286 $16.99
Beethoven: The 9 Symphonies [5 CDs] 5CD 293393 $39.99
Rautavaara: Symphonies Nos. 1–8 [4 CDs] 4CD 164893 $29.99
Balsys: Violin Concerto No. 1 1CD 493285 $16.99
Auvinen: Junker Twist – Himmel Punk – Turbo Aria 1CD 397087 $16.99
Martinaitytė: Saudade 1CD 397990 $16.99
Stanchinsky: Piano Works 1CD 399398 $16.99
Ķeniņš: Symphony No. 1 – Two Concertos 1CD 396714 $16.99
Nørgård & Ruders / Works for Solo Cello 1CD 397508 $16.99
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From the Recommended New Releases Kodály: Duo for Violin and Violoncello, Op. 7 – Dvořák: Piano Trio, Op. 90 “Dumky” After the success of the recent recording of works by Veress and Bartók, which won both a Gramophone Award and a BBC Music Magazine Award in 2020, the Lockenhaus Festival series, curated by its artistic director Nicolas Altstaedt, continues its journey through central Europe with Antonín Dvorák and his famous ‘Dumky’ Trio. (Alpha)
1CD 854873
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Penderecki: String Quartets Nos. 1–4 / Tippett Quartet Penderecki wrote music for string quartet over a period of 56 years. String Quartet No. 1 was written in the same year that he achieved international success with Threnody, and includes a wide range of playing techniques reflective of the avant-garde. String Quartet No. 2 reveals the influence of Ligeti, while No. 3 is a personal, even autobiographical work. (Naxos)
1CD 854938
$11.99
Gershwin & Ravel: Piano Concertos / Pascal Rogé, piano [2 CDs] The award-winning French pianist Pascal Rogé presents a program of music by Gershwin and Ravel in a recording with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra under Bertrand de Billy. In addition to the classical-romantic repertoire of the Viennese and German schools, 20th-century French music is also one of his specialties. “An intelligent, richly enjoyable performance of the Ravel Concerto.” (BBC Music Magazine) (Oehms)
2CD 849919
The King’s Alchemist: British String Trios / Eblana String Trio
Schreker: Der ferne Klang / Jennifer Holloway, soprano; Ian Koziara, tenor [3 CDs] Der ferne Klang by Franz Schreker (1878– 1934) premiered on August 18, 1912 at the Frankfurt Opera House. Schreker had already begun composing his first fulllength opera in 1901, after the text he had written in just a few weeks. The Choir of the Oper Frankfurt and Frankfurter Opernund Museumsorchester perform under the direction of Sebastian Weigle. (Oehms)
Featuring world premiere recordings of trios by Sally Beamish and Hugh Wood bookended by seldom heard works by Moeran and Finzi, The King’s Alchemist showcases the sheer wealth of string trio repertoire by British composers. Although diverse in style and substance, the four works are bound together by the common strands of vivid storytelling and a shared musical language. (Willowhayne)
3CD 833750
1CD 849970 $21.99 Cage: Piano Works / Steffen Schleiermacher, piano [2 CDs]
$34.99
Animal Universe / Christina Bjørkøe, piano The challenge of the Etude has intrigued and inspired composers from Bach and Chopin on: can music designed to improve technique hold its own aesthetic value? Pianist Christina Bjørkøe has an inspired answer to that question. She commissioned a set of three animal etudes from twelve composers and here presents the charming, evocative and very useful musical menagerie that resulted. (Dacapo)
In the last years of his life, John Cage wrote a great many so-called ‘Number Pieces’ – the title indicating the number of performing musicians. While most of these pieces indicate which instruments are to be played, other pieces offer only general tone descriptions or a framework for choosing the tones oneself. What these pieces do have in common is time-organization: Cage designates the measure within which the tones must be played. (Phil.harmonie)
2CD 849941 Blackford: Niobe Kalon – Blewbury Air
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1CD 833704
$19.99
$15.99
Bacewicz: Piano Music / Joanna Sochacka, piano ‘It is not very common to come across a composer whose genius is being praised, but whose music is more often discussed than performed at the same time. This album is entirely devoted to Grażyna Bacewicz’s piano output. In addition to the known, repeatedly performed and recorded work, i.e. the Sonata No. 2 (1953), the album also includes the Sonata No. 1 (1949) and 2 Etudes (1952) as well as items that are world phonographic premieres – the Sonata (1930) and the Etude (1949).’ (Dux)
Niobe is the story of a strong woman brought down by an even stronger woman, the goddess Leto. “I have tried to portray in music Niobe’s sensuality, feistiness, pride, arrogance, remorse, defiance as the story of her blasphemy against the goddess Leto and her extraordinarily harsh consequent punishment unfolds. The relationship of the violin soloist to the orchestra is inspired by the dramatic unfolding of the myth.” (Richard Blackford ) (Nimbus)
1CD 845027 $18.99 Mendelssohn: Songs for Lena / Julianne Baird, soprano; Ryan De Ryke, baritone
1CD 849881
$19.99
Albrecht Mendelssohn Bartholdy was the grandson of Felix Mendelssohn. He was also a polymathic intellectual – a prestigious jurist, and political scientist. Conscious of his heritage he also wrote songs, taking texts from Eichendorff, Goethe, Heine and the folk collection Des Knaben Wunderhorn, as had Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn. These ardent love songs were inspired by his student Magdalene ‘Lena’ Schoch who, soon after her graduation, became the composer’s indispensable and trusted colleague and confidante. (Naxos)
1CD 849823
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20th century Laks: String Quartets Nos. 3, 4 & 5 / Amadeus CO of Polish Radio
Julius Eastman: Gay Guerilla / Kai Schumacher, piano
Number 49543 in Auschwitz-Birkenau, Szymon Laks was an outstanding composer, violinist, writer and passionate linguist and translator who admitted that it was music that saved his life in the extermination camp, where he stayed from 1942 to 1944. The present album contains a recording of three string quartets arranged for string orchestra, which are one of the greatest showpieces of the compositional activity of Szymon Laks. (Dux)
The composer Julius Eastman, born in 1940, was not one to fit in. As a homosexual African-American, he was very self-confident about his roots and his sexuality, which is evident in titles like “Evil Nigger” or “Gay Guerilla”. Integrity and sincere acknowledgement of one’s own identity are at the core of these pieces in the style of minimal music. Kai Schumacher has now interpreted two of the most famous compositions on four pianos at the Moers Festival. (Neue Meister)
1CD 849880
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1CD 849804
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5 / Santtu-Matias Rouvali; Philharmonia Orchestra
John Cage: The Works for Piano 11 / Aki Takahashi, piano
Following an acclaimed debut recording of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake with the Philharmonia in 2020, Santtu-Matias Rouvali returns with a recording of Sergei Prokofiev’s iconic Symphony No. 5. Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 was first performed in 1944, 14 years after his previous symphony. Prokofiev described his Fifth Symphony as a “hymn to free and happy Man, to his mighty powers, his pure and noble spirit.” (Signum)
1CD 833772
Cage, Satie, Feldman, Takahashi sums up the focus of this album. All of these works by Cage are influenced by Satie. Cage’s friend and colleague Morton Feldman made an arrangement of Cage’s solo piano “Cheap Imitation” for a trio of piano, flutes/piccolo and glockenspiel. Feldman’s admiration for the pianist Aki Takahashi caused him to gift this arrangement to her. And, full circle, we have the repertoire of this album. (Mode)
$17.99
1CD 849912
Shostakovich: Piano Concertos / Simon Trpčeski, piano; Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava
While Michael Finnissy has become known as one of the UK’s most original voices, he began his career pursuing the dual career of a pianist and composer. As a performer he was associated with the virtuoso solo repertory, and Finnissy’s own creative development has been punctuated by significant piano works. The epic nine-movement solo cycle of English Country-Tunes (1977) established Finnissy internationally as a voice of originality and distinction. (Piano Classics)
$18.99
Oliver Mascarenhas plays works by Gulda & Kapustin
1CD 849938
The very first audition brought Oliver Mascarenhas to the NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover in 1997. This was followed by a busy concert schedule, radio and television productions, and successes at international competitions. On his first album production, Oliver Mascarenhas presents himself as a highly virtuoso interpreter of the cello concerto by Friedrich Gulda as well as three pieces by the Russian jazz composer Nikolai Kapustin. (Dreyer Gaido)
1CD 399505
$18.99
Michael Finnissy: Gershwin Arrangements / Lukas Huisman, piano
In the second of his recordings for Linn, charismatic pianist Simon Trpčeski performs Shostakovich’s two Piano Concertos with the outstanding Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava under Orchestre National de France’s new Musical Director Cristian Macelaru. Shostakovich’s impish First Piano Concerto exudes the carefree attitude and sassy swagger of the young composer, and proves a perfect match with Simon’s playful pianism. (Linn)
1CD 849864
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Weinberg: Piano Quintet, Op. 18 & Children’s Notebook No. 3, Op. 23 This recording combines a selection of Weinberg’s early works with the piano quintet and some of the children’s notebooks from the last two years of the war. Weinberg wrote numerous works, including 22 symphonies, 17 string quartets and numerous chamber music as well as his operas Wir gratulieren! (OC990) and Die Passagierin. (Oehms)
$18.99
1CD 833749
$14.99
RECOMMENDATIONS IN BRIEF Janáček, Ravel: Diffusion / Verona Quartet
Through the intimate voice of the string quartet, Diffusion explores a mosaic of folk cultures in their unbridled journey across the globe. (Azica)
1CD 856513
$16.99
Ligeti: The 18 Etudes / Danny Driver, piano Composed during the 1980s and 1990s, Ligeti’s Études have already become modern classics, absorbing the attention of musicians and audiences worldwide. (Hyperion)
1CD 815994
$19.99
Rota: Chamber Music Rota’s Trio for clarinet, cello and piano (1973) comes from his last creative period and has all the characteristics of his mature works. (Alpha)
1CD 863764
$18.99
Palmgren: Complete Piano Works, Vol. 1 / Jouni Somero, piano This is the first volume of a complete edition that includes première recordings of unpublished works, showcasing every side of Selim Palmgren’s varied character. (Grand Piano)
1CD 493269
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Contemporary Michael Gordon: 8 / Cello Octet Amsterdam
Robert Groslot: The Intimacy of Distance / Charlotte Wajnberg, soprano; Brussels Philharmonic
8 is part of a series of works by Michael Gordon that started with Timber for six percussionists, and includes Rushes for seven bassoonists and Amplified for four electric guitarists. Each of these works is meant to induce a quasi-meditative, almost ecstatic state, in the listener as well as the performer. In essence, the recording of 8 also explores the dimensional quality of sound. (Cantaloupe)
1CD 832801
The soprano voice occupies a central place in Robert Groslot’s vocal music, and in The Intimacy of Distance he has created his most ambitious composition yet for voice and orchestra. Exploring how elements of life can only be realized through the experience of distance, this concerto for soprano and orchestra moves through various contrasts to huge transformative effect. (Naxos)
$19.99
1CD 849824
Vollrath: Old & New Poetry – Texts of William Blake, Sara Teasdale & John Gracen Brown
Linetzky: My Choice
Carl Vollrath’s Old & New Poetry is a lovingly-prepared setting of the works of seminal poets William Blake and Sara Teasdale, as well as the contemporary writer John Gracen Brown. Employing piano, saxophone, and mezzo-soprano, Vollrath thoughtfully pushes tonal boundaries in response to the poetic language. The evocative performances reveal the composer’s intimate relationship with the text and offer listeners a compelling musical-literary experience. (Navona)
1CD 854930
Andrés Linetzky is one of the most important composers and pianists of the Argentine tango and music scene in the 21st century, as he sparks a new tango wave with his music and reignites the renaissance of tango as dance music performed live at milongas. With the group Tangata Rea, at the beginning of the 90s, he marked the rebirth of Tango dance music. In 1999 he founded the group Vale Tango and with this ensemble he contnues to fascinate audiences all over the world. (Winter & Winter)
$14.99
1CD 845076
Kavanagh plays Kavanagh / Dale Kavanagh, guitar
Acclaimed pianist Inna Faliks breaks new ground with Reimagine, a homage to Beethoven and Ravel which manages to do the impossible: be breathtakingly innovative while remaining respectful to the source material. This recording proudly raises a monument not only to the genius of Beethoven and Ravel, but also to the perseverance and verve of some of today’s most exciting and important composers. (Navona)
1CD 854931
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For the first time, Param Vir’s music comes together in an album solely dedicated to his works. “[His] music is resounding in my heart as messages of great inner wealth. It is like a new idea of beauty and grace and has all the strength and the energy of great art.” (Hans Werner Henze) Param Vir freely draws from mythology, art and literature in his work. (NMC)
Arctic Dreams is critically celebrated composer John Luther Adams’s uniquely beautiful and magical sevenmovement work for a quartet of voices and a quartet of strings, with layers of digital delay that create 32-part canonic textures. It is dedicated to the composer’s friend the late writer Barry Lopez, and titled after one of Lopez’s greatest books. (Cold Blue Music)
1CD 849913
$16.99
Equinox – The Complete Odyssey by Jostein Gaarder and Henning Kraggerud is a captivating story in music and words – narrated by Simon Callow. Alongside a distinguished career as a soloist with some of the world’s greatest orchestras, Norwegian star violinist Henning Kraggerud is also a composer. Together with Jostein Gaarder, author of ‘Sophie’s World’, he has created the magical world of Equinox, which BBC Music Magazine called “extraordinary.” (Simax Classics)
Orison is a sound prayer and meditation in seven parts. Composer Chris Campbell originally conceived Orison as a spatial piece within a “sacred space”. He envisioned presenting it in a church or a Zen center with performers, visual media, and planes of sound inhabiting different zones or rooms throughout the space. This album is the linear, “concert version” of that original conception, recorded with a large ensemble. (Innova)
www.hbdirect.com
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Equinox – The Complete Odyssey [2 CDs]
Chris Campbell: Orison / Orison Ensemble
1CD 849906
$14.99
Param Vir: Wheeling Past the Stars
John Luther Adams: Arctic Dreams
1CD 849860
$18.99
Reimagine: Beethoven & Ravel / Inna Faliks, piano
Dale Kavanagh writes: “This is the first album that I have made that features my own compositions. Although some of my pieces were released on various discs, this is the first which only included my solo works, performed by myself. The album opens with ‘Going Nowhere’, written in an aphoristic style, ephemeral in nature. The final work, ‘Fundy’, is a short piece describing the Bay of Fundy as seen from the Nova Scotian coast, where I grew up.” (Naxos)
1CD 849818
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2CD 293479
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Composers Daniel Herskedal: Magnus Moksnes Myhre: Desert Lighthouse
Kalevi Aho: Solo, Vol. 1 / Sharon Bezaly, flute; Piet Van Bockstal, oboe Kalevi Aho is one of today’s most prolific composers of large-scale orchestral scores, including 17 symphonies and 32 concertos to date. This first volume of Solo gathers seven pieces in all, four of which have previously appeared as part of separate discs. Aho’s works share the characteristic that they pose great technical, interpretative and often also physical challenges to the performer. (BIS)
Organ and tuba – not the most common ensemble – but a very exciting soundscape with unexplored sound possibilities. Organist Magnus Moksnes Myhre and jazz tuba player Daniel Herskedal met for the first time as students at the music conservatory in Trondheim, and the duo have now created a completely new vibe with their Desert Lighthouse. The sources of inspiration are many, and they meet in their common fascination with the oriental tonal language. (NXN Recordings)
1CD 849921
$14.99
1SACD 863778
Paul Lansky: Angles / Curtis Institute Guitar Quartet
The Lansdowne Symphony Orchestra and conductor Reuben Blundell present American Discoveries, a continuation of their series of promoting previously unrecorded orchestral repertoire unearthed at the Fleischer Collection in Philadelphia. This collection features music by three composers whose work deserves to be more widely known: Priscilla Alden Beach, Linda Robbins Coleman, and Alexandra Pierce. (New Focus)
Paul Lansky’s latest album brings together four virtuosic pieces, composed for widely varying ensembles. “Four’s Company” for four guitars combines lyricism, rich harmony, and transparent textures. “Angles” for piano, violin and cello alternately dances and sings, and ends with a beautifully simple, sad song. “Springs” for four percussionists tears the roof off, and “Color Codas” for two pianos winds up the program with rollicking dance rhythms. (Bridge)
1CD 843627
1CD 849895
$16.99
Hafliði Hallgrímsson (b. 1941) is widely regarded as Iceland’s preeminent composer, as well as a highly accomplished cellist. His voice is extremely distinctive and within modernist styles can communicate ‘serious’ emotions of loss and sorrow and also intensive wit and charm as demonstrated so well by his “Klee Sketches” on this recording. The “Klee Sketches” are dedicated to Peter Sheppard Skærved, the performer here. (Metier)
Per Nørgård has been loudly praised and awarded significant prizes around the world. His music, though, can be relatively quiet in its exterior and searching by nature. Singing Secrets is a thoughtful and profoundly lyrical album which is both a strikingly original statement. The program demonstrates the range of Norgard’s compositions, with chamber and vocal pieces illustrating some of the distinctive steps of his musical journey. (Dacapo)
1CD 845020
$15.99
$17.99
Christopher Tyler Nickel: Symphony No. 2 / Northwest Sinfonia
Ta’ Mig Med: Songs for Classical Guitar / Jesper Sivebæk, guitar
Vast, deep and emotional are apt descriptions of the singlemovement, 53-minute-long Symphony No. 2 by Christopher Tyler Nickel. The award-winning Canadian composer elaborates, “One can think of this music as consisting of mirrors between ideas that equally disturb yet entice.” The entrepreneurial Clyde Mitchell conducts the Seattle-based Northwest Sinfonia on this worldpremiere recording. (Avie)
A journey into the heart of the Danish soul. Kim Larsen (1945– 2018) – the much-loved Danish rock musician and multi-artist captures – in music and words – the Danish soul. With his 500 recorded songs and 40 albums he is known by all Danes of all ages. Jesper Sivebæk is true both to the beauty and the simplicity of Kim Larsen's songs, and to his instrument – the classical Spanish guitar. (Our Recordings)
1CD 854946
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Hafliði Hallgrímsson: Offerto / Peter Sheppard Skærved, violin
Per Nørgård: Singing Secrets
1CD 849826
$19.99
American Discoveries / Lansdowne Symphony Orchestra
1CD 832781
$19.99
$17.99
CONTEMPORARY ERA RELEASES IN BRIEF Kristinsson: Moonbow [CD + Blu-ray Audio]
Moonbow, Gunnar Andreas Kristinsson’s second album, is a selection of more mature works from a fruitful period in the composer’s life after moving back to Iceland in 2009. (Sono Luminus)
1CD 833776
$19.99
William Bland: Piano Sonatas William Bland’s cycle of 24 piano sonatas, one in each of the major and minor keys, was composed between the years 1998 and 2014. The cycle is the West Virginia-born composer’s magnum opus. (Bridge)
1CD 856516
$16.99
Kristin Anna: I Must Be the Devil / Kristin Anna Finally available worldwide in physical format is this amazing album by Icelanding vocalist Kristín Anna, of the band Múm. Produced by Kjartan Sveinsson of Sigur Rós. (Sono Luminus)
1CD 399564
$17.99
Fagerlund: Nomade – Water Atlas / Nicolas Altstaedt, cello; Finnish Radio SO Dedicated to Nicolas Altstaedt, Fagerlund’s cello concerto Nomade consists of six movements played without a break – a journey by the cellist-wanderer through various landscapes, moods and events. (BIS)
1SACD 854883
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Music for Guitar
Millán: The Devil’s Caprice
Guiliani: Music for Two Guitars / Jeffrey MdFadden, guitar; Michael Kolk, guitar
Acclaimed concert artist and laureate of numerous awards, Mabel Millán brings her stunning technique and remarkable musical expressiveness to this program of some of the most spectacular and best-loved repertoire ever composed for the guitar. From the Andalusian rhythms and atmosphere of Turina and Malats to the lyrical beauty and dramatic virtuosity of Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s “Capriccio Diabolico,” every aspect of the guitar’s refined delicacy and explosive dynamism is explored here to the full. (Naxos)
1CD 845035
Mauro Giuliani was regarded in his day as “perhaps the greatest guitarist who has ever lived”, making his name in Vienna and mixing with the likes of Beethoven. On his return to Italy in 1820, he consorted with Paganini and Rossini which resulted in his arranging four of the latter’s overtures for two guitars. (Naxos)
1CD 74952
Gubaidulina: Complete Guitar Works / David Tanenbaum; Thomaz Viloteau
$11.99
Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Guitar Quintet
Sofia Gubaidulina has found a soulfulness and freedom in the guitar that speaks to her musical language of expressive mood and often mysterious but precise sonorities. In both Repentance and Sotto Voce she combines guitars with lower stringed instruments, creating a virtuosic, multi-dimensional and deeply poetic role for each voice. Fascinating new sounds from the guitar are produced, from the most eloquent chorales to remarkable effects using a drinking glass. (Naxos)
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco was one of Italy’s most influential and important composers during the 20th century. He was inspired to write for the guitar after meeting Andrés Segovia, and in the years that followed he wrote over one hundred works for the instrument. The Quintet for Guitar and String Quartet, a rare combination, reveals perfect sonority and construction with a serene Iberian mood. (Naxos)
1CD 937419
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1CD 74926
$11.99
$11.99
Henze: Guitar Music, Vol. 1 / Franz Halász, guitar
El árbol de la vida: Music from Mexico The impetus of the Mexican Revolution galvanized the use of indigenous melodies in a new and original wave of musical compositions that loosened dependence on European models. Jose Moncayo’s infectiously joyful ‘Huapango’, is, in its distinct national character, deeply rooted in folk music. Silvestre Revueltas’s ‘La Noche de los mayas’ is a symphonic suite derived from film music that employs Mexican percussion instruments in a vividly inventive way. (Naxos)
One of Europe’s foremost living composers, Hans Werner Henze has written an extraordinary profolic quantity of music in every genre. This disc of his guitar music spans almost thirty years of his career and ranges from Royal Winter Music, a virtuostic sonata which extends the boundaries of guitar technique, to the folk music-like Neue Volkslieder und Hirtengesange, inspired by Austrain peasant songs. (Naxos)
Rodrigo: Guitar Works, Vol. 3 / Celil Refik Kaya, guitar
Argentinian guitarist and composer Jorge Morel’s long and distinguished career has made him a legendary figure amongst guitarists, renowned as “a consummate and virtuoso artist” (Guitar Magazine) whose music is favored for its blend of colorful Latin American vibrancy and North American sophistication. From gently lyrical pieces such as the “Milonga del Viento” to works such as “Giga Criolla,” this program is a true reflection of the amazing variety of Morel’s creative output. (Naxos)
1CD 68132
1CD 169272
$11.99
Morel: Guitar Music / Celil Refik Kaya, guitar
Joaquín Rodrigo, composer of the renowned Concierto de Aranjuez, is acknowledged as one of the great Spanish composers of the 20th century. From the thrilling and virtuosic “Elogio de la guitarra” to his swan song “Dos pequeñas fantasías”, Rodrigo’s guitar music explores the Spanish nature of the instrument and blends tradition with innovation. (Naxos)
1CD 849820
1CD 74915
$11.99
For a quarter of a century the Montenegrin guitarists Srdjan Bulatović and Darko Nikčević have thrilled audiences worldwide not only as artists but with their unique blend of original compositions. Sharing a common thread of Montenegrin traditional music, movie soundtracks, and contemporary world and popular music, their music recreates the rhythms of Spain, wistful Slavic melodies, as well as the atmosphere of the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East. (Naxos)
This program presents the first integral recording of the complete published and manuscript duets by the Catalan master Jose Ferrer, last of the charismatic Romantic guitaristcomposers, whose light-touched skill at creating music of elegance, charm and nuanced shading made him a darling of cultured society. Featuring Norwegian guitarist, theorbo-player and mandolinist Jorgen Skogmo. (Naxos)
www.hbdirect.com
$11.99
The Sea / Darko Nikčević, guitar; Srdjan Bulatović, guitar
Ferrer: Complete Guitar Duets / Jorgen Skogmo, guitar; Jens Franke, guitar
1CD 64096
$11.99
$11.99
1CD 942612
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Organ Recital Programs Marked for Grace / Jan Kraybill, organ
The Organ of Joachim Wagner in Siedlce / Rzetecka-niewiadomska, organ
GRAMMY-nominated American organist Jan Kraybill performs an engaging program of organ literature spanning the 18th through 21st centuries upon the Schantz pipe organ of Grace Cathedral (Episcopal) in Topeka, Kansas USA. Kraybill is a musical leader and dynamic speaker; a concert organist, pianist, and harpsichordist; an educator, church musician, and consultant; and an enthusiastic advocate for the power of music to change lives for the better. (Pro Organo)
1CD 937425
This release focuses on the organ works of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, Johann Christoph Bach, and Johann Sebastian Bach. Rediscovered in the 19th century, J.S. Bach still attracts the attention of musicologists researching and studying his work. This extraordinary person evokes curiosity and admiration, while his contribution to the development of music cannot be overestimated. (DUX)
$17.99
1CD 833712
$19.99
Engelberg Experience / Markus Kühnis, organ
Marcel Dupré: Organ Music The output of Marcel Dupré (1886– 1971) is so vast and various that only scholars and fellow organists can expect to grasp its scale. Most listeners require a discerning ear to pull out some of the many highlights. Italian organist Alessandro Perin has done so here, without confining himself to Dupré’s ‘greatest hits’. Instead, Perin’s selection is more diverse. It begins with the Suite Op. 39: four pieces originally written as part of a collection of 12 Studies. (Brilliant Classics)
This release showcases the organ in the abbey at Engelberg, Switzerland. Built by Goll and restored by Graf, this instrument comprises 9000 pipes, spread over four manuals with 137 stops. Among Markus Kühnis’ teachers were Jean Langlais and Hans Vollenweider. This new album is a welcome departure from a traditional organ program, being instead a collection of the artist’s own transcriptions, all of which are played with astonishing virtuosity. (Willowhayne)
Bingham: Heaven & Earth / Tom Winpenny, organ
Bach: Trio Sonatas for Organ / Benjamin Alard, organ
1CD 832789
1CD 833788
$9.99
Judith Bingham is established as one of the foremost British composers writing for the organ. The powerfully atmospheric and evocative music in this recording richly demonstrates her gift for creating compelling works which draw inspiration from a broad range of historical, literary and artistic sources. The Åkerman & Lund organ of Västerås Cathedral is the perfect vehicle for this colorful program. (Naxos)
1CD 399440
Johann Sebastian Bach’s Trio Sonatas for organ, masterpieces in their intrinsic poetic power, were composed between 1723 and 1725, in his early days as Kantor in Leipzig. They are performed here by Benjamin Alard, First Prize winner in the organ section of the Freiburg Bach Competition. (Alpha)
1CD 856502
$11.99
$10.99
Wyrwa: Emotionality & Virtuosity – Organ of St. Casimir’s Church in Nowy Sacz
Cooman: Antiphonies (Music for Organ, Vol. 14)
Before nearly falling into oblivion at the turn of the 19th century, the organ was saved by its centuries-old presence in Christian temples, where organ music accompanied the rituals, regardless of aesthetic revolutions. The unequivocally defined style of the instrument significantly influenced the choice of the recorded repertoire, which, apart from the works of German romantics, only includes pieces growing out of the aesthetic trunk they created. (DUX)
This album includes a range of works, most composed between 2013 and 2020, wonderfully realized on a fabulous instrument. Erik Simmons is a superb organist, making his 14th Carson Cooman organ album for Divine Art. We hear the gorgeous voices of the organ of Propsteikirche St. Ludgerus in Billerbeck, Germany, recorded through the Hauptwerk system. (Divine Art)
1CD 844994
$24.99
$17.99
1CD 833713
$19.99
ORGAN MUSIC TITLES IN BRIEF Organ Music for Two, Vol. 5 This release features new commissions based on familiar tunes and other premiere performances which make this fifth volume a delightful addition to the unique repertoire of organ music for two. (Gothic)
1CD 856928
$18.99
Bruckner: Symphonies Vol. 1 / Hansjörg Albrecht, organ “Memorable performances, high-tech sonics and informative annotations complete this superb and innovative installment that sets my imagination alight.” (Classical Music Daily ) (Oehms)
1CD 856554
$14.99
Organs of the World, Vol. 1 / Arnaud De Pasquale, organ Arnaud De Pasquale invites us to a journey to Sicily, to discover the organs of Noto, Regalbuto, Castelbuono, Ficarra and Alcara Li Fusi. (Harmonia Mundi)
1CD 853400
$19.99
Liszt: Complete Organ Music / Adriano Falcioni, organ [5 CDs] Nearly all of Liszt’s output for the organ shares a devotional quality quite foreign to its common use among 19th-century composers as a vehicle for volume and virtuosity. (Brilliant Classics)
5CD 397341
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New Piano New Titles from Grand Piano Palmgren: Complete Piano Works, Vol. 2 / Jouni Somero, piano Selim Palmgren, a student of Busoni, was one of the most prominent Finnish composer-pianists of his time, and his pieces for pedagogical use such as Kevätauerta (‘Spring Haze’) are still popular today. This program reveals Palmgren’s versatility to the full, with the Deux contrastes describing opposite poles of melancholy and joyous playfulness. (Grand Piano)
1CD 854918
$16.99
Bottiroli: Complete Piano Works, Vol. 2 – Nocturnes / Fabio Banegas, piano This world premiere recording of the second volume of Jose Antonio Bottiroli’s complete piano music is performed once again by his award-winning protégé Fabio Banegas. The nocturnal themes heard in this album were inspired by the clear skies over the composer’s holiday home in Los Cocos, Argentina – these spellbinding works transcend earthly romantic concerns and venture into the stillness of the universe. (Grand Piano)
1CD 845000
$16.99
Hundsnes: Piano Sonata No. 2, Vinterdanser, & Nuances de lumière Norwegian composer Svein Hundsnes has written a considerable number of works ranging from concertos to pieces for young musicians. His piano music is stylistically wide-ranging and occupies a significant place in his oeuvre. Piano Sonata No. 2 exemplifies his practice of working from tiny core motifs as he makes a series of connections between each vivid movement. (Grand Piano)
1CD 844999
Richter: Piano Works [13 CDs]
Blanchet: Piano Works / Karl-Andreas Kolly, piano
Sviatoslav Richter (1915–1997) was one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century. Profil Edition Günter Hänssler is progressively releasing all the recordings that the great Soviet virtuoso made in his Sturm und Drang period between 1945 and 1963. Most of them were largely unknown in the West during the Cold War, as Richter could only perform till 1960 behind the “Iron Curtain”, that is to say, in the Soviet Union and the satellite states of Eastern Europe. (Profil)
13CD 863838
If there is a musical equivalent to a great French red wine: The music of Émile-Robert Blanchet would be a worthy candidate. Karl-Andreas Kolly has taken on piano music by his Swiss compatriot and recorded it on Super Audio album, much of it probably for the first time. Blanchet studied with Busoni, so it’s no wonder that his music, too, knows no bounds pianistically. (MDG)
1SACD 845017
$41.99
The new Solo Musica recording Promenade of Frédéric Chopin’s Préludes Op. 28 and Modest Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” brings together two prominent piano cycles that are almost emblematic of their creators’ oeuvre. In the juxtaposition, pianist Andrea Kauten shows what unites them despite all the expected contrasts, which goes far beyond some obvious references by Mussorgsky to Chopin’s Préludes. (Solo Musica)
Angela Hewitt’s new album is clearly destined to become a favorite. It features some of the best-known musical declarations of love across the centuries, heard in transcriptions by some of the great pianists (including Angela herself). (Hyperion)
$19.99
1CD 845056
$18.99
Beethoven: The Last Three Sonatas / Sunwook Kim, piano
Petrassi & Dallapiccola: Complete Piano Works / Andrea Molteni, piano [2 CDs]
The Kunstkraftwerk Leipzig is one of those buildings that tell the story of time and was now the chosen location for a very special audio and video production: the exceptional Korean pianist Sunwook Kim played Ludwig van Beethoven’s last three Piano Sonatas Op. 109–111 in an industrial setting framed by light projections that filled the brick hall. Beethoven’s last three piano sonatas occupy a very special place within his oeuvre. (Accentus)
The strident conviction of Goffredo Petrassi (1904–2003) his seven post-war Concertos for Orchestra could hardly be anticipated from the fluent pastiche of his piano Partita, composed in 1926. The Baroque titles of the four movements introduce a disarming simplicity of expression, whose dominant strains are the Classicism of Mozart and Beethoven. (Piano Classics)
2CD 833758
$18.99
Promenade – Piano Works / Andrea Kauten, piano
Love Songs / Angela Hewitt, piano
1CD 936477
$16.99
$22.99
1CD 832763
$19.99
Two Forgotten English Pianists – The Complete Solo Recordings [2 CDs] The two pianists featured here were contemporaries, both English. Howard-Jones was of an academic nature whose interpretations were described as having ‘scholarly and fastidious profundity’. Edward Isaacs, who revelled in the repertoire of Chopin and Liszt, was described as ‘a kindly genial companion and a witty charming raconteur’. His recordings radiate brilliance and joie de vivre. This is the first time most of these discs have been reissued since the days of the original 78s. (APR)
2CD 856902
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Albums
Brahms: Piano Sonatas & Rhapsodies / Garrick Ohlsson, piano
Early Recordings, Vol. 3 / Hélène Grimaud, piano [2 CDs]
Both sonatas recorded here are the work of the young Brahms, who was still a teenager when he wrote Op. 2. They are paired with, and perfectly complement the much later rhapsodies. These are magisterial accounts from Garrick Ohlsson, a pianist noted for his mastery of the Romantics. (Hyperion)
1CD 936324
Hélène Grimaud was just 15 years old when she recorded Rachmaninoff’s 2nd Piano Sonata for Denon, together with the Études-Tableaux and two Préludes. The description “child prodigy” is only partly true; in fact, this early recording, which is now available again for the first time in a long time thanks to the cooperation with MDG, shows a mature artistic personality who is not afraid to explore the abysses of this key work of the early 20th century. (MDG)
$19.99
Beethoven, Haydn, Prokofiev: A New Path / Gabiz Reichert, piano
2CD 863812
Instead of comparing music from different creative periods of a composer’s life, this recording brings together works by three composers, created in similarly creative, experimental periods of their musical journey. This album takes its title from Beethoven’s declaration to a friend in 1803 that “from now on I intend to embark on a new path”. (ARS)
1SACD 863765
Frid: Piano Works / Elisaveta Blumina, piano Grigori (Grigory) Samuilovich Frid was a distinguished member of the generation of composers born in Russia just before the Revolution of 1917. Frid’s significant corpus of piano music can trace its lineage to Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky and Stravinsky, and his skill in conjuring entire worlds in music can be heard throughout this recording. Distinguished pianist Elisaveta Blumina performs these world premiere recordings. (Grand Piano)
$19.99
Yiruma: Piano Songs – River | Rain | Spring | Love / Giacomo Scinardo, piano
1CD 854919
The ‘Yiruma phenomenon’, which has seen hundreds of millions of album and track sales, stands on the foundations of the South Korean composer and pianist’s 20-year career, which includes film music and sell-out tours throughout Asia, Europe and the US. Performed by the award-winning virtuoso Giacomo Scinardo, this program features pieces from a variety of Yiruma’s albums and soundtracks. (Dynamic)
1CD 856922
$16.99
Mozart: Solo Piano Works / Indrė Petrauskaitė, piano Award-winning Lithuanian, Londonbased pianist Indrė Petrauskaitė makes her Avie label debut with a selection of Mozart’s piano works with a twist: she uniquely brings together the composer’s solo keyboard works written in minor keys. The nine works offered here represent a fraction of the composer’s overall oeuvre, yet they span a gamut of genres. “Strong and well-played performances.” (MusicWeb International) (Avie)
$16.99
Stenhammar: Piano Music / Pablo Scafarella, piano
1CD 854875
$17.99
Satie: Volume 4 / Noriko Ogawa, piano
Carl Stenhammar (1871–1927) trained as a pianist, and Brahms’s epic D minor Concerto held no fears for him. His writing for the instrument is accordingly bold and heroic from the outset, as his G minor Sonata from 1890 demonstrates. Held together by Wagnerian leitmotifs but often drawn into Schumannesque dreaming, the four-movement Sonata wears Austro-German passion on its sleeve, and Brahms continued to be a clear influence on Stenhammar’s piano writing. (Piano Classics)
1CD 856939
$18.99
For the fourth installment in her acclaimed Satie cycle, Noriko Ogawa has gathered music written for the stage – from the pantomime Jack in the Box (1899) to the ballet Relâche (1924) – one of Satie’s last works. Several of the pieces exist in different scorings, but the piano versions heard here are all Satie’s own. Throughout the program, what comes across strongly is the influence of music hall and cabaret. (BIS)
$18.99
1SACD 854882
$19.99
NEW PIANO RELEASES IN BRIEF The Planets & Humanity: Piano Reflections / Tanya Ekanayaka, piano The eight works in this album explore reflections on the eight planets of the solar system and the earth’s seven continents. Most bear echoes of traditional melodies originating from indigenous peoples. (Grand Piano)
1CD 845001
$16.99
Masterpieces / Elmira Darvarova & Vassily Lobanov Award-winning concert violinist Elmira Darvarova performs with the New York Piano Quartet, the Delphinium Trio, the Quinteto del Fuego, the Amram Ensemble, and in a duo with Fernando Otero. (Solo Musica)
1CD 856559
$18.99
Brillon de Jouy: The Piano Sonatas Rediscovered / Nicolas Horvath, piano [2 CDs] The 13 sonatas on this première recording represent the complete music for solo piano by the Parisian keyboardist and composer Anne-Louise Brillon de Jouy. (Grand Piano)
2CD 493270
$24.99
Beethoven: Bagatelles / Vladimir Feltsman, piano There are many lesser-known piano pieces of Beethoven that have not received as much attention. This recording (with the notable exception of “Für Elise”) is dedicated to these works. (Nimbus)
1CD 397504
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$18.99
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Classical Music for Young Listeners Recommended New Titles Those Amazing Musical Instruments! Colourful Guide to the Orchestra [Book] Those Amazing Musical Instruments! takes you on an exciting musical tour with conductor Marin Alsop. In this revised edition, including access to a brand new, exclusive website, this vibrant, colorful, comprehensive and unique book is a rich exploration of orchestral instruments. Learn about the character of each instrument, how it is constructed and played, which instruments go well together, and hear how they all sound! (Naxos)
Book 942613
$12.99
Fiddles, Forests and Fowl Fables – New Storytelling Works [2 CDs] Ken Woods writes of this new release: “Have you ever been on a long journey with your family and, after hours in the car or on the plane, you were so bored you thought you just might go mad? Well, that’s what this record is for. Just when you’re about to say “are we there yet” for the 400th time, instead try saying “Mum, can we listen to “Lubin” again?” I promise, the car will feel like it’s going twice as fast once the music starts. Enjoy!” (Nimbus)
2CD 854929
$18.99
From Bangkok to Bangor / Duncan Cumming, piano; Lucy Cumming, narration Pianist Duncan Cumming wrote a story for his family, in which his nephew and niece from Thailand travel through Europe to America to visit their grandmother. He accompanies his story with piano works by Rimsky-Korsakov, Schumann, Mozart, and others, along with story narration by Lucy Cumming. The album booklet includes beautiful illustrations by Hilary Cumming. This is truly a magical journey! (Centaur)
1CD 854890
Coloreando Dos: Traditional Songs for Children in Spanish
Armenian Songs for Children / Isabel Bayrakdarian, vocals
This release is a collection of beautiful and traditional children’s songs as well as a fun and effective way for any family to learn and practice Colombian Spanish. The complete Colombian Spanish lyrics and English translations are included with this release. Marta Gómez and her group perform a repertoire of original compositions based on a vast amount of rhythms from Latin America. (GLP Music)
1CD 942614
V2: Beethoven for Kids
With this deeply personal project, Lebanese-born, Canadian-ArmenianAmerican soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian gathers a selection of haunting and poignant lullabies that draw on the memories and experiences of the Armenian people. For Isabel, these evocative songs span two centuries and five generations. Sung by her great-grandmother, grandmother and mother, and now to her own children, this recording has an appeal to children of all ages. (Avie)
$14.99
1CD 856512
Listeners of all ages will find in this CD/ DVD recital a lively and absorbing array of pieces. A sequence of smaller pieces (bagatelles mostly) prepares the way for the larger, more complex, sonata movements. A bonus video, What Sal Heard, presents the highly interesting case of Salvatore Pico, a small boy with gifted ears and an active imagination! (Steinway)
The Classical Nursery
CD/DVD 845061
1CD 856562
The great American folk songs and rhymes on these three Gia releases have enthralled young people for generations. Each illustrated album booklet includes complete lyrics and song directions. Songs on this release include “Frog in the Meadow,” “Two Little Blackbirds,” “Hickory Dickory Dock,” “Had a Little Rooster,” and more. (Gia)
$17.99
1CD 856536
www.hbdirect.com
$14.99
There’s a Hole in the Bucket (Revised Edition) The great American folk songs and rhymes on these three Gia releases have enthralled young people for generations. Each illustrated album booklet includes complete lyrics and song directions. Songs on this release include “A Tisket, A Tasket,” “Peep Squirrel,” “John the Rabbit,” “There's a Hole in my Bucket,” and more. (Gia)
$24.99
1CD 856537
Polish composer Fryderyk Chopin’s music has delighted people around the world for over 150 years. In Chopin’s day, not everybody was able to listen to his works. To hear one of his concerts they would have had to travel to where he lived – in his early years that meant going to Warsaw, and later even further, i.e. to Paris. Today, all we have to do is listen to one of his albums and imagine that the genius composer is playing especially for us. (DUX)
1CD 290675
$17.99
Had a Little Rooster (Revised Edition)
Treble & Trumpet are here to introduce children to the wonders of classical music (and hopefully entertain the grown-ups as well) with The Classical Nursery. Favorite nursery rhymes vividly brought to life by opera singer Lucy Knight, with brand new symphonic accompaniments including performances by members of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. (Willowhayne)
Chopin for Children, Vol. 3
$15.99
$14.99
Old Joe Clark (Revised Edition) The great American folk songs and rhymes on these three Gia releases have enthralled young people for generations. Each illustrated album booklet includes complete lyrics and song directions. Songs on this release include “There Was an Old Woman,” “Here We Go ‘Round the Mulberry Bush,” “The Darby Ram,” “Old Joe Clark,” and more. (Gia)
1CD 856538
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Vocals
Heart & Hereafter – Collected Songs of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor / Elizabeth Llewellyn, soprano
The Harmonious Echo: Songs by Sir Arthur Sullivan [2 CDs]
Known for her vivid portrayals and full, distinctive voice, Elizabeth Llewellyn has established herself internationally as a dramatic and vocal artist of distinction. She has chosen to offer listeners something new by devoting her debut disc to the music of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, much of it never recorded before. To poetry by Christina Rossetti, Coleridge-Taylor’s “Six Sorrow Songs” and “A Lament” are almost all world-premiere recordings. (Orchid)
Although most widely remembered for his operettas in partnership with W.S. Gilbert, Sir Arthur Sullivan was the most famous of all British composers of the 19th century. This album demonstrates Sullivan’s endlessly fertile melodic gifts, which withstand comparison with those of any other song composer. David Owen Norris and his quartet of outstanding young British singers deliver this fascinating program with terrific style and panache. (Chandos)
1CD 849922
$16.99
2CD 843634
The Call – Introducing the Next Generation of Classical Singers
Joan Sutherland in Performance 1957–1960 [2 CDs]
The Call is the debut recording both inspired and supported by Momentum: Our Future, Now. This initiative enables younger performers to share the main stage with established artists, providing an immediate and practical response to the 2020 global crisis. The initiative has seen a host of the world’s leading soloists, conductors, orchestras and institutions rally to help their younger colleagues, providing much needed work and professional performance experience at this deeply challenging time. (Stone Records)
1CD 854963
$18.99
World-renowned soprano Joan Sutherland left her Sydney home for London in 1952, with the ultimate aim of singing Wagner. Contracted to Covent Garden, she felt her future lay in heavy, dramatic roles; and her early assignments there included Amelia in Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera and the title role in Aida. She was also to remain a staunch Handelian throughout her career, recording the title role in Athalia under Christopher Hogwood as late as 1986. (Cameo)
$17.99
2CD 854905
Sphinx / Hamish McLaren, countertenor; Matthew Jorysz, piano
$18.99
Grace / BYU Vocal Point
Russia’s rich tradition of art song began with early 19th-century salon pieces: lyrical ‘romances’ that evolved to embrace grander themes yet never lost their intimacy. This selection explores some fascinating but less-trodden paths through this repertoire, inspired by the theme of distant lands and encompassing the enduring themes of travel, romantic landscapes, love and loss, life and death. (Orchid)
Ranging from timeless hymns of devotion to powerful Christian songs, Vocal Point’s highly anticipated inspirational album highlights the Savior’s love for the one, His mission, divinity, and ultimately – His grace. Vocal Point was founded in 1991 by two students at Brigham Young University. Dave Boyce and Bob Ahlander. (BYU)
Tiranno / Kate Lindsey, mezzo
Rebirth / Sonya Yoncheva, soprano
1CD 845042
1CD 843629
$16.99
The lockdown of 2020 allowed Sonya Yoncheva and conductor Leonardo García Alarcón to make the album they had been considering for ten years. Rebirth is a message of hope but also the exploration of an idea: that silence and inactivity are the best prelude to creative renewal. Yoncheva’s fourth solo album for Sony Classical includes some of the most powerful moments in 17th-century opera. (Sony)
Corruption? Betrayal? Persecution? Tyranny? These subjects resonate with the current events of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. They also provide the subject matter of many seventeenth-century musical works. Kate Lindsey has chosen to devote this second Baroque recital with the English ensemble Arcangelo directed by Jonathan Cohen to the figure of Nero. (Alpha)
1CD 849833
$14.99
1CD 399428
$18.99
$14.99
NEW VOCAL ALBUMS IN BRIEF Dreams of a New Day – Songs by Black Composers / Will Liverman, baritone Fast-rising American operatic baritone Will Liverman makes his Cedille Records debut as a featured artist with Dreams of a New Day, an intimate, heartfelt recital he calls “a passion project.” (Cedille)
1CD 397878
$16.99
Campkin: True Light / Colin Spinks, organ; vOx Chamber Choir True Light reveals the energy and majestic sound world that Alexander Campkin commands, as well as qualities of reflective intimacy. (Naxos)
1CD 397783
$11.99
Villa Lobos – Choral Transcriptions / Valentina Peleggi; São Paulo Symphony Choir This album includes the first ever recording of Villa-Lobos’s complete set of a cappella transcriptions from Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier. (Naxos)
1CD 397581
$11.99
Chère Nuit: French Songs / Louise Alder, soprano; Joseph Middleton, piano Acclaimed British soprano Louise Alder returns for her second recital on Chandos, joined once again by star pianist Joseph Middleton. (Chandos)
1CD 493241
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Choral
Jesu meine Freude / Ensemble BachWerkVokal
The Den Bosch Choirbooks, Vol 1 / Cappella Pratensis
“Jesu meine Freude” by Bach, Doles, Krebs and Telemann: Gordon Safari serves up no less than four very varied settings of one of the most popular church hymns in the latest production of his outstanding soloist ensemble BachWerkVokal. Two of them are heard here for the first time on album – astonishing, considering the outstanding quality of the compositions by Telemann and Doles. (MDG)
Music clearly fascinated the great Dutch artist Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450–1516); his sketches and paintings are peppered with closely observed depictions of music-making and musical instruments. Cappella Pratensis sings from scale copies of the confraternity’s manuscripts of plainsong and polyphony, and adopts the Brabant pronunciation of Latin those singers surely employed. (Challenge)
1CD 863793
1SACD 845019
$16.99
Verdi: Messa da Requiem / Roberto Abbado [DVD]
Let it Shine! / VoiceMix, Steffen Schreyer
Giuseppi Verdi’s Messa da Requiem arose out of the composer’s admiration for the influential poet and novelist Alessandro Manzoni, and as a response to the lack of appreciation shown to the writer in the press after the his death in 1873. This Teatro Regio di Parma production, which was performed open-air at the Parco Ducale of Parma, was dedicated to the victims of the Covid-19 pandemic and all the health workers engaged in the emergency. (Dynamic)
VoiceMix succeeds in merging their eight extraordinary voices with esprit, concentration and fun to create a unique sound. Shaped by various influences, the ensemble meets in an organic octagon – it is this singing that has united them since childhood. Most of them were able to gather choir experience from an early age, as lead singers in the children‘s choir founded by Steffen Schreyer at Konstanz Minster. (Cantate)
1CD 937394
1DVD 833707
$18.99
The renowned Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys record a fitting tribute to their former Choirmaster and Organist Gerre Hancock (1934–2012). In this post for over 30 years, he was a pivotal figure in the choir’s rejuvenation and created a wealth of choral and organ music during his career – much of it composed for friends and colleagues across the USA. The performances are led here by Jeremy Filsell, their present Organist and Director of Music. (Signum)
“My commitment to the present new recording is not only important because of advanced ensemble techniques, but also because I believe that with a cast of soloists, as in the sixteen-part Hora est, transparency of the polyphonic movement can be achieved that is not so readily feasible with larger forces. A prerequisite here is the existence of ensemble capabilities among vocal soloists, as we also need it for earlier music.” (Frieder Bernius) (Haenssler Classic)
1CD 833771
$18.99
This album includes a selection of works for choir by Arvo Pärt performed by the Vilnius Municipal Choir – Jauna Muzika directed by Vaclova Augustinas. The choir was founded in 1986 as an ensemble for mixed voices and in 1989 it changed into a chamber choir. All members of the choir are graduates of the Lithuanian Music Academy. (Cugate)
This is a program of great choral works, including one work from the 1500s, works from the 20th Century, and one work, Black Pierrot, that was commissioned by R. Paul Crabb for the ensembles on this album. R. Paul Crabb, University of Missouri’s Director of Choral Activities, earned degrees in Music Education, Vocal Performance and Choral Music Education. (Centaur)
1CD 856919
$15.99
Alfred Desenclos and Jean Langlais were both superlative composers of choral music, yet most of their works are performed far too infrequently. This album offers superb performances of some of the best choral works by these great French masters. Initially called the ‘Madrigal Singers,’ the USC Thornton Chamber Singers were first formed in 1939 under the direction of Max T. Krone — a professor of music education, composition and choral music. (Centaur)
Juno nominated chamber choir Luminous Voices along with Spiritus Chamber Choir presents twelve works by Ukranian composer Artem Vedel (1767–1808). Considered one of Ukraine’s ‘Golden Three’ composers of the 18th century, these masterpieces of Ukrainian Classical Choral Music include twelve sacred choral concerti & Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. (Leaf)
www.hbdirect.com
$24.99
Gregorian Meditations – Choral Works of Forgotten French Masters Desenclos & Langlais
Vedel: Twelve Sacred Choral Concerti & Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom [2 CDs]
2CD 845013
$17.99
Pärt: Works for Choir
Black Pierrot / University of Missouri University Singers
1CD 856914
$24.99
The Music of Gerre Hancock / Saint Thomas Choir of Men & Boys
Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Te Deum / Kammerchor Stuttgart;
1CD 833761
$18.99
1CD 856523
$16.99
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Releases
The King’s Singers: The Library, Vol. 3
Good night, beloved / The Sixteen
This is the third volume in the EP series ‘The Library’ – a series that explores both the history, and the new horizons, of The King’s Singers close-harmony repertoire. The tracklisting is designed to celebrate some old favorites from the library alongside brand new arrangements and adaptations, created especially for these recordings, which may perhaps become ‘old favorites’ of the future. (Signum)
What could be more welcome than a little repose and respite from the demands of daily life? The works on this album span over 500 years and tell stories of life and love, of tranquility and stillness, some naïve and simple, others infused with complex imagery. From exuberant early works such as Will Todd’s sublime “Whisper Him my name”, Maxwell Davies’ “Lullabye for Lucy”, Stanford’s glorious “The Blue Bird”, and a new commission from Roderick Williams, this is truly music to escape to. (Coro)
1CD 864353
$9.99
1CD 493245
Alfred Schnittke: Choir Concerto / Arvo Part: 7 Magnificat Antiphons
Schubert: Winterreise / Karola Theill; Benjamin Bruns
As Alfred Schnittke and Arvo Pärt both adopted the Orthodox faith in the 1970s, both composers also looked to the music of the Western church. Schnittke’s “Three Sacred Hymns” includes three prayers, familiar in the West as Ave Maria, the Jesus Prayer and the Lord’s Prayer, and evokes Orthodox chant. His “Choir Concerto,” on the other hand, draws on Russian choral music of the 19th century and the tradition of large-scale concert works based on Orthodox choral music. (BIS)
1SACD 854886
Benjamin Bruns’ professional journey took him via the Dresden State Opera to the Vienna State Opera, where he remained a member of the ensemble until July 2020. His musical roster contains roles like Fenton (Falstaff ), Camille de Rosillon (The Merry Widow), Lysander (Britten: A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Don Ramiro (La Cenerentola), or the Italian Tenor in the Strauss operas Capriccio and Der Rosenkavalier. (Hanssler Classic)
$19.99
1CD 833760
Bryars: A Native Hill
With this new release the awardwinning Latvian Radio Choir together with its director Sigvards Kļava are returning to contemporary music after a series of recordings of 19th Century sacred choral works. Ramon Humet’s (b. 1968) new choral work, “Llum” (Light), is a deep, spiritual journey to the gift of life, peace and love. Humet’s “Llum” was premiered by the Latvian Radio Choir under Sigvards Kļava in Barcelona in March 2020, just at the outbreak of the global pandemic. (Ondine)
$14.99
1CD 857408
Handel: Choruses / The Sixteen Is there another composer who can match Handel’s genius for writing choruses? He is quite simply the master of the chorus and on this compilation of tracks, taken from The Sixteen’s award-winning Handel backcatalog, there is much rejoicing. Revel in the some of Handel’s finest writing from the universally loved “Hallelujah Chorus” to the exuberance of “I Will Sing Unto the Lord (from Israel in Egypt)”. Sit back, turn up the volume and marvel at his brilliance! (Coro)
1CD 396600
The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, admired the world over as exemplary of the English choral tradition, was established in the 15th century. In our own time, the composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davies described it as “a crowning glory of our civilization”. Leading from Gregorian chant through favourite masterpieces to contemporary works, this splendid choral journey spans 40 years of recording history. (Warner Classics)
$18.99
14CD 395963
A lyrical suite of seven chapters for mixed choir a cappella, Jesper Koch’s Choirbook is a meditation on nature, complex and yet simple, communicating openly with the listener. Sincerity and a sense of timelessness pervade this large-scale work based on the poetry of Frank Kjørup, highly accessible and deeply immersed in the mysteries of its own beauty. (Dacapo)
1/800/222-6872
$14.99
A Choral Journey Through the Ages / Choir of Kings’s College, Cambridge [14 CDs]
Jesper Koch: Choirbook / VokalEnsemblet
1SACD 856531
$18.99
Ramon Humet: Light (Llum) / Latvian Radi Choir
Navona Records presents A Native Hill from Philadelphia’s professional chamber choir, The Crossing. This monumental unaccompanied work is the result of a collaboration with composer Gavin Bryars, whose previous work for The Crossing won them their first of two recent Grammy awards. With intimate knowledge of the individual voices and art of each singer, Bryars composed this work to capitalize on the group’s unique sound, personality, and esprit de corps. (Navona)
1CD 856549
$18.99
$32.99
McDowall: Sacred Choral Music / Trinity College Choir Cambridge McDowall’s keen sensitivity to text and her flair for writing vocal lines that are grateful to sing are just two of the virtues which justify the success of her choral music. Her original and distinctive voice is well served by Stephen Layton and his Trinity College forces. (Hyperion)
$15.99
1CD 816854
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Opera Recommended Opera Titles Abrahám: Ball at the Savoy – Operetta in three acts [2 CDs] Hungarian composer Paul Abrahám enjoyed huge success across Europe with his ‘jazz operettas’, not least in Weimar Berlin where his works scored for an orchestra augmented by a jazz band caused a sensation. Ballim Savoy (‘Ball at the Savoy’) has a plot reminiscent of Die Fledermaus and its variety of influences won the kind of acclaim only equaled by Franz Lehár. The premiere in December 1932, was for some the last major cultural event of Weimar Germany. (Naxos)
2CD 863822
$23.99
Donizetti & Verdi: Opera Arias / Michele Gamba Having joined the ensemble of Deutsche Oper Berlin at the age of 22 and the ensemble of Wiener Staatsoper in 2013, Israeli-born Hila Fahima presents a mix of well-known selections and rediscovered treasures on her debut album: Donizetti’s Lucia, Norina, Linda di Chamounix, Adina, Marie from La fille du regiment, plus Verdi’s Gilda – she will be starring in this role at this year’s Bregenz Festival – and also Amalia from his I masnadieri. (Orfeo)
1CD 854942
$18.99
Berkeley: Nelson – Opera in Three Acts [2 CDs] The opera centers on the love affair of Horatio Nelson, and Emma, Lady Hamilton. Completed in 1951, it was first performed in full in 1954. The British Embassy in Naples is the scene of a birthday party for Nelson, arranged to celebrate his victory at the Nile. He appears with ‘the sadness of the world upon his lips’ and while the other guests are dancing, Nelson, with Emma Hamilton, the Ambassador’s wife, beside him, hears a servant foretell his future unhappiness. (Lyrita)
2CD 854924
Don Giovanni: Harnoncourt / Concentus Musicus Wein [DVD or Blu-ray Video]
Puccini: La Bohème – The Royal Opera [DVD or Blu-ray Video]
Nikolaus Harnoncourt is a master of period performance practice, and the present project has been one of his dearest wishes. For the first time, he and his “original sound orchestra” Concentus Musicus present the complete Mozart/Da Ponte cycle, bringing to life his extensive Mozart research. Die Presse wrote: “A Mozart drawn from historical sources and yet anchored in our own time.” (Unitel)
1Blu-ray 833786 2DVD 833785
Sonya Yoncheva and Charles Castronovo lead an award-winning cast in Richard Jones’s acclaimed production of Puccini’s most heartrending opera. Emmanuel Villaume conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House and the Royal Opera Chorus in some of the composer’s most luscious and memorable music. Spectacular designs by Stewart Laing set the passion, friendship, comedy and tragedy in late 19th century Paris. (Opus Arte)
$41.99 $46.99
1Blu-ray 833690 1DVD 833689
This edition, originally published by Ricordi, remains one of the top of Rigoletto’s discography thanks to the vocal cast and mainly thanks to Italian bel canto opera star Ettore Bastianini. Bastianini popularity has grown internationally, especially in the last several years. He is heard here alongside Alfredo Kraus, Renata Scotto, and Fiorenza Cossotto. (Urania Records)
An ancient hero, a dragon, a young goddess: love and glory are at the heart of Lully’s first opera, first performed in front of Louis XIV. As in his previous works – divertissements, ballets de cour and comédies – ballets – Lully makes the voices and the orchestra sparkle, multiplying the pieces which stand out and that were appealing to the court. (Chateau de Versailles)
2CD 845073
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Bizet: Carmen [DVD or Blu-ray video] Georges Bizet died at the tragically young age of 36 while Carmen was still in its first run, and he never witnessed the huge international acclaim his opera received. Filled with jealousy and passion, the gripping and ultimately tragic narrative initially shocked audiences, but with an abundance of memorable tunes, it remains unchallenged as one of the most popular operas ever written. “Carmen has never sounded more revolutionary, romantic or thrillingly vibrant” (The Times, London) (Naxos)
Verdi: Simon Boccanegra [DVD or Blu-ray Video] Intrigue, family tragedies, power struggles – these words aptly describe Verdi’s opera Simon Boccanegra. The composer himself once said “The piece is dark because it has to be, but it is gripping.” The opera has been experiencing a renaissance at the world’s great opera houses in recent years. (Accentus)
1Blu-ray 856890 1DVD 856891
$39.99 $29.99
Verdi: Rigoletto [2 CDs]
Lully: Cadmus & Hermione [2 CDs]
2CD 843631
$29.99
$39.99 $26.99
1Blu-ray 845029 2DVD 845028
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La mia letizia infondere / Héctor Sandoval, tenor The album La mia letizia infondere (‘My Heart is Full of Happinessʼ) by Mexican tenor Héctor Sandoval takes us on a journey to Giuseppe Verdi, presenting arias especially from Verdi’s early oeuvre or earlier versions of subsequently revised works – precisely because they allow us to hear Verdi at his young and original freshest. As writing for voice was his sole concern, the melodies are simpler, their treatment totally uninhibited, devoid of any mannerism or layers of complexity. (Gramola)
1CD 845003
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Recordings Handel: Rinaldo [DVD or Blu-ray video]
Mozart – Cosi Fan Tutte [DVD or Blu-ray video]
George Frideric Handel was one of those rare composers who excelled in works sacred and secular, instrumental and operatic, leaving us extraordinary masterpieces in every field of music. Already renowned in Italy, Handel made himself known in London with Rinaldo in 1711, which was such a success that he decided to remain in England for good. It is still regarded as one of his greatest operas. (Dynamic)
1Blu-ray 849889 1DVD 849888
With this recording, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, master of period performance practice, realized a project that had long been one of his dearest wishes: for the first time, he and his “original-sound orchestra” Concentus Musicus and his personal choice of singers were presenting the complete Mozart/Da Ponte cycle and harvesting the fruits of his Mozart research. (Unitel)
1Blu-ray 851360 2DVD 851359
$24.99 $24.99
Samaras: Mademoiselle de Belle-Isle [2 CDs]
Italian Opera Arias / Linda Richardson, soprano
Remembered today for the Olympic Anthem, Spyridon Samaras was the most distinguished Greek composer of his day and the first to gain international recognition. By the time Mademoiselle de Belle-Isle was produced, Samaras was a well-established and much-admired opera composer in the Italian Romantic style. The score for this world premiere recording has been painstakingly restored by Byron Fidetzis. (Naxos)
British soprano Linda Richardson has performed extensively across the UK and continental Europe. Her extensive repertoire includes roles ranging from Monteverdi and Mozart to Janáček, Britten, and Wagner. Richardson writes: ‘I have had the privilege of performing many of the great leading soprano roles in the operatic repertoire, but as my career progressed, I found a special love and affinity for the roles that stood as pillars in Italian opera.’ (Chandos)
1CD 397455
2CD 854940
$18.99
Wagner sourced material for his national legend Der Ring des Nibelungen in medieval German and Scandinavian sagas, though much was his own invention. Das Rheingold is the prologue to this tetralogy of music dramas. This production was recorded in 2010 at the Sofia Opera and Ballet theatre as the first title of the complete Wagner cycle that Dynamic will be releasing entirely in separate titles. (Dynamic)
For anyone new to opera, the first question is often: “Where do I start?” The ‘Best Loved’ series from Naxos offers an easy answer to that question with a perfect introduction to this wonderful, varied world. The current release highlights some of the mostloved arias in the genre performed by mezzo-sopranos and contraltos. Tracks include arias from Carmen, The Marriage of Figaro, Macbeth, and more. (Naxos)
1Blu-ray 833708 2DVD 833710
$11.99
$29.99 $29.99
Strauss II: Waldmeister [2 CDs]
Handel: Rodelinda / The English Concert [3 CDs]
Johann Strauss II’s operetta Waldmeister was staged for the first time in December 1895.The plotline – a case of mistaken identity somewhat reminiscent of Die Fledermaus – is lively, but the libretto itself proved to be less than satisfying. Attending the opening night with Johannes Brahms was Vienna’s leading critic Eduard Hanslick who hailed the new work by asserting that ‘Mozart’s golden sound reigns in [Strauss’s] orchestra’. (Naxos)
Handel’s 1725 hit opera Rodelinda was written for the greatest voices of its day and is performed here by some of today’s finest, as The English Concert and artistic director Harry Bicket’s acclaimed concert cycle of Handel operas appears for the first time on Linn. Lucy Crowe and Iestyn Davies are the devoted partners Rodelinda and Bertarido, heading a cast packed with exactly the sort of vocal star-power Handel would have expected. (Linn)
3CD 845014
$23.99
Wagner: Das Rheingold [DVD or Blu-ray Video]
Marvellous Mezzo-Soprano & Contralto – Best Loved Opera Arias
1CD 833746
$41.99 $55.99
2CD 943375
$27.99
$23.99
OPERA RECORDINGS IN BRIEF Opera Rarities [10 CDs] This ten-disc set aims to revive these forgotten works and reintroduce them to a new audience. Works in this edition include Gazzaniga’s Don Giovanni, Bizet’s Djamileh, Massenet’s Therese, and many more.(Orfeo)
10CD 397993
$49.99
Mayr: Elena – Opera in Two Acts [2 CDs] Mayr’s subtle accommodation of Neapolitan opera and Viennese Classicism ensures a series of choruses and recitatives that drive the action forward, punctuated with lyrical richness. (Naxos)
2CD 856931
$23.99
Booming Bass & Baritone – Best Loved Opera Arias Tracks on Booming Bass & Baritone include arias from The Barber of Seville, The Magic Flute, The Marriage of Figaro, William Tell, and more. (Naxos)
1CD 833747
$11.99
Strauss II: Ritter Pásmán [2 CDs] The recording of Ritter Pásmán also includes the complete ballet music as bonus tracks, performed by the Slovac State Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Alfred Walter. (Orfeo)
2CD 845039
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New on Blu-ray Levin: Written on Water [DVD or Blu-ray video]
Bruckner: Symphonies Nos. 1–9 [9 Blu-ray video]
New Sets from Brilliant Classics This release contains the international
Written on Water is a dance feature film about an artist whose happy and comfortable married life is upended when she unexpectedly falls in love with someone else. Featuring Paris Opera Ballet’s Aurélie Dupont, Ballet Zurich principal dancer Alexander Jones, and choreographer, dancer, writer and director Pontus Lidberg, Written on Water conveys the drama of desire and the turmoil of the creative process. (Naxos)
1Blu-ray 854935 1DVD 854933
acclaimed Bruckner cycle of Christian Thielemann, a “magician of the Bruckner sound”(Kurier on Symphony No. 5) and the Staatskapelle Dresden, whose own Bruckner tradition dates back more than a century. Outstanding reviews emphasize the exceptionally high artistic quality of the concerts: “Once again Thielemann proved to be the unrestricted ruler on his ancestral territory, German Romantic repertoire” (Hamburger Abendblatt ) (C Major)
$19.99 $19.99
9Blu-ray 832800
Mozart: Così fan tutte [DVD or Blu-ray Video]
Memory in Motion: Percussion in Surround DVD
A classic story of love under the microscope is given a contemporary perspective in this performance of Mozart’s “school for lovers”. Così fan tutte is a compassionate examination of young love, full of wit and wonderful music which ensure its lasting popularity.It was Mozart’s final collaboration with the Italian librettist Lorenzo da Ponte, and Jonathan Miller’s production, created for The Royal Opera, brings out the timelessness of this exploration of the human condition. (Opus Arte)
Memory in Motion: Percussion in Surround was a research project developed to examine how percussionists memorize musical actions within ensembles. As part of this research, director Aiyun Huang commissioned new works to compliment selected existing repertoire. Zihua Tan wrote “Sorites” to compliment Iannis Xenakis’ “Persephassa” and alcides lanza wrote “mnais mnemes” to compliment his own earlier composition “sensor VI.” (Mode Records)
1DVD 856545
1Blu-ray 849918 1DVD 849916
$29.99
Verdi: Falstaff [DVD or Blu-ray Video]
This set of three films provides an outstanding showcase for the artistry of dancer Roberto Bolle, a ballet star of our own time. For the 75th anniversary celebrations of The Royal Ballet, Frederick Ashton’s Sylvia was restored to the splendor of its elegant and opulent threeact form. Casting Bolle as Aminta alongside Darcey Bussell in the title role, this is a wonderful showcase for virtuosity, invention and classical beauty. (Opus Arte)
$41.99 $31.99
3Blu-ray 856907 3DVD 856905
Palais Garnier – Rebuilding the Paris Opera House DVD
The Royal Shakespeare Company presents a Shakespearean rarity in this exciting production. Richard the Lionheart is dead. Threatened from all sides by Europe, the English noblemen, and even his own family, King John will stop at nothing to keep hold of his crown. Shakespeare’s rarely performed tale of a nation in turmoil vibrates with modern resonance in this vivid new production by director Eleanor Rhode. “Director Eleanor Rhode’s version is bombastic, stylish and stylized, an impressive visual spectacle...” (The Stage) (Opus Arte)
$24.99
1Blu-ray 856906
Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet [DVD or Blu-ray Video]
www.hbdirect.com
$24.99
Wagner – Die Walküre [DVD or Blu-ray Video]
Kenneth MacMillan’s passionate choreography for Romeo and Juliet shows The Royal Ballet at its dramatic finest. Prokofiev’s famously evocative score is the driver for some of the most ardent pas de deux and powerful set pieces in ballet history. The vibrant crowd scenes vividly recreate the color and bustle of 16thcentury Verona in this Royal Ballet classic. “...this is a Romeo packed with life, the whole company caught up in the ballet’s unfolding tragedy.” (The Independent ) (Opus Arte)
1Blu-ray 849917 1DVD 849915
$54.99 $39.99
Shakespeare: King John [Blu-ray Video]
The thrilling tale of the construction of the Palais Garnier, a total work of art built over fifteen tumultuous years by the brilliant architect Charles Garnier. Through previously unpublished archives, unobstructed views, historical reconstructions and accounts by historians, discover the origins and construction process of the extraordinary theatre which hosted the most celebrated artists from Maria Callas to Rudolf Noureev. (BelAir Classiques)
1DVD 856904
$39.99 $29.99
The Arte of Roberto Bolle [DVD or Blu-ray Video]
Falstaff is Verdi’s masterpiece of comic opera, in which the behavior of the ageing Sir John Falstaff, a devious freeloader and would-be ladykiller, causes uproar in the petty-bourgeois household of the Windsors. In this performance stage and film director Mario Martone updates the action to the present day and shows Falstaff as ageing rebel in dodgy sideburns and leather jacket. (C Major)
1Blu-ray 849817 1DVD 849816
$109.99
Die Walküre is the second part of Der Ring des Nibelungen and has remained the most popular of the tetralogy of operas. The spectacular “Ride of the Valkyries,” the spellbinding music of Wotan’s Farewell and the Magic Fire that closes the opera are other highlights of this critically acclaimed production from Sofia National Opera. Sofia National Opera, founded in 1890, is the oldest and most prestigious Bulgarian opera theatre. (Dynamic)
$39.99 $29.99
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& DVD Plácido Domingo at the Arena Di Verona [DVD or Blu-ray Video]
Gounod: Mireille [DVD or Blu-ray Video] Charles Gounod was enchanted by the young Provençal-born Frédéric Mistral’s epic love poem Mirèio, and enlisted the distinguished Michel Carré to fashion a libretto. Against the grain of prevailing operatic practice in the 1860s, Gounod relished instead the lives of modest country people and their idyllic world. ‘Everything feels true to the opera’s pastoral spirit’ wrote Gramophone about this production, which marked the opera’s first appearance at the Paris Opera. (Naxos)
Opera legend Plácido Domingo returns to the spectacular Arena di Verona, where he more than 50 years ago made his debut. Plácido Domingo and Saioa Hernández perform a program dedicated to the great Italian composers Verdi and Giordano. Jordi Bernàcer conducts the Orchestra of the Arena di Verona from the center of the Arena. “Domingo performed with bravura, alternating with the spectacular Saioa Hernández” (operaactual.com.) (C Major)
1Blu-ray 937384 1DVD 937383
1Blu-ray 854934 2DVD 854932
$41.99 $29.99
Keersmaker: The Six Brandenburg Concertos [DVD or Blu-ray Video]
Shakespeare: 3 Comedies (Merry Wives of Windor, Twelfth Night, Taming of the Shrew) [3 DVDs]
The Brandenburg Concertos consist of six concerti grossi, in which Bach deploys the instruments from the baroque orchestra in different, often audacious constellations. Against this backdrop, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker sets sixteen dancers originating in different Rosas generations. The concertos are played live by the baroque ensemble B’Rock, conducted by violinist Amandine Beyer. (BelAir Classiques)
This 3-DVD set presents RSC productions of three of Shakespeare’s most popular comedies. The Merry Wives of Windsor is a joyful portrait of suburbia, wives and over-inflated egos. In The Taming of the Shrew society is reimagined as a matriarchy, whilst Twelfth Night is a heartbreaking tale of unrequited love. “The play (Twelfth Night) busts with slapstick and tickle, prats and pratfalls and lots of laughs – there is not a weak link in the cast.” (The Times) (Alpha)
3DVD 937363
1Blu-ray 854879 1DVD 854878
$39.99
Love Duets / Sonya Yoncheva & Vittorio Grigolo [DVD or Blu-ray Video]
Mozart wrote La finta giardiniera in 1775 when he was 18 years old. It was his first staged buffo opera and centers on the lovers at the heart of the action, Sandrina and Belfiore. Originally staged at Glyndebourne in 2014 by Frederic Wake-Walker, this 2018 revival from La Scala is performed on period instruments with a strong cast and expertly conducted with exuberance and charm by Diego Fasolis. (Naxos)
$41.99 $31.99
1Blu-ray 863823 2DVD 863821
Korngold: Die tote Stadt [DVD or Blu-ray Video]
Come on a journey through the life of one of the most prevalent female icons: Frida Kahlo. She was a prolific self-portraitist, using the canvas as a mirror through all stages of her turbulent and, at times, tragic life. Featuring key exhibitions and interviews with world-renowned Kahlo curators, Exhibition On Screen explores the extraordinary symbolism and themes in these personal canvases to seek a deeper understanding of the real Frida Kahlo. (Seventh Art)
$41.99 $41.99
1DVD 493295
Strauss: Elektra [DVD or Blu-ray Video]
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Arena di Verona Collection, Vol. 2 [DVD or Blu-ray Video]
In its 100th anniversary edition, the Salzburg Festival celebrates a real triumph with a mind-blowing new production of Elektra, one of the most famous masterpieces of opera history by the two festival founders Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Lithuanian soprano Ausrine Stundyte as vengeful and traumatized Elektra turns the opening of the Festival into a real knockout performance. “One highlight of the centenary season.” (The Telegraph) (Unitel)
1Blu-ray 856944 1DVD 856943
$29.99 $29.99
Frida Kahlo – Exhibition On Screen DVD
The premiere of Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Die tote Stadt at the Bayerische Staatsoper in autumn 2019 was praised both by press and audiences. Marlis Petersen (Marie / Marietta) and Jonas Kaufmann (Paul) sang the main roles, with the Bayerisches Staatsorchester under Kirill Petrenko’s baton, in the intense staging by Simon Stone. “It’s difficult to imagine a better case for Die tote Stadt than was made in Munich.” (NY Times) (Unitel)
1Blu-ray Video 941319 1DVD-Video 941318
$24.99 $24.99
Mozart: La Finta Giardiniera [DVD or Blu-ray Video]
In the imposing Arena di Verona, soprano Sonya Yoncheva and tenor Vittorio Grigolo present with dramatic and passionate synergy an evening of the most beautiful operatic love arias and duets in opera history. Passion that burns, consumes and sometimes kills is the central theme of this concert including arias from Puccini’s Tosca, La bohème, Madama Butterfly and Verdi´s La traviata, all conducted by Plácido Domingo. (C Major)
1Blu-ray 856918 1DVD 856917
$29.99 $29.99
A 3-Opera Digistack featuring great productions seen at the prestigious Arena di Verona: Bizet’s Carmen, Verdi’s Nabucco, and Rossini’s Barbiere di Siviglia. Bizet’s Carmen – one of the most beloved operas – staged at the world-famous Arena di Verona. The famous opera is staged as a colorful feast for the eyes, true to its source and convincingly acted by soloists, chorus and ballet alike. (BelAir Classiques)
$41.99 $31.99
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New Additions New from Challenge Records Live at the Berlin Philharmonie 1969 / Sarah Vaughan, vocals Recorded live on November 9, 1969 at the Berlin Philharmonie, this Sarah Vaughan recording has never before been released in its entirety. That is, until now! The emotionally intense concert is remarkable, with Vaughan constantly maintaining her balance throughout between her vocal technique and interpretive skills. She bares her soul and gives us a unique lesson in music as a form of the art of living. (Challenge)
1CD 849956
$19.99
Turn out the Stars – The Music of Bill Evans This new release from the Pinheiro – Ineke – Cavalli Trio is inspired by the music of the exceptional pianist Bill Evans. In this intricately programmed album, the trio showcases a level of never before seen maturity and consolidated artistry in their musical discourse and improvisation. Works by Evans are front and center, alongside compositions from Michel Legrand and Leonard Bernstein, all arranged by the trio. (Challenge)
1CD 399498
$16.99
Chapter One / Marieke Koopman For this release Marieke Koopman has chosen jazz-standards (some known, others not so known) which had strong lyrics or were little gems melody wise and mixed them with her own style. Never being afraid of opinions or stepping out of the box, Marieke loves to transform songs and has found a way of communicating her emotions through playful rhythmic and melodic interpretations, improvisations, as well as her use of lyrical timing. (Challenge)
1CD 854904
Prado Vive! Raul Gutierrez & His Cuban Big Band
Only Love Will Stay / Rale Micic, guitar
With this release, saxophonist and bandleader Raul Guttierrez pays homage to the king of mambo, Pérez Prado. Backed by a line-up of highly skilled musicians – namely his Cuban Big Band – they recreate some of the immortal masterpieces, presented here in the versions by the arrangers Tolly Ramirez and Horacio González. A truly worthy tribute to Pérez Prado, “The King of Mambo!” (Cugate Classics)
1CD 856948
$16.99
Rale Micic has played with a number of well-known artists, including Peter Bernstein, Greg Hutchinson, and Tom Harrell. But it’s the way he performs his own music that really sets him apart from other jazz guitar talents. This release features a lineup of tunes that create layers of original sounds, intricate textures, and intense rhythms that hearken back to his native Serbia. (Whaling City)
$24.99
1CD 845075 $16.99 Vessels of Wood and Earth / Dan Wilson, guitar
On Bones, his new album release, virtuosic vocalist/composer and international performer Michael Mayo establishes his place as one of the most acclaimed and versatile voices in music today. The gifted child of two “first-call” L.A. session musicians, he was literally born into the business and spent his childhood listening to and learning, up close, from some of the greatest musical artists of the 20th century. (Artistry)
Guitarist/composer Dan Wilson presents his marvelous new album Vessels of Wood and Earth. Through 11 joyfully dynamic compositions ranging from takes on classic songs to five original compositions, Wilson builds a foundation rooted as much in tradition as it is in moving the music irresistibly forward into the modern world. (BrotherMister)
Bones / Michael Mayo, vocals
1CD 942615
1CD 841750 Better Days Ahead / John Pizzarelli, guitar
$17.99
Serendipity / John Stein, guitar
World-renowned jazz guitarist, singer and recent GRAMMY Award-winning producer John Pizzarelli takes on the songs of Pat Metheny in his new album Better Days Ahead. Having loved the recordings of the Pat Metheny Group since his teenage years, Pizzarelli welcomed the challenge of diving deep into Metheny’s canon of dense, moving material and deconstructing Pat Metheny’s group arrangements on his seven-string guitar. (Ghostlight)
From the opener, a take on Sonny Rollins’ “Alfie’s Theme”, to the closing, upbeat “Happy Hour”, a John Stein original, this recording is a pure celebration of bristling energy and brilliant, intuitive performances. It’s the sound of unleashed happiness as embraced by three musicians, accursed pandemic or not, born to play beautiful jazz music. (Whaling City)
1CD 856945
$17.99
$16.99
1CD 858487 $21.99 Whole Lotta Love – Music of Led Zeppelin / Calvaire / Franceschini / Hays / Fleming Obed Calvaire, Bob Franceschini, Kevin Hays, and Orlando Le Fleming present their album, Whole Lotta Love: The Music of Led Zeppelin. The album features the quartet playing jazz arrangements of some of Led Zeppelin’s most famous tracks like “Immigrant Song,” “Kashmir,” and the title track. Whole Lotta Love manages to preserve the crystal clear audiophile sound that you love, and will doubtlessly amaze you with this unique reimagining of Led Zeppelin’s music. (Chesky)
1CD 846071
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in Jazz
Dexter Gordon Quartet: Willisau 1978
Too Close for Comfort / George Cables, piano
In Willisau in 1978, Dexter Gordon is in a very happy period. Columbia signs the prodigal tenor resulting in the significant successes “Sophisticated Giant” and “Manhattan Symphony”, together with a rhythm section that Dexter then tours on club stages across the country. For the repertoire of the day’s concert, our favorite tenor takes no prisoners! It’s meat from start to finish, with themes that are practically tattooed on the soul of this exceptional performer. (TCB)
George Cables should be declared a national treasure. As a composer he has quietly amassed a catalog of works of extremely wide range and extraordinary quality. As a musician he possesses endless imagination and creativity, shown by his strikingly new takes on tunes we thought we knew, particularly the title track, “Too Close for Comfort,” which retains little trace of it’s pop song origin. (Highnote)
1CD 863856
1CD 855193
$16.99
Prometheus / Nikol Bóková, piano Just one year after the release of her last album Unravel, pianist and composer Nikol Bóková returns with her third album. The line-up in this recording is like the author’s dream come true. Her colleagues are the world-renowned French-horn player Radek Baborák, guitarist David Doružka, double-bass player Jaromír Honzák and drummer Michal Wierzgon, who are all important representatives of jazz & classical music. (Animal Music)
Parker’s Mood / Hans Backenroth, bass “I’ve been listening to Hans’s music for more than 25 years in many contexts, and I have noticed how he has grown and matured as an artist. And how he’s always thinking “we” instead of “I”. So, all things considered, here’s a tribute that everybody involved should be proud of. I’m sure that Charlie Parker would have smiled approvingly. Yes, Bird lives!” (Thorbjørn Sjøgren) (Prophone)
1CD 854949
1CD 937356
$18.99
Songs for Orchestra is a new album and the most extensive music project to date by jazz pianist and composer Tomáš Sýkora. It features a live recording of a concert performance in honor of Karel Ružicka’s memory. Sýkora has been joined by three other jazz soloists on the recording – saxophonist David Fárek, double bassist Tomáš Liška and drummer Roman Vícha – along with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra. (Animal Music)
After nearly a year of being cooped up within the same four walls, it’s only natural that one’s thoughts might turn to the freedom of the open road. That’s certainly true of virtuoso jazz bassist and world-renowned producer Brian Bromberg, whose third pandemicera release shrugs off the prevailing mood of claustrophobia for A Little Driving Music, a fun, funky paean to cruising with the top down and leaving your troubles behind. (Artistry)
1CD 937354
$17.99
$20.99
A Tribute to the Clarke-Boland Big Band / Bundesjazzorchestrer
Over the Rainbow / Jørgen Emborg, piano; Steve Swallow, bass
In 2018, the Campi family bequeathed the important legacy of Gigi Campi – consisting of several boxes of handwritten original sheet music from the Clarke-Boland Big Band – to the Bundesjazzorchester. This great honor allows the BuJazzO to preserve the legacy of the Clarke-Boland Big Band. The BuJazzO played twelve concerts in 2019 whose extraordinary moments, energy and passion are documented live on this album. (Double Moon)
This 1992 set showcases the work of the Danish pianist/composer Jørgen Emborg with a quintet including his special guest, American bass-guitarist Steve Swallow. Tracks include “My Kind of Blues,” “On the Town: Some Other Time,” “One Step At a Time,” “Forgotten Truth,” “Uneven Thinking,” the title track, and more. (Storyville)
1CD 845064
$20.99
Songs for the Orchestra / Tomáš Sýkora, pianist; Prague Radio SO
A Little Driving Music / Brian Bromberg, bass
1CD 852407
$18.99
$15.99
1CD 854911
$14.99
NEW JAZZ RELEASES IN BRIEF Mainz Studio Recordings (1963–1969) / Volker Mainz [2 CDs] This release chronicles that journey through the recordings Volker Kriegel made between 1963 and 1969 in Mainz. Tracks include “Django,” “Viande,” “Connie’s Blues,” “St. Louis Blues,” and more. (SWR)
2CD 845008
$24.99
Two Roses / Avishai Cohen, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra Two Roses is by Avishai’s words “a once in a lifetime project”. Cohen offers a very cinematic project between Jazz, Mediterranean Folklore and Classical music, reexploring a part of his musical journey. (Naïve)
1CD 833727
$16.99
Come What May / Jane Monheit, vocals “On her latest album, Come What May, Monheit continues to dazzle, delivering a program chock-full of standards, such as ‘Lush Life,’ and Jobim’s ‘Samba Do Aviгo.’” (DownBeat Magazine) (Sony)
1CD 493247
$11.99
Magic Dance – The Music of Kenny Barron / Greg Abate, saxophone [2 CDs] On their own, Barron’s melodies are transcendent. In Abate’s skillful hands, the material takes on new tones, colors and patterns. (Whaling City)
2CD 493308
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Explore Storyville Recommended New Titles Solo Piano / Tommy Flanagan, piano Tommy Flanagan was always known for his tasteful, flawless and swinging piano playing. The American jazz pianist and composer grew up in Detroit and was initially influenced by artists Art Tatum, Teddy Wilson, and Nat King Cole. Solo Piano was not initially released until decades after its 1974 recording. It is significant historically because this outing was the pianist’s first record date as a leader in 13 years and, most importantly, because it is very good music. (Storyville)
1CD 856942
$15.99
Jazzpar Quartet + 4 / Jim Hall Quartet “Jim Hall was the winner of the 1998 Jazzpar Prize, given annually by the Danish Jazz Center; the resulting concerts which followed are a valuable addition to Hall’s considerable discography. The veteran guitarist is joined by tenor saxophonist Chris Potter, bassist Thomas Ovesen and drummer Terry Clarke. His duet with Potter on the closer, ‘In A Sentimental Mood,’ brings things full circle on this very successful CD.” (AllMusic) (Storyville)
1CD 399573
$17.99
Grønvad/Søndergaard Quintet plays the Latin Vibe of Clare Fischer Led by Morten Grønvad and Jens Søndergaard’s beautiful and melodic sound, the quintet has created this worthy and wholeheartedly homage to Clare Fischer and his music. The rhythm section consists of pianist Thomas Bornø, bassist Niels Wilhelm Knudsen and drummer Niclas Campagnol. A convincing, warm and enticing “West Coast-Latin-jazz” cocktail made of equal parts jazz-samba, bossa-nova, chacha and bolero. (Storyville)
1CD 937444
Dunas – Live in Copenhagen / Rosa Passos Quartet
Leewise / Lee Konitz, saxophone This release showcases the work of Lee Konitz in a variety of settings all derived from the Jazzpar All Star Nonet directed by saxophonist Jens Søndergaard. It begins with three tracks recorded by Radio Denmark during the actual final concert of the series in Copenhagen’s Falkoner Scenen. In preparation for several months, this has now turned into a memorial for Konitz, who died at the age of 92 in 2020. (Storyville)
The band line-up couldn’t have been better for this Copenhagen recording: Fabio Torres on piano, Paulu Paulelli on bass, and Celso de Almeida on drums and of course Rosa Passos on vocals and guitar. “Imagine you are rocking a baby to sleep. For me, that’s Bossa Nova!” (Rosa Passos) (Storyville)
1CD 849954 $17.99 The Copenhagen Concert / Marc Johnson; Paul Motian; Enrico Pieranunzi
1CD 398028 Jacob Artved Quartet Feat. Louis Hayes
Enrico Pieranunzi has been a popular guest in Copenhagen for over 30 years. On this recording, from December 1996 at the legendary and now closed Copenhagen Jazzhouse, he is joined by two masters in their own right; Marc Johnson on bass and Paul Motian on drums. This trio plays with virtuosity and force that shines through on every note and beat. (Storyville)
$17.99
Jacob Artved is the youngest of a very talented new generation of Danish jazz guitar players. This release is a live recording from Jazzhus Montmartre/ Copenhagen, taken from July 5–7, 2019. It is always a joy when a young musician decides to focus on passing on a strong jazz-tradition. His playing is skilled and honest, and he has a fine career ahead of him. (Storyville)
1CD 397733 $15.99 As Long As We Both Know / Helle Henning, vocals
1CD 293642 $15.99 Blue Boat – Jazzpar Project 1993 / Steen Vig, saxophone
Helle Henning and Nikolaj Hess have once again been in New York together to record music, this time joined in the studio by the bassist and drummer from Norah Jones’ legendary “Come Away with Me” album & tour - Tony Scherr and Kenny Wollesen. The album presents Helle Henning’s deliciously sultry vocals, and reveals her capacity for composing beautiful themes and writing clear lyrics using intimate and personal prose. (Storyville)
1CD 398027
$15.99
In 1993 the Danish Jazz Center’s Jazzpar Prize went to the fine American pianist Tommy Flanagan. The two bandleaders were Steen Vig and Kim Kristensen & Ildvæverne. Blue Boat is the recording of Steen’s Jazzpar band: “Steen Vig and his Bluesicians” featuring Gene “Mighty Flea” Connors and Cornell Dupree. (Storyville)
$17.99
1CD 833781
$17.99
Pieces: Generations at Sunrise / Palle Mikkelborg; Bjarne Roupé Trio Pieces is the meeting of two generations – The experienced and mature: the trumpeter Palle Mikkelborg and the guitarist Bjarne Roupé and the two young and ready: Anton Langebæk on bass and the percussionist Benjamin Barfod. The Bjarne Roupé Trio had been with Langebæk for a while, and when Mikkelborg performed at a concert in Næstved, ithe four musicians clicked. The musicians took the initiative to use those recordings for this release. (Storyville)
1CD 397714
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Jazz
Duke Ellington in Coventry, 1966 / Duke Ellington, piano
The Duo (Duke Ellington 100) / Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen; Mulgrew Miller
This Duke Ellington recording was made on Monday, February 21, 1966, along with The Cliff Adams Singers and the baritone singer George Webb, giving the performance a special quality, which the band acknowledged by playing on the top of their game. The concert also includes one of the first performances of a piece which would become an important part of many concerts during the following years, “La Plus Belle Africaine.” (Storyville)
In 1999, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen and Mulgrew Miller came together in a unique and unlikely pairing to pay tribute to Duke Ellington on the 100th anniversary of his birth. The result was a passionate and longlived musical partnership between two masters of their respective instruments, but the original recordings were never released. For the first time ever, more than 20 years after its recording, this lost treasure is finally made available to the public. (Storyville)
Montmartre 1964 / Dexter Gordon, saxophone
Jens Søndergaard Quartet Plays the Brubeck – Desmond Songbook
1CD 60376
$15.99
1CD 293644
Listening to this album takes you back to the atmosphere and sound of Jazzhus Montmartre on a random night in the 1960s, engulfing you in Dexter Gordon’s enormous aura. Dexter’s arrival in Copenhagen had a tremendous impact that left a lasting impression on the Danish jazz scene. His playing was superb, with a giant sound; his introductions and showmanship were unique and captivating. (Storyville)
1CD 397117
$15.99
Jens Søndergaard, who received the Ben Webster award in 2017, is one of the most important saxophonists in Danish Jazz. His duo collaboration with Kenny Werner stands as a milestone and as an example that Jens Søndergaard’s sound on the alto saxophone also inspires American stars. Jens Søndergaard has always had a large and faithful audience. (Storyville)
$15.99
1CD 293641
Songs: The Music of Allen Toussaint / New Orleans Jazz Orchestra
$15.99
Mirrors Within / Carsten Dahl Trinity
New Orleans is a musical melting pot that has been cooking up music royalty for nearly over a century. The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, now in its seventeenth year, is dedicated to preserving the tradition of New Orleans music and culture while exploring the works of artists that might be considered slightly outside the realm of jazz. Songs: The Music of Allen Toussaint is the fourth studio recording by the Orchestra. (Storyville)
When pianist Carsten Dahl went into the studio with bassist Niels Bo Davidsen and the drummer Stefan Pasborg, it was with a special dogma: Not to say a word throughout the recording. The album was created in a continuous sequence of first takes and everything was improvised without previous agreements or ideas except ‘Falling Down’ and ‘How I Hear Beauty.’ Together, the trio constitutes a suite-like process with stimulating variation in form and expression. (Storyville)
Piece of Mind / Adonis Rose, drums; Tia Fuller, sax; Maurice Brown, trumpet
Some Aspects of Water / Geri Allen, piano
1CD 48548
1CD 397715
$15.99
The third in a series of three presenting Jazzpar winners, a prestigious Danish jazz award. Geri Allen is one of the most modern and original pianists and composers in contemporary American jazz. Some Aspects of Water is a milestone in Geri Allen’s career and marks her status as the first female winner of the prestigious Danish Jazzpar Prize in 1996. She was the first woman and youngest person to receive the Jazzpar Prize. (Storyville)
Piece of Mind is an all-star group that features some of the most talented voices in jazz today. The concept of the group was inspired by the VSOP Quintet from the late 1970s with the intention of being both a touring and recording group. The new collective brings together the highly regarded players who, when united onstage, deliver an exciting and fluid musical experience. (Storyville)
1CD 359868
$15.99
1CD 291194
$15.99
$12.99
STORYVILLE ALBUMS IN BRIEF Charlie Parker In Sweden 1950 (The Complete Recordings) 14 tracks recorded by Charlie Parker & band during a 1950 Swedish date including “Cheers,” “Lover Man,” “Embraceable You,” “How High the Moon,” and more. (Storyville)
1CD 164315
$15.99
Live at Jazzhus Slukefter, Vol. 2 / Hank Jones Trio A “musician’s musician,” Hank Jones was clearly a fully rounded personality in his own right. Storyville presents Vol. 2 of Jones’ 1983 Slukefter performances. (Storyville)
1CD 293643
$15.99
Blues Pianist of New Orleans / Champion Jack Dupree, piano [4 CDs] This four-disc compilation featuring tracks from Champion Jack Dupree, who made multiple recordings for many labels, including his legendary 1958 album for Atlantic Records, Blues From The Gutter. (Storyville)
4CD 279497
$25.99
New Visions / Enrico Pieranunzi, piano Enrico Pieranunzi’s trio is rounded out by bassist Thomas Fonnesbaek and Ulysses Owens, Jr. on drums for this dynamic release. (Storyville)
1CD 279496
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Recommended Top Jazz favorites Live at Newport / Duke Ellington [2 CDs] This complete 1956 concert was the start of Duke Ellington’s comeback following the general demise of big bands post-WWII. It remains his best-selling title and one the bestselling jazz albums of all time. The tunes are marvelous, the playing thrilling, and the presentation of this remastered and now complete recording is impeccable. The 40 tracks include “Tea for Two,” “Jeep’s Blues,” and “Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue.” (Sony)
2CD 54631
$15.99
Triple Gold / Frank Sinatra [3 CDs] The legend that is Frank Sinatra has brought so much pleasure to music lovers the world over that it’s hard to overestimate just how important his work has been. He is, unquestionably the finest interpreter of classic American popular song ever, capable of turning base metal into gold. This is prime Sinatra, taking hold of songs and investing them with a weight of emotional and musical delivery that leaves you breathless with admiration. (Start)
3CD 942616
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Late Night Jazz / Various Artists Sensuous saxophones, muted trumpets, fingers caressing piano keys, brushes on drums . . . this music was made for late night listening and romance. 40 mood-setting classics are performed by some of the biggest names in jazz: Miles Davis Quintet (“Round Midnight”), Sonny Rollins (“There Is No Greater Love”), Erroll Garner Trio (“Misty”), Barney Kessel (“Laura”), and much more. (Gift of Music)
1CD 292907
Live at Marni Hall, Brussels, 1974 / Sarah Vaughan & Her Trio DVD
Live in London / Weather Report Available on CD for the first time! No band in the history of modern jazz has left a more transformative legacy than Weather Report. Their command of the jazz idiom – instrumental mastery, compositional innovation, improvisational genius – took them on a voyage around the world including these recordings from London in the 1980s. Tracks include “Corner Pocket”, “Fast City”, “Where the Moon Goes” and more. (Angel Air)
New series of unreleased iconic jazz concerts from the archives of Belgium public TV – newly captured from original film material. Sarah Vaughan and her Trio playing at the Marni Theatre, Brussels in 1974. This unreleased performance features all time classics such as “’Round Midnight”, “I’ll Remember April” and “I Cried for You”. (EuroArts)
1DVD 50113
$24.99
1CD 340239
The Essential Kenny G [2 CDs] Kenny Gʼs crossover approach to traditional jazz made him an international star, with millions of records sold including hits such as “Songbird” and “My Heart Will Go On.” This greatest-hits collection features highlights from the saxophonistʼs career, including originals, standards and traditional music. Tracks include “What A Wonderful World,” “Summertime,” “Beautiful,” and more. (Sony)
2CD 48371 Inner Tide / Anette Von Eichel, vocals
$16.99
$16.99
Trilogy 2 / Chick Corea Trio [2 CDs] Chick Corea’s 2-CD set Trilogy was released in 2014, garnering international acclaim and two Grammy Awards. The stunning collaboration between Chick Corea, Christian McBride and Brian Blade left many critics, musicians and fans awestruck. Fortunately for us, these three virtuosos reunited for another tour in 2016, resulting in Trilogy 2 – twelve formidable tracks that raise the bar even higher. (Concord)
$13.99
2CD 357720
Inner Tide is the newest release from vocalist Anette von Eichel , uniting a topclass instrumental combo with pianist Sebastian Sternal, bassist Henning Sieverts, drummer Jonas Burgwinkel and saxophonist Jonas Blom, in which the names alone prove that they cannot be reduced to mere accompanists. “This is exactly where I am now,” Anettevon Eichel described the core statement of the nine titles of Inner Tide. (Double Moon)
$18.99
I Called Him Morgan DVD This DVD is a look into an American love story, the music that brought these two individuals together, and a shocking murder. In February 1972, jazz musician Lee Morgan was shot dead by his wife Helen during a gig at a New York City club, sending shockwaves through the American jazz community. This film is insightful, intelligent, and rife with artistry. (Filmrise)
1CD 397903 $14.99 Iron Starlet / Connie Han, piano
1DVD 942617
$17.99
With the release of her debut, Crime Zone, pianist/keyboardist Connie Han seized the attention of the jazz world and firmly established herself as a fast-rising star on the scene. That stratospheric ascent continues on her captivating follow-up, Iron Starlet. Her powerful vision takes in the full evolution of her forebearers, from iconic innovators like McCoy Tyner through the Young Lion revolution spearheaded by the Marsalis Brothers and Jeff “Tain” Watts, among others. (Mack Avenue)
1CD 344942
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Jazz Titles Time OutTakes / Dave Brubeck
The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul / Branford Marsalis Quartet
The never before released songs on this 8-track album are outtakes from Dave Brubeck’s original 1959 sessions master tapes. These performances are every bit as compelling as those on the original Time Out. Brubeck’s Time Out changed the landscape of jazz music, and this rarity will make you rediscover why you fell in love with the Dave Brubeck Quartet. (Brubeck Editions)
1CD 814704
The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul finds the celebrated ensemble at a new peak, addressing a kaleidoscope of moods with inspiration and group commitment. The quartet that saxophonist Branford Marsalis has led for the past three decades has always been a model of daring, no-apologies artistry, of ever-widening musical horizons and deepening collective identity. (Sony)
$16.99
1CD 47502
To Satch & Duke / Alex Schlosser Quartet The trumpeter and flugelhorn player Axel Schlosser has once again found congenial partners who know how to realize his musical visions. Together with Thilo Wagner on piano, JeanPhilippe Wadle on double bass and his HR-Big band colleague Jean-Paul Höchstädter on drums, Schlosser formed a remarkable quartet, which once again set standards in virtuosity, precision and recognizable joy of playing, inspiring the audience for two hours. (Double Moon)
1CD 397472
This delicious release will be the perfect backdrop for your next dinner party, and with three discs, you can keep the party going all evening long! Some of these 60 tracks are American Songbook classics, while others may be new to even seasoned jazz fans. Regardless, expect three hours of delightful listening. Featured tracks include Nat King Cole’s “Stardust,” Anita O’Day’s “Tennessee Waltz,” Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five,” and many more. (Big 3)
$14.99
1CD 351109
For Jimmy, Wes, & Oliver / Christian McBride Big Band
Harp vs Harp is an exciting duo featuring the unusual combination of harp and harmonica. Since his move to the United States in 1994, Edgar Castaneda has quite literally taken the world stage by storm with the force of his virtuosic command of the harp. Grégoire is one of the most sought-after harmonica players in the world, often compared to legends Toots Thielemans and Stevie Wonder. On this new release, the duo is joined by guest artists Bela Fleck and Andrea Tierra. (ACT)
$17.99
1CD 196559
Just in Time – The Final Recording Buddy Rich, drums
$18.99
Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic XI: The Last Call / Larry Coryell, Philip Catherine
A previously unreleased treasure! This is the final recording of influential drummer Buddy Rich, whose impact across rock, funk and soul, as well as jazz, is unrivalled to this day. This live date was recorded over two nights in November 1986 at Ronnie Scott’s in London, England. Tracks include “Wind Machine,” “Night Blood,” “The Trolley Song,” “Love For Sale,” “Shawnee,” “Porgy and Bess,” and more! (GearBox)
1CD 340903
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Harp vs. Harp / Edgar Castañeda, harp; Grégoire Maret, harmonica
Christian McBride solidifies his role as the champion of the past, present and future of jazz with his GRAMMY Award-winning Big Band’s new album in tribute to Jimmy Smith, Wes Montgomery and Oliver Nelson. Featuring special guests Joey DeFrancesco and Mark Whitfield, For Jimmy, Wes and Oliver honors the historical legacy of the jazz legends who shaped the soul of music for generations to come. (Mack Avenue)
1CD 344932
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Dinner Party Jazz / Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, John Coltrane
The wheel has come full circle with the album Last Call, featuring the duo of Larry Coryell and Philip Catherine. This live recording from the Philharmonie in Berlin captures the culmination of an evening under the banner “Art of Duo” in Siggi Loch’s “Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic” series. After four decades, it marks the two guitarists’ return to the scene of one of their very first major triumphs. (ACT)
$18.99
1CD 399454
$18.99
CLASSICS JAZZ RECORDINGS IN BRIEF Sketches of Spain / Miles Davis, trumpet (Bonus Tracks)
With three additional tracks (19 minutes of new music), new liner notes, sessions photos, and 20-bit remastering, Sketches of Spain’s orchestral palette has never been more vivid. (Sony)
1CD 47666
$7.99
Night Train / The Oscar Peterson Trio This release presents the complete original album Night Train, one of the many masterpieces recorded by the classic Oscar Peterson Trio with Ray Brown and Ed Thigpen. (Poll Winners)
1CD 354077
$15.99
Sunday at the Village Vanguard / Bill Evans Trio Included here in it’s entirety, this digitally remastered and expanded edition of this 1961 classic from the Bill Evans Trio features five bonus tracks. (Essential Jazz Classics)
1CD 290763
$15.99
Giant Steps / John Coltrane, tenor saxophone John Coltrane’s adventurous 1960 release, the first to feature solely his own compositions. Remastered from the original tapes, this landmark of modern jazz is further enhanced with four alternate takes. (Atlantic)
1CD 47809
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Nostalgic Recommended Releases British Modern Jazz – Singles, EP Tracks & Rarities 1960–1962 As the UK found itself suddenly gripped by the Trad Boom during the early 1960s, a few of Britain’s top modern jazzmen fought a short rival campaign aiming to take their type of music to the top of the charts. Very few of these jazz “singles” found success, with John Dankworth’s “African Waltz” the most notable exception. This collection focuses on notable singles, EP tracks, and rarities recorded from 1960–1962. (Acrobat)
1CD 173821
$17.99
The Louis Armstrong Collection, Vol. 1: The First Decade 1923–32 [2 CDs] Louis Armstrong was without question one of the most important artists in the development of jazz – his technical skill, his powerful presence and his improvisational genius was such that his peers rapidly recognized him as a model, and his work helped shape the way the language of jazz evolved over the years. (Fabulous)
2CD 90626
$12.99
Not So Fast – The Complete Esquire Recordings 1951 / Ronnie Scott This new Acrobat release concentrates on the results of this single, eventful twelve months, containing all of the original Esquire 78rpm releases recorded during that year together with two recently unearthed previously unissued alternative takes of Scott’s sextet featuring visiting American jazzman Spike Robinson. (Acrobat)
1CD 81703
Live At The Cafe Bohemia November 1955 / Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers [2 CDs]
Collection 1943–1950 / Fats Navarro [2 CDs] Despite his tragically brief career, Fats Navarro built an extraordinarily high profile and reputation during the few short years he was recording and performing. This 39-track 2-CD collection, which includes some extended ‘live’ performances towards the end, includes sessions and performances with a host of luminaries, including Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Coleman Hawkins, and more. It’s a hugely entertaining snapshot of his all-too-brief, but stellar career. (Acrobat)
Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers were a force of nature on the jazz scene for more than 30 years. Their sound was unique- hard bop with a driving blues flavor. The performances on this release are from early on in the group’s career, recorded live in 1955. Tracks on this two-disc album include “Like Someone in Love”, “Minor’s Holiday”, “Prince Albert”, “Just One of Those Things” and more. (Acrobat)
2CD 51053
2CD 942618
$17.99
January 30th 2015 marked the anniversary of what would have been Tubby Hayes’ 80th birthday. Undoubtedly the ultimate British jazz legend, Hayes’ untimely death, aged 38, in 1973 ended what had been a truly remarkable 23 year career, and, although long gone, his musical example still continues to inspire and amaze today. Released to mark this special anniversary. (Acrobat)
Exporting British jazz to the United States during the late 1950s and early 1960s often had the air of sending coals to Newcastle. However, when the American Vox and Top Rank labels commissioned special projects aimed solely for the U.S. market, the efforts of two of London’s best known jazz pianists were given a rare boost of recognition. (Acrobat)
$17.99
1CD 173541
Intimate Duo Trio Quartet, 1934–1938 / Coleman Hawkins
The Don Byas Collection 1939
$17.99
Don Byas was one of the most highlyregarded tenor sax players of his generation – he had a distinctive sound and a technique that enabled him to swing with effortless smoothness, yet with the dexterity and dynamics that enabled him to bridge the musical divide between swing and bebop. (Acrobat)
There is no argument about Coleman Hawkins’ position as “Father of The Tenor Saxophone.” Nor is there any doubt about his firm dedication to musical modernity. He is often cited as one of the first of the “Swing Era” musicians to have embraced the revolution of Bebop. (Acrobat)
1CD 148580
$17.99
Symphony – The Lost Session / Tubby Hayes
London Piano / Eddie Thompson & Dave Lee
1CD 167723
$17.99
$17.99
Jazz is His Old Lady and My Old Man / Earl Hines
1CD 81798
$17.99
The great Earl Hines first met Marva Josie in 1968. Impressed by her range, style and appearance she became the latest in a long line of important vocalists who had worked with the master pianist, following in the footsteps of Herb Jeffries, Billy Eckstine, Sarah Vaughan, Johnny Hartman and Etta Jones. On this album recorded for Catalyst in 1977 her versatility is well in evidence as she sings a variety of numbers ranging wildly in tempo, age and mood. (Acrobat)
1CD 175142
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54
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22-6872
Jazz
Blues at the Manor 1959–1960 / Tubby Hayes and the Downbeat Big Band
The Complete Ray Draper Quintet Sessions 1957–1958 / John Coltrane
Now regarded as one of the most iconic figures in jazz history, back in the late 1950s John Coltrane was a regular “gun for hire” participating in many sessions by studio-assembled bands led by a wide array of leaders. None were more unusual than the two albums he recorded with Ray Draper, a truly unique exponent of modern jazz tuba. These albums have been in and out of print for years but this is the first ever to bring them together on one CD release. (Acrobat)
1CD 81702
Formed in 1956 by a group of prominent London-based British modern jazzmen including trumpeter Jimmy Deuchar, The Downbeat Big Band soon entered the annals of UK jazz history as not only the finest unit of its kind but also as a proving ground for the arranging skills of a musician who would eventually rise to be its unofficial ‘leader’ – Tubby Hayes. (Acrobat)
1CD 207592
$17.99
Live at Club Hangover, June & July 1955 / Teddy Bruckner & His All Stars [2 CDs]
The Early Years 1941–1945 / Anita O’Day [2 CDs]
Hitherto unreleased tapes from the archives of the Storyville label. Superb quality recordings of 4 complete radio broadcasts ‘live’ from San Francisco’s Club Hangover featuring the great swing era and Dixieland revival trumpeter Teddy Buckner with a handpicked all-star line-up. These recordings capture the atmosphere and quality of the performances – A must for collectors and enthusiasts of the genre. (Acrobat)
The world of jazz in the post-war era was blessed with some very special female vocalists including Anita O’Day, an artist who perhaps more than any of her contemporaries, stayed true to her jazz roots. This 51-track 2-CD set includes most of the sides she recorded with Grene Krupa, and a fair proportion of those she did with Stan Kenton, as well as a few of the ‘live’ broadcast recordings she made with them. (Acrobat)
2CD 942619
2CD 102276
$17.99
Helen Humes was a blues and jazz singer who defied categorization, working successfully as a big band vocalist with Harry James, as an R&B/ jump blues hitmaker during the 1940s, as a noted jazz stylist in the ‘50s and, during her later career, a sophisticated interpreter of ballads and popular songs. This 49-track, 2-CD collection comprises recordings from across more than three decades of her career, from her studio debut as a 14-year-old in 1927 through to the early 60s. (Acrobat)
Earl Hines was one of the most important and influential pianists in the history of 20th century jazz. Radio station KCBS in San Francisco broadcasted a regular Friday night halfhour show from the Club, and this 2-CD set comprises the four broadcasts from Hines’ first season at Club Hangover. The backing band includes the great saxophonist Morris Lane, playing a band with a distinct swing / R&B flavor rather than the venue’s more usual Dixieland fare. (Acrobat)
2CD 81718
$17.99
$17.99
The Early Years 1956–1959 / Ramsey Lewis Trio [2 CDs]
The Collection 1952–1953 / Gerry Mulligan [2 CDs]
Ramsey Lewis is a jazz pianist, composer and bandleader who has been highly successful and influential in popularizing jazz through his crossover chart successes during the 1960s. This 37-track 2-CD set focuses very much on his first recordings, when he was still in his early 20s, as leader of his highly-regarded trio which stayed together for the first decade of his recording career. (Acrobat)
Saxophonist extraordinaire Gerry Mulligan was one of the giants of post-war modern jazz and was one of the leading lights in the “cool jazz” movement. In 1952 he began a legendary collaboration with the young lyrical trumpeter Chet Baker, newlyarrived on the jazz scene after an Army career. This 46-track 2-CD set comprises most of the recordings they made together during this time as part of Gerry Mulligan’s quartet.(Acrobat)
2CD 351715
$17.99
The Helen Humes Collection 1927–1962 [2 CDs]
Live at Club Hangover 1954 / Earl Hines & His Esquire All-Stars [2 CDs]
2CD 81799
$17.99
2CD 71644
$17.99
$17.99
NOSTALGIC JAZZ RELEASES IN BRIEF Brother Bones: Globetrottin’ with Bones / Brother Bones & His Shadows Brother Bones recorded one of the most recognizable songs of the 20th century; “Sweet Georgia Brown” and played the bones and knives in his own distinctive style. (Acrobat)
1CD 71669
$17.99
Live at Club Hangover, April & May 1953 / Muggsy Spanier [2 CDs] This collection comprises the four complete 1953 radio broadcasts by the great cornetist, trumpeter and bandleader Muggsy Spanier during his four-week season at Doc Dougherty’s Club Hangover. (Acrobat)
2CD 81814
$17.99
The Jack Teagarden Collection 1928-1952 [2 CDs] In a career which spanned five decades, Jack Teagarden established a reputation as one of the pre-eminent trombonists of his generation as well as a distinctive blues-influenced vocalist. (Acrobat)
2CD 62925
$17.99
Club Hangover Broadcasts / Kid Ory [2 CDs] Kid Ory was one of the key figures of early jazz, working with King Oliver and Louis Armstrong, originating the “tailgate” style of trombone playing, and he also led the west-coast Dixieland revival in the ‘40s and ‘50s. (Acrobat)
2CD 129102
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$17.99
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New Capriccio Titles see page 16
Music for Young Listeners see page 40
Explore Storyville Jazz! see page 50