VOCAL ALBUMS IN BRIEF

Vivaldi: Sacroprofano / Tim Mead

Amate

– Arias for Anna Maria Strada

Accompanied by the Abchordis Ensemble and Andrea Buccarella, the group’s conductor and harpsichordist, Marie Lys decided to dedicate her first solo album on Glossa to “La Stradina”, with an indepth study of Anna Maria Strada’s life on stage and the extraordinary vocal skills her roles demanded. Marie Lys has selected a repertoire that traces the career of this unique soprano in a representative way.

(Glossa)

1CD# GCD923536 $18.99

Labyrich, Schubert, Smirnow, Strauss & Szymanowski: My Soul Wept

Together with her piano partner Polina Spirina, mezzosoprano Natalya Boeva immerses herself in an exciting selection of works by the great lied composers Franz Schubert, Richard Strauss, and Karol Szymanowski and the contemporary Russian composers Alexander Labyrich and Dmitri Smirnov. Natalya Boeva and Polina Spirina present a moving interpretation of an extraordinary program! (Genuin)

1CD# GEN 23817 $18.99

Brahms, Mozart, Schubert & Xu: Fruhlingsglaube

After the first CD with Chinese and Classical songs, this time the soprano Marie Cho with Niels Muus at the piano presents songs by Mozart, Schubert and Brahms, and as a conclusion two Chinese songs, the Eastern Mongolian “Shepherd Song” by Qu Xixian and “Songs of my Hometown” by Xu Peidong. In between, piano pieces by Mozart and Schubert, played by Niels Muus, will be heard. (Gramola)

1CD# GRAM99276 $23.99

Voices – Songs by Richard Hageman

Thomas Hampson considers Richard Hageman as “an American composer of the highest caliber [and] an important contributor to the arts in America” and yet Voices is the first album ever to be dedicated solely to Hageman’s songs. Hageman moved from the Netherlands to Hollywood in 1938, quickly establishing himself as an A-list composer. (Aliud)

1CD# ACDOE1252 $16.99

Juxtaposing the sacred and secular aspects of Vivaldi’s work, this program explores the earthly passion of the divine and the heavenly beauty of love. (Alpha)

1CD# ALPHA914 $18.99

Schultz: Choral Songs

Svend Simon Schultz (1913–1998) is one of the most remarkable Danish composers and as a conductor he made a significant contribution to Danish songs. (Danacord)

1CD# DACOCD951 $16.99

Pachelbelo, Bertali, Matteis: Ciaccona!

Leila Shayegh and her musician friends from La Centifolia play a whole round of chaconnas, some famous, some unknown, by Bertali, Purcell, Schmelzer Matteis, Corelli or anonymous composers. (Glossa)

1CD# GCD924207 $18.99

The Silver Swan / Emily Gray; Nicole Johnson

Singers of English Song have a vast treasury in which to find their repertoire. Michael Head’s songs are generally well known, but many of Eric Thiman’s songs are rarely performed. (Convivium)

1CD# CVI075 $16.99

The Passionate Amy Beach / Solungga Liu

Centaur presents this collection of solo and chamber works by Amy Beach, performed by Solungga Liu, who has been acclaimed as a pianist of great breadth. She is a champion of early twentieth-century American music and underrepresented works of the standard repertoire. She is also known as an uncanny interpreter of new music. (Centaur)

1CD# CRC3990 $15.99

Franck: Piano Rarities – Original Works & Transcriptions

Few composers have enjoyed a late flowering to compare with that of César Franck. Many of the great works in this recording were composed during his final decades and still stand today as powerful representatives of French music. Jean-Pierre Armengaud presents an album of rarities composed for piano by Franck and arrangements of the composer’s works by distinguished musicians from the early 20th century. (Grand Piano)

1CD# GP906 $16.99

Romeo and Juliet – Tchaikovsky on the Piano

In his liner notes, Yevgeny Sudbin remembers falling in love with Tchaikovsky’s music when he was introduced to classical music. On this album, the pianist presents a collection of piano pieces and arrangements for piano, solo and four hands, of orchestral works by the great Russian composer, preceding it with a curtain raiser much-loved by Tchaikovsky himself: Mikhail Glinka’s Overture to Ruslan and Ludmila. (BIS)

1SACD# BIS-2198 $19.99

Elmas: Complete Piano Works, Vol. 2 / Mikael Ayrapetyan

World premiere recording –Armenian music specialist Mikael Ayrapetyan provides ample evidence of the contribution Stephen Elmas’s Mazurkas make to the piano repertoire and to the musical heritage of Armenia and beyond. The first volume in this edition was released in October 2022. (Grand Piano)

1CD# GP928 $16.99

Perpetuum / Anthony Romaniuk

Anthony Romaniuk, multikeyboardist, alchemist of pianos, or ‘musical polyglot’ as some people call him, presents his new album as follows: ‘For this album, I wanted to find music embodying this quality, pieces in perpetual motion.’ As if in some fascinating portrait gallery, we meet music by Kapsberger, Scarlatti, Purcell, Bach, Beethoven, and improvisations, played on a Fazioli concert piano. (Alpha)

1CD# ALPHA913 $18.99