Scottish Chamber Orchestra

Robin Ticciati cements his reputation as an outstanding Berliozian with his latest recording, ‘Berlioz: Les nuits d’été’, which includes excerpts from Roméo & Juliette and La Mort de Cléopâtre.

A pupil of Sir Simon Rattle and the great Berliozian Sir Colin Davis, Robin’s reputation as one of this generation's best conductors was assured when he was announced as the next music director of Glyndebourne, taking over from Vladimir Jurowski in 2014.

Named one of the top ten young ‘conductors on the verge of greatness' by Gramophone Magazine, Robin delivers fresh insights and vivid colours into this luminous work.

The recording features Kathleen Ferrier prize-winning mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill, who has sung at the Metropolitan Opera, New York and won acclaim as Cleopatra, a role she reprises here: ‘...the core of this stunning concert was a shattering, heart-rending performance by Cargill in awesome voice.’ (The Herald)

The works of Berlioz have featured prominently in Ticciati’s programmes with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra since he became their principal conductor in 2009.

Ticciati’s recording debut, ‘Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique’, received rave reviews: it was named Critics' Choice 'Sound of 2012' (The Independent), 'Classical CD of the Week' (The Sunday Times), 'Disc of the Week' (BBC Radio 3 'CD Review') and No. 3 in The Sunday Times’ Best Classical Albums of 2012 list.

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra is internationally recognised as one of the finest chamber orchestras in the world with a multi award-winning catalogue of recordings under Robin Ticciati, Sir Charles Mackerras, Alexander Janiczek and Joseph Swensen.

The Starlight Express was adapted from a book by Algernon Blackwood, A Prisoner in Fairyland, for a theatre production in the West End during the First World War, with music by Sir Edward Elgar. Combining the usually contrasting elements of fairytale and melodrama, The Starlight Express depicts the fantasy world inhabited by a group of children, who possess a magical ‘starlight’ quality that has been lost by the adults around them. This is the most comprehensive recorded version of The Starlight Express to date, based on a new score prepared by the Elgar Edition, which has been adapted by the conductor Sir Andrew Davis.

Our recording includes, in place of the play, a detailed account of the story, penned by the conductor Sir Andrew Davis better to reflect the original book and our pattern of speech today. ‘All the music, excepting the songs and interludes, was designed as melodrama, and in some cases it is meaningless on its own’, explains Sir Andrew, continuing: ‘I have therefore taken the bold step of writing a narrative which is based partly on the play and partly on ‘A Prisoner in Fairyland’.

Our narrator is the actor Simon Callow, known to an international audience for his roles in films such as Four Weddings and a Funeral and Shakespeare in Love. Callow was delighted to be approached, as he already knows and loves this music, having delivered the narrative in a specially recorded concert performance of the incidental music, broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in 2007. The incidental music, complete with melodramatic passages which work in conjunction with the narrative, occupies all of Disc 1 and continues onto Disc 2. Then we have an extended suite of freestanding orchestral movements and songs.

As a bonus, we have included three songs which link directly to this work. When a staged version of Blackwood’s book was first proposed, in 1914, another young composer, Clive Carey, was commissioned to compose the incidental music; but the outbreak of war forced the cancellation of the original production. When the plans were next revived, Elgar was approached, and he enthusiastically completed the score. However, Clive Carey had already composed three songs, but they were never included in the final production. They have been orchestrated by Sir Andrew Davis for this recording, and are heard here for the very first time.

Our recording of The Starlight Express is performed by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra under Sir Andrew Davis with two internationally acclaimed soloists: the soprano Elin Manahan Thomas and baritone Roderick Williams.

The multi-award-winning Scottish Chamber Orchestra returns with Weber Wind Concertos, the sixteenth album in its celebrated series with Linn. This recording gives the internationally acclaimed principal musicians a chance to dazzle in Weber’s virtuosic and thrilling concertos.

The Clarinet Concerto is one of the cornerstones of the clarinet repertoire.

For this performance Peter Whelan has reconstructed a version of the 1822 Bassoon Concerto score rather than employing the commonly used 1865 version.

In a unique twist Alec Frank-Gemmill performs his own version of the cadenza in the virtuosic Horn Concertino famous for its chromatic pitches and the requirement of multiphonic chords.

The SCO has an impressive recording history including a Grammy-nominated set of Brahms Symphonies, winning the Orchestral category of the BBC Awards in 2009 and a 2011 ECHO Klassik Award for its Mozart recordings, in addition to much critical acclaim.

Spanish clarinettist Maximiliano Martin is rapidly establishing himself as one of the most exciting and charismatic musicians of his generation.

Peter Whelan, one of Europe’s leading exponents of historical and modern bassoon, won a Gramophone Award for his recording of Vivaldi bassoon concertos with La Serenissima.

Alec Frank-Gemmill is much in demand as a soloist and is also frequently invited to play principal horn with orchestras such as the London Philharmonic and the Philharmonia.

The orchestra used by Peter Maxwell Davies for his Fourth Symphony is of Classical period proportions, but this relatively compact framework belies a richness of ideas and sonorities. With its starting point in the tone poem Chat Moss, the single-movement Fifth Symphony utilizes a more varied orchestral palette than its predecessor, with a large percussion section often in evidence. Both works are performed here by the orchestras for which they were written. The First Symphony can be heard on 8572348, the Second Symphony on 8572349, and the Third Symphony on 8572350.

Sir Michael Tippett (1905-1998) is regarded, along with Benjamin Britten, as one of the most important British composers of the 20th century. He was well-known for his atheist, humanitarian and pacifist beliefs which, during the Second World War, caused him to serve a term in prison as a conscientious objector. He was also one of the first openly gay composers and quite politically active: all qualities of his personality that are reflected in his work. The earliest work in this set is the Concerto for double string orchestra which was one of Tippett's first successes and one of his most popular works. The years 1945-59, from which most of the works in this set come, might be regarded as the composer's middle-period, a time of great success and critical denigration: the opera The Midsummer Marriage attracted particular criticism, more for its obscure libretto (written by Tippett himself) than the music itself, which is among some of his finest. John Odgon's performance of the 1955 Piano Concerto is, arguably, the definitive performance of this work and is a fine tribute to a great pianist.

Director and violinist Alexander Janiczek leads principal players from the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in this beautifully intimate recording.

Mozart’s writing allows each player to shine and demonstrates the depth of talent within the ensemble, illustrating why this orchestra has had such extensive success with its previous Mozart recordings.

The works on this disc are full of well-known tunes which demonstrate Mozart’s trademark melodic beauty.

Acclaimed oboist, Robin Williams, gives a dazzling performance of the composer’s great masterpiece.

This is the fourteenth recording in the orchestra’s hugely successful partnership with Linn Records, a series that includes the award-winning Mozart Symphonies recordings with the late Sir Charles Mackerras.

Alexander Janiczek is a highly sought after director, soloist, guest leader and chamber musician who in addition to his appointment at the SCO, is a guest director of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Camerata Salzburg.

The Orchestra has a large UK fan base following recent performances in London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Perth, Inverness and Aberdeen.

The SCO has an impressive recording history including a Grammy-nominated set of Brahms Symphonies, winning the Orchestral category of the BBC Awards in 2009 and a 2011 ECHO Klassik Award for its Mozart recordings, in addition to much critical acclaim.

Nicola Benedetti’s debut album on the Decca label is her first recording of baroque violin repertoire Recorded in Edinburgh, the album celebrates Nicola Benedetti’s Scottish-Italian heritage as she plays virtuoso Italian masterpieces, accompanied by the leading chamber orchestra of her native country.

The album highlights baroque favourites including Summer from Vivaldi’s ever-popular Four Seasons and Tartini’s famous Devil’s Trill sonata, for which Nicola is joined by a hand-picked chamber ensemble.

The generous selection ranges from the sparkling virtuosity of the opening Vivaldi Concerto Grosso Mogul, to the poignant lament of the Veracini Largo and the lyrical beauty of the two arrangements of Vivaldi vocal works, including the haunting Nulla in mundo pax sincera.

The orchestra is directed from the harpsichord by leading baroque specialist Christian Curnyn.

The multi-award-winning partnership of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Sir Charles Mackerras is reunited in this second collection of Mozart Symphonies featuring Nos 29, 31 (Paris), 32, 35 (Haffner) & 36 (Linz)’. This much anticipated recording follows on from the astounding success of ‘Mozart Symphonies 38 – 41’ which resulted in him winning the Critics’ Award at the 2009 BRIT Awards and led to ’Mozart Symphonies 38-41’ being named Disc of the Year at the 2009 BBC Music Magazine Awards.

This recording includes both versions of the 2nd movement of the Paris Symphony; unusually Sir Charles requested that the alternative version follows the original, rather than coming at the end of the album as an appendix.

An obsessive musical researcher, Sir Charles merged his considerable knowledge of these works with scores and parts he has been editing from available sources for years for this recording.

Sir Charles Mackerras has won widespread praise for his fresh, vibrant and youthful Mozart performances, which was named the classical recording of 2008 by the Sunday Times and HMV Choice. It also won a 2009 Midem Award for Symphonic Works and a Choc de l’année Award from Le Monde de la Musique.

This recording re-unites the award-winning team, including producer James Mallinson, who has just been nominated for a Grammy award.

Sir Charles Mackerras, the SCO’s Conductor Laureate, has produced numerous award-winning recordings, performed fifty times at the Edinburgh Festival and in 2005 was the first recipient of the ‘Queen’s Medal for Music’.

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra has a large UK-based fan base following performances throughout Scotland and regular appearances at the Edinburgh, St Magnus and Aldeburgh Festivals, the BBC Proms and on BBC Radio 3.