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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | John Rutter: Blessing
For her second Deutsche Grammophon album, former Royal Harpist Catrin Finch plays music by the beloved British composer, John Rutter, as well as new pieces and arrangements of her own. It includes new works by John Rutter, and the World Premiere recording of his Suite Lyrique for harp and strings. Further highlights include arrangements of traditional Welsh folksongs, where Catrin Finch is joined by star award-winning Welsh soprano Elin Manahan Thomas. John Rutter is probably the world's most-performed choral composer, with decades of best selling compositions and arrangements to his name - including an anthem specially commissioned for the royal wedding by Prince William and Kate Middleton, and some of the most loved Christmas carols of modern times. | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | for solo harp
Catrin Finch, former Harpist to the Prince of Wales, has become one of her instrument’s foremost exponents. In bringing the harp to new audiences through performances and TV appearances, her energy and enthusiasm (as well as virtuosity and dedication to her instrument) has been endless. A recent appearance on BBC4, where she presented a definitive history of the instrument, confirmed her status as a star personality, as well as a star performer. On this, her Deutsche Grammophon debut, Catrin tackles brand new arrangements of JS Bach’s Goldberg Variations, for solo harp. The clear sound of the harp brings this intricate and beautiful music to life in a delicate and unique fashion. Catrin plays throughout the UK during 2009 and will also undertake extensive promotion around the release of this album. “Finch's… bold tone suits the haughty French Ouverture, she's fearless in the most taxing figurations and profoundly expressive in the meditative Variation 25.” BBC Music Magazine, March 2009 **** “She adroitly side-steps what would seem to be the harp's principal shortcomings compared to a keyboard – the absence of a sustaining pedal and the lack of a damping device – with a nimbleness that quietly cossets and coaxes with its straightforward hand-for-hand transcription.” Michael Quinn, bbc.co.uk, 23rd January 2009 “Bach's Goldberg Variations have been arranged for everything from string orchestra to accordion with varying degrees of success – but never (complete, at any rate) for the harp. Suddenly we have two very different interpretations on that instrument released simultaneously.
Blassel's is an exquisite reading: the Aria is played almost with a surfeit of warmth and delicacy, as if to impress the potential of its material upon the listener from the outset so as to allow a fuller savouring of the ensuing variations – which are all, without exception, played with a great feeling for overall architecture and interior expressiveness that recalls Hewitt and Tureck in equal measure.
Welsh harpist Catrin Finch observes most of the repeats; tempi are generally on the brisk side; tonal and dynamic variation is minimal but telling when it occurs. Blassel observes no repeats (thus leaving room on the disc for the 14 Goldberg Canons, which Blassel performs with his former teacher Fabrice Pierre); tempi are generally measured, especially in the canonic variations; tonal and dynamic variation is maximal, as is the variety of articulation.
Perhaps it's to do with the differences between the instruments – Finch's modern harp is bright and thickly resonant; Blassel's 1904 Erard delicate and muted – but Finch's playing is more extrovert and forthright (although sometimes, as in Var 25, disappointingly prosaic), Blassel's more introvert and nuanced (you'll never hear a more magically delicate account of Var 28).
Either way, both versions have much to recommend them.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 “…there's colour and drama aplenty - witness the grandeur and sweeping tirades of Variation 17.” Gramophone Magazine, March 2009 “This is one of the stranger but most felicitous arrangements of a famous work to come my way. It was Schoenberg who once remarked that a good piece of music should still sound so even when transcribed for the zither — and this version, by Finch herself, of the Goldberg Variations comes close to taking him at his word. Not that Bach’s music doesn’t adapt brilliantly to the wildest transpositions of medium; and Finch plays with an eloquence to persuade one that the work was always destined to find this rapt, romantic context. She evinces high, hypnotic musicianship, which belies the somewhat irritating effect of no less than seven moody photos that we are offered.” Sunday Times, 15th February 2009 *** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Karl Jenkins - Quirk (The Concertos)
The latest Karl Jenkins release on EMI Classics features world premiere recordings of four recent concertos. Over The Stone, a double harp concerto; La Folia for marimba; Quirk, a concertante for flutes, keyboards, percussion and Sarikiz, a violin concerto. The album is rounded off with the re-recording of the first movement of Palladio, a concerto grosso that Jenkins composed in 1996. The performers include London Symphony Orchestra Principals Gareth Davies (piccolo, flute, alto flute and bass flute), John Alley (piano, harmonium, celeste, honky-tonk piano) and Neil Percy (xylophone, vibraphone, marimba, whistle, bamboo chimes, rainstick, temple blocks, various drums and cymbals), as well as harpist Catrin Finch and violinist Marat Bisengaliev with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Karl Jenkins. Jenkins says, “As is usually the case, I have dipped into other cultures, Kazakh, Indian, Latin American etc, and [I have] also introduced some oddball combinations such as a marimba [in La Folia] playing, essentially, baroque music.” Over The Stone, [2002] a double harp concerto, was commissioned at the request of His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales with the generous support of the Peter Moores Foundation for the Harpist to the Prince of Wales, Catrin Finch and Elinor Bennett. Premiered in Cardiff by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in the presence of the Prince, it is in six movements: I. Carillon; II. Somnium Aeternum [Eternal Dream]; III. Song of the Bards; IV. Tros Y Garreg [the Welsh folk song, from which the work’s name is taken]; V. Cadenza; and VI. Vamp Latino. The written cadenza contains, at the suggestion of HRH The Prince of Wales, a quote from Mae Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau, the Welsh national anthem. Catrin Finch plays both harp parts in this recording. La Folia, [The Leaf] for marimba and strings [2004], was commissioned by IMG Artists for, and premiered by, Dame Evelyn Glennie. A one-movement work, based on a violin sonata by Arcangelo Corelli, it is performed on this recording by Neil Percy. Quirk, a concertante for flutes, keyboards, percussion and orchestra, was commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra in celebration of its centenary year through the support of Eddie Waters. It was premiered in 2005 at the Barbican Hall, London, conducted by Sir Colin Davis. Jenkins describes the work as being “in three, intentionally quirky movements: I. Snap, which suddenly ‘snaps’ between two ideas, one redolent of American film music and the other, almost ‘minimalist’; II. Raga Religioso, a juxtaposition of ‘church-like’ harmonies and harmonium against a ‘raga-like’ scale, with a sitar being simulated by the pianist plucking the strings inside the piano; and III. Chasing the Goose, which is slightly manic, having been composed when we had three geese on our land that were continually chasing each other!” The soloists on the recording are flautist Gareth Davies, pianist John Alley and percussionist Neil Percy. The violin concerto, Sarikiz, was commissioned in 2008 by Sapar Iskakov, a well-known Kazakh philanthropist and benefactor, in memory of his ancestor, composer and kobyz player Tlep Aspantaiuly [1757-1820]. Jenkins describes the kobyz as “a kind of violin, with no sound box, played in an upright fashion on one’s knees. [The concerto] was written for Marat Bisengaliev and is in three movements, I. Sarikiz, II. Romanza, III. Dance. Apart from the occasional use of Kazakh themes, I employ two Kazakh indigenous percussion instruments, the dabel [hand drum] and kepshek [tambourine]” Allegretto is the first movement of Palladio, a concerto grosso written in 1996 and inspired by the Venetian architect, Andrea Palladio [1508 – 1580]. It is in a retro-baroque style. Karl Jenkins is one of the most prolific and performed composers in the world today. His choral work, Armed Man: A Mass For Peace, alone has been performed nearly four hundred times in recent years and his recordings have won seventeen gold and platinum disc awards. Classically trained, but drawing on a diverse range of global influences, Jenkins’ style and integrity have transcended musical boundaries, encompassing jazz-rock with Soft Machine, the global ‘crossover’ phenomenon Adiemus, award winning soundtracks for Levis and British Airways adverts, and numerous classical commissions. His soundtrack to the feature film River Queen (2005), starring Kiefer Sutherland and Samantha Morton, won the Golden Goblet award at the Shanghai Film Festival and was released by EMI Classics in mid-2007. Other recent recordings include Kiri Sings Karl, with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Requiem and Stabat Mater, which was premiered and released in March 2008, with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra & Chorus and the EMO ensemble from Helsinki. Karl Jenkins is both a Fellow and an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music. He was awarded an OBE by Her Majesty the Queen in the 2005 New Years Honours List and a Doctor of Music by the University of Wales in 2006. Classic FM presented him with a ‘Red f’ award for ‘outstanding service to classical music.” He has been a castaway on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, featured on ITV’s The South Bank Show and he is the highest placed living composer in Classic FM’s “Hall of Fame.” "As a composer, he recognises no boundaries - musical, commercial, geographical or cultural. His is a way of thinking and composing that is perfectly in tune with the spirit of the times…" Classic FM Magazine | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Julian Lloyd Webber - Unexpected SongsThe repertoire ranges from core classical including Orff, Chopin, Fauré, Elgar & Hahn to the more contemporary, Piazzolla, themes from the film Braveheart, Cat Stevens’ “Lady D’Arbanville” and a song from musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
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| |  | Karl Jenkins & Adiemus - The Essential Collection
“Karl Jenkins is one of those composers who work in the highly profitable world between classical and film music. To thrive in that area you need to know your classical music inside out, so you can call on all its expressive resources, and you need to be able to blend old-fashioned orchestral expertise with slick studio production values….. Jenkins shows that he has those qualities in spades.” The Times | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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Catrin Finch (harp), Nicole Tibbels (soprano), Clive Bell (shakuhachi), Serendipity & Côr Caerdydd West Kazakhstan Philharmonic Orchestra, Karl Jenkins | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Catrin Finch: Lullabies
BACH: Sheep may safely graze J.A.P SHULZ : Der Mond ist aufgegangen BRAHMS : Waltz No. 15 MOZART: Wiegenlied K350 SCHUMANN: Träumerei TCHAIKOVSKY: Tanz der Zuckerfee (Nutcracker) BACH: Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring MENDELSSOHN: Spring Song in A Major (op. 62, Songs without words) BACH: Predule in C Major ARLEN: Somewhere over the rainbow MOZART: Twinkle, twinkle, little star TRAD: Suo Gan BRAHMS: Guten Abend, Gute Nacht TRAD.: Hush, little Baby SCHUBERT: Serenade C.EDWARDS / J. EISENTRAUT: Cysga di SCHUBERT: Cradle Song TRAD.: Greensleeves SATIE: Gymnopedie No. 1 KARL JENKIN:S The Dove (from "The Peacemaker") ERIC WHITACRE: The Seal Lullaby CATRIN FINCH: My Child LEE HOUSE: Lullaby
An essential album for all new parents! Lullabies – The New Born Collection features the world’s best-loved lullabies, including favourites by Brahms, Schubert and Schumann, as well as music by star composers of today; Karl Jenkins, Eric Whitacre and Paul Mealor - the young composer of choral music for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in April 2011. Born on the West Wales coast and a native Welsh-speaker, Catrin Finch is the former official harpist to His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales. Hailed as “The Queen of Harps”, she delights audiences with performances around the world. | 
| DG - 4791482 (CD) Normally: $16.75 Special: $13.75 |
| | Scheduled for release on 24 June 2013. Order it now and we will deliver it as soon as it is available. |
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| |  | Bryn Terfel: Carols and Christmas Songs
CD 2 (Welsh language bonus disc) Deuwch ffyddloniad (Oh, come all ye Faithful) Cwsg, Cwsg, Cwsg (Still, still, still) I Orwedd Mewn Preseb (Away in a Manger) Carol y Ganwyll (Candlelight Carol) Tawel nos (Silent Night) Tua Bethlehem Dref (Towards the town of Bethlehem) (with Gwawr Edwards and Only Men Aloud) Pa fab yw hwnyn dyner roed (What Child is this?) (with Catrin Finch) Ganol Gaeaf Noethlwn (In the Bleak Midwinter) Nadolig? Pwy a wyr? (Christmas? Who Knows?) (with Catrin Finch) Gwyl Y Baban (with Caryl Parry Jones and Band)
No more communicative, charismatic, or instantly recognizable artist than Bryn Terfel today bestrides the world’s stages. He is the heart and soul of this album’s special assemblage of Welsh and international top talent for a very personal, intimate album of his favourite Christmas carols and songs from around the world and from his native Wales. The guest list for this studio recording is lead by the immortal Bing Crosby – as a tribute to Bing Crosby the legendary singer and actor Bryn has recorded a new duet version of “White Christmas”. Other guests are the tenor Rolando Villazón who joined in for the beautiful Spanish Christmas song “El nacimento”, as well as the brilliant Welsh harpist Catrin Finch. With the Orchestra of the Welsh National Opera under Tecwyn Evans and the chorus Cordydd Bryn has secured local Welsh forces for his new project. Bryn has also asked two Welsh singers and songwriters to contribute: Gwarw Edwards sings a duet with Bryn and Caryl Parry Jones has new Christmas songs for Bryn “Terfel is great at the grand declamation of "O Come, All Ye Faithful" and the ponderous sonority of "In The Bleak Midwinter"” The Independent, 17th December 2010 ** | | (Sorry, download not available in your country) | |
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| |  | Winter Lullabies
An exciting major new commission from the pen of composer and TV star Howard Goodall, framed by famous, gentle, approachable music for winter and Christmas, sung by the heavenly boys' voices of Christ Church cathedral choir | | | (also available to download from $10.50) | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. (Available now to download.) |
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| |  | Passione
Shân Cothi (soprano), Catrin Finch (harp) Welsh National Chamber Orchestra | | | Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days. |
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