Coming Soon,
Barenboim's Gerontius and other forthcoming highlights
As well as our headline recording (which one of my colleagues described at the time as 'the most terrifying and in places uncanny Gerontius I've ever heard'), this month we're looking forward to the culmination of Roger Vignoles's consistently gorgeous and well-cast Strauss Song series on Hyperion, a Mahler triptych from one of the finest mezzos around, and a long-awaited second helping of Walton from Martyn Brabbins and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra…
Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius (out 7th July)
Andrew Staples, Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Thomas Hampson; Staatskapelle Berlin, Daniel Barenboim
We had a miniature Presto outing to Berlin for the live performance of this in September, so are eagerly awaiting the souvenir! Andrew Staples (a very late step-in for an indisposed Jonas Kaufmann) proved a plangent Gerontius, with Thomas Hampson fusing authority and compassion as the Priest and Angel of the Agony; the German choir are incisive and idiomatic, and Barenboim conjures fire and brimstone aplenty in the Demons' Chorus.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Beethoven: Missa Solemnis (out 23rd June)
Regine Hangler, Elisabeth Kulman, Christian Elsner, Franz-Josef Selig; Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester, Marek Janowski
Also recorded live at the Berlin Philharmonie just a few days later, Janowski's Missa solemnis features several singers who appeared on his superb recent Wagner cycle with the same orchestra and label: Christian Elsner (who sang Loge, Mime and Parsifal), and Franz-Josef Selig (who sang Gurnemanz).
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Almost two decades after their first, unforgettable Schubert recording on EMI, Drake and Bostridge explored the composer's song output afresh in a series of recitals at the Wigmore Hall; the third instalment, recorded in September 2014, is loosely based on the theme of Sehnsucht and includes 'Der Einsame' and 'Der Wanderer an den Mond'.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Richard Strauss: The Complete Songs 8 (out 28th July)
Nicky Spence (tenor), Rebecca Evans (soprano), Roger Vignoles (piano)
The final volume of Vignoles's glorious Strauss survey is capped, appropriately enough, with the Four Last Songs sung in its reduction for piano and voice by Welsh soprano Evans (currently singing her first Marschallin for Welsh National Opera); Spence's contributions include Cäcilie and the rarely-recorded Fünf Gedichte, Op. 46.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Walton: Violin Concerto, Partita & Hindemith Variations (out 30th June)
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Martyn Brabbins
Having hugely enjoyed the first instalment of Martyn Brabbins's Walton survey with the BBCSSO (the Symphonies, which were a Disc of the Week for us in July 2014), we're equally impressed with Marwood's lyrical reading of the Violin Concerto and with the sparky accounts of three lesser-spotted short orchestral works, which practically demand to be played at full volume!
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Mahler Song Cycles (out 7th July)
Alice Coote (mezzo); Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Marc Albrecht
The searing English mezzo has made a huge impact in recordings of Das Lied von der Erde ('Coote takes Dame Janet Baker's rapt introspection to a new level' - Gramophone) and the Resurrection Symphony ('Coote glides in with magisterial warmth' - BBC Music Magazine); now she turns her attention to Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Kindertotenlieder and the Rückert-Lieder.
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Stravaganza d'Amore! The Birth of Opera at the Medici Court (out 30th June)
Ensemble Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon
An intriguing, beautifully presented survey of the origins of early Italian opera in Renaissance Florence from the young Frenchman and his crack-team of baroque musicians, including madrigals and interludes by Cristofani Malvezzi, Giulio Caccini, and Luca Marenzio.
Available Formats: 2 CDs + Book, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Chris O'Reilly - Chief Executive
