Gramophone Magazine Editor's Choice

+bonus DVD interviews with Goerne and Metzmacher

Matthias Goerne has received worldwide praise for his warm, fluid baritone and his profound interpretations. Highly respected as a Lieder singer, he is a frequent guest at renowned festivals and prestigious venues like the New York Carnegie Hall and London Wigmore Hall. Famous pianists such as Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Leif Ove Andsnes, Alfred Brendel, Christoph Eschenbach and Elisabeth Leonskaja are among his musical partners. From 2008 to 2011, Matthias Goerne will perform and record the most beautiful songs by Franz Schubert on eleven CDs for Harmonia Mundi, and important venues including the Wigmore Hall will present the complete series of eleven Schubert recitals with Matthias Goerne in the coming seasons.

"It's a journey any singer would leap at: Matthias Goerne is travelling through Schubert's songs with a new recording contract and a series of live recital bookings as far as the eye can see. It's invaluable for a singer in mid-career. " The Times

Cristina Ortiz and the Fine Arts Quartet again join forces for this recording of Franck’s Piano Quintet.The extraordinary emotional range of this work is unified by the tight thematic relationships typical of the composer’s ‘cyclic’ structuring.

His String Quartet, composed ten years later, is a summit of Franck’s achievement, also cyclically conceived and revealing his admiration of Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Brahms.

“Stylistically and tonally, the blend was sensational.” The Independent

“The Prince Consort represents everything that is fine about young music makers in this country.” Sir Thomas Allen, Patron

The dynamic Prince Consort comprises five singers and a pianist, all of whom are drawing major international attention for their solo endeavours. Brought together by their love of singing this repertoire, Anna Leese, Jennifer Johnston, Andrew Staples, Jacques Imbrailo, Tim Mead and Alisdair Hogarth are a compelling combination. Their debut album “Ned Rorem – On an echoing road” will consolidate their success and establish them as a celebrated ensemble.

Ned Rorem is one of the most widely-recorded living American composers, who Time Magazine called "the world's best composer of art songs".

Ned Rorem – On an echoing road features songs that are lyrical, beguiling and unaffectedly simple, intriguing, melodic and intimate. They have echoes of French, English and American song repertoires whilst being distinctively Ned Rorem.

The Prince Consort will be giving the official European premiere of Ned Rorem's masterpiece song cycle 'Evidence of things not seen' at the Oxford Lieder Festival in October 2009 to coincide with the album launch.

New York magazine called ‘Evidence of Things Not Seen’ "one of the musically richest, most exquisitely fashioned, most voice-friendly collections of songs I have ever heard by any American composer".

The Prince Consort is fast emerging as a fresh, exciting and versatile ensemble. Their performances are characterised by wide-ranging programmes and polished presentation, which showcase different combinations of voice and piano, from solos to small groups in piano-accompanied song.

The singers in the Prince Consort are each award-winning and critically acclaimed performers in their own right and create a beautifully balanced blend together.

The Prince Consort received a rave review from Anna Picard in The Independent, for their 2009 Wigmore Hall debut: “...a vivid, compelling performance.”

Alisdair Hogarth (piano) is the regular partner to many of his generation’s finest young artists and made his concerto debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of 15. Alisdair is the regular pianist for Amici Forever, Nicky Spence, Katherine Jenkins and The Choirboys.

Christian Lindberg, who has done more than anyone to establish the modern trombone as a solo instrument, bought his first sackbut 30 years ago, and already then dreamed of recording a baroque programme. Now the opportunity to do so has arrived – largely due to Lindberg’s encounter with the violinist Richard Tognetti and his Australian Chamber Orchestra. The Lindberg / ACO collaboration has already been documented on disc in a programme of 18th-century trombone concertos (BISCD1248), a release described in International Record Review as ‘sensational … one of those recordings which make criticism a glorious irrelevance.’

When a musician of the rank and status of Roger Woodward decides to record Bach's complete Well-Tempered Clavier at the age of 65, one could see a symbolic connection here, keeping in mind that Bach passed away at 65; the pianist senses responsibility for the continuation of tradition. Moreover, Woodward sees an additional obligation to add new life to the music through his unique style of interpretation. With this, he is in the best of company indeed: it had been pointed out repeatedly - since his release of BWV 903, the Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue - that Woodward's Bach is the most exciting since Glenn Gould. However, one ought not to misunderstand Woodward as iconoclast; his understanding of Bach is minted by tradition and above all by respect, especially in the demonstration of such respect to those who set standards during the first century of recording technology. Although Woodward named it 'a defining moment' when he received the first finished copies of his Well-Tempered Clavier, he hastens to point out that one has to see him as the eternal student whose search for truth in music cannot end.

If one compares Woodward's reference recording of both books of Debussy's Préludes (Celestial Harmonies 13279-2) with his complete recording of both books of the Well-Tempered Clavier on 5 CDs, one winds up with the identical understanding of the works despite having traveled in opposite directions. As it was Woodward's intention to find the structure (or, as he says, 'the geometry') in Debussy, taking passion as a given, so is his way to Bach the reverse: He accepts the structure as a given and embarks on the search for passion.

In both instances, one receives as the result a balanced yet passionate interpretation where structure and expression co-exist, as should be the case in all great music. It is something like the heart of great Flamenco: the ideal and complete merging of total discipline and precision with the passion which only can give true life to music.

When Woodward was searching for the 'sacred cantilena' in Chopin's Nocturnes (Celestial Harmonies 14260-2), he rests his search for a fleeting moment with the 'legato cantabile' which can only be played as such on a modern grand piano (here a Hamburg Steinway D, dating from the early 1980s).

Surely what Woodward said about Hans Otte and his 48-part magnum opus 'Book of Hours' (Celestial Harmonies 13259-2) is equally true in the case of Bach: that some music doesn't open up through practice alone but only through reflection as it is philosophy in the end.

In 2008 they won 1st prize in the Osaka International Chamber Music Competition in Japan, 2nd prize at the Premio Paolo Borciani International String Quartet Competition in Italy, where they also received a special mention for their performance of Haydn, and the Ensemble Prize at the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany.

During 2009/10 the Quartet return to Wigmore Hall four times, as Quartet and in recitals with Philip Langridge, Andrew Kennedy (for a world premiere) and Alasdair Beatson. Future engagements include recitals at the Konzerthaus in Berlin and in Lucerne, Brussels and Hamburg, return visits to Israel and Italy, and debut concerts in Australia, New Zealand, Spain, and the USA.

This disc is the quartet’s first commercial CD, and in 2010 they record their first CD for Chandos as part of a long-term collaboration.

“We are incredibly excited about our cd release on the Wigmore Hall Live label. This is our first commercial CD and it is an honour for our debut disk to be on such a prestigious label connected to such a famous concert hall. We are also very pleased to be able to present an all-Haydn disk as Haydn is a composer very close to us. The choice of quartets on the cd is also interesting as they give a glimpse into three different periods. The Op 76 no. 1 is a very famous work but it is a pleasure to be able to include two lesser known works. We are very excited by Haydn and relish the opportunity to share this excitement through this release” Doric String Quartet

24-page booklet, notes and biographies in English, French, German

CSO principal conductor Bernard Haitink leads a moving and noble performance of Mahler's immense Second Symphony, continuing his and the orchestra's successful exploration of Mahler's symphonies. The legendary CSO brass are at their finest, with stellar solos and ensemble playing from the woodwinds, strings and percussion.The Chicago Symphony Chorus sounds glorious in Mahler's triumphant finale, singing with sumptuous sound and immaculate diction. A musical force in Chicago and around the world, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is consistently hailed as one of the finest international orchestras.

Hans Knappertsbusch conducted Der fliegende Holländer only once at Bayreuth. Even in retrospect the opening night of the 1955 Festival seems altogether exceptional.This was also the first time that Wagner's early Romantic had been performed in New Bayreuth. In the run-up to the opening night, there had been copious discussions about the work's suitability as a Festival offering, but when the production finally opened, such discussions suddenly seemed otiose, so high were the standards of the performance. In Wolfgang Wagner's production, the cast was dominated by three performers who can stand comparison with any of their successors.The hochdramatisch Swedish-American soprano Astrid Varnay had first made her mark in Bayreuth in 1951, and as the girlish figure of Senta she presented an impressively accomplished portrait, colouring her voice to produce a multi-dimensional character. Listeners may have heard a more youthful timbre in the part, but rarely has the Ballad been sung with such a convincing note of fascination bordering on the obsessive. Rarely can her duet with the Dutchman have built to such an emphatic climax. And rarely can the finale have been so resolute in its expression.Varnay often appeared alongside Hermann Uhde in Bayreuth performances of Lohengrin and Götterdämmerung. As the Dutchman he gives an exemplary performance both vocally and expressively, while coping impeccably with Knappertsbusch's broad tempi and extreme dynamics. As with Knappertsbusch,Wolfgang Windgassen's appearances in Der fliegende Holländer can be counted on the fingers of one hand.The role of Erik is not an especially grateful one and is often undercast, but Windgassen brought to it his incomparable intensity, his performances, as always, remarkable for their unity of words and music. In this way Senta's jilted lover became a genuine antagonist for the Dutchman. As Daland, too, Ludwig Weber brought to his part the right mixture of vocal experience and sufficient reserves for each of his appearances, all of which demand great vocal and dramatic authority.And as Mary, Elisabeth Schärtel invested her various admonitions with all the requisite precision.As the Steersman, finally, Josef Traxel demonstrated such a fresh and bright tenor voice that with hindsight it seems only logical that within a year he should have been promoted to the role of Erik. Although it almost goes without saying, it none the less remains to be mentioned that Wilhelm Pitz's chorus was on top form under Knappertsbusch's direction, which never lost sight of the overall picture. In every respect, the achievements of all concerned were thoroughly worthy of this or, indeed, of any other festival.

This is the World Premiere Recording of this work and is a Gramophone Editor’s Choice. It was originally commissioned and performed by Leonard Slatkin and the National Symphony Orchestra. The symphony was composed in 2004 and is dedicated to the Toltec civilization that lived in Mesoamerica from 500 BC – 500 AD.

The 1950s were the Golden Age of the London Mozart Players. Harry Blech had an incredible musical instinct which, coupled with his unfailingly musical and heartfelt performances drew faithful capacity audiences to the ten regular Royal Festival Hall concerts each season – a difficult act to follow these days! These HMV recordings were made in 1956 and 1957 at Abbey Road Studios, London and were remastered there in 2009 using the original EMI stereo source tapes which had lain undisturbed for over 50 years!