Avie label - CDs

CD2+DVD

Apollo’s Fire and their founder/director Jeannette Sorrell present a unique dramatic approach to Handel’s Messiah: 2 CDs plus a DVD exploring the work as theatrical entertainment.

Jeannette Sorrell and Apollo’s Fire celebrate the holiday season with a unique release of Handel’s Messiah: a 3-disc set including 2 CDs and a DVD, presenting a dramatic approach which explores the work as the theatrical entertainment which Handel intended – an oratorio being a dramatic work, and Handel’s bold declaration that Messiah was “A Sacred Oratorio.” While the theatrical/spiritual duality caused criticism in Handel’s lifetime, Sorrell believes it is one of the key reasons the work continues to speak so directly to modern audiences. The DVD includes footage from rehearsals, concerts and recording sessions, interviews with soloists, principal players and Sorrell.

Having opened the eyes and ears of the classical music world with his recording of the complete Mozart Piano Sonatas (AV2209), Daniel-Ben Pienaar offers further revelations with J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations, complemented with Fourteen Canons, BWV1087 and Bist du bei mir. Pianist Daniel-Ben Pienaar opened the eyes and ears of the classical music world with his release of Mozart’s complete Piano Sonatas (AV2209), earning plaudits such as Gramophone’s Editor’s Choice and CD of the Week from The Sunday Times. His recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations is destined to do the same. Pienaar’s probing intellectual interpretation combines with his dazzling finger work and perfect pianistic touch, to deliver a classic recording of Bach’s evergreen Goldbergs. As a bonus, he includes Fourteen Canons BWV1087, based on the first eight bass notes of the Goldberg’s Aria, and Bist du bei mir from Bach’s Anna Magdalena Notebook, where the Aria from the Goldberg Variation first appeared.

Treasures of Christ Church is a newly recorded, special collection of 500 years of English choral music sung from original manuscripts, uncovering the unique history of music at Christ Church from Tallis, Taverner, Handel, Purcell and Byrd through to world premieres from Rutter and Goodall.

All of the composers on Treasures had an association with Christ Church (whose hallowed halls were famously seen in the Harry Potter films), stretching back to the tenure of John Taverner, through Tallis, Handel, Purcell and Byrd to present day world premiere recordings of works by John Rutter and Howard Goodall.

The history: John Taverner, the most outstanding English composer of his time, was appointed Informator Choristarum of Cardinal College, Oxford in 1526, with the brief of establishing the foremost choral institution in the country. He succeeded magnificently and the tradition continues to this day at what is now known as Christ Church, Oxford. The Choir maintains a special and distinctive place within the great English choral tradition, with an unbroken, continuous tradition of glorious music-making for over five hundred years. Today the choir is renowned for its vibrant sound and artistic versatility, qualities that have been praised throughout the world. Packaging will feature striking visuals with photographs of original manuscripts on pristinely preserved parchment and leather-bound, gold-embossed scores. The promotional video will take viewers through the unrivalled archives and include interviews with Stephen Darlington and the composers.

American tenor Nicholas Phan makes his solo recording debut with a deeply personal approach to the songs of Britten.

‘Winter Words’ is the solo debut release by American tenor Nicholas Phan. The recording was made in the wake of a recital tour in 2010-11 which culminated in his Carnegie debut at Weill Hall. A graduate of the Manhattan School of Music and an alumnus of the Houston Grand Opera studio Nick has performed with the opera companies of Los Angeles and Seattle, symphony orchestras of Atlanta, St. Louis and San Francisco, and the Marlboro, Ravinia and Edinburgh Festivals, among others. He sang in Stravinsky’s Pulcinella with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Pierre Boulez which won a Grammy Award.

Nick presents a deeply personal perspective of Britten’s music, encompassing his own performing experiences to audience reaction. He says: “I’ve been a fan of Britten since playing his Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra with my youth orchestra in Detroit as a teenage violinist. But my great devotion to his music increased to an obsession when an excellent pianist and good friend asked if I’d perform with her at a small university in Missouri. She suggested Winter Words, saying, “I think these would sound really great in your voice, and I’ve wanted to play them for ages, so indulge me.” I researched and played through Britten’s settings of Hardy’s poems and before long, I was hooked.”

Approaching the performance in a small Midwestern town with some trepidation (“how would they react?”), Nick describes the audience’s overwhelmingly positive response: “my favourite piece on the program … the most lasting impression.” Such is the enduring quality of Britten’s sophisticated yet direct song writing, of which Nick is a leading torchbearer.

Period-instrument pioneer Andrew Parrott conducts his Taverner Consort and Players and a superb vocal roster of baroque specialists, in the first recording of his own reconstruction of J. S. Bach’s Trauer-Musik: Music to mourn Prince Leopold.

Andrew Parrott is a master of musicological detective work known for his adventurous and uncompromising scholarship. He is also internationally known for his pioneering historically informed performances and recordings of pre-classical repertory. This new release combines the best of both, resulting in the first full reconstruction and recording of the funeral music for J. S. Bach’s patron, Prince Leopold of Cöthen. Bach’s years in Cöthen were musically fertile and Prince Leopold was a knowledgeable and committed supporter of music and the arts, so it’s ironic that much of Bach’s output during those years has been lost or even destroyed. The score for Trauer-Musik, written in 1728 on the occasion of the Prince’s sudden death at the age of 34, has almost completely disappeared, yet through the discovery of numerous clues in other works and writings, Parrott has been able to recontruct what was clearly a heart-felt homage.

Parrott conducts the renowned Taverner Consort and Players, the organisation he founded in 1973, and a superb roster of baroque vocal soloists. A unique document and superb performance make this a recording for classical music aficionados and lovers of Bach’s music alike.

Acclaimed conductor Thomas Zehetmair presents the world premiere recording of Hans Gál’s Second Symphony alongside an electrifying live recording of Schubert’s Ninth Symphony, the "Great".

Hard on the heels of the world premiere recording of Hans Gál’s First Symphony (AV2224), internationally celebrated conductor Thomas Zehetmair follows with a superb value 2-CD set including the first ever recording of Gál’s Second Symphony, alongside Schubert’s "Great" Ninth. The release showcases two ends of a great melodic tradition, presenting Gál’s music alongside 19th-century symphonic repertoire that represents its roots and core values. Gál’s Second Symphony is perhaps the most personal of his four, with an emotional depth and haunting beauty that inspired Gál’s biographer, Wilhelm Waldstein, to write of the slow movement: “it is, I dare to assert, the most important Adagio since Bruckner.”

Written in 1942-43, during the darkest war years, this symphony distils the process of overcoming pain and loss into the language of pure music.

Featuring Northern Sinfonia in their spectacular venue Hall One of The Sage Gateshead, these recordings underscore Zehetmair’s hallmark electrifying intensity, precision and vision.

This release continues Avie’s ongoing celebration of the music of Hans Gál, following highly acclaimed releases of the complete works for solo piano by Leon McCawley (AV2064), chamber works for Violin and Piano featuring Annette-Barbara Vogel (AV2182), and concertante works for violin and orchestra, also with Vogel, and Kenneth Woods conducting Northern Sinfonia (AV2146).

John Wilson, today’s foremost conductor of film and British light music, finds himself the centre of attention this summer with a slew of performances and media appearances that cast the spotlight on his singular specialty, and particularly the music of Eric Coates, as heard on the Avie release ‘London Again’. A new album from John Wilson and the RLPO on Avie entitled ‘Made in Britain’, due for release in October, will feature music by Elgar, Vaughan Williams and Walton amongst others.

Manchester Camerata, conducted by Douglas Boyd and joined by mezzo-soprano Jane Irwin and tenor Peter Wedd, give a vivid and memorable performance of Schoenberg’s chamber transcription of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde.

Last year’s Mahler in Manchester festival was “A sensory experience like no other,” according to The Sunday Times, not least for the Manchester Camerata’s revelatory performance of Das Lied von der Erde in the scaled-down chamber version by Schoenberg.

The poignancy of Mahler’s “Song of the Earth” is highlighted by the reduced forces: just 16 performers, including the distinctive chimes of harmonium, celeste and piano. The chamber arrangement came about through Schoenberg’s Vienna-based Association for Private Musical Performances, founded in 1918. Dedicated to exploring new music but short of funds, they made a number of chamber versions of larger works, of which Das Lied was one. Conducted by Douglas Boyd, Manchester Camerata's performance of this transcription loses nothing of the astonishing sonic allure of the original – an ideal memento of an enlightening festival celebrating the music of Mahler.

Rising star countertenor Andrew Radley with harpsichord virtuoso Julian Perkins and his period instrument ensemble Sounds Baroque, mirror the conversazione, or musical gatherings, of 17th and 18th century Italy with a programme of dramatic cantatas and magical instrumental works.

In the late 17th century, all roads really did lead to Rome for the aspiring musician. There, wealthy aristocrats-turned-priests and Catholic nobility from across Europe vied for cultural status through artistic patronage. In particular, the young Pietro Ottoboni (1667–1740) reigned supreme among patrons of music, supporting among others Caldara and Albinoni, Alessandro Scarlatti and his son Domenico, and Handel, all of whom inspired and were inspired by one another. Musical gatherings of the time – called conversazione – often featured dramatic cantatas as well as virtuoso instrumental showpieces such as the works featured on this album.

Recalling this fertile musical era, rising star countertenor Andrew Radley with Julian Perkins and his London-based period instrument ensemble Sounds Baroque, dispatch these entertaining vocal works with aplomb, interspersed with virtuosic harpsichord works performed to perfection by Perkins. With this, the first in a series of conversazione recordings, Sounds Baroque celebrates the passion, theatricality and sheer variety of music from the 17th and 18th centuries.

Apollo’s Fire conjures early Americana with a musical journey through Appalachia and the South, featuring a melting pot of traditional Celtic and rural folk songs, ballads and revivalist hymns. Apollo’s Fire conjures early 19th century rural Americana with ‘Come to the River’, an evocative and kaleidoscope journey through traditional folk songs and fiddle tunes, ballades and barn dances, and the indispensable Old Time revivalist meetings. This is music as old as the hills themselves, a melting pot of Irish, English and Scottish tunes which permeated Appalachian culture, and rural America based on field recordings of Old- Time and Appalachian singers.

Come to the River was conceived by Apollo’s Fire founder Jeannette Sorrell who first began to identify with this music when, as a teenager, her family moved to the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, and she landed her first job playing piano for the Greenway Southern Baptist Church. She draws on the expertise of the great folklorists Francis James Child and Alan Lomax, and British immigrant Cecil Sharp. It features leading vocalists and instrumentalists practicing in the early American folk tradition. Fiddle, banjo, hammered dulcimer and Irish flute, with cello and harpsichord, back the vocalists’ beautiful, stark, open harmonies and shape-note hymns – tunes that are instantly recognizable and an indelible ingredient in American musical history.