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Presto News - 5th May 2008A La Bohème for all |
 Puccini’s La Bohème must be one of the most popular operas ever written. I know we have over fifty different versions currently listed, and amongst those are some real classics including arguably the first truly great recording with Victoria de los Angeles and Jussi Björling under Sir Thomas Beecham from 1956 and perhaps the finest ‘modern’ recording in the catalogue with Mirella Freni and Luciano Pavarotti under Karajan from 1972 (when the great tenor - then aged 37 - was really at his peak). So for a new recording to enter such a crowded and distinguished field it really has to be something special.  With the release next week of DG’s latest version with Anna Netrebko as Mimi and Rolando Villazon as Rudolfo (as well as a top notch support cast including Boaz Daniel and Nicole Cabelle), the competition is about to increase and this new one has so much going for it that I expect it to rapidly achieve classic status. If you are new to opera (or maybe always been slightly wary of it), then Puccini’s La Bohème is an excellent place to start. From the first note to the last the music is fantastic. There are lots of really classic arias and you can’t help but feel emotionally affected by what you hear. What this new recording does so well is to communicate these emotions through the singing. If you are seeing an opera on stage it is very easy to see that a character is angry, or happy or scared by the way they act and the body language they use. To communicate those same feelings in the voice alone takes a very special skill but the cast here, in particular the golden voiced Rolando Villazón, do that throughout. In fact, all in all, it is hard to find fault with this release – even the price is fantastic! We’ve put a video on the website as well as a link to an E-Player where you can listen to some extended excerpts. Enjoy! A short apology ... We’ve noticed in recent weeks that a combination of the response we get from this newsletter and an overall increase in the number of customers has resulted in the website performing slower than we would have liked during certain peak times. Whist in some respects we’re pleased to be presented with such a problem, we've also been working hard to fix it. We've made some quite significant progress over the past week which you should now notice. |
 Puccini: La BohèmeAnna Netrebko, Rolando Villazón, Nicole Cabell, Mariusz Kwiecien, Boaz Daniel, Vitalij Kowaljow, Kevin Connors, Tiziano Bracci & Gerald Haeussler Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Bertrand de Billy |
Chris O'Reilly - chris@prestoclassical.co.uk |
watch a 9 minute video
listen to extracts via the E-PlayerNew Releases5th May 2008 |
This is just the pick of the recent releases. The New Releases and Future Releases pages are always available for browsing all the new and forthcoming releases. |
 Schumann: Das Paradies und die PeriDorothea Röschmann, Bernarda Fink, Werner Güra & Christian Gerhaher, Symphony Orchestra & Choir of the Bavarian Radio, Nikolaus HarnoncourtThis was very nearly the subject of my editorial this week. Partly because of the fact that it is such a fantastic work, ( I think the best thing Schumann wrote) but also because of the quality of this recording. Great soloists, beautifully played and perfectly paced, this takes some beating. |
 Emerson String Quartet plays Bach FuguesEmerson String QuartetFollowing its most successful recording, The Art of Fugue, the Emerson Quartet again dedicates its mastery to the music of J.S. Bach. The quartet, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2007, presents the world-premiere recording of the four-part fugues from the famous Well-Tempered Clavier as arranged for string quartet by Mozart and his contemporary, the Austrian composer Emanuel Aloys Förster. |
 Handel: Riccardo Primo (world premiere recording)Lawrence Zazzo, Nuria Rial, Geraldine McGreevy, Tim Mead, David Wilson-Johnson & Curtis Streetman, Chamber Orchestra of Basel, Paul GoodwinRiccardo Primo is one of Handel’s unjustly neglected operas, musically speaking it is undoubtedly one of his finest. The plot of the opera is based around the eponymous hero, King Richard Lionheart, who is on his way to Jerusalem to fight in the Crusades. The premiere of the opera took place on November 11, 1727 at the King's Theatre in London to celebrate the coronation of King George II, and then was not performed again until 1964. |
 Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1-9 (complete)Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von KarajanIn the 100th anniversary of his birth, these Karajan DVDs of the complete Beethoven Symphonies are at an unbelievable price. I half wonder if they've made a mistake but probably better to just snap up the bargain while it is there! |
 Wagner - The Great Operas from the Bayreuth FestivalContaining the classic Nilsson/Windgassen/Böhm complete Ring Cycle and legendary Tristan und Isolde, Sawallisch's famous Tannhäuser, Lohengrin and Der Fliegende Hollander + the Levine Parsifal and Varviso Meistersinger. Phenomenal value, and strictly limited edition - when they're gone they're gone! |
 10 great value discs launch a new bargain priced series from EMIBefore the 20th century, there was very little in the way of American concert music. There was a handful of composers who were notable exceptions but these almost always followed the European compositional traditions. Not until the arrival of Charles Ives (1874-1954) could America boast an original, native-born, composer of its own. The close of the old and the advent of the new century saw the births of a whole generation of world-class composers who, although they might have studied in Europe, represented a new and original voice for American Music. The very first year of the new century brought with it the birth, in New York City, of possibly the best-known of them all, Aaron Copland. Samuel Barber, Roy Harris, Walter Piston, Elliott Carter, William Schuman, Virgil Thomson and George Gershwin were all born by 1910 and put American music on the world map. |
 8 Classic Gilbert & Sullivan recordingsA welcome return to the catalogue for the Malcolm Sargeant Gilbert & Sullivan recordings on Classics for Pleasure. |
 BBC Radio 3 CD ReviewSaturday 3rd May 2008 |
Building a Library - Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin |
 First Choicepart of 'Ravel - Complete Works for Solo Piano' (2CD set at mid-price).Louis Lortie (piano) |
CD of the Week |
 Bizet - L' Arlésienne Orchestral Suitesand Carmen – prelude and entractesLes Musiciens du Louvre & Chœur de l’opéra de Lyon, Marc Minkowski |
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