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Presto News - 17th December 2007Discs of the Year |
 We've reached that time of the year when new releases now take a few weeks off and we have a little time to think back about some of the really great CDs that have come out this year. BBC Radio 3's CD Review this week split from their usual format to focus on their 15 discs of the year as chosen by three of their regular critics - Harriet Smith, Stephen Johnson and Simon Heighes. It made interesting listening as they were also in the studio to justify their decisions and argue with each other about the relative merits (or not) of the various recordings. If you missed it you can listen again until next friday (21st December) via their listen again feature. The selection they chose is a nice balance between the fairly predictable (eg. the Isserlis Bach and the von Otter Terezin), the really good discs which have maybe been slightly forgotten about (eg. the Jonathan Biss Schumann and the Dausgaard Nielsen) and the discs which in my view shouldn't really be there at all (eg. the Kozena Handel, and the Hayes Orchestral Works). But that is I suppose the joy of the Classical record industry - the things which one person likes about a recording can be the very same things which someone else hates! There is another selection of discs of the year coming up on Wednesday when the BBC Music Magazine announce their shortlist fighting for their overall records of the year. It will go live on our website Wednesday morning and I'll tell you more about it (including how you can vote for your favourite) in next week's newsletter. In the meantime please find below a few of my favourites from the past year which I'm sure I'll be listening to over the Christmas holidays and for many years to come.
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 As Steals the Morn - Handel - Arias & scenes for tenorMark Padmore (tenor)A stunning disc. For me Padmore's voice is the ideal for Handel - such purity of tone with long perfectly shaped musical lines. |
Beethoven - Piano Sonatas Nos. 28 & 29Mitsuko Uchida (piano)I've warmed to this since I first heard it and now find her intimate connection with both the despair and beauty of the music irresistible. |
 Beethoven - Piano Sonatas Volume 3Paul Lewis (piano)I can't mention Beethoven Piano Sonatas without also mentioning Paul Lewis. The penultimate volume of his cycle came out this autumn and when complete next year I think it could well become the set to have. |
 Couperin - Tic Toc Choc & other piecesAlexandre Tharaud (piano)Couperin on the piano is I know slightly controversial in some circles, but Tharaud's sheer artistry wins out. |
 Haydn - Symphonies Nos. 88-92Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir Simon RattleSo uplifting - pure joy. |
 Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 in Eb Major 'Romantic'Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Claudio AbbadoAlready renowned as a great Mahlerian, Abbado's Bruckner is equally convincing. |
 John Garth - Six Cello ConcertosRichard Tunnicliffe, Avison Ensemble (on period instruments)Hugely enjoyable. Where have these pieces been? Every cellist would want to know these. |
Chris O'Reilly - chris@prestoclassical.co.uk |
Pick of the Recent Re-issues |
With no new releases I thought I'd mention a few of the fabulous box set re-issues that have come out over the past few months. The New Releases and Future Releases pages are always available for browsing all the new and forthcoming releases. |
 Works of Igor StravinskyA re-issue of the legendary 22 CD Sony Complete Edition "The Recorded Legacy", available now at astonishing value. |
 Mahler - Symphonies Nos. 1-10Simon RattleWorth it for the 2nd Symphony alone! |
 Shostakovich - Complete SymphoniesMoscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Kirill KondrashinA compulsory purchase for all true lovers of Shostakovich |
 Beethoven - Complete Works (100 CD Set)with 15 CDs of truly great historical recordings.Some excellent recordings in here and the extra historical discs add a whole new dimension. |
 Jacqueline du Pré - The Complete EMI RecordingsJacqueline du Pré (cello)17 CDs containing all the much-loved English cellists' studio recordings (including of course the legendary Elgar recording) at an astonishingly low price. |
 BBC Radio 3 CD Review Discs of the YearSaturday 15th December 2007 |
Critics' Choice - Discs of the Year |
 Bach, J S: Christmas Oratorio, BWV248Combattimento Consort Amsterdam & Capella Amsterdam, Jan Willem de Vriend |
 Brahms - Klavierstücke, Opp. 116 - 119Nicholas Angelich (piano)"among the finest recordings of Brahms’s formidable masterpiece." Gramophone |
 Buxtehude: Cantatas 'Dein Edles Herz der Liebe Thron'Capella Angelica & Lautten Compagney, Wolfgang KatschnerNo fewer than three world premiere recordings, one of which lasts over 17 minutes, so is hardly a minor work by 17th-century standards! |
 Handel arias - Ah! mio corMagdalena Kozena, Venice Baroque Orchestra, Andrea Marcon"The voice that goes straight to the heart" The Sunday Times |
Hayes - Orchestral WorksCapriccio BaselHayes was a contemporary of Handel and one of his most ardent supporters. A very accomplished composer himself, Hayes was very influential in the Oxford musical scene. |
 Mendelssohn - Piano TriosJulia Fischer (violin), Daniel Muller-Schott (cello) & Jonathan Gilad (piano)"They approach these works as interior high dramas; contested between melancholy and ecstasy…they play with an unassailable precision." Alan Kozinn, The New York Times |
 Nielsen: Orchestral WorksDanish National SO, Thomas DausgaardThis release features some of Nielsen's finest pieces for orchestra, displaying the composer’s sharp sense of the humour, be it either refined or playful. |
 Schumann: Kreisleriana, Fantasie in C major and Arabesque in C majorJonathan Biss (piano)"...this is Schumann-playing on an exalted level with performances of all three works that bear comparison with the finest. […] Biss's musicality and maturity also make for an outstanding Kreisleriana." Gramophone |
 Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 1 and Piano QuintetMartha Argerich (piano)"Martha Argerich's summers at the Lugano Festival are reaping a rich harvest of live recordings for admirers of this supreme pianist. … This is live music-making of the most exhilarating order, benefiting from the intimacy of the setting as much as the skills of these peerless musicians." The Guardian |
 Tippett - The complete music for pianoSteven Osborne (piano), BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Martyn Brabbins"I can’t think of any late 20th-century music that is more gripping to perform" Steven Osborne |
 Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 5London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vaughan WilliamsThis is the Premiere CD release of Vaughan Williams conducting a performance of his own fifth symphony. Recorded off the air during a Prom Concert given at The Royal Albert Hall on 3rd September 1952. |
 Bolivian Baroque Volume 2Florilegium & Arakaendar Bolivia ChoirThe Bolivian voices are delightfully gutsy, and the exuberant music — motets, instrumental sonatas, villancicos, a Mass — has a direct appeal. The resonant cathedral acoustics boost the atmosphere very nicely." The Times |
 Terezín / TheresienstadtAnne-Sofie von Otter (mezzo-soprano), Bengt Forsberg (piano), Christian Gerhaher (baritone) & Gerold Huber (piano)On this CD, von Otter has chosen a project with a serious and historically significant background. She interprets pieces written in the Theresienstadt concentration camp by a group of Jewish composers who were imprisoned there and yet managed to foster a rich cultural life even under the most extreme conditions. Most composers were later murdered in Auschwitz. |
 Bach: Cello Suites Nos. 1-6Steven Isserlis (cello)"the stuff of legend" The Independent about Steven Isserlis |
 Bruckner: Symphony No. 7 in E MajorGewandhausorchester Leipzig, Herbert Blomstedt"This is an exceptionally fine recording" BBC Music Magazine 5 star recommendation |
Listeners' Disc of the Year |
Bach: Cello Suites Nos. 1-6Steven Isserlis (cello)"the stuff of legend" The Independent about Steven Isserlis |
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