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Presto News - 28th January 2008Undeservedly neglected music - John Marsh and Juan de Araujo |
 Many of the independent labels are still pursuing some really interesting projects - ones that often don’t end up actually making any money, but are really worth doing because they release to the world a wealth of undeservedly neglected music which we otherwise wouldn’t get the chance to hear, and often this music is really worth hearing! Two such recordings are out today – one is in Chandos’ Contemporaries of Mozart Series, and the other is the third volume of Ex Cathedra’s South American Baroque Music series on Hyperion. The Contemporaries of Mozart series with Matthias Bamert and the London Mozart Players is one of Chandos’s longest-running projects with over 20 recordings in the catalogue. This latest instalment features the music of John Marsh (1752-1828), one of the most prolific composers in eighteenth century England, yet today sadly ignored. In many ways an amateur musician (he made his living as a lawyer), his symphonies show a clear influence of Abel and J.C Bach with a keen awareness of orchestral colour. Historically he is also a significant figure, devoting much of his life to organising concerts and maintaining detailed diaries. His diaries have I understand now been published (by American publisher Pendragon Press) and I imagine must provide a fascinating and almost unique incite into musical life in Georgian England. Moving one hundred years earlier and to the other side of the world, Ex Cathedra’s latest volume of Latin American Baroque polyphony focuses on the music of Juan de Araujo. Described by many commentators as the greatest Latin American composer of the age, he was born in Spain in 1648 and emigrated at a young age to South America with his parents. His remarkable compositional skill is stunningly captured on this disc that includes one of his largest pieces, the triple-choir setting in eleven parts of the first great Vesper Psalm Dixit Dominus. The extraordinary imagination of Araujo in his choice of texts, his sensitivity to word-setting, his melodic, harmonic and textural inventiveness are remarkable, if not breathtaking.
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 Contemporaries of Mozart - John MarshLondon Mozart Players, Matthias Bamert |
 Fire Burning in SnowEx Cathedra Consort & Baroque Ensemble, Jeffrey Skidmore |
Chris O'Reilly - chris@prestoclassical.co.uk |
New Releases28th January 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. |
 Cyril Scott - Orchestra Works Volume 4Paul Watkins (cello), BBC Philharmonic, Martyn BrabbinsThe Chandos survey of music by Cyril Scott comes to a close with two world premiere recordings of the Cello Concerto and First Symphony. The series has introduced many British music enthusiasts to his music, and as Fanfare described ‘a wider acquaintance with Scott’s rich output is to be encouraged…’ BBC Music magazine commented ‘Brabbins directs sympathetic and characterful performances… well worth any British music-lovers time.’ As with the previous three volumes, the BBC Philharmonic perform, with Martyn Brabbins conducting. |
 Wagner - The Ring - an orchestral adventureRoyal Scottish National Orchestra, Neemi JärviThis 67-minute, orchestra-only version of Wagner’s famous opera cycle, Der Ring des Nibelungen is arranged by Henk de Vlieger, arranger, composer and percussionist in the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic. The work was commissioned by the orchestra and the result is a 14-section fiery musical spectacle entitled The Ring, an orchestral adventure. This symphonic ‘compilation’ compresses Wagner’s four mighty Ring operas, yet includes all the major themes and ‘leitmotifs’. The result is an overwhelming experience and a must for anyone who loves blazing orchestral colours. |
 Treasures of Tudor EnglandThe Sixteen, Harry ChristophersThe turbulent years of Reformation and religious change in England presented composers working for the church with the continual challenge of having to adapt to rapidly changing musical requirements. Although little is known about the personal religious affiliation of composers such as Tye, Parsons and White, their Latin music represents by far the most interesting and significant musical thought of its time. |
 Schumann - Symphonies Nos. 1-4 (Mahler Edition)Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Riccardo ChaillyAll four Schumann Symphonies (arr. Mahler) are presented together here in numerical order in a 2CD set. The Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, under their Music Director Riccardo Chailly, bring generations of authentic ‘romantic’ style to the performances. These Symphonies, recorded in the wonderful acoustic of the Gewandhaus itself, include the revisions made by the composer Gustav Mahler - a lifelong supporter of Schumann and his symphonic writings. |
 Vanhal - Symphonies, Vol 4Toronto Chamber Orchestra, Kevin MallonThe symphonies of Johann Baptist Vanhal are among the most important works of the classical period. Bold and imaginative, powerful and lyrical. Vanhal’s symphonies are only now beginning to win wider recognition as the masterpieces they are. This recording features his early and highly prophetic Symphony in E minor as well as one of his later works, the brilliantly-scored Symphony in C (Bryan C17) which Haydn is known to have admired. |
 Two New Bach Cantata discs from SDG and Sir John Eliot GardinerVolumes 3 and 27The Monteverdi Choir & The English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardiner |
 Martinu - The complete music for violin and orchestra Volume 2Bohuslav Matoušek (violin) & Karel Košárek (piano), Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Christopher HogwoodThis is the second volume in Hyperion’s set of the complete works for violin and orchestra by Martinu, featuring the wonderful Bohuslav Matoušek with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra under Christopher Hogwood. Many first recordings are included in the series, as well as works totally unperformed outside the Czech Republic. Included here is the Concerto da camera, a favourite among Martinuo’s instrumental concertos because of the freshness of its musical invention, the sensual sound of the orchestral part and the virtuosity of the solo parts. |
 Organ Fireworks XIIChristopher Herrick (Organ of Haderslev Cathedral, Denmark)Christopher Herrick’s enduring Organ Fireworks series on Hyperion is one of the most comprehensive and popular collections of repertoire in existence. For this twelfth volume he turns to the great organ of Haderslev Cathedral in Denmark, and performs a fascinating range of works with his usual triumphal panache. A number of these pieces have a Danish connection, including two spirited works by Buxtehude who probably grew up in Denmark, and Tre Tonestykker by Niels Wilhelm Gade, a native of Copenhagen who was admired by Mendelssohn. |
 BBC Radio 3 CD ReviewSaturday 26th January 2008 |
Building a Library - Wagner: Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods) |
 First ChoiceSiegfried – Wolfgang Windgassen; Brünnhilde – Birgit Nilsson; Alberich – Gustav Neidlinger; Hagen – Gottlob Frick; Gutrune – Claire Watson; Gunther – Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau; Waltraute – Christa Ludwig; Woglinde – Luicia Popp; Wellgunde – Gwyneth Jones; Flosshilde – Maureen Guy; 1 Norn – Helen Watts; 2 Norn – Grace Hoffman; 3 Norn – Anita Välkki Wiener Philharmoniker, Sir Georg Solti |
 First Choice (as part of the whole Ring cycle)Siegfried – Wolfgang Windgassen; Brünnhilde – Birgit Nilsson; Alberich – Gustav Neidlinger; Hagen – Gottlob Frick; Gutrune – Claire Watson; Gunther – Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau; Waltraute – Christa Ludwig; Woglinde – Luicia Popp; Wellgunde – Gwyneth Jones; Flosshilde – Maureen Guy; 1 Norn – Helen Watts; 2 Norn – Grace Hoffman; 3 Norn – Anita Välkki Wiener Philharmoniker, Sir Georg Solti |
 Budget ChoiceRené Kollo (Tenor); Hans Nöcker (Baritone); Siegmund Nimsgern (Bass Baritone); Matti Salminen (Bass); Jeanine Altmeyer (Soprano); Norma Sharp (Soprano); Ortrun Wenkel (Mezzo Soprano); Anne Gjevang (Alto); Daphne Evangelatos (Mezzo Soprano); Ruth Falcon (Soprano); Lucia Popp (Soprano); Ute Priew (Mezzo Soprano); Hanna Schwarz (Mezzo Soprano) Staatskapelle Dresden, Marek Janowski |
CD of the Week |
 Goebbels: Landscape with Distant Relatives(Landschaft mit entfernten Verwandten)David Bennent (speaker) & Georg Nigl (baritone) German Chamber Choir & Ensemble Modern, Franck Ollu |
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