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Presto News - 9th June 2008New DVD page and Special Offer |
 I don’t know how many people saw Harrison Birtwistle’s The Minotaur on Saturday night on BBC2. I enjoyed it very much. I didn’t get a chance to see it live during its recent run at the Royal Opera House, but had read many of the (overwhelming positive) reviews about it so was thrilled to see it on the TV schedule. I see a fair amount of live opera, the most recent being a fantastic Eugene Onegin at Glyndebourne. People ask me sometimes about how you can compare the thrill and excitement of a live performance - where anything can happen at any moment - with that on a (altogether much more predictable) DVD. While it is true that I would generally opt for the live over the recorded versions on most days, I am constantly amazed by the variety and choice now available on DVD. The ability to see and hear Renée Fleming sing Strauss or John Tomlinson sing Wagner is not something you’re going to get the opportunity to do very often in life so the ability to do so at home I find very valuable. Add to that the artists who are no longer with us like Carlos Kleiber or Jacqueline du Pré and you see quite quickly the enormous benefits that DVDs bring.  Believe it or not there are now over 2,000 Classical DVDs available, and in addition to operas you’ll find ballets, orchestral music, documentaries, rehearsal footage and a lot more. To cope with such a large number we’ve carried out a much needed re-design of our DVD page. You can now browse by label, series, artist, composer, music types, or even browse the discs of some of the major classical music filmographers such as Christopher Nupen or Tony Palmer. We believe it is the most comprehensive and user-friendly listing of its kind anywhere on the Internet and to celebrate that fact we’ve just started a special offer reducing the whole lot by up to 35%. For the more technologically minded amongst you we’re also currently offering 25% off our range of HD DVD and Blu-ray discs. These two formats are currently battling to become the successor to DVDs, and while both offer dramatically improved picture and sound quality, the range of classical titles is still very limited and there is a way to go before either of them starts to challenge the supremacy of the DVD.
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Chris O'Reilly - chris@prestoclassical.co.uk |
New Releases9th June 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. |
 Rolando Villazón - Cielo E MarRolando Villazón (tenor)Exuberant and charismatic, Rolando Villazón is the tenor of today. Here he releases his first solo album on Deutsche Grammophon. The soaring title track from Ponchielli’s La Gioconda inspired Villazón to become a singer. Here it is the starting point for an intriguing album which moves far beyond the usual “greatest tenor hits”. Less familiar masterpieces by Boito, Cilea and Verdi feature alongside little-known Donizetti arias and rarities by Gomes, Mercadante and Pietri. The album is Villazón’s personal homage to his illustrious predecessors in the lyric-dramatic repertoire - great tenors such as Bergonzi, Caruso and Domingo. |
 Mahler: Symphony No. 10 in F sharp minor |
 Freddy Kempf plays Mussorgsky, Ravel & BalakirevFreddy Kempf (piano)Two years since his last release on BIS, Freddy Kempf returns to present a programme featuring three central works in the great virtuoso repertoire for solo piano. Each piece has the qualities in terms of characterisation and timbre that have resulted in well-known orchestral arrangements. Pictures from an Exhibition was composed following the death of Mussorgsky’s friend, the painter and architect Viktor Hartmann. Balakirev’s Islamey was composed five years earlier and was long regarded as the most difficult work in the entire piano repertory, and in fact, when Ravel 1908 composed Scarbo, the third movement of Gaspard de la Nuit, he specifically wanted to write something that would be even more difficult. |
 Nielsen - Chamber Music Volume 2 |
 Rachmaninov - Symphony No. 1BBC Philharmonic, Gianandrea NosedaRegarded as one of the most remarkable composers of the twentieth century, Serge Rachmaninoff wrote three romantically inclined symphonies, two of which are now standard orchestral repertoire. However, the premiere of Symphony No. 1 was such a disaster that Rachmaninoff refrained from composing anything more for the next three years. The conductor, Glazunov, is reputed to have been drunk, and Rachmaninoff was unable to attend the entire performance. He reacted by tearing up the score. Thankfully for posterity, the instrumental parts were preserved and rediscovered in 1945, permitting the work to be restored. It is a work full of youthful fervour, distinctive and sweeping themes, and nationalist sentiments, and is now widely regarded as a vivid example of his early talent. |
 Ireland - Piano Music Volume 1Mark Bebbington (piano)This is volume 1 of a planned cycle of all the piano music by John Ireland. 1879 was an auspicious year for English music. It saw the births of Frank Bridge and Cyril Scott as well as John Ireland. Having scored huge critical acclaim and public acclamation for his recent recordings of music by Bax, Lambert and Elgar, pianist Mark Bebbington is nothing less than spectacular in these stunning piano pieces. A very welcome release from Somm. Not to be missed! |
 The Rise of the North Italian Violin Concerto 1690–1740 (Volume Three: The Golden Age)La Serenissima, Adrian ChandlerBorn on Merseyside in 1974, Adrian Chandler studied both modern and Baroque violin at the Royal College of Music with Rodney Friend and Catherine Mackintosh. Whilst still a student at the RCM he founded he period ensemble La Serenissima with whom he has since performed numerous solo recitals and Vivaldi concerti in major festivals around the world. Adrian was awarded a three year AHRC (Arts and Humanities Research Council) fellowship at Southampton University in order to research the development of the North Italian violin concerto between 1690 and 1740. The culmination of this project is the release of this CD, the third of the North Italian Violin Concerto series. |
 Britten-Pears Collection - 4 DVDsThis collection features four historically and musically significant films from the BBC archives of works and performances by Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears, one of the greatest English tenors and Britten’s long-term partner and artistic inspiration. |
 BBC Radio 3 CD ReviewSaturday 7th June 2008 |
Building a Library - Mozart: String Quartet No. 19 in C major, K465 'Dissonance' |
 First Choice(coupled with String Quartets Nos. 15 and 17 'The Hunt')Emerson String Quartet |
Disc of the Week |
 Bach - Latin Church Music Volume 1Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir, Tom Koopman (conductor) |
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