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Presto News - 2nd February 2009Sarah Connolly gets Purcell year off to a flier |
 With so many important anniversaries to mark in 2009, and one month already gone, I thought I’d better get started and, looking for an outstanding new recording to inspire me I quickly opted for English Baroque composer Henry Purcell and a new disc of his truly great opera Dido and Aeneas. Born in 1659, this year marks the 350th anniversary of Henry Purcell’s birth. Dido and Aeneas is one of his most popular works and, written in the late 1680s it is also one of the earliest operas still in the repertoire.  Sarah Connolly There is no shortage of very fine recordings already (the most famous probably being the 1961 Janet Baker one) so for a new recording to challenge, it has to be pretty special. With any chamber opera like this the first ingredient for success is undoubtedly a good cast, and here it is truly first-rate. Indeed it is hard to imagine a better Dido than Sarah Connolly (who incidentally was also the inspiration behind the whole recording). The role suits her voice perfectly, and with her clear diction, tasteful ornamentation and technical precision it is executed perfectly as well. But what comes across even more powerfully than all this is her understanding of the part. She displays such a deeply felt empathy with the character that by the end of the famous Act III lament I had a tear in my eye. The rest of the cast is equally outstanding. Lucy Crowe presents an enchanting and pure-sounding Belinda and Gerald Finley a sensitive but still aristocratic Aeneas. Patricia Bardon excels as the fiery Sorceress with her rich almost blood-chilling contralto tone. They are all superbly supported by the conductor-less Choir and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, jointly directed by lutenist Elizabeth Kenny and harpsichordist Steven Devine. In keeping with the performance tradition of many early operas, some additional instrumental interludes are inserted in order to fill out some of the score. They seem generally very well chosen and, while the Almand from Purcell's G minor keyboard suite (which appears in the middle of Act III) initially came as a bit of a surprise, after repeated listening even this seems to fit well. All in all a pretty outstanding start to Purcell year, and I’m sure this recording will appeal both to those new to the work and to those already familiar with it. I've put a couple of samples on below including the famous lament, although to get the full power of the performance you really need to have listened to what has gone before first. Enjoy!
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 Purcell: Dido and AeneasSarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano), Gerald Finley (baritone), etc, OAE, Steven Devine and Elizabeth Kenny.
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Chris O'Reilly - chris@prestoclassical.co.uk |
listen - Purcell: When I am laid in earth (Dido)New Releases2nd February 2009 |
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. |
 James Ehnes - HomageCD/DVD tribute to 12 of the world’s finest instruments2008 Grammy and Gramophone Award winner James Ehnes pays tribute to the world's most celebrated violin-makers in this unique ONYX project featuring performances on 12 of the greatest instruments ever made. The Fulton Collection is perhaps the most important private collection in the world and contains many examples of the legendary names Stradivari, Guarneri, da Salo and Guadagnini. For example, the priceless La Pucelle has never been heard in a recording, and the Lord Wilton was Yehudi Menuhin’s last instrument. Ehnes performs 21 selections in a carefully planned recital programme specially chosen to suit each instrument and to work on its own terms. It finishes with a section comparing each instrument in an excerpt of the same piece, a unique opportunity to contrast the sound qualities of these spectacular instruments. |
 Brahms - Symphony No. 2The Monteverdi Choir & Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, John Eliot GardinerFollowing on from the phenomenal worldwide success of the first release in the Brahms series, SDG continues the series with Brahms’ Symphony 2 which sees John Eliot Gardiner and his Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique explore the music of Johannes Brahms and of those composers that influenced him. Brahms’ dark, deeply personal and moving Alto Rhapsody for alto solo, male chorus and orchestra is included here alongside three choral works by Franz Schubert. |
 Goossens - Orchestral Works Volume 1Howard Shelley (piano), Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Richard HickoxChandos's Featured Release for February is the final recording made by Richard Hickox. Intended as the first in a cycle of orchestral works by Goossens, this disc offers the premiere recording of Phantasy Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, and the rarely recorded Symphony No.1 and serves as a tribute to Hickox and his fantastic legacy of recordings on Chandos. |
 Bach - Violin ConcertosJulia Fischer (violin), Academy of St Martin in the FieldsViolinist Julia Fischer chooses the Bach Concertos for her first disc on her new record label Decca. Her playing as always is beautifully honed and she is technically almost without flaw, but I'd have liked slightly more feeling particularly in the slow movements. |
 Mercadante: VirginiaSusan Patterson, Stefano Antonucci, Paul Charles Clarke, Charles Castronovo, Andrew Foster-Williams, Katherine Manley & Mark Le Brocq, Geoffrey Mitchell Choir & London Philharmonic Orchestra, Maurizio BeniniOpera Rara revived Mercadante's Virginia in concert back in 1976, and now presents the work’s CD debut as part of their ongoing commitment to the music of one of 19th century opera’s most fascinating figures. The 2CD set comes with a lavishly illustrated book including a complete libretto with an English translation and introduction by Jeremy Commons. |
 Richard Strauss - The Complete Songs 4Christopher Maltman (baritone) & Roger Vignoles (piano)Hyperion’s Strauss Lieder series is fast becoming a worthy successor to the seminal Schubert and Schumann Lieder sets on the label. This fourth volume features a veteran of these recordings, the great British bass-baritone Christopher Maltman. |
 The Romantic Violin Concerto 7 - Arensky & TaneyevIlya Gringolts (violin), BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Ilan VolkovThis disc juxtaposes two significant Russian works for violin and orchestra, each written by a composer with a close relationship to Tchaikovsky, and each dedicated to the great violinist and pedagogue Leopold Auer. These two concertos are both formidable display pieces, designed to show off Auer’s transcendental technique. |
 Haydn - Piano Trios Volume 1The Florestan TrioChamber music devotees will welcome with enthusiasm this first volume of a new series by one of the world’s greatest piano trios. Every recording by the award-winning Florestan Trio receives extravagant plaudits from the critical world and the public alike. Haydn’s piano trios are a uniquely important body of work in the classical spectrum and a detailed survey by this group is welcome indeed—especially in 2009, when the musical world will commemorate the 200th anniversary of the composer’s death. |
 BBC Radio 3 CD ReviewSaturday 31st January 2009 |
Building a Library - Beethoven: String Quartet No. 11 in F minor Op. 95 'Serioso' |
 First Choice(3 CDs - coupled with the Late Quartets)Takács Quartet |
 Historic Choice(3 CDs - coupled with the Late Quartets)Busch Quartet |
Disc of the Week |
 Rossini Instrumental MusicBudapest Festival Orchestra, Ivan Fischer |
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