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Presto News - 13th April 2009BBC Music Magazine Awards |
 In the UK we have two major classical music award ceremonies each year – the Gramophone Awards (which take place each September) and the BBC Music Magazine Awards (which happen every April). I expect the Gramophone Awards carry more influence internationally as they have been going for such a long time, but the BBC Awards are in some ways more interesting as the six major categories are all decided by public vote.  Sir Charles Mackerras The BBC Awards took place last week in London and it was particularly pleasing to see many of the discs which I’ve been championing in this column over the past year emerge on top, not least the orchestral winner and overall disc of the year which was Mozart’s Late Symphonies with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra under Sir Charles Mackerras. I had a little look back at what I wrote at the time they were released: '… superb performances, which show off the rich variety of the music. The excellent SCO shows a remarkable ability to alternate seamlessly between passages of tenderness and beauty and those of intensity and excitement. Mackerras makes sure you hear everything you need to, with every phrase carefully shaped and intricately balanced. The moderate size of the orchestra (24 string players) means that the players can really play out without having to hold back.' The other winner that I would particularly recommend seeking out (if you haven’t already) is the Jean-Efflam Bavouzet Debussy cycle on Chandos (Volume 3 of his four volume cycle won the instrumental award). He played Reflets dans l’eau from the first book of Images live at the awards and it really was truly outstanding. These recordings are now the benchmark to which anyone tackling these works must strive. We’ve set up a special page on the website where you can view all this year's winners as well as the other finalists from this year's awards. I’d be interested to hear - particularly from our international readers - if there are any other awards you would like us to cover on the website. I’m of the opinion that awards are useful at the time they are announced as a reminder of some of the great recordings of the past year, and also to draw your attention to the odd one which you may have missed, or maybe passed over too quickly. I think they are also useful more generally to help decide which recording of a particular work to buy. Please do let me know if you think we should be covering any other awards. Browse all BBC Music Magazine Awards 2009 Winners here.
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Chris O'Reilly - chris@prestoclassical.co.uk |
New Releases13th April 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. |
 Anne Sophie Von Otter sings Bach AriasAnne Sofie Von Otter (mezzo-soprano)Born to sing J. S. Bach, Anne Sofie von Otter brings elegant style, richness of voice, and career-long commitment to Baroque music to this glorious recording of alto and soprano arias she herself selected. Featuring beloved staples like the moving “Erbarme Dich” from the St. Matthew Passion and the “Agnus Dei” from the B minor Mass, this follow-up to her successful release of Music for a While includes lesser-known repertoire to entice the most jaded lover of voice, Baroque or Bach. Lars Ulrik Mortensen leads Concerto Copenhagen, the acclaimed Scandinavian Baroque ensemble, in instrumentations of fascinating variety unusual in Bach solo vocal albums |
 Martha Argerich & Gidon Kremer - The Berlin RecitalMartha Argerich (piano) & Gidon Kremer (violin)EMI Classics is pleased to announce the release of a joint recital by the legendary pianist Martha Argerich and Gidon Kremer, one of today’s most original and compelling violinists. The concert was recorded live at Berlin’s Philharmonie in December 2006. The repertoire features Schumann’s Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 in D minor and Kinderszenen, as well as Bartók’s Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1 and Sonata for Solo Violin. Two encores, Fritz Kreisler’s Liebesleid and Schön Rosmarin round out the release. |
 Handel - Organ Concerti, Op. 4Ottavio Dantone (solo organ & conductor), Stefano Montanari (violin) & Marco Frezzato (cello), Accademia BizantinaThis is the second disc in the new L’Oiseau Lyre partnership with Accademia Bizantina and Ottavio Dantone; it promises to be a stunning contribution to commemorate the Handel celebrations in 2009. Full of characteristic melodies and sonorous harmonies, Handel’s organ concertos op. 4 were composed in 1735-36, when Handel was in his prime. |
 Emerson Quartet - Intimate LettersEmerson String QuartetWhen the Emerson String Quartet releases an album, one’s expectation of excellence isn’t met – it’s exceeded. The Emersons’ way with Czech chamber music on this new recording further burnishes a lustrous reputation. The Emersons perform with the same benchmark intensity, integrity, energy, and commitment demonstrated since its formation in 1976. It now brings these qualities to the first two of Janácek’s String Quartets and 3 Madrigals for violin and viola by Martinu. Intimate Letters (Quartet no. 2) is based on Janácek’s letters to his muse, Kamila Stösslová, whom he promised that “our life is going to be in it”. |
 Myaskovsky - Complete Symphonic Works Vol. 17Russian Federation Academic Symphony Orchestra, Yevgeny SvetlanovThis final single disc completes the Myaskovsky Edition started orginally by Olympia and now completed by Alto. The disc contains the three symphonic works Alastor, Op. 14, Concertino in G Op.32 No.3 and Sinfonietta, Op. 68, No. 2. |
 Bach, J S: Musical Offering, BWV1079Ton Koopman (harpsichord & director), Members of the Amsterdam BaroqueThe Musical Offering, BWV1079 is the only instrumental work by Bach for which we have a detailed knowledge of its origins. It owes its creation to Bach’s visit to the royal court at Potsdam which lasted two days between 7 and 8 May 1747, a landmark event in the composer’s biography. German newspapers reported the memorable encounter between King Frederick II of Prussia and the “famous Capellmeister Bach in Leipzig” just a few days later. They describe the occasion and mention that Bach found the theme given to him by the king for improvisation on the clavier to be “the epitome of excellence”, and hence wished to “put it on paper in a proper fugue, and afterwards have it engraved in copper.” |
 Mozart - Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 3Renaud Capuçon (violin), Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Louis LangréeThe violinist Renaud Capuçon has a substantial catalogue on Virgin Classics, but this is only the second CD to focus on him in solo concertos. This new release sees him in two of Mozart’s solo concertos and the Sinfonia concertante with viola-player Antoine Tamestit, another outstanding French instrumentalist of the younger generation. |
 Haydn - 7 London SymphoniesChamber Orchestra of Europe, Claudio AbbadoWhat better way to celebrate one of the important anniversaries of 2009 than to restore to the catalogue Abbado's survey of late Haydn Symphonies from the late Eighties / early Nineties with one of his favourite ensembles, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe? Although he never completed his "London" Symphonies cycle, the four CDs offer "a paradigm of modern-instrument Haydn fully attuned to the 18th-century spirit as well as to the composer's wit and mastery of the orchestra" (Fanfare, 2008) |
 BBC Radio 3 CD ReviewSaturday 11th April 2009 |
Building a Library - Handel: Messiah |
 First ChoiceCarolyn Sampson, Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Mark Padmore, Christopher Purves, The Sixteen, Harry Christophers |
Disc of the Week |
 Lukaszewski: Via CrucisIestyn Davies (countertenor), Allan Clayton (tenor), Andrew Foster-Williams (baritone), Roger Allam (narrator), Polyphony, Britten Sinfonia, Stephen Layton (conductor) |
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