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Presto News - 6th July 2009Tomás Luis de Victoria |
 Tomás Luis de Victoria is undoubtedly the greatest composer of the Spanish sixteenth-century ‘golden age’ of polyphonic music. Born in Avila in 1548, his musical output was relatively small compared with other major Renaissance composers such as Palestrina (who published five times as much music) and Lassus (who published even more). And unlike many of his contemporaries he also published no secular music, but the music he did produce was all of the very top order.  Tomás Luis de Victoria This week I’ve been enjoying a new recording of his Missa Gaudeamus that has just been released by the Westminster Cathedral Lay Clerks under Matthew Martin on Hyperion. However, it is not any ordinary recording of the Mass as other music (including a motet by Victoria, Mass Propers and other passages of chant, and organ music by Frescobaldi) is interpolated between the movements of the Victoria’s Mass to produce an elaborate liturgical sequence. The booklet notes say that it is not intended as a reconstruction of a known occasion from the early seventeenth century, but as a celebration of Mass for the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which falls on 15 August. It works really well as a concept, and you gain a real appreciation of the growing range of musical forms that were being adopted by the church in the 16th century in order to help enrich the liturgy. Victoria’s Missa Gaudeamus is without doubt one of the most beautiful of all mass settings. The male voices of Westminster Cathedral choir sing with a purity that emphasises every ounce of this beauty, while Hyperion’s sound captures the atmosphere of the Cathedral without ever losing focus. I've put the whole of the Benedictus on for you to enjoy below. Thoroughly recommended.
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 Victoria - Missa GaudeamusWestminster Cathedral Lay Clerks, Matthew Martin |
Chris O'Reilly - chris@prestoclassical.co.uk |
listen - Victoria - Missa Gaudeamus: 5. BenedictusNew Releases6th July 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. |
 Mendelssohn: Organ Sonatas Nos. 1-6, Op. 65William Whitehead (organ in the Ballroom, Buckingham Palace)Mendelssohn was the first composer of international renown after J.S. Bach to return to the organ, and performed publicly on English organs during all his visits, audiences coming in droves to hear him. The sound of the English organ of his day had some distinctive qualities, which have been captured on this recording by William Whitehead, who uses the 1818 Lincoln Organ now situated in the Ballroom at Buckingham Palace. |
 Weber - The SymphoniesTapiola Sinfonietta, Jean-Jacques KantorowKantorow and the Tapiola Sinfonietta revisit Weber focusing on works by the young composer, before the fame that his opera Der Freischütz would bring. The two symphonies – the only works in the genre that Weber composed – were written in the space of six weeks around New Year 1808, while Weber were staying at the court of the Count of Württemberg-Öls in Carlsruhe (nowadays Pokój in Poland). The symphonies also bear witness to the period of transition from classicism to romanticism, particularly in terms of orchestral colour. |
 Vivaldi - The French ConnectionLa Serenissima, Adrian ChandlerAfter the extremely successful and acclaimed series ‘The Rise of the North Italian Violin Concerto’, Adrian Chandler and La Serenissima return to AVIE to explore another side of Vivaldi’s compositions : The French Connection. |
 Leó Weiner - Violin SonatasHagai Shaham (violin) & Arnon Erez (piano)Hagai Shaham has made himself the master of the Hungarian idiom which prevailed in much Romantic violin music. He now turns to a composer who was one of the leading figures of new Hungarian music in the first few years of the twentieth century, although largely forgotten now. Leó Weiner was regularly hailed as the great new hope of Hungarian music; in 1908 one critic prophesied that he was the Hungarian symphonist that everyone had been waiting for. But in fact he did not produce any symphonies, and it was in chamber music that he fully achieved his early promise. |
 Mozart - The Complete Operas (Limited Edition)A unique collection of the complete operatic works of Mozart, from the fascinating teenage works to the profound late masterpieces. Operas known and loved the world over such as "Le nozze di figaro", "Don Giovanni", "Così fan tutte" and "Die Zauberflöte" as well as rare discoveries including "L'oca del Cairo" and "Die garterin aus liebe". These award-winning recordings feature a galaxy of great Mozart singers such as Kiri te Kanawa, Frederica von Stade, Janet Baker, Mirella Freni, Edita Gruberova, Edith Mathis, Peter Schreier, Hermann Prey, Thomas Allen and many more. |
 Mahler - Complete SymphoniesChrista Ludwig (mezzo-soprano) & René Kollo (tenor), New York Philharmonic & Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (Symphony No. 5), Leonard BernsteinIn the wake of worldwide commemorations of the 90th anniversary of the great conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein’s birth, Sony Masterworks has completely remixed and remastered the definitive recordings of the complete Mahler Symphony cycle that Bernstein made with the New York Philharmonic during the 1960s. |
 Liszt AbroadRebecca Evans (soprano), Andrew Kennedy (tenor), Matthew Rose (baritone) & Iain Burnside (piano)Perhaps stemming from his years touring Europe as a virtuoso pianist or from his later émigré life in Paris, Franz Liszt's choice of song texts reflect his 'polyglot' attraction to the 19th Century literature and culture of many different countries, shown in these settings of French, German, Italian, English, Russian and Hungarian words. |
 6 new releases from DuttonIn the latest batch of British music releases on Dutton's Epoch series we see a stunning Delius disc including previously unrecorded versions, a disc of Cecilia McDowall, a second volume of piano music by Billy Mayerl, the completion of the Richard Arnell ballet music discs, an English song collection from Susan Gritton and a viola disc from Roger Chase. |
 BBC Radio 3 CD ReviewThursday 4th June 2009 |
Building a Library - Mozart: Serenade No. 10 in B flat major, K361 'Gran Partita' |
First ChoiceLinos Ensemble |
 Budget ChoiceAlbion Ensemble |
Disc of the Week |
 Albinoni: 6 Sinfonie a cinque, Op. 2Chiara Banchini (violin and direction), Ensemble 415 |
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