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Presto News - 5th October 2009The Quatuor Ebène and the Gramophone Awards |
 This year’s Gramophone Awards took place last Friday at London’s Dorchester Hotel. It was an excellent day including live music from, amongst others, the Sixteen and French pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet and, importantly (as the ceremony itself is still essentially an industry-facing event), it served as another reminder that the doom and gloom that so often gets published in the press about the state of the classical recording industry is largely unfounded. The quality and calibre of the finalists and winners this year again proved that there is absolutely no shortage of fantastic recordings still being produced.  Quatuor Ebène I’m pleased to say that many of the discs that you’ve been reading about here over the past year came out winners and personally I was particularly pleased to see Vasily Petrenko and the RLPO’s superb disc of Tchaikovsky’s Manfred Symphony pick up the orchestral category (incidentally Naxos’ first ever Gramophone Award), and NMC’s ‘state-of-the-contemporary-song’ NMC Songbook pick up the Contemporary award. The really big award – the overall Record of the Year – went to the superb young French group the Quatuor Ebene for their recording of the Ravel, Debussy and Fauré String Quartets. It is a really stunning disc in which it is very hard to find fault. This music demands a huge variety of different sound worlds, at times the quartet need to be beautiful and tender, sometimes their sound must be intense and rich, and other times exciting and full of rhythmic vitality. They can do all these and what’s more they play with such a perfectly blended ensemble that, when the melody passes from one instrument to another, unless you know the score you’ll often have no idea. In all a really worthy winner, and great to see the Gramophone acknowledging them so early in their careers. You can listen to some extended samples of this disc as well as their two early discs of Haydn and Bartók on the Quatuor Ebène’s own website. We’ve also put a fifteen minute film about the quartet and this recording on our website accessed via the link below. It is in French, but does have subtitles and there is plenty of music on it to listen to. Finally I should also mention that you can browse full details of all the 2009 Gramophone Award Winners here.
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 Ravel, Debussy, Fauré - String QuartetsQuatuor Ebène |
Chris O'Reilly - chris@prestoclassical.co.uk |
Watch a 15 minute preview videoNew Releases5th October 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. |
 Handel - Ode for the Birthday of Queen AnneHélène Guilmette (soprano), Andreas Scholl (countertenor), Malcolm E.Bennet, (tenor) & Andreas Wolf (bass), Vocalconsort Berlin & Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Marcus CreedComposed to celebrate the birthday of Queen Anne of England, this Ode was subtitled 'Ode for the Peace' in reference to the Treaty of Utrecht which the monarch was about to sign, marking the end of the War of the Spanish Succession. Six years earlier, the 22-year-old composer exploited in his sacred music what he had just learnt from Italian opera: the result was the powerful, intensely passionate Dixit Dominus. |
 Beethoven & Britten - Violin ConcertosJanine Jansen (violin)Janine records these concerti with two different orchestras to fully explore two very different sound worlds: the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen (Beethoven) and the London Symphony Orchestra (Britten). Janine has loved and championed the Britten concerto since she first played it nearly ten years ago, and performed both these concerti with conductor Paavo Järvi many times, both in Europe and the US. The recording of the Beethoven concerto follows the acclaimed Beethoven Symphony cycle form the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen under Paavo Järvi. |
 Schoenberg: GurreliederPhilharmonia Voices, City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus & The Philharmonia Orchestra, Esa-Pekka SalonenRecorded as part of the orchestra's ongoing 'Vienna - City of Dreams' concert programme, the latest release in Signum Records' ongoing series with the Philharmonia Orchestra is Schoenberg's choral and symphonic masterpiece Gurrelieder, performed live with Philharmonia Voices, City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus and other star soloists, led by Esa-Pekka Salonen. "The music-making was superb … And what terrific soloists!" The Times 5 Stars |
Bach - Partitas 1, 5 & 6Murray Perahia (piano)Eminent pianist Murray Perahia completes his recording of J.S. Bach’s Partitas. Exclusive Sony Classical pianist Murray Perahia releases his final volume of J.S. Bach’s Keyboard Partitas, his first new studio recordings in three years. Perahia’s previous Bach recordings have garnered a Gramophone and Grammy Award as well as several nominations for both. |
 Vivaldi - GloriasSara Mingardo, Concerto Italiano, Rinaldo AlessandriniAward winning, world renowned conductor, Rinaldo Alessandrini with his stunning period-instrument ensemble, Concerto Italiano – about to celebrate its 25th anniversary – perform two Glorias by Vivaldi. It’s their first major release for the Vivaldi Edition since 2004. The all-star soloist line-up is headed by contralto Sara Mingardo, “one of the richest voices before the public today” (Gramophone, July 2009). Don’t miss the stunning “Domine Deus Agnus Dei” from Gloria RV589. |
 Schumann: Szenen aus Goethes FaustNetherlands Radio Choir, Netherlands Children's Choir & Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Nikolaus Harnoncourt (honorary guest conductor)In April 2008 Nikolaus Harnoncourt and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra executed a series of performances of Schumann's rarely heard masterpiece Szenen aus Goethes Faust. These successful performances were recorded live and edited into this release. |
 Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 1-32 (Complete)Paul Lewis (piano)Paul Lewis performed all the Beethoven piano sonatas on tour in the USA and Europe between the 2005 and 2007 seasons, in parallel with this complete recording of the cycle for harmonia mundi, now available as a boxed set for the first time. (Volume 4 of the Sonatas received two Gramophone Awards in 2008 for Recording of the Year and Best Instrumental Recording.) |
 Sibelius - Symphonies Nos. 1-7Monica Groop & Peter Mattei, London Symphony Chorus & London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin DavisFor the first time Sir Colin Davis’s acclaimed LSO Live recordings of Sibelius’s symphonies appear together as a 4CD set. Sibelius is one of the composers with whom Sir Colin has been most closely associated throughout his career. His LSO Live recordings of the symphonies were recorded between 2002 and 2008 and have collected numerous awards. All seven symphonies, plus Sibelius’s early symphonic poem Kullervo, are packaged on 4 CDs in a custom card box together with extensive notes and the complete text for Kullervo. |
 BBC Radio 3 CD ReviewSaturday 3rd October 2009 |
Building a Library - Martinu: Symphony No 4 |
 First Choice(coupled with Symphony No 3)Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Jarvi |
Disc of the Week |
 Schnittke: Viola Concertoand Elgar: Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85 (Arranged for viola by Lionel Tertis / David Aaron Carpenter)David Aaron Carpenter (viola), Philharmonia Orchestra, Christoph Eschenbach |
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