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Presto News - 12th October 2009Tchaikovsky's Moscow Cantata |
 With a few notable exceptions, a composer’s finest works tend to also be the most well known. In the case of Tchaikovsky that is probably the three ballet scores, the late symphonies, a couple of overtures, the violin and piano concertos and possibly Eugene Onegin. However, this week I’ve been knocked sideways by a work of his which I’d barely even heard of - his Moscow Cantata.  Tchaikovsky Tchaikovsky was one of the first Russian composers to make a proper living out of composing, receiving throughout his life a number of specific commissions. Like the 1812 Overture written the previous year, the Moscow Cantata is one such commission, written in 1883 in honour of the coronation festivities in Moscow of Tsar Alexander III. In six movements it tells the story of Moscow from a small riverside fortress to a future hope that Moscow (and Russia) will ultimately become the leader of all Orthodox lands. It is scored for mezzo-soprano, baritone, chorus and orchestra, and is only about 25 minutes long. But it has some really fantastic music in it, some of the freshest and most attractive music he ever wrote, and one part of which the composer later incorporated into the opera Queen of Spades. The arias (particularly the second mezzo-soprano aria) are extremely moving, while the choruses are punchy, exciting and typically Russian sounding. Throughout the orchestral scoring is imaginative and full of character. The recording I’ve been enjoying this week is part of an all-Tchaikovsky disc released next Monday with Valery Gergiev and his Mariinsky Orchestra on the orchestra’s own label. Coupled with other patriotic Tchaikovsky works including the famous 1812 Overture, it is an all round excellent disc, stunningly played and superbly captured. To give you a taste of this superb work, I’ve put links (below) to two samples for you to listen to: the short central chorus, and the opening of the last movement. Enjoy!
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 Tchaikovsky - 1812 Overture, Moscow Cantata, etc.Mariinsky Orchestra, Valery Gergiev
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Chris O'Reilly - chris@prestoclassical.co.uk |
listen - Tchaikovsky - Moscow Cantata: iii. ChorusNew Releases12th 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. |
 Cecilia Bartoli - Sacrificium (Hard Cover Book Deluxe Version)Cecilia Bartoli, Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni AntoniniItaly - 4,000 boys sacrificed each year in the name of music. With her new album “Sacrificium”, and a major international concert tour, Cecilia Bartoli uncovers the extraordinary world of the “castrati”, and sings the glorious music they inspired. The “Sacrificium” project will tell the story of the castrati in all its complexity; its beauty, glamour, controversy and cruelty. The album focuses on the Neapolitan school, which produced superstar castrati including Farinelli and Caffarelli. “The age of the castrati” inspired some of the most virtuosic repertoire ever written for the human voice; elaborate coloratura showpieces and beautiful slow arias, written for the extraordinary vocal abilities of the leading castrati. |
 Rachel Podger - Mozart & Haydn ConcertosRachel Podger (violin), Orchestra of the Age of EnlightenmentRachel Podger’s first recording with orchestra since the landmark Gramophone Award winning disc of Vivaldi’s La Stravaganza. Since then she has recorded eight volumes of the Award Winning Mozart Violin Sonatas edition. |
 Dvorák & Szymanowski - Violin ConcertosArabella Steinbacher (violin), Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin, Marek JanowskiThis is Steinbecher’s debut on Pentatone. She is 27 and was taught by the same teacher as Julia Fischer. Her previous recordings for Orfeo have all received great reviews. |
 Brahms - Symphony No. 1Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván FischerIvan Fischer turns his attention to Brahms following three acclaimed and Award winning recordings of Mahler. Stunning interpretation of Brahms Symphony No.1 – once again Ivan Fisher forces the the listener to re-appraise familiar repertoire. |
 Chopin - The Complete WaltzesIngrid Fliter (piano)Following universal praise for her EMI Classics debut album of Chopin piano works, Gilmore Artist Award winner Ingrid Fliter has recorded the composer’s complete waltzes for release as the music world prepares to celebrate his 200th birthday in 2010. |
 Bax: Concertino & Ireland: Piano ConcertoMark Bebbington (piano), Orchestra of The Swan, David CurtisThis is the premiere recording of Bax’s Concertino, recorded last April in Birmingham Town Hall. The work was never completed and the score lay untouched until 2006 when Graham Parlett, a composer and Bax specialist, started work on a perfoming edition. |
 Dame Nellie Melba - The First RecordingsDame Nellie MelbaNellie Melba was Australia’s first international superstar, her voice and charisma captivating audiences. Her glorious, youthful soprano, as heard in its prime, can now be enjoyed on CD following painstaking and extensive research. These are the earliest surviving recordings approved by Melba herself, mostly made in her own London drawing room in 1904 and taken from the original metal plates, providing pristine clarity. |
 Sacred Music: From The Middle Ages To The 20th CenturyLimited EditionHarmonia Mundi, one of the world's most highly respected classical labels, celebrates the history of sacred music from the middle ages to the present day in this sumptuous 30-cd box. William Christie, Rene Jacobs, Kent Nagano, the Deller Consort, the Hilliard Ensemble and many others perform works by Tallis, Palestrina, Byrd, Monteverdi, Charpentier, Vivaldi, Bach, Handel, Scarlatti, Mozart, Beethoven, Rossini, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Rachmaninov, Poulenc, Bernstein and many more. 30-cd box with over 36 hours of the finest sacred music. |
 BBC Radio 3 CD ReviewSaturday 10th October 2009 |
Building a Library - Mendelssohn: String Quartet No. 6 in F minor, Op. 80 |
 First Choice(coupled with String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op 13 and Four Pieces, Op. 81)Elias String Quartet |
Disc of the Week |
 Schoenberg: GurreliederPhilharmonia Voices / City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus / The Philharmonia Orchestra / Esa-Pekka Salonen |
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