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Presto News - 19th October 2009Winterreise from Padmore and Lewis |
 Widely regarded as one of the greatest song cycles ever composed, Schubert’s Winterreise is also one of the most recorded (most often by baritones, but frequently by tenors and occasionally a female voice). Schubert set Winterreise on a cycle of 24 poems by Wilhelm Müller, but it is not just a collection of songs upon a single theme but is in effect one single dramatic monologue, lasting up to an hour in performance, which takes the listener on a journey to the very depths of the human emotions.  Mark Padmore and Paul Lewis For the past few weeks I’ve been enjoying a new recording by tenor Mark Padmore and pianist Paul Lewis, which is finally released next Monday. Although on paper the combination of Padmore and Lewis in this repertoire sounds fantastic, before hearing it I did have some doubts and worries as to how it might work. Sometimes when a first class singer and an established solo pianist work together their two personalities are too strong and you can hear them pulling in different directions. A safer bet is generally a specialist lieder accompanist like Graham Johnson or Julius Drake who would be prepared to temper their own musical instincts if they conflicted with those of the singer. In the case of Padmore and Lewis there is no need to worry, as they are in near-perfect agreement throughout, with every subtle nuance of phrasing or dynamic matched by the other. And this cycle benefits hugely by having a pianist of Paul Lewis’s calibre, with his natural affinity with Schubert. His piano playing throughout this disc is nothing short of exceptional you sense it is a real partnership that Padmore and him have formed. My other slight worry before hearing this disc was that it would be too beautiful. Regular readers of this column will already know that I prise beauty in music very highly, and Mark Padmore’s voice is innately beautiful, but these songs are often dark and tormented and so could he really plunge to the emotional depths that these songs require? Well, yes he can, and very effectively too. True, it is probably the most beautifully sung (and played) performance you will hear, but it is no less emotionally charged as a result. Everything sounds so sincerely felt, and crucially they get the atmosphere of the different songs right, whether it is fear, resignation, loneliness or countless other emotions. It is not at all easy to do this and a credit as much to Paul Lewis as it is to Mark Padmore that they achieve this so successfully throughout. In summary, this is music-making of the absolute highest order, and should appeal to those with several versions of this cycle already as well as those who are new to this wonderful music. I’ve put a link to the whole of the sixth song ‘Wasserflut’ below for you to listen to, which I think illustrates pretty well all the points made above. Enjoy!
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 Schubert: Winterreise D911Mark Padmore (tenor) & Paul Lewis (piano) |
Chris O'Reilly - chris@prestoclassical.co.uk |
listen - Schubert - Winterreise : 6. WasserflutNew Releases19th 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. |
Haydn: The Creation (Special limited edition with DVD while stocks last)Julia Kleiter (soprano), Maximilian Schmitt (tenor) & Johannes Weisser (bass), RIAS Kammerchor & Freiburger Barockorchester, René JacobsIt was on a visit to London in 1791 that Haydn heard several of Handel's oratorios at Westminster Abbey. Astonished by their size and power - "Handel is master of us all," he is said to have declared - he determined to write a similar work himself. Die Schöpfung was the result, though its exuberant hymning of the simple joys of life is pure Haydn. Five years after a much-acclaimed version of The Seasons, René Jacobs chooses this 'beginning' to make his major contribution on record to the celebration of the bicentenary of Haydn's death. |
 Daniel Hope - Air (A baroque journey)Daniel Hope (violin)Air sets out to trace a baroque journey. It is the story of four unique composers, three of whom were virtuoso violinists: Falconiero, Matteis and Geminiani from Italy, and Westhoff from Germany. They wandered throughout Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries in search of musical inspiration and cross-pollination, and their music and art of performance intrigued and delighted kings, contemporaries and audiences alike This album shows how diverse the music of the baroque era was. Air blends the simplest and at times most primitive forms of dance music with the most sophisticated and revolutionary compositions of the day, culminating in a work by Bach - the great master, whose title is Hope’s inspiration for this collection, that also includes hits like Pachelbel’s Canon or Handel’s Sarabande. |
 Handel - Trio Sonatas Opp. 2 & 5Academy of Ancient Music, Richard EgarrRichard Egarr and the Academy of Ancient Music conclude their award-winning Handel cycle with this dazzling traversal of the Trio Sonatas of opus two and opus five. These works, less frequently heard than much of Handel's output, are brilliantly crafted, exciting, and (above all) fun pieces of chamber music. The Italianate singing style of the melodic writing is both virtuosic and sonorous. Handel took Corelli's 'sonata da chiesa' model and with consummate ease, created sparklingly diverse and richly colourful works that are clearly stamped with his own unique stylistic signature. |
 Danielle De Niese - The Mozart AlbumDanielle De Niese, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Sir Charles MackerrasAfter her critically acclaimed Handel album, Danielle de Niese returns with a feast of Mozart’s most beautiful arias. Her partnership with Sir Charles Mackerras lends her the wise and authoritative support of one of the great modern heroes of Mozart performance style and practice. It’s an added bonus that in the only duet on this album — “Là ci darem la mano” from Don Giovanni — Danielle is reunited after ten years with the great Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel, who had also been in the Figaro in which she made her Met debut. |
 Sweelinck - French Psalms & Canciones SacraeDavid Jansen (organ) & Ophira Zakaï (lute), Cappella Amsterdam, Daniel ReussComposer, organist, organ builder and teacher of international renown, Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621) was known in his own time as the 'Orpheus of Amsterdam'. Among his significant contributions to Franco-Flemish polyphony one finds both psalms in French which closely follow the dictates of the Reformation and sacred vocal works in Latin, among which the Magnificat is outstanding. |
 Argerich & Friere - Salzburg ConcertMartha Argerich & Nelson Freire (piano)Two of the world’s legendary pianists join forces in a virtuoso recital programme with Johannes Brahms: Variations on a Theme by Joseph Haydn, op. 56b, Sergey Rachmaninov: Symphonic Dances, op. 45, Franz Schubert: Rondo in A, D 951– Grand Rondeau and Maurice Ravel: La Valse – Poème choréographique. |
 Daniel Müller-Schott plays Cello ConcertosDaniel Müller-Schott (cello), NDR Sinfonieorchester, Christoph EschenbachOn his latest CD, Daniel Müller-Schott devotes himself to the cello's Romantic and late-Romantic solo concerto repertoire. It is a voyage of exploration that offers things both known and worthy of (re)discovery. After the Classical period, the cello fell out of fashion as a concertante instrument. When that changed again in the mid-19th century, it fascinated composers more than ever, and this in turn had an impact on their creative muse. For Robert Schumann, to be sure, the composition of his Cello Concerto was bound up with major disappointments - he himself did not live to hear its world première. The dramatic aspect of the music comes as much to the fore here as it does in our recording of the Concerto by Schumann's contemporary Robert Volkmann. It is considerably less popular than Schumann's, but it thrives on singing, melodic themes and their sophisticated elaboration.These two concertos are complemented by two shorter pieces: Max Bruch's Kol Nidrei and the Romance in F Major for cello and orchestra by Richard Strauss. |
 Natalie Dessay - Mad ScenesNatalie Dessay (soprano)This collection features Dessay in five scenes of coloratura madness – or near-madness - by two Italian composers, two French composers, and one (satirising) American. Soprano characters who go insane are quite a feature of 19th-century opera, providing composers with an opportunity to write virtuosic and often adventurous music to express the wanderings of the poor heroine’s mind. |
 BBC Radio 3 CD ReviewSaturday 17th October 2009 |
Building a Library - Schumann - Kerner-Lieder, Op 35 |
 First Choice(Volume 2 of the Hyperion Schmann Song Edition)Simon Keenlyside (baritone) & Graham Johnson (piano) |
Disc of the Week |
 Schumann: Szenen aus Goethes FaustNetherlands Radio Choir, Netherlands Children's Choir & Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Nikolaus Harnoncourt (honorary guest conductor) |
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