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Presto News - 11th January 2010Bach for Violin and Voice |
 Back at the 2008 Gramophone Awards I went and hunted down Hilary Hahn. She was there to pick up the Artist of the Year award but I wanted to tell her how much I had enjoyed her Sibelius and Schoenberg Concertos disc that had come out earlier that year, and in particular how many positive comments I had received from people reading these newsletters about the Schoenberg (which I think was new to most people who had bought the disc). It was a brave choice putting those two concertos together on one disc and I wanted to make sure that she knew that it was a good choice and that people had enjoyed coming across the Schoenberg which in all honesty they probably wouldn’t have bought had it not been coupled with the Sibelius. Anyway, we got chatting and conversation quickly moved to what she was working on next and she enthusiastically started telling me about a project she had with singers to record an album of Bach’s arias and duets with solo violin. I remembered the disc of Bach Violin Concertos she had recorded and that was fantastic, and I’ve always had a huge love for the cantatas and passions, so I’ve been looking forward to this new album ever since.  Finally - a year and a half later - it is released today and it doesn’t disappoint. As the booklet note explains, Hilary Hahn has been entranced by the combination of violin and voice ever since hearing a Bach cantata performed by such a pairing when she was a young child. She first played some of this repertoire over a decade ago and has been working towards assembling an album of this remarkable music ever since. Listening to this disc now I can hear why she was so keen to see this project fulfilled. The combination of violin and voice is both magical and unique and, although the instrumentation provides a common thread throughout this disc there is huge variety in both style and content. Sometimes the violin is plaintive - it maybe echoes or mimics the vocal line - other times it is alive and agile while playfully characterising the meaning of the text, while at other times it becomes one of the voices and moves along in complete counterpoint with the singers. Bach himself was a skilled violinist and it is abundantly clear that he considered the voice and the violin to be worthy partners, but his imagination in interweaving their lines is peerless and is one of those things which puts Bach’s music in a league of its own. Hilary Hahn is joined on this disc by soprano Christine Schäfer and baritone Matthias Goerne, both of whom are renowned Bach exponents. It contains ten arias and two duets, which are drawn from the St Matthew Passion, the B minor Mass and the cantatas. It is all good, but the arias involving Matthias Goerne are simply outstanding. I was already a huge fan of his, and have been tremendously enjoying his Schubert Edition which he is currently recording on Harmonia Mundi, but this has elevated him yet further in my mind as one of the very top baritones currently performing today. I've put on a trailer video which tells you a bit more about the album and also the whole of Matthias Goerne's aria from the St Matthew Passion 'Gebt mir meiner Jesum wieder'. Enjoy!
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 Bach - Violin & Voice - Arias and Duets with Violino ObligatoHilary Hahn (violin), Christine Schäfer (soprano) & Matthias Goerne (baritone), Münchener Kammerorchester, Alexander Liebreich
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Chris O'Reilly - chris@prestoclassical.co.uk |
Watch a short trailer
listen - Bach - Gebt mir meinen Jesum wieder - (from the St Matthew Passion)New Releases11th January 2010 |
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. |
 Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64London Symphony Orchestra, Valery GergievLSO Live celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2010. The label's first release of the year features Prokofiev's spectacular score for the ballet Romeo & Juliet conducted by Valery Gergiev. Gergiev is a tireless champion of Prokofiev's music. In 2004 he conducted the complete cycle of the composer's symphonies with the LSO which then won a Gramophone Award. Shortly afterwards Gergiev became Principal Conductor of the LSO and spent much of 2008 and 2009 touring Prokofiev's symphonies with the orchestra in Europe, Japan and the USA. Gergiev's Mahler cycle continues in February 2010 with the release of the Fourth Symphony. Other upcoming releases on LSO Live include a Rachmaninov symphony cycle as well as music by Ravel, Stravinsky, Debussy and Strauss. |
 Strauss: Ein Heldenleben & Der Rosenkavalier SuiteCity of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Andris NelsonsWhat Ein Heldenleben needs is not only a first-class orchestra but also a conductor with a clear sense of the work's underlying structure, a conductor, moreover, who is able to maintain the tension and respond quickly and consistently to the work's countless details. This is certainly how Andris Nelsons sees his task, a task that he realises magnificently in this, his second ORFEO recording with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. |
 Mussorgsky: Pictures at an ExhibitionRoyal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Mariss Jansons (chief conductor)A special-priced release on RCO Live of Mussorgsky's much-loved Pictures at an Exhibition in Ravel's orchestration. Recorded live at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Mariss Jansons and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, on magnificent form, produce a wonderful palette of colours and sonority in this dazzling orchestral piece. |
 Handel: Italian Cantatas Volume 6 - Olinto, pastore arcade (1708)Roberta Invernizzi,Yetzabel Arias Fernández (sopranos), Romina Basso (alto) & Fabio Bonizzoni (harpsichord & direction)The Accademia degli Arcadi - that thought provoking and ideas-creating literary circle set up by a group of poets, composers, aristocrats and churchmen, which championed a return to classical (and pastoral) ideals and one of whose keenest members was the Marquis Francesco Maria Ruspoli, Handel's patron in Rome - forms the aesthetic background for this sixth and penultimate release in the series of Italian cantatas by the Saxon composer which Fabio Bonizzoni and La Risonanza are making for Glossa. |
 Bach: Magnificat BWV243 (CD+DVD)Carlos Mena, Maria Keohane, Anna Zander, Hans-Jörg Mammel & Stephan MacLeod, Ricercar Consort, Philippe PierlotContinuing their exploration of the sacred vocal music of the great Johann Sebastian Bach, Philippe Pierlot and his Ricercar Consort couple the Magnificat with the Mass BWV235 for their latest release on Mirare. They are joined by the distinguished soloists Maria Keohane, Anna Zander, Carlos Mena, Hans- Jörg Mammel and Stephan MacLeod, all of whom appeared in the same programme at La Folle Journée in Nantes and Tokyo in 2009. The DVD shows the singers and Pierlot recording their solos whilst the orchestra mess around! |
 Sheppard: Media vitaStile AnticoFor its fourth recording, Stile Antico spotlights the work of a neglected Tudor master: John Sheppard. The programme displays his genius across the range of genres in which he composed, including Catholic liturgical responds and hymns alongside simple English-texted anthems written in the reign of Edward VI. As its centerpiece, the great antiphon 'Media Vita' is a reflection on the frailty of human life and the hope for salvation. |
 Taverner: Sacred choral musicThe choir of St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh, Duncan FergusonJohn Taverner brought the English florid style to its culmination and final flowering; his music is quite unlike anything written by his continental contemporaries and, viewed retrospectively, represents not only the culmination of one period but also the beginning of something new. In his debut recording with the critically acclaimed Edinburgh choir, Duncan Ferguson presents this music with forces akin to those of the 16th century - a small group of children and a larger number of men.The singers respond with their characteristic freshness, and an emotional authenticity born of the daily round of liturgical performance. |
 Dvorak: Symphonies Nos. 7 & 8The Philharmonia Orchestra, Sir Charles MackerrasSignum's highly successful series of releases with The Philharmonia Orchestra continues with these live performances of Dvorak's symphonies Nos. 7 and 8, led by Sir Charles Mackerras. This is the second disc to feature Sir Charles, following on from last year's widely praised live recording of Schubert's Symphony No. 9. |
 BBC Radio 3 CD ReviewSaturday 9th January 2010 |
Building a Library - Franck, C: Trois Chorales pour grand orgue |
 First Choice(coupled with other organ works of Cesar Franck)Jennifer Bate (organ of St Pierre de Beauvais) |
Disc of the Week |
Handel - Italian Cantatas Volume 6 - Olinto, pastore arcade (1708)Roberta Invernizzi,Yetzabel Arias Fernández (sopranos), Romina Basso (alto), La Risonanza, Fabio Bonizzoni (harpsichord & direction) |
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