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Presto News - 1st February 2010Testament |
 I mentioned last week the continued rise of the independent record labels. I think that the key ingredient to their success is the fact that they are usually led by just one or two specific people who have a love, passion and complete commitment to what they are trying to do. One such label that I haven’t spoken much about before is Testament, which specialises in the licensing and re-mastering of historical recordings.  Otto Klemperer About twenty years ago a man named Stewart Brown (who had been working as a freelance clarinettist in London) decided that the decades-old recording of the Busch Quartet and Reginald Kell playing Brahms deserved to be re-issued. Dating from the 1930s it was already out of copyright, so he simply cleaned it up and re-issued it. That was the start of Testament Records, and since then the catalogue has grown to over 400 releases. The majority of the recordings in the catalogue are not so old, and are licensed from other labels and sources. Some are things that other labels (like EMI and Decca) have deleted, but there are also a significant number of previously unpublished recordings, either radio recordings or tapes made by another label which for some reason never saw the light of day. It is often these recordings which are the most fascinating.  Joseph Keilberth One such recording is live 1957 Beethoven Ninth with Klemperer from the Royal Festival Hall. The concert was recorded by EMI in perfect stereo, but they made the famous studio recording a few days later and so the live tape just sat in their archives for years. Stewart Brown felt it was far more exciting than the studio one so licensed the rights and issued it. He is not the only one with such a high opinion of this recording and when BBC Radio 3’s Building a Library programme featured Beethoven 9 late last year it was this recording, above the studio one, (and all one hundred plus other recordings in existence!) that they rated the highest of all. The most famous recording in the Testament catalogue is probably the 1955 Keilberth Ring Cycle from Bayreuth. It was the first ever stereo recording of The Ring and had a cast to die for, including Hans Hotter (Wotan/Wanderer), Astrid Varnay (Brünnhilde), Ramon Vinay (Siegmund), and Wolfgang Windgassen (Siegfried). These live performances were taped superbly by Decca for expected release, but producer John Culshaw (who had recently returned to Decca) vetoed the project as he disliked live recordings of opera and already had plans for the famous studio ring cycle with Solti which began four years later. Testament began releasing this cycle in 2006 and it has gone on to win numerous awards and accolades. These are just two examples, but there are many more recordings in the Testament catalogue like this and, combined with the high quality of their transfers and detailed booklet notes with each release, this is a label which any serious classical music collector cannot afford to ignore. I’m pleased to say that for the first time ever we’re able to offer 20% off the entire catalogue, so now is most definitely the time to have a look. Browse Testament Special Offer:
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 Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 'Choral'Recorded live at the Festival Hall, London, 15.11.1957Aase Nordmo-Løvberg, Christa Ludwig, Waldemar Kmentt, Hans Hotter, Philharmonia Chorus & Orchestra, Otto Klemperer |
 Wagner: Der Ring des NibelungenRecorded Bayreuth 1955. The first stereo Ring Cycle.Hans Hotter, Astrid Varnay, Wolfgang Windgassen, etc. Chor und Orchester der Bayreuth Festspiele, Joseph Keilberth |
Chris O'Reilly - chris@prestoclassical.co.uk |
New Releases1st February 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. |
 Schubert: Die schöne Müllerin, D795Jonas Kaufmann (tenor) & Helmut Deutsch (piano)Rising tenor superstar Jonas Kaufmann tackles one of Schubert’s finest song cycles. Kaufmann has established himself as the most successful and versatile tenor of his generation, attracting rave reviews for his live performances and recordings. This new album is his third recital disc on Decca, following his acclaimed debut album ‘Romantic Arias’, followed by ‘Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven, Wagner’. |
 Byrd Edition Volume 13 - Infelix egoThe Cardinall's Musick, Andrew CarwoodThe Cardinall’s Musick’s award-winning Byrd series reaches its final volume, which includes some of the composer’s most sublime and adventurous music, drawn in the main from the 1591 Cantiones Sacrae collection. Throughout this series it has become evident that a comprehensive survey such as this shows the genius of the composer in a uniquely effective way: by demonstrating the extraordinary variety and unsurpassable quality of his musical and liturgical achievements. |
.jpg) Sullivan: Ivanhoecast includes Janice Watson, Toby Spence, Catherine Wyn-Rogers and Geraldine McGreevyBBC National Orchestra of Wales, David Lloyd-JonesIvanhoe, perhaps Sir Walter Scott’s most popular novel, was the perfect choice for historical opera and launched D’Oyly Carte’s ambitious English Royal Opera (now home to the Palace Theatre), where this romantic opera of three hours – ran with a double cast in one of London’s largest and most expensive theatre, on consecutive nights, for 155 performances, one of the most extraordinary runs ever achieved by any opera. This is the first professional commercial recording of Ivanhoe and features a cast, including Janice Watson, Toby Spence, Catherine Wyn-Rogers and Geraldine McGreevy. Conductor David Lloyd-Jones who has previously conducted Sullivan works makes his debut with Chandos. The work is dedicated to Richard Hickox who was instrumental in making this recording. |
 Handel - Neun Deutsche ArienEmma Kirkby (soprano), London BaroqueAmong Handel's vocal works - from the early, operatic solo cantatas to the full-blown operas and the oratorios of his London years - the Nine German Arias hold a special place. Possibly composed around the time that the composer made a final journey to Germany to take leave of his ailing mother, they were Handel's last settings of texts in his native language. It seems likely that these circumstances contributed to the intimate character of these highly personal works, in combination with the texts themselves. Emma Kirkby has chosen to combine these arias with the much earlier Gloria, discovered in 2001 and given its première recording - by Emma Kirkby herself - in the same year. As a result of the smaller forces (two violins, cello and chamber organ) employed on this re-recording of the exuberant work, the performance has a more intimate atmosphere, giving an interesting perspective on a piece which although written 300 years ago, is still a new addition to the repertoire. |
 Rachmaninov - Symphonic Dances, Isle of the Dead & The RockRoyal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vasily PetrenkoAvie’s fruitful association with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra yields its tenth release, and the third with Vasily Petrenko, the youngest Music Director in the RLPO’s illustrious history and winner of the Classic FM/Gramophone Young Artist of the Year award in 2007. A native of St. Petersburg, Petrenko appropriately continues his exploration of Russian repertoire with the first in a series of orchestral works and concertos by Sergei Rachmaninov. |
 Ceremony & Devotion - Music for the TudorsThe Sixteen, Harry ChristophersTo coincide with the tenth anniversary of the Choral Pilgrimage, Harry Christophers and The Sixteen return to the repertoire of Tudor England that made their first tour such a success. Sixteenth-century England was a place of much religious change. It was a dangerous and confusing time as Henry VIII, who had split with Rome, was succeeded by his young son Edward VI, then by the ardent Catholic, Mary, and finally by the Protestant, Elizabeth I. Composers of the day, such as William Byrd, John Sheppard and Thomas Tallis, were required to adapt to rapidly changing musical requirements and it is testament to their incredible skill and musical mastery that they produced such magnificent works in such troubled times. At the heart of this programme are Sheppard’s monumental Media vita in morte sumus and Byrd’s deeply personal setting of Infelix ego. Set amongst these exceptional masterpieces are Byrd’s joyful motets Laudibus in sanctis and Haec dies, and one of the gems of this recording – Tallis’ Miserere nostri. |
 Stravinsky - Complete Music for Violin & PianoAnthony Marwood (violin) & Thomas Adès (piano)Stravinsky’s collaboration with the violinist Samuel Dushkin was a great artistic success, generating new works for the repertoire as well as arrangements of some of the composer’s most tuneful and popular works. Of these arrangements, Dushkin wrote that Stravinsky seemed ‘to go back to the essence of the music and rewrite or recreate the music in the spirit of the new instrument’. Reviewing the current performers in The Independent, Bayan Northcott writes that ‘these are no ordinary transcriptions. In reducing items from The Firebird or The Fairy’s Kiss to the violin and piano medium, Stravinsky rethought and respaced their every chord’. In the performing partnership of Anthony Marwood and Thomas Adès, Hyperion has a combination that seems to reignite the original flames of inspiration, creation and re-creation. |
 Spohr - Symphonies Nos. 3 & 6Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Howard ShelleyHoward Shelley’s enchanting series of Spohr’s symphonies continues to inspire interest and delight in this underrated composer. By the time Spohr came to write his Third Symphony he was established in the top rank of contemporary composers. It is a richer, more romantic work than its two predecessors, both through its orchestration and the more plastic quality of its themes with their stronger flavour of poetic fantasy. It also moves a step further away from the classical ideal and nearer to a romantic freedom of form. |
 BBC Radio 3 CD ReviewSaturday 30th January 2010 |
Building a Library - Schoenberg: 5 orchestral pieces, Op. 16 |
 First ChoiceDeleted - listed here for reference only. Please see budget choice below.Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim |
 Budget ChoiceCity of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Simon Rattle |
Disc of the Week |
 Elgar: Violin Concerto in B minor, Op. 61Nikolaj Znaider (violin), Staatskapelle Dresden, Sir Colin DavisTo celebrate the 100th anniversary of the world premiere of Elgar’s Violin Concerto which took place on 10 November 1910 and was conducted by the composer himself, celebrated Danish violinist Nikolaj Znaider has recorded the concerto on the very same instrument that Kreisler performed the premiere: this is the first account on disc using this very special violin, a 1741 Guarneri del Gesu. |
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