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Presto News - 23rd August 2010Elīna Garanča goes Spanish |
 As you read this I hope to be sitting on beach on the Atlantic coast of France enjoying warm sunshine and reading a book. So it seems entirely appropriate this week to tell you about Elīna Garanča’s new album - ‘Habanera’ - which is full of the summer sun (albeit Spanish rather than French!). The disc is based loosely around gypsies and Spain, with arias from Bizet’s Carmen mixed with various zarzuela arias (the Spanish form of operetta), Spanish songs and a few other items with a gypsy or Spanish connection. It is an exciting month for fans of Latvian born mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča as next week also sees the DVD release of her triumphant Carmen from the Metropolitan Opera with Roberto Alagna as Don José.  Elīna Garanča Firstly though back to the new CD - ‘Habanera’. I think it is a brilliantly conceived album which shows off the agile and seductive voice of Garanča to the full. The repertoire is a mixture of well-known and virtually unknown and I found it particularly nice to hear some of the Zarzuela arias which I didn’t know. You can hear a lot of flamenco influence throughout this disc and the accompaniments vary between full orchestra, small ensemble and guitar. The Spanish songs by composers like Falla and Montsalvatge are also particularly effective and in places really quite beautiful. There is an exciting video trailer for you to watch on the website which the director clearly had a lot of fun making, and features amongst other things a beautiful sunset and some good footage of Garanča riding a horse! I’ve also given you a short aria from José Serrano’s zarzuela La alegría del batallón which I think typifies the general enlightening and delightful mood of this whole disc pretty well. Carmen is one of the most famous operas of all time, and there have been some great Carmens in the past, but I’m pleased to say that Garanča is right up there with the best. She sings with a seductive and alluring tone, and her technique is superb. The combination of her film star looks and her natural acting draw you into her character completely. As with any great Carmen one minute you feel you should love her, the next hate her, then you feel sorry for her, and so on. From start to finish it is a roller-coaster of emotions and by the end you feel you have been through them all. Tenor Roberto Alagna also makes an excellent Don José. I think this is one of his strongest roles and he sings with both real power and refinement. In particular he does the rage and jealousy stuff incredibly well. The performance marked Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin's Met debut and his lyrical phrasing and ability to infuse dramatic excitement are yet more reasons to buy this superb recording. This is definitely going to be one of the must-have DVDs of 2010.
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 Elīna Garanča: HabaneraElīna Garanča (mezzo), Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, Coro Filarmonico del Regio di Torino, Karel Mark Chichon
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 Bizet: Carmen - DVDElīna Garanča (Carmen), Roberto Alagna (Don José), Trevor Scheunemann (Morales), Barbara Frittoli (Micaela), Keith Miller (Zuniga), Elizabeth Caballero (Frasquita), Sandra Piques Eddy (Mercedes), Teddy Tahu Rhodes (Escamillo), Earle Patriarco (Dancaire), Keith Jameson (Remandado), Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Yannick Nézet-Séguin |
Chris O'Reilly - chris@prestoclassical.co.uk |
Watch a short video of Elīna Garanča riding a horse!
listen - José Serrano: Cancin gitana “A una gitana presiosa” (Dolores) from La alegría del batallónNew Releases23rd August 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. |
 Schumann: Spanische LiebesliederMarlis Petersen (soprano), Anke Vondung (mezzo soprano), Werner Güra (tenor), Konrad Jarnot (baritone) & Christoph Berner, Camillo Radicke (pianos)The year 1849 was one of Schumann's most prolific. The inspiration for his Opp.74 and 138 was an anthology of Spanish texts translated by Emanuel Geibel. These short love poems were ideal material for music in the tangy ‘Spanish' style tinged with the colours of central Europe. Considerably more intimate, the Minnespiel Op.101 takes us from storybook Spain to German Romanticism. |
 Lang Lang: Live In ViennaLang Lang (piano)Lang Lang’s first recording for Sony, the start of a new exclusive long-term partnership - recorded live at Vienna’s prestigious Musikverein in 2010. A staggering four different versions to choose from - Standard CD, Limited Edition Deluxe Version, DVD and Bluray - take your pick. |
 Ravel, Debussy & Dutilleux: String QuartetsArcanto QuartetAntje Weithaas, Daniel Sepec, Tabea Zimmermann and Jean-Guihen Queyras founded the Arcanto Quartet in 2002. The four musicians, who in addition to their musical affinities share a close personal friendship, quickly conquered the world of chamber music and have played all the major European venues. For their third CD for harmonia mundi they perform three French String Quartets, all by composers who wrote little chamber music. Debussy and Ravel composed their only string quartets at the start of their careers, whereas Dutilleux wrote Ainsi la nuit shortly before his 60th birthday. |
 Richard Jones: Sets of Lessons for the Harpsichord, London 1732Mitzi Meyerson (harpsichord)All we know about Richard Jones is that he was an accomplished violinist in London, who started leading the Drury Lane Orchestra in 1730. The only notice of his death was an obituary that appeared in a local newspaper in 1744. He produced two collections of sonatas for violin and basso continuo, and this volume of harpsichord works dated 1732. The American harpsichordist Mitzi Meyerson, after brilliant forays into the music of Claude-Bénigne Balbastre and Gottlieb Muffat, now presents for the first time a complete recording of Jones’ Suits or Setts of Lessons for the Harpsicord or Spinnet (sic), a collection of pieces which is English Baroque at its finest. |
 Carmina CelticaCanty, Rebecca Tavener, with William Taylor (harp)’Carmina Celtica’ features the world premiere of nine contemporary works commissioned over a decade by Canty, Scotland’s own Anonymous 4. The Ensemble blend contemporary works by Sir John Tavener and James MacMillan alongside haunting Medieval chant to create the unique and beautiful soundworld for which it is renowned. |
 Dialogues of SorrowElizabeth Kenny (lute), Gallicantus, Gabriel CrouchIn 1612, Prince Henry Frederick, son of James I and heir to the thrones of England and Scotland, died from a suspected bout of typhoid fever. His untimely death inspired a massive outpouring of artistic tributes in both verse and music, reflecting the mood of a nation mourning the loss of this popular future king at just 18 years of age. This is the second disc from early music consort group Gallicantus, joined by lutenist Elizabeth Kenny to perform works of the early 17th Century by a variety of composers. Their performances reflect the precision of Tenebrae, combined with a passion and commitment to crafting exemplary interpretations of the music they love. |
 Wagner: Der Ring des NibelungenHans Hotter, Josef Greindl, Ramón Vinay, Astrid Varnay, etc., Chor und Orchester der Bayreuther Festspiele, Clemens KraussClemens Krauss appeared for only one year at the Bayreuth Festival, yet he had conducted several Richard Strauss premières and held the reins, at the peak of his career, of both the Bavarian and Vienna State Operas as well as the Salzburg Festival. Krauss’ first Ring from 1953 should have been the beginning of a magnificent era; that it was not was due to his tragic death in Mexico the following spring. |
 Richard Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos - DVDThe Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, James Levine (conductor) & Laurie Feldman (stage director)Recorded in 2003 at New York’s Metropolitan Opera, this sumptuous production of Ariadne auf Naxos presents divas Deborah Voigt and Natalie Dessay in the contrasting roles which embody the opera’s themes. Two of today’s reigning sopranos – Deborah Voigt and Natalie Dessay – embody the contrasting philosophies at the heart of Ariadne auf Naxos: the deserted princess Ariadne, a ‘one-man woman’ who believes in loyalty unto death, and the flirtatious comedienne Zerbinetta, who takes a more pragmatic attitude to love and to life. |
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