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Presto News - 28th February 2011Tomás Luis de Victoria |
 2011 marks the 400th anniversary of the death of Tomás Luis de Victoria and is therefore perhaps a good time to both re-evaluate his importance and introduce his music to new audiences. The vocal group ‘The Sixteen’ under Harry Christophers certainly think so as they’re spending most of the year touring the UK performing his music, and in preparation for that have recently released a new CD on their own label Coro – titled ‘Hail, Mother of the Redeemer’.  Tomás Luis de Victoria As the title suggests the music was all written in honour of the Virgin Mary. The centrepiece is the magnificent Missa Alma Redemptoris Mater, but the whole disc is full of sublime and beautiful music. This is the fifth disc of Victoria’s music that The Sixteen have recorded and considering that he wrote only a fifth of the quantity of music that his more famous contemporary Palestrina wrote (Lassus wrote even more), you perhaps start to appreciate the very high quality of his relatively small output. Victoria was undoubtedly the greatest composer of the Spanish sixteenth-century ‘golden age’ of polyphonic music. Born in Avila in 1548, he was perhaps fortunate to live at the height of the Counter-Reformation. This was a time of great vitality for the Roman Catholic Church and a time when composers and musicians played a prominent role within it. It is therefore perhaps not surprising that, unlike many of his contemporaries, he published only sacred music. Victoria spent much of his working life in Rome and this seems to have given him an almost unique compositional voice. Soaking up the Italian traditions in Rome means that his polyphonic writing and counterpoint is immaculate, giving his music a real polish and refinement. However, never far from the surface are his Iberian roots, full of fire, and giving his music a real richness and full-bloodedness. The Sixteen’s new CD is, as usual, beautifully sung and superbly recorded. They maintain the purity and reverence that this music demands but never shy away from bringing a particularly expressive voice or moment to the fore. They clearly enjoy the richness of this music, while Harry Christophers shapes and moulds both the individual phrases and the larger structures in a hugely impressive way. There is much to enjoy here, and if you’re keen to explore Victoria’s music beyond this disc you’ll be pleased to hear that The Sixteen have also re-packaged their previous four Victoria discs into a single bargain priced box. We’re currently offering 20% off everything on the Sixteen’s label ‘Coro’ so there has never been a better time to explore both Victoria and some of the other wonderful recordings that this top-notch ensemble have made.
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 Hail, Mother of the RedeemerThe Sixteen, Harry Christophers |
 The Victoria CollectionThe Sixteen, Harry Christophers |
Chris O'Reilly - chris@prestoclassical.co.uk |
New Releases28th February 2011 |
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. |
 Ravel: The complete solo piano musicSteven Osborne (piano)New releases of Steven Osborne’s best-selling discs have become some of the most eagerly-awaited events in the pianophile diary. This most delicate and subtle of musicians also displays a pyrotechnical deployment of digital acrobatics, mesmerising colour control and breathtaking articulation. All these qualities are visible in this two-disc set of some of the most important piano music of the early twentieth century. Ravel’s works have been central, too, to Steven Osborne’s performing repertoire throughout his career, making this set a perfect marriage of composer and performer. |
 Brahms: Violin Concerto & String Sextet No. 2Isabelle Faust (violin), Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Daniel Harding“Her performance is wonderfully proportioned...never grandiose nor unnecessarily rhetorical, with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra supplying perfectly scaled support...those who prefer [their Brahms] expressively searching and introspective should love it, with the bonus of the delicate and deft account of the Sextet.” The Guardian |
 Bach, J S: St John Passion, BWV245Mark Padmore (Evangelist), Hanno Müller-Brachmann (Jesus), Peter Harvey (Pilatus), Joanna Lunn & Katharine Fuge (sopranos), Bernarda Fink (alto), The Monteverdi Choir & The English Baroque Soloists, Sir John Eliot GardinerRecorded in Königslutter in 2003, this album features internationally acclaimed soloists including Mark Padmore, Hanno Müller-Brachmann, Peter Harvey and Bernarda Fink. Considered to be an expressive and intimate oratorio, the St John Passion was conceived by Bach both as a work of art and an act of worship in itself. |
 Walton: Belshazzar’s Feast & Symphony No. 1Peter Coleman-Wright (baritone), London Symphony Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin DavisIn 2006 LSO Live released Walton’s First Symphony conducted by Sir Colin Davis. The disc received widespread acclaim – it was an Editor’s Choice in Gramophone and voted CD of the Year by listeners of BBC Radio 3 CD Review. It is now being re-released, coupled with a new recording of Walton’s spectacular oratorio Belshazzar’s Feast. |
 Berlioz: Symphonie FantastiqueRotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Yannick Nézet-SéguinIn a very short time, Yannick Nézet-Séguin has become one of the most sought-after young conductors in the world, popular with orchestras and audiences alike. Recently named as Music Director Designate of the Philadelphia Orchestra, he succeeded Valery Gergiev as Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra in 2008. He is also Chief Guest Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. For the first of four projected discs with BIS, Nézet-Séguin and his Rotterdam players have recorded Hector Berlioz’ masterpiece Symphonie fantastique, in a full-blooded and luxurious performance which at the same time respects the work’s classical proportions. |
 Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vasily PetrenkoThis is the fifth disc in Vasily Petrenko’s fantastic Shostakovich cycle, which is continuing to take critics by storm. Shostakovich’s First Symphony propelled the teenage composer to international prominence, its emotional range and innovative orchestration marking him as a daring and precocious talent on the scene. The Third Symphony, ‘The First of May’, originally intended as part of a symphonic cycle inspired by dates on the revolutionary calendar, has been described as ‘a reckless and at times chaotic accommodation between modernist intent and revolutionary fervour’. |
 Vincent d’Indy - Orchestral Works Volume 4Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Rumon GambaD’Indy was a contemporary of Debussy and Ravel, and a pupil of César Franck. Fauré described him as ‘The Samson of Music’ for his multifarious and generous-minded work as a composer, conductor, educator, and propagandist who greatly strengthened French musical culture. With a style essentially eclectic and strongly influenced above all by Beethoven and Wagner, d’Indy particularly excelled in orchestral composition. |
 Verdi: Four Sacred Pieces & Hymn of the NationsBarbara Frittoli (soprano) & Francesco Meli (tenor), Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro Regio, Torino, Gianandrea NosedaThis is a recording of rarely heard choral works by Verdi, performed by all-Italian forces – the Orchestra and Chorus of Teatre Regio in Turin, with the soloists Barbara Frittoli and Francesco Meli, under the conductor Gianandrea Noseda, an exclusive Chandos artist – for totally idiomatic results. |
Listen - sound samples available for this item BBC Radio 3 CD ReviewSaturday 26th February 2011 |
Building a Library - Recent Bruckner Recordings |
 Bruckner: Symphony No. 5 in B flat majorLeipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Herbert Blomstedt |
 Bruckner: Symphony No. 5 in B flat majorSymphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Bernard Haitink |
 Bruckner: Symphony No. 2 in C Minor(1877 version, ed. Leopold Nowak)Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Thomas Dausgaard |
 Bruckner: Symphony No. 8 in C minor(Live recording, Munich, Herkulessaal 12th May 1977)Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Rafael Kubelík |
 Bruckner: Symphony No. 8 in C minorBerliner Philharmoniker, Klaus Tennstedt |
 Bruckner: Symphony No. 8 in C minor(in its "third version" in the Robert Haas edition of 1939)Staatskapelle Dresden, Christian Thielemann |
 Bruckner: Symphony No. 8 in C minor(1890 version)Orchestra de la Suisse Romande, Marek Janowski |
Disc of the Week |
 Mozart: Keyboard Music Volume 2Kristian Bezuidenhout (fortepiano) |
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