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Presto News - 16th May 2011Martha Argerich |
 I’m thrilled this week to have an excuse to talk about one of my all-time musical heroines – the Argentine pianist Martha Argerich. She turns seventy in a few weeks, and is widely regarded as one of (if not ‘the’) greatest living pianists, with a winning combination of complete technical mastery, a wonderful piano sound full of colours, clarity and dramatic range, and a natural musicianship which while sounding spontaneous and instinctive always feels somehow ‘right’. She seems to have stopped giving solo recitals, and new recordings are few and far between but she is far from retired, with regular concerto performances and an annual festival in Switzerland keeping her far more busy than she says she’d like to be!  Martha Argerich Born in Buenos Aires, she began playing the piano before her third birthday, gave her first concert at the age of eight and moved to Europe aged fourteen to study with Friedrich Gulda in Austria. She won a number of competitions but her big break came in 1965 when at the age of 24 she won the seventh International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. She made her first record the following year and since then has made numerous award-winning recordings for Philips, DG and EMI. She is much loved by both conductors and chamber musicians who describe her warmth and honesty of approach. The French Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin talks of feeling ‘blessed’ every time he works with her, whilst cellist Mischa Maisky talks about an instant rapport where they anticipate and react to each other in a way which gives them both total freedom. Although Argerich doesn’t teach, she does a tremendous amount to nurture and encourage young musicians through her annual appearances ‘with friends’ at the Lugano Festival in Switzerland. Over the last ten years these have been regularly issued be EMI, and with their varied programmes and mixtures of established stars and emerging talents they provide a tremendous way of discovering a wide range of repertoire and artists at a bargain price. To mark her seventieth birthday both EMI and Decca have produced new box sets of her recordings. The three new sets on EMI which make up their ‘Martha Argerich Edition’ comprise all her recordings for the label (apart from the Lugano ones), and are nicely divided between concertos, chamber music and solo & duo. The new set from Decca (following on from the three on DG) comprises her complete Philips recordings and includes some now legendary recordings such as Rachmaninov Third Concerto with Riccardo Chailly. All these sets were terrific value already, but we’re really pleased to be able to offer them along with the Lugano ones for a limited time at discounts of up to 50% off. There are a total of 17 different Argerich boxes to choose from and some absolute bargains within. Enjoy!
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Chris O'Reilly - chris@prestoclassical.co.uk |
New Releases16th May 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. |
 Yakov Kreizberg conducts StravinskyMonte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra, Yakov KreizbergFounded in 1856, the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra swelled in size to 100 members under conductor Marek Janowski. At the beginning of the 2009 season, the late and much missed Yakov Kreizberg became the orchestra’s Artistic and Musical Director and this recording of Stravinsky’s ballet music shows his wonderful contribution to the orchestra. |
 Byrd: Complete Consort MusicPhantasmThis new recording is the only complete collection of William Byrd’s consort music and includes new hymn settings that are premiere recordings. William Byrd, who studied under Thomas Tallis, was the most celebrated Elizabethan composer of Renaissance consort music, English song, masses, Latin motets and keyboard works. Byrd’s viol music is polyphonic and full of melancholy. The performances bring out the rich, overlapping textures of the compositions creating a mesmerising sound. |
 Berlioz: La Damnation de Faust, Op. 24Charlotte Margiono (soprano), Vinson Cole (tenor), Thomas Quasthoff (baritone) & Jaco Huijpen (bass), The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra & The Netherlands Radio Choir, Bernard HaitinkThis memorable performance of Berlioz’s masterpiece The Damnation of Faust was recorded in 1999, and is being released for the first time on CD to support the campaign against the Dutch government’s plans to abolish the Muziekcentrum van de Omroep (MCO) and its orchestras – which include the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic. The conductor is the legendary Bernard Haitink, who began his career with the orchestra, and the soloists include Vinson Cole and Thomas Quastoff. |
 Lise de la Salle plays LisztLise de la Salle’s sixth recording for Naïve comes a year after the release of her highly-praised disc of Chopin. Once again it is dedicated to a composer with an anniversary being celebrated – Franz Liszt, who was born 200 years ago. The CD includes original works such as his Ballade No. 2 and Funérailles, as well as some of Liszt’s numerous arrangements of music by other composers including Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, and Wagner. |
 Harp Fantasies and ImpromptusLavinia Meijer (harp)On her third CD for Channel Classics, the harpist Lavinia Meijer (28) has brought together popular Fantasies and Impromptus by Spohr, Fauré, Pierné, Saint-Saëns, Roussel and Glière. Added to these are world premieres on CD of two completely forgotten harpist composers: Johannes Snoer (1868-1936) and Gabriel Verdalle (1845-1912). |
 Birtwistle: Night’s Black BirdOwen Slade (tuba), The Hallé Orchestra, Ryan WigglesworthBirtwistle is a composer associated with works of forceful and monolithic grandeur so some of you may be surprised by the otherworldly and subtle sound-world of the orchestral works on this new recording. The Shadow of Night is a slow nocturne, exploring the world of melancholy, inspired by the composer’s life-long fascination with Dürer’s engraving Melencolia I, and Night’s Black Bird (commissioned by the Roche Foundation) continues with the same reflective musical imagery. The Cry of Anubis, part tuba concerto, part tone poem, grew out of Birtwistle’s fascination with Anubis, the jackal-headed god of the necropolis in Egyptian mythology who played an important part in Birtwistle’s surreal recent opera The Second Mrs Kong (1993-94). |
 Beethoven: String Quartets Nos. 3, 5 and 16Artemis QuartetWith this release of two early quartets and his last completed quartet, the Artemis Quartet rounds off its Beethoven cycle for Virgin Classics. “His music speaks to every era,” they say, “It is a perfect dialogue between tradition and modernity, and between intellectual refinement and raw emotion”. |
 Brilliant Classics7 new releasesSome terrific releases from Brilliant Classics this month, including a disc of Respighi works for Piano and Orchestra, Alexander Rudin playing Tchaikovsky's Complete Works for Cello and Orchestra and a 3 disc re-issue of Ensemble Gilles Binchois Machaut recordings. |
 BBC Radio 3 CD ReviewSaturday 14th May 2011 |
Building a Library - Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 17 in G major, K453 |
 First Choice(coupled with Piano Concertos Nos. 14 & 21)Maria Joao Pires (piano), Wiener Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado |
Disc of the Week |
 Lully: BellérophonCyril Auvity (Bellérophon), Céline Scheen (Philonoé), Ingrid Perruche (Sténobeé), Jennifer Borghi (Argie/Pallas), Evgeniy Alexiev (Pan/Jobate-Le Roy), Jean Teitgen (Apollon/Amisodar) & Robert Getchell (Bacchis/La Pythie) Chamber Choir of Namur & Les Talens Lyriques, Christophe Rousset |
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