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Presto News - 19th September 2011Wagner’s Flying Dutchman starts PentaTone’s 10th anniversary celebrations |
 Normally when a record label reaches an anniversary they have small party or they release a specially priced series or box set celebrating some of their great recordings. When I asked Giel Bessels of PentaTone what he was planning to do to mark his label’s 10th anniversary this year he looked at me, and (with a straight face) said “We are planning to record all ten major operas of Richard Wagner for the first time using the same orchestra, choir and conductor and in SACD”. Wow! That is some undertaking, and he wasn’t joking!  Albert Dohmen and Ricarda Merbeth The project has been made possible as the Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin under its Music Director Marek Janowski decided to programme all ten operas in concert performances over three seasons leading up to the composer’s bicentenary in 2013. Janowski, who made the first all-digital recording of the Ring cycle with the Dresden Staatskapelle back in the early 1980s, needs no introduction to Wagner enthusiasts. That cycle still competes with the finest on disc, with great singers supported by superb orchestral playing and supremely well thought-out reading from Janowski. Today sees the release of the first of those ten operas – Der fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman) taken from a live performance last November. This will be followed by Die Meistersinger before Christmas, and Parsifal in the new year, with the remainder to follow before the end of 2013. I’ve been enjoying Der fliegende Holländer very much. Matti Salminen (who made a formidable Hagen in Janowski’s early Ring recording) is now in his sixties but still excels as a first-rate Daland, while Albert Dohmen’s rich baritone gives a convincing and anguished Dutchman. I didn’t really warm to Ricarda Merbeth’s Senta but it is still a commanding performance. Where this set really scores highly though is in the orchestral playing and choral singing. The balance between soloists, chorus and orchestra is ideal, as is the instrumental balance within the orchestra itself. Janowski pays great attention to detail and you hear all the inner lines, yet it never sounds academic and from the opening storm scene in the overture it is clear that this will be a performance full of orchestral sweep and dramatic power, and it doesn’t disappoint. This is a great start then to what looks set to become a notable addition to the Wagner discographies, and as usual you can listen to sound samples via the links below. As an additional way to mark the 10 year anniversary, PentaTone are also releasing a box set of ‘The first 10 years’. Taking a recording from each year of PentaTone’s existence, it includes some really noteworthy recordings such as the Julia Fischer Russian Violin Concertos disc, and the Janowski Bruckner 7. The whole label is of course entirely committed to SACD (Super Audio CD) which, if you have the equipment to play them, allows you to benefit from both surround sound and a higher quality audio. It is a notable improvement on what normal CD offers, but rest assured all PentaTone discs also work as normal (stereo) CDs as well. We’re thrilled to be offering 20% off the whole label at the moment, and with other recent successes including an ongoing Tchaikovsky Symphony cycle from the Russian National Orchestra and Mikhail Pletnev and a Bruckner 7 from Janowski, it is a good time to explore the label in more depth.
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 Wagner: Der fliegende HolländerAlbert Dohmen (Der Holländer), Ricarda Merbeth (Senta), Matti Salminen (Daland), Robert Dean Smith (Erik), Silvia Hablowetz (Mary), Steve Davislim (Steuermann), Rundfunkchor Berlin & Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Marek Janowski |
 Pentatone: The First Ten YearsThis is a box with 10 SACDs to celebrate PentaTone's 10th anniversary. From each year of PentaTone's existence we have taken one SA-CD. Not necessarily the best sellers and award winners, but a fine selection presenting as much as possible all the artists PentaTone is/has been working with. |
Chris O'Reilly - chris@prestoclassical.co.uk |
Listen - sound samples available for this itemNew Releases19th September 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. |
 Purcell: Twelve Sonatas of three parts (1683)Retrospect TrioThis second Purcell release by Retrospect Trio has been hotly anticipated since its debut recording, a Finalist at the 2009 Gramophone Awards, was released; BBC Music Magazine described the follow up as “a mouth-watering matter of urgency." |
 Brahms: Symphonies Nos. 1-4 (Complete)Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, David ZinmanNew York born David Zinman is one of the most internationally recognized conductors of his generation and is the chief conductor and artistic director of the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich. This cycle of the complete Brahms Symphonies (Symphonies 1-4) was recorded during April 2010 in Tonhalle, Zurich, which is famous for its superb acoustic qualities. |
 Anne-Sophie Mutter plays Rihm, Penderecki & CurrierAnne-Sophie Mutter (violin), New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Alan Gilbert and Michael FrancisA new album featuring world-premiere recordings of two new works written for Mutter: Wolfgang Rihm’s Lichtes Spiel and Sebastian Currier’s Time Machines, recorded with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.
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 Mozart: DissonancesQuatuor ÉbèneThe Ébène Quartet’s fourth Virgin Classics release brings works that lie close to the origins of string-quartet writing – Mozart’s so-called ‘Haydn Quartets’. “It’s such amazing music, so rich and filled with such subtlety; completely unpretentious, yet of such genius,” says the Ébène’s first violin, Pierre Colombet. |
 Mozart: Clarinet Concerto & QuintetSharon Kam (clarinet/director), Isabelle van Keulen & Ulrike-Anima Mathé (violin), Volker Jacobsen (viola) & Gustav Rivinius (cello), Austro-Hungarian Haydn PhilharmonieAward winning clarinettist Sharon Kam plays on a basset-clarinet in these new beautiful recordings of two of the finest works in the Clarinet repertoire.
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 Pierre-Laurent Aimard: The Liszt ProjectPierre-Laurent Aimard (piano)Pierre-Laurent Aimard honours Franz Liszt’s 200th birthday (October 22, 1811) with his most ambitious recording for Deutsche Grammophon to date. In this extensive 2-CD set, Aimard juxtaposes a selection of Liszt’s works with compositions by Liszt’s contemporaries and successors who were inspired by the Hungarian composer. Recorded live in Vienna’s Konzerthaus over two evenings, Pierre-Laurent Aimard’s Liszt project is a pinnacle of the Liszt Year commemorations. |
 Franck & Ysaÿe: Works for Piano and CelloAlexander Kniazev (cello) & Plamena Mangova (piano)After years of fruitful cooperation with Evgeni Kissin, Nikolaï Luganski and Boris Berezovski, Alexander Kniazev has found in Plamena Mangova a worthy partner for this tribute to the Franco-Belgian school, and in particular to the outstanding violinist Eugène Ysaÿe. Ysaÿe, to whom the César Franck Sonata was dedicated and who created it, enjoyed playing the cello –and did so very competently – when he played music at home with friends. |
 Il Progetto Vivaldi 2Sol Gabetta (cello), Cappella Gabetta, Andres GabettaOn the new album, entitled Il Progetto Vivaldi 2, Sol Gabetta and Cappella Gabetta perform beautiful Italian cello concertos. Three deservedly popular concertos composed by Antonio Vivaldi are coupled with a rarely recorded sonata by Vivaldi and a charming cello concerto by Leonardo Leo, a Neapolitan composer. The CD also includes a world premiere recording, a cello concerto by Giovanni Benedetto Platti, an Italian composer who worked in Germany between 1730 and 1763. |
Watch - Video trailer available for this item BBC Radio 3 CD ReviewSaturday 17th September 2011 |
Building a Library - Haydn: Symphony No. 100 in G major 'Military' |
 First ChoiceOrchestra of St. Lukes, Sir Charles Mackerras |
Disc of the Week |
 Clara and Robert Schumann: PortraitsMiah Persson (soprano) & Joseph Breinl (piano) |
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