Beethoven: Ah! Perfido, Op. 65

This recording of a live performance of music by the young Beethoven – his first operatic, symphonic and concert masterpieces – features one of the best of the newer ensembles on the international scene, Le Cercle de L’Harmonie under its conductor Jérémie Rhorer. The lively and innovative programme includes the early dramatic scene “Ah Perfido”, the concert aria “No non turbati”, “O wär’ ich schon mit dir verein” (an aria from the first version of Fidelio, which was titled “Leonore”), as well as his First Symphony, and the first of the two Romances for violin and orchestra.

Formed in April 2005 in Deauville by Jeremy Rhorer and Julien Chauvin (first violin), le Cercle de l’Harmonie soon established itself as a significant force in the performance of great symphonic and operatic repertoires of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. The ensemble is now invited to appear at major venues – including London’s Barbican Hall in June – and with artists such as Diana Damrau and Philippe Jaroussky, with whom it has recorded two CDs for Virgin Classics. This, the first in a series of productions for Ambroisie, presents Jérémie Rhorer’s first recording of works by Beethoven.

Today the music of Beethoven is regarded as a remarkable link in the chain of evolution of Western music, a judgement that is based mainly on the pieces he composed after 1800. However there was in his artistic development a transitional period, around the turn of the century, when the works he composed appear to belong to the Classical tradition while presenting ideas that were to be developed later. This recording features the major works of that period, the Symphony No. 1 in C major, and the Romance for violin and orchestra in F major, op. 50. There are also three vocal works on the disc, the aria “O wär’ ich schon mit dir verein” from “Leonore”, the first version of Beethoven’s only opera “Fidelio”, the dramatic scene “Ah Perfido”, and the concert aria “No non turbati”.

The Dutch soprano Gré Brouwenstijn has long been held in the highest esteem within her own country, and within a circle of vocal connoisseurs, for the fearless vibrancy of her approach to the great hochdramatisch soprano roles, without ever compromising the standards and ideals of vocal beauty: hers is a voice of great strength and flexibility, fully able to meet the challenge of projecting both the scale and drama of Wagner’s heroines while also inhabiting their more intimate confessions.

Brouwenstijn made precious few recordings – most of what is left to us now derives from private tapes or radio archives of live performances – but this compilation of two studio sessions (from 1954 and 1956) catches her in her vocal prime. The big numbers from Wagner’s early dramas (Tannhäuser, Lohengrin, Der fliegende Holländer) are included, as well as Wagner’s own leaping-off points in Beethoven (‘Ah, perfido!’) and Weber (Der Freischütz). To finish, there’s a selection of mature Verdi, including ‘Tu che la vanità’ (Don Carlo) and ‘Pace, pace, mio Dio!’ (La forza del destino). This is an unmissable release for anyone in love with the art of the soprano voice.

Includes appreciation of Brouwenstijn by the writer and opera director Mike Ashman.

Shortly after completing his breathtaking Fifth Symphony, Beethoven composed incidental music for Goethe’s drama, Egmont.

While the Overture is well known, the remaining movements deserve no less attention as they chart the tragic course of Count Egmont’s rebellion against the Spanish occupation of the Netherlands and his ill-fated love for Clara, whose suicide Beethoven movingly portrays.

Two Marches, composed at around the same time, and his concert aria Ah! perfido, written a decade earlier, complement one of Beethoven’s most effective theatrical scores.

Signum’s third disc with the London Chamber orchestra captures more of their thrilling live concerts from their residence of St John’s, Smith Square, London. The London Chamber Orchestra, the UK's oldest chamber orchestra, has nurtured the new and paid homage to the traditional for 88 years. For 22 years, as Principal Conductor and Music Director, Christopher Warren-Green has brought together the inspirational musicians and repertoire for which LCO is renowned. The remarkable acoustic and intimate ambience of St. John's, Smith Square, its London home, enable LCO, the only chamber orchestra resident in London, to give vibrant performances and establish a close rapport with its audiences. The recordings on the LCO Live label, in partnership with Signum Classics, are the result of this happy marriage of orchestra and venue. Featuring renowned soprano Susan Gritton, this disc includes arias from Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro and Beethoven’s song Ah! Perfido.

Hillevi Martinpelto sings ten arias by a variety of composers from Verdi to Wagner. All of the arias have been performed by the soprano on various opera stages in Sweden, and here she showcases her favourites in a new disc for Swedish Society.