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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Berlioz: Harold en Italie, Op. 16
Bruno Pasquier (violin) & Jean-François Heisser (piano) “Liszt's resourceful transcription of Berlioz's orchestral masterpiece is certainly worth hearing, though the recorded balance lessens the overall impact.” BBC Music Magazine, June 2009 *** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Berlioz: Harold en Italie
"Tabea Zimmermann is superb … Another triumph" Record of the Month Gramophone “Yet again Sir Colin Davis demonstrates his mastery as a Berlioz interpreter. It's fascinating to compare this latest version of Harold en Italie with his 1975 Philips version with Nobuko Imai as soloist, and the 1962 HMV one, no longer available, with Yehudi Menuhin.
Most noticeable is the extra tautness of Davis's interpretation, with speeds consistently faster, sometimes markedly so. The textures are sparer, sharper and lighter, bringing an extra incisiveness all round. The soloist, the magnificent Tabea Zimmermann, is balanced as part of the orchestra instead of being spotlit. The beauty of her tone, with its nut-brown colours on the C-string, is never masked, but at the other end of the spectrum the balance allows pianissimos of a delicacy never achieved by the excellent Nobuko Imai, even though she may well have been playing just as quietly, or by the relaxed and rich-toned Menuhin, who prefers lyrical expansion to urgency.
The fierceness of the Allegros, with their quirky bursts of high dynamic contrasts, is enhanced on the new disc. The first movement, 'Harold in the Mountains', is markedly faster and tauter this time (some 2'30" shorter than with Menuhin), and the more flowing speed for the second movement, 'Pilgrims' March', establishes the feeling of a procession, with the surprisingly gentle dynamic markings meticulously observed. Though the third movement 'Serenade' the skipping rhythms are infectious, with dotted rhythms sparklingly pointed by the oboists at the start, and the 'Brigands' Orgy' of the finale clearly gains in dramatic flair from the extra incisiveness.
The Ballet Music, taken from Davis's prizewinning LSO Live version of Les troyens makes an atmospheric bonus.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 “Davis again demonstrate here his supreme mastery as a Berlioz interpreter...[Zimmermann] is rightly balanced as part of the orchestra instead of being spotlit” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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“the inner movements flow beautifully, while the outer ones are fleet and exciting” Classics Today “Mehta's disc shows him at the height of his powers and belongs in any Berlioz lover's collection” International Record Review | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | David Oistrakh Conducts
The great violinist David Oistrakh realised his ambition to conduct in 1961and from then until his last concert in Moscow in 1974, combined solo and conducting work. A Viennese newspaper wrote “A world-known violinist being a top-class conductor at the same time is an extraordinary phenomenon.” | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Berlioz: Les Nuits d'Été & Harold in Italy
On this new period instrument recording of “Les Nuits d’Été” and the symphony “Harold in Italy” by Hector Berlioz, from the award winning musical director Marc Minkowski and Les Musiciens du Louvre-Grenoble, the featured soloists are two of the leading exponents of their art in recent years, the mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter and the viola player Antoine Tamestit. Marc Minkowski is one of the most important conductors to have emerged since the 1990s. Over the last two decades he has carved out a niche for himself in the lesser-known works of the French and Italian Baroque. He began his career as a bassoonist, becoming a baroque specialist during his tenure with such ensembles as Les Arts Florissants, the Clemencic Consort of Vienna, and La Chapelle Royale. After taking first prize at the first International Early Music Competition in Bruges (1984), Minkowski founded his own early instrument ensemble, Les Musiciens du Louvre, with which he has made the bulk of his recordings. Born in Sweden, Anne Sofie von Otter’s studies began in Stockholm and continued with Vera Rozsa at London’s Guildhall before she became a principal artist of the Basel Opera from where an international career, which has now spanned more than two decades, was launched. Equally active in opera, concert, recital and recording and noted as one of the most versatile artists of her generation Anne Sofie von Otter appears regularly on the world’s major stages and boasts an unrivalled discography. Antoine Tamestit was a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist between 2004 and 2006. During this period he made several solo and concerto recordings for the radio with BBC orchestras throughout the UK, and recitals engagements, including his debut performance at London’s Wigmore Hall in October 2005. In 2008 he won the prestigious Credit Suisse award. “Though the sound of Les Musiciens in full flight is a blast, the most seductive moments in Marc Minkowski's X-rated Berlioz are found in the catch of a breath or the faint purr of a pianissimo double-bass.” The Independent on Sunday, 13th November 2011 “the performance at times acquires the quality of chamber music. Whether that is what Berlioz, who had a weakness for huge orchestras, would have wanted is another matter, but it is a welcome change...von Otter is inevitably more coarse-grained than she was on her earlier recording of the songs with James Levine and the Berlin Philharmonic in the mid-1990s, but Minkowski folds the accompaniments around her so delicately, it seems buoyant and fresh.” The Guardian, 24th November 2011 **** “these Berlioz performances capitalise on the clarity of texture and tonality that the “period” instruments of Les Musiciens du Louvre Grenoble can so effectively conjure up...the glint to the orchestral sonority that Berlioz’s clever manipulation of his instrumental forces could so distinctively elicit is given an extra sparkle, limpidity and freshness.” The Telegraph, 1st December 2011 **** “Berlioz's orchestration is rendered with such clarity of definition in terms of individual and blended instrumental colours, and...the partnership between orchestra and the solo viola is on a more equal footing than can sometimes be the norm...Tamestit's viola, warm of tone and expressively malleable as it is in his hands, cuts a dash as the music's Romantic hero...von Otter's mature insight...[is] matched by the orchestra's eloquent, atmospheric, limpid support.” Gramophone Magazine, February 2012 “Minkowski gives [Harold] an energetic, crisp, emphatic reading. The sinewy sound of the Louvre players' period instruments, though, lends it a rougher, almost folkier texture, against which the viola's individual voice stands out more sharply than usual...von Otter, less bright than in her previous recording, has gained depth of feeling and soaring, plangent tone to become a worthy match for Janet Baker and Regine Crespin” BBC Music Magazine, March 2012 ***** “this performance enables Antoine Tamestit’s every inflection to be felt over the startingly translucent sonorities of Marc Minkowski’s Musiciens du Louvre. Berlioz’s flair as an orchestrator gains so much from using period instruments. This disc sounds stunning...von Otter’s voice never feels strained over such a carefully balanced accompaniment...These are the most enjoyable versions of both works I’ve heard in years” The Arts Desk, 18th February 2012 “[Tamestit] catches well the balance between the solo aspects of his role and integration within the programmatic surroundings, but self-effacement sometimes inclines too far towards anonymity...[von Otter's] forlorn sense of loss and regret conjures rare intimacy and intensity, admirably supported by the delicacy and colour of the orchestra. The winning subtlety of the vocal items readily transports the disc into the must-hear category.” International Record Review, February 2012 “I’m happy to be able to report to anyone wanting a version of this work on period instruments that this new recording should more than meet their needs. Minkowski conducts with flair and his orchestra is excellent...This is one of the most stimulating Berlioz releases that I’ve heard in recent years.” MusicWeb International, May 2012  BBC Music Magazine
Orchestral Choice - March 2012 |
| | | (also available to download from $10.50) | Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days. (Available now to download.) |
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| |  | Berlioz: Harold in Italy
For his second CD release, 25-year-old, New York-born violist David Aaron Carpenter is joined by Vladimir Ashkenazy who leads the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. Together they perform the Symphony with Viola obbligato, “Harold in Italy,” which Hector Berlioz originally wrote on a commission from Paganini. The present recording features, for the first time, an unpublished more virtuosic soloist part written for Paganini. The coupling is a showpiece, which Nicolò Paganini wrote after rejecting his earlier Berlioz commission; “The Sonata per la Gran Viola displays the highest virtuosic writing for this instrument,” says David Aaron Carpenter, who defines his mission as focusing attention on the viola as a great solo string instrument in its own right. Recipient of the 2011 Leonard Bernstein Award and winner of the 2010 Avery Fisher Career Grant, David Aaron Carpenter has emerged as one of the world’s most promising young artists. In 2006, he won the prestigious Walter E. Naumburg Viola Competition and in 2007, he became protégé for The Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, being the youngest in this mentorship programme’s history. David Aaron Carpenter has been the protégé of several major international musical figures, such as Pinchas Zukerman, Yuri Bashmet and Christoph Eschenbach. “the undisputed star is the first recording of the more virtuosic, original version of Harold in Italy which is fully exploited by Carpenter's beguiling, beautiful tone and thrilling technique. The orchestra is no bit-part player here; Ashkenazy's ensemble throughout makes this an outstanding collaboration.” Classic FM Magazine, December 2011 **** “Carpenter rises to all the challenges with great dexterity, preserving fine tone and pure intonation in the most (for the viola player) alarming situations...the performance of Harold, too, has much to recommend it - a fine-toned soloist, rhythmic, well-balanced orchestral playing and clear, bright recording. There are some especially imaginative touches of tone-painting” Gramophone Magazine, December 2011 “The excellent violist David Aaron Carpenter has reinstated a virtuoso passage in the opening adagio, originally sketched for Paganini. With Ashkenazy and the Helsinki PO, he gives a masterly account of the work, glowing and incisive.” Sunday Times, 16th October 2011 “Carpenter is the eloquent viola soloist in Berlioz’s Byronic symphony...[Ashkenazy and the Helsinki orchestra ] reveal the music’s narrative heart compellingly. Paganini’s own Sonata for viola and orchestra, scarcely on a par with Berlioz, nevertheless allows Carpenter to demonstrate his lyrical musicality and bravura.” The Telegraph, 22nd September 2011 **** | | | (also available to download from $10.50) | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. (Available now to download.) |
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| |  | Berlioz - Harold in Italy
Berlioz: | Harold en Italie, Op. 16 Jean-Eric Soucy (viola) |
plus Orchestral Highlights from Operas (Faust & Les Troyens)
Sylvian Camberling has established himself as being sympathetic to Berlioz’s music; his recordings and concert performances of his works have been enthusiastically received. A new recording of Harold en Italie, coupled with some of Berlioz’s favourite orchestral works from his operas. “…a dramatic, almost operatic performance of Berlioz's post-Byronic symphony-concerto… Jean-Éric Soucy exhibits a stronger personality than some more famous Harolds on record. …Cambreling proves himself a born Berliozian, bringing to fresh life the composer's characteristically bold colours, restless cross-rhythms and daring metrical layerings, before driving the Roman Carnival-esque Brigands's Orgy to a truly Allegro frenetico finish.” BBC Music Magazine, March 2010 **** | | | (also available to download from $10.50) | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. (Available now to download.) |
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| |  | Igor Markevitch conducts Berlioz & Beethoven
The Berlin Philharmonic and Lamoureux Orchestra are conducted by Igor Markevitch in 1956 and 1957. | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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Produced by François Duplat; editing by Toby Trotter;
directed for video by Andy Sommer | | | Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days. |
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| |  | The William Primrose Collection, Volume 4
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