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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Mendelssohn: Christus & Cantates Chorales
Award-winning choral group Accentus and its musical director Laurence Equilbey are joined on this new recording of some of Felix Mendelssohn’s sacred choral works by one of the most acclaimed sopranos of recent years, Sandrine Piau. The disc also features tenor Robert Getchell, baritone Markus Butter, and the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris. The main works are the unfinished oratorio Christus, and the cantatas O Haupt Voll Blut und Wunden and Vom Himmel Hoch. Founded by its current director Laurence Equilbey, Accentus is a professional chamber choir which regularly appears in leading concert halls and festivals around the world. The group collaborates regularly with prestigious conductors and orchestras, notably Pierre Boulez, Christoph Eschenbach, the Orchestre de Paris, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Concerto Köln, and Akademie für Alte Musik. The group’s recordings which include the best seller ‘Transcriptions’, Haydn’s Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross, Fauré’s Requiem, and ‘Strauss a cappella’ have received many awards from the international press. Accentus records exclusively for Naïve, and the group’s most recent recording for the label features Rachmaninov’s two great sacred works, the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, and Vespers. Christus is the title given by the Mendelssohn’s brother Paul to fragments of an unfinished oratorio by Felix that was first published posthumously as his Op. 97. The completed portions include a tenor recitative relating Christ's birth, two choruses, ‘Where is the newborn’, and ‘There Shall a Star from Jacob Shine Forth’, and a passion section ending with another chorale, ‘O Welt, sieh' hier dein Leben’. “Salvaged from an unfinished three-part oratorio originally titled "Earth, Heaven & Hell", the two sections of Mendelssohn's "Christus" deal with the Nativity and the Passion, jumping abruptly from birth to betrayal with no intervening exposition. The sense of hollowness is tempered, however, by a series of finesses, the first being the delightful trio of tenor, baritone and soprano representing the Three Kings” The Independent, 1st December 2011 “Some of the focus [in Christus] is soft in this performance, but doesn't deter from the pleasure. Three cantatas complete the disc, including "Verleih uns frieden gnädiglich", much loved by Schumann, and the joyful Christmas work "Vom Himmel hoch".” The Observer, 4th December 2011 “Mendelssohn’s veneration of Bach...and the Lutheran tradition shines through this chorale-rich music. [Vom Himmel Hoch ] is a little post-Bachian masterpiece, with a jubilant opening number and fine soprano and baritone solos, beautifully sung here by Sandrine Piau and Markus Butter. The French conductor’s choir and orchestra do Mendelssohn proud.” Sunday Times, 18th December 2011 “Accentus's many fans have further reason to celebrate. All their hallmarks are in evidence here: springy rhythms, fine choral balance, clean, bright tone, splendid diction. And what marvellous music this is!... The three soloists are all first class, alive to the drama in each of the works but never over-responding. A disc to treasure.” BBC Music Magazine, March 2012 ***** “The soloists sing with great beauty and feeling, and the choir and orchestra - the former rather backwardly recorded - are equally fine.” Gramophone Magazine, April 2012 | | | (also available to download from $10.50) | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Vladimir Jurowski conducts Bach, Mendelssohn and Vaughan WilliamsRecorded live at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, London, on 5 December 2009
This disc is a far cry from the typical fare we’ve come to expect on the shelves around the Christmas season. The inclusion of Bach’s sublime Cantata 63 and Mendelssohn’s Vom Himmel hoch give the disc a year round appeal. Vaughan Williams’ joyful The First Nowell is a veritable feast of well loved carols and the London Philharmonic Choir together with soloists Lisa Milne and Christopher Maltman exude Christmas cheer. Vaughan Williams himself said ‘I think that every Christmas play ought to begin with God rest you Merry and end with The First Nowell.’ “The LPO and Choir provide serious nourishment while opening our ears to the sort of Christmas music that gets overlooked amid the tinsel...Jurowski makes an unlikely but worthy VW champion...All in all, this is a programme combining enterprise and tradition, to be enjoyed during the Christmas season and beyond.” Financial Times, 4th December 2010 *** | | | (also available to download from $10.50) | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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Berliner Singakademie & Dresdner Kreuzchor, Martin Flamig & Dietrich Knothe | |
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| |  | Mendelssohn Church Music II - Von Himmel hoch
Krisztina Laki (soprano), Berthold Possemeyer (baritone) Stuttgart Chamber Choir, Wurttemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn, Frieder Bernius | | | (also available to download from $10.50) | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. (Available now to download.) |
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| |  | Saint-Saens: Christmas Oratorio
| | | (also available to download from $10.50) | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. (Available now to download.) |
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