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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Mahler: Rückert-Lieder, Kindertotenlieder & 6 Wunderhorn-Lieder
“Henschel's nimble baritone copes well with the bolder early Wunderhorn songs” BBC Music Magazine, December 2011 *** | | | Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days. |
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| |  | Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn
Thomas Hampson adds a special version of Des Knaben Wunderhorn to his huge discography of works by Gustav Mahler. Released in Mahler Year 2011, this album celebrates the 100th anniversary of the composer's death. It is Hampson’s first ever studio recording of the orchestra version of Des Knaben Wunderhorn. Hampson is joined by The Wiener Virtuosen, a chamber ensemble of the highly acclaimed principal players of the Wiener Philharmoniker. “Mahler’s music is a ‘sound cosmos’ unto itself […] It is a reflection of my own world, something that’s extraordinarily informative to me as human being.” (Thomas Hampson) “[Hampson] refines his forces to those of the Wiener Virtuosen...This has the effect of creating a wonderfully fresh imaginative take on the songs...these slimmer forces really put a spring in the music's step...And his choice of tempos...is often inspired...A constantly absorbing recital.” BBC Music Magazine, January 2011 **** “no performer has ever had a more comprehensive knowledge of the manuscript sources...Instrumentally speaking, the results are fabulous...Long-term admirers should not expect the immaculate finish...of the singer's youth. Instead we have a more autumnal brand of vocalisation, one that arguably suits these feisty, individualistic songs of ordinary folk.” Gramophone Magazine, February 2011 “Mahler’s whole world is here, rendered in a fabulously piercing and tender performance...It’s partly to do with the reduced chamber scoring used by the Vienna soloists, which makes Mahler’s orchestral colours seem unusually vivid. But Hampson is also on superb form, catching the music’s emotional complication as well as its folk-like simplicity.” The Telegraph, 4th February 2011 ***** “The principal revelations are instrumental, with sinewy, acerbic textures steering us into a world closer to German expressionism than post-romanticism.” The Guardian, 10th March 2011 *** | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | The Gustav Mahler CelebrationRecorded live at Kaliště
On 7 July 2010 Kaliště in Czech Republic, where Gustav Mahler was born on this very day 150 years ago, the music world celebrated one of the greatest composers ever. The renowned Mahler Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Austrian maestro Manfred Honeck, and world famous soloists will commemorate the composer with an unique outdoor live concert. Gustav Mahler was born into a Jewish family in Kaliště on July 7, 1860 as the second of fourteen children. His exceptional musical gifts became apparent at an early age. He began giving music lessons when he was six, and at fifteen he was admitted to the Vienna Music Conservatory. He embarked on what was to become an extraordinary career as a conductor and operatic administrator when he was barely twenty. Mahler was best known during his own lifetime as one of the leading orchestral and operatic conductors of the day. He has since come to be acknowledged as one of the most important late-romantic composers Picture format DVD: NTSC 16:9 Sounds formats DVD: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1, DTS 5.1 Region code: 0 Booklet notes: English, German, French Running time: 78 mins FSK: 0 | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn & Symphony No. 10 (Adagio)
Pierre Boulez adds the two last missing bricks to complete his Mahler discography on Deutsche Grammophon. Recorded live in concert with the Cleveland Orchestra the program brings together the early orchestral song cycle from Des Knaben Wunderhorn, featuring mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená and baritone Christian Gerhaher with the late Adagio of Mahler’s fragmentary Symphony No. 10 The concert took place only a few months before Gustav Mahler’s 150 Birthday. The concert is also part of the celebrations of Pierre Boulez’ 85 birthday this year. “The undoubted star of the "Wunderhorn" songs was Czech mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozená, whose plush voice and dramatic flair handily captured the essences of scenes steeped in the miseries of war, poverty, and ephemeral love.” (Plain Dealer, Cleveland) “The reading under Boulez was one of extremes, marked by crushing softness, biting dissonance, and throat-grabbing peaks. Yet it was also cool and insightful, elucidating how the score's modest themes unfold and accumulate weight to magnificent effect over time.” (Plain Dealer, Cleveland) “This performance had the hallmarks of the great Boulez/Cleveland Orchestra collaboration: precision of sound and tuning, transparency of texture with details being elucidated, flexibility of rhythm appropriate to this last of the great Viennese symphonists, but without being overwrought.” (ClevelandClassical.com, Cleveland) “...the Cleveland Orchestra’s elegant subtlety almost passes belief in the adagio from the unfinished Tenth Symphony...But the voices inevitably take pride of place, with the baritone Christian Gerhaher superbly characterised, clear as a bell, and the mezzo Magdalena Kozená distinctive if slightly muffled. It’s a wonderful disc, regardless.” The Times, 17th September 2010 “...the Cleveland Orchestra's playing (in a concert at its home at Severance Hall last February) is fabulously precise and refined, while Magdalena Kožená (despite the occasional uncertain intonation) and Christian Gerhaher lavish immense care on colouring and inflecting every phrase.” The Guardian, 23rd September 2010 *** “Boulez the arch-modernist unsurprisingly emphasises the grinding dissonances in Mahler’s only completed movement from his Tenth Symphony. But in the song cycle “Des Knaben Wunderhorn” he belies his reputation for clinical coolness with a lovely lyricism” The Telegraph, 5th October 2010 **** “The musical future is thrillingly present in this searing live performance...Gerhaher and Boulez together explore and recreate that fragile warmth of nostalgia. The lithe, toned muscle of both orchestra and voice, everywhere meticulously balanced, maximises each expressive nuance.” BBC Music Magazine, December 2010 *****  CD Review
Critics' Disc of the Year - December 2010 |
 BBC Music Magazine
Disc of the month - December 2010 |
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| |  | Mahler: Songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn
These songs follow on from the release in this series of Mahler’s 4th Symphony. This recording ends with “Himmlischen Leben”, the song which closes the 4th Symphony. Christiane Oelze and Michael Volle alternate as soloists and sing some songs as duets. Once again, Stenz creates an unmistakable sound and demonstrates why this is a significant Mahler cycle. “Volle's military narratives are crisp and direct, with splendid fanfaring from the Cologne players, rather than heavy-laden...there's plenty of point and with from both the spotlit orchestral solos and the singers throughout.” BBC Music Magazine, December 2010 **** “Oelze's performance is one of silvery radiance, with drama and humour aplenty. Volle delivers a highly atmospheric Tambourgesell, his dynamics and dramatic enunciation spinning a mood weighted with nervous doom. The orchestra is particularly light of touch, dancing and making love with youthful joy, but turning on the weight and gravitas when required.” Classic FM Magazine, March 2011 **** “Stenz provides vivid, no-nonsense direction...Michael Volle matches Fischer-Dieskau in "Revelge"...there is delight to be had from the operetta-like duets and in the prisoner-in-the-tower song where [Oelze] captures to perfection the schmeichlerisch ("flattering") quality Mahler requests” Gramophone Magazine, November 2010 “Both have voices that are ideally suited to this music and the poetry: they're not too knowing but are careful to sing what's written, and both have the ability to colour their voices most sensitively...Stenz is alert throughout to telling orchestral details without ever drawing the wrong kind of attention to them: this is remarkable Mahler conducting, full of imagination and colour.” International Record Review, January 2011 | | | (also available to download from $10.75) | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. (Available now to download.) |
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| |  | Weit flog ich (Far did I fly)
and a reading of Richard Dehmel's poem 'Ein Stelldichein' by Werner Wölbern
Ildiko Raimondi (soprano) Junge Philharmonie Wien, Michael Lessky The basis of this CD was an idea by Michael Lessky, the conductor of the Junge Philharmonie Wien, for an orchestration of the Strindberg song ‘Schien mir’s, als ich sah die Sonne’ from Anton Webern’s Song Cycle Op.12 by the Austrian composer Thomas Pernes. The work has been commissioned by the Arnold Schoenberg Centre in Vienna and this is the Premiere Recording. | | | (also available to download from $10.75) | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. (Available now to download.) |
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| |  | Christa Ludwig - Lieder RecitalDirected by Enrique Sánchez Lansch
| | A Master Class with Christa Ludwig, Part II Bonus Directed by Claus Viller | Bernstein: | I Hate Music, a cycle of five 'kid songs' | Mahler: | Ich ging mit Lust (Lieder und Gesänge aus der Jugendzeit) Rheinlegendchen (Des Knaben Wunderhorn) Das irdische Leben (Des Knaben Wunderhorn) Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen (Rückert-Lieder) Scheiden und Meiden (Lieder und Gesänge aus der Jugendzeit) | Schubert: | Im Abendrot, D799 Die Forelle, D550 Der Tod und das Mädchen, D531 Geheimnis, D491 (Mayrhofer) Sehnsucht, D636 (Schiller) Der Musensohn, D764 (Goethe) | Strauss, R: | Du meines Herzens Krönelein, Op. 21 No. 2 Begegnung (Meeting), AV 72 Die Nacht, Op. 10 No. 3 Morgen, Op. 27 No. 4 | Wolf, H: | Anakreons Grab (No. 29 from Goethe-Lieder) Der Gärtner (No. 17 from Mörike-Lieder) Bedeckt mich mit Blumen (No. 26 from Spanisches Liederbuch: Weltliche Lieder) In dem Schatten meiner Locken (No. 2 from Spanisches Liederbuch: Weltliche Lieder) Mein Liebster hat zu Tische mich geladen (No. 25 from Italienisches Liederbuch) Wie lange schon war immer mein Verlangen (No. 11 from Italienisches Liederbuch) |
Christa Ludwig is acknowledged as one of the twentieth century’s most explorative and complete vocal artists. Her professional singing career spanned five decades and, as a star of the international operatic stage, she made roles as diverse as Rosina, Dorabella, Cherubino, Leonore, Amneris, Eboli, Kundry, Ortrud, Clytemnestra and the Marschallin her own, excelling in soprano, mezzo and coloratura mezzo repertoire. She also established her reputation as a fine lieder singer. The intimate auditorium of the magnificent neo-baroque Volkstheater in Vienna was packed with a discerning and enthusiastic audience when Christa Ludwig gave a master class there. The intimate auditorium of the magnificent neo-baroque Volkstheater in Vienna was packed with a discerning and enthusiastic audience when Christa Ludwig gave a master class there. The young singers who took part – Valerij Serkin (tenor), Stella Grigorian (mezzo) and Marcus Pelz (baritone) – were all studying at an advanced level, with their sights set on fi nding success as professionals on the operatic stage. Christa Ludwig focused the time she spent with each singer on helping them to find the dramatic truth expressed in the aria of their choice and advising on how they could communicate this in their interpretation. The master class includes pieces by Beethoven, Bizet and Massenet and, at the end, the greatness of her art is recalled as she is seen singing Mistress Quickly in a production of Verdi’s Falstaff (1982). “Filmed in Athens in 1994, this is one of the great German mezzo's final Lieder recitals. With her voice still in fine fettle and her interpretative powers undiminished, it's an impressive token of her artistry.” BBC Music Magazine, July 2009 **** | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Great Voices of the Golden Age
Beethoven: | Ah! Perfido, Op. 65 Gundula Janowitz (soprano) | Brahms: | Sapphische Ode, Op. 94 No. 4 Christa Ludwig (soprano) Vergebliches Ständchen, Op. 84 No. 4 Christa Ludwig (soprano) Wiegenlied, Op. 49 No. 4 (Lullaby) Rita Streich (soprano) Geheimnis, Op. 71 No. 3 Rita Streich (soprano) Vergebliches Ständchen, Op. 84 No. 4 Rita Streich (soprano) | Egk: | Quattro Canzoni Irmgard Seefried (soprano) | Mahler: | Rheinlegendchen (Des Knaben Wunderhorn) Christa Ludwig (soprano) | Mendelssohn: | Auf Flügeln des Gesanges, Op. 34 No. 2 Rita Streich (soprano) | Mozart: | Sehnsucht nach dem Frühlinge, K596 Rita Streich (soprano) | Schubert: | Seligkeit D433 (Holty) Rita Streich (soprano) Lachen und Weinen, D777 Rita Streich (soprano) Die Vogel D691 Rita Streich (soprano) | Schumann: | Die Lotosblume, Op. 25 No. 7 Rita Streich (soprano) | Strauss, R: | Schlechtes Wetter, Op. 69 No. 5 Rita Streich (soprano) | Tchaikovsky: | Otchevo? (Why?), Op. 6 No. 5 Galina Vishnevskaya (soprano) O ditya, pod okoshkom tvoim (Serenade), Op. 63 No. 6 Galina Vishnevskaya (soprano) | Wagner: | Mild und leise 'Isolde's Liebestod' (from Tristan und Isolde) Tristan und Isolde, Act III Gré Brouwenstijn (soprano) Schmerzen (No. 4 from Wesendonck-Lieder) Träume (No. 5 from Wesendonck-Lieder) Gré Brouwenstijn (soprano) | Wolf, H: | Bescheidene Liebe Rita Streich (soprano) |
"On wings of song" - Heine's words and Mendelssohn's immortal melody, sung here by the inimitable Rita Streich, perfectly encapsulate the spirit of this collection. Six of the greatest voices of the last half-century perform a range of familiar music: romantic Wagner from Gré Brouwenstijn and collectors' items such as Egk's four Italian songs from the matchless Irmgard Seefried. These were the commanding voices of their day, from Christa Ludwig's warm mezzo, to Gundula Janowitz's crystalline soprano and the dramatic brilliance of Galina Vishnevskaya, all captured in their prime. “With Vishnevskaya the odd-Russian-out, these 1960s films preserve the art of female singers mostly in the German Lied repertoire. Visual and sonic quality is variable, platform manners quaint, but the vocalism regularly excellent.” BBC Music Magazine, July 2009 **** | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Anne Sofie von Otter - In My Element
| | I let the music speak No Wonder (arr. by Elvis Costello and Ensemble) I Want to Vanish (arr. by Elvis Costello and Ensemble) | Bizet: | L'amour est un oiseau rebelle 'Habanera' (from Carmen) Les tringles des sistres tintaient (from Carmen) | Brahms: | He, Zigeuner, greife in die Saiten ein! (No. 1 from Zigeunerlieder, Op.103) Brauner Bursche führt zum Tanze (No. 5 from Zigeunerlieder, Op.103) | Chaminade: | Ah! si l'amour prenait Mignonne, à l'amour j'ai lié | Dowland: | In darkness let me dwell | Grieg: | Haugtussa, Op. 67 No. 8 'Ved Gjætle-Bekken' | Haas, P: | Seven Songs in a Folk Style, Op. 18 (unreleased) | Handel: | Qui d'amor (from Ariodante) Hercules: The world, when day's career is run Hercules: When beauty sorrow's liv'ry wears | Mahler: | Rheinlegendchen (Des Knaben Wunderhorn) Oft denk' ich, sie sind nur ausgegangen (Kindertotenlieder) | Monteverdi: | Adagiati, Poppea - Oblivion soave (L'incoronazione di Poppea) Disprezzata regina (L'incoronazione di Poppea) Addio Roma! (from L'incoronazione di Poppea) | Mozart: | Parto, parto, ma tu ben mio (from La Clemenza di Tito) Oh Dei, che smania è questa (La Clemenza di Tito) Ah, qual gelido orror...Il padre adorato (from Idomeneo) No, la morte io non pavento (from Idomeneo) Non so più cosa son, cosa faccio (from Le nozze di Figaro) Voi che sapete (from Le nozze di Figaro) | Offenbach: | Barcarolle (from Les Contes d'Hoffmann ) Portez armes...Vous aimez le danger…Ah! que j’aime les militaires! (from La grande-duchesse de Gérolstein) | Purcell: | When I am laid in earth (from Dido and Aeneas) | Schubert: | Im Abendrot, D799 Erlkönig, D328 | Schumann: | Süsser Freund, du blickest mich verwundert an (No. 6 from Frauenliebe und Leben, Op. 42) Die Meerfee Op. 125 No. 1 | Strauss, R: | Sein wir wieder gut (from Ariadne auf Naxos) | Weill, K: | Buddy on the Nightshift My ship Surabaya Johnny (from Happy End) |
“Smart, sophisticated and opinionated, Anne Sofie von Otter has become a star by doing exactly what she wants” Opera News | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Das Irdische LebenSongs by Mahler, Bartok, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Lutoslawski & Janacek
Salome Haller (soprano) & Nicholas Kruger (piano) ‘What strikes me, in performing this programme, is of course its intrinsic musical (and not merely ethnomusicological) value and its richness; but also its expression of a folk imagination whose themes are far removed from the preoccupations of the loquacious poetasters who inhabited the Romantic salons. The great majority of the poems set to music here - which are often anonymous, since they are directly derived from oral tradition - deal with frustrated love, arranged marriages, mothers mourning their sons killed in battle, harvests too poor to nourish the family, betrothed couples ardently awaiting their union; here too is nature with its succession of mysteries and symbols. These songs contain a whole universe of piety, fatalism and superstition, sometimes recounted with an amused distance; they express both fabled folk wisdom and a poetic lyricism in resonance with the elements: in short, all of “earthly life” is there’ Salomé Haller “A delightful programme, very well sung, that looks to East European influences. Haller and her excellent pianist Nicolas Kruger hold the tension in Bartók's haunting "Berceuse"… both artists bringing the music's exotic roster of harmonic shades into focus. In less sensitive hands Brahms's Ziegeunerlieder can sound overbearing... but here a combination of varied vocal delivery and lightly sprung piano-playing makes or a delightful encounter.” Gramophone Magazine, March 2008 | | | Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days. |
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