5th July 2017

Coming Soon, Mendelssohn from Isabelle Faust and other forthcoming highlights

by Chris O'Reilly

Mendelssohn from Isabelle Faust and other forthcoming highlights As well as Faust's Mendelssohn (which should arrive just in time for her Proms performance of the work), we're also keeping an eye on our post-bag for the first instalment of a new Mahler cycle from Osmo Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra, a Mozart Requiem with a significant twist, and two controversial opera productions on DVD…

The German violinist is well known for the rigorous academic research which underpins her interpretations, and for this recording of one of the best-loved of all violin concertos she’s consulted the notes on phrasing, bowing and fingering which were made by its dedicatee Ferdinand David and its subsequent champion Joseph Joachim. (These artists will perform this entire programme at the BBC Proms on the afternoon of Sunday 3rd September).

Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC

The incendiary Russian-Greek maestro and his Perm-based orchestra have a capacity to make even the most familiar repertoire staples seem new-minted and radical (regular readers may recall that their blistering Don Giovanni was one of our Top 10 Discs of 2016) - in all honesty we've no idea quite what to expect from their take on Tchaikovsky's best-known symphony, but it certainly won't be dull!

Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC

Mozart's last will and testament supplemented by dressage? We're intrigued...Filmed at the Felsenreitschule during Mozartwoche and choreographed by the great French horse-trainer Bartabas (and with a great line-up of soloists including luminous Austrian soprano Genia Kühmeier), this is sure to be a performance like none you've seen before! You can watch a brief taster below.

Available Format: DVD Video

Also available on Blu-ray.

Available Format: Blu-ray

The Russian oboe virtuoso returns to the Concertgebouw as soloist (he previously recorded Shchedrin's Concerto with the orchestra on their own label) under their regular guest conductor Nelsons in one of Strauss's final works, and also directs the wind section in sprightly and engaging accounts of two much earlier compositions - the Mozart-influenced works for wind ensemble.

Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC

Following a Sibelius series which was described as 'irreplaceable' (Sunday Times) and 'possibly the benchmark cycle for the 21st century' (Gramophone), Vänskä and his Minnesota musicians embark on a complete cycle of the Mahler symphonies with this recording of the Fifth, made in Orchestra Hall Minneapolis in June 2016. We hear that the Resurrection Symphony (with soprano Ruby Hughes and mezzo Sasha Cooke) is also already in the can...

Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC

Hailed by Gramophone as a 'nigh-on ideal partnership’, Ibragimova and Tiberghien continue their survey of Mozart's works for violin and piano with a programme including the little F major sonata K13 (written when the composer was just 8 years old), the variations on Hélas, j'ai perdu mon amant, and the unfinished sonata K403, conceived as a wedding-gift for Constanze and completed here by composer and musical historian Maximilian Stadler.

Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC

The Italian director's decision to relocate to the war-torn Balkans of the 1990s caused widespread controversy when the production opened at Covent Garden in spring 2015 (the notorious scene in which a woman is assaulted by a gang of occupying soldiers was toned down by the time the production was filmed), but this remains worth catching for Pappano's matchless pacing of the score and the superbly committed performances of Finley, Osborn and Fomina in particular.

Available Format: 2 DVD Videos

The English cellist turns both director and arranger here, dispensing with a conductor for this programme of eighteenth-century concertos, supplemented by his own transcription for cello and chamber orchestra of the stand-out aria from Mozart's early success La Finta Giardiniera.

Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC

Chris O'Reilly - Chief Executive

Chris grew up in London and studied cello from the age of 5. He never did enough practice to get really good at it, but caught a passion for Classical music which would stick with him forever. He has wide ranging musical tastes, still plays Chamber music and particularly loves Mahler.

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Coming Soon, Mendelssohn from Isabelle Faust and other forthcoming highlights

Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto & Symphony No. 5 (out 25th August)

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 (out 29th September)

Mozart: Requiem [DVD] (out 11th August)

Mozart: Requiem [Blu-ray] (out 11th August)

Richard Strauss: Oboe Concerto (out 28th July)

Mahler: Symphony No. 5 (out 28th July)

Mozart: Violin Sonatas Volume 4 (out 1st September)

Rossini: Guillaume Tell [DVD] (out 28th July)

Haydn & CPE Bach: Cello Concertos (out 1st September)

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