Presto Editor's Choices,
Presto Editor's Choices - July 2017
I've been in danger of overdosing on dark nights of the soul these past few weeks thanks to a raw and compelling new Mahler recording from Alice Coote and the Netherlands Philharmonic - but there are palette-cleansers aplenty in amongst this month's offerings, including some mettlesome Stravinsky from Ilya Gringolts and the gentle charm of a Donald Swann anthology curated by the British pianist Christopher Glynn.
There may be more beautifully-sung Mahler recitals on the market, but none that I’ve heard to rival Coote for unflinching emotional candour, particularly in the insomniac angst of Um Mitternacht and the angry self-laceration of the third Wayfarer song. The Dutch players match her every nuance, with some particularly empathetic woodwind solos.
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The veteran pianist celebrates his eightieth birthday with luminous and leisurely performances which unfold with a natural fluidity; the spaciousness and lyricism of his playing is underpinned by an unfaltering and unmannered awareness of the dance impetus behind the music. A worthy successor to his Well-Tempered Clavier and Partitas.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Sparky, spirited, and deliciously abrasive when required, Gringolt’s Stravinsky is a force to be reckoned with – the pyrotechnics of the Petrushka take the breath away, and the almost schmaltzy rubato in more lyrical works like the Ronde des princesses is tempered by a pleasing astringency of tone. I can’t wait for volume two.
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Buxtehude: Seven Sonatas
Sophie Gent (violin), Jonathan Manson (cello) & Thomas Dunford (lute); Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen
Until I test-drove this, I wasn't aware that Buxtehude could sound so lush and almost sensual: the string-playing is warm and glowing, the phrasing relaxed and elastic but never sloppy or anachronistic. The dance-inspired movements have a wonderfully spontaneous, almost folksy quality that makes them sound as if they're being improvised in front of the mics.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
An assured and instantly engaging debut disc from Europe’s first professional BME orchestra, who give fresh and unsentimentalised accounts of two orchestral warhorses: the sweep and surge of Finlandia, (with rhythms almost ‘swung’ in places), is particularly attractive, and there’s some wonderfully mercurial string-playing in the Scherzo of the New World.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The Romantic Piano Concerto 72 - Cipriani Potter
Howard Shelley (piano & conductor), Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
Howard Shelley makes a typically persuasive case for three contrasting works by the British composer 'Chip' Potter (1792-1871), pointing up the gentle wit and charm of these tuneful and immediately appealing scores: the Sturm und Drang opening of the D minor concerto recalls Mozart's 20th, and the operatic brio of the Rossini Variations is irresistable.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Ristori: Cantatas for Soprano & Oboe concerto
María Savastano (soprano); Ensemble Diderot, Johannes Pramsohler
A happy discovery on two counts, this: firstly for the hugely appealing and melodically memorable writing of Giovanni Alberto Ristori, and secondly for the characterful and classy singing of the pleasantly tart-voiced Argentine soprano Savastano (a specialist in Mozart soubrette roles), who brings these three Classical heroines to life with panache.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Songs by Donald Swann
Dame Felicity Lott (soprano), Kathryn Rudge (mezzo), John Mark Ainsley (tenor), Roderick Williams (baritone), Christopher Glynn (piano)
I’ve been dipping into this treasure-trove of hugely varied miniatures by Michael Flander’s ‘other half’ for the past six weeks, and practically every song reveals another facet of Swann’s musical personality: it seems incredible that the whimsical Betjeman settings, charmingly brought off by Roderick Williams, and the Rachmaninov-lite Ya vas lyubil sprang from the same pen.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Offenbach: Les Contes d'Hoffmann
Vittorio Grigolo (Hoffmann), Kate Lindsey (Nicklausse/Muse), Christine Rice (Giulietta), Sonya Yoncheva (Antonia), Sofia Fomina (Olympia), Thomas Hampson (Villains)
I was lucky enough to catch John Schlesinger's handsomely traditional production (recently retired at the grand old age of 36) just before Christmas, and what a send-off it gets here: Grigolo catches the anti-hero's naivety and nihilism to perfection, but the real star is Sonya Yoncheva's sumptuously sung Antonia, not so much tugging at the heart-strings as snapping them altogether.
Available Format: DVD Video
Offenbach: Les Contes d'Hoffmann
Vittorio Grigolo (Hoffmann), Kate Lindsey (Nicklausse/Muse), Christine Rice (Giulietta), Sonya Yoncheva (Antonia), Sofia Fomina (Olympia), Thomas Hampson (Villains)
Also available on Blu-ray.
Available Format: Blu-ray
Katherine Cooper - Head of Editorial
