New Release Round-up,
New Release Round-up - 6th April 2018
Today's highlights include Walton's Viola Concerto from James Ehnes and Edward Gardner, Brahms Lieder from Benjamin Appl and Graham Johnson, Crusell clarinet concertos from Michael Collins, Joyce DiDonato's In War and Peace in all its son et lumière glory on DVD, and two sets celebrating the artistry of Spanish mezzo Teresa Berganza from Australian Eloquence.
It’s not the first time James Ehnes has swapped his violin for a viola on disc (indeed his recording of the Bartók concertos for both instruments was a finalist in the 2012 Gramophone Awards): here he tackles a work he’s loved since his teenage years, supplemented by the BBC Symphony Orchestra’s accounts of the Partita for Orchestra and Sonata for String Orchestra (which Walton adapted from his A minor String Quartet).
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The all-star wind quintet (members include flautist Emmanuel Pahud and oboist François Leleux) join the Münchener Kammerorchester for five sinfonie concertante from the early nineteenth century by composers connected with the Mannheim and Paris schools: Mozart’s well-known K297b, plus works by Franz Danzi, Ignaz Josef Pleyel, and François Devienne.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
This Fischer-Dieskau protégé and former BBC New Generation Artist is fast becoming one of the most insightful lieder interpreters around; following the extremely well-received Heimat (which also featured songs by Brahms), he brings his 'burnished, oaky beauty' (Gramophone) to bear on songs including Nachtigall, Minnelied, two Serenades, and Vor dem Fenster.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Crusell: The Three Clarinet Concertos
Michael Collins (clarinet/conductor), Swedish Chamber Orchestra
Collins does double duty as conductor and soloist on this collection of the complete concertos by the Swedish-Finnish composer and clarinet virtuoso (1775-1838), plus the Introduction et air suédois - a set of variations on a drinking-song by Crusell’s contemporary, the poet Frans Mikael Franzén.
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Recorded live at the Royal Festival Hall in April 2016, this is the second instalment of the Philharmonia’s Rachmaninov Project with their venerable conductor laureate, who’s already recorded the complete symphonies twice before and credits this orchestra with nurturing his conducting career from its infancy: read his exclusive interview with Katherine about the project here.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
This set brings together four LPs recorded in the Spanish mezzo's heyday during the late 1950s and 60s, including a Rossini recital from 1959 (featuring snapshots of some of her signature-roles such as Isabella, Rosina and Cenerentola), a collection of songs and arias by eighteenth-century Italian composers, and a delicious album of Spanish and Basque music.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC
This 2-CD set combines two sets of Mozart recordings (operatic arias from 1962 and concert-arias from 1977) plus arias by Gluck, Paisiello, Pergolesi, Handel and Cherubini, and a performance of Haydn's dramatic cantata Arianna a Naxos (with Berganza's husband Félix Lavilla at the piano). Look out for Katherine's exclusive interview with this legendary singer in the coming weeks!
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Mozart Live 1978
Jessye Norman (soprano), Hugh Maguire (violin), Alfred Brendel (piano) Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Neville Marriner
Recorded in Strasbourg on 27th January 1978 to mark Mozart’s 222nd birthday, this gala concert receives its first release on CD here; the programme includes Non più, tutto ascoltai and Ch’io mi scordi di te from Jessye Norman, the Piano Concerto in C K503 with Alfred Brendel, and Symphony No. 40.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC
In War & Peace - Harmony Through Music (DVD)
Joyce DiDonato (mezzo), Il Pomo d'Oro, Maxim Emelyanychev
DiDonato’s breathtakingly-sung collection of baroque depictions of conflict and ‘harmony through music’ was released as an audio recording in 2016, and won a Gramophone Award, an ECHO Klassik Award and a Grammy the following year. Her concert-tour with the programme was no ordinary recital-series, with costuming by Vivienne Westwood, dancing and choreography by Manuel Palazzo, and spectacular lighting and video effects; it’s captured in all its glory in this performance from Barcelona’s Gran Teatre Liceu.
Available Format: DVD Video
Chris O'Reilly - Chief Executive
