BBC Music Magazine Choices,
BBC Music Magazine - August 2022 Choices
Featuring a rich and varied line-up of singers including Nicky Spence, Mary Bevan, Jess Dandy and William Thomas (plus a guest appearance from the Navarra Quartet in Dover Beach), American pianist Dylan Perez's survey of the complete songs of Samuel Barber on Resonus takes the top honours in next month's issue, with Terry Blain noting the team's ability to capture the 'acuity and emotional intelligence' of Barber's writing in the early songs (many of which receive their world premiere recordings) and declaring that 'almost any song on this absorbing issue can be listened to with joy'.
Dylan spoke to Katherine about the project back in May, explaining why he thinks Barber 'sometimes just gets lost in the mix' and why 'being a singer himself was really important to his compositional training' - read the full interview here.
Recording of the Month
Barber: The Complete Songs
Dylan Perez (piano), Samantha Clarke, Soraya Mafi, Louise Kemény, Mary Bevan (sopranos), Fleur Barron (mezzo), Jess Dandy (contralto), Nicky Spence (tenor), Dominic Sedgwick, Julien Van Mellaerts (baritones), William Thomas (bass); Navarra String Quartet
'Dylan Perez’s pianism is consistently insightful without obtruding – a tall order for any accompanist – and his curating of the entire project is masterly...These two discs undoubtedly set a new benchmark in Barber’s vocal music, and every art song lover should have them.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Orchestral Choice
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 11; San Diego Symphony Orchestra, Rafael Payare
'Rafael Payare and the San Diego Symphony Orchestra certainly respond to the Eleventh’s disturbing subtext, and their live performance is a pretty impressive achievement. Payare sustains considerable atmosphere through the darkly brooding frozen stillness of the opening Adagio.'
We hope to be able to make this title available digitally in the coming months.
Concerto Choice
Ravel: Concertos pour piano & Mélodies
Cédric Tiberghien (piano), Stéphane Degout (baritone), Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth
'By any standards, this is the A Team, and they do not disappoint. Here is Ravel in all his passion and technical wizardry...[Tiberghien] finds any number of colours amid his faultless technical grasp. As always, the sonority of Les Siècles is supremely clear...A wonderful disc I shall play again and again.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Opera Choice
Offenbach: Le voyage dans la lune
Violette Polchi (Caprice), Sheva Tehoval (Fantasia), Matthieu Lecroart (V'Lam), Pierre Derhet (Quipasseparla), Raphael Bremard (Microscope), Thibaud Desplantes (Cosmos), Marie Lenormand (Popotte), Christophe Poncet de Solages (Cactus), Ludivine Gombert (Flamma / Adja); Chœur et Orchestre national Montpellier Occitanie Pierre Dumoussaud
'Sheva Tehoval is a magnificent Fantasia, with sweet tone and a formidable coloratura...But it’s Offenbach’s score that earns the biggest hand. Who else can push a simple melody around the orchestra with such ease and grace?'
Available Formats: 2 CDs + Book, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Choral & Song Choice
'Charlston plumbs the texts with cut-glass diction and full-bodied as a good claret, and she offers highly expressive readings of the texts, plumbing their depths with cut-glass diction and a glorious range of colours and timbres...She’s adeptly supported by Toby Carr, who coaxes soft and sonorous sounds from his theorbo.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Chamber Choice
George Crumb: Black Angels & Music for a Summer Evening
Philippe Hattat, Théo Fouchenneret, Emmanuel Jacquet, Rodolphe Théry
'Quatuor Hanson bring an energetic clarity and radiance to this now cult classic – with just the right amount of reverb to ensure its brittle glassiness and ghostly echoes of Schubert’s ‘Death and the Maiden’ are as spine-chilling as its unearthly whistling and raw scraped chords.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Instrumental Choice
'Saluste-Bridoux’s bracingly insightful playing on her debut disc encompasses a dazzling stylistic range...she creates the uncanny impression of there being more than one player at work, colouring each line in the implied counterpoint so that it emerges with its own distinct timbre and personality.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Stage & Screen Choice
Jazz Choice
'This entirely excellent set majors on respected items from [the jazz standard] tradition, entailing an expertly judged process of inspired rebuilding around the original themes and structures of tunes such as ‘All the Things You Are’ and ‘Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise’ in a way that’s somewhat comparable to Michael Finnissy’s remarkable Gershwin arrangements.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Chris O'Reilly - Chief Executive
