Coming Soon,
Bach's Goldberg Variations from Víkingur Ólafsson and other forthcoming highlights
A second Bach recording from the Icelandic pianist is among the stand-out releases for the autumn, alongside live Rachmaninoff concertos from Yuja Wang in Los Angeles, Fauré from Marc-André Hamelin, a technologically-inspired world premiere from Jóhann Jóhannsson, Barrie Kosky's claustrophobic staging of Janáček's Káťa Kabanová from the Salzburg Festival, and a trip to the movies with Jonas Kaufmann...
Five years on from his widely-acclaimed album Johann Sebastian Bach (which was named Recording of the Year at the 2019 BBC Music Magazine Awards and is our best-selling recording of the decade), the Icelandic pianist tackles a work which he reveres for its 'countless instances of exalted poetry, abstract contemplation and deep pathos' - and which he's dreamed of recording for 25 years. Ólafsson has dedicated his entire 2023-24 season to a world tour of the Goldbergs, which will include performances at the Southbank Centre, Carnegie Hall, the Wiener Konzerthaus and Walt Disney Hall.
Released 6th October.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
The four major works on Levit's forthcoming double-album are JS Bach's Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue in D minor, Liszt's Piano Sonata in B minor, Busoni’s Fantasia contrappuntistica and Berg's Piano Sonata. The programme also includes four shorter, complementary works: Alexander Siloti’s arrangement of the 'Air on a G string' from Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 3, Liszt’s transcription of Schubert’s 'Der Doppelgänger', Busoni's Nuit de Noël and Berg's early Klavierstück in B minor.
Released 29th September.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concertos & Paganini Rhapsody
Yuja Wang (piano), Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Gustavo Dudamel
These live recordings were made during Wang's Rachmaninoff residency at Walt Disney Hall this February, which was staged to mark the 150th anniversary of the composer's birth; reviewing the concerts, the Los Angeles Times pronounced that 'this was Rachmaninoff heard like it’s not been heard anywhere else', praising Wang's 'exceptional power, depth and dazzle' and Dudamel's 'propulsive and extravagantly detailed' conducting.
Released 1st September.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
These short pieces were composed at intervals throughout Fauré's career, and were not conceived as coherent collections: his son Philippe noted that the composer would 'far rather have given his nocturnes, impromptus and even his barcarolles the simple title “Piano piece No so-and-so"'. They draw inspiration from composers including Chopin, Liszt, Saint-Saëns, Chausson and Lalo, as well as from Fauré's relationships with Adela Maddison and Emma Bardac (whose daughter Régina-Hélène was the dedicatee of the Dolly Suite).
Released 1st September.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
The mainstay of Grimaud's programme is Robert Schumann's Kreisleriana, which he dedicated to his future wife in 1838 (Clara was in fact rather disconcerted by the piece, writing: 'Sometimes your music actually frightens me, and I wonder: is it really true that the creator of such things is going to be my husband?'). Brahms is represented by the Three Intermezzi Op. 117 and the Neun Lieder und Gesänge Op. 32, for which Grimaud is joined by Konstantin Krimmel (who also partnered her in Valentyn Sylvestrov’s Silent Songs earlier this year).
Released 8th September.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
This is the world premiere recording of Jóhannsson's most ambitious orchestral work, commissioned by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and performed just once, in February 2012; inspired by the writings of American historian Henry Adams and by the field recordings which Jóhannsson made at Iceland’s Elliðaár power plant, the piece was described as a 'lost symphony' by composer Matthew Patton. The album also includes suites compiled from Jóhannsson's Oscar-nominated scores for The Theory of Everything (2014) and Sicario (2015).
Released 15th September.
Available Format: 2 Vinyl Records
Spanning almost a century of cinematic history, this collection of songs from classic movies includes the serenade from The Student Prince, the Cavatina from The Deer Hunter, 'Por Una Cabeza' from Scent of a Woman, 'Bring Him Home' from Les Misérables, 'The Loveliest Night of the Year' from The Great Caruso and 'Where do I begin?' from Love Story. Kaufmann is joined by guitarist Miloš Karadaglić for 'Moon River', 'Edelweiss' and 'What Is A Youth?' from the 1968 film of Romeo and Juliet.
Released 15th September.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Currently a member of the Opera Studio at the Bayerische Staatsoper (where he will appear as the Sailor in Tristan und Isolde later this month), this stylish young Scottish tenor won the Clonter Opera Prize last year and has already made quite an impact in high-flying Rossini roles in particular; his debut solo album features songs by Nadia and Lili Boulanger, Viardot-Garcia, Chaminade, Liszt, Rossini, Chabrier and Fauré.
Released 18th August.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Giordano: Andrea Chénier
Jonas Kaufmann (Andrea Chénier), George Petean (Carlo Gerard), Anja Harteros (Maddalena di Coigny), Rachael Wilson (Bersi), Helena Zubanovich (La Contessa di Coigny), Larissa Diadkova (Madelon), Andrea Borghini (Roucher); Bayerisches Staatsorchester, Marco Armiliato, Philipp Stölzl
This starrily-cast Chénier was filmed at the Bayerische Staatsoper in 2017, when BachTrack observed that Stölzl's historically-accurate production 'makes a strong case for Andrea Chénier’s continued presence in the repertoire' and BR Klassik enthused that 'a sensational Anja Harteros brings the house down!'.
Released 4th August and also available on Blu-ray.
Available Format: DVD Video
Janáček: Káťa Kabanová
Corinne Winters (Kát’a), Evelyn Herlitzius (Kabanicha), David Butt Philip (Boris), Jaroslav Březina (Tichon), Jarmila Balážová (Varvara), Benjamin Hulett (Váňa), Jens Larsen (Dikój); Wiener Philharmoniker, Wiener Staatsopernchor, Jakub Hrůša, Barrie Kosky
Kosky's minimalist production of Janáček's 1921 opera took place at the Felsenreitschule during last year's Salzburg Festival, and met with glowing reviews; The New York Times noted that 'Winters has a child’s volatile presence, and her live-wire voice conveys Kat’a’s wonder and vulnerability', whilst The Opera Critic declared that Hrůša 'testified to his affinity with his compatriot's oeuvre, in a poetic yet vital reading commensurate with the stellar showing on stage'.
Released 25th August and also available on Blu-ray.
Available Format: DVD Video
Katherine Cooper - Head of Editorial
