Classical New Releases

harmonia mundi UK DECEMBER 2015 Classical new releases

DISTRIBUTED LABELS: ACCENT RECORDS, ACTES SUD, AGOGIQUE, ALIA VOX, AMBRONAY, APARTE, ARTE VERUM, AUDITE, BEL AIR, BELVEDERE, THE CHOIR OF KINGS COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE, CONVIVIUM, CHRISTOPHORUS, CSO RESOUND, DUCALE, EDITION CLASSICS, EVIDENCE, FLORA, FRA MUSICA, GLOSSA, harmonia mundi, HAT[NOW]ART, HERITAGE, KAMER, KML, LA DOLCE VOLTA, LA MUSICA, LES ARTS FLORISSANTS EDITIONS, LSO LIVE, MARIINSKY, MIRARE, MODE, MUSO, MYRIOS, MUSIQUES A LA CHABOTTERIE, NAÏVE, ONYX, OPELLA NOVA, ORFEO, PAN CLASSICS, PARADIZO, PARATY, PHIL.HARMONIE, PRAGA DIGITALS, RADIO FRANCE, RAM, REAL COMPAÑIA ÓPERA DE CÁMARA, RCO LIVE, SFZ MUSIC, SIGNUM, STRADIVARIUS, TREASURE ISLAND, UNITED ARCHIVES, WALHALL ETERNITY, WERGO, WIGMORE HALL LIVE, WINTER & WINTER, YSAYE

available December 11th, call-off Dec 1st 2015 BBC Radio 3 BUILDING A LIBRARY 31st October harmonia mundi HMC902105 BEETHOVEN: Violin Concerto in D major Op. 61 BERG: Violin Concerto ‘To the Memory of an Angel’ (1935) Isabelle Faust, Orchestra Mozart, Claudio Abbado

SUNDAY TIMES RECORD OF THE WEEK RECORDING OF THE harmonia mundi HMC902214/15 MONTH Mozart Die Entführung aus dem Serail / René Jacobs

BBC MUSIC DISC OF THE MONTH CHRISTMAS ISSUE SIGNUM SIGCD430 Brahms, Bruckner Tenebrae/Nigel Short

BBC MUSIC CHORAL & SONG CHOICE December GRAMOPHONE EDITOR’S CHOICE Awards issue HMC902217 Beethoven Lieder & Bagatellen Werner Gura (tenor); Christoph Berner (fortepiano)

BBC MUSIC OPERA CHOICE December Glossa GCD923505 Arias for Luigi Marchesi Ann Hallenberg, Stile Galante, Stefano Aresi

GRAMOPHONE EDITOR’S CHOICE NOVEMBER HMU807574 Scarlatti Con eco d’amore Liz Watts; The English Concert; Laurence Cummings RELEASE DATE 11TH DECEMBER 2015

Les Elements: Tempetes, Orages & Fetes Marines 1674-1764 Le Concert des Nations Jordi Savall,

This double album is an invitation to explore the forces of nature, so vividly depicted by the composers at the turn of the XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries. With this stunning (and Jordi's first) recording of Jean-Fery Rebel’s Les Elements, Savall displays his unmatched vision of the baroque orchestral repertoire, proving that authenticity and timbral beauty aren’t mutually exclusive. New recordings of works by Locke, Vivaldi, Marais, Telemann and Rameau - a splendidly varied and expressively wide-ranging selection - is a welcome addition to the existing landmark recordings made by Savall in this repertoire. Pellucid engineering complements the live performances perfectly, offering warmth without excessive resonance, and letting the players shine.

CD1 REBEL: Les Éléments, 1737 Label: Alia Vox LOCKE: Music for The Tempest, 1674 File Under: Classical/Instrumental VIVALDI: Concerto in F La Tempesta di mare per Flauto solo e Corde, 1729 (RV 433, Op 10 Nr.1)

Catalogue No: AVSA9914 CD2 Barcode: 8435408099141 MARAIS: Airs pour les Matelots et les Tritons. Alcione, 1706 2 FOR 1 Price TELEMANN: Wassermusik, Hamburger Ebb und Flut, ca. 1740 Format: 2 hybrid SACDs JEAN-PHILIPPE RAMEAU: Orages et tonnerres, 1735-1749: Air pour les Zéphirs, Orage et air pour Borée (Les Indes Galantes) Packaging: digipack Tonnerre (Hippolyte et Aricie), Contredanse, Contredanse très vive (Zoroastre)

Le Concert des Nations, Recorded live on July 19, 2015 in Fontfroide, France Jordi Savall 2 hybrid multichannel SACD Booklet : English, French, German, Italian, Castillan, Catalan RELEASE DATE 11TH DECEMBER 2015

Johannes Brahms Cycle

Disc 1: Academic Festival Overture, Opus 80, Violin Concerto in D major, Opus 77, Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Opus 98 96 mins + 24 mins Bonus: Franz Welser-Möst and Julia Fischer on Brahms’ Violin Concerto

Disc 2: Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Opus 68, Symphony No. 2 in D major, Opus 73, Symphony No. 3 in F major, Opus 90 116 mins

Disc 3: Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Opus 56a, Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Opus 15, Tragic Overture, Opus 81, Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, Opus 83 129 mins + 24 mins Bonus: Franz Welser-Möst and Yefim Bronfman on Brahms’ Piano Concertos

The Cleveland Orchestra is the “aristocrat among American orchestras” (The Telegraph) and its conductor, Franz Welser-Möst, rules his subjects with a velvet glove. Indeed, velvet and silk keep showing up in descriptions of the Clevelanders’ sound under its principal conductor. The First Symphony is Welser-Möst’s chance to let Brahms’ “mellow, silky sound” (The Guardian) unfurl about the stage Label: Belvedere of London’s Royal Albert Hall during one of the prestigious BBC Promenade Concerts. In the “frenetically applauded” File Under: Classical/Orchestral (Die Presse) concert recorded at the splendid Golden Hall of Vienna’s Musikverein, Franz Welser-Möst leads his Catalogue No: BVD08005 “devoted and exemplarily precise musicians” (Die Presse) in a rendition that polishes every detail to make the Brahms’ Barcode: 4260415080059 Second Symphony glow from within. In the evolution of Brahms’ symphonic oeuvre, his penultimate Third Symphony SPECIAL Price unites the brightness of the Second with the monumentality of the Fourth. Die Presse applauded the concert in which Franz Welser-Möst performed the Symphony as “structurally highlighted, vividly sketched details modelled with great Format: 3 DVD subtlety”. Welser-Möst offers a “lean, propulsive performance” (The Plains Dealer) of the Fourth Symphony. The swift The Cleveland Orchestra pace in his hands reflects the conductor’s quest for a distinctive, far-from-mainstream interpretation. Conductor: Franz Welser-Möst Brahms’ rousing Academic Festival Overture and Violin Concerto op. 77 bear witness to a composer at the height of his Yefim Bronfman [piano] abilities, a mature master of large-scale masterpieces. The Violin Concerto demands extreme technical proficiency. As if Julia Fischer [violin] to exemplify this, violinist Julia Fischer gears herself from the very start of this emotionally searing work to maintaining a restrained yet passionate tone. Language Bonus: English Subtitles Bonus: German Yefim Bronfman has the uncanny ability to play large without stridency, to handle the most delicate passages without Region Code: Worldwide losing presence, and to play everything in between with a ravishing sense of tonal colour. In the Second Piano Concerto Sound: dts 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1, PCM Stereo Welser-Möst and Bronfman brought pulsing energy to the concerto’s second movement, setting up an oasis of calm for Picture 16:9 the third that segued immediately into the genial finale, whose last chords were nearly obliterated by roars of approval 3 Discs DVD 9 NTSC from the audience. Laced into his forceful performance of Piano Concerto No. 1 was a surprising element of fury, as if the pianist had become unhinged momentarily: and yet Bronfman was also wholly present, taking time in relaxed passages to savour every second. RELEASE DATE 11TH DECEMBER 2015

Johannes Brahms Cycle

Disc 2: Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Opus 68, Symphony No. 2 in D major, Opus 73, Symphony No. 3 in F major, Opus 90 116 mins

The Cleveland Orchestra is the “aristocrat among American orchestras” (The Telegraph) and its conductor, Franz Welser-Möst, rules his subjects with a velvet glove. Indeed, velvet and silk keep showing up in descriptions of the Clevelanders’ sound under its principal conductor. The First Symphony is Welser-Möst’s chance to let Brahms’ “mellow, silky sound” (The Guardian) unfurl about the stage Label: Belvedere of London’s Royal Albert Hall during one of the prestigious BBC Promenade Concerts. In the “frenetically applauded” File Under: Classical/Orchestral (Die Presse) concert recorded at the splendid Golden Hall of Vienna’s Musikverein, Franz Welser-Möst leads his Catalogue No: BVD08009 “devoted and exemplarily precise musicians” (Die Presse) in a rendition that polishes every detail to make the Brahms’ Barcode: 4260415080097 Second Symphony glow from within. In the evolution of Brahms’ symphonic oeuvre, his penultimate Third Symphony SPECIAL Price unites the brightness of the Second with the monumentality of the Fourth. Die Presse applauded the concert in which Franz Welser-Möst performed the Symphony as “structurally highlighted, vividly sketched details modelled with great Format: 3 Blu-ray subtlety”. Welser-Möst offers a “lean, propulsive performance” (The Plains Dealer) of the Fourth Symphony. The swift The Cleveland Orchestra pace in his hands reflects the conductor’s quest for a distinctive, far-from-mainstream interpretation. Conductor: Franz Welser-Möst Brahms’ rousing Academic Festival Overture and Violin Concerto op. 77 bear witness to a composer at the height of his Yefim Bronfman [piano] abilities, a mature master of large-scale masterpieces. The Violin Concerto demands extreme technical proficiency. As if Julia Fischer [violin] to exemplify this, violinist Julia Fischer gears herself from the very start of this emotionally searing work to maintaining a restrained yet passionate tone. Language Bonus: English Subtitles Bonus: German Yefim Bronfman has the uncanny ability to play large without stridency, to handle the most delicate passages without Region Code: Worldwide losing presence, and to play everything in between with a ravishing sense of tonal colour. In the Second Piano Concerto Sound Formats: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Welser-Möst and Bronfman brought pulsing energy to the concerto’s second movement, setting up an oasis of calm for LPCM Stereo the third that segued immediately into the genial finale, whose last chords were nearly obliterated by roars of approval Picture Format: 1080i High Definition from the audience. Laced into his forceful performance of Piano Concerto No. 1 was a surprising element of fury, as if the 3 Discs BD 50 pianist had become unhinged momentarily: and yet Bronfman was also wholly present, taking time in relaxed passages to savour every second. RELEASE DATE 11TH DECEMBER 2015

SCHUMANN: Lieder Woman and Man: the human soul in love Alice Coote Christian Blackshaw

Ein Liebesliederstrauß – A bouquet of love songs: Widmung, Du bist wie eine Blume, Dem roten Röslein gleicht mein Lieb, Die Lotosblume, Meine Rose, Mein schöner Stern! Frauenliebe und -leben, Dichterliebe

World-renowned mezzo-soprano Alice Coote joins forces with leading pianist Christian Blackshaw for a heartfelt exploration of the human soul in love. Coote’s sensitive and transfixing interpretation of the texts, coupled with Blackshaw’s intense and elegant musical expression, bring unique insights to this sublime collection of Lieder. From the passion of ‘Widmung’, ‘Du bist wie eine Blume’ and ‘Die Lotusblume’, to that jewels of the Lieder repertoire Frauenliebe und –leben and Dichterliebe, these kaleidoscopic explorations of love are captured live in recital at Wigmore Hall. Label: Wigmore Hall Live File Under: Classical/Secular Vocal music ALSO AVAILABLE: Catalogue No: WHLIVE0079 WHLIVE0057 Schubert Winterreise wt Julius Drake Barcode: 5065000924805 She has a soprano’s brightness in the upper reaches but welcome mezzo weight that she effectively uses to convey the abrupt arrival of a cold front. She’s unafraid of the pathos in ‘Einsamkeit’… with an A-to-Z emotional range leading to MID Price almost unbearable intensity.” David Patrick Stearns, Gramophone – June 2013 Format: 1 CD Packaging: cristal "Coote, a mezzo soprano with glint and power and a sometimes super-charged lower register, is engaged and engaging, drawing you into her numbed and chilling journey of tears and loss, fear, hope and resignation." Alice Coote (mezzo-soprano) Michael Dervan, The Irish Times – 3 May 2013 Christian Blackshaw (piano) RELEASE DATE 11TH DECEMBER 2015

TIPPETT: String Quartets 1-5 Recorded live at Wigmore Hall, London, on 3 December 2013, & 17 January, 16 March and 26 April 2014 Heath Quartet

Sir Michael Tippett’s complete String Quartets are given fresh perspectives by the vibrant and adventurous Heath Quartet. The first ensemble in 10 years to receive the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Young Artist Award, the Heaths bring irresistible energy to these works. From Quartet No. 1, premièred in what was the first professional performance of the composer’s music, and Quartet No. 3, written during the Second World War whilst Tippett, a committed pacifist, faced a prison sentence, to his landmark fifth and final quartet, Tippett’s stirring and powerfully individual writing is recorded in the intimate acoustic of Wigmore Hall. Since being selected by YCAT and winning 1st Prize at the Tromp Competition in 2008 the Heath Quartet has forged a strong international presence. In 2011 they were awarded a prestigious Borletti-Buitoni Special Ensemble Scholarship and undertook complete Beethoven cycles at the Facyl Festival in Salamanca and in Edinburgh. Highlights over the last year have included recitals at Wigmore Hall as part of the Emerging Talent scheme, including the premiere of a new work Label: Wigmore Hall Live by Luke Bedford and collaborations with Stephen Hough and Ian Bostridge. File Under: Classical/Chamber Future engagements include complete Tippett and Bartók cycles, and a recital with the soprano Anna Caterina Antonacci music at Wigmore Hall, debut recitals at the Louvre and Musée d’Orsay in Paris, return visits to the Concertgebouw and their Catalogue No: WHLIVE 0080/2 USA debut. Barcode: 5065000924812 2 FOR 1 Price Format: 2 CD Packaging: cristal

Heath Quartet RELEASE DATE 11TH DECEMBER 2015

Invisible Stars: Choral Works of Ireland & Scotland The Choral Scholars of University College Dublin

The Choral Scholars of University College Dublin are Ireland’s leading collegiate choral ensemble, and for their first recording on Signum they perform a blend of Irish & Scottish music themed around the themes of water and farewell, led by their director Desmond Early. With a large choral repertoire ranging from the medieval to the contemporary UCD Choral Scholars give many major concerts throughout the academic year, both nationally and internationally. 18 high-achieving, gifted students are awarded a scholarship each September following a competitive selection process.

Featured Works: Sleepsong Brendan Graham* The Parting Glass Trad Irish* Mo Ghile Mear Trad Irish* Skye Boat Song Trad. Scottish* Label: Signum Classics ‘Sí do Mhamó í Trad. Irish* Sun and Moon and Stars [Bill Whelan] File Under: Classical/Choral The Gartan Mother’s Lullaby Trad. Irish* Catalogue No: SIGCD436 Siúil a Rún Trad. Irish [arr. Michael McGlynn] Barcode: 635212043622 He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven* NORMAL Price War • Peace [Ivo Antognini] Format: 1 CD Black is the Colour Trad. Irish (Scottish text)* Packaging: cristal Orphan Girl Brendan Graham* The Skye Boat Song Trad. Scottish* The Choral Scholars of University College * arr. Desmond Earley Dublin, Desmond Earley [director] RELEASE DATE 11TH DECEMBER 2015

WIDOR: The Organ Symphonies, Vol.5 Symphony Gothique Op.70, Symphony Romane Op.73 Joseph Nolan

The fifth volume in Signum's series of Charles-Marie Widor’s Organ Symphonies, performed by Joseph Nolan on the magnificent Cavaillé-Coll organs of La Madeleine, Paris and Saint-Sernin, Toulouse. Bridging the generations from Mendelssohn to Messiaen, Empire to Republic, Widor was born to the organ. His Lyonnaise kinsfolk were organ-builders, he showed early talent for the instrument, and for decades was the embodiment of its might and splendour across the Gallic domain: his ‘Organ Symphonies’ being genre-defining in their influence.

Praise for other releases from this series. “This looks like shaping up to be the Widor Organ Symphonies cycle of the decade” Musicweb International

“What impress most is Nolan’s marvellous sense of architecture and far-sighted view of these scores… Add to this the sumptuous sound Signum has captured from La Madeleine and you have a disc which pleads Widor’s case with Label: Signum Classics consummate eloquence.” Marc Rochester, Gramophone – January 2014 File Under: Classical/Instrumental "The spacious acoustic, excellently judged by Signum’s engineering team helps set a patina of Gothic mystery round Catalogue No: SIGCD347 Nolan’s purposefully paced,, fluid middle movements.” Building a library- December 2013 Barcode: 635212034729 NORMAL Price SIGCD337 Widor - Complete Organ Symphonies 4 Format: 1 CD SIGCD334 Widor - Complete Organ Symphonies 3 Packaging: cristal SIGCD319 Widor - Complete Organ Symphonies 2 SIGCD292 Widor - Complete Organ Symphonies 1 The Cavaillé-Coll Organs of La Madeleine, Paris & Saint-Sernin, Toulouse, Joseph Nolan RELEASE DATE 11TH DECEMBER 2015

The Spirit of Christmas Joanna Lumley RTE Concert Orchestra Royal Ballet Sinfonia

Philip Lane, "The doyen of British Light Music" (James Jolly, Gramophone), has collaborated with Heritage for this Christmas release – orchestral music for the festive season composed by leading figures in the Light Music movement. Most works featured here are based, to a greater or lesser extent, on ‘traditional tunes’, suitably ‘adorned’ for orchestra and the concert hall. Several are entirely original but allude to the Christmas story in their various facets. The recording features several world premieres, indicated below. Heritage is delighted that Joanna Lumley and John Julius Norwich feature as narrators for Adam Saunders’ new setting of The Twelve Days of Christmas.

Gordon THORNETT: Festive Overture: The Joy of Christmas * Gian Carlo MENOTTI: Introduction, March & Shepherds' Dance from 'Amahl and the Night Visitors' Label: Heritage Adam SAUNDERS: The Twelve Days of Christmas * File Under: Classical/Orchestral Narrators: Joanna Lumley & John Julius Norwich Catalogue No: HTGCD299 Thomas HEWITT JONES: What Child is this? (A Christmas Lullaby) * Philip SPRATLEY: A Christmas Rondel * Barcode: 5060332661596 Matthew CURTIS: Christmas Spirit * NORMAL Price Roy MOORE: A Christmas Medley * Format: 1 CD Peter WARLOCK: Bethlehem Down, a carol for strings Packaging: cristal Bryan KELLY: Sir Roger de Coverley (Christmas Dance), A Christmas Celebration *world premiere Joanna Lumley & John Julius Norwich [narrators] RTE Concert Orchestra, Royal Ballet Sinfonia Gavin Sutherland & Barry Wordsworth [conductors] RELEASE DATE 11TH DECEMBER 2015

BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 9 in D min Op. 125, finale SCHUBERT: Symphony No. 9 The Philharmonia Wilhelm Furtwängler

The last '9th' directed by Wilhelm Furtwängler who perhaps captured the orchestral quintessence of Beethoven's art. His 'Ode to Joy' from the hand of Schiller, the anthem of 20th and 21st century Europe, is all the more powerful considering he had only a few days to live. An alternative to the famous vision that he gave in 1951 at the reopening of the Bayreuth Festival. Recorded at Lucerne Festival, August 22 1954. This Beethoven 9 by Fürtwangler showed, in the first movement, some technical weaknesses in the sound that Pierre Emil Barbier of Praga has now decided not to issue [as DSD350084]. However, this final version conducted by the maestro has a finale that surpasses almost everything, hence this new coupling with [a very fine] Schubert 9.

Label: Praga Digitals File Under: Classical/Orchestral Catalogue No: DSD350085 Barcode: 3149028028225 NORMAL Price Format: 1 HYBRID SACD Packaging: cristal

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf Elsa Calvetti Ernst Haefliger Otto Edelmann, Lucerne Festival Chorus The Philharmonia, Wilhelm Furtwängler RELEASE DATE 11TH DECEMBER 2015

A Tribute to Rafael Kubelík MAHLER: Das Klagende Lied, BRAHMS: Alto Rhapsodie Op.53, SCHOENBERG: Gurrelieder (excerpts) Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks Symphonie-Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks Rafael Kubelík

This fitting tribute to legendary conductor Rafael Kubelik sees him lead the Bavarian Radio forces in performances that proved him to be the worthy successor to Furtwängler, Walter and Kleiber.

Live, recorded in Herkulesaal and broadcast by Bavarian Radio, Munich, 18/6/1962 [Brahms] 8/6/1979 [Mahler]. Live recorded by Polydor GmbH, 10-12 March 1965 [Schoenberg]

"I led thousands of concerts and none fully met my expectations...For me it is important to express something new every night... tearing myself apart in fact - to give something each time and not take. Taking is not worthy of a musician." Rafael Label: Praga Digitals Kubelik File Under: Classical/Choral Catalogue No: DSD350118 Barcode: 3149028039122 NORMAL Price Format: 1 HYBRID SACD

Mahler: Julia Hamari [soprano], Rose Wagermann [mezzo], David Rendall [tenor] Brahms: Grace Hoffmann [contralto] Schoenberg: Herta Töpper [mezzo], Inge Borkh [soprano], Herbert Schachtschneider [tenor], Kieth Engen [baritone] RELEASE DATE 11TH DECEMBER 2015

Yevgeny Mravinsky conducts Igor Stravinsky Petrushka [1947 revision], The Fairy's Kiss [complete] Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra Yevgeny Mravinsky

A provocative and probably previously unreleased reunion of two quintessential ballet scores evocative of the Paris of before and after World War I. The Russian conductor Yevgeny Mravinsky, who stayed in his homeland but managed to remain impervious to any authoritative decrees, either political or artistic, presents this daring programme of Stravinsky's 'Petrushka' and 'The Fairy's Kiss', both with the same accuracy of interpretation, Impressive and without competition!

Live recorded in Leningrad/St.Petersburg, October 24, 1964 [Petrushka], June 20, 1982

Label: Praga Digitals File Under: Classical/Orchestral Catalogue No: DSD350113 Barcode: 3149028038620 NORMAL Price Format: 1 HYBRID SACD

Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra Yevgeny Mravinsky RELEASE DATE 11TH DECEMBER 2015

In Memoriam Janos Starker: Cello masterworks of the 20th Century

MARTINU: Cello Concerto No. 1 H196 [1955 ed] Czech Radio Symphony / John Nelson, Prague Live recording Czech Radio, 19/3/1990

PROKOFIEV: Cello Conecrto Op. 58 DOHNANYI: Konzertstück for Cello & Orchestra Op. 12 Philharmonia Orchestra / Walter Süsskind London, Kingsway Hall, 14-17 July 1956

Only Janos Starker could propose such a programme: as difficult for the instrument as poorly rewarding for the instrumentalist: the artist must fully express the lyricism from these almost forgotten cello masterworks of the 20th century. At that time, he played the 'Lord Aylesford' Strad, then a Matteo Gofriller (Venezia, 1659-1742) for Martinu’s score. A true image of a master, brought to America by Antal Dorati [then at Dallas] and poached by Fritz Reiner for the Met orchestra, Starker following him to Chicago in 1953. Having left Chicago in 1958 he took up the professorship at Indiana University that made him the most celebrated cello teacher in America and resumed his solo career giving Label: Praga Digitals hundreds of concerts on every continent. From the 1960s Starker was one of the sorld's top soloists, famed for his File Under: Classical/Orchestral concert demeanour. His bow arm was the envy of colleagues; his legato immaculate and his left hand delivered pinpoint Catalogue No: PRD250304 intonation. In all this he was the heir of Emmanuel Feuermann, whom he had heard play with Bartok, at the tender age of Barcode: 3149028043020 9. He continued to teach until his death in 2013. NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: cristal RELEASE DATE 11TH DECEMBER 2015

WIDOR: The Organ Symphonies, Vol.5 Symphony Gothique Op.70, Symphony Romane Op.73 Joseph Nolan

Praise for other releases from this series. “This looks like shaping up to be the Widor Organ Symphonies cycle of the decade” Musicweb International

William Primrose A 20th Century violist

MOZART: Symphonie Concertante K364 / with Jascha Heifetz BERLIOZ: Harold en Italie - Serenade/ Charles Munch BARTOK: Viola Concerto SZ120 / Tibor Serly WALTON: Viola Concerto / William Walton

A tribute to William Primrose (1904-82), the Scottish viola player, who gave his instrument the same status as the violin. He became immortal for having commissioned, created and recorded the last work of Bartók in 1945. a Viola Concerto available here in a remastered edition, together with Tibor Serly: Bartok's student who had ensured the completion and publishing. This first etching is resurrected here with three other examples of Mozart, Berlioz and Walton, played with the exceptional beauty of his prestigious instruments: an Andrea Guarneri (1697) and two Stradivarius, McDonald (1700) and Gibson (1734). A miracle of restoration.

Label: Praga Digitals File Under: Classical/Instrumental Catalogue No: PRD250324 Barcode: 3149028074925 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: cristal

William Primrose [viola] Jascha Heifetz [violin] RCA Victor Orchestra Charles Munch William Walton RELEASE DATE 11TH DECEMBER 2015

Gioconda de Vito: Beethoven • Brahms • Vitali

Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61* Gioconda de Vito [violin], RIAS-Symphonie-Orchester, Georg Ludwig Jochum

Brahms: Violin Sonata in A major, Op. 100 Gioconda de Vito, Michael Raucheisen [piano]

Vitali: Chaconne in G minor Gioconda de Vito

Gioconda de Vito (1907-1994) was one of the few female violinists able to establish themselves as soloists on the concert platform during the first half of the 20th century. Born in the South Italian region of Puglia, the artist studied in Pesaro and Rome, accepting her first professorship at the tender age of seventeen. De Vito built an international career which took her as far afield as Argentina and Australia. In Germany she was especially highly regarded during the 1930s and 40s. Bach, Beethoven and Brahms represented the main pillars of her repertoire which, however, largely eschewed Label: Audite more modern music. De Vito cultivated a sumptuously romantic tone and never sought superficial violinistic brilliance. File Under: Classical/Orchestral In 1961, aged only fifty-four, she retired from the concert stage. De Vito never recorded the Beethoven Violin Concerto in Catalogue No: AUDITE95621 the studio: this sole live recording from 1954 with the RIAS-Symphonie-Orchester under the baton of Georg Ludwig Barcode: 4022143956217 Jochum presented here is therefore of particular documentary value. NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Berlin, 1951 / 1954 (*live recording) Packaging: digipack RELEASE DATE 11TH DECEMBER 2015

BEETHOVEN: Complete String Quartets Vol. V String Quintet in C major, Op. 29 String Quartet in A minor, Op. 132, No. 15 Quartetto di Cremona Lawrence Dutton

Audite’s fifth volume of the Complete Beethoven String Quartets presents not only the Op. 132 String Quartet but also Beethoven’s only original String Quintet. Lawrence Dutton, the viola player of the Emerson String Quartet, joins the Quartetto di Cremona. Mozart left six string quintets to the music world, Louis Spohr’s work catalogue contains seven, whilst Luigi Boccherini completed around 120. Beethoven had three quintets published; however, only one of these was originally conceived for string quintet. However, his opus 29 of 1801 is a true masterwork on the brink between the Classical style of his teacher, Joseph Haydn, and the revolutionary idiom of Beethoven’s middle and late periods. The Adagio (with its adjunct of “molto espressivo”) in particular heralds an evocative intensity which was still foreign in Beethoven’s earlier works. However, by his late oeuvre of the 1820s – the Ninth Symphony, 'Missa solemnis', late piano sonatas and quartets – Beethoven had Label: Audite developed such a distinctive language that the label of 'Early Romanticism' no longer applies. File Under: Classical/Chamber His String Quartet in A minor, Op. 132, with its five movements and exceptional degree of difficulty also stands apart from music contemporary works; then as now, only professional ensembles could tackle this grandly conceived colossus. As in the Catalogue No: AUDITE92684 quintet, the Molto adagio represents the core of the piece. Its title – “Holy song of thanksgiving of a convalescent to the Deity” – refers to an illness from which the composer had recovered, and adapts a chant inspired by the Renaissance Barcode: 4022143926845 composer Palestrina. In so doing, Beethoven includes a musical ancestor in his quartet whilst making a religious avowal. NORMAL Price Format: 1 HYBRID SACD Packaging: digipack

Quartetto di Cremona: Cristiano Gualco [violin] Paolo Andreoli [violin] Simone Gramaglia [viola] Giovanni Scaglione [cello] Lawrence Dutton [viola] RELEASE DATE 11TH DECEMBER 2015

BRAHMS: Clarinet Quintet Op. 115, HINDEMITH: Clarinet Quintet Op. 30 Prazak Quartet Raphaël Sévère

Only 30 years separate the clarinet quintets of Brahms and Hindemith; yet these are not just two artists' temperaments, not two different concepts, not two distinct aesthetics. What separates them is the world of harmony and that of established disorder. After winning the Tokyo competition at the age of 12 and gaining a nomination as “Solo instrumental discovery” at the Victoires de la Musique, aged 15, Raphael Sévère went on to win the prestigious Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York in November 2013, where he was awarded First Prize and eight special prizes. Discovered by the general public at the age of 12 on the radio (France Musique), Raphaël Sévère currently ranks as one of the most brilliant representatives of the French school of clarinet. For more than 30 years, the Prazak Quartet has been at home on music stages worldwide. They are regular guests in the major European musical capitals and have been invited to participate at numerous international festivals, where they Label: Mirare have collaborated with such artists as Menahem Pressler, Jon Nakamatsu, Cynthia Phelps, Roberto Diaz, Josef Suk and File Under: Classical/Chamber Sharon Kam. In 2015, Jana Vonášková joined the group as first violinist, succeeding Pavel Hula. She is a graduate of the music Royal College of Music in London, and was a member of the Smetana Trio for nine years. Catalogue No: MIR282 “An exceptional artist, blessed with a superlative technique and a remarkable eloquence about the elegance of Barcode: 3760127222828 sonority, the accuracy of breath, inspiration”. Le Monde [Raphaël Sévère] NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack

Prazak Quartet: Jana Vonášková, Vlastimil Holek, Josef Kluson, Michal Kanka, Raphaël Sévère [clarinet] RELEASE DATE 11TH DECEMBER 2015

Michel Dalberto plays Debussy (live in Mantova) Children’s Corner L. 119 (113), Images (2e série) L. 120 (111), Préludes (2e livre) L. 131 (123)

Disciple of Vlado Perlemuter and Jean Hubeau, Michel Dalberto has stood out as a master and ardent defender of French music in the course of a 30-year career. His signing to the Aparté label for a series of recordings devoted to Debussy, Fauré, Ravel, and Franck marks his long-awaited return to disc. Each episode will be recorded live and accompanied by a video. This first release, recorded on a Fazioli piano at the Teatro Bibiena on 30 May 2015, within the framework of the Mantua Chamber Music Festival, honours Claude Debussy: "Two years ago, near Venice, I played pieces by Debussy on a Fazioli piano, and it seemed obvious to me that this piano provided the ideal sonority for this music made of light and shadow. The idea of recording a recital in a beautiful Italian theatre came as a logical continuation. The Bibiena (from the name of its architect, Antonio Bibiena) in Mantua was inaugurated in December 1769 – Mozart gave a concert there a month later. It is, with the San Carlo in Naples, my finest memory of any Italian theatre where I played." Michel Dalberto

Michel Dalberto first came to prominence when, between 1975 and 1978, he won the 1st Mozart Competition in Label: Aparté Salzburg, the Clara Haskil Prize in Vevey (Switzerland) and 1st Prize at the Leeds International Piano Competition File Under: Classical/Instrumental (whose previous winners include Radu Lupu, Murray Perahia and Andras Schiff). Catalogue No: AP111 Born in Paris in 1955 he began the piano at the age of three and a half and gave his first concert at five and a half. When Barcode: 3149028076523 he was twelve, he was introduced to Vlado Perlemuter, a favourite pupil of the late Alfred Cortot, and entered his class at NORMAL Price the Paris Conservatoire where he completed his studies during nine years. He has since performed under the baton of Format: 1 CD some of the most distinguished conductors including Sawallish, Colin Davis, Temirkanov, Masur, Gatti or Gardiner and has been guest of festivals such as Lucerne, Florence, Aix-en-Provence, Vienna, Edinburgh, Schleswig-Holstein, Packaging: digipack Newport, Miami, Seattle as well as regular visits to Japan, Korea and China. He is the only living pianist to have recorded Michel Dalberto [piano] the complete piano works by Schubert. RELEASE DATE 11TH DECEMBER 2015

SATIE: Gymnopédies 1-3, Pièces froides, 12 Petits Chorals, Avant-dernieres pensées Nocturnes, Gnossiennes 1-7 Bruno Fontaine

From behind his colourful glasses, seated in front of his piano, Bruno Fontaine usually seeks to go off the beaten track. But here he makes a fond tribute to Erik Satie through his eternal melodies in a programme that inclues the 'Gnossienes' and the infamous, hypnotic 'Gymnopedies'.

Having started playing the piano at four, Bruno Fontaine studied at the National Conservatory of Music in Paris where he graduated four years later, with five first prizes. After a stay in the United States where he met Don Costa, arranger, and amongst others, Frank Sinatra, he started in 1984 a collaboration with American soprano Julia Migenes for whom he became the arranger and musical director, as he later did for Johnny Hallyday and Ute Lemper. His arrangements, compositions and film scores have won him nominations both for the Grammys and Caesars. Label: Aparté He pursues a parallel solo career as a pianist with such varied formations as the Ensemble orchestral de Paris, the File Under: Classical/Instrumental Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Ysaye Quartet, Michel Portal, Ophélie Gaillard, Sonia Wieder-Atherton, Henri Demarquette... Catalogue No: AP116 Barcode: 3149028076929 ALSO AVAILABLE: NORMAL Price AP063 Ragtime Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack

Bruno Fontaine [piano] RELEASE DATE 11TH DECEMBER 2015

Cage after Cage. Works for Solo Percussion Matthias Kaul

Composed Improvisation for snare drum alone Variations I. Version for steel drums and mbira Child of Tree for solo percussion Composed Improvisation for one-sided drums with or without jangles Inlets for three players of water-filled conch shells and one conch-player using circular breathing and the sound of fire 27’10.554’’ for a Percussionist

Anyone performing John Cage’s music cannot avoid the phenomenon of silence. In his view, everything audible can in principle be music, even if it is not composed: “If you want to know the truth of the matter, the music I prefer, even to my own or anybody else's, is what we are hearing if we are just quiet.” In all the works interpreted by him, Matthias Kaul deals with the question of which forms can principally take silence and Label: Wergo how it can be realised in the most concrete way: which instruments are used, how does the instrumentation develop throughout the entire piece, and how can the acoustic results remain exciting for almost half an hour? File Under: Classical/Instrumental How can a large number of instruments and sounds be brought into play without conveying the impression of arbitrariness? Catalogue No: WER7320-2 The playing instructions for 'Inlets' are rudimentary; there are three performers, each of whom has four conch shells. Barcode: 4010228732023 The shells are filled with water and turned round and round; then a fire fueled by pine cones begins, and the piece ends NORMAL Price with a tone from one of the shells blown like a horn. Format: 1 CD In 'Child of Tree', Cage's instructions present a rather diffuse area of possibilities. The performer must toss coins and Packaging: cristal decide on the basis of the results as to how many sections he divides the eight minutes into and which instruments he uses in which sections. Matthias Kaul [percussion] In 'Composed Improvisation', Cage gave exact instructions consisting of time brackets which provide a timeframe for the music. The tonal structure within this framework is left to chance. '27´10.554'' for solo percussion is a finished composition of this project, with the title indicating the duration of the piece. For this major project, Kaul used 90 different instruments and objects altogether.

ADVERTISED IN GRAMOPHONE MAGAZINE RELEASE DATE 11TH DECEMBER 2015

Henry COWELL, John CAGE: Amiable Conversation Sabine Liebner

John Cage: Tossed as it is Untroubled for prepared piano, Henry Cowell: Sinister Resonance John Cage: Soliloquy, Henry Cowell: Aeolian Harp, John Cage: Dream, Henry Cowell: Three Irish Legends John Cage: In the Name of the Holocaust for prepared piano, Henry Cowell: The Banshee John Cage: Two Pieces for Piano, Henry Cowell: Vestiges John Cage: The Perilous Night for prepared piano, Henry Cowell: Amiable Conversation (No. 2 of Five Encores to “Dynamic Motion”) John Cage: Primitive for prepared piano, Henry Cowell: The Snows of Fuji-Yama

The piano works by Cowell and Cage on this CD cover the period from 1912 to 1948 and document not only the emergence of experimental American music, but also depict a very fruitful teacher-student relationship. Before John Cage began his brief and informal studies with Arnold Schoenberg, he studied composition with Cowell. If one compares Cowell’s piano pieces with those John Cage composed up to the end of the 1940s, their common Label: Wergo features are as clear as the differences. For one thing, there is a shared interest in extending the sound possibilities of the piano through preparations of the strings and the use of Irish subject matter, as in Cage’s The Perilous Night, whose File Under: Classical/Instrumental title can be traced back to an Irish folktale. Catalogue No: WER7326-2 On the other hand, it is unmistakable that Cage follows a concept of abstraction that emphasises the objective character Barcode: 4010228732627 of the sound, while Cowell, with his powerful cluster towers and the gentle 'string piano' pieces, creates a surreal but, in NORMAL Price the end, almost romantic sound world. A title like Aeolian Harp unavoidably recalls the famous John Keats poem Ode on Format: 1 CD a Grecian Urn from 1820 (‘Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard / Are sweeter ...’). With Cage, on the other Packaging: cristal hand, the preparation serves to disturb and distort the listener’s awareness. The keys pressed down and the sound that emerges no longer form a unity. What sounds real is ultimately the acoustical fingerprint of the respective preparation Sabine Liebner [piano] object and of the sound produced when the keyboard hammer strikes the blocked strings. And while Cowell wrote his piano music specifically for that instrument, Cage was inspired in his prepared piano pieces by the sounds of percussion instruments, which he transferred to the piano.

ADVERTISED IN GRAMOPHONE MAGAZINE RELEASE DATE 11TH DECEMBER 2015

Toshio HOSOKAWA: Voyage VIII, Voyage X - Nozarashi, Stunden-Blumen, Arc Song, Lied

In hardly any other culture have the contrasts between East and West, between tradition and modernism been fought as intensively as in Japan. Few cultures have been more radical in breaking with the own roots after centuries of self-imposed isolation, in adapting to foreign customs, than the home country of the composer Toshio Hosokawa, who was born in Hiroshima in 1955 and who says about his own work: “As a composer, I wish to express something that we have already lost.” For Zen monks, nature is an expression of the all-embracing Buddha nature which is, in essence, shapeless and inexpressible, yet which can, paradoxically, manifest itself only in visible forms. In the works 'Silent Flowers' and 'Blossoming' for string quartet, 'Lotusblume' for mixed choir and 'Lotus under the moonlight' for piano and orchestra, Hosokawa pays tribute to the withering beauty of the blooming flower which maintains its magnificence only for a short time. The special instrumentation of the quartet 'Stunden-Blumen' with clarinet, violin, violoncello and piano takes up the example of Olivier Messiaen's 'Quartet for the end of time'– re-interpreted by Hosokawa as a “quartet for the origin of time”. The instrumentations of “Landscape I-VI” range from string quartet to chamber ensemble to violin concerto. Label: Wergo Characteristic of the 10-part 'Voyages' is the relationship between solo and accompaniment: the soloist stands for the File Under: Classical/Chamber individual, the ensemble for nature and the universe. The journey undertaken by the soloist is both a journey to himself, music to his inner self, and to the heart of the sound. Both 'Voyages' contained on this CD were written for the ensemble Catalogue No: WER6860-2 Musikfabrik. Barcode: 4010228686029 The duo for flute and piano was simply entitled 'Lied' by Hosokawa; in this piece, the challenge for the composer and the NORMAL Price players probably is to generate the tonal idiom of traditional Japanese instruments by using mainly European instruments. As in 'Voyages', the part of the flute is an expression of the individual while the accompanying piano Format: 1 CD symbolises the universe. Packaging: cristal ADVERTISED IN GRAMOPHONE MAGAZINE Melvyn Poore [tuba] Tadashi Tajima [shakuhachi] Ensemble Musikfabrik Peter Rundel, Ilan Volkov [conductors] RELEASE DATE 11TH DECEMBER 2015

Luc FERRARI: Ephémère

FERRARI: Ephémère (1974) new version for viola & tape by Brunhild Ferrari (2012) Brunhild FERRARI: Le Piano Englouti (2012) version for viola & tape Vincent Royer [viola]

Vincent ROYER / Luc FERRARI: Pour que le vent soit propice (2011) based on “Ce qu’a vu le Cers” (1978) by Luc Ferrari Vincent Royer [viola, voice, percussion & electronics]

This album tells stories about wind, ocean and a village feast in the southern France…The listener is led into a poetic journey about freedom and impermanence. It brings together three Ferrari-related works: by Ferrari himself, by Ferrari’s wife Brunhild Meyer-Ferrari and an improvisation by Royer to one of Ferrari’s soundscapes. Luc Ferrari was very interested in collaboration and began working with new music violist Vincent Royer following their meeting in 2001. Regarding 'Ephémère' (1974), Ferrari wrote: “This musical piece – which, as its name says, is based on the effects of the sea – is intended for musicians open to all types of music. As the name says too, this tape has been conceived as a snap of time.” In 2012 Brunhild Ferrari realised this new version for Royer’s viola. Label: Mode Records Brunhild Ferrari's 'Le piano englouti' (“The Sunken Piano”) is a tape piece comprised of recorded and processed sounds. File Under: Classical/Instrumental The sounds were recorded over 14 years, at a Greek island almost swallowed by the noisy Aegean Sea, and in 2010, at Catalogue No: mode285 a very discreet and silent Japanese island. Originally composed to accompany a piano, as in Debussy’s work of the Barcode: 764593028529 same name, this version is arranged for Royer’s viola. NORMAL Price The Royer/Ferrari 'Pour que le vent soit propice' uses Ferrari’s tape piece “Ce qu’a vu le Cers” as the basis for a viola & electronics improvisation. This live recording captures the special mood of the intimate concert surroundings it was Format: 1 CD recorded at. Packaging: cristal Liner notes by Brunhild Ferrari and Royer.

Also by Luc Ferrari on Mode Records: mode81 Chansons pour le corps; Et si tout entière maintenant mode228 Madame de Shanghai, Après presque rien, Visage 2 mode276dvd Les Grandes Répétitions: 2 films on Stockhausen & Varèse by Luc Ferrari and Gérard Patris from 1965-66

Also by Vincent Royer on Mode Records: mode231 Giacinto Scelsi The Works for Viola RELEASE DATE 11TH DECEMBER 2015

Christian WOLFF: Incidental Music and Keyboard Miscellany Christian Wolff

Definitive performances of the composer playing his own keyboard works. 'Incidental Music' and 'Keyboard Miscellany', are sets of piano music (Wolff also performs some on the melodica). Though both consisting mostly of quite short musical items, have as a whole different origins and different shapes. 'Keyboard Miscellany' is an ongoing collection which began with the 'Variation on Morton Feldman’s Piano Piece 1952' in 1988. In 1991 Wolff started making pieces for individual people and occasions, usually birthdays, just short communications. 'Incidental Music' came about when Wolff was asked to play for a Merce Cunningham Dance Company 'Event' in 2004. Cunningham’s dance 'Events' were ad hoc arrangements, different each time. The accompanying music (which, as usual with Cunningham dances had no direct relation to the dance, simply co-existing) could be any music the musicians chose. This work became a series of 100 small, quick drawings which could be used as a basis for improvisation. Liner notes by Christian Wolff.

Label: Mode Records File Under: Classical/Instrumental Catalogue No: mode286 Barcode: 764593028628 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: cristal

Christian Wolff [piano] RELEASE DATE 11TH DECEMBER 2015

DOWLAND: In Darkness Michael Chance Paul Beier

Michael Chance established a worldwide reputation as one of the foremost exponents of the male alto voice in all areas of the classical repertoire. Paul Beier accompanies this selection of Dowland songs with solo lute music. In his mind, John Dowland was truly living “in darkness,” and the theme of darkness permeates the lyrics of many of his last songs, the most emblematic of which is 'In darkness let me dwell'.

"That mournful dimension of the music of Dowland which has fascinated many generations, both past and present, culminated in the beautiful In Darkness Let Me Dwell (from the Musical Banquet of 1610) which we can now listen to in a recent and magnificent performance by two musicians of great prominence, countertenor Michael Chance and lutenist Paul Beier. Beier has written an interesting and well documented introductory text to this recording in which he reviews, in detail and with emotional participation, the emblematic story of Dowland, an English composer highly acclaimed in the Denmark of King Christian IV, almost like a Hamlet of music, who then finds himself quite neglected in his homeland Label: Stradivarius where he had always aspired to a position at Court, with entirely unsatisfying results for a long time." File Under: Classical/Secular Claudio Strinati - Il Venerdì di Repubblica, 23 October 2015 Vocal music 1 - Praeludium Catalogue No: STR33914 2 - In darkness let me dwell Barcode: 8011570339140 3 - Viscount Lisle’s Galliard NORMAL Price 4 - Sweet stay a while Format: 1 CD 5 - A Fancy Packaging: digipack 6 - In this trembling shadow cast 7 - Henry Guildforde's Almaine Michael Chance [countertenor] 8 - Shall I strive Paul Beier [lute] 9 - A Fancy 10 - Farre from triumphing court 11 - Coranto 12 - Stay time a while 13 - An Almand 14 - Lady if you so spight me 15 - Pavan 16 - Tell me true love 17 - Galliard to Lachrimae 18 - Thou mightie God RELEASE DATE 11TH DECEMBER 2015

MOZART: Il Finto Pariggino Marinella Pennicchi Mauro Squillante Mara Galassi

Delicacy, lightness, elegance, refinement, tenderness, melancholy, joy, wit, enjoyment…these are the words which come to mind when we listen to the compositions on this recording thanks to the combination of voice, harp, mandolin, underlines the delicacy of timbres. The unusual repertory ideally links two capitals of the musical history of the time: Naples and Paris. Both Domenico Cimarosa and Giovanni Paisiello departed from Naples and its famous conservatories, to launch their international careers. Also Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, to whom the second part of the programme is dedicated, showed an interest in the mandolin and it features throughout the composer’s catalogue from 1768 until the year of his death.

1 CIMAROSA: Sposate che sarrimmo 2 PAISIELLO: Ah, che nel petto io sento (da “La bella Molinara”, 1788) Label: Stradivarius 3 LEONE de Naples: Sonata V op. 2 in Sol min. per mandolino e basso continuo Larghetto File Under: Classical/Opera & 4 DUNI: L’avez vous vu mon bien aimé (Air de la Fée Urgèle, 1765) Vocal 5 LEONE: Variations sur L’avez vous vu mon bien aimé (Air de La Fée Urgèle) 6 SARTI: Chère idole de mon âme (Rondeau arrangé par Francesco Petrini Catalogue No: STR33851 7 GRETRY: Je crains de lui parler la nuit (Air de “Richard Coeur de Lion”, 1785) Barcode: 8011570338518 8 KRUMPHOLTZ: Puisque mon espoir, op.10 NORMAL Price 9 LEONE: Sonata V op. 2 in Sol min. per mandolino e basso continuo Allegretto Format: 1 CD 10 GLUCK: D’une image, hèlas!, trop chérie (Air d’Iphigénie en Tauride, 1779) Packaging: digipack 11 MOZART: Die Zufriedenheit KV 349 12 Komm, liebe Zither, komm K 351 Marinella Pennicchi [soprano] 13 Sonata in Fa magg. K 30 Adagio Mauro Squillante [mandolino] 14 L’ho perduta Cavatina du Mariage de Figaro, 1784 Mara Galassi [arpa a crochet] 15 Mon coeur soupire Air du Mariage de Figaro 16 Sonata in Fa magg. K 30 Rondò (tempo di minuetto) 17 L'Incostante – canzonetta I 18 L'Abbandonata – canzonetta III 19 L'Allegro – canzonetta VII RELEASE DATE 11TH DECEMBER 2015

Giovanni ZAMBONI: Madrigali e Sonate Ensemble Faenza Marco Horvat

Little is known about Giovanni Zamboni (known as 'the Roman') except that he was recognised in the first half of the 18th century as a virtuoso of plucked-string instruments such as the lute, mandolin, theorbo, mandore and harpsichord. His 12 sonatas published in 1718 comprise the final book of pieces printed in tablature for the lute in Italy. However, Zamboni was more than a composer for lute: he left a legacy of two cycles of 12 madrigals for four voices, written with great inventive richness. After an unprecedented flowering of the polyphonic madrigal at the beginning of the 17th century, it disappeared to give way to more demonstrative and easily-accessible forms. A 'new wave' of madrigal writing surged in Rome at the end of the 17th century, the impetus coming from erudite circles in which figured the likes of Alessandro Scarlatti. In this movement, Zamboni certainly played an important role, as witnessed by the great Chapel Master of Saint John of Laterano, Girolamo Chiti, who finds in Zamboni’s madrigals "a deep knowledge of counterpoint and of the expression of the words' meanings, a synthesis of the rigour of the old school and of the chromatic expressivity in the modern style. This work merits praise, esteem and approval." Label: AGOGIQUE File Under: Classical/Secular ALSO AVAILABLE: Vocal music AGO018 Giulio San Pietro de Negri: Amorosa Fenice ***** Catalogue No: AGO021 “Superb premiere recordings of Negri and others, revelling in the Monteverdian ‘New Music’ of 17th century Italy. Barcode: 3700675500214 Charming solo and duo scherzos contrast with impassioned monodies.” BBC Music Magazine, December 2014 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD “This is a remarkable disc … There is certainly much to enjoy here: first of all the music, and also a number of Packaging: digipack performances. One of the best is Langue e spira, brilliantly sung by Jeffrey Thompson.” Music Web International, 6th January 2015 Ensemble Faenza Marco Horvat ***** “The music is refreshing and the performances universally first rate” Early Music Today, March-May 2015 RELEASE DATE 11TH DECEMBER 2015

Conversations with God: Motets & cantatas from 17th century Germany by Hammerschmidt, Scheidt, Telemann, Bruhns Le Concert Etranger Itay Jedlin

Johann RODENMULLER (1619-1684): Sinfonia XI, Sonate da camera e sinfonia, 1667 Andreas HAMMERSCHMIDT (1611-1675): Herr, wie lange willst du mein so gar vergessen? Georg Philipp TELEMANN (1681-1767): Cantate Ach, Herr, straf mich nicht in deinem Zorn. (Psaume 6, TWV 7:3) Heinrich SCHEIDEMANN (1595-1663): Erbarm dich mein, o Herre Gott HAMMERSCHMIDT: Erbarm dich mein, o Herre Gott (Psaume 51), Pavane à 5, Ach Gott, warum hast du mein vergessen? SCHEIDEMANN: Praeludium en ré HAMMERSCHMIDT: Ergo sit nulla ratio salutis MONTEVERDI: Sinfonia Label: Ambronay Samuel SCHEIDT(1587-1654): Warum betrübst du dich, mein Herz? Ist nicht Ephraïm mein teurer Sohn? File Under: Classical/Choral Nikolaus BRUHNS (1665-1697): Hemmt eure Tränenflut Catalogue No: AMY045 HAMMERSCHMIDT: Inter brachia salvatoris mei Barcode: 3760135100453 Recorded at the Eglise de Champcueil (91), France — 16th-19th June 2015 NORMAL Price Drawing on the German vocal and instrumental repertory of the 17th century, Itay Jedlin and his Concert Etranger Format: 1 CD embody the dialogue, at once intimate and grandiose, between God and the soul of the believer. A profound programme Packaging: digipack that reveals the full beauty of the unfairly neglected works of Andreas Hammerschmidt. Created by Itay Jedlin in 2006, Le Concert Etranger brings together young musicians from backgrounds as diverse as Le Concert Etranger Paris, Athens, Montreal, Havana, Tokyo and Jerusalem, sharing the same passion of a faithful interpretation of Baroque Itay Jedlin music, supported by musicological and artistic research. In 2014 the Ambronay Festival invited ensemble to give the 'St. John Passion' by JS Bach, followed in 2015 by a reconstruction of his 'Passion According to St. Mark'. Both concerts were broadcast live by France Télévisions. RELEASE DATE 11TH DECEMBER 2015

Music for Baroque Harp Volker Sellmann

Tthis CD brings together three underlying stylistic trends in music for the harp. On the one hand there are original Baroque compositions, and on the other neo-Baroque new works written in the spirit of the 17th century. Thirdly we encounter adaptations of Baroque works (not originally written for the harp), composed in the early 20th century in the style of late Romanticism and neo-Classicism.

BACH: Pièce en sol Praeambulum: Partita Nr. 5 BWV 829 G major · Adapt. Henriette Renié, 1940 HANDEL: Passacaglia (Passacaille): Suite Nr. 7 HWV 432 G minor Adapt. Luigi Maria Magistretti, c. 1920 GRANDJANY; Petite suite classique: Joyful Ouverture (Purcell), Gigue (Kuhnau), Gavotte (Lully), Siciliana (äolisch), Passepied (Couperin), Bourrée (Handel) KIRCHHOFF: Aria und Rigaudon C minor Adapt. Marcel Grandjany, 1949 LOEILLET: Toccata aus: Suite F major Adapt. Marcel Grandjany, c. 1950 Louise CHARPENTIER: Pièce dans le style ancien C minor Label: Christophorus PESCETTI: Sonate Nr. 6 C minor HANDEL: Tema con variazioni G minor, David’s Harp Solo, Symphony aus: Saul HWV 53 File Under: Classical/Instrumental John PARRY: Lesson (Sonate) Nr. 1 D major Catalogue No: CHE0204-2 ROTA: Sarabanda e Toccata (1947) Barcode: 4010072020420 BUDGET Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: CRISTAL

Volker Sellmann [harp] (Klaus Horngacher, Starnberg) RELEASE DATE 11TH DECEMBER 2015

Baroque Concertos for piccolo trumpet Joachim Schäfer

The valveless natural trumpet used until the 17th century was limited to the natural harmonic series and so could not produce the full, chromatic scale of the modern trumpet. As the trumpet developed, it came to incorporate three or four valves, which enabled the instrument to produce the hitherto missing notes and which greatly extended its potential repertoire. It then became possible to perform concertos written for other solo instruments like the flute and the oboe on the trumpet – as Christophorus have done on this recording. On his high B flat / high A piccolo trumpet, Joachim Schäfer approximates the sound of the oboe – the “high wood” (French: hautbois) – and performs in the original keys, in a sensitive combination of widely varied instruments.

ALBINONI: Concerto in D major op. 7 Nr. 6 (orig. für Oboe) HANDEL: Concerto Nr. 3 in G minor (orig. für Oboe) TELEMANN: Concerto in B major ALBINONI: Concerto in F major Label: Christophorus BALDASSARE: Sonata Nr. 1 in F major (orig. für Cornetto & B.c.) LOEILLET: Sonata in C major (orig. für Oboe & B.c.) File Under: Classical/Instrumental VALENTINO: Sonata in F major Catalogue No: CHE0205-2 Barcode: 4010072020529 BUDGET Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: CRISTAL

Joachim Schäfer [piccolo trumpet] Bratislava Chamber Soloists Anton Popovic RELEASE DATE 11TH DECEMBER 2015

Weihnachtliche Orgelmusik / Christmas Organ Music Variations on Christmas songs Franz Haselböck

The organist Franz Haselböck has dug out a selection of rare and well-loved works for this CD, recording many of them for the first time. To match the style and date of the compositions, he has chosen to perform on two different instruments – the Furtwängler & Hammer organ at the Auenkirche in Berlin-Wilmersdorf, a typical Romantic organ from the end of the 19th century, and the Arp Schnitger organ in Hollern, originally built in 1690 and suited to the Baroque pieces.

LISZT: Weihnachten: Weihnachtslied - O heilige Nacht -Die Hirten an der Krippe - Adestes fideles SMETANA: Pastorale G major GOLLER: Variationen über Es ist ein Ros entsprungen LATZELSBERGER: Variationen über Stille Nacht BERNER / HESSE: Variationen über Das Kindelwiegen WESLEY: Pastorale G major Label: Christophorus RUDNICK: Fantasie über Weihnachtslieder File Under: Classical/Instrumental GRAUPNER; Wiegenlied WILL: Aria Pastorella B flat major 1:30 Catalogue No: CHE0206-2 BACH: Variationen über Allein Gott in der Höh’ sei Ehr BWV 771 Barcode: 4010072020628 BUDGET Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: CRISTAL

Franz Haselböck [Furtwängler & Hammer-Orgel,

Berlin-Wilmersdorf [1-7] & Arp Schnitger-Orgel, Hollern [8-10]] ASK YOUR HM REPRESENTATIVE FOR OUR 2015 CHRISTMAS LIST