­­ JUL-AUG 2012 NEW RELEASE GUIDE

THIS MONTH’S HIGHLIGHTS: CDDCA728 TAH2011 8573031

Laureate Series Ludwig van BEETHOVEN BRAHMS & SCHUMANN PR/DSD350058 BIS-CD-1899 HMC905269

Italian Virtuosi of the Thierry PÉCOU Edvard GRIEG & Antonin Chitarrone Tremendum DVOŘÁK (DVD) 101581 / (Blu-ray) 108069 (DVD) 2059088 / (Blu-ray) 2059084 (DVD) 711508 / (Blu-ray) 711604

Anton BRUCKNER Leonard BERNSTEIN Nobuyuki TSUJII Symphony No. 8 Live at Carnegie Hall

Naxos International (Far East) Limited 5B, Blue Box Factory Building, 25 Hing Wo Street, Tin Wan, Aberdeen, Hong Kong Tel: 2951 9557 Email: [email protected] Ermanno WOLF-FERRARI Music from (1876-1948) THE ETON CHOIRBOOK Idillio-concertino in A major, TONUS PEREGRINUS Op. 15 • Concertino in A Antony Pitts (director) flat major, Op. 34 • Suite- The Eton Choirbook is a giant 500 concertino in F major, Op. 16 year-old manuscript from Eton Andrea Tenaglia (oboe) College Chapel, and one of the William Moriconi (cor anglais) greatest surviving glories of pre- Giuseppe Ciabocchi (bassoon) Reformation England. This recording Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma • features the earliest polyphonic Francesco La Vecchia Passion by a named composer, two heartrending motets for five and six voices, two thrilling settings Although Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari is known mainly for his operatic of the Magnificat, and an extraordinary canon in 13 parts, Jesus compositions (La vedova scaltra is available on Naxos CD 8.660225-26 autem transiens. The ensemble TONUS PEREGRINUS has been and DVD 2.110234-35), he wrote a number of sublimely expressive widely acclaimed, not least for its “richly sung and very well recorded” and lyrical orchestral works, devoting the majority of his time in later programme of Orlando Gibbons, L’Estrange, and Pitts. (The Penguin life to composing instrumental music. The three delightfully melodic, Guide on 8.557681) rhythmically buoyant and, at times elegiac works featured on this CLASSICAL MUSIC CLASSICAL recording represent his complete wind concerto output. TONUS PEREGRINUS was founded by the composer Antony Pitts in 1990, and today is an established ensemble in Britain and abroad In 2002 Francesco La Vecchia was appointed Artistic Director and Resident with a significant discography. At the core of TONUS PEREGRINUS Conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma. Under his leadership the are a dozen singers who combine their diverse expertise to interpret a orchestra has rapidly achieved success in Europe and in highly successful tours repertoire ranging from the end of the Dark Ages to scores where the to St Petersburg, Madrid, Belgrade, Brussels, Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia, London, ink is still wet. Athens, Berlin, Beijing and Shanghai. 8.572921 8.572840

THE GUERRA MANUSCRIPT, Gioachino ROSSINI Volume 2 (1792-1868) 17th Century Secular L’occasione fa il ladro Spanish Vocal Music Elizaveta Martirosyan (soprano) • Juan Sancho (tenor) • Ars Atlántica Fanie Antonelou (mezzo-soprano) Gianpiero Ruggeri (baritone) • Mauro Named after an eminent scribe at the Utzeri (baritone) • Garðar Thór court in Madrid, the Guerra Manuscript Cortes (tenor) • Joan Ribalta (tenor) contains over one hundred secular Württemberg Philharmonic Orchestra songs from the second half of the • Antonino Fogliani seventeenth century. The anthology is a valuable repository of music Composed by the young Gioachino from anonymous sources but also from Spain’s very finest Baroque Rossini in eleven days to comply with a contractual commitment, L’occasione composers, such as Juan Hidalgo and José Marín. These expressive fa il ladro (Opportunity Makes A Thief) is a comedy of multiple confusions. songs, largely on poetic and mythological themes, are performed by Count Alberto, travelling to be wed to a fiancée he has yet to meet, leaves some of the world’s leading interpreters of the genre, whose first volume an inn with the wrong suitcase. Don Parmenione audaciously adopts the in this series [8.570135] received great acclaim. Count’s identity, determined to take the bride for himself. This single-act burletta is a swift and deftly plotted moral drama, Rossini’s exuberant The tenor Juan Sancho has collaborated with conductors including inspiration poured into interactions both tender and hilariously bewildering. William Christie, Gustav Leonhardt, Jordi Savall, Andrea Marcon, Fabio Biondi, Allan Curtis, Richard Egarr and Diego Fasolis. Founded Antonino Fogliani’s many conducting engagements have taken him and directed by the Galician harpist Manuel Vilas, the Ars Atlántica to leading international opera houses and concert halls. For Rossini ensemble is focused on Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Latin in Wildbad he has directed Ciro in Babilonia, L’occasione fa il ladro, American music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Mosè in Egitto, La scala di seta, Il signor Bruschino and Otello, as well 8.572876 as Vaccaj’s La sposa di Messina. 8.660314-15 (2 CDs)

Wilhelm Friedemann BACH Kenneth FUCHS (1904-49) (1710-1784) Atlantic Riband Keyboard Works, Vol. 3 – American Rhapsody Sonatas and Suite Divinum Mysterium • Concerto Julia Brown () Grosso • Discover the Wild Michael Ludwig (violin) Wilhelm Friedemann Bach was Paul Silverthorne (viola) renowned as a brilliant improviser London Symphony Orchestra and keyboard performer. His JoAnn Falletta keyboard sonatas, filled with quirky contrasts and a more adventurously World Première Recordings chromatic and exploratory style than that of his contemporaries, attest to his individualism and virtuoso Kenneth Fuchs is one of America’s leading composers and his latest technical skill. His only Suite reworks and expands his father, J.S. collaboration with award-winning conductor JoAnn Falletta and the Bach’s models, turning conventional dance movements into character London Symphony Orchestra – the first volume of which (8.559224) pieces. W.F. Bach’s enthralling and unexpected twists and turns was nominated for two GRAMMY® awards – reveals the breadth of his create an expressive and unique musical language, performed by the achievement. Atlantic Riband evokes the struggle and ultimate victory ‘wonderful’ Julia Brown. (Fanfare on 8.570530, W.F. Bach Keyboard of ocean-crossing immigrants to America in an orchestral showpiece of Works Vol. 2) power and splendor. American Rhapsody is a lyrical romance for violin and orchestra, and Divinum Mysterium a single-movement viola concerto rich Julia Brown is currently Director of Music and Organist at First United in expressive tapestry. Concerto Grosso shows Fuchs’s sheer energy, and Discover the Wild is an orchestral overture of lyricism and color. Methodist Church in Eugene, Oregon, while also maintaining a full schedule of teaching, performing and recording. She is also active as A champion of American music, JoAnn Falletta has presented nearly five a harpsichordist, exploring performance practice and early music in hundred works by American composers including over one hundred world chamber music settings. premières. Her Naxos recordings include the double Grammy Award winning disc of works by John Corigliano and Grammy nominated discs of 8.572814 works of Tyberg, Dohnányi, Fuchs, Schubert, and Respighi. 8.559723

2 JUL-AUG 2012 Sergey PROKOFIEV Xavier MONTSALVATGE (1891-1953) (1912-2002) Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64 Piano Music, Vol. 3 – (Highlights) Music for Two Pianos National Symphony Orchestra of Jordi Masó (piano I) • Miquel Villalba Ukraine • Andrew Mogrelia (piano II & celeste) • Pia Freund (soprano) • Ferran Carceller and “Living people can dance, the dying Miquel Àngel Martínez (percussion) cannot”, Prokofiev wrote to explain Ensemble Barcelona 216 • Ernest the problems he faced when writing Martínez Izquierdo music for the ballet Romeo and Juliet. His original score was rejected Xavier Montsalvatge was a major as ‘undanceable’ by the Bolshoy Theatre and his initial scheme for a contributor to Catalonian culture in the 20th century. His works for happy ending for the lovers was, fortunately, vetoed. The revised score, two pianos collect most of his musical preoccupations into a single however, proved a masterpiece of expressive beauty and drama, with programme. The jazz-tinted Barcelona Blues reflects his “passion melting love music and huge bravura, and it remains one of the most for the ballet”, and the Tres divertimentos his fascination with ‘Les loved ballet scores of the twentieth century. Six’. Borrowing the sonorities of Bartók, Sum Vermis expresses the “tortured symbolism” of Jacint Verdaguer’s poetry. One of Andrew Mogrelia has had a varied career of concerts, recording and Montsalvatge’s own favourites, the rarely performed 5 Invocaciones CLASSICAL MUSIC CLASSICAL work with major dance companies. He has worked with the English al Crucificado evokes biblical dramatic intensity, and the self- National, Dutch National, Finnish National, Norwegian National ballets, paraphrasing Calidoscopio looks back over the composer’s own Netherlands Dance Theatre, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Australian Ballet, creative past. Jordi Masó’s complete recording of Montsalvatge’s solo West Australian Ballet and American Ballet Theater. 8.572928 piano music can be found on 8.570744 and 8.570756. 8.572636

Max REGER (1873-1916) Laureate Series: Organ Works, Volume 12 Srdjan Bulat Guitar Recital Suite No. 1 in E minor, Op. 16 First Prize • 2011 Tárrega Suite No. 2 in G minor, Op. 92 International Guitar Competition • Kirsten Sturm (organ) Benecasim

In both volume and artistic distinction This selection ranges from the there is little doubt that Reger was romanticism of Francisco Tárrega, the greatest German composer for the Spanish impressionism of the organ since Bach. He relished Albéniz’s Mallorca and the neo- Lutheran chorales and employed romanticism of the contemporary them freely, a sense of grandeur Croatian composer, Stjepan Šulek, and gravity permeating his music for the instrument. The Suite No. 1 to Rodrigo’s masterly evocation of the gardens of the Alhambra in E minor was completed in 1895, and admired by Brahms. Its four Palace in Granada and Britten’s revolutionary Nocturnal after movements offer a compendium of Reger’s genius for both complexity John Dowland. Croatian guitarist Srdjan Bulat has won numerous and transparency. His later Suite No. 2 in G minor, cast in seven taut prestigious awards, and was winner of the Certamen Tárrega 2011 movements, similarly employs contrast, imitation and variety whilst which included a special award for his performance of the work of ending in a glorious and triumphant Fugue. Francisco Tárrega. 8.572821 8.573026

Laureate Series: Marianna OLD WINE IN NEW Prjevalskaya Piano Recital BOTTLES 2011 Winner, Jaén Prize Youngstown State University Wind International Piano Competition Ensemble & Dana Chamber Winds Stephen L. Gage Haydn’s Andante con variazioni is a masterpiece of fantasy and The wind ensemble repertory expression in which the alternation has a rich history and a vibrant of themes provides ever-changing contemporary presence. Donald variety. ’s Sonatas Grantham, for example, evokes revel in colour and rhythmic vivacity gospel music of the 1920s and with the G minor, K.450 luxuriating in ’30s in Starry Crown, which draws a ‘Spanish Tango’ of great originality. Robert Schumann told his wife- on the earthy vitality of call-and-response sermons. Steven Bryant’s to-be, Clara, that the Sonata in F sharp minor, so rich in poetry and Ecstatic Waters reaches forward to present a pulsating narrative of passion, was ‘a cry from my heart to yours’. Marianna Prjevalskaya is exuberance, contradiction and subtle dialogue. Gordon Jacob wrote a laureate of numerous international piano competitions, including the two series of settings of Old Wine In New Bottles in which he took old Paderewski (2007), Seoul (2008), José Iturbi (2008), Sendai (2010) English settings and clothed them in his zesty and witty colours. To and Maria Canals (2011). end, we have the songful lyricism of Carter Penn’s Hold This Boy and 8.573031 Listen. 8.572762

Deems TAYLOR (1885-1966) Through the Looking Glass, Op. 12 Charles Tomlinson GRIFFES (1884-1920) Poem • The Pleasure Dome of Kubla Khan, Op. 8 The White Peacock • Three Tone Pictures • Bacchanale Scott Goff (flute) • Seattle Symphony • Gerard Schwarz

The opulent and sensual expressiveness in these composers’ works has long been obscured by more turbulent developments in music of the 20th century. One of Deems Taylor’s most successful compositions, Through the Looking Glass celebrates Alice in Wonderland, each of its five sections corresponding to passages or episodes from this enchanting tale. Influenced by the German Romantics and French Impressionists, Charles Tomlinson Griffes’ rich harmonic palette and orchestral colors can be heard in the Poem written for flutist Georges Barrère, the landscapes of the Three Tone Pictures and poetry of The White Peacock, while Kubla Khan and the Bacchanale share exotic oriental inspiration. 8.559724

JUL-AUG 2012 3 Richard WAGNER (1813-1883) Richard WAGNER (1813-1883) Orchestral Excerpts, Vol. 1 Orchestral Excerpts, Vol. 2 Seattle Symphony • Gerard Schwarz Alessandra Marc (soprano) • Seattle Symphony • Gerard Schwarz This selection of some of Wagner’s finest orchestral excerpts opens Under the dual influences of Goethe with the ‘storm-swept ballad’ of Der and Berlioz, Wagner wrote A Faust fliegende Holländer, the opera which Overture in . Years later, in launched his epoch-defining later 1855, he returned to the work, masterpieces. The entire span of Der revising it to create an even greater Ring des Nibelungen is represented sense of drama and narrative in this programme, from the luminous conviction. In the excerpts from his rainbow bridge which leads the gods to Valhalla in Das Rheingold, romantic opera Lohengrin we hear the visionary Prelude to Act I and the urgent drama of Die Walküre, and the atmospheric repose of the the Act III Prelude, which includes the well-known Wedding March. Forest Murmurs in Siegfried, to the tragic depths of Siegfried’s Funeral Elsa’s Dream is sung by the internationally acclaimed soprano, March. This recording has been praised for its ‘radiant sensuousness’. Alessandra Marc. The orchestral music from Parsifal contains some of (Gramophone) Volumes 2 and 3 in this series are available on the most transcendent music Wagner ever wrote. Volumes 1 and 3 in 8.572768 and 8.572769. 8.572767 this series are available on 8.572767 and 8.572769. 8.572768 CLASSICAL MUSIC CLASSICAL Robert SCHUMANN Robert SCHUMANN (1810-1856) (1810-1856) Symphony No. 1 in B flat Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 38, ‘Spring’ major, Op. 97, ‘Rhenish’ Symphony No. 2 in C major, Symphony No. 4 in D minor, Op. 61 Op. 120 Seattle Symphony • Gerard Schwarz Seattle Symphony • Gerard Schwarz

Faced with the challenge of following The last of Schumann’s Symphonies in Beethoven’s giant symphonic to be composed, Symphony No. 3 footsteps, Robert Schumann ‘Rhenish’ was most likely inspired acknowledged this musical predecessor, but expanded his forms and by a cruise taken by the composer and his wife down the river Rhine. structures into new and impassioned utterances. Inspired “by the Alternating between austere splendour, great rhythmic suppleness spirit of spring”, the Symphony No. 1 was swiftly composed and was and soaring lines, the work is an aural depiction of rural life by the a huge success at its première in 1841. The Symphony No. 2 had a river and the majestic cathedral in Cologne, and one that dares to longer gestation, but for many has become a symphonic song of praise reflect tensions between Classical form and Romantic innovation. So and rejoicing for which “Gerard Schwarz and his Seattle Symphony too does Symphony No. 4, cast in four seamless movements that Orchestra serve as excellent guides”.(Gramophone) show Schumann’s masterly command of interrelated material and of 8.571212 symphonic unity. 8.571213

Robert SCHUMANN (1810-1856) Manfred, Op. 115: Overture Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54 Overture, Scherzo and Finale, Op. 52 Bella Davidovich (piano) • Seattle Symphony • Gerard Schwarz

Robert Schumann drew inspiration from other leading Romantic voices of his day, and Manfred is the dramatic overture to a work based on verses by Lord Byron. Schumann’s wife Clara was an extremely accomplished musician, and the Piano Concerto in A minor is one of the most eloquent and highly regarded legacies of their relationship. Lacking only a slow movement, the Overture, Scherzo and Finale is a symphony in all but name. Gramophone described these performances as “extremely fine”. 8.571214

Johann Sebastian BACH Ludwig van BEETHOVEN H-Moll Messe Symphony n°3 - Eroica Orchestre de l’Opéra d’Etat de Vienne Wilhelm Furtwängler Wiener Akademie Kammerchor Wiener Philharmoniker Hermann Scherchen (conductor) Pierrette Alarie (soprano I) Whilst rehearsing at the Salzburg Nan Merriman (soprano II & contralto) Festival, Furtwängler again caught Leopold Simoneau (tenor) pneumonia and didn’t put foot into Gustav Neidlinger (bass) a concert hall for five months. He Franz Holetscheck (harpsichord) was to conduct Nozze di Figaro, Zauberflöte and Othello. He started With his B minor Mass, Bach confided the 1952-1953 season with a great to humanity a work of universal artistic and spiritual greatness and recording session in Vienna for “His master’s voice” that lasted from one of the most important examples of human creation. It reaches well 24 November to 3 December: the Vienna Philarmonic recorded in the beyond Bach’s religious spirituality that he, a true believer, transmitted “Muiskvereinssaal” four Beethoven symphonies (Pastorale, the Fourth, using his ingenious harmonic and contrapuntal skill. It guides us the First, and Eroica), as well as the “Tannhaüser” overture. During towards another form of spirituality in which spirit tries to transcend this recording session, Furtwängler gave two concertson 29 and 30 matter and in which hope becomes infused into a spiritual experience November, the second one’s being recorded by ORF in excellent that goes far beyond the human condition. This work induced man sound conditions and released by Tahra in 2003 (Furt 1076-1077, to develop his intellectual and emotional skills and to rise towards a deleted). The program included Beethoven’s First, Malher’s “Lieder superior state of consciousness. Bach never heard this work in its eines fahrenden Gesellen” with Alfred Poell, and “Eroica”. Thanks to entirety; and it took Romanticism to renew interest in this work, so the the analogic tapes, we are releasing it again on SACD. entire Mass was performed in concert in 1835 in Frankfurt. Ever since, the resulting fame and recognition helped to give the B minor Mass the place it deserves. TAH737.38 (2 CDs) TAH2011

4 JUL-AUG 2012 Temporal Variations Songs of Smaller Creatures Music for Oboe and Piano between and other American choral 1935 and 1941 works Birgit Schmieder (oboe & English horn) Grant Park Chorus Akiko Yamashita (piano) Christopher Bell (conductor)

This collection of duos for oboe Conducted by Christopher Bell, (specifically cor anglais) and piano Chicago’s Grant Park Chorus is “as by Benjamin Britten, Pavel Haas, fine a symphony chorus as any to Paul Hindemith and Nikos Skalkottas be found anywhere in the nation” are not only interrelated by the (Chicago Tribune). Celebrating its period in which they arose – the 50th season, the chorus makes its a years 1935-1941 – but also as haunting documents of musical paths cappella CD debut with an all-American program of eight imaginative, through an increasingly gloomy time. moving, and sometimes whimsical works written between 1975 and Audite 92.539 2005, including four world premieres. CDR 90000 131 CLASSICAL MUSIC CLASSICAL Stainless Staining Lisa MOORE

Commissioned by Lisa Moore with funds provided by the Arts Council of Ireland, the title track, Stainless Staining was written for piano and soundtrack. The soundtrack is made up of samples of a piano retuned to provide a massive harmonic spectrum of 100 overtones based on a fundamental low G#. Explains the composer, “This reflects an increasing recent concern of mine with a kind of pulsating, rhythmic use of the overtone series. That concern can range from a rather extreme concentration in this piece and Bulb ( a piano trio where pulsing glissandos connect nodes in the harmonic series) to a more integrated approach in the large scale vocal and instrumental pieces, where that approach is used often in a looser fashion only in particular areas.”

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OCKEGHEM OCKEGHEM Missa Caput Missa Cuiusvis Toni The Clerks’ Group The Clerks’ Group Edward Wickham Edward Wickham

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SMETANA BIBER String Quartets The Mystery Sonatas (Vol.1) Lindsay String Quartet Monica Huggett Sonnerie

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BRAHMS & SCHUMANN WEBER Piano Quintets Clarinet Concerto No.1 Peter Frankl Emma Johnson Lindsay String Quartet English Chamber Orchestra Yan Pascal Tortelier

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JUL-AUG 2012 5 KOSHKIN The Trio Sonata in Megaron Concerto 18th-Century France Elena Papandreou (guitar) London Baroque Singapore Symphony Orchestra Lan Shui With the previous instalment of their New Hellenic Quartet survey of the trio sonata during the Angelos Liakakis (cello) 17th and 18th centuries, the four members of London Baroque offered For some fifteen years, the Russian up what the website klassik-heute.de composer Nikita Koshkin and the described as ‘a delightful palette full Greek guitarist Elena Papandreou have of grace and esprit’, presenting music enjoyed a rewarding collaboration, by composers active in 18th-century with solo pieces such as the Guitar Sonata and Kyparissous, both from England. Crossing the Channel, they have now arrived in France, 1998, among the earliest fruits. Dedicated to Elena Papandreou, these and a musical environment undergoing rapid changes following the works formed part of a solo recital released by her in 2003, along with death of Louis XIV in 1715. The rigours of the Grand Siècle were what probably remains the composer’s most famous piece: Usher Waltz. relaxing and the stiff resistance against the Italian influences of Corelli Koshkin’s music typically combines drama with humour and parody, and was weakening. In 1725 François Couperin published his famous regularly includes references to legends and fairy-tales, as well as to music Apothéose de Lulli, in which he advocated a fusion of the Italian and of other periods or genres. He often uses extended playing techniques French styles, and the following year saw the collection Les Nations, CLASSICAL MUSIC CLASSICAL achieving avant-garde effects, but is also inspired by popular music. On which included L’Impériale recorded here. In it Couperin continued his the present disc, all four works are world première recordings, and three of mission, combining an Italian-style sonata with a sequence of dances them were written with Elena Papandreou in mind. BIS-CD-1846 in the French manner. BIS-CD-1855

GRUBER & SCHWERTSIK: Italian Virtuosi of the Works for trumpet and Chitarrone orchestra Jakob Lindberg (chitarrone) Håkan Hardenberger (trumpet) Swedish Chamber Orchestra Its overall length (upwards of 160 HK Gruber cm) and great number of strings (up Mats Bergström (banjo) to 16 courses) makes the chitarrone Claudia Buder (accordion) one of the more spectacular instruments of the early baroque. The common denominator of the The name probably means ‘large three works presented here is the kithara’, after the instrument played soloist Håkan Hardenberger. In 1999, by the Classical Greek poets, and it the celebrated trumpet player asked HK Gruber to arrange his 3 MOB was first developed as a bass lute in order to accompany singing and Pieces for trumpet and orchestra, and eight years later Gruber wrote recitative – indeed it appears to have become the favourite instrument the concerto Busking while his long-time collaborator Kurt Schwertsik in Italy for accompanying the voice by 1600. It also enjoyed a short- wrote Divertimento Macchiato, both on Hardenberger’s initiative. In lived but rich flowering as a solo instrument, however, to which the the 1960s Schwertsik and Gruber became known as ambassadors three virtuosi of the album title all contributed greatly, as performers of the ‘Third Viennese School’ – a grouping which originated as a as well as composers. Between 1604 and 1640, Giovanni Girolamo reaction against the total serialism of Darmstadt-centred avant-garde. Kapsperger (also known as Johann Hieronymus Kapsberger), One of the first manifestations of this was the ‘MOB art & tone ART’ Alessandro Piccinini and Bellerofonte Castaldi published a number of Ensemble, in which the two composers and their friends performed collections of chitarrone music, from which Jakob Lindberg has chosen new music of a deliberately informal, un-solemn sort. With influences some favourite dances, arias, toccatas and passacaglias. Combined as diverse as the neo-classicism of Stravinsky, the Beatles and the into seven suites, they provide rich opportunity to enjoy the particular cabaret music by Hanns Eisler and Kurt Weill, the MOB Pieces, timbre and the special playing techniques of this splendid instrument, composed in 1968, are a perfect illustration of this. Gruber’s work the chitarrone. Highly regarded both for his live performances and has always shown a strong connection with various kinds of popular his many recordings, Jakob Lindberg has a long-standing interest in music, and his concerto Busking is another example. In each of its the many varieties of lutes, including lute mandorée, orpharion and three movements the soloist plays a trumpet in a different key, with the archlute, and has now dedicated himself to researching their relative accompaniment of an accordion, a banjo and strings. – research which informs both the performances and Lindberg’s own BIS-CD-1884 liner notes. BIS-CD-1899

DVOŘÁK Curse upon Iron Symphony No.8 Orphei Drängar male-voice choir Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra Cecilia Rydinger Alin Claus Peter Flor A modern shaman is how Veljo With his Seventh Symphony, Dvořák Tormis (b.1930) has been described. had proved that he could compose In his large production, chiefly a ‘respectable’ symphony (as he composed for a cappella choir, he himself termed it), and had done so utilizes ancient chants and magic to both critical and public acclaim. charms, as well as the typically Four years later, when he began to Estonian runic songs, regilaulud. work on its successor, he apparently Indeed Curse upon Iron, his best- felt free to return to a more familiar idiom, and after the serious known score, even includes a Seventh – which Dvořák at one stage had considered giving the shaman drum. Much of the music of Tormis, who began composing nickname ‘Tragic’ – Symphony No.8 was a lighter work, with its roots during the 1950s, mirrors his steadfast devotion to an Estonian identity firmly planted in the composer’s beloved Czech folklore. It is probably in the face of Soviet occupation, with traditional ways of life, such as the freest of his mature symphonies from a formal point of view, and farming and fishing, resonating in pieces such as Helletused – based has interesting parallels with Mahler’s First Symphony, which was on ancient herding calls – Spell upon Flax (from the three Shrovetide premièred shortly after Dvořák had completed his own work. Imitations songs) and Songs of the Ancient Sea. But there are also works, of the sounds of nature, pastoral subjects and fanfares feature in both such as the two Hamlet’s Songs, that seem to echo the bleak mood symphonies, and both evoke a funeral march and a chorale. The work of Soviet Estonia, while The Viru Oath is one of Tormis’s most overtly is here coupled with the symphonic poem The Golden Spinning Wheel, political compositions, written in 1980 during the so-called ‘stagnation based on an epic poem by the Czech poet Karel Erben. Complete with period’ in which the thaw following Stalin’s death was halted. With a wicked stepmother, a dismembering and a magic spinning wheel Stars, from Kaksikpühendus (Double Dedication), the disc closes on a of gold, this rather cruel fairy-tale is followed by the shorter Scherzo more lyrical and personal note – another strand in the composer’s rich repertoire. capriccioso. BIS-SACD-1976 BIS-SACD-1993

6 JUL-AUG 2012 The Music of ‘Upstairs Downstairs’ Series Two Composed and conducted by Carl Davis

The freshly polished silver sparkles in the light of the chandelier; the fragrance of fresh flowers fills the air. Set in the year preceding the Second World War, 165 Eaton Place reopens its doors and welcomes you back into the enrapturing lives of its inhabitants, both upstairs and down.

There may be two families living in 165 - one upstairs and one down - but their fates are intimately linked. With both upstairs and down harbouring life changing secrets and the menace of war creeping ever closer, the smooth running of Eaton Place threatens to come crashing to shattering halt.

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Mieczyslaw WEINBERG Anton ARENSKY (1861-1902) (1919-1996) Five Suites for Two Pianos String Quartets Vol. 6 Piano Duo Genova & Dimitrov MUSIC CLASSICAL Quatuor Danel Claudio Abbado has termed Aglika Vol. 6 marks the completion of the Genova and Liuben Dimitrov “The Mieczyslaw Weinberg String Quartet piano duo of the young generation”, series on cpo. The interpretation of and the two have indeed come to the Belgian Danel Quartet can only be regarded as one of today’s most be described as a true windfall. This sought-after piano duos worldwide. volume featuring the early Quartet No. On their latest CD they interpret 2 of 1939 and the last Quartet No. 17 suites by Anton Arensky. from 1986 offers an overview of Weinberg’s entire oeuvre. 777587-2 777651-2

Carl REINTHALER (1822-1896) Das Käthchen von Heilbronn Richard Carlucci, Ilia Papandreou, Peter Schöne, Máté Sólyom-Nagy; Marisca Mulder, Opernchor des Theaters Erfurt, Philharmonisches Orchester Erfurt Samuel Bächli

Cpo are proud to present the rediscovery of the opera Das Käthchen von Heilbronn by Carl Reinthaler, a work based on the drama of the same name by Heinrich von Kleist. Samuel Baechli, the music director of the stage production and the CD recording, is convinced that this production will inspire the renaissance of the almost entirely forgotten Reinthaler. 777474-2 (2 CDs)

Per NØRGÅRD (b. 1932) Per NØRGÅRD (b. 1932) Libra Sceneries for percussion Danish National Vocal Ensemble and ensemble Fredrik Malmberg (conductor) Esbjerg Ensemble Per Nørgård Christian Martínez (percussion) Stefan Östersjö (guitar) Petter Sundkvist (conductor) Adam Riis (tenor) The Danish composer Per Nørgård This CD features three of the (b. 1932) finds inspiration for his composer Per Nørgård’s (b. 1932) outstanding percussion music in the most captivating vocal works in new forces of nature, eastern mysticism recordings with the Danish National and exotic rhythms. In the four Vocal Ensemble conducted by Fredrik Malmberg. In marvelous musical works on this CD we encounter a melodic side to percussion, when landscapes, we encounter the composer in his most cosmic and for instance the soloist uses a violin bow to play the vibraphone and prophetic vein, with the human voice as a catalyst of new awareness in the musical saw. Two of the works were written especially for the both the musical and universal sense. Colombian-born percussionist Christian Martínez, who plays here with 6.220622 the Esbjerg Ensemble conducted by Petter Sundkvist. 8.226092

Per NØRGÅRD (b. 1932) Vagn HOLMBOE (1909-96) The Will-o’-the-Wisps in Town Chamber Symphonies Helene Gjerris (mezzo soprano) Lapland Chamber Orchestra Athelas Sinfonietta Copenhagen John Storgårds

The Will-o’-the-Wisps in Town is an These are World premiere recordings extraordinary fairy tale cantata created of Vagn Holmboe’s 3 masterly by the Danish composer Per Nørgård chamber symphonies, performed by and his close friend, author Suzanne an expert Finnish team. The Finnish Brøgger, on the basis of a little known conductor John Storgårds really fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. stands out. In 2008 John Storgårds This world première recording of was appointed chief conductor of the the chamber version focuses on the charismatic “Marsh Witch”, sung Helsinki Philharmonic, one of Scandinavia’s best and most tradition- by mezzo-soprano Helene Gjerris who also premiered the work in rich orchestras. He is also artistic director of the magical Lapland Birmingham at 200th anniversary of Hans Christian Andersen’s birth. Chamber Orchestra and since 2012 Principal Guest Conductor of BBC 8.226085 Philharmonic. 6.220621

JUL-AUG 2012 7 Alexandre DANILEVSKI The Uncertainty Principle Larissa Groeneveld Ensemble Syntagma

The Uncertainty Principle is a journey into the mystical musical world of Russian composer Alexandre Danilevski, where music and instruments from the middle ages to modern day meet and create an unexpectedly beautiful soundscape. Danilevskis’ compositions are at the same time refering to ancient sources and to modern art and science, moving through centuries of musical and aesthetic developments with ease and free of conventional restrictions regarding musical styles and paradigmas. On this recording, Danilvski’s own ensemble Syntagma interprets two of his works for mixed ensemble and voice, while the Flanders Recorder Quartet plays his Antiphones and cellist Larissa Groeneveld presents Revelation, a concerto for cello solo. CD-16291 CLASSICAL MUSIC CLASSICAL François COUPERIN Works for Harpsichord Blandine Verlet (harpsichord)

Blandine Verlet is now one of the last living legends of the harpsichord. After a few years of absence, she has joined the label Aparté with a programme dedicated to Francois Couperin’s harpsichord music, recorded on a sumptuous Hemsch of 1751 upon which she already performed in 1993.

Throughout these pieces with evocative titles (Les Amusements, the Raphaèle, the Delights, the Poppies, the Wandering Shadows ..) she reveals an artist with a voice more than inspired, powerful and constantly renewed. The cover of the disc is a portrait of Blandine Verlet by Craig Hanna. A real event! AP036 (2 CDs)

Karl WOLFRUM (1856-1937) Giovanni Benedetto PLATTI Organ Sonatas (1697-1763) Halgeir Schiager Sonatas for violoncello, Sauer Organ of the Luther Church violin and harpsichord Chemnitz Sebastian Hess (cello) Rüdiger Lotter (violin) Karl Wolfrum’s three organ sonatas Florian Birsak (basso continou) were written before the turn of the twentieth century. Giovanni Benedetto Platti, a previously lesser known musician from In all three sonatas, the composer the first half of the eighteenth century, tried a heterogeneous approach: was an “oboista”, an oboe virtuoso at the Court of the Prince-Bishop of technically, his works followed Bach, dramatically, the narrative Würzburg. He came from Northern Italy, lived in Venice during his youth, concepts of the New German School and in terms of sound and and in 1722 – together with a number of his fellow Italians – responded aesthetics, a subtle use of the instrument’s solo voices and dynamic to the call of the Würzburg regent, who wished to lend his royal chapel differentiation. the brilliance that only Italian music could provide. Platti came to the city on the Main River; after his employer’s death only two years later, he OehmsClassics now presents a recording with Norwegian organist continued to remain under his successors. Halgeir Schiager that was made in June 2011 in the Lutheran Church in Chemnitz in co-production with the Bavarian Radio Broadcasting Corporation. OC416 OC836

Gustav MAHLER Richard WAGNER Symphony No. 6 in A Minor Götterdämmerung Philharmoniker Hamburg Lance Ryan • Susan Bullock Simone Young (conductor) Johannes Martin Kränzle • Claudia Mahnke and others Mahler’s Sixth Symphony was Frankfurt Opera and Museum premiered by the Essen Philharmonic Orchestra • Frankfurt Opera in Essen on May 27, 1906. The Chorus composer conducted the performance Sebastian Weigle (conductor) himself. Astonishingly, he only led it two subsequent times: in 1906 in “Completed in Wahnfried on Munich and in 1907 in Vienna. November 21, 1874. I say nothing further!!” With these words written at the bottom of his Götterdämmerung score, Wagner thus finished The common nickname “Tragic Symphony” was only officially used his composition of the entire Ring Cycle. The Frankfurt Opera also once (at the first performance in Vienna) and then never again; it did concluded Vera Nemirova’s highly praised production of the work in not make its way into published editions of the score. January, thus raising the bar for the coming Wagner year 2013. The Frankfurter Allgemeine even claimed in its review of the premiere of Götterdämmerung that the two Wagner sisters in Bayreuth might want to “dress warmly during the coming season”!

OC413 (2 CDs) OC938 (4 CDs)

8 JUL-AUG 2012 Franz SCHUBERT Thierry Pécou String Quartets Tremendum Cuarteto Casals Ensemble Variances Vera Martínez Mehner (violin) Percussions Claviers de Lyon Abel Tomàs Realp (violin) Thierry Pécou Jonathan Brown (viola) Arnau Tomàs Realp (violoncello) This CD is the third harmonia mundi recording of music by Thierry Pécou, For their first incursion into the works whose acclaimed Symphonie du of Schubert on disc, the members Jaguar won a Diapason d’Or of the of the Cuarteto Casals invite us to Year 2010. discover two quartets situated at the two extremes of the composer’s life. Wrongly dated much later on its publication in 1830, the Quartet This composer of Caribbean descent has consistently extended his in E flat is in fact the work of a 16-year-old musician who had just sources of inspiration to Latin America and notably in the direction entered teacher training college . . . whereas its companion here was of Mexico, of which we hear echoes in L’Arbre aux fleurs and Soleil- to be Schubert’s very last quartet. Only thirteen years separate the two Tigre. But it is Brazil that lies at the origin of the ‘carnival concerto’ pieces! But in the meantime a whole “world” had invaded his musical Tremendum, the main work in the programme, presented here in a new consciousness, and here the naivety of G major throws a deceptive version specially made by Pécou for the Percussions Claviers de Lyon

veil over inner upheavals. HMC902121 and the Ensemble Variances. HMC905269 MUSIC CLASSICAL

CAGE. Litany for the Whale Imogen HOLST : Choral Works Paul Hillier Choir of Clare College Cambridge Theatre of Voices The Dmitri Ensemble Terry Riley Graham Ross (conductor)

“I have been performing, reading, Imogen Holst, the daughter of looking at, and listening to John Gustav Holst, has long deserved Cage’s work for years — I number recognition for her significant body of myself amongst those who consider compositions, written throughout her him to be an important composer and life. Graham Ross conducts the choir not simply an important influence. of Clare College, Cambridge and the One of the earliest Theatre of Voices instrumentalists of the Dmitri Ensemble concerts, at London’s Almeida Festival in 1990, was devoted primarily in these world première recording of a selection of Holst’s choral works to Cage’s music, and, since then, I seem to have been working toward ranging from 1927 to 1972, three of which have not been heard since their this recording.” – Paul Hillier first performance, together with the first recording of her imaginative and skillful orchestration of Benjamin Britten’s Festival Cantata “Rejoice in the HMU907279 lamb”, made at Britten’s own request. HMU907576

Jean-Philippe RAMEAU Mily Balakirev Symphonies for two Piano Sonata in B flat minor Etsuko Hirose (piano) Pierre Hantai (harpsichord) Skip Sempe (harpsichord) Mily Balakirev (1837-1910), founder and driving force of the celebrated The numerous instrumental pieces or “Mighty Handful”, spared no effort ‘Symphonies’ found in the dramatic in his devotion to his followers, and works of Rameau are remarkably thus left only a relatively modest effective on the harpsichord: the number of work on his own. The piano occupies a preponderant composer himself, with his transcription of ‘Les Indes Galantes’ place in his output, with the Russian style rubbing shoulders with invited other musicians to continue this tradition. Seizing on with inluences of Chopin and Liszt. While Islamey has always figured the formidable array of material available in his operas: Platée, in the virtuoso repertoire, other pieces deserve to be rediscovered, Zoroastre, Dardanus, Les Paladins, Pygmalion... Pierre Hantai and including the Toccata, the Sonata, and the Variations on themes by Skip Sempé, our finest exponents of this repertoire, take obvious Glinka, the “Father of Russian music”, who saw in Balakirev a worthy pleasure in revealing, through the two harpsichords, the immense successor. richness of this music, full of surprises and imagination. MIR164 MIR181

Edvard GRIEG & Antonin Dimitri SHOSTAKOVICH DVOŘÁK: Piano concertos Three Concertos Svjatoslav Richter (piano) David Oistrakh (violin) Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra Svjatoslav Richter (1915-97) has left Evgeni Mravinsky (conductor) behind the extraordinary image of a highly sensitive, angst-ridden yet Together for the first time, three ultimately serene musician, a true acclaimed concertos performed “monstre sacré”, a perfectionist in by the soloists who made them search of the absolute. This duo of famous - dedicatees and performers “nationalist” concertos by Grieg and D. Oistrakh and M. Rostropovitch, Dvorak featured only briefly in his and then Leonard Bernstein himself, repertoire. The uncharacteristic liberty of his playing and the sense of pianist, conductor and composer with the less beloved Concerto exultation is astounding, illuminating this romantic composition based Op.102. Lenny has produced a successful rendering of this curios on imaginary song and dance national folklore. They form a unique, cocktail - a tribute to Rococo style Bach, an entranced romantic totally unprecedented combination. andante along with a caricature of Prokofiev style virtuoso piano in the PRD/PSD350058 opening and closing allegros. PRD/PSD350059

JUL-AUG 2012 9 Howard Shore Collector’s Howard Shore & Metric Edition Vol.1 Cosmopolis Metric Howe Records is pleased to announce the inaugural release of The soundtrack for Cosmopolis their new Collector’s Edition Series reunites composer Howard Shore from the vaults of Grammy Award- and the band METRIC for another winning composer Howard Shore. cinematic collaboration. While writing Album series producer Jonathan the score for David Cronenberg’s Schultz has uncovered thousands film adaptation of the Don DeLillo of recordings documenting Shore’s novel Cosmopolis, Shore conceived career of composing original of a particular live sound to achieve scores, concert pieces, chamber music and songs. Access to some his vision and invited METRIC to perform the score and co-write three of this material requires expert restoration of analog tapes in which songs. The music was recorded in November 2011 at the band’s own reels are carefully baked and calibrated, splices are repaired and Giant Studios in Toronto, produced by Howard Shore and METRIC original balances are replicated or adjusted as needed to make this guitarist Jimmy Shaw, and mixed by John O’Mahony at Liberty music available. Volume One launches the series with a collection of Studios in Toronto and Electric Lady Studios in NYC. The result is an unreleased recordings, some from films and many pieces that have atmospheric, urban soundscape of analog synths and layered guitars never been heard in any form. The first four tracks are from the score featuring the hypnotic vocals of METRIC lead singer Emily Haines. CLASSICAL MUSIC CLASSICAL to the Martin Scorsese film After Hours and the last track is from the The Cosmopolis soundtrack also features “Mecca” by Somali Singer/ Diane Keaton documentary Heaven. These five tracks showcase Shore Rapper K’NAAN with lyrics by the artist and Don DeLillo.The film stars as both musician and performer. The middle tracks of the disc (tracks Robert Pattinson (of Twilight fame), Juliette Binoche, Samantha Morton 5-11) have never been heard before. These compositions are unique, and Paul Giamatti. jazz influenced pieces with captivating solos for guitar and harmonica with orchestra. Collector’s Edition Volume 1 is just the beginning - there is much more to explore.

HWR1003 HWR1008

Howard Shore : Collector’s Edition 2 Soul of the Ultimate Nation National Philharmonic of Russia • Academy of Choral Arts Irina Komarova • Ecaterina Popova • Lydia Kavina • Vera Volnukhina • Ludmila Golub

I began writing the score for “Soul of the Ultimate Nation” (SUN) in the summer of 2004. I throught the game had a wonderfully detailed conception and design by Nam Joo Kim. In November 2004 I conducted a concert of “The Lord of the Rings Symphony” at the Kremlin in Moscow with Vladimir Spivakov’s orchestra the National philharmonic of Russia and Victor’s Popov’s Academy of Choral Arts. Following the Moscow concert I traveled with the orchestra and chorus to Tokyo for SUN at this time and while in Japan I decided I wanted to write the piece specifically for thisorchestra and chorus. I wanted the chorus to sing in ancient Korean as a way to express the world of SUN. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to bring together the western and eastern concepts of the game.

The score was recorded at the Moscow Performing Arts Center so I could work with their amazing organist Ludmila Golub. I also brought in the renowned Russian thereminist Lydia Kavina. She was living in Moscow at the time and I wanted to work with her again. We have previously collaborated together on both “Ed Wood” and “eXistenZ”. Other featured soloists were Vera Volnukhina on Shakuhachi and the great vocal soloists Irina Komarova and Ecaterina Popova.

The pieces were composed as tone poems to express the different characters, cultures and the world of the game.

HWR1006

Serynade Ellen Ugelvik (piano)

Ellen Ugelvik received the Norwegian Grammy Award (Spellemannprisen) in 2008 for her debut CD ‘Makrokosmos’. On ‘Serynade’, she explores further the resonance opportunities of the grand piano. The starting point is Helmut Lachenmann´s gigantic piece for piano.

The work ‘Serynade’ by Helmut Lachenmann is rarely performed because of its extreme difficulty. The pianist plays two music pieces on top of each another, one piece reverberating out in the room, while the other piece is mutely pressed down into the musical keyboard. The result is that the mute music piece appears in the shadows of the work performed, as a deep, vibrating resonance in the distance or as large vibrations of the audible tones. Ellen Ugelvik performed Lachenmann’s piano concerto ‘Ausklang’ with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Christian Eggen in 2010, and her rendition of the concert was nominated for the Norwegian Critics Prize for Music.

ACD5061

10 JUL-AUG 2012 Astor Piazzolla: Tanguísimo Francisco Fiorentino (vocal) • Astor Piazzolla (bandonéon, arrangements & direction) • Roberto Di Filippo (bandonéon) • Angel Genta (bandonéon) • Fernando Tell (bandonéon) • Hugo Baralis (violin) • Ernesto Gianni (violin) • Juan Bibiloni (violin) • Oscar Lucero (violin) • Carlos Figari (piano) • Angel Molo (cello) Pepe Diaz or Valentín Andreotta (bass)

A prolific period, during which Astor Piazzolla carved out his own musical aesthetic, as personal as it is universal, and raised Tango to the ranks of classical music without causing it to lose any of its force, its character, its originality or its roots. The clear break he brought about by shaking up the musical codes of Tango felt like sacrilege to the older generation, but like a much-needed revolution to those who dreamed of modernity. The second real icon in the history of Argentinian music alongside Carlos Gardel, Astor Piazzolla, like his illustrious forefather, left his imprint on this style of music in spite of its rules, which were anchored in a set of seemingly immutable traditions.

“Astor Piazzolla turned Tango into more than just the music of one nation and one people; he made it into a universal art on a par with the works of and Claude Debussy. Like Orpheus descending into the underworld to seek Eurydice, Piazzolla tracked Tango down to the hidden places where the Guardia Vieja were keeping it a jealously guarded secret, and brought it up into the daylight so he could share it with the world…. Except that he never turned around, so his Eurydice is still alive and well!” Juan Esteban Alvarez de Molina 5742200.07 (8 CDs) CLASSICAL MUSIC CLASSICAL

Ludwig van BEETHOVEN: Symphonie n°3 Maurice RAVEL: Valses The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Giuseppe Sinopoli (conductor)

It was Beethoven’s original intention that his third symphony should be entitled “Bonaparte”, in honour of Napoleon Bonaparte. But when Napoleon crowned himself ‘Emperor’ he became, in Beethoven’s eyes, “only another tyrannical despot”. Beethoven finally named it “Sinfonia Eroica” (Italian for Heroic Symphony) “composed in honour of a great man”.

From its title, in which two Waltz cycles by Schubert are mentioned (Valses Nobles and Valses Sentimentales), it is clear that it was Ravel’s intention to compose a sequence of waltzes based on Schubert. Like many of Ravel’s works, it was first written for piano and later orchestrated by the composer. HEL029653

The Unknown Enescu, David BRAID: Chamber and Volume One: Music for Violin Instrumental Music Sherban Lupu, violin (conductor) • Grace Davidson (soprano) • Peter Masumi Per Rostad (viola) • Marin Cigleris (clarinet) • Yuri Kalnits (violin) Cazacu (cello) • Dmitry Kouzov • Julia Morneweg (cello) • John Paul (cello) • Ian Hobson (piano) • Ilinca Ekins (piano) • Sergei Podobedov Dumitrescu (piano) • Samir Golescu (piano) • Jelena Laković (piano) • (piano) • Enescu Ensemble of the Tippett Quartet (string quartet) • Erato University of Illinois (ensemble) Piano Trio (piano trio) • Rossitza Stoycheva and Mikako Hori (piano duo) George Enescu (1881–1955) is one of the great composers, although The British composer David Braid, the world has yet to realise the extent of his achievements. Enescu’s born in North Wales in 1970, studied in London, Oxford and Kraków, small published œuvre of 33 opus numbers belies the amount of and his music shows something of that double inheritance, bringing music he produced: he composed prolifically but, as he was both a together the lyricism of such English composers as Dowland and the perfectionist and a busy performer, much of his music is still unknown. dynamism of the Polish school of Lutosławski. This debut CD of his This CD reveals solo, chamber and concertante pieces featuring the music presents chamber and instrumental works written between violin, played by his fellow Romanian Sherban Lupu, who understands 2006 and 2011. Steve Reich described the raga-like Morning for Enescu’s idiom like few other musicians. soprano and string quartet – the Pablo Neruda setting which opens this disc – as ‘beautifully done – very honest stuff’; the other works here encompass a divergent range of moods, from the melancholy of Infinite Reminiscence to the energetic drive of Music for Dancers. TOCC0047 TOCC0149

Leo ORNSTEIN John PICKARD Piano Music, Volume One Chamber Music Arsentiy Kharitonov (piano) Rupert Marshall-Luck (violin, viola) Sophie Harris (cello) The Russian-born American Ian Mitchell (bass clarinet) composer Leo Ornstein (1893–2002) Matthew Rickard (piano) lived long enough – an astonishing 109 years – to see his music Reviews of music by the English both fall into and re-emerge from composer John Pickard (b. 1963) obscurity. His earliest surviving have stated that ‘he has the work dates from around 1905; his technique and the temperament last was composed in 1990. Not to emerge as one of the great surprisingly, his music embraces a range of styles, ranging on this symphonists of the 21st century’, even that ‘his place among the first CD – in the first extended series devoted to his piano works – greats is secure’. This conspectus of his chamber music traces the from the atmospheric impressionism of the Four Impromptus via the evolution of his style over two decades, from the Piano Trio of 1990 to fiery virtuosity of the Fourth Piano Sonata to the Rachmaninov-like Snowbound of 2010, revealing a powerful rhythmic drive, a feeling for Romanticism of the Cossack Impressions and In the Country. toughly argued drama and a poetic sensitivity to atmosphere among TOCC0141 its most prominent characteristics. TOCC0150

JUL-AUG 2012 11 Two Lutes: Lute Duets from But Not Forgotten England’s Golden Age Music by African-American Ronn McFarlane & William Simms Composers for Clarinet & Piano As stated by Ronn McFarlane, Marcus Eley (clarinet) “Elizabethan lute duets yield the Lucerne DeSa (piano) most companionable and friendly kind of music-making for the players. Past and present come together In equal duets each lutenist plays in this vibrant release from Sono nearly the same music, alternating Luminus, But Not Forgotten: Music playing the melody and the harmonic by African-American Composers for accompaniment. It feels like a Clarinet & Piano, as clarinetist Marcus conversation, with each lutenist posing musical questions and answers Eley, and pianist Lucerne DeSa display the timeless class and musical throughout. Each player is free to improvise upon the written part, so stylings of composers whose music runs rich with the knowledge and the conversation can be very individual and spontaneous! On the other desire of gifts to be returned through the notes on a page, and the hand, in the treble-ground style of lute duet, one lutenist plays a single instrument in one’s hand. line melodic part (usually including some virtuosic passages) while the second lutenist plays a chordal accompaniment. Sometimes the chordal accompaniment is very simple and repetitive, and it is likely that a skilled player would vary his part to make a more musically satisfying accompaniment.” DSL-92155 DSL-92156

Cecilia Bertolini Gotta Do It Right Cecilia BERTOLINI (vocals) Armel DUPAS (claves, piano) Olivier LOUVEL (guitar) Manuel MARCHES (bass) Karl JANNUSKA (drums) Sylvain GONTARD (trumpet)

Gotta Do It Right is the first album of the new French Jazz revelation Cecila Bertolini. She already won several prices and her talent has been critically acclaimed. BON120502

The Metaphysical Poets The History of the John Donne, Andrew Marvell et al. Peloponnesian War (Unabridged) Thucydides (Abridged) Read by Nicholas Boulton, Jonathan Read by Neville Jason Keeble and others Thucydides’s History of the John Donne, Andrew Marvell, Peloponnesian War is one of the George Herbert, Thomas Carew most famous, influential, and moving and Henry Vaughan: these were works of genuine history in our some of the 17th-century writers who traditions. His brilliant account of the devised a new form of poetry full of civil war among the Greeks redefined wit, intellect and grace, which we how we should analyse the past, now call Metaphysical poetry. They wrote about their deepest religious driving a permanent wedge between accounts based on myth and folk feelings and their carnal pleasures in a way that was radically new and traditions and those based on empirical investigation and a rational challenging to their readers. Their work was largely misunderstood enquiry into human motives. The work is also a profoundly tragic or ignored for two centuries, until 20th-century critics rediscovered illumination, not merely of the self-destructive events of the civil war, it, finding in it a deep originality and a willingness to experiment that but also of the future course of human history. made much conventional poetry look merely decorative. This collection provides the perfect introduction to this diverse group of fascinating AUDIO BOOKS J AZZ HIGH LIGHTS CLASSICAL MUSIC AZZ HIGH LIGHTS CLASSICAL AUDIO BOOKS J poets. NA0089 NA0069 (6 CDs)

Seven Pillars of Wisdom T.E. Lawrence (Unabridged) Read by Roy McMillan

Although T.E. Lawrence, commonly known as ‘Lawrence of Arabia’, died in 1935, the story of his life has captured the imagination of succeeding generations. Seven Pillars of Wisdom is a monumental work in which he chronicles his role in leading the Arab Revolt against the Turks during the First World War. A reluctant leader, and wracked by guilt at the duplicity of the British, Lawrence nevertheless threw himself into his role, suffering the blistering desert conditions and masterminding military campaigns which culminated in the triumphant march of the Arabs into Damascus.

NA0070 (20 CDs)

12 JUL-AUG 2012 A Musical Journey: SPAIN A Musical Journey: A Musical Visit to Madrid, CZECH REPUBLIC La Mancha and Córdoba A Musical Visit to Prague and Music by Chabrier • Massenet • Glinka • Lednice Castle Rimsky-Korsakov Music by

The Places • The musical tour of Spain The Places • The churches and palaces starts at the present capital, Madrid, the of Prague are seen, with the great River principal city of Castile. From Madrid it Vltava (the Moldau), which flows through is not too far to the plains of La Mancha, the city, the outline of city buildings a region always remembered for its reflected in its waters. The Strahov association with the great hero of Miguel Monastery and the Villa Bertramka are Cervantes, Don Quijote de la Mancha, practical examples of Mozart’s contact whose windmills, mistaken by him for giants, form a characteristic with Prague. On a visit to the monastery he improvised on the organ,

element in the landscape. The varied history of Spain is seen in the and at the Villa Bertramka he and his wife Constanze were guests of DVD / BLU-RAY city of Córdoba, once capital of a Moorish kingdom, and the gardens the Czech composer Dušek. There is also a visit to Southern Moravia of the Alcázar of the Christian Kings. and Lednice, with its Neo-Gothic castle, its folly, a slender minaret, in its English gardens, with its trees and artificial lakes. The Music • The music chosen for the tour of Spain may be characteristically Spanish in its rhythms and turns of melody, but The Music • Mozart had happy memories of Prague. When, during is all the work of foreigners, two of the composers, Chabrier and the last ten years of his life, circumstances in Vienna proved Massenet, French, and two of them, Glinka and Rimsky-Korsakov, increasingly difficult, he was always welcome in the Bohemian capital. Russian. For France, geographically adjacent to Spain, there was an It was for Prague that he wrote his opera Don Giovanni in 1787 and obvious connection with Spain, which continued to exercise a certain for Prague that he wrote one of his last operas, La clemenza di Tito, fascination over its neighbour. Russian composers in the 19th century commissioned for the coronation of Leopold II as King of Bohemia, embarked on the creation of a new national music, but at the same and for his unappreciative wife, who described the work as ‘porchería time drew on remoter countries for inspiration, whether on the different tedesca’, German porkery. Prague continues to honour Mozart in regions of the vast Russian Empire or still further afield. 2.110308 various festivals, concerts and memorabilia. 2.110309

A Musical Journey: AUSTRIA / BELGIUM A Musical Visit to Salzburg and Vienna, Brussels and Tournai ‘Requiem’ by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

The Places • The tour relates to the life of Mozart, from his native Salzburg to his final precarious independence in Vienna. There are glimpses of the Salzburg Church of St Peter and of the Cathedral, with which Mozart and his father, members of the musical establishment of the ruling Prince-Archbishops of Salzburg, were closely concerned. Memorials of Mozart and other composers are seen in Vienna, while a brief detour to Belgium to the idiosyncratic Musée Wiertz and to the Tournai Musée des Beaux Arts, brings another aspect to the journey.

The Music • Mozart’s Requiem Mass was commissioned anonymously in July 1791 by Count Franz Walsegg zu Stuppach, who sought to commemorate the recent death of his wife by the performance of a work of this kind that he might, at least by implication, claim as his own. An initial fee of sixty ducats was paid, with promise of a further sum when the Requiem was completed. But in November Mozart was taken ill and within a fortnight he was dead. His widow, Constanze, who needed the rest of the fee for the work, asked Joseph Eybler, who had assisted Mozart in rehearsals for Così fan tutte, to finish the composition and the scoring. He later gave up the task and the unfinished score finally came into the hands of Franz Xaver Süssmayr, so that the best known form of the Requiem is that started by Mozart, continued briefly by Eybler and completed by Süssmayr. 2.110333

RENZO PIANO Anton BRUCKNER PIECE BY PIECE Symphony No. 8 Christopher Tuckfield The Cleveland Orchestra Franz Welser-Möst It is often said of the world famous architect Renzo Piano that he has never developed With its majestic themes soaring upwards a recognisable style. But Piano’s style is to like gothic pillars and its brilliant chorales and grapple primarily with the sites and to tease fanfares glowing like stained – glass windows, from them uniquely aesthetic and technical Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8 is the most monumental of his orchestral works, a cathedral solutions. His buildings are meticulous, in sound that grows out of pianissimo murmurs. individual visions that serve the needs Coming after the triumphs celebrated by the of the surrounding environments and the composer’s Seventh Symphony and Te Deum, people that inhabit them. This film gives the Eight was considered by Bruckner as the artistic climax of his career. Piano a platform to talk about his architecture and to present works BONUS: Pre-concert talk with Dee Perry and Franz Welser-Möst that are as disparate as they are individual. 106068 101581 (DVD) /108069 (Blu-ray)

Maki ISHII: Kaguyahime Nederlands Dans Theater • Circle Percussion • Choreography by Jirí Kylián

Kaguyahime is one of Japan’s oldest fairy-tales – the story of the moon princess who descends to Earth and is cared for by the family of an old bamboo cutter. Her luminous beauty is meant to spread peace and happiness, but instead the rivalry her heavenly presence provokes results in war.

Jiří Kylián one of Europe’s most highly-acclaimed choreographers, has created a highly-charged fusion of dance, music and theatrical images. The music, composed by Maki Ishii, fuses Western and Eastern sound elements,with Western percussion and Japanese drums, augmented by wind instruments closely associated with traditional Japanese court music. The visual impact of the piece is heightened by Michael Simon’s stunning design and lighting.

Nederlands Dans Theater’s performances of Kaguyahime have received universal acclaim and it has been hailed as a visual, dance and musical masterpiece of rare quality, a creation that will leave no one unmoved. 100163 (DVD) /108055 (Blu-ray)

Jul-AUG 2012 13 HANDEL CAVALLI Rinaldo LA DIDONE Sonia Prina • Varduhi Abrahamyan • Tim Anna Bonitatibus • Kresimir Spicer Mead • Anett Fritsch • Brenda Rae • Luca Xavier Sabata • Maria Streijffert Pisaroni Katherine Watson Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Les Arts Florissants • William Christie Ottavio Dantone • Robert Carsen Clément Hervieu-Léger

Skin-tight rubber and lacrosse sticks bring One of the first operas deserving of the contemporary chic to this timeless fantasy name, Didone is our first surviving musical of warriors and witches in Robert Carsen’s version of the famous episode in Virgil’s fun-filled transformation of Handel’s first Aeneid where the Trojan hero loves and London triumph. Conducting from the then cruelly leaves the noble Dido. Cavalli keyboard just as Handel himself did, Ottavio learnt at the feet of Monteverdi, and his

DVD / BLU-RAY Dantone leads a youthful cast of today’s luminaries in the dramatic art dramatic transformation of the story is all the more expressive for its of Baroque opera, the ‘affecting’ Sonia Prina, the ‘unadorned intensity’ intimacy, worthy of the examples set by his master. At the centre of of Anett Fritsch and ‘fire-breathing flair’ (The Observer) of Brenda Rae. this bold and simple staging – the first opera production by comic actor Clément Hervieu-Léger – is the Queen of Carthage herself, sung with uncompromising intensity by Anna Bonitatibus. William Christie and his singers and players show themselves entirely attuned to the world of Cavalli, where meaning and music fuse. OA1081D (DVD) / OABD7107D (Blu-ray) OA1080D (DVD) / OABD7106D (Blu-ray)

András Schiff plays BACH Nobuyuki Tsujii Directed by Bruno Monsaingeon Live at Carnegie Hall András Schiff (piano) Nobuyuki Tsujii (piano)

These performances exemplify perfectly the His dream had come true. Arguably the thoughtful and persuasive approach that most important event in the career of any András Schiff adopts when playing Bach. performer, for “Nobu” it was a miracle. With his brilliant technique and beautiful Deep pathos is contrasted with witty tone, he contrasts familiar warhorses with humour, serenity is paired with fleetness of newer pieces, including one of his own foot, and all these emotions prove that this compositions, written in memory of the brilliantly expressive musician is as ‘unique victims of the Japanese earthquake and and unequalled’ today as he was when tsunami in March 2011. Nobu brought the his first biographer, J.N. Forkel, wrote so usually reserved Carnegie Hall audience eloquently about him more than two centuries ago to its feet. 2066768 2059088 (DVD) / 2059084 (Blu-ray)

Lars Vogt Martin Helmchen live at Verbier Festival live at Verbier Festival Lars Vogt (piano) Martin Helmchen (piano)

The German pianist Vogt proves himself Martin Helmchen, in his 2011 Verbier more than up to the task, with an inspiring Festival recital, presents a program of performance of the rarely performed In Bach, Liszt and Beethoven. the Mists, then striking the subtle balance between the delicacy required of a Brahms The adaptability of his technique is on Intermezzo and the boisterousness of display, as he moves with ease from the Beethoven’s last piano sonata. incessant rhythm of a Bach dance, through the filigree of Liszt’s virtuosic showpieces, to the dense counterpoint so typical of Beethoven’s late works. 3079818 3079808

Richter Die 12 Cellisten der Berliner L’Insoumis / The Enigma Philharmoniker A film by Bruno Monsaingeon They are one-of-a-kind and they are We get to know as both musician and known all over the world: the 12 Cellisten pianist, particularly through his reading of der Berliner Philharmoniker (the Twelve extracts from his “musician’s diary”. Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic). Their concerts offer the audience the A particularly painful family history; an chance to experience the ensemble’s unconventional apprenticeship in Odessa; instrumental mastery, the broad spectrum a very particular vantage-point of Stalin´s of its repertoire, as well as the stunning funeral; forbidden to perform in the West tonal variety produced by its individual until 1961, the bitterness of a triumphant musicians. On the occasion of their 40th American tour; a scathing view of the anniversary, the group presented highlights musical milieu and its performing artists. of its program to an enthusiastic audience at the Berlin Philharmonic, supported by world class guest artists, Annette Dasch (soprano) and In the two years preceding his death on August 1st 1997, the Great Till Brönner (trumpet). This Anniversary Edition offers the viewer the Russian pianist Sviatoslav Richter agreed to a no-holds-barred chance to experience not only a superb concert but also an exciting conversation about his life and career, which was conducted in the documentary chronicling the history of this fascinating group of service of music, regardless of all conventions. musicians. 3073518 (2 DVDs) 2059318 (2 DVDs) / 2059314 (Blu-ray)

14 JUL-AUG 2012 Leonard Bernstein BEETHOVEN: String Quartet No. 16 (Version for String Orchestra) HAYDN: Missa in tempore belli Blegen • Fassbaender • Ahnsjö • Sotin • Wiener Philharmoniker Sinfonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks

Bernstein delivered a powerful and now legendary live performance of Beethoven’s String Quartet Op. 135 – transcribed for String Orchestra and performed by the Vienna Philharmonic. For the first time ever this performance is now being released on DVD and Blu-ray.

Another definitive Bernstein performance debuting now on both mediums is the enigmatic maestro’s reading of Haydn’s Missa in tempore belli, filmed live in concert at Ottobeuren in 1984, using to maximum effect the deeply impressive setting of the monastery’s magnificent Baroque basilica.

711508 (DVD) / 711604 (Blu-ray) DVD / BLU-RAY

Charles Gounod Roméo et Juliette Coro e Corpo di Ballo della Fondazione Arena di Verona (Orchestra) Fabio Mastrangelo (conductor) Nino Machaidze • Ketevan Kemoklidze • Cristina Melis • Stefano Secco • Jean-François Borras • Paolo Antognetti Artur Rucinski • Nicolo Ceriani • Giampiero Ruggeri • Manrico Signorini • Giorgio Giuseppini • Deyan Vatchkov

Here from the iconic Verona arena is Charles Gounod’s masterpiece Roméo & Juliette, performed there for the first time since 1977. This new production was entrusted to Italian director Francesco Micheli, making his arena debut, who opted for a personal, highly original version: “An arena within the Arena, like a blood-red Elizabethan theatre. A senescent world that will not let its own children live.”

Juliette is sung by Georgian soprano Nino Machaidze, in a return to one of her early roles at the Salzburg Festival. Stefano Secco, often heard at the Opéra Bastille in Paris and other international venues, is Roméo. Artur Rucinski interprets Mercutio, Romeo’s friend and the rival of Jean-François Borras’s Tybalt. The page Stéphano is sung by soprano Ketevan Kemoklidze. The Orchestra and Chorus of the Arena di Verona are conducted by Fabio Mastrangelo. BAC081 (DVD) / BAC481 (Blu-ray)

TrondheimSolistene SOUVENIR - Part II How do we listen to music? Indeed, how do we listen to anything? What we as listeners encounter here is sheer auditory bliss. TrondheimSolistene take a new step towards bridging the gap between themselves and their audience. It is not the gap between the live performance and the recording which they attempt to close. It is the gap between the recording and the living, ever open human ear.

Inspired by Morten Lindberg’s extensive work with choral music, the Tchaikovsky’s SERENADE was recorded with the ensemble placed in mixed voices, meaning no one is sitting beside anyone playing the same part, creating a totally new soundscape to the music. Carl Nielsen’s SUITE opus 1 is recorded in a more “traditional” way in these sessions.

2L-090-PABD (Blu-ray) / 2L-090A-LP (CD Part 1) / 2L-090C-LP (CD Part 2)

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The All Star Percussion Ensemble Autumn in Seattle Esther

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The Hot Club of San Francisco RACHMANINOFF: Dick Hyman Stravinsky: The Firebird Suite/ Yerba Buena Bounce Symphonic Dances; Vocalise From The Age of Swing The Song of the Nightingale

RM-2503 RM-1504 RM-2501 RM-1502 45 rpm, 200-gram (2-LP) 33 1/3 rpm , 200-gram 45 rpm, 200-gram (2-LP) 33 1/3 rpm , 200-gram

(ࠛ៳ӓጹག፱ DXD (352.8kHz/24bitےߡ TrondheimSolistene SOUVENIR Part 1 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893) SERENADE for Strings in C (op. 48) Carl Nielsen (1865–1931) SUITE for String Orchestra (op. 1) Part 2 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893) SOUVENIR de Florence (op. 70) Carl Nielsen (1865–1931) Ved en Ung Kunstners Baare (fs. 58) 2L090ALP 33 1/3rpm 180-gram 2L090CLP

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