CONSUMER INFORMATION SERVICE: NO. 263 DECEMBER 2013 REPRESENTING TODAY’S GREAT LABELS THIS MONTH'S HIGHLIGHTS Select Music and Video Distribution Limited 3 Wells Place, Redhill, Surrey RH1 3SL Tel: 01737 645600 Fax: 01737 644065 Johannes BRAHMS The Piano Concertos Stephen Hough Mark Wigglesworth Mozarteumorchester Salzburg Piano Concerto No 1 in D minor Op 15; Piano Concerto No 2 in B flat major Op 83 ‘Britain’s greatest living pianist’ (The Mail on Sunday) is joined by Highlight of the month Mozarteumorchester Salzburg and international conductor CDA67961 Mark Wigglesworth in their Hyperion debut for Brahms’s Piano Concertos. Ludwig van BEETHOVEN Piano Sonatas Volume 4 Angela Hewitt Piano Sonata in B flat major Op 22; Piano Sonata in E flat major Op 31; Sonata in A major Op 101 Angela Hewitt presents a fourth volume in her acclaimed series of Beethoven’s piano sonatas, which has CDA67974 delighted her fans worldwide. ANONYMOUS Conductus – 2 Music & poetry from thirteenth-century France John Potter Christopher O’Gorman Rogers Covey-Crump CDA67998 A second volume of music from the Conductus repertory - the least-known genre of medieval music performed by three singers who combine expert knowledge of the music with voices of unearthly beauty. Paul HINDEMITH Symphonic Metamorphosis, Konzertmusik, Mathis der Maler Martyn Brabbins conductor, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra Konzertmusik for brass and strings Op 50; Symphony ‘Mathis der Maler’ Symphonic Metamorphosis after themes by Carl Maria von Weber. CDA68006 This album contains Hindemith’s most popular orchestral works, including the Balanchine-choreographed Symphonic Metamorphosis, performed with lapidary precision and great empathy by Hyperion regulars the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Martyn Brabbins, who have proved themselves consummate interpreters of this composer. François Jean SIBELIUS COUPERIN Songs ‘Le Grand’ Katarina Karnéus Leçons de Ténèbres Julius Drake James Bowman Michael Chance Mark Caudle Robert King Couperin’s Trois Leçons de Ténèbres are amongst the small amount of Sibelius wrote a surprisingly large number of songs throughout his life, the composer’s sacred music that was published during his lifetime. and anybody who responds to the Nordic spirit and subject-matter of the They are intensely personal, depicting the prophet symphonies and other orchestral music will find much to Jeremiah’s bitter anguish in settings that are quite unique. CDH55455 please them here. CDH55471 (from CDA66474) (from CDA67318) 2 DECEMBER 2013 G. ALLEGRI Miserere The Tallis Scholars Highlight This is the Tallis Scholars’ first release on the Pure Audio Blu-ray format. of the month "A reading of great authority" BBC Music Magazine "Stupendously vibrant performances" International Record Review GIMBD641 Jean SIBELIUS (1865-1957) Masonic Ritual Music Op. 113 Hannu Jurmu (tenor), Harri Viitanen (organ) YL Male Voice Choir, Matti Hyökki Masonic Ritual Music Op. 113 arr. Kuusisto for Orchestra Mika Pohjonen (tenor) Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Jaakko Kuusisto Sibelius received a commission for ‘special, genuinely Finnish music for the lodge’, and the Masonic Ritual Music, or Musique religieuse, received its first complete performance on 12th January 1927. BIS1977 This CD also includes an arrangement of the score, made by Jaakko Kuusisto at the request of the Finnish Freemasons for a special celebration concert held at the Sibelius Hall in Lahti. C. P. E. BACH (1714-1788) Solo Keyboard Music, Volume 27 ‘Fortsetzung’ Sonatas Nos. 4-6 Miklós Spányi This disc completes the set of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s ‘Fortsetzung’ Sonatas, Wq51, which was begun in Volume 26 in this series. Miklós Spányi also includes recordings of Bach’s embellished versions of these sonatas, which may represent revisions or study material for his students. BIS2043 Ronald CORP Songs of the Elder Sisters Sarah Castle, Samuel Evans, Jill Carter, Sarah Thurlow, Rachel Bolt The original authors were Buddhist nuns, and the texts have been newly translated by Francis Booth for this recording. Corp’s settings are beautiful and spiritual, capturing the essence of this Eastern religion’s words in his own Western musical voice. Highlight of the month 5060192780369 DECEMBER 2013 3 John Wilhelm HERTEL (1727-1789) Die Geburt Jesu Christi Berit Norbakken Solset, Alexandra Rawohl, Marcus Ullmann, Wolf-Mathias Friedrich Koelner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens 777809-2 The Koelner Akademie under the conductor Michael Alexander Willens presents a compelling interpretation of the Christmas Oratorio by Johann Wilhelm Hertel. Peter EBEN (1929-2007) Salve Regina Sacred Choral Works Sächsisches Vocalensemble Matthias Jung 777627-2 Eben’s choral compositions may rightly be called the outstanding examples of the Central European motet tradition in the twentieth century. The Sächsisches Vocalensemble enthrals the listener with benchmark interpretations. Cristóbal DE MORALES (1500-1553) O Magnum Mysterium Expressive Christmas Motets Weser-Renaissance Bremen, Manfred Cordes 777820-2 CPO presents this festive release featuring the vocal polyphony of Cristóbal De Morales, who is regarded as the first significant Spanish composer of the Renaissance. Like most compositions for this Christian feast, his Christmas motets circulated and were performed Europe, travelling far beyond Spain’s borders. Paul HINDEMITH (1895-1963) Tuttifäntchen – Christmas Fairy Tale Children Opera Bela Kumberger, Hermann Wallén, Nora Lentner, Matthias Stier, Annika Schlicht, Sebastian Bluth, Jan Gerrit Bru¨ggemann, Rundfunkkinderchor, Berlin Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester, Johannes Zurl CPO presents the complete work of Hindemith’s delightful Christmas Fairy Tale for December. Hindemith 777802-2 wrote this work for a small chamber orchestra and designed the vocal parts so that good actors would be able to sing them. Franz LISZT (1811-1886) Organ Arrangements by Marcel DUPRÉ, Leo WEINER and Rainer BISCHOF Christian Schmitt, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Martin Haselboeck 777472-2 Franz Liszt was one of the most dazzling and influential musical personalities of the nineteenth century. This release features arrangements of works by Liszt for organ and orchestra. August KLUGHARDT (1847-1902) Symphony No. 5 Overtures Anhaltische Philharmonie Antony Hermus 777693-2 CPO presents Klughardt’s Symphony No. 5 and Overtures. This highly animated, vital, and sonorous music by Klughardt are interpreted by the Anhalitische Philharmonie under the baton of Antony Hermus. 4 DECEMBER 2013 Bartlett & Robertson Selected recordings 1927-1947 (The Matthay School Volume 6) Ethel Bartlett, Rae Robertston APR 6012 Ethel Bartlett (1896–1978) and Rae Robertson (1893–1956) both studied at the RAM with Matthay in the 1910s. They were married in 1921 and a few years later established a two-piano duo which quickly became the first such team to achieve truly international fame. Franz SCHREKER Die Gezeichneten “The Stigmatized” (Opera in 3 Acts) Los Angeles Opera, James Conlon (conductor) Anja Kampe, Robert Brubaker, Martin Gantner, James Johnson, Wolfgang Schöne, LA Opera Orchestra and Chorus. BRIDGE 9400A/C Die Gezeichneten (The Stigmatized) has few equals in operatic literature. This complete performance is from the LA Opera’s 2010 production of Schreker’s haunting masterpiece, starring an international cast of singers, conducted by LA Opera Music Director, James Conlon. With complete libretto in German and English, and annotation by Christopher Hailey. Mauro GIULIANI, Volume 2 Grand Variations on a Savoyard Theme David Starobin, Amalia Hall, Inon Barnatan BRIDGE 9418 David Starobin returns to the music of the Italian composer/guitarist, Mauro Giuliani (1781-1829), with a disc featuring Giuliani’s solo and chamber music. Georg Philipp TELEMANN Double Concerti for Wind & Strings Rebel, Jörg-Michael Schwarz BRIDGE 9421 The concerto for violin and trumpet is the most Italianate of the concertos presented here, and the E minor concerto for recorder and traverso is one of Telemann’s best known concertos. The recordings are by the superb baroque ensemble, Rebel, under the leadership of Jörg-Michael Schwarz. Early and Late Music from Denmark, Greenland and Faroe Islands Gárman, Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen (violin), Bolette Roed (recorder), Andreas Borregard (accordion) 6220640 Traditional Nordic folk music with roots in the Middle Ages meets three new compositions by Pelle Gudmundsen- Holmgreen, Sunleif Rasmussen and Rune Glerup on this CD debut of the Danish trio Gáman. Poul RUDERS, Per NØRGÅRD, Bent SØRENSEN & Hans ABRAHAMSEN Alpha Bolette Roe (recorder), Peter Navarro-Alonso (saxophone), David Hildebrandt (percussion) 8226579 Denmark’s four leading composers – Poul Ruders, Per Nørgård, Bent Sørensen and Hans Abrahamsen - have allowed the experimental trio Alpha to take their music behind the looking glass and let their works re-emerge in the trio’s very own sound world. W.A MOZART 45 Symphonies Danish National Chamber Orchestra 8201201 Adam Fischer Seven years of work with Mozart’s symphonies come to completion with this monumental release of 45 symphonies, including eight unnumbered youthful works. DECEMBER 2013 5 Gaetano DONIZETTI UGO, Conte di Parigi CDS7659/1-2 Antonino Fogliani Dimitriu, Nakajima, Giannattasio, Vatchov, Tokyurek, Nikolic “A vigorous, intense opera, broad and ornate, dramatic and intricate, full of alliances and clashes” Piero Mioli N. LOGROSCINO, D. PEREZ, A.SANTANGELO, G. SELLITTO, A. PALELLA “Si suona, a Napoli!” 18th Century Neapolitan Flute Concertos Renata Cataldi, Egidio