May 2017 Catalogue Issue 13 Prices valid until Wednesday 28 June 2017 unless stated otherwise 0115 982 7500 The Bridge of Sighs, Cambridge, painted by [email protected] Anastasiya Levashova Your Account Number: {MM:Account Number} {MM:Postcode} {MM:Address4} {MM:Address3} {MM:Address2} {MM:Address1} {MM:Name} 1 Welcome! Dear Customer, It is now one year since we produced our first all-singing, all-dancing, colour catalogue! Although the plain-text listings always seemed to have a certain appeal, the idea of going back to them now feels absurd. We hope you have enjoyed the improvements as much as we have enjoyed working on them. There are plenty of enticing new releases again this month: you will see superb Monteverdi from I Fagiolini and a beautiful recital of French Song from Christiane Karg on the page opposite; Ivan Fischer’s latest Mahler instalment can be found on p.4 in the shape of Symphony no.3; also on p.4 is a new recital from Diana Damrau focused entirely on grand opera arias by Meyerbeer; String Quartets by Delius and Elgar is the highlight from Naxos and also has the privilege of being our Disc of the Month for May (below); Sony have come up trumps again with, amongst many other stellar releases, brilliant new recordings from Jonas Kaufmann (singing all of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde) and Semyon Bychkov (conducting works by Franz Schmidt and Richard Strauss); Lully’s Armide from Les Talens Lyriques and Christophe Rousset is beautifully presented by Aparte (p.7); and last, but certainly not least, is the stunning new DVD boxset from Fugue State Films devoted to Max Reger, featuring over 15 hours of content including documentaries and filmed performances (p.50). Special offers for May/June include the complete catalogues of Australian Eloquence, Berlin Classics and Somm. We also have Hyperion’s Helios reissue series in a multibuy offer, ‘Home of Opera’ and ‘Icon’ titles from Warner Classics, a small selection of boxsets from DG and Decca at very special prices, and DVDs and Blu-rays from Italian opera specialists, Dynamic. We have also been advised that brand new offers from DG and Decca are imminent, but details had sadly not materialised before we had to go to print. Information will be on our website as soon as it becomes available, and we will be doing our best to feature full listings in the June catalogue. Don’t forget that we have two bank holidays coming up, so our offices will be closed for extra days on Monday 1 and Monday 29 May. Thank you as always for your ongoing loyalty and custom - it is certainly much appreciated. Enjoy browsing! The Europadisc Team DISC OF THE MONTH Delius and Elgar - String Quartets £7.95 Villiers Quartet or pay just Naxos 857 3586 For a generation of musicians who lived through the terrifying events of the First World £5.95 War, responding to the seemingly incomprehensible impact of the conflict became a if your order value compelling creative challenge. Many promising younger figures, such as George exceeds £50* Butterworth and Ernest Farrar, paid the ultimate price, killed in action on the Western * to qualify for the special price, front. The legacy of the war left its mark in other ways on the music of Ralph Vaughan your order value must exceed a total of £50 excluding this Williams, who spent two periods of active service as an ambulance orderly in France, recording and before any most eloquently in his Pastoral Symphony of 1922. Edward Elgar and Frederick Delius, applicable carriage charges. close contemporaries but almost diametrically opposed personalities, were too old at Offer available while stocks last. the time of the war’s outbreak to be called up for military duty (though Elgar was briefly a member of his local Hampstead Constabulary). For both men, however, the war had a profound effect upon their later work, and it is impossible to separate their two remarkable string quartets from the historical circumstances of their creation. The powerful outer movements of Elgar’s String Quartet in E minor frame a wistful and sombre Andante piacevole. Delius was dissatisfied with the first, three-movement version of his Quartet and revised the score. On this recording the final 1917 version is followed by the original versions of the opening movement and of the Late Swallows slow movement, offering a rare glimpse into Delius’s compositional workshop. The Villiers Quartet are leading exponents of the British repertoire and have already made critically acclaimed discs for Naxos of works by Robert Still and Peter Fricker. 2 PRIORITY NEW RELEASES DG and Decca Monteverdi Dvorak The Other Vespers - Stabat Mater ‘constructed’ from Prague Philharmonic works c.1640 Choir, Czech I Fagiolini Philharmonic, £12.50 Belohlavek 483 1654 £11.50 available at £11.50 until 26/5 483 1510 The Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge conducted by George Guest The Complete Argo Recordings £79.95 Decca 483 1252 (42CD) due 19/5 In almost a quarter-century of recordings up to 1981, Decca’s Argo imprint established St John’s College Cambridge under conductor George Guest as one of the leading choirs in the world, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with their collegiate rivals King’s College Cambridge, but with a distinctly vibrant, less ethereal sound and with a broader European repertoire. This set consists of 42CDs, mastered from the original tapes, containing the complete recorded legacy on Decca of one of the most influential music directors of English Cathedral music. Presented in their original jackets, the CDs are accompanied by extensive booklet notes featuring photographs from the College's archives and from George Guest's personal family archives. Limited Edition. Decca 481 5204 Britten/Purcell Chaconnes and Fantasias Emerson String Quartet £11.50 Decca 481 4826 Rami My Journey - Violin Arrangements Rami Basisah £11.50 Decca 482 7942 Peaceful Piano “A Journey to Complete Relaxation” 3CD Various £12.95 DG CD + Blu-ray Audio Operas 479 7287 Verdi La Traviata 2CD + Blu-ray Audio Cotrubas;Malagu;Jungwirth;Domingo;C Kleiber £24.95 479 7291 Wagner Tristan und Isolde 3CD + Blu-ray Audio Windgassen;Talvela;Nilsson;Bohm £32.95 479 7283 Beethoven Fidelio 2CD + Blu-ray Audio Fischer-Dieskau;Sotin;Kollo;Janowitz;Bernstein £24.95 Berlin Classics complete label now reduced, see p.38 This album is pure poetry – taking its spark from Christiane Karg’s engagement with the poetical works of Charles Baudelaire, Leconte de Parfum Lisle, Paul Verlaine, Tristan Klingsor and Victor Hugo. A poetry in diction Songs by Ravel, that has a wonderful affinity with impressionist music at the turn from Duparc, Koechlin, the 19th to the 20th century. Christiane Karg finally decided upon works by Duparc, Koechlin, Debussy and Ravel for her new album. Her Britten and Debussy selection also includes an early composition by Benjamin Britten, which Karg,Bamberg SO, in turn was inspired by Debussy and Ravel. Christiane Karg’s voice wafts Afkham this poetic scent, these colours in sound, aloft. Poetry and music, words and voice blend into Parfum! Features Ravel’s Sheherazade, Duparc’s £10.36 L’invitaion au voyage, Britten’s 4 Chansons Francaises, Koechlin’s 0300832 BC Epiphanie and Debussy/Adams’ Le Livre de Baudelaire. Also new from Berlin Classics 0300835 BC Weber Complete Works for Clarinet 2CD Manz;SWR Orchestra;Mendez £15.16 0300933 BC Eisler Kalifornische Ballade (music for radio, stage, film etc) Hahnel;May;Busch;The Ebony Band £10.36 3 PRIORITY NEW RELEASES Channel Classics Mahler Symphony no.3 Mahler’s Third Symphony, lasting one and a half hours or more, is not only his longest work but at the same time an exuberant and Romberger, Budapest Festival sunny ode to nature, mankind, the world and indeed life itself. And Orchestra, Fischer for this song of praise the composer requires both room and lavish CCSSA 38817 (2 Hybrid SACDs) means: no fewer than six movements, the richest of orchestral forces, and a contralto soloist and boys’ and women’s choirs whose £14.95 due 19/5 sung texts help to bring across the symphony’s message. CCS 39117 Beethoven Piano Trios 5, 6 and 11 Hamlet Piano Trio (Giacometti/Thompson/Jankovic) £12.95 CCS 39417 Schubert 'Death and the Maiden' Quartet; Dvorak String Quartet no.12 'American' Dragon Qt £12.95 Warner Classics and Erato Meyerbeer Debussy/Ravel Grand Opera (arias) L’Enfant prodigue / Damrau, Lyon NO, L’Enfant et les sortileges Villaume Gauvin, Alagna, £10.95 Stutzmann, Devieilhe, 9029 584901 Radio France PO, Franck Ltd edition deluxe version also £10.95 available: 9029 584899 - £11.95 9029 589692 9029 583956 Eternal Stories Works and performance from Michel Portal and the Quatuor Ebene £10.95 9903 998732 Max Richter Out of the Dark Room (anthology) 2CD £12.95 9029 590599 Elina Garanca sings Mozart & Vivaldi (comp from previous albums) due 12/5 Langree;Biondi etc £9.25 9029 584014 Brass Rec from the Sinfonia Varsovia Brass Ensemble - classical, jazz, Latin American due 19/5 £10.95 9029 584015 Bach Stories Improvisations in a classical style (cello and piano) 2CD due 19/5 Zdunik;Debicz £10.95 New ‘Home of Opera’ titles see p.25 for other titles in the series now reduced due 12/5 9029 586908 Bellini La Sonnambula 2CD Dessay;Meli;Colombara;Mingardo;Azzaretti £12.50 9029 586907 Donizetti Lucia di Lammermoor 2CD Gruberova;Kraus;Bruson;Lloyd;Rescigno £12.50 9029 586906 Massenet Thais 2CD Sills;Milnes;Gedda;Murray;van Allan;Maazel £12.50 9029 586913 Mozart Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail 2CD Kenny;Watson;Schreier;Harnoncourt £12.50 9029 586910 Mozart Die Zauberflote 2CD Mannion;Dessay;Kitchen;Blochwitz;Christie