June 2019 Catalogue Issue 38 Prices valid until Friday 26 July 2019 unless stated otherwise Birmingham Town Hall in an 1830s engraving, 0115 982 7500 similar to that featured on the cover of ‘Mendelssohn in Birmingham vol.5’, released by Chandos this month (CHSA5235). [email protected] Your Account Number: {MM:Account Number} {MM:Postcode} {MM:Address5} {MM:Address4} {MM:Address3} {MM:Address2} {MM:Address1} {MM:Name} 1 Welcome! Dear Customer, Young Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen has gradually been garnering attention in recent years, perhaps making the leap to a wider awareness following her award of Gramophone’s ‘Young Artist of the Year’ in 2018 and her sublime performance of Strauss’s ‘Morgen’ at the ceremony. Ariadne was her major role last year; 2019 sees her take on the part of Elisabeth in Tannhauser - Zurich and Munich have already had the pleasure and she will be taking it to Bayreuth in July, under the baton of Valery Gergiev in a brand new production. Pleasingly for those of us who won’t manage to catch her live, her debut album on Decca has just been released, featuring two arias from Tannhauser plus orchestral lieder (and one aria) by Richard Strauss. We have been hugely impressed, especially considering her mere 32 years of age, making it a clear choice for Disc of the Month. Please see our website for our full review. Other new releases to highlight for June include a second lieder recital from Decca, performed by none other than Renee Fleming; Hyperion issue the latest in their series of ‘Romantic Violin Concertos’, this volume featuring works by Lassen, Scharwenka and Langgaard; the Vaughan Williams Society offer us his works for viola and piano via the Albion label; the final instalment in the Halle’s superb Ring Cycle (Siegfried) is released on the Halle’s own label; and stunning vocal ensemble Vox Luminis give us a treat in the shape of works by the Bach Family. Chandos celebrate their 40th anniversary this year, and June sees the issue of a limited edition boxset containing 40 of the best recordings from their extensive catalogue. All four decades are covered, and each disc has been hand-picked by Ralph Couzens, current managing director and son of founder Brian Couzens. It is available at a very special price, but don’t hang around as we expect it to sell out quite quickly! We have also compiled our own list of what we consider to be some of the best orchestral recordings Chandos have issued: this can be found on pp.39-47 and includes over 500 titles now available at reduced prices. Other special offers starting this month include the complete catalogues of Orfeo, Pentatone, Lawo Classics, Albion (the label of the Vaughan Williams Society) and SDG (the label of the Monteverdi Choir and Sir John Eliot Gardiner). There is also a selection of operas on DVD and Blu-ray from Opus Arte. Enjoy! Best regards from, The Europadisc Team DISC OF THE MONTH Lise Davidsen sings Strauss and Wagner £12.50 Including the Four Last Songs and arias from Tannhauser or pay just Lise Davidsen, Philharmonia Orchestra, Esa-Pekka Salonen £10.95 Decca 483 4883 A selection of Richard Strauss’s most-loved lieder and songs, plus Elisabeth’s arias from if your order value Wagner’s Tannhäuser, the role in which Lise Davidsen will make her debut at the exceeds £50* Bayreuth Festival. Also includes Ariadne’s aria from Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos: her * to qualify for the special price, your order value must exceed a 2017 Glyndebourne debut in the title role was named “one of those ‘I was there’ total of £50 excluding this moments” (The Times). recording and before any applicable carriage charges. Lise Davidsen is the first Scandinavian soprano to sign to Decca since Birgit Nilsson, and Offer available while stocks last. the first Norwegian singer to join Decca since Kirsten Flagstad’s acclaimed recordings in 1950s. She is winner of The World Opera Competition, Plácido Domingo’s Operalia (2015), winner of The Queen Sonja International Music Competition (2015), and Gramophone Young Artist of the Year (2018). This disc has been recorded with the Philharmonia Orchestra (who performed the premiere of the Four Last Songs), this time under the expert guidance of Finnish conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen. “One of the greatest voices I have heard.” - The Observer “Hers is truly a voice in a million.” - The Telegraph Includes: Strauss Vier letzte Lieder; 4 Lieder op.27; Wiegenlied (op.41/1); Malven (’Aus Rosen’); ‘Es gibt ein Reich, wo alles rein ist’ from Ariadne auf Naxos; Wagner ‘Allmacht’ge Jungfrau, hor mein Flehen!’ and ‘Dich, teure Halle’ from Tannhauser. 2 PRIORITY NEW RELEASES DG and Decca Strauss, R The Fellini Album Four Last Songs etc The Film Music of Wagner Arias Nino Rota Davidsen, Philharmonia, Filarmonica della Scala, Salonen Chailly £12.50 £13.50 Decca 483 4883 Decca 483 2869 due 7/6 see also ‘Disc of the Month’ on p.2 Longing for Paradise Lieder Strauss’s Oboe Concerto Works by Brahms, plus works by Elgar, Schumann and Mahler Ravel and Goossens Fleming, Holl, Thielemann Mayer, Bamberg SO, Hrusa £13.50 £13.50 Decca 483 2335 due 14/6 DG 483 6622 Also available Decca 483 4894 Pavarotti Music from the Motion Picture (dir Ron Howard) due 7/6 £13.50 Decca 483 4890 Pavarotti The Greatest Hits 3CD due 7/6 £17.95 The Brigitte Fassbaender Edition Celebrating her 80th Birthday £36.95 DG 483 6913 (11CD) In celebration of her 80th birthday (3 July), this 11CD edition collects many of Brigitte Fassbaender’s most admired recordings: 7 legendary albums from DG and Decca plus 4 new compilations. Her interpretative depth and expressive vibrancy are displayed in lieder - including her Gramophone Award-winning Schubert, Liszt and Strauss recordings, as well as in Mahler - and in probing portrayals of Dorabella (under Bohm), Azucena (Giulini), Brangane (Kleiber) and Orlofsky (Previn). Comes in a capbox with a 52pp booklet featuring an exclusive interview with the great mezzo. The Alexandre Lagoya Edition with Ida Presti - Complete Philips and RCA Recordings £41.95 Decca 484 0567 (10CD) 10 CDs collecting together Alexandre Lagoya’s complete solo, duo and orchestral recordings for Philips and RCA, including his legendary recordings with partner Ida Presti. This set presents a survey of Lagoya’s vast repertoire, from transcriptions of baroque composers such as Scarlatti, Bach, Handel and Marcello; taking in the great Spanish repertoire, from de Falla, Granados and Albeniz; to dedications from contemporaries including Pierre Petit, Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur, Andre Jolivet, Jean Wiener and Henri Tomasi. Comes in a capbox with a 44pp booklet featuring artist biography and photos, detailed repertoire notes and a preface by the artist’s granddaughter. 3 PRIORITY NEW RELEASES Chandos see p.38 for details of a special offer on selected titles Landmarks: 40 Years of Chandos £64.95 ANNI 0040(40) (40CD) Founded by Brian Couzens in 1979, Chandos quickly established itself as one of the world’s leading classical labels. The ‘Chandos Sound’ has become a benchmark for quality, renowned alike among artists and critics around the globe. From its inception, Chandos has specialised in recording British music, and in bringing lesser-known (and unknown) music to public attention. Released to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the label, this handsomely packaged 40-disc set comprises 40 complete recordings from Chandos’ extensive catalogue. Each of the four decades is represented, and each recording has been hand-picked by the Managing Director, Ralph Couzens, because it represents a turning point, or ‘Landmark’, in the development of the label. CD 1 Bax - Symphony no.4 / Tintagel; CD 2 Tchaikovsky - Symphony no.5; CD 3 Rachmaninov - Trios élégiaques nos 1 and 2; CD 4 Shostakovich - Piano Concerto no.1, etc; CD 5 Prokofiev - Symphony no.6 / Waltz Suite; CD 6 Respighi - Belkis / Metamorphoseon; CD 7 Hummel - Piano Concertos in A minor / B minor; CD 8 Handel - Chandos Anthems nos 1-3; CD 9 Shostakovich - Violin Concertos nos 1 and 2; CD 10 Walton - Henry V A Shakespeare Scenario, etc; CD 11 Elgar - Violin Sonata, etc; CD 12 Black Dyke Mills Band - The Complete Champions; CD 13 The King’s Singers - Original Debut Recording; CD 14 Grainger - In a Nutshell, etc; CD 15 Haydn - Schöpfungsmesse, etc; CD 16 Boulanger - Faust et Hélène, etc; CD 17 Vaughan Williams - A London Symphony, etc; CD 18 Purcell - Dido and Aeneas; CD 19 Aquarelle Guitar Quartet - Spirit of Brazil; CD 20 Gerald Finley - Great Operatic Arias; CD 21 Ravel / Debussy / Massenet - Piano Concertos, etc; CD 22 Schumann - Three String Quartets, op.41; CD 23 Ola Gjeilo - Northern Lights; CD 24 Brodsky Quartet - Petits-fours Favourite Encores; CD 25 Saint-Saëns - Orchestral Works; CD 26 Ben-Haim - Chamber Works; CD 27 Xiayin Wang - American Piano Concertos; CD 28 Tasmin Little - British Works for Violin and Orchestra; CD 29 Sibelius - Violin Concerto, etc; CD 30 Central Band of the RAF - British Classics; CD 31 Copland - Ballets; CD 32 Janáček - Glagolitic Mass, etc; CD 33 Albéniz - Piano Concerto no.1, etc; CD 34 Fauré - Works for Solo Piano; CD 35 Mozart - Piano Concertos, K453 and K456, etc; CD 36 Reicha - Reicha Rediscovered, Vol. 1; CD 37 Karayev - The Seven Beauties, etc; Bacewicz - Piano Quintets, etc; CD 39 Scarlatti - Sonatas Vol.1; CD 40 Gipps - Symphonies nos 2 and 4, etc. Also new for June: CHSA 5235 Mendelssohn in Birmingham vol.5 – Overtures Hybrid SACD CBSO;Gardner £12.95 CHAN 20136 Sibelius Lemminkainen Suite, Spring Song, Suite from Belshazzar’s Feast BBC SO;Oramo £12.95 CHAN 20083 Mozart Piano Concs