London Symphony Orchestra / Sir John Eliot Gardiner SCHUMANN Overture Genoveva - Symphonies Nos. 2 & 4

'Every opportunity to perform the Schumann symphonies is an opportunity to marvel at their extraordinary profusion of ideas and poetic expression and to explore their kaleidoscopic originality. Each time it gives one a chance to vindicate Schumann as a master of symphonic form and instrumental colour, contrary to the dreary cliché that he couldn’t orchestrate.' (Sir John Eliot Gardiner)

Following the success of his Mendelssohn cycle, Sir John Eliot Gardiner turns to the music of Robert Schumann, launching an exploration of his symphonic works that begins with his Second and Fourth symphonies and a rare glimpse of his only opera.

London Symphony Orchestra / Sir Simon Rattle BRUCKNER Symphony No. 6

Bruckner’s Sixth Symphony is one of the most original of all the composer’s symphonic works. Its contrasting moods, and overarching theme moving from darkness to light, can be haunting one moment and ecstatic the next, culminating in one of the most enigmatic symphonic conclusions of the 19th century. 

For this recording Sir Simon Rattle conducts the Benjamin-Gunnar Cohrs Urtext edition of the score.

Joseph Moog LISZT Between Heaven & Hell

Joseph Moog has an enviable reputation as a Liszt interpreter with two earlier albums devoted to the composer being praised by the critics: “these recordings shine with an overall mastery and insight… rival discs by Brendel and Zimmerman in particular may thrill and delight the most discerning Lisztian, but even in this company Joseph Moog holds his head high” - Gramophone

On his new Onyx album, ‘From Heaven To Hell,’ Moog programmes works that traverse a wide range of emotions, from the divine and heavenly to the demonic.

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra / Andrew Manze VAUGHAN WILLIAMS The Lark Ascending - Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis

Andrew Manze is widely celebrated as one of the most stimulating and inspirational conductors of his generation. His extensive and scholarly knowledge of the repertoire, together with his rare skill as a communicator and his boundless energy, mark him out. Manze’s position as Chief Conductor of the NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover has been extended until 2023.

James Ehnes has established himself as one of the most sought-after violinists on the international stage. Gifted with a rare combination of stunning virtuosity, serene lyricism and an unfaltering musicality, Ehnes is a favourite guest of many of the world’s most respected conductors including Vladimir Ashkenazy, Marin Alsop, Andrew Davis, Stéphane Denève, Mark Elder, Iván Fischer, Edward Gardner, Paavo Järvi, Juanjo Mena, Gianandrea Noseda, David Robertson and Donald Runnicles

Gidon Kremer / Yulianna Avdeeva / Giedrė Dirvanauskaitė MIECZYSLAW WEINBERG Chamber Music

Released in collaboration with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute as part of the Polska Music programme and POLSKA 100, the international cultural programme celebrating the centenary of Poland regaining independence. 

Supported by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland as part of the multi-annual programme NIEPODLEGŁA 2017-2022. 

Gidon Kremer and friends perform three pieces of chamber music by the Polish-born Soviet composer, including an outstanding account of the Piano Trio.

Following the success of the Weinberg Symphonies 2 & 21 with conductor Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla, Deutsche Grammophon now features chamber music by Mieczysław Weinberg under the direction of Gidon Kremer.

Included among others are his “Three Pieces for Violin and Piano”, which Weinberg completed in the winter of 1934/35 when he was only 15 years old and had not yet received any compositional training.

What connects Weinberg’s works is not only their compositional perfection, but above all their constant commitment to beauty. It is a confession that in Weinberg’s music is above all pain and suffering.

Hélène Grimaud MEMORY ECHO (remixed by Nitin Sawhney)

Memory Echo sees Nitin Sawhney return to music and ideas he began exploring in 2018 with Hélène Grimaud for her Memory album. For this new release Sawhney has woven together four of his original compositions – The Fourth Window, Picturebook, Time and Breathing Light (performed by Hélène Grimaud) – with haunting remixes of Satie’s Gnossienne No.1, Debussy’s Clair de lune and Rachmaninov’s Vocalise, Op.34 No.14. By refining the essence of his collaboration with the French pianist, he has created the seven-track Memory Echo, set for release in digital-only format on 25 October 2019.

Sawhney’s remakes and new works flow naturally from the lyricism of Hélène Grimaud’s artistry. Each track evokes echoes of Memory with a subtle blend of electronics, acoustic sounds, mantra-like vocals and minimalist melodic riffs. Music’s power to conjure up images from and recollections of different times in our lives runs through Memory and Grimaud’s previous Sawhney-produced album for Deutsche Grammophon, Water, a timely meditation on threats to the world’s most precious resource.

Fanfare hailed Grimaud’s playing on Water and Memory as “exquisite” and strongly recommended the latter to “anyone who wants to eavesdrop on a great pianist for an intimate experience”. Gramophone echoed Fanfare in its review of Memory: “when you … listen to this disc with concentration and undivided attention, you’ll be well rewarded”, while Dresden’s Sächsische Zeitung concluded that “Memory offers us a brief moment in which to remember the inherent beauty of life.”

As well as paying tribute to Grimaud’s intense exploration of mindfulness and the nature of reminiscence, Memory Echo explores these themes further, developing them to create a beautiful new musical narrative.

London Symphony Orchestra / Bernard Haitink BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 2 - Triple Concerto

LSO Live celebrates the 90th birthday of one of the conducting world’s greats, Bernard Haitink. 

Few artists have a deeper understanding of the music of Beethoven than the celebrated Dutch conductor, who is known for his mastery of the great symphonic repertoire. This album focuses on Haitink's interpretations of Beethoven's concerto writing, coupling a new recording of Piano Concerto No 2 by Maria João Pires with a virtuosic performance of the Triple Concerto by Lars Vogt, Gordan Nikolitch and Tim Hugh, which was originally made alongside Haitink's now iconic cycle of the composer's complete symphonies.

Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Lirico di Cagliari / John Neschling ANTÔNIO CARLOS GOMES Lo Schiavo

Brazilian composer Antônio Carlos Gomes was among the many musicians who travelled to Italy to master the language and the rules of operatic works. He studied in Milan and succeeded in having a few operas staged at Italian venues, before returning to Brazil where he was hailed as the most famous living national composer. Gomes felt compelled to commit his work to the country’s anti-slave cause, which was still legal practice then.

Lo schiavo was therefore conceived as a politically engaged work. However, the issue was rather volatile and the composer had to change the contemporary time setting to a more distant one. In Brazil the opera was a triumph, but elsewhere it failed to gain popularity and soon fell into oblivion. This recording of the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari’s production documents the opera’s first performance in modern times and reveals Gomes’ flamboyant richness of melodic creativity, his sound grasp of construction, and a technical mastery of the theatrical mechanisms that are always of the highest level.

‘The most popular title of the entire Brazilian repertoire. The most represented and, perhaps, the most loved one.’ (John Neschling, conductor)

Alexander Melnikov SERGEI PROKOFIEV 1

To listeners who know Alexander Melnikov’s cultivated musicality and fastidious pianism – so beautifully manifest in the series of Schumann trios and concertos with Isabelle Faust, Jean-Guihen Queyras and the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra under Pablo Heras-Casado – his decision to record all nine Prokofiev sonatas may seem an abrupt shift of gear. Apart from an early recording of the Visions fugitives (still available as a download from Sacrambow), Melnikov’s recent traversals of the Russian literature have focused on Scriabin, Rachmaninov and of course his much-acclaimed Shostakovich (8/10, 5/12). Though resident in the West for some time now, Melnikov’s credentials as a product of the ‘Russian School’ are unmistakable. Yet these fresh, strikingly original readings of two of the ‘War Sonatas’ coupled with the early Second Sonata suggest something well beyond the canonic Russian approach to Prokofiev.

Melnikov’s performances replace brute power with pellucid textures and a kaleidoscope of brilliant colours. Grinding motoric rhythms are superseded by an infinitely calibrated kinaesthetic sense of almost terrifying intensity. Transitions of tempo occur with the natural inevitability of a living, breathing organism. The precise dimensions and shapes of Prokofiev’s structures appear in sharp focus while his musical narratives, for all their wealth of detail, unfold with undistracted purpose. In all this, Melnikov’s dazzling virtuosity is never an end in itself but the servant of his vivid imagination.

The Allegretto scherzo of the Sixth Sonata evokes the orchestral richness of the Fifth Symphony, giving way to the third movement’s slow waltz, recalling the arcing lyricism of Romeo and Juliet. Without sacrificing clarity, the toccata-like finale is breathtaking in its sheer velocity. Though the more circumspect Eighth Sonata divulges its secrets with greater reticence, Melnikov’s close reading of the score delivers a performance of searing impact.

The sound is consistent with Harmonia Mundi’s customarily high standards. Comparison with other recordings is difficult. There is something here of the mercurial imagination of Sofronitsky, as well as of Richter’s hyper-sensitivity and Gilels’s executive perfection. But ultimately, these performances are unmistakably Melnikov’s own, representing, I believe, a new level of Prokofiev interpretation. (Patrick Rucker / Gramophone )

Alexander Melnikov SERGEI PROKOFIEV 2

“This first volume in the complete cycle must already be given pride of place in the discography,” declared Classica Magazine upon the release of Prokofiev’s Sonatas nos. 2, 6, and 8 (awarded a ‘Choc’ in 2016).

With this new volume, Alexandre Melnikov has chosen to delve into three distinct periods of the composer’s career, ranging from the dazzling though seldom-heard No. 4 to the magisterial No. 9.

In between those two, the sonata no. 7 once again evokes the troubled atmosphere characteristic of the three so-called ‘war sonatas’. Sviatoslav Richter claimed to have learned the piece in a mere four days.

Tesla Quartet / Alexander Fiterstein JOY & DESOLATION

Following its hugely acclaimed debut on Orchid Classics, the Tesla Quartet returns alongside clarinettist Alexander Fiterstein in works by Mozart, Finzi, John Corigliano and Carolina Heredia.

In its latest Orchid release, the Tesla Quartet offers fresh and vibrant interpretations of repertoire ranging from the Classical epoch to the present day. Mozart’s exquisite Clarinet Quintet finds an outstanding advocate in this performance by Alexander Fiterstein, and Finzi’s autumnal Bagatelles, originally composed for clarinet and piano, are heard here in a delightful arrangement by Christian Alexander. Contemporary American composer John Corigliano wrote his deeply-moving Soliloquy in memory of his late father, and Argentinian composer Carolina Heredia wrote Ius in Bello in 2014 as a fascinating exploration of social justice, using Latin-American popular styles to add colour and depth to the work’s tensions, its dream-like quality evoking the desire for peace.

Quatuor Ébène BEETHOVEN AROUND THE WORLD Vienna - Op. 59 Nos. 1 & 2

“In themselves, Beethoven’s quartets represent an odyssey, a round-the-world voyage,” says Quatuor Ébène. The French ensemble is marking the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth with a global tour of 21 countries. In the course of their Beethoven Around the World tour, the Ébène will make live recordings in seven different cities: Vienna, Philadelphia, Tokyo, São Paulo, Melbourne, Nairobi and Paris. This first release, recorded at the Konzerthaus in Vienna, comprises the first two ‘Razumovsky’ Quartets, op 59 No 1 and op 59 No 2.

Quatuor Arod THE MATHILDE ALBUM

With this album of works by Schoenberg, Zemlinsky and Webern – key figures in Vienna’s musical life in the early 20th century – the Quatuor Arod honours the woman who became Arnold Schoenberg’s wife in 1901. Mathilde was Zemlinsky’s sister and the dedicatee of her husband’s String Quartet No 2, an innovative work in both its tonal language and its integration of a soprano – here Elsa Dreisig. It was completed in the summer of 1908, a tumultuous period in the Schoenbergs’ marriage.

George Li TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No. 1 LISZT Solo Piano Works

George Li gained international attention in 2015 when he won the silver medal in the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. Now he has recorded one of Tchaikovsky’s greatest and best-loved works, the Piano Concerto No 1 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Vasily Petrenko. The New York Times has called him a “real revelation” in the work. It is complemented by three solo pieces by Liszt, a composer who featured on his debut Warner Classics recital, judged “a winner” by International Piano magazine.

Les Vents Français MODERNISTE

‘Modern: Designating the most innovative forms of art in a given period, particularly those of the 20th century.’ This definition from the French Larousse dictionary explains the performers’ choice of title – Modernistes – for this new anthology of music for wind instruments: what draws the attention in these works – in different ways at different times and in different fields – are their innovative, progressive and adventurous qualities. Four of the composers featured on this album can legitimately be associated with what is very broadly known as Modernism, referring to the general proliferation of new ideas and new musical aesthetics at the turn of the 20th century and beyond. As for the two works by Philippe Hersant and Thierry Escaich, they call on us to reflect on what modernity means to us today. And, while it is easy to set Modernism in opposition to traditionalism, it is also interesting to distinguish between a composer’s personality and his or her approach to composing.

Doomin Kim MENDELSSOHN

Doomin Kim, who makes his recording debut with this album of piano music by Mendelssohn, is a 16-year-old from South Korea, currently on a programme for exceptionally talented students at Paris’s École Normale de Musique. “Mendelssohn’s music is like reading a book – a romantic story, a fairy tale or a poem. I hope that people will find peace in their hearts when they listen to it.” The best-known works on the programme are the mercurial Rondo capriccioso in E major and the Fantasia in F sharp minor, known as the ‘Scottish Sonata’.

Lucienne Renaudin Vary / BBC Concert Orchestra / Bill Elliott MADEMOISELLE IN NEW YORK

French trumpeter Lucienne Renaudin Vary makes a musical transatlantic crossing with her second album for Warner Classics. Mademoiselle in New York majors on American and French composers and songwriters – Bernstein, Gershwin, Ravel and Aznavour among them – featuring music from West Side Story, An American in Paris and Candide. Lucienne is joined by the BBC Concert Orchestra and Tony Award-winning music director Bill Elliott, and, in Bobby Hebb’s song ‘Sunny’, by her brothers Philémon (on double bass) and Bartholomé (on guitar). As Lucienne says, “It’s a number that’s full of sun, light and hope.”

Winchester Cathedral Choir / Andrew Lumsden JOHN TAVENER Angels

I am finishing this review precisely on what would have been John Tavener’s 75th birthday. Such an anniversary causes one to reflect anew upon what was by any standards a remarkable career, and this outstanding new recording is a very good way of so doing. Tavener had a long and close association with Winchester (and still does, in fact, in the form of the Tavener Centre), so it was a particularly inspired idea to commission booklet notes from Martin Neary, the former Organist and Master of the Music, who was the commissioner and first performer of so many of the composer’s works.

One such example is God is with us, commissioned for the 1987 carol service. I have to say that I had never found this to be one of Tavener’s most successful works, but this performance has won me over, for two reasons. The first is that tenor William Kendall makes such a fine job of the solo part, and the second is that the unexpected and dramatic entry of the organ here sounds utterly convincing, which has everything to do with the way Andrew Lumsden paces the work. This is followed by two works written two years earlier, the first Hymn to the Mother of God and Love bade me welcome, both outstanding pieces born of a unique imagination. Only Tavener would have extracted so much from a simple device as the double-choir canon in the Hymn, or thought of setting Herbert in a way that suggests Bulgarian chant.

Other Tavener classics appear too, most notably Song for Athene, but much attention is also paid to later works, including five anthems from The Veil of the Temple (2002) and They are all gone into the world of light, a setting of Henry Vaughan from 2011. There is a lushness about these works, harmonically speaking, that is generally absent from the earlier pieces, but Tavener’s own voice is nevertheless always apparent: indeed, I have been at pains to point out on more than one occasion that his voice is clearly audible in his music from whatever period – the compositional voice of Últimos Ritos is absolutely the same as that of Mary of Egypt, for example. One piece I am particularly pleased to hear again is Annunciation from 1992. Such is the immediacy of this work that you would swear that Tavener had actually been present when the Archangel brought the news to Mary. It is followed by a superb rendition of As one who has slept, once again brought alive by the impeccable pacing and by the fantastic blend of the choir (do they ever breathe?). This is a showroom demonstration of just what boy and girl choristers singing together can achieve. A truly magnificent birthday present. (Ivan Moody / Gramophone)

Inon Barnatan / Academy of St. Martin in the Fields / Alan Gilbert BEETHOVEN Piano Concertos - Part 1

One of the most admired pianists of his generation, Inon Barnatan kicks off his complete Beethoven piano concertos cycle with this double album, together with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and maestro Alan Gilbert. Ranging from the classical First and romantic Third to the experimental Fourth Piano Concerto, and closing with the festive Triple Concerto, Barnatan and his colleagues display the exceptional expressive range and stylistic diversity of Beethoven’s musical language. For the Triple Concerto, Barnatan joins forces with violinist Stefan Jackiw and cellist Alisa Weilerstein. This recording project bears the fruit of longstanding and profound musical friendships, and – surprisingly – offers the first integral recording of Beethoven piano concertos by the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, one of the most-recorded ensembles in the world of classical music.
Inon Barnatan is one of the most admired pianists of his generation (New York Times), now making his PENTATONE debut, to be followed by another Beethoven piano concertos album in 2020. The Academy of St Martin in the Fields has built a consistent repertoire with the label throughout the years, whereas Alisa Weilerstein presented the first result of her exclusive collaboration with PENTATONE in 2018 with Transfigured Night. Stefan Jackiw and Alan Gilbert make their PENTATONE debut.

Hildur Guðnadóttir JOKER

The new movie Joker is a psychological character study of a lonely, disturbed man who turns violent. Dark, chaotic, unconventional — all descriptions that would make sense for a movie about one of the most infamous and unpredictable villains in comic book history. But in fact, director Todd Phillips wanted this Joker, played by Joaquin Phoenix, to inspire empathy. To give this comic book character human depth, director Todd Phillips brought in a composer who could transform darkness into sensitive musicality.

Composer Hildur Guðnadóttir has a few things in common with the character. She smiles and laughs a lot, and there's also a darkness inside of her. But instead of violence, the Icelandic cellist-composer expresses her darkness through music.

"My solo music started as a way to really look inwards, and to spend time completely by myself with an instrument, without any outside dialogue," Guðnadóttir says. "A lot of my music is kind of contemplative, and somehow that always tends to tilt on the darker side. My inner conversation is apparently quite dark."

Guðnadóttir has been schlepping her cello around and making music since she was 5. Before she was born, her pregnant mother named her, literally, "War, Daughter of God," and declared that she would be a cellist. "I'm Icelandic," she laughs. "We're all so dramatic."

The composer got into electro-acoustic experimentation, and made some angsty solo albums. She was also a frequent collaborator with fellow Icelandic composer, the late Jóhann Jóhannsson, and played cello on most of his film scores, including Sicario and Arrival. She co-composed one of his final scores, 2018's Mary Magdalene and has scored several films and TV series on her own. She recently won an Emmy for the HBO miniseries Chernobyl, a score she recorded in an actual decommissioned nuclear power plant, effectively turning the plant into a musical instrument.

Jan Garbarek / The Hilliard Ensemble REMEMBER ME, MY DEAR

25 years on from the release of Officium, the groundbreaking alliance of Jan Garbarek and The Hilliard Ensemble, comes Remember me, my dear, recorded during the final tour the group made in October 2014. The program is emblematic of the range of repertoire the Norwegian saxophonist and British vocal quartet explored together– from Pérotin, Hildegard von Bingen, Guillaume le Rouge, Antoine Brumel to Komitas , Arvo Pärt and more. It could be said that the Hilliard/Garbarek combination, in concert, transcended its source materials, with early music, contemporary composition and improvisation interfused in the responsive acoustics of sacred spaces. And this final album reminds us that the unique Garbarek/Hilliard combination, and its unprecedented exploration of sound, was consistently breathtaking.

Daniel Lozakovich / National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia / Vladimir Spivakov NONE BUT THE LONELY HEART

None but the Lonely Heart, set for release by Deutsche Grammophon on 18 October 2019, captures the extraordinary maturity of Daniel Lozakovich’s interpretations of Tchaikovsky. The 18-year-old violinist’s second album for the Yellow Label features a live performance of the composer’s Violin Concerto, recorded with the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia under the helm of conductor, and fellow violinist, Vladimir Spivakov, with whom Lozakovich made his solo debut in 2010. The album also includes other works by Tchaikovsky, among them the Méditation for violin and orchestra and arrangements of two vocal works, Lensky’s Aria from Eugene Onegin and the sublime Romance, Op.6 No.6, “None but the lonely heart”.

“The concerto recording sessions at Moscow’s Svetlanov Hall flowed so well,” recalls Daniel Lozakovich. “Playing with Maestro Spivakov and the Russian National Philharmonic, I really felt the Russian soul of their sound. My favourite interpretation of  the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto has always been Maestro Spivakov’s recording. After the sessions he said to me, ‘I have played this concerto with my personal interpretation for the last 50 years. Now it’s your turn to do the same with this concerto for the next 50 years.’ That meant so much to me. He was the first conductor I worked with, the first to believe in and support me, and indeed I was delighted to win the inaugural Vladimir Spivakov International Violin Competition three years ago. Following this, it was with this orchestra and Maestro Spivakov that I first performed the Tchaikovsky Concerto. All these experiences contributed to the special and collaborative feelings I wanted to bring to our recording in the place where we first performed together nine years ago.”

PAULINE KIM HARRIS Heroine

“In reimagining the Bach Chaconne and Ockeghem’s Deo Gratias, I searched for meaning and connection to the greater, mysterious universe. My collaborator Spencer Topel, and I created an expansive sonic experience. It is as close to stopping time as I can imagine.” (Pauline Kim Harris) 

Ambient Chaconne is an immersive exploration of the J. S. Bach Partita No. 2 in D Minor: IV. Chaconne (BWV 1004). Unfolding over 42 minutes Ambient Chaconne blends live and pre-recorded violin with electronics. Using both human and machine transcription, the Chaconne serves as the structural underpinning to the work, appearing often as small disassociated fragments, and at other times in extremes: consisting of extended passages of sounded or silent materials. As with renditions of the Chaconne by past composers such as Brahms and Busoni, Ambient Chaconne extends the notion of transcription metaphysical, framing the Chaconne both as a musical composition and as a collective-subconscious memory.

Deo is an acoustic-electronic transcription of Johannes Ockeghem’s stunning Deo Gratias devised as a complement to Ambient Chaconne. Notable as a 36-part canon, Ockeghem evokes singing of angels in heaven via an innovation on a traditional canon, using this ancient musical device as a kind of acoustic feedback delay. In essence, our Deo expands this idea of delays to a canon of thousands, in an ever expanding and infinite soundscape, where the melodies eventually dissolve into resonance.

Bruce Levingston PHILIP GLASS Dreaming Awake

Bruce Levingston’s close association with Philip Glass over the years has seen him perform duets with the composer and produce solo piano arrangements of Glass’s film music. The pianist’s earlier ‘Nightbreak’ was an imaginative attempt to combine the American minimalist with Liszt, Brahms and Rihm. Yet, while ‘Dreaming Awake’ focuses entirely on Glass, the spectre of 19th-century piano music continues to leave its mark on Levingston’s performances.

Take the opening 10-bar phrase of Étude No 2. There are almost as many tempo changes here as there are measures. The phrase’s subsequent repetition yields further unnecessary pushing and pulling. Rubato is not verboten in Glass any more than it is in Bach or Beethoven, but it can stifle the sense of forward momentum provided by the composer’s trademark repeating cycles and patterns. The music’s very raison d’être is undermined.

Levingston’s adoption of over-cautious tempos results in a dream predisposed towards sleep rather than wakefulness. The lethargic Metamorphosis II and soporific Étude No 5 overstay their welcome. When Levingston allows the music to follow its own course, such as the well-paced Étude No 12 or Wichita Vortex Sutra, with its subtle shifts of colour, the results are far more convincing. The latter, which includes a brilliant reading of excerpts from Allen Ginsberg’s stream-of-consciousness anti-war poem of the same name by Ethan Hawke, is highly recommended. Hawke’s Midwestern accent is more in keeping with the poem’s location than Ginsberg’s earlier version on ‘Hydrogen Jukebox’.

Levingston’s notes point out that Glass’s Études ‘raised the idea of a mere technical study to a highly expressive art form’. This may well be true; but for these studies to truly work, expression has to be combined with energy, brilliance and flashes of virtuosity. Other than the excellent Wichita Vortex Sutra, Levingston takes a ‘safety first’ option, and the music sometimes struggles to spark into life. (Gramophone)

Roberta Invernizzi / Laboratorio '600 ALESSANDRO DELLA CIAIA Lamentationi

A new opportunity to hear the glorious virtuosity of Roberta Invernizzi comes with this Lamentationi, where the soprano is joined by Franco Pavan’s Laboratorio ’600 in an intimate and intense Passiontide score from mid seventeenth-century Siena: Alessandro Della Ciaia’s set of the Lamentations of Jeremiah. Convents throughout Siena at the time boasted nuns of considerable musical talents, both in singing and in playing instruments such as the organ, lute and theorbo, and it is undoubtedly for one such convent that the nobleman Della Ciaia wrote his music for the Holy Weeks matins services. His Lamentations are scored for a solo soprano possessed of a very wide range and capable of meeting his demanding technical effects.

Roberta Invernizzi is the ideal modern-day singer to rise to such spiritual music, and to respond to the text and its description of the grief over the fall of the city of Jerusalem and the terrible fate of its people.

Alessandro Della Ciaia was himself a noted player of the archlute, and his instrumental facility is evident across the lamentations, here performed by harp, archlute, organ and theorbo. Franco Pavan has chosen to intersperse the nine lamentations with toccatas by Michelagnolo Galilei, Claudio Saracini and Vincenzo Bernia as well as Pavan’s own reworking of an appropriate motet by Della Ciaia.

La Pifarescha DI GUERRA E DI PACE

Given the prevalence of war in the Europe of the Renaissance it is no real surprise that warlike themes and echoes of battles should find their ways into secular and civic music compositions – or even into religious ones (such as the many L’Homme armé and La Bataille masses of the time). With Di guerra e di pace, La Pifarescha captures the contrast between the roar and rhythms of battle and the celebrations of courtly and popular festivities as would have been performed by an alta cappella ensemble from the Middle Ages through to the dawn of the Baroque: shawms, slide trumpets and sackbuts, plus other wind instruments buttressed by percussion instruments.

The music of well-known composers from the period – Josquin, Isaac, Willaert, Phalèse, Susato and Senfl – is conjured up in virtuosic performances from this Italian ensemble, La Pifarescha, making its first appearance on Glossa (even if its members are regular instrumental contributors to performances and recordings by the likes of Cantica Symphonia or La Venexiana).

This modern journey, creating a Renaissance “soundtrack”, embraces not just war and peace but also the contrast of European and Arabic and Asiatic influences from the times of the Crusades through to civic bands playing for the residents in Renaissance Venice or Bologna. In creating this enjoyable and improvisation-filled entertainment the members of La Pifarescha wear their scholarly knowledge lightly as they play their way from the popular to the erudite and back.

Accademia del Piacere / Fahmi Alqhai / Arcángel LAS iDAS Y LAS VUELTAS

With the welcome issue on Glossa of Las idas y las vueltas, evidence of the new spirit of musicmaking from Spain is coming through no more clearly than with Fahmi Alqhai’s previous releases (A piacere and Rediscovering Spain have been recent issues). Las idas y las vueltas is an exuberant display of music-making in its own right but also a demonstration of the interrelationship between Spanish Baroque music and flamenco.

The melting pot of melodies, colours and rhythms that followed in the wake of Spain’s colonial expansion brought together European, South American and African influences. On Las idas y las vueltas, there is a constant to-ing and fro-ing of such influences – jácaras and guarachas, folías, Las morillas de Jaén and La Spagna, bulerías and jaleos – all brought to musical life by the cantaor Arcángel, the flamenco guitarist Miguel Ángel Cortés and the Baroque instrumentalists of Alqhai’s Accademia del Piacere, and the singer Mariví Blasco.

This new release comes with two bonus tracks, both recorded live and previously unreleased: a pasacalle and a new version of ¡Ay, que me abraso! The whole album has been freshly remixed by Alqhai and his team in their studio in Seville.

MAX RICHTER Voyager

Max Richter is one of the most influential figures of the contemporary music scene, producing ground-breaking work as a recording artist, composer, pianist and collaborator. He studied composition and piano at Edinburgh University, the Royal Academy of Music and with Luciano Berio. He first earned a reputation during the 1990s, initially establishing himself with contemporary classical ensemble Piano Circus which he co-founded. His 2002 debut album Memoryhouse, recorded with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, was hailed as a masterpiece. His following release, 2004’s The Blue Notebooks, was declared “a landmark work of contemporary classical music” by The Independent’s Andy Gill. Recomposed By Max Richter: Vivaldi – The Four Seasons, was released in 2012 and topped the classical chart in 22 countries, and 2015’s landmark eight-hour magnum opus Sleep was praised as among the best albums of the decade.

Daniil Trifonov / The Philadelphia Orchestra / Yannick Nézet-Séguin DESTINATION RACHMANINOV - ARRIVAL

After the highly acclaimed album “Destination Rachmaninov: Departure” Daniil Trifonov concludes his Rachmaninov project with a coupling of the composer’s Piano Concertos nos. 1 & 3.

Including Trifonov’s own transcriptions of Rachmaninov’s famous, beloved, heart-rending “Vocalise” and virtuosic “The Silver Sleigh Bells”.

The Grammy and Gramophone winning pianist follows in the composer’s footsteps to record with the Philadelphia Orchestra, again conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
booklet 

Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra / Edward Gardner BRAHMS Symphonies Nos. 1 and 3

The Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra under its Chief Conductor, Edward Gardner, embarks on a new Brahms cycle with this first instalment, containing the first and third symphonies. Recorded in Surround Sound in Bergen’s Grieghallen – the orchestra’s home – in October 2018, these two symphonies show the orchestra at the very top of its game, offering rich, strong, and supple string playing matched by outstanding ensemble work across the orchestra.

Edward Gardner approaches Brahms from his knowledge and experience of the chamber music, and aware of Brahms’s ties to Schumann. Inspired by the joy and excitement surrounding live performances of the symphonies with the Bergen Philharmonic, he states that ‘the combination of the personality of the orchestra, the Chandos Sound, and [Brahms’s] great music produces something special’.

Stanislav Khristenko PROKOFIEV Romeo and Juliet

On October 4, 2019, Steinway & Sons releases a new album from concert pianist Stanislav Khristenko featuring music by Sergei Prokofiev. Two works by the Russian Soviet composer are included on the record (STNS 30114), beginning with Ten Pieces from Romeo and Juliet, Op. 75 (1937). The composition features selected music from Romeo and Juliet, a ballet by Prokofiev based on the Shakespeare play. Music from the ballet was excerpted by Prokofiev in three suites for orchestra and a solo piano work, which includes selections from Act One through Act Three. Prokofiev premiered Ten Pieces from Romeo and Juliet himself in 1937.

Ten Pieces for Piano, Op. 12 follows, featuring a diverse set of miniatures that each evoke a starkly different mood. Written during Prokofiev’s student years, hints of school assignments and future compositions can be seen in the varying works, as well as evidence of Neoclassical and other 18th-century tendencies. Notable pieces include the light opening movement, March, which showcases sharp rhythms and a melody that oscillates between F minor and F sharp minor. The proceeding Gavotte, Capriccio, and Allemande movements each offer early use of the Neoclassical style, while the Mazurka features a Medieval organum procedure with two harmonic parts, each moving in parallel fourths. Ten Pieces for Piano, Op. 12 foreshadows the styles and patterns that Prokofiev would employ in his later compositions.

BBC Symphony Orchestra / Sakari Oramo ETHEL SMYTH Mass in D - Overture to "The Wreckers"

Ethel Smyth was one of England’s foremost Victorian composers, and a prominent suffragette. She was the first female composer to be honoured with a Damehood. She studied composition with Carl Reineke in Leipzig (alongside Dvorák, Grieg and Tchaikovsky) and then privately with Heinrich von Herzogenberg (who introduced her to Brahms and Clara Schumann). Her Mass in D is her only large-scale religious work, although it was certainly composed for the concert hall rather than the church. Scored for 4 soloists, choir, and orchestra, the Mass in D sets the usual six parts of the mass, but is performed with the Gloria at the end, not second, at the instruction of the composer. Her opera The Wreckers, set in mid-eighteenth-century Cornwall, is considered by some critics to be the ‘most important English opera composed during the period between Purcell and Britten’. The Overture sets the scene wonderfully, as well as introducing the main thematic material to follow. Sakari Oramo and his BBC forces are joined by an outstanding quartet of soloists for this Surround Sound recording.

Yoonie Han REYNALDO HAHN Le Rossignol éperdu

Given Reynaldo Hahn’s high profile with the patrons of Paris’s pre-war artist salons, it’s not surprising that his original works for piano include a good number of short character pieces that exude charm.

Listeners coming to this exquisite body of work may initially find Hahn’s attractive if modestly deployed keyboard writing recalling or foreshadowing other composers: The sensuous, arching phrases of early Scriabin preludes, or the sparse lyricism of late Liszt. Fauré’s subtle harmonic palette may cast a benign shadow, or the effortless melodic fluidity of Massenet; or Satie at his least brash and ironic, or the delicate balance of Mompou’s piano miniatures.

Yet Hahn goes his own way. Listen to how the disarmingly simple ascending two-note motif of Éros caché dans les bois (No. 9) weaves in and out of a chromatically-oriented linear texture that sounds denser than it is. Antiochus (No. 12) focuses on an obsessive chordal pattern that assiduously builds to a fulfilling climax. By contrast, unpredictable melodic twists and turns in the 30-second plus Portrait (No. 14) keep listeners guessing in every measure. Also notice the shimmering delicacy of the unison lines in Le Jardin de Pétrarque (No. 38), while Noces du Duc de Joyeuse (No. 41) is a masterclass in how to sustain ceremonial momentum. In short, Le Rossignol éperdu is the early 20th Century’s answer to Mendelssohn’s Songs Without Words.

Orquesta Barroca de Granada / Íliber Ensemble / Darío Moreno SEBASTIÁN DURÓN La Guerra de los Gigantes

Sebastián Durón is usually recognized as one of the leading Spanish composers of theater music, although this repertoire is barely performed nowadays, even in concert version. As far as we know, ten complete scores of Durón’s stage works have been preserved, four of which are entirely sung, a number that is higher than that found in theater music by other important Spanish musicians of the 17th and 18th centuries, such as Juan Hidalgo, Juan de Navas or Antonio Literes. The fact that, in his theater music, Durón uses both the conventions of 17th-century Spanish court theater and some elements of the dramma per musica has placed these pieces in a diffuse and poorly understood territory, unlike what happens with the works of Hidalgo and Literes, repertoire which has been studied better. For some scholars, the theater music of Durón is incoherent due to the introduction of elements that are unfamiliar to the Spanish court theater, in contrast to the great dramaturgy devised by Calderón de la Barca and Hidalgo. On the contrary, for other scholars, the music of Durón is remarkable for its openness to modernity, although it is a timid modernization against the determined Italianization that is observed in Literes and other later musicians. In our opinion, however, Durón’s theater work exhibits great originality and drama in itself, which is hardly understandable if we approach it with the abstract models that face tradition to modernity, or Spanish to Italian.

Andris Nelsons / Wiener Philharmoniker BEETHOVEN Complete Symphonies

Andris Nelsons, the leading conductor of his generation, has recorded all nine Beethoven symphonies with the Vienna Philharmonic. Their cycle promises to reveal the compelling partnership between the conductor and the most renowned Beethoven orchestra in the world. Beethoven: Complete Symphonies, released 4 October 2019, is presented in a deluxe box set featuring five CDs and a single Blu-ray Audio disc in TrueHD sound quality. The release marks the start of Deutsche Grammophon’s celebration of the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth next year.

Beethoven has been central to Andris Nelsons’ work since he began his career in the early 2000s. The Latvian conductor received outstanding reviews for his 2013-14 Beethoven cycle with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and was critically acclaimed for more recent Beethoven performances as Music Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Leipzig Gewandhausorchester. In March and April this year he joined the Vienna Philharmonic, the world’s supreme Beethoven orchestra, for a series of concerts including works by the composer in Vienna, Hamburg and Hanover, and for the final recording sessions of their complete symphony cycle at the Vienna Musikverein. Nelsons said it was an honour and a privilege to be invited to perform and record the symphonies with the Vienna Philharmonic.

“The journey of interpreting Beethoven’s symphonies signifies a great opportunity, responsibility and challenge, but in the end, it’s not about me, it’s purely about the genius and universal quality of Beethoven’s music, which speaks to each and every individual,” explained Andris Nelsons. “Of course, I need to have a vision, and our task as musicians is to find a fulfilling way of presenting Beethoven’s ideas to listeners, but this will always be very subjective and deeply personal.”

The London Haydn Quartet HAYDN String Quartets Opp. 71 & 74

The London Haydn Quartet's cycle of Haydn string quartets has combined several distinctive features. The recordings have used a variety of editions from Haydn's own time, theoretically offering a more detailed idea of Haydn's intentions than do those drawing on 19th century traditions. The 1796 editions used here don't contain anything earthshaking, but they contain small details of dynamics that close listeners will find fresh. Even better, the approach of the London Haydn Quartet matches these editions. The approach is detailed and rather dry, using gut strings and period bows, and it clearly elucidates the intricate structure of the opening movements of the Op. 71 and Op. 74 quartets, several of which open with a single simple kernel that is profoundly elaborated. The London Haydn Quartet steers clear of the usual jocular Haydn persona, and you may find the minuets lacking in wit. Sample and determine for yourself (the Minuet and Trio of the String Quartet in F major, Op. 74, No. 2, is representative), but it's easy to see why the quartet's Haydn recordings are finding a niche in the marketplace. (James Manheim)

Sandro Nebieridze PROKOFIEV - RACHMANINOV

The Harmonia Nova series welcomes young artists singled out for their exceptional talents. For a pianist abundantly supplied with such gifts, look no further than the Tbilisi-born Sandro Nebieridze, finalist at the inaugural China International Music Competition and winner of multiple international prizes.

For his first recording, the eighteen-year-old has chosen an ambitious program of piano works which scale the heights of virtuosity (such as the Prokofiev Sonata) and are brimming with poetry. An album that demonstrates astonishing artistry for a young musician of his years.

Les Cris de Paris / Geoffroy Jourdain PASSIONS

This is a fascinating and enjoyable journey back in time to Venice between the years 1600 and 1750. Alternating between transcendentally inspired secular music and sacred music embodied in theatrical fashion, Geoffroy Jourdain invites us to explore the multiple expressions of human passions. This exploration by respected Early Music ensemble Les Cris de Paris is built around five settings of the 'Crucifixus', namely Antonio Monteverdi's for four voices, Antonio Lotti's for 10, then eight, and six, and Antonio Caldara's for 16. All take the same Latin text that in English says "He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, died and was buried" and express it in a strikingly varied set of musical meditations. Each is worth hearing and taken collectively make an almost overwhelming impact. The rest of the 75 minute programme follows the same passionate theme, with some instrumental moments but mainly in choral singing of the very highest standard. The opening song by Tarquino Merula is "Hor ch'e tempo di dormira" or "Now that it is time to sleep", an imaginary lullaby sung by the mother of Jesus to her little baby that gradually becomes a heart-rending prophecy of all that he is to suffer. It is most eloquently sung by soprano Michiko Takahashi and it invites us in to what is to follow as we walk, to quote from the CD cover, "a bold Via Dolorosa to the very heart of Venetian baroque music." If your tastes run to Early Music or Baroque or if you appreciate excellence in choral singing this is well worth hearing and if you are new to these genres but are not afraid to go deeper this is an accessible introduction. (Steven Whitehead)

The Boston Camerata / Anne Azéma FREE AMERICA!

The Boston Camerata did much to introduce the early music movement to American audiences, and the group has a large recording catalog. Under new director Anne Azéma, its recordings have become sparser, but if their new recordings are going to be as well thought out as Free America!, then the waits will be worth it. What Azéma and the Camerata offer here is nothing less than a rethinking of the early American choral and vocal repertory, which up to now has not had performances that placed the music in convincing contexts and brought it to life. It may seem ironic that it has taken a French director to make this happen, but of course, the playbook from which Azéma is working is that of Jordi Savall in his deep historical-musical panoramas. The program, as Savall often does, is evenly divided into related sections: "All Unite!," "Gone for a Soldier," "Repentance," "The Rich Man," and "A Land of Freedom." All present music is connected to the American Revolution and the ideas and ideals of the young republic. There's quite an unexpected variety, not only William Billings, Daniel Read, and Andrew Law, but Native American Thomas Commuck, African American spirituals, and a Shaker composer, Sister Patsy Williamson. You might sample her contribution, or one of the other Shaker songs on the album, for these are especially distinctive; they aren't recorded terribly often, and the performances and presentation here resituate them from odd subculture to a set of ideas absolutely characteristic of the new nation. The African American pieces perhaps need more authentic performances, but 19th century New Englanders might easily have sung these melodies out of songbooks as is done here. Free America! offers the Boston Camerata's usual high standards in performance, along with a whole new look at the early American repertory. (James Manheim)

Mahler Chamber Orchestra / Pablo Heras-Casado MANUEL DE FALLA El Sombrero de Tres Picos - El Amor Brujo

There is no shortage of recordings of Manuel de Falla's El sombrero de tres picos (The Three-Cornered Hat) and El amor brujo (Love, the Wizard), with more on the way, thanks to the centenary of the former in 2019. Even casual listeners may reflect that this delightful work has never, despite plenty of changes in taste in music of the interwar period, fallen out of style. It was on the cutting edge when it was premiered, and yet its fusion of flamenco influences with growing French neoclassicism is irresistible for general symphonic audiences. It's in this fusion that Pablo Heras-Casado inspires the multinational Mahler Chamber Orchestra to impressive heights. The ballet El sombrero de tres picos, with its humorous, Figaro-like pastoral story, and the ballet-opera El amor brujo are not exactly renderings of flamenco music in symphonic form, although they are often thought of that way, and although the desired vocal sound in each comes from that tradition. Instead, Falla uses the rhythms of flamenco to spice up the clean new sounds that were taking shape in France and that he learned there. The two pieces should not be fiery exercises in making the orchestra emulate a flamenco guitar, but rather something crisper. That's exactly what Heras-Casado delivers here. In both works he's a minute or so faster than average, and he loses none of the rhythmic energy at that speed. Soprano Marina Heredia is an ideal complement, offering a chamber-sized flamenco voice. A enjoyable reading of these well-worn works, enhanced by Teldex Studio sound that takes into account the performers' artistic aims. (James Manheim)

Emmanuelle Bertrand JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH Complete Cello Suites

Most recordings of Johann Sebastian Bach's six Cello Suites reflect the highly individualized interpretations of the 20th century masters, which began with Pablo Casals’ innovative explorations, recorded in the late 1930s, and continued decades later in the celebrated readings of Pierre Fournier, Mstislav Rostropovich, Yo-Yo Ma, and many others. However, the movement for period style interpretations on original instruments has given players alternatives to the conventional modern approach; the use of gut strings and a Baroque bow require different techniques and produce fresh sonorities, so the possibilities have been expanded substantially. As the availability of such recordings increases, Emmanuelle Bertrand has added her voice to the historically informed milieu, playing a Carlo Tononi cello from the early 18th century, though she is not primarily known as an early music performer and is better known for her recordings of Romantic and modernist repertoire. Bertrand avoids the strict rhythms or mechanical phrasing sometimes associated with early music performances, and instead infuses the music with a mix of her intellect and personality in a spirit of vigorous spontaneity, knowing when to express deep emotion but always cognizant of the dance styles and expressive expectations of the time, including generous ornamentation and an improvisational freedom with a flexible rubato. This double CD from Harmonia Mundi gives Bertrand a rather intimate recording that works despite the noisy acoustics of the Médiapôle Saint-Césaire in Arles.

ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra / Howard Griffiths MAX BRUCH Double Concerto for Two Pianos - Double Concerto for Clarinet and Viola

Since 1990, the Swiss Orpheum Foundation for the Advancement of Young Soloists has been supporting musicians from all over the world, helping them to get early performing opportunities in a professional environment where they can work with top-class artistic partners. This provides these young musicians with important experience, and can provide decisive impetus on their path to a successful career. 

The present album is the fourth in our edition, and is devoted entirely to the œuvre of the German late-Romantic composer Max Bruch. Apart from his famous First Violin Concerto and a few other individual works, Bruch’s compositions remain little known to this day, even though they are really “pearls of the repertoire”; as Howard Gri ths says. It was our good fortune that these pearls include two double concertos, because this means we can here present ve Orpheum Soloists. The works and soloists were carefully chosen to match each other; thus we here feature the double concertos for two pianos and for clarinet and viola respectively, and the Adagio appassionato for violin and orchestra.