CONSUMER INFORMATION SERVICE: NO. 263

Select Music and Video Distribution Limited3 Wells Place, Redhill, Surrey RH1 3SL Tel: 01737 645600 Fax: 01737 644065

DECEMBER 2013REPRESENTING

TODAY’SGREAT LABELS

THIS MONTH'S HIGHLIGHTS

2 DECEMBER 2013

Jean SIBELIUSSongs

Katarina Karnéus Julius Drake

Sibelius wrote a surprisingly large number of songs throughout his life, and anybody who responds to the Nordic spirit and subject-matter of the symphonies and other orchestral music will find much to please them here.(from CDA67318)

François COUPERIN ‘Le Grand’Leçons de TénèbresJames Bowman Michael Chance Mark CaudleRobert King

Couperin’s Trois Leçons de Ténèbres are amongst the small amount of the composer’s sacred music that was published during his lifetime. They are intensely personal, depicting the prophet Jeremiah’s bitter anguish in settings that are quite unique. (from CDA66474)

Johannes BRAHMSThe Piano ConcertosStephen Hough Mark WigglesworthMozarteumorchester 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 Mozarteumorchester Salzburg and international conductor Mark Wigglesworth in their Hyperion debut for Brahms’s Piano Concertos.

CDA67974

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 delighted her fans worldwide.

CDH55455 CDH55471

Highlight

of the month

CDA67961

ANONYMOUSConductus – 2 Music & poetry from thirteenth-century France

John PotterChristopher O’GormanRogers Covey-Crump

A second volume of music from the Conductus repertory - the least-known genre of medieval musicperformed by three singers who combine expert knowledge of the music with voices of unearthly beauty.

Paul HINDEMITHSymphonic 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.

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.

CDA67998

CDA68006

DECEMBER 2013 3

G. ALLEGRI Miserere

The Tallis Scholars

This is the Tallis Scholars’ first release on the Pure Audio Blu-ray format.

"A reading of great authority" BBC Music Magazine

"Stupendously vibrant performances" International Record Review GIMBD641

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.

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Jean SIBELIUS (1865-1957)

Masonic Ritual Music Op. 113Hannu Jurmu (tenor), Harri Viitanen (organ)YL Male Voice Choir, Matti Hyökki

Masonic Ritual Music Op. 113 arr. Kuusisto for OrchestraMika 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.

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.

BIS1977

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

Highlight

of the month

Highlight

of the month

4 DECEMBER 2013

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Peter EBEN (1929-2007)

Salve Regina Sacred Choral Works

Sächsisches VocalensembleMatthias Jung

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.

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Cristóbal DE MORALES (1500-1553)

O Magnum Mysterium Expressive Christmas Motets

Weser-Renaissance Bremen, Manfred Cordes

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 Bruggemann, Rundfunkkinderchor, Berlin Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester, Johannes Zurl

CPO presents the complete work of Hindemith’s delightful Christmas Fairy Tale for December. Hindemith 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

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.

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August KLUGHARDT (1847-1902)

Symphony No. 5 Overtures

Anhaltische Philharmonie Antony Hermus

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.

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John Wilhelm HERTEL (1727-1789)

Die Geburt Jesu Christi

Berit Norbakken Solset, Alexandra Rawohl, Marcus Ullmann, Wolf-Mathias Friedrich Koelner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens

The Koelner Akademie under the conductor Michael Alexander Willens presents a compelling interpretation of the Christmas Oratorio by Johann Wilhelm Hertel.

DECEMBER 2013 5

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Poul RUDERS, Per NØRGÅRD, Bent SØRENSEN & Hans ABRAHAMSENAlpha

Bolette Roe (recorder), Peter Navarro-Alonso (saxophone), David Hildebrandt (percussion)

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.

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W.A MOZART45 Symphonies

Danish National Chamber OrchestraAdam Fischer

Seven years of work with Mozart’s symphonies come to completion with this monumental release of 45 symphonies, including eight unnumbered youthful works.

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Early and Late Music from Denmark, Greenland and Faroe Islands

Gárman, Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen (violin), Bolette Roed (recorder), Andreas Borregard (accordion)

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.

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Bartlett & RobertsonSelected recordings 1927-1947(The Matthay School Volume 6)

Ethel Bartlett, Rae Robertston

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.

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Mauro GIULIANI, Volume 2Grand Variations on a Savoyard Theme

David Starobin, Amalia Hall, Inon Barnatan

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.

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Georg Philipp TELEMANN Double Concerti for Wind & Strings

Rebel, Jörg-Michael Schwarz

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.

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Franz SCHREKERDie 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.

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.

6 DECEMBER 2013

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SCHUMANNNoveletten; Gesänge der Frühe; Fantasiestücke Op. 111; Allegro Op. 8

Ronald Brautigam

Brautigam plays Schumann’s lesser known piano works.

ALKAN Concerto for piano solo; Comme le vent; En rythme molossique; Scherzo diabolique

Vincenzo Maltempo

In just one year Vincenzo Maltempo has established himself as one of the foremost interpreters of the piano music of Charles Valentin Alkan.

Gaetano DONIZETTIUGO, Conte di Parigi

Antonino FoglianiDimitriu, Nakajima, Giannattasio, Vatchov, Tokyurek, Nikolic “A vigorous, intense opera, broad and ornate, dramatic and intricate, full of alliances and clashes” Piero Mioli

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N. LOGROSCINO, D. PEREZ, A.SANTANGELO, G. SELLITTO, A. PALELLA“Si suona, a Napoli!”18th Century Neapolitan Flute Concertos

Renata Cataldi, Egidio MastrominicoLa Musiche da Camera

Taken together, these compositions demonstrate the remarkable continuity and advances of the development of the eighteenth-century concerto. Renata Cataldi has distinguished herself as an artist of formidable musicality and interpretive skill as well as a scholar of considerable merit.

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J. S. BACHThe Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin

Luca Fanfoni

This disc is a compendium of Bach’s violin artistry, where 18th-century stylistic connotations are set aside in favour of a musical invention that appears free from any marked temporal designation.

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William ALWYNPiano Music by William Alwyn

Mark Bebbington

This new release represents another instalment in SOMM’s British Music series – Piano Music by William Alwyn (1905 – 1985) with pianist Mark Bebbington whose contribution to this series, both as performer and researcher, has been second to none.

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Christmas Time is HereThe Canadian Brass

Featuring the music of Vince Guaraldi and Luther Henderson, this disc pays tribute to some of the most popular animated specials created for the holidays.

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The Birth of the Classical Guitar Wulfin Lieske plays Fernando Sor & Mauro Giuliani

Fernando Sor’s exceptional musical talent was already evident when he was a child. He wrote his first opera while still a pupil at the Montserrat Monastery and his catalogue of works includes lieder with piano accompaniment and larger works for the stage. OC872

CHOPIN

Ballades Vol. 2Hélène Tysman French pianist Hélène Tysman first broke out onto the international music scene as a laureate of the 16th International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, hailed as “poetic” by The Daily Telegraph, praised for her Chopin interpretation which “mixed excitement with eloquence” by the Gramophone Chopin Express.

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William Youn plays Mozart SonatasThe young Korean pianist William Youn is "a very special lyrical talent, a genuine poet" (Attila Csampai), whose "calm lyrical pondering develops an lavish life of its own, completely unforced, with sovereign, bravura technique of touch and attack" (Marco Frei). Youn initially began his career in the USA and Asia, and for several years he has also been developing his presence in Europe.

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Johann Sebastian BACHSilvius Leopold WEISS & Ernst Gottlieb BARON

Friends of the Lute

Axel Wolf, Dorothee Oberlinger, Anna Torge and Christoph Anselm NollOC876

Music Machines in Seewen, SwitzerlandWorks of Bossi, Wagner, Gigout, Lorenz, Mailly, Saint-Saens,Franck, Reger, Bach, Sweelinck, Scheidt, Dubois, Guilmant

Welte’s Swiss OrganistsOrganists: Franz Joseph Breitenbach, Paul Hindermann,Karl Matthei, Johann Jakob NaterRecorded on strictly numbered Welte rolls (master)

OC846

8 DECEMBER 2013

The Great PoetsThe War Poetry of Wilfred Owen (unabridged)

Read by Anton Lesser

No poet is more closely identified with the First World War than Wilfred Owen. His striking body of work, grim to the point of brutality yet, at the same time, majestic and awe-inspiring, defines the war for us.

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Classical Wellness 3CD Box SetA winning assortment of time tested and drug-free musical remedies for a wide variety of common ailments … ranging from mental and physical lethargy through a bad case of the blues to that up-tight, jittery feeling (among many other maladies). It’s good for what ails you!

MOZART, BACH, BRAHMS, BEETHOVEN, HAYDNBaby Needs Classical Music

Each individual CD explores either the music of a different composer or a particular theme, hence the assorted titles: (“Baby Needs”) Mozart, Baroque, Lullabies, Guitar, Bach, More Mozart, Brahms, Beethoven, Papa Haydn, Beauty.

ANDRÉ TCHAIKOWSKYMusic for Piano, Volume OnePiano Concerto, Op. 4; Inventions, Op. 2; Sonata for Piano

Paul Daniel , Maciej Grzybowzki, Jakob Fichert, Nico de Villiers, Vienna Symphony Orchestra

Tchaikowsky’s music is being rediscovered: his only opera The Merchant of Venice was premiered during the Bregenz Festival this year, and this CD, the first of a series, is released in conjunction with the publication by Toccata Press of A Musician Divided: André Tchaikowsky in his Own Words, an annotated edition of his candid diaries.

Philip SPRATLEYOrchestral Music, Volume TwoDmitry Vasiliev, Siberian Symphony Orchestra

Cargoes: Suite for Orchestra after John Masefield; A Helpston Fantasia; Symphony No. 3, Sinfonia Pascale

Steve Schwartz, reviewing the first disc for Classical Net, wrote that ‘Spratley is a wonder. Each piece is beautifully worked and a delight to ear and spirit, […] light in texture, modest in scope, but emotionally penetrating and mentally stimulating. […] This CD made me light up.”

Henri HARDOUINComplete Four-Part a cappella Masses, Volume One

Timothy J. Krueger, St Martin’s Chamber Choir Mass No. 1, Incipite Domino in tympanis; Mass No. 3, Jucundum sit eloquium meum; Mass No. 4, Exaltate et invocate nomen ejus Hardouin’s six four-part masses are unusual for their time in being a cappella and enjoyed wide circulation in pre-Revolutionary France. Since then they have been roundly neglected – an omission this two-CD survey intends to rectify.

Anatoly ALEXANDROVPiano Music, Volume OneBallade, Op. 49; Four Narratives, Op. 48; Piano Sonata No. 8 in B flat major, Op. 50; Echoes of the Theatre, Op. 60; Romantic Episodes, Op. 88

Kyung-Ah Noh

This first volume in the first-ever survey of his piano music presents a conspectus of works composed between 1939 and 1962, many of them first recordings.

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DECEMBER 2013 9

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RAVEL, DEBUSSYMélodiesNathalie Stutzmann, Catherine Collard

Stutzmann was born in Paris in 1965 and is one of the leading vocal talents in France today.

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SCARLATTI, GIULIANI, PONCE Guitar Sonatas

Andrea Vettoretti

BEETHOVENStradivari Voices: Sonatas for Violin and PianoGiuliano Fontanella, Tania Salinaro

This disc showcases the extraordinary sound of three different violins, built by the famous violin builder Stradivarius, on one recording.

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MORRICONE, D’AMICO, SCHROYENS, DAPELO, SMET, ERMIRIO, GAMBARAMusic for Van Dyck: Chansons and Madrigals from the 16th and the 20th Centuries

Ring Around Quartet

A musical offering to the baroque artist Anthony van Dyck.

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Antonin DVORvÁK

Piano Concerto and Piano QuintetsVaclav Neumann, Rudolf Firku, Czech Philharmonic, Ridge String Quartet

A unique re-release of a rare and historically important recording.

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TCHAIKOVSKYArias

Zoltán Peskó, Ghena Dimitrova, Hungarian State Orchestra

Ghena Dimitrova recorded this great recital in the nineties at the peak of her career.

VIVALDIConcertos Franco Fantini, Angelo Ephrikian, Interpreti Veneziani

This disc contains some of his most famous concertos, played in style and with that original Venetian touch by the Interpreti Veneziani.

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Benjamin BRITTENA Ceremony of Carols Dickinson, Chance, Bostridge, Birchall, Baker, Drake, Brewer, Westminster Abbey Choir, Martin Neary

A welcome reissue, also containing Rejoice in the Lamb and the Festival Cantata, recorded by the famous Westminster Abbey Choir and featuring Ian Bostridge.

ÉlégieShort pieces for double bass and pianoStefano Sciascia, David Giovanni Leonardi

Beautiful transcriptions played by the immensely talented Stefano Sciascia on double-bass and accompanied by David Giovanni Leonardi on piano.

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ROSSINIWilliam Tell and Other Rossini Overtures

Roy Goodman, The Hanover Band

Rossini played on original instruments by The Hanover Band and they thus recorded one of its most spectacular albums under the baton of its leader Roy Goodman.

10 DECEMBER 2013

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John Luther ADAMSINUKSUIT

Scored for 9 to 99 percussion players who are meant to be widely dispersed in an outdoor area, Inuksuit has been described by the New Yorker’s Alex Ross as “one of the most rapturous experiences of my listening life.”

Ken THOMPSONTHAW

Christopher Otto, Ari Streisfeld, John Pickford Richards, Kevin McFarland

Featuring JACK Quartet — recipient of New Music USA’s 2013 Trailblazer Award and lauded for their “explosive virtuosity” (Boston Globe) and “viscerally exciting performances” (New York Times).

STRAUSSDon Juan, Death and Transfiguration, Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks

Manfred HoneckPittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

This new release and the upcoming series are recorded and mastered by the team at Soundmirror, whose outstanding orchestral, solo, opera, and chamber recordings have received over 70 GRAMMY nominations and awards.

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ELGAREnigma Variations

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS The Wasps; Greensleeves

Michael Stern, Kansas City Symphony

This magnificent new symphonic recording with the Kansas City Symphony now also available as a superb audiophile 2-LP set.

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L. V. BEETHOVENBeethoven Piano Sonatas VOL. 4

Sequeira Costa

In a career spanning five decades Sequeira Costa has performed at the greatest concert halls around the world, most recently performing the entire cycle of Beethoven Sonatas at Gulbenkian Hall in Lisbon, Portugal.

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Charles BORDESMelodies: Volume 2

Sophie Marin-Degor, Géraldine Chauvet, Éric Huchet, Nicolas Cavallier, François-René Duchable

One year after a first volume entirely devoted to the songs Charles Bordes composed to poems by Verlaine (and to his solo piano works), here is the second and final volume with all the other songs.

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SUPERHEROES! John Morris Russell Cincinnati Pops Orchestra

Superheroes! the latest release from John Morris Russell and the Cincinnati Pops, showcases some of Hollywood’s grandest musical scores from recent blockbusters.

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Isang YUN Shakespeare Looking East

Kristin Linklater Martin Gonschorek

The great Scottish American actress and voice teacher Kristin Linklater dedicated her life to the poet Shakespeare. She tells of the joys and sorrows of love with a selection of 23 sonnets and is heard on CD for the first time.

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PROKOFIEV, BANSHIKOV, SHOSTAKOVICHWhite Nights Volume 2: Viola Music from St. Petersburg

Tatjana Masurenko Roglit Ishay

Violist Tatjana Masurenko brings out the dark energy of the instrument, evoking legendary Russian musicians such as Leopold von Auer.

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Johann Nepomuk HUMMEL CON GARBOSonatas for Flute and Piano

Christine Meininger Rainer Gepp

Christine Meininger and Rainer Gepp perform sonatas for flute and piano.

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Günter Wand: The Radio RecordingsWDR Symphony Orchestra, NDR Symphony Orchestra, Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra

This edition explores aspects of Wand’s musical achievements not represented in the commercial recordings released during his lifetime. The best of the recordings and the most advanced digital techniques give the listener an idea of the extraordinarily wide range of repertoire commanded by this great conductor.

12 DECEMBER 2013

RACHMANINOV

Works for Two Pianos

Alexander KobrinFrédéric D’Oria-Nicholas

Frédéric D’Oria-Nicolas and Alexander Kobrin present a musical event: “Heritage”, a double album devoted to Rachmaninov’s works for two pianos.

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ADAMS, CHAUSSON, HANDEL, MAHLERIf You Love for Beauty

Yehuda GiladSasha CookeThe Colburn Orchestra

This recording won the Audio Oasis Award even before it was released, at THE SHOW in Newport, 2012.

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Erwin Belakowitsch sings Walter JURMANNBaritone Erwin Belakowitsch sings 22 popular melodies in three languages – a must for all fans of the music from the 1920s and 1930s!

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F. LISZT, F. BRIDGE, E. GRIEGRomantic Duos

Benjamin SchmidAriane Hearing

The pieces recorded on this CD by Liszt, Bridge and Grieg are at the core of our repertoire; Liszt for its well-balanced virtuosity and artistry on both instruments, Bridge for being a fantastic discovery of an unknown masterpiece of late Romanticism, and Grieg for representing one of the most perfect sonatas ever written for violin and piano.

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2003032Rachmaninov3 Préludes, 3 Études-Tableaux, 2 Moments Musicaux

ProkofievSonatas Nr. 3&7

Roman Zaslavsky plays Ingenious Opposites Vol. 2

Ingenious Opposites Vol.2 presents two composers, Sergei Rachmaninov and Sergei Prokofiev, who were very different though being contemporaries, Prokofiev was open for the new, wanted to finish with Romanticism and turned towards Modernism, while Rachmaninov was rooted in Romanticism and continued this tradition in his own way.

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The Italian CharacterThe story of a great Italian orchestra

A film by Angelo Bozzolini

The Italian Character allows its audience to gain an insight into a fascinating world that is usually concealed. It is about finding the essence of the Italian character, in the centre there is the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome and its principal conductor, Sir Antonio Pappano. 2059384

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GOZARAN Time PassingA film by Frank Scheffer

This is an extraordinary documentary about the Iranian composer Nader Mashayeki and the Tehran Symphony Orchestra.

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Unsuk CHIN Alice in Wonderland

Sally Matthews, Piia Komsi, Dietrich Hensche, Gwyneth Jones, Bayerische Staatsoper, Kent Nagano

Recorded live at the National Theatre, Munich, 27th June 2007.

The rather conventional Alice starts following her dreams, meeting a white rabbit that guides her through a wonderland. Alice views it all with amazement and learns – finally returning to the real world, richer for the experience.

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Celebrating VerdiVerdi’s Legendary Interpreters

Arturo Toscanini, Carlo Maria Guilini Tito Gobbi, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf

Celebrating Verdi brings into focus the greatest interpreters of Giuseppe Verdi’s compositions. These jewels of music broadcasting have been salvaged from various archives and been made accessible for home viewing audiences uniting appealing and enjoyable performances by legendary artists as Arturo Toscanini, Carlo Maria Giulini, Tito Gobbi and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf.

Giulini Conducts Verdi's RequiemRoyal Festival Hall, London, 26th April 1964

Carlo Maria GIULINI conductor, Ilva Ligabue soprano, Grace Bumbry mezzo-soprano,Sandor Konya tenor, Raffaele Arié bass

Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus

Lovingly restored, using the finest state-of-the-art technology, EuroArts’ series "Classic Archive" features great performances by legendary artists, offering a unique glimpse into our classical musical heritage at an affordable mid-range price.

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14 DECEMBER 2013

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Piano Notes with Ronald BrautigamRonald BrautigamDirected by Phil Grabsky

Ronald Brautigam, internationally respected musician, remarkable not only for his virtuosity and musicality but also for the eclectic nature of his musical interests, presents a history of piano music. Brautigam discusses and performs a specific piano piece from composers including Scarlatti, JS Bach, Haydn, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin. In each film he demonstrates not only his skill as a pianist but his insightful and humorous knowledge of musical history.

‘An absolutely instinctive Mozartian… with melodic playing of consummate beauty’ International Record Review.

‘Brautigam uses many an artistic trick without ever seeming to be trying at all.’ Music Web.

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Phil Grabsky is an award-winning documentary film-maker. With a film career spanning 25 years, Phil and his company Seventh Art Productions make films for cinema, television and DVD, and are one of the world’s leading arts film producers. For 15 years Seventh Art has led the world in filming major art exhibitions, internationally renowned ‘In Search of…’ films, social documentaries, and producing prize-winning history programmes that have earned accolades such as ‘inspiring’ and ‘spellbinding’. These films have played in festivals worldwide, winning numerous awards for Best Film, Best Documentary, Best Cinematography, Best Screenwriting, Best Editing, and Best Music.

Salvatore Accardo Masterclass in Cremona, Vol. 3

K. M. SZYMANOWSKINotturno e Tarantella op. 28 Kim da Min

J. S. BACH ChaconneCaterina Demetz

Salvatore Accardo is one of today’s most celebrated violinists, who has dedicated much of his time to teaching the violin. This series of DVDs features masterclasses held by Salvatore Accardo in Cremona (the world capital of Violin Making) at the famous Walter Stauffer Musicology Centre in 2011.

Exhibition on Screen: Vermeer and MusicTim MarlowDirected by Phil Grabsky

Johannes Vermeer is a fascinating painter whose life and works are explored here in amazing detail. Filmed in London’s National Gallery, New York’s Met and other gal-leries in the USA and the Netherlands, this stunning film delves into a breath-taking collection of Vermeer’s finest pieces and delivers a detailed biography of the artist, his life and times. An exposition of period musical pursuits is blended with the art of Vermeer and his contemporaries. Live music from the Academy of Ancient Music serves as a beautiful soundtrack to the wonderful sight of Vermeer’s paintings. Tim Marlow, world-renowned art historian and broadcaster, guides us through the artwork and delivers a first-rate biography of Vermeer. He invites comments from leading fine art authorities and from Tracy Chevalier, whose best-selling novel, inspired by Vermeer, was made into the blockbuster movie, Girl with a Pearl Earring.

‘Grabsky’s film is comprehensive, smart and highly informative.’ The Art Newspaper

DECEMBER 2013 15

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Giuseppe VERDI Luisa Miller Olesya Golovneva, Vladislav Sulimsky, Taras Shtonda, Luc Robert

Conductor: Michael GuttlerStage Director: Stefano Vizioli

Live recording from Malmö Opera, Sweden, 2012

Giuseppe Verdi’s Luisa Miller is an opera in three acts based on Schiller’s Kabale und Liebe (Intrigue and Love). Just before Christmas 2012, it was recorded at the Malmö Opera, the leading opera house in the expansive region of Öresund in Sweden. The Russian opera singer and rising star Olesya Golovneva is breathtaking as Luisa. Conducted by internationally acclaimed Michael Güttler, who works for opera houses and orchestras all over the world, including the Orchestre de Paris and the Wiener Staatsoper, this opera is a ‘must have’.

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Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART Die Entführung Aus Dem Serail

Ryland Davies, Valerie Masterson, Lilian Watson, Willard White, James Hoback, Joachin Bissmeier, The London Philharmonic Orchestra

Conductor: Gustav Kuhn Stage Director: Peter Wood

Live recording from the Glyndebourne Festival Opera, 1980

In the Glyndebourne entführung aus dem serail from 1980, which was so amusingly and yet sensitively staged by Peter Wood, Gustav Kuhn led his excellent soloists Valerie Masterson, Ryland Davies, Lillian Watson and Willard White to an ensemble performance of great unity which was interspersed with exact and beautifully worked dialogue. The Singspiel, this hybrid of music and word, rose to life here in the most convincing fashion.

BEETHOVEN, STRAVINSKY, CALDARA & WAGNER Riccardo Muti – Live from Teatro La Fenice

Patrizia Ciofi, Robert Sacca, Michele Pertugi, Nicolas RivenqOrchestra and Chorus of the Teatro La Fenice

The rebirth of Teatro La Fenice was celebrated with a series of concerts. Riccardo Muti, musical director of La Scala, conducted the official inaugural gala concert on December 14th. In the presence of the Italian President, Carlo Ciampi, Muti conducted La Fenice’s choir and orchestra together with some of the best Italian singers in an unusual but truly Venetian programme.

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Giuseppe VERDI Aida

Kate Aldrich, Adina Aaron, Scott Piper, Paolo Pecchioli, Giuseppe Gara Orchestra and Chorus of the Fondazione Arturo Toscanini

Conductor: Massimiliano Stefanelli Stage Director: Franco Zeffirelli

Live from the Teatro Giuseppe Verdi, Busseto, 2001

This refreshing production of Aida by the master of extravaganza, Franco Zeffirelli, comes from Teatro Giuseppe Verdi in Busseto, Verdi’s birthplace. These roles are sung by talented young performers such as Kate Aldrich and Scott Piper to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Verdi’s death.

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Benjamin BRITTENPeter GrimesAlan Oke, Giselle Allen, David Kempster, Britten-Pears Orchestra

Conductor: Steuart BedfordDirector for the screen by: Margaret Williams Live production directed by: Tim Albery

Filmed at the Aldeburgh Festival, June 2013

Filmed in June 2013 during three extraordinary performances that took place during the Aldeburgh Festival, Peter Grimes on Aldeburgh beach takes place in the heart of the town that inspired it and is the film interpretation of Britten’s Peter Grimes, the most successful opera of post-war Britain.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Z1GKaprkOM&feature=youtu.be

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