dealer information service: no. 284 september 2015 filedealer information service: no. 284. select...

DEALER INFORMATION SERVICE: NO. 284

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

SEPTEMBER 2015• CUT-OFF DATE FOR RECEIPT OF ORDER: THURSDAY 2OTH AUGUST• SHIP-OUT DATE: WEDNESDAY 26TH AUGUST• NATIONAL ‘ON SALE’ DATE: FRIDAY 28TH AUGUST

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THIS MONTH'S HIGHLIGHTS

2 SEPTEMBER 2015All Prices Quoted are Dealer Prices

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Index

CDs Arco Diva ...............................................................................................................................................page 7BIS .......................................................................................................................................................page 5BR Klassik ..............................................................................................................................................page 7Bridge ...................................................................................................................................................page 9Cantaloupe Music ....................................................................................................................................page 9Capriccio .............................................................................................................................................page 10Carpe Diem ............................................................................................................................................page 9Cedille ................................................................................................................................................page 10Champs Hill Records ..............................................................................................................................page 10Chandos ................................................................................................................................................page 4Claudio ................................................................................................................................................page 10Concerto Classics ..................................................................................................................................page 12CPO ......................................................................................................................................................page 6Dacapo ................................................................................................................................................page 11Delos ..................................................................................................................................................page 11Divine Art ............................................................................................................................................page 12Dynamic ..............................................................................................................................................page 12Genuin Classics .....................................................................................................................................page 13Gimell ...................................................................................................................................................page 5Gramola ...............................................................................................................................................page 13Grand Piano .........................................................................................................................................page 14Hanssler ..............................................................................................................................................page 14Hyperion ...............................................................................................................................................page 3Kairos .................................................................................................................................................page 15Klanglogo ............................................................................................................................................page 15LPO ......................................................................................................................................................page 5Melodiya .............................................................................................................................................page 15Oehms ...................................................................................................................................................page 8Ondine ..................................................................................................................................................page 8Orchid Classics .....................................................................................................................................page 15Orlando Records ....................................................................................................................................page 16Paladino Music .....................................................................................................................................page 16Profil ..................................................................................................................................................page 17Refernece Recordings ............................................................................................................................page 17RPO ....................................................................................................................................................page 16Seattle Symphony Media ........................................................................................................................page 17Solo Musica ..........................................................................................................................................page 18Somm ...................................................................................................................................................page 9Sono Luminous .....................................................................................................................................page 18Steinway and Sons ................................................................................................................................page 18Tactus .................................................................................................................................................page 19Toccata Classics ....................................................................................................................................page 19Weiner Symphoniker ..............................................................................................................................page 17Yarlung Records .....................................................................................................................................page 19

DVDsAccentus Music .....................................................................................................................................page 24Arthaus Music ........................................................................................................................... page 21, 22, 23Coro ....................................................................................................................................................page 24Divine Art ............................................................................................................................................page 24Dynamic ..............................................................................................................................................page 25Euroarts ................................................................................................................................... page 25, 26, 27Opus Arte ...................................................................................................................................... page 20, 21Seventh Art ..........................................................................................................................................page 25

Please click on a label below to be directed to its relevant page. Thank you.

SEPTEMBER 2015 3All Prices Quoted are Dealer Prices

Johann Sebastian BACH George Frideric HANDEL Domenico SCARLATTIGamba Sonatas

Steven Isserlis, Richard Egarr, Robin Michael

Bach wrote three wonderful sonatas for the viola da gamba (an early, slightly smaller rela-tive of the modern cello). Lovingly recorded by Steven Isserlis and Richard Egarr, they are joined here by Handel and Scarlatti in a programme of haunting tranquillity.

CDA68045£9.00

Highlight

of the month

Leo ORNSTEINPiano Quintet; String Quartet No. 2

Pacifica Quartet, Marc-André Hamelin

The young pianist composer Leo Ornstein went from wowing the ladies with his virtuosity to writing a vio-lin sonata in 1915 of such atonal violence that it frightened even him. By the time of the two works recorded here, his style was more rounded. The mix of enfant terrible and Lisztian piano-slayer is now tempered by an intense lyricism, the rhythmic energy balanced by searing poetry. In the exhilarating hands of Marc-André Hamelin and the Pacifica Quartet these performances fizz with exuberance.

CDA68084£9.00

Sir Hubert PARRYI was glad & other choral works

Daniel Cook, Onyx Brass, Westminster Abbey Choir, James O’Donnell

The pageantry of a nation is encapsulated in the music of Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, Baronet, Knight, and fervent supporter of the suffragette movement. This new programme from Westminster Abbey contains some lesser known early works alongside blazing performances of the favourites, recorded in the very building for which many of them were so skilfully crafted. CDA68089

£9.00

Thomas TALLISAve, Dei patris filia & other sacred music

The Cardinall’s Musick, Andrew Carwood

The Cardinall’s Musick has returned to the studio - or, more accurately, to the perpendical gothic mar-vel that is the Fitzalan Chapel of Arundel Castle - to record more of the Tudor masterpieces of Thomas Tallis. The programme includes three beautiful Latin Responsories, the early Votive Antiphon ‘Ave, Dei patris filia’ and the Morning Canticles of the ‘Dorian’ Service. CDA68095

£9.00

Johannes BRAHMS The Complete Songs, Volume 6

Ian Bostridge, Graham Johnson

Ian Bostridge brings his characterful lyricism and singing of beautiful intelligence, to a welcome sixth volume in Graham Johnson’s comprehensive series.

CDJ33126£9.00


Julius FUČÍKA Festival of Fučík

Einzug der Gladiatoren, Op. 68; Unter der Admiralsflagge, Op. 82; The Mississippi River, Op. 160; Die Regimentskinder, Op. 169; Winterstürme, Op. 184; Der Alte Brummbär, Op. 210; Florentiner, Op. 214; Marinarella, Op. 215; Die Lustigen Dorfschmiede, Op. 218; Ballettratten, Op. 226; Donausagen, Op. 233; Hercegovac, Op. 235; Onkel Teddy, Op. 239; Miramare, Op. 247

David Hubbard, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Neeme Järvi

Thirty years after recording Dvořák’s complete Symphonies on Chandos, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and its laureate conductor Neeme Järvi tackle another romantic Czech composer: Julius Fučík, famous for more than 400 polkas, marches, and waltzes, some of the best of which are featured here. Full of energetic, effervescent Bohemian cross-rhythms, tuneful brass melodies (often now associated with a circus atmosphere), but also more lyrical expressions, this album is a festival in itself.

CHSA 5158£9.00 (Hybrid SACD)

Highlight

of the month

Gabriel PIERNÉOrchestral Works, Vol. 2Les Cathédrales; Paysages Franciscains, Op. 43; Poème Symphonique, Op. 37; Fantaisie-Ballet, Op. 6; Scherzo-Caprice, Op. 25; Étude de Concert, Op. 13; Nocturne en Forme de Valse, Op. 40 No. 2

Jean-Efflam BavouzetBBC Philharmonic, Juanjo Mena

This is the eagerly awaited second volume of orchestral works by Pierné, played by the BBC Philharmonic under Juanjo Mena and featuring Jean-Efflam Bavouzet. More successful than his older rival Debussy in the early twentieth century, the composer Pierné deserves to be better known nowadays. This recording features some of his most virtuosic and yet mysterious pieces, placing him at the frontier between romantic (Liszt, Saint-Saëns, Franck) and contemporary impressionist (Ravel, Debussy) influences.

CHAN 10871£9.00

Robert SCHUMANNImogen Cooper

‘Abegg’ Variations, Op. 1; Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6; Novelette, Op. 21 No. 2 in D major; Novelette, Op. 21 No. 8 in F sharp minor; ‘Geistervariationen’, WoO 24, F 39

Imogen Cooper

This third recording by Imogen Cooper on Chandos features some of Robert Schumann’s most characteristic and complex works for solo piano. Cooper is an artist that is reaching glorious maturity in middle age; she seems to follow in the steps of her teacher Alfred Brendel, her prodigious virtuosity coexisting with lyrical and emotional wisdom.

CHAN 10874£9.00

The CallFelix MENDELSSOHN: Hear My Prayer – O for the Wings of a Dove; Ave Maria; Charles STANFORD: Beati Quorum Via; Te Deum Laudamus in B-flat; Hubert PARRY: I Was Glad; My Soul, There is a Country; And Did Those Feet (Jerusalem; arr. Elgar, transcribed Joseph Wicks); John TAVENER: Song for Athene; John IRELAND: Greater Love Hath No Man; Douglas GUEST: For the Fallen; Roxanna PANUFNIK: The Call; William HARRIS: Holy is the True Light; Ernest BULLOCK: Give Us the Wings of Faith; Gioachino ROSSINI: Oh Salutaris Hostia; Jonathan DOVE: Gloria (from Missa Brevis); Herbert HOWELLS: A Spotless Rose

Alison Martin, Choir of St. John’s College, Cambridge, Andrew Nethsingha

The pieces brought together on this CD range widely, from ceremonial works associated with affairs of state to intimate compositions addressing moments of great personal significance. The composers are similarly diverse. They include an English composer of Polish extraction (Panufnik), an Italian who spent most of his life in Paris (Rossini), an Irish and a German composer who became leading lights in English music (Stanford and Mendelssohn). However, all the works recorded here have one thing in common: they are all considered quintessential to the Anglican choral tradition.

CHAN 10872£9.00

Brett DEANChamber WorksEpitaphs for String Quintet; Eclipse (String Quartet No. 1); String Quartet No. 2 ‘And Once I Played Ophelia’

Allison Bell, Brett Dean, Doric String Quartet

Australian violinist and composer Brett Dean’s works are performed all over the world, and are highly praised for their aplomb and power of expression as well as their ready accessibility to listeners. These works highlight the empathetic side of Dean; if Eclipse is an evocation of the refugees saved during the ‘Tampa Crisis’, the five movements of Epitaphs are individual obituaries for lost friends of Dean’s. In the Second String Quartet, Dean presents Shakespeare’s Ophelia not as a passively suffering victim but as a ‘feistier personality’, full of passion and agility.

CHAN 10873£9.00


Perfect PolyphonyPeter Phillips' favourite recordings of Renaissance PolyphonyGiovanni Pierluigi da PALESTRINA: Missa Pape Marcelli; Tomas Luis de VICTORIA: Versa est in Luctum; Carlo GESUALDO: Ave, Dulcissima Maria; Jean MOUTON: Salva Nos, Domine; Ave Maria… Virgo Serena; Nicolas GOMBERT: Magnificat 6 Sexti et Primi Toni; John BROWNE: Stabat Iuxta; Thomas TALLIS: Lamentations of Jeremiah I; Lamentations of Jeremiah II; Antoine BRUMEL: Lamentations of Jeremiah; Alfonso FERRABOSCO, Lamentations of Jeremiah; Heinrich ISAAC: Optime Pastor; Des Prez JOSQUIN: Missa Ave Maris Stella

The Tallis Scholars, Peter Phillips

‘When I conducted my first concert with The Tallis Scholars in 1973 I could not have imagined that we would go on to perform concerts all around the world, or that millions of people would regularly listen to our recordings. We have had the happy chance to explore deep into Renaissance polyphony: here are some of the gems that have thrilled me over the years.’ Peter Phillips

CDGIM213£9.00 (2 for 1)

I skogen – Nordic SongsJean SIBELIUS: Norden, Op. 90 No. 1; Six Songs, Op. 50; Skogsrået, JS 171; Edvard GRIEG: Six Songs, Op. 48; En svane, Op. 25 No. 2; Wilhelm STENHAMMAR: I skogen from ‘Sånger och visor’; Four Songs from ‘Visor och stämningar’, Op. 26; Flickan kom ifrån sin älsklings möte, Op. 4 No. 1; Hugo ALFVÉN: Skogen sover, Op. 28 No. 7

Camilla Tilling, Paul Rivinius

Known to opera audiences worldwide, Camilla Tilling is also a dedicated recitalist. On her present offering she turns northwards, interpreting songs by Grieg, Sibelius and Stenhammar. The disc takes its title from an early song by Stenhammar, I skogen (‘In the forest’), and many of the selected songs are either played out in or depict natural settings, in a manner we are familiar with from Nordic composers.

BIS2154£9.00 (Hybrid SACD)

Solitaires – French Works for Solo PianoJehan ALAIN: Prélude et Fugue (1935); Henri DUTILLEUX: Piano Sonata (1946–48); Maurice RAVEL: Le Tombeau de Couperin (1914–17); Olivier MESSAIEN: Le Baiser de l’Enfant-Jésus from ‘Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus’ (1944)

Kathryn Stott

From the French piano literature of the first half of the 20th century, Kathryn Stott has selected four ‘solitaires’ – works that shimmer and sparkle in their own distinct way, each occupying a special place in its composer’s output.


Max BRUCHWorks for Violin and Orchestra - Violin Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 44; In Memoriam, Op. 65; Konzertstück, Op. 84

Ulf Wallin, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Okko Kamu

A highly versatile musician, Ulf Wallin has recorded a succession of discs for BIS, including music by Schoenberg, Schnittke, Janáček and Hindemith. Lately he has focused on Romantic composers, resulting in an acclaimed recording of Schumann’s complete works for violin and orchestra (Daily Telegraph: ‘It’s hard to imagine more sympathetic and insightful performances of these wonderful pieces’). Supported by the eminent Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin conducted by Okko Kamu, Wallin now offers a programme spanning some 30 years of the long career of Max Bruch.


Heinrich Ignaz Franz BIBERThe Rosary Sonatas - Fifteen sonatas for violin and basso continuo; Passacaglia for solo violin; Sonata in D major for violin and basso continuo

Ariadne Daskalakis, Ensemble Vintage Köln: Gerald Hambitzer, Rainer Zipperling, Simon Martyn-Ellis

Biber’s Rosary Sonatas for violin and basso continuo stand alone in violin literature and in music history, offering a unique combination of programmatic material and the use of scordatura. Through the use of fifteen different tunings of the violin, Biber achieves a variety of timbres that, when combined with his highly imaginative treatment of the violin, makes for absorbing listening. Appearing for the first time on BIS, the Greek-American violinist Ariadne Daskalakis has made a number of previous recordings, on baroque as well as modern violins.

BIS2096£18.00 (2 Hybrid SACDs)

The Genius of Film Music: Hollywood Blockbusters 1960s-1980’s. Includes music from Psycho; The Godfather; Cleopatra; Star Trek; Mutiny on the Bounty; Tara Bulba; Once Upon a Time in America; Lawrence of Arabia London Philharmonic Orchestra, John Mauceri This exclusive release charts the development of the ‘Hollywood sound’ over two decades of epic film making from the 1960’s to the 1980’s. Featuring iconic classics, this release offers the unique opportunity to hear some of the 20th Cen-tury’s most dramatic music recorded in a live concert session.

LPO-0086£7.29 (2 CDs)

Highlight

of the month

Highlight

of the month


Friedrich GERNSHEIMThe Piano Quintets Nos. 1 & 2

Oliver Triendl, Gemeaux Quartett

Following the release of two of Gernsheim’s symphonies, CPO now present two piano quintets by Gernshiem; a quintessentially European composer.

777580-2£6.90

Through Darkness to the LightEnjott SCHNEIDER: The Fire of Innocence in the Darkness of the World for Contra tenor, 2 Tenors & 2 Basses, Male Choir and Organ; Alessandro CADARIO: La Rosa de los Vientos for Male Choir & Percussion; Alejandro D. CONSOLACION II: Missa Firenze for Male Choir and Organ

Die Singphoniker Taipei, Male Choir, Nieh Yen-Hsiang

Accompanied by one of the world’s most renowned vocal ensembles, the Singphoniker, the Taipei Male Choir (TMC) led by Nieh Yen-Hsiang presents contemporary pieces for soloists, male choir and organ or percussion instruments. The TMC already has three CD releases with a similar repertoire to its credit, and the first and third of these productions won the Taiwan Golden Melody Award Interpretation Prize in 2011.

555005-2£6.90

Ernst Wilhelm WOLFString QuartetsQuartets Op. 3, 1-3; Quartetto in C major; Quadro in D minor

Pleyel Quartett Köln

At a time when Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and others were making significant contributions to the modern string quartet, Wolf harked back to an older form of composition, emulating the Northern and Central German quadro, a trio sonata with an additional melody part. The three quartets of the op. 3 series are the pinnacle of Wolf’s quartet oeuvre.

777856-2£6.90

Ludwig MEINARDUSLuther in Worms, Oratorio in 2 Parts for Soloists, Choir & Orchestra Op. 36

Clemens Löschmann, Annette Gutjahr, Corby Welch, Markus Flaig, Clemens Heidrich, Ansgar Eimann, Rheinische Kantorei, Concerto Köln, Hermann Max

The Reformer Martin Luther is being honoured in numerous events and publications during the Luther Decade and in preparation for the celebration of the five hundredth anniversary of the Reformation in 2017. Thus, this month CPO is presenting the oratorio Luther in Worms by Ludwig Meinardus in a recording from the Twenty-Second Knechtsteden Festival. Hermann Max performs Meinardus’ lavishly scored and operatic principal work with the renowned Concerto Köln orchestra and a choice ensemble of vocalists.

777540-2£18.00 (2 CDs)

Robert WOODCOCK; John BASTON; Charles DIEUPART; William BABELLThe Virtuoso Recorder Vol. 3Concertos of the English Baroque

Cappella Academica Frankfurt, Michael Schneider

Following the label’s previous collections of German and Italian virtuosic recorder concertos – Michael Schneider now turns to Baroque England. His concertos are based on three anthologies by William Babell, Robert Woodcock, and John Baston, which all have the use of the descant recorder as a common feature.

777885-2£9.00

777740-2£9.00

August KLUGHARDTSymphony No. 4, Op. 57 in C minor; Three Pieces, Op. 87

Anhaltische Philharmonie Dessau, Antony Hermus

For September, CPO release their third disc featuring orchestral works by August Klughardt. A live performance of his C minor Symphony was described as: ‘…a thoroughly noble work, clear and easy to grasp in its thematic structure, filled with beautiful ideas, rich in its melodic invention’. This is characteristic of his work as a whole, as becomes evident from the other works included on this disc.


Founded in 1998, the ArcoDiva Recording Company has become the most important independent producer of classical music in the Czech Republic and the Middle-European territory established after the political changes of 1989. Their catalogue includes more than a hundred titles, many of which received awards abroad, in addition to prestigious projects such as the oratorio Svata Ludmila by Dvořák (SACD in co-production with the Prague Spring Festival), Symphonies by Gustav Mahler and many others with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Prague Symphony Orchestra, Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, Prague Chamber Orchestra, Prague Philharmonia, Quattro Orchestra and Pilsen Philharmonic Orchestra.

900134£9.00

Ludwig van BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major Op. 55 ‘Eroica’; Rodion SHCHEDRIN: Beethoven’s Heiligenstädter Testament

Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Mariss Jansons

900135£9.00

Ludwig van BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 4 in B-flat Major Op. 60; Symphony No. 5 in C minor Op. 67; Raminta ŠERKŠYNTĖ: Fires

Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Mariss Jansons

Jan Krvtitel VANv

HALSacred WorksCzech Boys Choir Boni pueri, Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra, Pardu-bice, Marek Štryncl

This is the world premiere of works by Johann Baptist Vanvhal (1739-1813), one of many Bohemian artists working in Vienna in the 18th century alongside key figures of musical Classicism and early Romanticism.

UP0165£7.29

GOLDMARK; WOLF; ROTT; DIEPENBROCK; FOERSTER; WALTERMahler Contemporaries

Winners of International Singing Competition in Karlsbad

This new release from ArcoDiva features a live recording from the Gustav Mahler Festival 2014 including a world première recording of Stabat mater, Op. 56 by Czech composer and friend of Gustav Mahler, Josef Bohuslav Foerster, and other unknown songs by Mahler’s contemporaries.

UP0164£7.29

Antonín DVOŘÁKAlfredWagnerian singers, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Heiko Mathias Förster

The world premiere recording of the opera, Alfred, by central Czech musical figure and composer of the New World Symphony, Antonín Dvořák, is a monumental event of great scholarly interest for experts and the general public alike. This Wagnerian-style opera originated in 1870, and was performed and recorded for the first time in the Dvořák Hall at the Rudolfínum. The critical edition of the score and materials were prepared by a team of leading Dvořák scholars.

UP0140£16.15 (2 CDs)

Johannes BRAHMSThe SymphoniesSymphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Mariss Jansons

This three CD Box Set presents the complete cycle of Brahms’ symphonies, as performed by the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks under the direction of Mariss Jansons. It puts the finishing touch on the complete performance of Johannes Brahms’ symphonic works, compositions orientated around the creativity of his great role model, yet in many ways also forward-looking and innovative.

900129£16.65 (3 CDs)

Gustav MAHLERSymphony No. 6Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Daniel Harding

In this live recording of 2014 from Munich’s Philharmonie im Gasteig, BR-KLASSIK presents one of Mahler’s most unusual symphonies. The world-class conductor Daniel Harding demonstrates great artistic flexibility here, and with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, he encounters an ensemble that has been among the pioneers of Mahler performance ever since the Kubelík era of the 1960s.

900132£9.00

Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKYPique Dame (The Queen of Spades)

Misha Didyk, Tatiana Serjan, Lisa Larissa Diadkova, Alexey Shishlyaev, Alexey Markov Kinderchor der Bayerischen Staatsoper, Chor and Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Mariss Jansons In its history as a concert orchestra, the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks has devoted itself to opera on numerous occasions. BR-KLASSIK now presents the 2014 live recording in Munich’s Philharmonie im Gasteig of the semi-staged performance of Tchaikovsky’s late master-piece The Queen of Spades. Mariss Jansons has brought together a group of native speaking soloists for this performance in original Russian.

900140£16.65

Highlight

of the month


Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY Iolanta Lyric Opera in One Act

Olessa Golovneva, Alexander Vinogradov, Andrei Bondarenko, Dmytro Popov, Vladislav Sulimsky, John Heuzenroeder, Marc-Olivier Oetterli, Dalia Schaechter, Justyna Samborska, Marta Wryk Gürzenich, Orchestra of Cologne, Dmitrij Kitajenko

World premieres of Iolanta and The Nutcracker took place on 18 December 1892 at St. Petersburg Mariinsky Theatre. ‘The execution of both,’ wrote the composer to his brother Anatoly the next day, ‘was magnificent, and that of the ballet perhaps too magnificent – its brilliance made one’s eyes tired’. Gustav Mahler conducted the first performance of the one-act opera outside Russia on 3rd January 1893 in Hamburg and also directed the Viennese premiere of Iolanta on 22 March 1900.

OC963£17.60 (2 CDs)

Georg KREISLER Poisoning Pigeons in the Park: The Singphoniker Sing Songs by Georg Kreisler The Singphoniker

Who doesn’t know the songs of Georg Kreisler – sprinkled with raven-black humour? Perhaps the best known is 'Tauben vegiften im Park' (Poisoning the Pigeons in the Park). The Singphoniker have made a captivating CD of 16 of the best-known songs by the Viennese composer, newly arranged for the ensemble. This is a must for fans of the ingenious Georg Kreisler and/or the Singphoniker.

OC1807£7.00

The Britannic Organ, Vol. 10The German Welte Organists and their Music

The focus is on German organists in Volume 10 of the Britannic Series. Amongst them are Otto Dunkelberg, Arno Landmann, Johannes Diebold, Kurt Grosse, Walter Fischer, Thaddäus Hofmiller, Gustav Knak and Karl Straube.

OC849£17.60 (2 CDs)

Gioacchino ROSSINI

The Thieving Magpie; 'La gazza ladra'

Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra, Choir of the Frankfurt Opera, Henrik Nánási

Oehms Classics presents The Thieving Magpie from the Frankfurt Opera in outstanding audio quality. OC961£24.00 (3 CDs)

OC689£9.00 (Hybrid SACD)

Anton BRUCKNER

Symphony No. 5 in B-flat Major, WAB 105 Hamburg Philharmonic, Simone Young

It is a bold undertaking to launch a Bruckner cycle in SACD quality. Dieter Oehms, with Simone Young and the Hamburg Philharmonic, have succeeded admirably!

Toivo KUULASouth Ostrobothnian Suites Nos. 1 & 2; Festive March; Prelude & Fugue

Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, Leif Segerstam

Toivo Kuula (1883-1918), a Finnish composer with significant melodic gifts and a private pupil of Sibelius, is best-known as a tragic national-romantic composer of vocal music. Although Kuula’s focus was in vocal music he took considerable interest in writing orchestral music and in his orchestral works he is often a conjurer of powerful Nordic moods. Kuula also had aims of becoming a symphonist but his untimely death left the project unfinished.

ODE 1270-2£9.00


BRIDGE 9445£9.00

George CRUMBComplete Crumb Edition, Vol. 17Voices from the Morning of the Earth; An Idyll for the Misbegotten; The Sleeper

Ann Crumb, Randall Scarlata, Rachel Rudich, David Colson, Paul Herrick, A. J. Matthews, Marcantonio Barone Orchestra 2001, James Freeman On Idyll for the Misbegotten, Crumb writes that ‘flute and drum are to me those instruments which most powerfully evoke the voice of nature. I have suggested that ideally (even if impractically) my Idyll should be heard from afar, over a lake, on a moonlit evening in August’. The Sleeper transforms Poe’s lugubrious meditation on a dead beloved into a haunting ode to a woman slumbering beneath the ‘mystic moon’.

BRIDGE 9452£9.00

Stefan WOLPEMusic of Stefan Wolpe, Vol. 7Second Piece for Violin Alone (1966); Duo for Two Violins, Op. 2 (1924); Two Studies for Two Violins and Piano (1933); Sonata for Violin and Piano (1949); Second Sonata for Violin and Piano (Fragment) (1958/59); Piece in Two Parts for Violin Alone (1964)Movses Pogossian, Susan Grace, Varty Manouelian

This remarkable collection of Wolpe’s music for violin(s) and piano includes several premiere recordings (the spectacular op. 2 Duo for two violins, the two studies of 1933, and the fragment of a second violin sonata). In addition it includes Wolpe’s two late violin solos, and his magnificent and epic 1949 Sonata for Violin and Piano.

SOMMCD 0152£7.29

Samuel BARBERChoral MusicBirmingham Conservatoire Chamber Choir, Paul Spicer

This fourth disc in SOMM’s series of recordings with Paul Spicer and his Birmingham Conservatoire Chamber Choir gives us most of Barber’s utterly beautiful, neo-Romantic choral music. He wrote a great deal of choral music in a traditional nineteenth-century tonal idiom, and there was no denying that Barber’s technical brilliance and emotional immediacy placed him at the forefront of American music.

SOMMCD 0153£7.29

Alexander GLAZUNOV; Jean SIBELIUS; Antonin DVOŘÁK

Violin Concerto in A minor, Op. 82; Six Humoresques for Violin & Orchestra; Violin Concerto in A minor, Op. 53

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Efi Christodoulou

The Glazunov and Dvořák Violin Concertos are often recorded together as a pair. They both derive their inspiration from Bohemia’s woods and fields whilst still remaining close to Brahmsian Viennese traditions. In addition Sibelius’s delightful Six Humoresques makes this a hugely enjoyable combination on CD.

CA21110£9.00

DJ SpookyRebirth of a NationKronos Quartet

Conceived as a reimagining of director D. W. Griffith’s infamously racist 1915 silent film The Birth of a Nation, Rebirth of a Nation is a controversial and culturally significant project that examines how ‘…exploitation and political corruption still haunt the world to this day, but in radically different forms… In an era where whistle-blowers like Julian Assange and Edward Snowden have shown us that perspective can truly alter global events’, Miller says, ‘we need more than ever to see the context that early cinema offers us’.

CD-16306£9.00

Ex SilentioMnemeMusic from the Mediterranean Countries

Ex Silentio

Ex Silentio play music from the Mediterranean countries from medieval times and early renaissance, from traditional sources as well as from art music like the ‘Cantigas de Santa Maria’. With music from different countries around the Mediterranean Sea they create a vivid and colourful portrait of that time and culture, mixing dance music, songs and instrumental pieces. Ex Silentio recorded this CD in 2014 in an abandoned monastery on the small island of Tinos in Greece. The exceptional silence and secluded nature of the place helped a lot to create an intensive and mesmerizing album.

BRIDGE 9449£9.00

Paul HINDEMITHThe Long Christmas DinnerLibretto by Thornton WilderCamille Zamora, Sara Murphy, Jarrett Ott, Josh Quinn, Glenn Seven Allen, Catherine Martin, Kathryn Guthrie, Scott Murphree, American Symphony Orchestra, Leon Botstein

This is the premiere recording of the original English language version of Paul Hindemith’s final opera, The Long Christmas Dinner on a libretto by Thornton Wilder. This CD release includes complete librettos in English and German, and extensive background notes by Hindemith scholar Joel Haney, conductor Leon Botstein, and Tappan Wilder, nephew and literary executor of Thornton Wilder.

Highlight

of the month


Antonio VIVALDIThe Complete Viola D’Amore ConcertosRachel Barton Pine, Ars Antigua, Hopkinson Smith

The seductively charming sound of the Baroque-era viola d’amore takes centre stage in this new, all-Vivaldi recording with Billboard classical chart-topping violinist Rachel Barton Pine and the veteran Chicago-based period instrument ensemble Ars Antigua, making its Cedille label debut. Pine, Cedille’s all-time best-selling artist, and Ars Antigua perform all eight of Vivaldi’s virtuosic concertos for viola d’amore, an unusual instrument of the violin family with 14 strings: seven played with the bow, the others resonating passively for a sweet, silvery tone.

CDR 90000 159£9.00

IlluminationsBenjamin BRITTEN: Three Divertimenti; Claude DEBUSSY: String Quartet in G minor, Op. 10; Stacy GARROP: String Quartet No. 4: Illuminations; Osvaldo GOLIJOV: Tenebrae

Avalon String Quartet

The Avalon String Quartet, ‘a remarkably fine ensemble’ (The Strad), makes its Cedille Records debut with an irresistible and richly varied program of captivating works by Claude Debussy, Benjamin Britten, Osvaldo Golijov, and rising American composer Stacy Garrop.

CDR 90000 156£9.00

Frederic RZEWSKIThe People United Will Never Be Defeated!36 Variations on ‘El Pueblo Unido Jamas Sera Vencido’

Ursula Oppens, Jerome Lowenthal

Frederic Rzewski’s The People United Will Never Be Defeated! is a set of 36 variations on a popular Chilean protest song from the era of Augusto Pinochet’s repressive right-wing military dictatorship.

CDR 90000 158£9.00

Eighth BlackbirdFilamentBryce DESSNER: Omie Wise; Young Emily; Dark Holler; Wave the Sea; Brushy Fork; Pretty Polly; Tears for Sister Polly; Nico MUHLY: Doublespeak; Son LUX: To Love; This is My Line; Philip GLASS: Two Pages

Eighth Blackbird

Celebrated new-music sextet eighth blackbird, whose last three Cedille Records albums garnered Grammy awards, continues to soar with Filament, a sizzling selection of four-world premiere recordings, plus a concert performance of Philip Glass’s influential Two Pages.

CDR 90000 157£9.00

Pietro MASCAGNI: Rapsodia Satanica; Nino ROTA: Il Gattopardo

Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Frank Strobel

Pietro Mascagni’s single work for the early days of cinema was composed in winter time 1914/15. The idea of the film director Nino Oxilia was to create a ‘Poema cine-musicale’, a synthesis of the arts with music, poetry and finally cinematography. The plot is something like a female version of Faust, based on a poetry by Fausto Maria Martini. The French-German TV channel Arte restored this treasure of early cinema in 2006 and recorded the complete film music score which is now available also on CD.

C5246£9.00

Henri DUTILLEUXSymphony No. 1 (1951); Deux Sonnets de Jean Cassou (1954) for Baritone and Orchestra; Métaboles (1964)

Paul Armin Edelmann, Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Karl-Heinz Steffens

Henri Dutilleux, named as the ‘van Gogh of classical music’ (Die Welt), has been a long time of his artistic life a maverick, dreamy and stubborn man, ‘composing colours’ as he looked for his own style between tradition and modernism. This CD offers the rarely performed First symphony, Deux Sonnets de Jean Cassau and the much better known Métaboles.

C5242£9.00

CR6021-2£9.00 (CD)

Fenella HUMPHREYSBach 2 The FutureBach, Ysaÿe & Contemporary works for solo violin

Fenella Humphreys

Take one motivated and talented young British violinist, inspired by the solo violin music of JS Bach, and mix with some of the best British composing talent of today and the result is: Fenella Humphreys’ Bach 2 the Future.

CHRCD102£7.29

Down in the Deep Deep BlueVarious Swing ChartsThe Man Overboard Quintet: Thomas Gould, Ewan Bleach, Louisa Jones, Dave O’Brien, Jean-Marie Fagon

Man Overboard Quintet’s first album, All Hands on Deck was a huge success, with ‘violin playing worthy of Grappelli on a disc of pre-war swing tunes’ (The Strad). This new collection steers away from more famous names in the American songbook and delves deeper under the surface.

CHRCD089£7.29

CR6021-6£13.88 (DVD Audio)

Frédéric CHOPINAdolfo Barabino – Chopin Vol. 4Concerto for Piano & Orchestra No. 2 in F minor Op. 21; Berceuse Op. 57; Mazurka Op. 17 No. 4 in A minor; Mazurka Op. 24 No. 1 in G minor; Mazurka Op. 63 No. 2 in F minor; Mazurka No. 3 in C-sharp minor; Mazurka Op. 68 No. 2 in A minor; Mazurka Op. 68 No. 4 in F minor

Adolfo Barabino, London Symphony Orchestra, Lee Reynolds

An artist who combines a refined tone and superb technique with profound intellectual and emotional understanding, Adolfo Barabino is building a reputation as one of the finest interpreters of Chopin of his generation.


Lars MØLLERReWrite of SpringDavid Liebman, Marilyn Mazur, Aarhaus Jazz Orchestra

ReWrite of Spring is a tribute to Igor Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring – one of the iconic modern masterpieces of music with decisive influence on the development of jazz music. This is the first major project from internationally renowned saxophonist, composer and conductor Lars Møller’s pen as director of the Aarhus Jazz Orchestra. With melodic, rhythmic and dramatic inspiration from Stravinsky, ReWrite of Spring spans transparency and ambiguity, virility and funk, exploiting the full expressive palette of one of northern Europe’s best big bands and topped by contributions from two world-class musicians, saxophonist David Liebman and percussionist Marilyn Mazur.

8226117-18£18.00 (2 CDs)

Thomas KINGOThomas Kingo’s Sacred Song BooksMorning Songs from ‘Aandelige Siunge-Koor’ First Part; ‘Aandelige Siunge-Koor’ Second Part; Evening Songs from ‘Aandelige Siunge-Koor’ First Part

Jakob Bloch Jespersen, Else Torp, Phemius Consort

On this release, Phemius Consort presents a selection of the most beautiful Kingo hymns as they were originally intended: as songs with accompaniment, here supplemented by instrumental music by closely related European composers of the period.

8226121£9.00

Alieva & AntonenkoGiuseppe VERDI: ‘Celeste Aida’ from Aida; ‘Ritorna Vincitor’ from Aida; ‘In Questa Tomba’ from Aida; Aria and Miserere from Il Trovatore; Giacomo PUCCINI: ‘Recondita a’ from Tosca; ‘Vissi d’arte’ from Tosca; ‘E Lucevan le Stelle’ from Tosca; ‘Mario, Mario, Mario’ from Tosca; Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY: Herman’s Aria – ‘Kravasita! Boginya! Angel!’ from Queen of Spades; Lisa’s Aria – ‘Uzh Polnoch Blizitsya’ from Queen of Spades; Duet: ‘A Yesli Mne v Otvet’ from Queen of Spades

Dinara Alieva, Aleksandrs Antonenko, Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra, Kaunas State Choir, Constantine Orbelian

With this sonically stunning release, Delos offers a winning selection of show-stopping arias and duets as performed by two of the most exciting opera singers of the rising generation, complemented to perfection by the acclaimed Kaunas City Symphony under the assured baton of ‘singer’s conductor’ Constantine Orbelian.

DE 3477£9.00

SolitudeFranz SCHUBERT: Introduction and Variations on ‘Trockne Blumen’, D.802; Lowell LIEBERMANN: Sonata for Flute and Piano, Op. 23; Magnús Blöndal JÓHANNSSON: Solitude, for Solo Flute; Sergei PROKOFIEV: Sonata for Flute and Piano, Op. 94

Stefán Ragnar Höskuldsson, Michael McHale

In addition to being the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra’s principal flutist, Iceland native Stefán Ragnar Höskuldsson has forged a distinguished simultaneous career as a soloist and chamber musician. In this, his debut solo CD, he offers a truly impressive and varied program of classic works for flute and piano by mainstream composers, plus a haunting novelty for unaccompanied flute. Michael McHale, one of Ireland’s leading all-around pianists, offers sensitive and expert collaboration in this beautifully recorded album.

DE 3447£9.00

Mary MCAULIFFEReturn to Old IrelandGloria!; Leaving: A Famine Victim’s Cry of Desolation; A Dawn Song; The Drifter; Down by the Salley Gardens; When You Are Old; Return to Old Ireland

Various artists

In this, the first commercial recording of contemporary Irish Composer Mary McAuliffe’s heartfelt and moving music, Delos presents a theme album of sorts. Its two most substantial works recount the wrenching departure of untold thousands of Irish folk to America during the ‘Great Hunger’ famine of the 1840s – and the Emerald Isle’s persistent ‘calling home’ of her sons and daughters to the land of their forbears ever since.

DE 1046£7.00

Adrianne Pieczonka sings Strauss and WagnerRichard STRAUSS: Rote Rosen, WoO. 76 ‘Red Roses’; Begegnung, WoO. 72 ‘Encounter’; Die Nacht, Op. 10, No. 3 ‘The Night’; Einerlei, Op. 69, No. 3 ‘Sameness’; Befreit, Op. 39, No. 4 ‘Released’; Zueignung, Op. 10, No. 1 ‘Dedication’; Du Meines Herzens Krönelein, Op. 21. No. 2 ‘You, My Heart’s Coronet’; Ruhe, Meine Seele! Op. 27, No. 1 ‘Rest, My Soul!’; Traum Durch die Dämmerung, Op. 29, No. 1 ‘Dream Into Dusk’; Meinem Kinde, Op. 37, No. 3 ‘To My Children’; Nichts, Op. 10, No. 2 ‘Nothing’; Morgen! Op. 27, No. 4 ‘Tomorrow!’; Richard WAGNER: Wesendonck-Lieder, WWV 91

Adrianne Pieczonka, Brian Zeger

Praised for her ‘impeccably pure and iridescent voice’ (Financial Times), soprano Adrianne Pieczonka blesses us with a captivating and varied program of songs by Strauss and Wagner. Adrianne delivers this varied and sumptuous fare with conspicuous emotional depth and luxuriant vocal tone.

DE 3474£9.00

Light of Gold – Cappella SF ChristmasRagnar BOHLIN: Veni, Veni, Emmanuel; Go Tell It On the Mountain; Michael PRAETORIUS: Psallite Unigenito; Mårten JANSSON: Lo, How a Rose; Bartholomeus GESIUS and J.S. BACH: In Dulci Jubilo; Hanns MIESSNER: Silent Night; David WILCOCKS: Ding, Dong! Merrily on High; The First Nowell Benjamin BRITTEN: Balulalow; This Little Babe; John RUTTTER: Candlelight Carol; Ward SWINGLE: Audete, Gaudete; Fredrik SIXTEN: There Is No Rose; The Song of the Star; Folke BOHLIN: Look! Shepherds of Bethlehem; Gustav NORDQVIST: Jul, Jul, Strålande Jul; David CONTE: Patapan; O Magnum Mysterium; Eric WHITACRE: Lux Aurumque; Barlow BRADFORD; Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Cappella Sf, Ragnar Bohlin

This marvellous holiday program, with music spanning more than a millennium, has something for everybody. In addition to beloved traditional seasonal standards in striking arrangements, listeners will also take great delight in both original compositions and arrangements from top-tier English and American composers as well as leading choral masters from Bohlin’s native country of Sweden.

DE 3485£9.00


Lagrime MieArcangelo CORELLI: Concerto Grosso in G minor, Op. VI No. 8 ‘Christmas Concerto’; Barbara STROZZI: ‘Lagrime mie, a Che Vi Trattenete?’ From Diporti di Euterpe, Op. VII; Frencesco GEMINIANI: ‘Follia’ from Concerti Grossi; Claudio MONTEVERDI: ‘Vi Ricorda o Boschi Ombrosi’ from L’Orfeo; ‘Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda’ from Madrigali Guerrieri er Amorosi; Henry PURCELL: ‘Chaconne’ from The Fairy Queen; ‘Thy Hand, Belinda… When I Am Laid in Earth’ (Dido’s Lament) from Dido and Aeneas; Giambattista MARTINI: Concerto a Quattro Pieno in D major; Georg Friedrich HÄNDEL: ‘Lascia Ch’io Pianga’ from Rinaldo

Anna Caterina Antonacci, Accademia degli Astrusi, Federico Ferri

CNT 2094£7.29

Roman STATKOWSKIToccata, Op. 33; Six Préludes, Op. 37; Four Mazurkas, Op. 34; Six Immortelles, Op. 19; Six Pièces, Op. 16

Barbara Karaśkiewicz

Barbara Karaśkiewicz graduated from the University of Music in Katowice, Poland then completed her Ph.D. at the University of Warsaw. She has performed all over Europe and South America with a broad repertoire and is a champion of rarely-heard composers. Her affinity with the music of Statkowski is perfect. His music is brilliant, melodic and catches the attention at once. This is her fourth album and her second recording of several of the pieces.

DDA25129£7.95

Isn’t This A Time?William O. SMITH: Reflection; Epitaphs; Barney CHILDS: Sleep and Then Going On (After Peter Warlock); Eric P. MANDAT: Etude for Barney; Christian WOLFF: For One, Two or Three People; Dark as a Dungeon; Isn’t This a Time?; John CAGE: Clarinet Sonata; Merle TRAVIS: Dark as a Dungeon; Tom JOHNSON: Bedtime Stories No. 12

Ian Mitchell

The composers on this album range from the iconic John Cage to specialists working with new clarinet techniques such as Eric Mandat, via the great William O. Smith (also known as jazz legend Bill Smith). There is a lot of variety here, within the context of a generally provocative and avant-garde collection; some of the Smith works have narrative; two are extensions of works by Peter Warlock and Merle Travis, and in some Mitchell plays the Double Clarinet, a rare beast indeed.

MSV28553£7.95

Galina USTVOLSKAYA12 Preludes (1953); Sonata No. 1 (1947); Sonata No. 2 (1949); Sonata No. 3 (1952); Sonata No. 4 (1957); Sonata No. 5 (1986); Sonata No. 6

Natalia Andreeva

Galina Ustvolskaya (1919-2006) is becoming a cult figure in her native Russia and beyond. A person of intense humility, shyness and introspection, her music is the opposite: dramatic, often aggressive, with pounding rhythms that make it totally unique. This recording contains her entire output for solo piano. Russian pianist Natalia Andreeva has taken a special interest in the work of Ustvolskaya, beginning her ‘life-project’ in Chicago in 2006 and her PH.D thesis in Piano Performance was based on the interpretation of Ustvolskaya’s music.

DDA25130£7.95

Orchestral ConcertThomas FORTMANN: Symphony No. 2 ‘Etruria’; Robert NELSON: Capriccio for Violin and Orchestra; Peter LIEUWEN: Astral Blue; Percy GRAINGER: A Lincolnshire Poser

Andrzej Grabiec, Moores Symphony Orchestra of Houston, Franz Anton Krager

Four major world premieres – two from American composers, one by a Swiss and one American orchestration of a well-loved Percy Grainger fantasy – includes the Second Symphony of Thomas Fortmann, inspired by the Tuscan landscape but enlivened by jazz, rock rhythms, and pastoral idylls within a traditional four movement work in Fortmann’s typically unrestrained way. Peter Lieuwen and Robert Nelson’s works are very much of today but speak to a wide audience and the Australian Percy Grainger’s so-English ‘Lincolnshire Posy’ is given an American makeover in its new orchestration by Merlin Patterson.

MSV28554£7.95

Francesco CILEAL’ArlesianaDramma Lirico in Three Acts

Various artists

A rare opera by the great Italian composer Francesco Cilea. Its famous aria ‘Il lamento di Federico’ has always been a favourite with tenors of all times. This recording also features the aria for tenor, ‘Una mattina’, written by Cilea for the opera’s first version and then lost, here in world première recording.

CDS7688/1-2£18.00 (CD)

Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART; Arr. Johann Nepomuk HUMMELMozart after MozartPiano Concerto in B-flat major KV 456; Piano Concerto in D minor KV 466

Bruno Hurtado Gosalvez, Johannes Gebauer, Leonardo Miucci, Martin Skamletz

Hummel’s affinity with Mozart’s musical language began in 1786, when the very young Johann Nepomuk lodged with the Mozart family in their home for two years. Here, the young musician participated in the public and private life of the composer, coming into direct contact with all the works that emerged during those years, which were indisputably among the most fertile of Mozart’s entire career.

CDS7723£9.00


Johann Sebastian BACHThe Art of Fugue BWV 1080Schaghajegh Nosrati

The ease with which the young pianist Schaghajegh Nosrati plays Bach has impressed great musicians like Sir András Schiff and Robert Levin. They describe her performance as convincing and as exceptionally moving. Now we too, thanks to Nosrati’s debut on Genuin Classics, can bear witness to her exceptionally mature art of interpretation.

GEN15374£9.00

Wolfgang Amadeus MOZARTMozart Piano SonatasSonata No. 16 in C major, K. 545; Sonata No. 11 in A major ‘Alla Turca’, K.331; Sonata No. 12 in F major, K. 332

Jennifer Lim

The young Asian-Canadian pianist Jennifer Lim can already boast of an impressive career and is much in demand as an inquisitive, sensitive artist. Now she is appearing with her debut Genuin Classics CD.

GEN15371£9.00

En Sol – Musique Pour Le Roi-SoleilJean-Henry D’ANGLEBERT: Prelude in G minor; Aid d’Apollon du Triomphe de l’Amour; Chaconne de Phaeton; Gigue Mr de Lully; Passacaille d’Armide; Sarabande Dieu des Enfers; François COUPERIN: Troisiéme Prélude; Allemende L’Auguste; Premiére Courante; Seconde Courante; Sarabande la Majestueuse; Gavotte; Gigue La Milordine; Les Baricades Mistérieuses; Septiéme Prélude; Élisabeth-Claude Jacquet de LA GUERRE: Prélude in G minor; Louis COUPERIN: Passacaille in G minor; Passacaille in C major; Tombeau de Monsieur de Blancrocher; Gaspard Le ROUX: Prélude; Allemande; Courante; La Bel-ébat; La Piece Sans Titre; Gigue; Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace ROYER: Le Vertigo

Rebecca Maurer

GEN15352£9.00

Original Works for Four Horns and OrchestraLeopold MOZART: Sinfonia di Caccia in G major ‘Jagdsinfonie’ for Four Horns, Strings and Shotgun; Robert SCHUMANN: Concertpiece in F major for Four Horns and Orchestra, Op. 86; Trygve MADSEN: Sinfonia Concertante for Four Horns and Orchestra, Op. 153

german hornsound, Bamberger Symphoniker, Michael Sanderling

Once again, the four gentlemen of german hornsound open the gates to horn heaven wide open for us. And this time, on their third Genuin Classics CD, they present original compositions exclusively written for their formation and orchestra. One of the pieces, the Sinfonia Concertante by Trygve Madsen, was specifically written for the exceptional quartet and has found its way onto a CD for the first time.

GEN15370£9.00

Areshet SefateinuYossele ROSENBLATT; Ben Zion SHENKER; Jehoschua WIEDER; David WERDGER and more

Shmuel Barzilai, S.F.Y. Philharmonic Orchestra & Choir

Since 1992, Jerusalem-born tenor Shmuel Barzilai has been Chief Cantor of the Vienna Jewish Community. On his forthcoming CD he presents songs and prayers by Yossele Rosenblatt, Ben Zion Shenker, Jehoschua Wieder and David Werdyger among others. These traditional religious chants, written for holy days of the Jewish liturgy, permit a closer view on the Yiddish Neshome, the Jewish Soul and display one key element of Hasidic Judaism, embraced by the following line from the Talmud: ‘The prayer is to be recited where there is song’ (Berakoth 6a).

99080£9.00

A Tribute to Bill EvansMonika Lang Trio: Monika Lang, Wolfgang Reisinger, Uli Langthaler

The Evans idea of freedom and equality of the united artists is also and even especially (just as in Evans’s case) based on an immense knowledge of classical music. Therefore, Monika Lang is able to draw on her several experiences in the field of chamber music with her specific communication among the musicians. Quite clandestinely, the band has also compiled a so far fragmentary musical biography of Bill Evans.

99087£9.00

Wolfgang Amadeus MOZARTMozart on the BeachConcerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 21 in C major, K 467; Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 9 in E flat major, K 271; Adagio in C major

Paul Badura-Skoda, Cannes Symphony Orchestra, Wolfgang Dörner

Paul Badura-Skoda, worldwide renowned interpreter of Viennese classicism and Austria’s most senior active pianist, is releasing another new recording, following the trilogy of Mozart’s piano sonatas.

99067£9.00


Philip GLASS (b. 1937)

Glassworlds Vol. 2Complete Etudes Nos. 1-20

Nicolas Horvath

Two decades of musical evolution and discovery lie behind Philip Glass’ 20 Etudes. They explore a variety of textures, tempi, and techniques and distil intensely intimate personal statements to their purest elements. Steinway artist Nicolas Horvath has in recent years become one of the most sought after pianists of his generation and holds a number of awards, including First Prize of the Scriabin and the Luigi Nono International Competitions.

GP690£9.00

Leopold KOŽELUCHComplete Keyboard SonatasPiano Sonata No. 17 in C major, Op. 15, No. 2, P. XIII: 18 (1785); Piano Sonata No. 18 in A-flat major, Op. 15 No. 3, P. XIII: 19 (1785); Piano Sonata No. 19 in F minor, Op. 17, No. 1, P. XII: 20 (1785); Piano Sonata No. 20 in A major, Op. 17, No. 2, P. XII: 21 (1785)

Kemp English

A native of Bohemia, Leopold Koželuch made his name in Vienna, a thriving musical centre dubbed ‘the land of the Clavier’ by Mozart. The sonatas in this volume all appeared in 1784, meeting the challenge of Mozart’s popularity head-on.

GP646£9.00

Louis AUBERTSillages; Violin Sonata; Habanera (Version for Piano 4 Hands); Feuille D’Images

Jean-Pierre Armengaud, Alessandro Fagiuoli, Oliver Chauzu

A pupil of Fauré, Louis Aubert moved in the same circles as Ravel, Debussy and Koechlin, and was considered in his day to be one of the most original French composers. Jean-Pierre Armengaud has enjoyed a long international career as a pianist, with a series of important and acclaimed recordings. Alessandro Fagiuoli specialises in contemporary music with the Paul Klee Quartet, with which he is first violinist and soloist. Olivier Chauzu trained at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris, where he obtained First Prize for Piano followed by First Prize in Chamber music.

GP648£9.00

C. P. E. BACH

Complete Flute Sonatas Dorothea Seel, Christoph Hammer The sensitivity and expressiveness of CPE Bach’s highly personal musical language are beautifully realised on Dorothea Seel’s copy of a late-Baroque Traverse flute, with vivid accompaniments provided by Christoph Hammer on a period fortepiano.

98.057£11.90 (2 CDs)

DOHNÁNYI; LIEBERMANN; SCHÜTT; BAUER; STARK; FRIEDMAN Transfigured Brahms Petronel Malan In this fifth and last episode of the ‘transfigured’ series, Petronel Malan dedicates herself, following Bach, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and Mozart, to the works of Johannes Brahms. The various composers featured on this disc put Brahms four handed chorales, tunes, and works into versions that can be performed on solo piano.

98.051£9.00

Robert SCHUMANN Kinderszenen; Novelletten Florian Uhlig In this, the 9th instalment of the series, Florian Uhlig draws toward the conclusion of the first truly complete edition of Schumann’s two handed piano music. With the Kinderszenen Op. 15 and the Novelleten Op. 21 as well as hitherto neglected pieces Uhlig explores the musical relationship of Robert and Clara. Joachim Draheim’s en-tertaining booklet notes are a treasure trove of knowledge that will delight both the Schumann scholar and the casual listener.

98.059£9.00

Béla BARTÓK The Complete Works for Solo Piano, Vol. 2: The Romantic Bartok Andreas Bach With this latest release, Andreas Bach focuses on Bartok’s Romantic roots with the works that originated in his early period and were based primarily on the German Romantic tradition. These include the 'Funeral March' from Kossuth arranged by Bartok, the Rhapsodie Sz. 26, 2 Elegies, and 4 piano pieces.

98.043£9.00


The Vienna-based label KAIROS was founded by Barbara Fränzen and Peter Oswald in 1999 and, in 2015, became a part of the paladino media group. Since its foundation, KAIROS has developed its distinct artistic profile and is dedicated to the adventure of exploring Contemporary Music in an uncompromising manner, with utter conviction that Contemporary Music is essential to human life.

Liszt InspectionsMarino Formenti

Pianist Marino Formenti, one of the foremost performers of contemporary music, takes the listener on a dazzling excursion through thirty works of thirteen composers, through three centuries and two continents – all based on the mutual and deep connection to the music of Franz Liszt.

0013292KAI£11.10 (2 CDs)

Dawning TogetherClaudia Tesorino, Armin Thalheim

On Dawning Together, German-Canadian saxophonist Claudia Tesorino teams up with Berlin-based organist Armin Thalheim to create new sound-worlds. By experimenting with traditional and non-traditional forms, the duo create something completely unique in free improvisations.

KL1410£7.29

Georgy SVIRIDOVPoem to the Memory of Sergei Yesenin; My Father is a Peasant; Wooden RussiaGeorgy Sviridov, Alexei Maslennikov, Igor Morozov, The State Republican Academic RussianYurlov Choir, The Symphony Orchestra of the Leningrad State Philharmonic Society, Yuri Temirkanov, Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gennady Rozhdestvensky

The premiere of the Poem to the Memory of Sergei Yesenin took place in 1956, in Moscow and was a new milestone in Georgy Sviridov’s career. Soon after completion of the poem, the composer wrote the cycle My Father Is a Peasant for tenor, baritone and piano. Wooden Russia, a small cantata for tenor, men’s choir and orchestra was composed in 1964 and completes this collection.

MELCD 1002336£7.25

Nikolai RIMSKY-KORSAKOVMozart and Salieri; The Noblewoman Vera ShelogaVarious artists, The Orchestra of the USSR State Academic Bolshoi Theatre, Mark Ermler

In Mozart and Salierir Rimsky-Korsakov did not change anything in Pushkin’s text turning the opera into a continuous dialogue of two characters: the symbolically generalized figures of the genius and the envious one. The Noblewoman Vera Sheloga tells a story of secret love between the young Ivan the Terrible and a young Boyarynia. Both were recorded in 1986.

MELCD 1002344£7.25

Sergei TANEYEVOrchestral and Choral Works by Sergei TaneyevAndrey Korsakov, Academic Choir of the USSR All-Union Radio, USSR State Academic Symphony Orchestra, Evgeny Svetlanov

The Cantata John of Damascus is Taneyev’s first composition endowed with artistic maturity and is dedicated to the memory of his teacher Nikolai Rubinstein. His Symphony No. 4 is a masterpiece of instrumental music, where the traditional structure of sonata-symphonic cycle is filled with intense dramatic movement ‘from the darkness to the light’. The collection also features a refined concert suite for violin and orchestra and the symphonic entr’acte from the opera Oresteia.

MELCD 1002374£11.10 (2 CDs)

Maestro Vladimir SpivakovAnniversary EditionVladimir Spivakov & various artists

Melodiya presents an anniversary set dedicated to the 70th birthday of legendary violinist Vladimir Spivakov. The 5-CD set features Vladimir Spivakov as both soloist and conductor on recordings made from the 1970s to 1990s. Spivakov’s unreleased concert recordings from the 4th International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1970 are of particular interest.

MELCD 1002300£15.35 (5 CDs)

Johann Sebastian BACH‘Me-Su-Bach’ Partitas Nos. 1, 2 & 6

Edna Stern

This is Edna Stern’s 8th album, and her previous releases have won awards including the Diapason Decouverte.

ORC100050£9.00


Modest MUSSORGSKY Pictures at an Exhibition

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Grzegorz Nowak

A celebration of Mussorgsky’s greatest orchestral masterworks, performed with panache by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and their Permanent Associate Conductor Grzegorz Nowak.

RPOSP039£5.55

Auf! A SOUND TREKClemens Kölbl, Andreas Teufel

This double CD is an innovative Lieder recital, in which Peter Rösner‘s sound design takes the listener from one song to the next, on an imaginary journey through nature and civilization. Pianist Andreas Teufel uses a 1912 Bösendorfer Grand, the unique sound quality of which adds to the exciting listening experience of this special album.

OR0019£9.00

ImagesClaude DEBUSSY: Images (Vol. 1 & 2); Jean-Philippe RAMEAU: Suite in A minor/major

Sabine Weyer

Sabine Weyer, a young pianist from Luxemburg, presents her debut recording: Images. She combines Debussy’s all-time favourite with Rameau’s Suite in A Minor/Major, thus showing not only her own love for French keyboard music, but also the connection between the two masters of their respective eras.

OR0015£9.00

Frédéric CHOPIN Sonata No. 2; Preludes Op. 28

Natalia Rehling

Polish-born Chopin specialist Natalia Rehling plays two monumental piano works of her fellow countryman Frédéric Chopin on an original Graf fortepiano just like the one that Chopin himself used when he performed in Vienna in the 1830s. Listen to unheard transparency and colours, and adventure into the history of piano performance. PMR0059

£9.00

Francis POULENC Chamber Music

Violin Sonata; Flute Sonata; Sonata for Two Pianos; Improvisations

Kolja Lessing, Henrik Wiese, Eva-Maria May, Alexander Wienand

Francis Poulenc’s Violin and Flute Sonatas and his Sonata for Two Pianos are some of the most popular chamber works of the 20th century. This exciting new recording by four of Germany’s foremost musicians highlights both their similarities and their differences.

PMR0049£9.00


Franz Xaver GEBEL String Quartets Hoffmeister Quartet

The Gebel biographer, Ernst Stöckl, reported that while there were at least three string quartets by Gebel, he was familiar with only the Quartet in D major, which appeared in Peters publishing house in Leipzig in 1817-1818. Stöckl was unable to find any of Gebel’s later quartet compositions mentioned in contemporary discussions about concerts, despite persistent research and requests in Russian libraries. Thus it was a real stroke of luck when we discovered the printed music of the previously unknown Quartet in E-flat major in the City Library of Hanover.

PH15031£5.55

Joseph HAYDN; Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART; George Frideric HANDELPiano Sonatas and Suites

Evgeni Koroliov

PH15021£22.20 (4 CDs)

Stephen PAULUSFar in the Heavens: Choral Music of Stephen PaulusTrue Concord Voices & Orchestra, Eric Holtan

Stephen Paulus (1949-2014) was hailed as ‘a bright, fluent inventor with a ready lyric gift’ by The New Yorker. A prolific composer of over 500 works, he wrote for orchestra, chorus, chamber ensembles, solo voice, keyboard and opera. Described as uniquely American, his musical language was characterized as ‘irresistible in kinetic energy and haunting in lyrical design’ by the Cleveland Plain Dealer, while The New York Times praised him for ‘melodic patterns that are fresh and familiar at the same time’.

FR-716£7.68

Gustav MAHLER Symphony No. 1 ‘Titan’ Utah Symphony Orchestra, Thierry Fischer

The Utah Symphony, celebrating its 75th anniversary, is one of America’s major symphony orchestras and a leading cultural organization in the Intermountain West. It is recognized internationally for its distinctive performances, commitment to music education programs and recording legacy. Reference Recordings is pleased to announce the release of this new and fresh performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, performed as part of the orchestra’s two-year Mahler Symphony Cycle.

FR-715£9.00

Alexander RASKATOV: Piano Concerto; Night Butterflies IGOR STRAVINSKY: The Rite of SpringTomoko Mukaiyama, Seattle Symphony Ludovic Morlot

Alexander Raskatov’s new Piano Concerto, written for pianist and performance artist Tomoko Mukaiyama and commissioned by the Seattle Symphony, is a major addition to the repertoire. By turns dramatic, poetic, startling and tender, it’s a journey into new sound-worlds, inspired by a childhood walk in the forest surrounded by butterflies. The work is appropriately coupled with innovative music from a previous Russian generation — Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring — captured live in an electrifying performance in June 2014 in Seattle’s Benaroya Hall.

SSM1005£9.00

Antonín DVOŘÁK: Symphony No. 9, ‘From the New World’ Edgard VARÈSE: Amériques Seattle Symphony, Ludovic Morlot

The latest release from the Seattle Symphony’s Grammy-nominated label is a provocative coupling of two great works by European composers reflecting their response to the vibrant culture of the New World. Varèse’s Amériques, written only 30 years after Dvořák’s beloved New World Symphony, is a pivotal masterpiece that changed the course of music forever. In live performances of electrifying energy, and recorded in stunning sound, this is a mind-bending combination of masterpieces.

SSM1006£9.00

Franz SCHUBERT

Symphony No. 7 & No. 8

Wiener Symphoniker, Philippe Jordan Philippe Jordan has already established himself as one of the most gifted and exciting conductors of his generation. At present, he is Music Director of the Opéra National de Paris and Music Director of the Wiener Symphoniker.

WS 009£9.00


CHOPIN; DOHNÁNYI Sonatas for Cello and Piano

Duo Arnicans

The debut album of Duo Arnicans presents an emotionally charged programme reflecting the personalities of the two artists. The Chopin waltz on this CD has special meaning for Florian and his wife. Arranged by Arta for cello and piano, it was performed by close friends as the couple’s personal wedding waltz in August 2014.

SM226£9.00

Illusion No-Ce

Illusion is a compilation of German songs originally performed by Marlene Dietrich, Zarah Leander, Hildegard Knef and Alexandra; it also includes compositions by Kurt Weill. These revived songs are monologues of a woman who lives in a world of illusions. In order to break free from those false images, she generates new illusions and fantasies to travel in her own chosen world; a world of trilingual monologues that show various emotional states and sentiments, mirrored in subtle ways of expression and playing with the fine differences of the French, German and English language.

SM227£9.00

Peter GREGSON Touch Peter Gregson

Touch follows Gregson’s previous album, Lights in the Sky. It comprises eight tracks for analogue synthesiser, cello, piano, and string orchestra.

DSL-92191£12.25 (Blu-ray Audio & CD)

Anna THORVALDSDOTTÍR In the Light of Air: ICE Performs Anna Thorvaldsdottír International Contemporary Ensemble

In the Light of Air is a tetralogy of works by Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottír that together forms a unified structure, written for viola, cello, harp, piano, percussion & electronics. The four main movements are titled Luminance, Serenity, Existence and Remembrance.

DSL-92192£12.25 (Blu-ray Audio & CD)

WatercolorShen Lu

Shen Lu has won numerous international piano competitions. His gold prize at the 2014 Hilton Head International Piano competition includes this collaboration with Steinway & Sons – a debut recording from an exceptional young artist. Watercolor highlights Shen Lu’s specialty in contemporary Chinese repertoire and his passion for the great French and Russian piano works of the 20th century. STNS 30039

£7.29

LISZT; WAGNER; BRAHMSSiegfried Idyll

David Deveau

This programme revolves around the rarely heard solo piano arrangement of Richard Wagner’s glorious Siegfried Idyll, and explores the relationships between Wagner, Liszt and Brahms.

STNS 30051£7.29

Alan FEINBERGFugue State Alan Feinberg

Alan Feinberg’s encore album to his celebrated 2013 Steinway release, Basically Bull. Alan Feinberg has received four Grammy nominations and has been widely acclaimed for his musical versatility, stylistic breadth of repertoire, and innovative programming.

STNS 30034£7.29


Fernando LOPES-GRAҪAComplete Music for String Quartet and Piano, Volume Two Piano Quartet; Fourteen Annotations; String Quartet No. 2

Olga Prats, Quarteto Lopes-Graça

The composer Fernando Lopes-Graça (1906–94) was something of a Portuguese Shostakovich: as a committed socialist, he faced repression from Salazar’s right-wing dictatorship; his works were banned and he was stripped of his official positions. Lopes-Graça responded in music, evolving a feisty, wiry Bartókian style that drew on Portuguese folk-music.

TOCC 0254£9.00

Gabriel FAURÉ Mélodies Songs for Bass Voice and Piano

Jared Schwartz, Roy Howat

This collection of Fauré’s mélodies is the first recording to be conceived for a bass voice. It juxtaposes some of the composer’s best-loved songs with some of his lesser-known works.

TOCC 0268£9.00

Gregory ROSE Danse Macabre Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and Chamber Ensemble, Gregory Rose

The Danse Macabre – the idea that Death comes for everyone regardless of status or importance – has fascinated musicians for centuries. In 2011, inspired by a vast sixteenth-century painting by Bernt Notke in the Niguliste kirik (St Nicholas Church) in Tallinn, the English composer Gregory Rose (b. 1948) set the medieval German texts which sit below each pane, turning Notke’s terrifying vision into a bleak but grimly humorous ritual.

TOCC 0284£9.00

Ferenc FARKASChoral Music; Missa Secunda in honorem Sanctae Margaritae; Epigramma de suo libro; Hymnus ad Sanctum Emericum; Rubáiyát; Ének Szent Erzsébetről; Emmaus: Cantata after St Luke; Ave Maris Stella; Je Suis l’Archange de Dieu; Dans Cette Étable; Quittez Pasteurs; It Came Upon the Midnight Clear; Christmas Cantata

Ascolta Chamber Ensemble, Peter Broadbent

Toccata Classics continues its exploration of the music of the Hungarian composer Ferenc Farkas (1905–2000) with this selection from his huge output of choral music. It ranges in mood from the folk-like simplicity of the Missa Secunda in honorem Sanctae Margaritae and his bright carol settings via the asperity of some late a cappella pieces to the fresh and buoyant Christmas Cantata.

TOCC 0296£9.00

Ippolito GHEZZIOratori; Mottetti; LamentazioniCappella musicale di san Giacomo, Maggiore di bologna, Roberto Cascio

The sacred-music production of Ghezzi, an Augustinian friar who lived between the seventeenth century and the eighteenth, is collected almost in full in this box set containing the complete edition of his Oratorios, Psalms and Lamentations for the Holy Week.

TC 650770£13.80 (4 CD Box Set)

Raffaele BELLAFRONTE Guitar Works Davide di Ienno, Filippo Lattanzi, Patrick de Ritis, Aldo Ferrantini, Quartetto Guadagnini Bellafronte touches on many styles in his music: borrowing from various traditions of the past, he appropriates dance languages rooted in learned and folk music, ranging from the tarantella to the tango and waltz, and also pays tribute to exotic dances and Spanish music.

TC 960203£9.00

Simpler TimesSophisticated Lady Jazz Quartet

Sophisticated Lady Quartet—relaxed yet focused, tradition-based yet modern, elegant yet conveying a sure sense of swing. No splicing or editing here—just a live-in-the-studio recording where the mood, playing and sonics are so solid that jazz lovers will wish that the mostly-classical label Yarlung wandered over to this side of the street more often.

YAR65006£9.00

Avner DORMAN: Udacrep Akubrad; Diego SCHISSI: Juego de Relojes (Game of Clocks)

Derek TYWONIUK: Watch me vanish, watch me?; Happenstance; Maurice RAVEL: Sonatine

Smoke & Mirrors percussion ensemble

Smoke & Mirrors takes us on many journeys in this album. These are refreshingly fully-developed works, each very different from the others, each with its own story. As a whole, these pieces illustrate the breadth of contemporary classical music written for

percussionists, as well as the flexibility and virtuosity of Smoke & Mirrors. We recorded each piece live to tape with no editing, to create the most lifelike performance possible. Take heart in Smoke & Mirrors, who actually play this way (and this well) in real life.

YAR17255-195V£18.00 (LP)

Giovanni Battista SOMISSonate da Camera Opus II, for violin and continuo, 1723Roberto Nuferini, Chiara Cattani

This disc features the composers second opus, formed of three 12 part sonatas. These compositions combine the great cantabile quality of the Italian style with a sparkling virtuoso inventiveness.

TC 681908£9.00


The Carlos Acosta Collection Box SetHÉROLD: La Fille Mal Gardee (2005); PROKOFIEV: Romeo and Juliet (2007); MINKUS: Don Quixote (2013)

So memorably described as ‘a dancer who slashes across space faster than anyone else, who lacerates the air with shapes so clear and sharp they seem to throw off sparks’ (Independent), Carlos Acosta has been at the forefront of contemporary ballet since his arrival at the Royal Ballet in 1998. Here he sparkles in three of his most celebrated roles, showcasing his world class reputation as a dancer and choreographer, bolstered by outstanding co-stars and artists of the Royal Ballet.

OABD7186BD£23.76 (Blu-ray)

OA1169BD£20.41 (DVD)

Richard WAGNERWagner: The Bayreuth Edition Box setDie Meistersinger; Die Walküre; Der Fliegende Hollander; Lohengrin; Tannhaüser; Tristan und Isolde

Since its inception, Bayreuth has become the byword for innovative and daring productions. The six operas featured on this release are certainly no exception; showcasing the original sets, creative productions and outstanding singing that the opera house is famous for; they cement Bayreuth’s worldwide reputation for nurturing raw talent, and constantly striving for innovation.


OA1194BD£40.82 (DVD)

Giacomo PUCCINIGiacomo Puccini Box SetLa Bohème; Turandot; Tosca

The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, The Royal Opera Chorus, Andris Nelsons, Antonio Pappano, Andrei Serban

Three magnificent Royal Opera productions of three of Puccini’s greatest operas. John Copley’s iconic La Bohème brings the Paris of the 1830s to life in vivid detail; Jonathan Kent’s atmospheric and naturalistic Tosca evokes the turbulence of Rome in 1800; and Andrei Serban’s visually stunning Turandot is a glorious tribute to Puccini’s last and grandest creation. Featuring a host of international opera stars, this collection is brimming with the drama and sumptuous music that have made Puccini one of the world’s most popular opera composers.


OA1184BD£20.41 (DVD)

William SHAKESPEARELove’s Labour’s Lost

Royal Shakespeare Company, Sam Alexander, Peter Basham, William Belchambers, Edward Bennett, Nick Haverson, Emma Manton, John Hodgkinson, Tunji Kasim

Summer, 1914. In order to dedicate themselves to a life of study, the King and his friends take an oath to avoid the company of women for three years. No sooner have they made their idealistic pledge than the Princess of France and her ladies-in-waiting arrive, presenting the men with a severe test of their high-minded resolve. OABD7177D

£17.01 (Blu-ray)OA1185D£13.61 (DVD)

William SHAKESPEARE'Love’s Labour’s Won' or Much Ado about Nothing

Royal Shakespeare Company, Sam Alexander, David Horovitch, Edward Bennett, Michelle Terry, Tunji Kasim, Chris Nayak, Flora Spencer-Longhurst, Nick Haverson

Autumn, 1918. A group of soldiers returns from the trenches. The world-weary Benedick and his friend Claudio find themselves reacquainted with Beatrice and Hero. As memories of conflict give way to a life of parties and masked balls, Claudio and Hero fall madly, deeply in love, while Benedick and Beatrice reignite their own rather more combative courtship. Shakespeare’s comic romance plays out amidst the brittle high spirits of a post-war house party, as youthful passions run riot, lovers are deceived and happiness is threatened – before peace ultimately wins out.

OABD7178D£17.01 (Blu-ray)

OA1186D£13.61 (DVD)

Highlight

of the month

Highlight

of the month


William SHAKESPEARELove’s Labour’s

Royal Shakespeare Company

Containing Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost and Much Ado about Nothing, this double set features outstanding Royal Shakespeare Company productions available at mid-price for the very first time. NB individual titles will remain available at full-price. OABD7183BD

£26.50 (Blu-ray)OA1193BD£23.76 (DVD)

John LANCHBERRYThe Tales of Beatrix PotterRoyal Opera House

Victoria Hewitt, Ricardo Cevera, Johanthan Howells, Gemma Sykes, Gary Avis, Bennet Garside Royal Ballet, Royal Ballet Sinfonia, Paul Murphy

Created by Frederick Aston for a film in 1971, Tales of Beatrix Potter brings alive, with rich characterisation and invention, the famous images and stories of Beatrix Potter. Lanchberry’s music is utterly captivating, inspiring spirited playing from the Royal Ballet Sinfonia conducted by Paul Murphy, and Ashton’s warming witty, yet demanding choreography creates a piece of charm and grace for all ages.

OABD7058D£20.41 (Blu-ray)

OA1001D£17.01 (DVD)

Ballet for Children Box SetTCHAIKOVSKY: The NutcrackerASHTON: Tales of Beatrix PotterWHEELDON: Alice’s Adventures in WonderlandPROKOFIEV: Peter and the Wolf

This unique collection brings together four jewels of the Royal Ballet repertoire that will delight and captivate young viewers the world over. Prepare to be enchanted by the timelessly colourful characters of Beatrix Potter including Peter Rabbit and friends; swept up in the magical world of Clara and her beloved Nutcracker; dazzled by Alice’s weird and wonderful adventures in Wonderland; and spellbound by the action in Prokofiev’s classic Peter and the Wolf.

OA1096BD£30.60 (4 DVDs)

Klassik und Kalter KriegA film by Thomas ZINTL

Featuring: Helmut Schmidt, Peter Schreier, Kurt Masur, Theo Adam, Otmar Suitner, Jochen Kowalski, Christine Mielitz, Siegfried Matthus, Walter Felsenstein

In 1945, after the war had ended, the world split into East and West in political terms. The combination of art and dictatorship created an environment in which music-making of world quality was able to flourish. Through case studies of individuals who lived under the system, the documentary explores the fates of both the privileged and the non-privileged, and delivers insight into the influence of the political system on artistic life. The film includes interviews with contemporary witnesses both from GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG).

101793£13.61 (Blu-ray)

Ludwig van BEETHOVEN25 Years German Reunification: Symphony No. 9Venceslava Hruba-Freiberger, Doris Soffel, James Wagner, Gwynne Howell, The Gewandhaus Chorus and Orchestra, Kurt Masur

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the German reunification on October 3, 2015, Arthaus Musik combines two unique programmes in a 2 DVD Edition. The impressive documentary Classical Music and Cold War Musicians in the GDR by Thomas Zintl and the performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. 101794

£13.61 (2 DVDs)

Richard WAGNERThe Searchers of the GrailPlácido Domingo, Violeta Urmana, Matti Salminen, Nikolai Putilin, Valery Gergiev

What do Adolf Hitler, Harrison Ford and Plácido Domingo have in common? All three of them wanted to find the Holy Grail, the cup from which Jesus Christ drank at the Last Supper. Hitler identified himself with Parsifal on his quest for the Holy Grail. Harrison Ford alias Indiana Jones engages in a fierce race with the Nazis in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Plácido Domingo is considered to be one of the best performers ever of Richard Wagner’s Parsifal. This documentary aims to explore the phenomenon of the Holy Grail through Film, History, and Classical Music.

109081£10.40 (Blu-ray)

109075£10.40 (DVD)


Jules MASSENETWerther

Wiener Staatsoper 2005

Marcelo Álvarez, Elına Garanca, Adrian Eröd, Ileana Tonca, Alfred Šramek, Philippe Jordan

109140£10.20 (Blu-ray)

109139£10.20 (DVD)

Giuseppe VERDIRigoletto

Gran Teatre del Liceu 2004

Marcelo Álvarez, Inva Mula, Carlos Álvarez, Julian Konstantinov, Nino Surguladze, Jesús López-Cobos

109142£10.20 (Blu-ray)

109141£10.20 (DVD)

Giuseppe VERDISimon Boccanegra


Thomas Hampson, Cristina Gallardo-Domâs, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Miroslav Dvorský, Daniele Gatti

109144£10.20 (Blu-ray)

109143£10.20 (DVD)

Wolfgang Amadeus MOZARTLe nozze di Figaro

Teatro alla Scala 2006

Diana Damrau, Ildebrando D’Arcangelo, Pietro Spagnoli, Marcella Orsatti Talamanca, Monica Bacelli, Gérard Korsten

109146£10.20 (Blu-ray)

109145£10.20 (DVD)

Arrigo BOITOMefistofele

San Francisco Opera 1989

Samuel Ramey, Gabriela Benacková, Dennis O’Neill, Judith Christin, Maurizio Arena

109148£10.20 (Blu-ray)

109147£10.20 (DVD)


Antonín DVOŘÁKRusalka

English National Opera 1986

Eilene Hannan, Ann Howard, John Treleaven, Phyllis Cannan, Rodney Macann, Edward Byles, Mark Elder

Benjamin BRITTENGloriana

English National Opera, London Coliseum 1984

Sarah Walker, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Jean Rigby, Richard Van Allan, Elizabeth Vaughan, Alan Opie, Mark Elder

Richard WAGNERTannhäuser

Bayerische Staatsoper 1995

René Kollo, Waltraud Meier, Bernd Weikl, Nadine Secunde, Jan-Hendrik Rootering, Claes-Håkan Ahnsjö, Zubin Mehta

Giuseppe VERDINabucco


Leo Nucci, Maria Guleghina, Miroslav Dvorský, Giacomo Prestia, Marina Domashenko, Fabio Luisi

Modest MUSSORGSKYKhovanshchina


Nicolai Ghiaurov, Vladimir Atlantov, Yuri Marusin, Anatoly Kocherga, Paata Burchuladze, Ludmila Semtschuk, Claudio Abbado

Pietro MASCAGNI; Ruggero LEONCAVALLO Cavalleria Rusticana; Pagliacci José Cura, Paoletta Marrocu, Fiorenza Cedolins, Carlo Guelfi, Liliana Nikiteanu Orchestra and Chorus of the Zurich Opera House, Stefano Ranzani Two timeless stories of love, honour, justice and violence, Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncava’s Pagliacci are two of the most absorbing tragedies of Italian Music Theatre. In both, adultery, jealously and betrayal lead to passionate conflicts, expressed though a musical variety of great arias, short duets, and extraordinary choir passages that add to the depth of unveiled feeling.

109150£10.20 (Blu-ray)

109149£10.20 (DVD)

109152£10.20 (Blu-ray)

109151£10.20 (DVD)

109154£10.20 (Blu-ray)

109153£10.20 (DVD)

109158£10.20 (Blu-ray)

109157£10.20 (DVD)

109160£10.20 (Blu-ray)

109159£10.20 (DVD)

109170£5.55 (Blu-ray)


Isang YUNInbetween North and South Korea

Maria Stodtmeier

Filmed in North and South Korea, this documentary explores whether music can overcome the boundaries of a divided country. There is one figure representing the two Koreas, a figure whose life in itself forms a bridge between both worlds: Korean composer Isang Yun is one of the very few people acknowledged on both sides. The film traces the course of a life that has been interpreted in different ways, examining the worlds of North and South Korean music, taking the viewer on an exciting journey through two political systems that Isang Yun spent his life trying to reconcile.

Erik SATIESatiesfictions: Promenades with Erik Satie

Anne-Kathrin Peitz, Youlian Tabakov, Jean Cocteau, Man Ray, Henri Sauguet, Georges Auric, Pierre Bertin, Virgil Thomson, Steffen Schleiermacher, GrauSchumacher Piano Duo, Jean‐Pierre Armengaud, Patrick Le Mauff Armed with wisecracks, umbrella, and a bowler hat, Erik Satie was not only one of the strangest figures in the early 20th century French avant‐garde, he was a composer, designer, church founder, PR pioneer, and master of witty remarks. In playful episodes, the documentary illuminates the overall phenomenon of Satie. Divas, dogs, puppets and children, as well as pianists playing pianos stacked on top of each other, are fea-tured in scenic interludes. Interwoven with accounts by Satie’s associates and music experts, the film offers a unique insight into Satie’s cosmos of word and sound.

Gustav MAHLERSymphony No. 7

Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, Riccardo Chailly

‘It is my best work, with a primarily cheerful character’ was Gustav Mahler’s assessment of his Symphony No. 7. Riccardo Chailly’s internationally acclaimed interpretations of Mahler’s symphonies focus on the musical qualities of the works, eschewing false pathos and sentimentality while giving up none of the music’s dramatic intensity. ‘Mahler’s Seventh Symphony, in which the composer pulled out all expressive stops and revealed himself to be an innovative modernist, has seldom been as persuasive and direct as in Chailly’s interpretation’, said the Frankfurter Neue Presse.

Claudio MONTEVERDIMonteverdi in Mantua: The Genius of the Vespers

Simon Russell Beale, The Sixteen, Harry Christophers

The BBC’s celebrated Sacred Music journey continues with Monteverdi in Mantua - the story of a Renaissance duke and the composer who worked for him and how their volatile relationship would create one of the most revolutionary and beautiful collections of music ever published: The Monteverdi Vespers of 1610. The programme is presented by Shakespearean actor and former St Paul’s Cathedral chorister, Simon Russell Beale, whose enthusiasm for choral music is matched by his gift for storytelling.

ACC20208£13.61 (DVD)

ACC20312£13.61 (DVD)

COR16131£10.20 (DVD)

COR16137£20.41 (DVD & 2 CDs)

Highlight

of the month

ACC10309£20.41 (Blu-ray)

SoloFranco DONATONI: Omar; Brian FERNEYHOUGH: Bone Alphabet; Vinko GLOKOBAR: Corporel; Hans Werner HENZE: Five Scenes from the Snow Country; Pierre JODLOWSKI: Time and Money; Iannis XENAKIS: Psappha; Rebonds

Matthias Reumert

Our top-line release for 2015 is this awesome program which may be the first ‘music DVD’ devoted to contemporary percussion works. More than that, it has been produced with amazing graphics and visual enhancements as well as ‘straight’ video of the performances thanks to the fine work of top Danish movie director Christian Holten Bonke. Mathias Reumert is one of Europe’s foremost percussionists, and has been awarded the Danish Music Critics’ Prize for 2015.

MSVDX102£10.20 (DVD)

ACC20309£13.61 (DVD)


Francesco CILEAL’ArlesianaDramma Lirico in Three Acts

Francesco Cilluffo, Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana, Coro Lirico Matchigiano V. Bellini, Rosetta Cucchi, Sarah Bacon, Claudio Pernigotti, Annunziata Vestri, Dmitry Golovnin, Mariangela Sicilia, Stefano Antonucci, Valeriu Caradja, Christian Saitta, Riccardo Angelo Strano

An insane passion for a mysterious woman who, in the opera, is never shown. Federico wants her desperately, dreams of her, suffers for her, and step by step his mind begins to waver. The people around him try in vain to prevent this love from becoming a damning obsession. A rare opera by the great Italian composer Francesco Cilea. Its famous aria ‘Il lamento di Federico’ has always been a favourite with tenors of all times. This recording also features the aria for tenor, ‘Una mattina’, written by Cilea for the opera’s first version and then lost, here in world première recording.

Exhibition on Screen

The Impressionists – and the man who made themThe exhibition brings together Impressionist art accumulated by Paul Durand-Ruel, the nineteenth-century Parisian art collector. Degas, Manet, Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, Sisley, are among the artists that he helped to establish through his galleries in London, New York and Paris.

37688£15.65 (DVD)

57688£20.41 (Blu-ray)

SEV188£10.50 (DVD)

Waldbühne 2005: French NightHector BERLOIZ: Overture ‘Carneval Romain’ Op. 9; Claude DEBUSSY: Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune; Francis POULENC: Concerto for 2 Pianos and Orchestra in D minor; Camille SAINT-SAËNS: Carnival of the Animals for 2 Pianos & Orchestra; Paul DUKAS: Der Zauberlehring ('The Sorcerer’s Apprentice'); Maurice RAVEL: Bolero; Daphnis et Chloe ‘Danse Generale’; Erik SATIE: Gymnopedie No. 1

Katia & Marielle LabèqueBerliner Philharmoniker, Simon Rattle

The Waldbühne in Berlin, one of the most appealing outdoor amphitheatres on the European continent, is the home of the Berliner Philharmoniker’s summer concerts. With over 20,000 in attendance, they are some of the most popular classical music concerts in the world. In 2005 Simon Rattle conducts the Berliner Philharmoniker and the extraordinary pianists Katia and Marielle Labèque. The French born Labèque sisters are known not only for the seamlessness of their playing, but also for their superlative musicianship and extraordinary scope of repertoire.

Ludwig van BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 8 in F major, Op. 93

Robert SCHUMANN: Concert Piece for Four Horns and Orchestra in F major Op. 86

Franz LISZT: Symphonic Poem No. 3 ‘Les Préludes’

Richard WAGNER: Ride of the Valkyries

Dale Clavenger, Stefan Dohr, Ignacio García, Georg SchreckenbergerBerliner Philharmoniker and Chicago Symphony Orchestra Soloists, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Daniel Barenboim

A unique occasion: The Berliner Philharmoniker at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Berlin. Featuring a rare gem of Romantic music: Schumann’s Concert Piece for four horns, the present recording being the only DVD currently available on the market. Another rarity: an entirely instrumental performance of Richard Wagner’s ‘The Ride of the Valkyries’. The Staatsoper was the first Royal Court Opera ever to be constructed outside of a royal palace and today ranks among the most outstanding of Berlin’s cultural beacons.

2054378£17.01 (DVD)

2018258£12.25 (DVD)


Midsummer Night’s Gala 2014 – GrafeneggPopular classics from Opera, Musical, Operetta and Film Music; Pomp and Circumstance

Maurice RAVEL; Johann STRAUSS; Giacomo PUCCINI; Francesco CILÉA; Franz LEHÁR; Richard HEUBERGER; Gerónimo GIMÉNEZ; Lorenzo BARCELATA; Fernando VELASQUEZ; George GERSHWIN; Richard RODGERS; Friedrich HOLLAENDER; Edward ELGAR

Juanjo Mena, Angela Denoke, Ramón Vargas, Jean-Yves ThibaudetTonkünstler-Orchester, Yutaka Sado

Grafenegg, home to the world’s best orchestras, singers and musicians is set in the gorgeous wine-country landscape of Lower Austria. Here, the historic castle and its beautiful gardens play host to a spectacle of classical music inspired by nature. The Midsummer Night’s Gala takes a musical stroll through the romantic landscape of Wachau with the German top soprano Angela Denoke, the Mexican tenor Ramón Vargas and renowned pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet your ear.

Europakonzert 2015 from AthensGioacchino ROSSINI: ‘Semiramide’ Overture; Jean SIBELIUS: Violin Concerto D minor, Op. 47; Johann Sebastian BACH: ‘Largo’ from Sonata No. 3 in C major, BWV 1005; Robert SCHUMANN: Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 97 ‘Rhenish’

Lionidas KavakosBerliner Philharmoniker, Simon Rattle

The founding of the Berliner Philharmoniker on the first of May in 1882 is annually celebrated in a European city of cultural significance. In 2015 the Europakonzert takes place in Athens for the second time, with Leonidas Kavakos joining the Berliner Philharmoniker for the Sibelius Violin Concerto and Bach’s Largo from Sonata No. 3. The concert was a smash hit, stunning the audience on site in Athens. Soloist Leonidas Kavakos won the ECHO Klassik Award in 2013 as ‘Instrumentalist of the Year’.

2072788£12.25 (DVD)

2060894£20.41 (Blu-ray)

Benjamin BRITTENThe Complete String QuartetsString Quartets No. 1 in D major, Op. 25; No. 2 in C major, Op. 36; No. 3, Op. 94

Belcea Quartet: Corina Belcea, Axel Schacher, Kryzysztof Chorzelski, Antoine Lederlin

‘...this new set by the outstanding Belceas bids fair to become the recording of choice...’ (The Sunday Times). The Belcea Quartet is one of the world’s leading chamber music ensembles, having won many international accolades since its establishment in 1994. With the three string quartets by Benjamin Britten, the musicians have rediscovered a gem of twentieth-century chamber music. The String Quartets nos. 1, 2 and 3 were written over a period of 34 years; the third was Britten’s last major work, composed in 1975, just one year before his death.

2072768£17.01 (DVD)

2060898£17.01 (DVD)

Baroque Christmas

J. S. BACH: Excerpts from Christmas Oratorio and many other seasonal Bach standards

W. A. MOZART: ‘Et Incarnatus Est’, Mass in C-minor, KV 427

G. F. HÄNDEL: ‘He Shall Feed His Flock’, Messiah

Barbara Bonney, Matthias Goerne, Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, German Brass, The Freiburger Domsingknaben

The historic Freiburg Cathedral is the perfect setting for this recording of Baroque Christmas favourites. This recording will be the matching soundtrack for everybody’s Christmas and also makes for a very nice gift.

2016388£12.25 (DVD)


Joaquín RODRIGOShadows & Light – Rodrigo at 90Concierto de Aranjuez; Two films by Larry Weinstein

Pepe Romero, Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Neville Marriner

Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez can easily be considered the most Spanish of all compositions. The famous Adagio does not only sound from the church bells of Aranjuez, it has also been widely used in commercials, documentaries & feature films immediately evoking images of Spain in the listener’s imagination. The Concierto has also served as the foundation for Miles Davis’s album Sketches of Spain and was interpreted by artists as diverse as Deep Purple, Chick Corea and Paco de Lucia, reflecting the all-embracing nature of this composition. Rodrigo at 90 is an intimate portrait of Spain’s best known composer.

Bedřich SMETANAMá VlastSix Orchestral Poems; Má Vlast

Czech Philharmonic, Jiří Bělohlávek

Is there any more evocative piece of national music than Má Vlast (‘My Country’)? Smetana’s six orchestral poems - the most famous is The Moldau with its instantly recognizable melody and evocation of this great river - tell of Bohemia’s lands and legends. It is performed here by the Czech Philharmonic under the baton of Jiří Bělohlávek, live from the Prague Spring Festival 2014.

George GERSHWINWaldbühne 2003: A Gershwin NightIncludes the three most popular orchestral works by Gershwin

Marcus Roberts Trio, Berliner Philharmoniker, Seiki Ozawa

Seiji Ozawa is recognized as one of the supreme Gershwin conductors. Multi-award-winning blind pianist Marcus Roberts is known as one of the foremost pianists of contemporary jazz, and is leader of the critically acclaimed Marcus Roberts Trio. ‘Ozawa has energy, fire, excitement, and if I dare bring up this controversial category: glamour’ - Michael Steinberg (The Boston Globe). ‘Marcus Roberts demonstrates his technical virtuosity and passionate intelligence in impressive fashion. And yes, with soul’ (Times Magazine).

Johannes BRAHMSEuropakonzert 2004: From AthensPiano Concerto No. 1; Piano Quartet No. 1

Daniel BarenboimBerliner Philharmoniker, Simon Rattle

This concert does not only represent the first musical encounter between Simon Rattle and Daniel Barenboim, it was also the first time that Sir Simon Rattle conducted in his new post as chief conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker. With overwhelming views of the nearby Acropolis and spectacular scenery, the state-of-the-art recording brings home a true European musical highlight. Including a behind the scenes feature bonus film: The European Concert in Olympic Athens.

2061118£17.01 (DVD)

2072758£17.01 (DVD)

2053094£20.41 (Blu-ray)

2053654£20.41 (Blu-ray)

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