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Label: ACCENT SACD 24231 Our Price: $24.25 Quantity in Basket: none I Pastori de Bettelemme; Libro primo di sinfonie à 4, 1615 (excerpts) GIOVANNI LORENZO BALDANO (1576 – 1660): Dances for sordellina and buttafuoco, 1600 (excerpts) Echo du Danube: Christian Zincke, viola da gamba, violone; Michael Dücker, lute; Elisabeth Seitz, psalterio; Johanna Seitz, harp. Kapsberger’s Shepherds of Bethlehem at the Birth of Our Savior Jesus Christ was published in 1630, when the sacred dialogue madrigal enjoyed high popularity in Rome. The text by Giulio Rospigliosi, Rome’s most distinguished poet at the time, is set by the composer in a varied sequence of monodic recitatives and homophonic choral pieces, with close attention to the content and structure of the language. The genre of the sacred dialogue madrigal is considered to be the forerunner of the Baroque oratorio. |
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Label: BIS SACD 1432 Our Price: $19.25 Quantity in Basket: none ALEXANDER GLAZUNOV (1865 – 1936): Violin Concerto in A minor, Op. 82 PIOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840 – 1893): Souvenir d’un lieu cher, Op. 42 (arr. Glazunov); Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35 Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra/Andrew Litton The Great Russian tradition of violin playing, as exemplified by Efrem Zimbalist, Jascha Heifetz and Nathan Milstein, was largely founded by the distinguished violinist Leopold Auer, who taught at the St Petersburg Conservatory for fifty years. This disc combines two works for violin and orchestra, both to some extent composed with Auer in mind, performed by Ukrainian-born Vadim Gluzman playing on Auer’s own instrument, a Stradivarius built in 1690. Tchaikovsky composed his Concerto in D major in 1878 and asked Auer to give the first performance. Auer was reluctant to do so, however, and didn’t perform the concerto until 1892, by which time it had already begun to reach the level of popularity that it has enjoyed ever since. Some ten years later, Auer was again approached in a similar matter. This time he was more amenable, and in 1905 premièred Glazunov’s Concerto in A minor, at a concert conducted by the composer. Apart from having Auer as a common denominator, the two works are quite dissimilar. Tchaikovsky’s concerto is characterized by a melodic flow reminiscent of his ballet music, and remains one of his freshest works, whereas Glazunov’s concerto displays all the virtues of the composer’s opulent late-Romantic style, with beautiful craftsmanship and rich orchestral color. The two works are bridged on this disc by the three pieces collectively called Souvenir d’un lieu cher, which Tchaikovsky composed for violin and piano at around the time of the concerto. (Indeed, the first of its three movements, entitled Méditation, was originally intended as the slow movement of the concerto.) Three years after Tchaikovsky’s death, Glazunov made an orchestration of the piano part. Eminent violinist Vadim Gluzman has previously released three highly acclaimed discs on BIS, all of them featuring music from the Soviet and the post-Soviet era. About ‘Time … and again’ (BIS-CD-1392), which includes Arvo Pärt’s Fratres, BBC Music Magazine wrote: ‘Every phrase resounds with passion and sensitivity. A really superb disc.’ The same applies to this his first concerto disc on BIS, on which Gluzman enjoys the committed support of Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra under its music director Andrew Litton, well-known for his affinity with the Great Russian orchestral repertoire. |
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Label: BIS SACD 1436 Our Price: $19.25 Quantity in Basket: none These labours past (from Jephtha, HWV70); Oh peerless maid; Our limpid streams (from Joshua, HWV64); Great victor, at your feet I bow (from Belshazzar, HWV61); When thou art nigh; To my chaste Susanna’s praise (from Susanna, HWV66); To thee, thou glorious son of worth; Streams of pleasure ever flowing (from Theodora, HWV68); Welcome as the dawn of day; Ev’ry joy that wisdom knows (from Solomon, HWV67); Kind Health descends (from Ode for the birthday of Queen Anne, HWV74); O fairest of ten thousand fair; At persecution I can laugh (from Saul, HWV53); Where do thy ardours raise me!; Smiling freedom, lovely guest (from Deborah, HWV51); Hail wedded love (from Alexander Balus, HWV65); Let’s imitate her notes above (from Alexander’s Feast, HWV75): Who calls my parting soul (from Esther, HWV50b) The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment/Nicholas Kraemer Pure delight: two of Britain’s most exciting singers together with one of the most vibrant of the English period bands, in a collection of wonderful duets from Händel’s English oratorios and odes. Both Carolyn Sampson and Robin Blaze collaborate with Masaaki Suzuki in his recordings of Bach Cantatas, for which they are receiving high praise. ‘Sampson's rounded, lyrical, glowing tone is just what I want to hear in the warm-hearted soprano cantata O holder Tag’ said the critic in International Record Review about BIS 1411, whereas The Times, UK, has described Robin Blaze as being ‘blessed with a most alluring countertenor - creamy in tone, naturally expressive, exquisitely controlled…’. These qualities certainly all come to the fore in this selection of duets, which, while mainly gathered from religious works, focus on that general subject of interest: Love. Love between husband and wife, between Kings and Queens, between lovers, between conqueror and vanquished. In the course of this string of melodious pearls flow streams of pleasure, great victors are greeted and freedom smiles – all depicted with wonderful charm and feeling by Sampson, Blaze and The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment conducted by Nicholas Kraemer. |
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Label: BIS SACD 1509 Our Price: $19.25 Quantity in Basket: none Chinese Rhapsody (1992); Wu for piano and orchestra* (1986); Six Pentatonic Tunes for Orchestra Royal Scottish National Orchestra/Jose Serebrier |
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Label: BIS SACD 1517 Our Price: $19.25 Quantity in Basket: none GRAHAM FITKIN (*1963) – CIRCUIT Circuit for two pianos and orchestra; T1 for two pianos; Relent for solo piano; Carnal for solo piano; From Yellow to Yellow for solo piano; White for two pianos; Furniture for solo piano; T2 for two pianos While his music is sometimes described as ‘post-minimalist’, Graham Fitkin himself mentions sources of inspiration as diverse as Stravinsky, Miles Davis, Webern, Steve Reich, Frank Sinatra and Pet Shop Boys. A talented pianist, he has written a number of works centered on the piano, in singular and in plural: his work list includes pieces for one to up to as many as six pianos. Partly it is the ‘black-and-white’ nature of the instrument that attracts Fitkin – the fact that it forces the composer to articulate musical structures without hiding behind coloristic resources. Important among his tools as a composer are repetition, and manipulation of repetitive procedures. The result is music that is often energetic and highly rhythmically driven – aspects which are certainly present in Circuit, for two pianos and orchestra. The work was composed for Kathryn Stott and Noriko Ogawa, and, at its first performance (in 2003), it was described by one reviewer as ‘exhilarating in the extreme’ with ‘its juxtapositions of motoric hyperactivity and sweet serenity, and a final, rip-roaring climax’. The serenity is otherwise mainly to be found in certain pieces for solo piano, such as the gentle miniature From Yellow to Yellow from 1985, the composer’s earliest acknowledged work. Kathryn Stott has worked with Graham Fitkin over a number of years, and the solo piece Relent, which she performs on the present recording, was written specifically for her. She and Noriko Ogawa, her regular duo-partner, have recorded a number of discs for BIS, both on their own and as a team. The two now present a selection of Fitkin’s numerous works for one and two pianos, as well as Circuit, in which they receive fine support from the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra conducted by Naoto Otomo. |
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Label: BIS SACD 1547 Our Price: $19.25 Quantity in Basket: none In a Chinese-language version, replacing the original German texts inspired by Tang Dynasty poetry with Daniel Ng’s reconstruction of the original Chinese poems Singapore Symphony Orchestra/Lan Shui The poems that in 1908 inspired Mahler to Das Lied von der Erde had been printed a year earlier in Hans Bethge's Die chinesische Flöte ('The Chinese Flute'). But they had already before that traveled huge distances in both time and space. Hans Bethge's poems were in fact paraphrases of Hans Hellmann's 1905 collection Chinesische Lyrik, which itself was based on French translations of 8th century Tang dynasty poems. The Hongkong-based enthusiast Daniel Ng has now, through untiring research, established the most likely sources of Bethge's poems, and prepared a Chinese Song of the Earth, replacing the German texts with the original Chinese poems. The result, soon to be published, has been recorded with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra conducted by Lan Shui, and the Chinese-born international stars Ning Liang and Warren Mok singing the texts by Li Bai, Wang Wei and other Tang master poets. During their long-standing collaboration, the SSO and Lan Shui have been tireless in promoting Chinese and Asian composers, an undertaking that on disc has born fruit in recordings of works by Zhou Long, Chen Yi and Bright Sheng. The team's imaginative approach to programming has also resulted in discs such as the recent Seascapes, with sea-depictions by among others Frank Bridge and Debussy. This release was greeted warmly by the reviewers, and the SSO/Shui interpretation of La mer was described as 'an unequivocally world-class performance' in the BBC Music Magazine. Now, with the present disc, another masterpiece from the early 20th century gets the Singapore treatment! |
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Label: BIS SACD 1705/6 Our Price: $38.50 Quantity in Basket: none CONCERTI GROSSI, OP. 6 Concerto grosso No.1 in G major, HWV319; Concerto grosso No.2 in F major, HWV320; Concerto grosso No.3 in E minor, HWV321; Concerto grosso No.4 in A minor, HWV322; Concerto grosso No.5 in D major, HWV323; Concerto grosso No.6 in G minor, HWV324; Concerto grosso No.7 in B flat major, HWV325; Concerto grosso No.8 in C minor, HWV326; Concerto grosso No.9 in F major, HWV327; Concerto grosso No.10 in D minor, HWV328; Concerto grosso No.11 in A major, HWV329; Concerto grosso No.12 in B minor, HWV330 Although it was in the field of opera that Handel had first made his mark when arriving in London in the early 18th Century, the high costs of producing operas made it an uncertain one. By the 1730s Handel therefore began to explore other possibilities. It is in this context that the Concerti grossi Op. 6 may be seen. Composed during a few hectic weeks in the autumn of 1739, the set was partly intended by Handel – renowned mainly as a writer for singers and as an organist – to reinforce his stature as an instrumental composer. It would seem to have been a success: even before publication, Twelve Grand Concerto’s composed by Mr. Handel – as they were advertised in the press – had been sold in 122 copies to 100 subscribers, including Handel’s royal pupils, the princesses Anne, Amelia, Caroline, Mary and Louisa, as well as their brother, the Duke of Cumberland. In choosing to publish the concerti in a set of twelve, and adopting the set-up of a concertino group of two violins and one cello, contrasting with the tutti ensemble, Handel followed the tradition established by Arcangelo Corelli, whose hugely influential set of Concerti grossi Op. 6 had been published in 1714. (3 CDs for the price of 2) |
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Label: BIS SACD 1710 Our Price: $19.25 Quantity in Basket: none GUSTAV MAHLER (1860 – 1911): Symphony No. 9 in D major The love affair between Alan Gilbert and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra began in December 1997 with a performance of Mahler’s First Symphony. In 2000 Gilbert became chief conductor and artistic advisor of the orchestra, remaining in that post until 2008 – a period which has been described as ‘a golden age’ in the history of the orchestra. For his farewell concert as chief conductor, Gilbert chose to close the chapter by performing Mahler’s last symphony, No. 9 in D major, and the present recording was made in conjunction with this very special occasion. It was a fitting choice of repertoire in another respect as well: Mahler composed his Ninth in 1909-10, after having accepted the post of music director of the New York Philharmonic, the very orchestra that Gilbert now goes on to take charge of. The symphony is often regarded as the composer’s monumental – both in terms of scale and emotional scope – leave-taking of the world. In his insightful liner notes, Arnold Whittall acknowledges the difficult circumstances in Mahler’s personal life at the time of composition, but rather than nostalgia he finds in it a momentum propelling the symphonic genre far into the future: ‘Mahler’s Ninth is one of the crowning glories of symphonic history, and many would argue that it has only rarely been equalled, and probably never surpassed, in the century since its completion.’ |
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Label: BIS SACD 1736 Our Price: $19.25 Quantity in Basket: none THE PEOPLE SHALL HEAR! – GREAT HANDEL CHORUSES GEORG FRIEDRICH HANDEL (1685 – 1759) The people shall hear (Israel in Egypt); The many rend the skies (Alexander’s Feast); Or let the merry bells (L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato); Zadok the Priest; Hear Jacob’s God & Let the bright Seraphim (Samson); Recall, O King (Belshazzar); The mighty pow’r (Athalia); Jealousy, infernal pest (Hercules); See the conquering hero comes (Joshua); Fall’n is the foe (Judas Maccabaeus); May no rash intruder (Solomon); He saw the lovely youth (Theodora); Hallelujah (Messiah) Despite the fact that he wrote a large number of operas and instrumental works, Handel is often perceived as a choral composer – or, more specifically, as the composer of the Hallelujah chorus. That particular piece is of course included on the present disc – as is He saw the lovely youth from Theodora, which Handel himself is reported to have preferred to Hallelujah, and indeed to all of his other choruses. Spanning in time from Zadok the Priest, one of the four Coronation Anthems of 1727, to the aforementioned ‘He saw …’ composed in 1750, this program consists largely of great moments from Handel’s oratorios, but also from odes such as Alexander’s Feast and L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato. The latter work is represented by Or let the merry bells, in which the lively soprano solo (sung by Carolyn Sampson), accompanied by a sparkling carillon, is lulled to sleep by the choir. Counter-tenor Robin Blaze also make a guest appearance, singing the alto solo in The mighty pow’r from Athalia. But on this disc of ‘Great Handel Choruses’ the limelight belongs to the choir, and a great choir it is! With its more than 200 active members, The Bach Choir is an institution in the golden British oratorio tradition, its musical directors including Ralph Vaughan Williams, Sir David Willcocks, and now David Hill, who conducts it on this recording. The choir and soloists are supported by The English Concert, one of the world’s foremost baroque orchestras, adding a wide palette of instrumental colors in large set pieces like Zadok the Priest as well as in the gently sensual and intimate May no rash intruder, the so-called ‘Nightingale Chorus’, with flutes imitating birdsong. |
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Label: CHRISTOPHORUS SACD 77288 Our Price: $24.25 Quantity in Basket: none GIOVANNI PIERLUIGI DA PALESTRINA (1525 – 1594): Motetto Cantantibus organis – Biduanis ac triduanis; Motette Dum aurora finem daret (1564) Canticum Canticorum (1583/84), Magnificat primi toni octibus vocibus Motette Corona aurea – Domine praevenisti (1572) Compagnia dei Musici di Roma (Antonio Stabile, Francesco Soriano, Giovanni Andrea Dragoni, G.P. Da Palestrina, Ruggiero Giovanelli, Prospero Santini, Curcio Mancini): Missa Cantantibus organis a 12 voci In around 1580, Rome's most important musicians joined forces in the Compagnia dei Musici di Roma under the patronage of the Pope. Masterminded by the famous Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, the Compagnia collectively composed a one-off in the history of music, the like of which was not emulated until the 19th century with the Messa per Rossini. This composition, a twelve-part mass for Cecilia, the patron saint of church music and patron of the Compagnia, is the work of six composers including Palestrina himself. A Palestrina motet for St. Cecilia was taken as a model which each composer was invited to elaborate as part of the Mass. With so many collaborators keen to demonstrate their compositional prowess, the result is at once a magnificent example of Renaissance vocal music and a compendium of the compositional art of the Palestrina School. |
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Label: CHRISTOPHORUS SACD 77313 Our Price: $24.25 Quantity in Basket: none GIOVANNI PIERLUIGI DA PALESTRINA (1525 – 1594) – MISSA PAPAE MARCELLI – MOTETS FOR ASCENSION DAY: Viri Galilaei – Introitus in Ascensione Domini (greg.); Omnes gentes – Psalmus a 8 voci; Kyrie (Missa Papae Marcelli); Gloria (Missa Papae Marcelli); Alleluia Ascendit Deus (greg.); Jesu nostra redemptio – Hymnus in Ascensione Domini a 4-6 voci; Credo (Missa Papae Marcelli); Beati omnes – Motetto a 12 voci; Ascendit Deus – Offertorium in Ascensione Domini (greg.); Viri Galilae – Ascendit Deus (Motetto a 6 voci); Sanctus (Missa Papae Marcelli); Benedictus (Missa Papae Marcelli); Caro mea – Motetto a 5 voci; Coenantibus illis – Motetto a 4 voci; Agnus Dei (Missa Papae Marcelli) The question of "codification" is a fundamental problem when it comes to the interpretation of Renaissance music. Should the parts notated in the old clefs be taken literally, or is it necessary or indeed essential to transpose from extreme registers? Regardless of any fundamental musicological discussion, there are tangible, audible effects. On Wilfried Rombach's recording of Palestrina's famous Missa Papæ Marcelli featuring the ensemble officium, those parts of the mass where the soprano part constantly went into extreme registers now sound much more rounded and unfold in a serene manner. The CD's repertoire is complemented by large-scale motets for between five and twelve parts for Ascension Day. “Although the Tallis Scholars remain the world's premier Palestrina performers, if forced to make such comparisons I'd without reservation say that Ensemble Officium is very close behind. I look forward to hearing more – much more – from this excellent group.” - David Vernier, Classicstoday |
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Label: COVIELLO CLASSICS SACD 31002 Our Price: $24.25 Quantity in Basket: none GUSTAV MAHLER (1860 – 1911) Symphony No. 1 in D minor “Titan” (incl. Blumine: Andante allegretto) "It has turned out to be so overwhelming – as though it flowed out of me like a mountain stream!" After four years of work, Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) was euphoric when he completed his first symphony in 1888. He revised it over the next eleven years in the course of the first performances, however, until it was published in 1899 – a monumental achievement that was to have a profound impact on the symphonic works of the 20th century. Characteristic are the extremely complex material – drawn from a wide variety of sources, from folksong melody to complex polyphony – expansive melodic lines and tremendous intensifications with sudden breaks, alternation between the extremes of intimate chamber music and eruptive orchestral sound, reflection and naïveté, euphoria and preoccupation with death. Since the 2007/2008 season Alexander Joel is General Music Director of the Staatstheater Braunschweig. The Staatsorchester Braunschweig (Brunswick State Orchestra) is one of the oldest orchestras in the world. It traces its origin back to the court orchestra of Duke Julius of Brunswick/Wolfenbüttel which was established in 1587. The ensemble’s evolution to a modern opera and symphony orchestra can be followed through its historical development, which is associated with such names as Michael Praetorius, Heinrich Schütz, Carl Heinrich Graun, Louis Spohr, Felix Mendelssohn, Hector Berlioz, Franz Liszt, and Richard Strauss, who were conductors of the ensemble or conducted their own works in Brunswick. |
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Label: COVIELLO SACD 20808 Our Price: $24.75 Quantity in Basket: none From the Oratorio Jephtha (1752): “Waft her, angels, through the skies”; “His mighty arm, with sudden blow”; From the Serenata Acis and Galatea (1781): “Love in her eyes sits playing”; From the Oratorio Alexander’s Feast (1736): “Give the vengeance due”; “The princes applaud with a furious joy”; From the Oratorio Samson (1743): “Thus when the sun from’s sat’ry bed”; “Total eclipse! No sun, no moon!”; From the Sacred Oratorio Messiah (1742): “Comfort ye my people”; “Ev’ry valley shall be exalted”; From the Ballet-Suite Terpsicore (1734): Chaconne; From the Opera Rodelinda (1725): “Fatto inferno è il mi petto”; “Pastorello di povero armento”; From the Opera Alcina (1735): “Un momento di contento”; From the Oratorio Semele (1744): “Where’er you walk, cool gales shall fan the glade”; From the Opera Ezio (1732): “Se povero il ruscello”; From the Oratorio L’Allegro, Il Penseroso ed il Moderato (1740): “As steals the morn upon the night”* Handelfestspielorchester/David Timm “The tenor voice has often been neglected on recordings of Handel arias in the past. Handel recitals were left primarily to sopranos, mezzo-sopranos, or countertenors. The fact that this situation has changed recently – there are now several CDs with his tenor arias – shows that there was a demand for this repertoire. Tenor parts are almost always supporting roles in Handel's operas, and it is naturally difficult to compete with "hits" like "Lascia ch’io pianga," "Ombra mai fu," "Cara sposa," and "Verdi prati." The situation is different with the oratorios, where Handel treats the tenor voice equally, sometimes even as the title role, as in Jephtha or Samson. The selection was greater here, but by no means easier as a result!” (Christoph Genz) The German tenor, Christoph Genz, began his musical studies as a member of the renowned Leipzig Thomanerchor, followed by study at King 's College, Cambridge where he was also a member of the King’ s College Choir. His prizes include First Place in Leipzig’s Bach Competition and Grimsby (England) International Singers Competition. Hailed as one of the most exciting tenors to keep an eye on, Christoph Genz has performed worldwide with conductors such as Philippe Herreweghe, Frans Brüggen, Ton Koopman, Sigiswald Kuijken, and Sir Simon Rattle. |
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Label: COVIELLO SACD 30512 Our Price: $24.75 Quantity in Basket: none Melba Ramos, soprano; Gabriele May, alto; Michael Ende, tenor; Martin Blasius, bass Choir of the “vocapella” Symphony Orchestra Aachen/Marcus Bosch, Live Recording There are similarities of excess in both the enthusiasts ’high praise of Verdi’s Requiem and the critics’ condemnation of the work as sentimental and theatrical. George Bernard Shaw called the Messa da Requiem ‘Verdi’s greatest opera’, a judgement not so far a field from conductor and Wagnerian Hans von Bülow, who branded it an ‘opera in sacred clothing'. That Verdi was a consummate man of the theatre – he once seriously applied this term to himself instead of the designation ‘composer’ – is apparent throughout the score of the Requiem. Verdi displays the mastery of the great dramatic musician in the simple beauty of the folk tune or Gregorian chant derived melody of the ‘Agnus Dei’ that delves deeper with every new variation, the weave of the motifs served by the surprising colors of the orchestra, and the varied use of harmony. Performance directions like ‘as quietly as possible’, ‘plaintively', ‘gloomily’, ‘dolcissimo morendo’, and even ‘weepingly’ show that Verdi was aiming to recreate the realism that he achieved in his operas by illustrating the tension and conflict of the protagonists with their fellow humans and with society. It is this insistence on realism that truly sets the Requiem alongside Verdi’s operatic creations. |
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Label: COVIELLO SACD 30715 Our Price: $38.00 Quantity in Basket: none Alexander’s Feast or the Power of Musik Aachener Kammerchor; Overbacher Kammerchor Sinfonieorchester Aachen/Marcus Bosch - (2 CDs) |
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