Christopher Glynn continues his Lieder in English series by joining three of today’s foremost singers to perform Robert Schumann’s best-loved song cycles in new English versions by Jeremy Sams – a new way to encounter and enjoy some of the most romantic and atmospheric songs ever composed. ‘Schumann is one of music’s great storytellers – and never more so than in the song cycles of 1840. These vivid new translations by Jeremy Sams recreate the immediacy and intimacy of his storytelling for modern English-speaking listeners, offering a new perspective on these famous songs of loneliness and love, joy and sorrow, marriage and separation.’ – Christopher Glynn

John Wilson's fourth volume devoted to music by Eric Coates opens with Music Everywhere, a rousing march that was commissioned by Britain's first independent TV and radio service, Rediffusion, for use as it's signature tune. The concert waltz Footlights is a life-affirming evocation of the glamour of the inter-war West End, created just weeks before the start of the Second World War. In wartime, as it turned out, the demand for refreshing, morale-boosting music would be higher than ever. Coates's 'Souvenir' I Sing to You was premiered on 14 March 1940 - the week in which wartime meat rationing was introduced in the UK. Composed for his young son Austin, The Three Bears Phantasy transports the Goldilocks fairytale firmly into the 1920s. From Meadow to Mayfair reflects Coates's own journey from rural Nottinghamshire to life in London. Under the Stars, composed in 1928, marks the first inclusion by Coates of an alto saxophone in his orchestration. The Four Centuries Suite is one of Coates's most substantial compositions - not only in length, but also in the size of the orchestra. It's four movements evoke the musical styles of the seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries. Dedicated to his wife, Phyllis, the work is also a celebration of the couple's lifelong love of dancing.

Marking the quadricentenary of Byrd’s death in 2023, the Men & Boys Choir of Saint Thomas, Fifth Avenue, New York, recreates the Catholic Mass for the Feast of Corpus Christi as Byrd might have experienced it in the late 16th century. This new recording includes various Latin motets written by Byrd for the feast, along with the remarkable Mass setting in four parts.

Part of this album is a recording, originally released on LP only in 1981, of the Saint Thomas Choir under the late Gerre Hancock, singing Byrd’s complete Great Service, written in the vernacular for the reformed Anglican liturgy – the flip side of Byrd’s Latinate expression.

This will be the 5th NAJI HAKIM PLAYS NAJI HAKIM organ CD released by SIGNUM Classics (visit https://signumrecords.com/product-category/artists/naji-hakim/) . It will include the following world premiere recordings of Naji Hakim's works at the historic STAHLHUTH-JANN ORGAN at St Martin’s Church, Dudelange , Grand-Duché de Luxembourg : Gregoriana (2003) - Bogurodzica (2018) – Prière (2020) - Villancico aragonés (2018) - Carnaval (2014) - Sindbad (2014) - Korean Prelude (2014) - Cantilena (2016) - Trois Paraphrases sur Ave maris stella (2003) - O sacrum convivium (2018) - Tanets (2019).

The performers write: ‘Selecting the repertoire for our album Path to the Moon, we wanted to explore a number of possibilities for binding together a programme. To place different works alongside one another is a wonderful way of bringing out new and unusual qualities in each piece. William T. Horton’s fantastic image The Path to the Moon immediately inspired a flurry of ideas, including works on the subjects of both night and the moon, as well as pieces which invoke the exploratory nature of humankind’s voyage to the moon. Britten wrote his Sonata for Cello and Piano only two years after the first object made by humans had touched the surface of the moon, in 1959. Humans throughout history and from all cultures have been drawn to and taken inspiration from the moon and we have tried to reflect this in our eclectic choice of song repertoire: from Toru Takemitsu to Nina Simone and from Lili Boulanger to Florence Price. As we hope you will hear on this album, Walker’s Cello Sonata rings with echoes of the sound-worlds of blues and jazz and is infused with a beautiful lyricism. We really believe that Walker’s Cello Sonata deserves to become a staple of the chamber music repertoire and are absolutely thrilled to offer you a recording of it in the context of our own exploration of a path to the moon.’

The piano concerto in D minor was composed between 1931–1935 and premiered on November 23, 1935, by the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Toivo Haapanen, with Ernst Linko as the soloist. The concerto is preserved only as a piano reduction and instrument parts, but the original score is lost. The piano part contains several cuts and facilitations by the 1935 soloist, while the instrument parts show no omissions. The most probable result was that the orchestra played some passages without the soloist.

For this recording, Leiviskä’s original solo part was restored. Several reviews, mostly under pseudonyms, discussed the symphony after its first performance. The reviews were mostly favorable. It was both praised and criticized for its structure and the inclusion of the waltz motive, and comments of the themes and melodies were also ambiguous. After 1948, the symphony was performed three more times until 1951. After 70 years of silence, the symphony was resurrected in 2022.

Following their critically acclaimed ‘Psalms’ album, St John’s College, Cambridge and Andrew Nethsingha present a selection of Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis recordings from January and July 2022. Much of the third volume in their series of Evening Canticles focuses on music in a twenty-year period, from 1945 to 1965. Philip Moore’s Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis were commissioned especially for St John’s College, Cambridge.

REVIEWS:

It’s sad that Nethsingha’s departure means that the next volume will be the last. I can’t think of a greater or more apt epitaph to the music director’s time at St John’s.

-- Gramophone (Editor's Choice, May 2023)

These contrasting works, embracing solo writing and full-bodied, lavish textures, give the choir the chance to display their warm sound and versatility. They do, wholeheartedly.

-- The Guardian (UK)

German composer Hans Werner Henze’s (1926–2012) admiration for the great masters of the Baroque and musical Classicism manifested in compositions born from a desire to transcribe, rework and transform 17th- and 18th-century masterpieces into new orchestral textures. The project Travestimenti (Disguises), managed by conductor Marco Angius and the Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto, from which this CD was created, makes reference to Henze’s ‘reinventions’ of masterpieces by Mozart, C.P.E. Bach and Vitali, clothed in new, modern fashion.

For the Drei Mozart’sche Orgelsonaten, Henze takes up three of Mozart’s one-movement Kirchensonaten (church sonatas or trio sonatas). Sonatas 17 and 15 are in an Allegro tempo, whereas the Sonata K.67 is marked Andantino, so Henze, in his transcription, places the latter between the two livelier tempos, thus reconstructing the tripartite structure of a classical three-movement sonata. Scored for an ensemble of 14 players that includes the less common, softer variants oboe d’amore and viola d’amore, it aims to underline the darker instrumental timbres, favouring the sombre sonorities of the alto flute in G, the bass flute in C, the bass clarinet and the bassoon. During the last year of his life, in 1787, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach composed a Fantasia libera per tastiera sola (Free Fantasia for keyboard alone) which he expanded into the Clavier-Fantasie mit Begleitung einer Violine (Fantasy for harpsichord with violin accompaniment), one of his most personal and expressive works.

Henze transcribed it for solo flute, harp and strings, aiming to project the extremely interesting and expressive harmonic material of the composition into a larger instrumental apparatus, thus making its future-oriented harmonic structures more manifest and moulded. He proposed two options for division of the: string quartet + string quintet or string quartet + tutti (the latter version is recorded here).

Although it was probably composed in the early 18th century, Vitali’s Ciaccona ‘Il Vitalino’ – whose musical form is inspired by dance and consists of variations on a ground bass – was only rediscovered in 1867, published by the German virtuoso violinist Ferdinand David. Henze’s Il Vitalino raddoppiato – called “raddoppiato” (“doubled”) because of his extension of the composition by means of interpolated variations of each original section in the style of 18th-century doubles – retains Vitali’s bass almost throughout the entire composition. It alternates Vitali’s variations on his chaconne theme with Henze’s variations of Vitali’s variations, in an ever-changing dialogue between the 18th-century past and Henze’s present.

Following her critically acclaimed recording of Mozart Concertos with Sir Roger Norrington and the RSNO, Francesca Dego turns to a selection of his Sonatas with her long-term recital partner Francesca Leonardi. Dego commented ‘Francesca and I have been playing together for seventeen years, more than half my life and the totality of my career. To work as a duo on a regular basis means reaching common interpretative solutions, ones that sum up each player’s qualities, and creates a great sense of mutual responsibility. What you do together somehow feels naturally complete. We decided to build this album around our very favorite Sonata, KV 454 in B flat major, which we had been performing for many years and in which Mozart’s simplicity and flamboyance coexist in perfect harmony.’

REVIEWS:

Charlie Siem returns with a new recording of Violin Sonatas, accompanied by his regular recital partner Itamar Golan – featuring Vaughan Williams' Violin Sonata in A Minor and Grieg's Violin Sonata No. 2 in G Major, Op. 13. Charlie Siem is one of today’s foremost young violinists, with such a wide-ranging diversity of cross-cultural appeal as to have played a large part in defining what it means to be a true artist of the 21st century. Siem has appeared with many of the world’s finest orchestras and chamber ensembles, including the Bergen Philharmonic, Camerata Salzburg, Czech National Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, London Symphony, Moscow Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He has worked with top conductors such as Charles Dutoit, Edward Gardner, Zubin Mehta, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Sir Roger Norrington, Libor Pešek and Yuri Simonov. International festival appearances to date include Spoleto, St. Moritz, Gstaad, Bergen, Tine@Munch, Festival Internacional de Santa Lucía, and the Windsor Festival.

Curated by pianist Ulrich Eisenloh, this series of Brahms songs has received widespread acclaim. As with Volume 4, this fifth instalment features soprano Alina Wunderlin and tenor Kieran Carrel, in a selection that contains one of Brahms’ best-loved songs, Minnelied.

Part of the Naxos label's The Music of Brazil series. This album of works for cello and violin by José Antônio de Almeida Prado is performed by violinist Emmanuele Baldini (concertmaster of the Sâo Paolo Symphony Orchestra) and prize-winning cellist Rafael Cesario. Includes four world premiere recordings. Sinfonia dos orixás (8.574411) and the First Piano Concerto (8.574225) are also available.

REVIEW:

In the series of recordings with works by the Brazilian composer Almeida Prado, the current installment is dedicated to his works for violin, cello, or both together.

Le Livre magique de Xangô (Shango’s magic book) was composed in his postmodern phase and is aesthetically characterized by Afro-Brazilian religiosity. In Das Cirandas, he weaves in folk tunes from various regions of Brazil. Almeida Prado dedicated the lively violin sonata to his violinist-daughter. The Four Seasons was a compulsory piece for the second Brazilian music competition in 1984. Each section is conceived as a study. The Capriccio for solo violin has a lyrical nature. For the cello, Praeambulum was inspired by Antonio Meneses as an introduction to Bach’s third cello suite.

The violinist Emmanuele Baldin gives Prado’s works an exciting mixture of charming folk and modern-sounding sections. As an accomplished instrumentalist and very familiar with Brazilian music, he finds the ways and means to model the character of the pieces and exude Brazilian flair. In the Violin Sonata, the Capriccio and the Four Seasons, he is able to demonstrate his skills as a soloist, which he does convincingly.

The cellist Rafael Cesario makes his solo appearance in Praeambulum, which he also performs successfully. In Das Cirandas and Le Livre magique de Xangô, he performs his parts alongside the violinist in an appealing and confident manner.

-- Pizzicato

Peijun Xu, born in Shanghai, is one of the leading violists of her generation. As a soloist, Peijun Xu has performed in renowned venues such as the Shanghai Concert Hall, the Laeiszhalle Hamburg or the Alte Oper Frankfurt. Her chamber music partners include Paul Rivinius, Evgenia Rubinova, Alexander Sitkovetsky and Veit Hertenstein. German violist Veit Hertenstein plays with “brigthly ringing, luminous and finly finessed sound (The Strad Magazine 2022).

Veit Hertenstein is Professor for Viola at the Musikhochschule Detmold, Germany since 2015.

If you’ve seen the Leonard Bernstein biopic “Maestro”, you’ve seen and heard The Orchestra Now, the exceptional ensemble that appears in the movie’s Tanglewood Music Festival scene. The Orchestra Now (TON), a New York-based graduate-level training orchestra comprised of the most vibrant young musicians from around the globe, was founded by conductor, educator and music historian Leon Botstein, whose insatiable curiosity has resulted in rescuing countless musical works from oblivion. Their first recording for AVIE, “The Lost Generation”, brings together three German-speaking composers who were contemporaries of Arnold Schoenberg and Alban Berg, but whose music became supressed by historical events of the 20th century.

In November 2022, TON gave the US premiere of Hugo Kauder’s Symphony No. 1, a “splendid” work that “made a splash” (New York Classical Review). The largely self-taught Moravian-born composer had a distinguished career in Vienna until he was forced to flee the Nazis and arrived in New York in 1938. The first of Kauder’s five symphonies was dedicated to Alma Mahler. Whilst his musical language is rooted in the tradition of Johannes Brahms and Gustav Mahler, he forged an individual voice with his ease and flexibility of harmonic and metrical shifts.

German-born, Austrian composer Hans Erich Apostel studied with Schoenberg and Berg. His works incorporated his mentors’ expressionism and 12-tone methods in equal measure. The Nazis deemed Apostel’s music “degenerate”, but he lived out his life in Vienna until his death in 1972. His Variations on a theme by Haydn, performed frequently in the mid-20th century, is an homage to the second movement of Haydn’s Symphony No. 103, the “Drum Roll, which itself comprises variations on a theme.

Adolf Busch, one of the most celebrated violinists and chamber musicians of the 20th century, was also a prolific composer. A staunch opponent of Nazism, he left his native Germany, arriving first in Switzerland and eventually the United States in 1939. A late Romantic compositional style imbues his Variations on an Original Theme, originally for piano four hands and presented to his wife as a Christmas present in 1944. Busch’s longtime chamber music partner and son-in-law, the pianist Rudolf Serkin, frequently performed the work with his son Peter, who made this orchestration of his grandfather’s composition, in a familial labor of love.

This acclaimed edition covering the early 20th century’s fashionable wave of hot dance music from America into Europe now takes us to Switzerland. 20th Century Foxtrots - 5 presents more evocative piano rarities from this decadent era, performed with panache and grace by Gottlieb Wallisch, and features numerous world premiere recordings and a plethora of rarely heard pieces. Volunes 1–4 can be heard on GP813, 814, 854 and 855.

Japanese-American cellist Yoshika (“Yoshi”) Masuda makes his recording debut with Hidden Flame, an album containing music by Amy Beach, Clara Schumann, Rita Strohl, Nadia Boulanger, Maria Theresia von Paradis, and a world-premiere by Reena Esmail.

The works on Hidden Flame span over two centuries and collectively tell a story of how women have moved from the margins of the classical repertoire to somewhere closer to the centre. Whilst the quality of the music these women composed is indisputable, there are also fascinating background stories for all these pieces which often illustrate the personal and societal pressures faced by creative women in history.

Yoshi describes the album’s concept: “to present the compositions of women as masterpieces by truly great composers. Musicians and music lovers often feel confident that great works that exist in this world must already be a part of the standard repertoire. However, this album proves that there are hidden gems that deserve more recognition are still out there! It is my aspiration that, in encountering both the familiar and the unfamiliar within this collection of pieces, listeners will transcend considerations of gender or race and recognise these compositions simply as expressions of profound beauty crafted by masterful composers”.

Saxophonist Pat Posey goes to extremes for his solo debut album, they/beast. Introducing the tubax – a German-invented, modified version of the contrabass saxophone – Pat plays deep, dark renditions of J.S. Bach’s Cello Suite No. 3, Melodies for Saxophone by Philip Glass, Bach-inspired Mo’ingus by Brooklyn-based composer-saxophonist Shelley Washington, and Pat’s own Hymn.

REVIEWS:

Pat Posey’s solo album they/beast displays the Tubax›s incredible sound with a wide variety of materials, from Bach cello suites to Philip Glass› Melodies for Saxophone. If listening to Paul Desmond’s alto sax is like sipping a fine white wine, Posey’s Tubax is like drinking a delicious porter. Its lows are glorious and Posey dexterously wrestles it through some very complex material. they/beast is a unique and sonically adventurous treat.

-- The Whole Note

The growling, guttural timbre and harmonic timbre and harmonic overtones are perfectly showcased…Posey displays colossal lung power and technique…fiendishly virtuosic…a dazzling, unsettling spectacle by a musician pushing the creative envelope.

-- BBC Music Magazine

The tubax has an amazing low register, and in the hands of a player like Pat Posey, it can be nimble and produce astonishing multiphonics … Posey’s own Hymn (2022), a real tour-de-force of inspiration, beauty, quirkiness, and earblowing sounds. Fantastic album.

-- American Record Guide

On his second album with Signum Records, internationally acclaimed violinist Charlie Siem is joined by the Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Oleg Caetani to perform works by Beethoven.

Charlie Siem is one of today’s foremost young violinists, with such a wide-ranging diversity of cross-cultural appeal as to have played a large part in defining what it means to be a true artist of the 21st century. Siem has appeared with many of the world’s finest orchestras and chamber ensembles, including: the Bergen Philharmonic, the Camerata Salzburg, the Czech National Symphony, the Israel Philharmonic, the London Symphony, the Moscow Philharmonic, the Oslo Philharmonic, the Rotterdam Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

The Philharmonia is a world-class symphony orchestra for the 21st century, based in London at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, resident in cities and at festivals across England, and streaming online.

Classical Music

Daniel Barenboim continues his acclaimed Mozart concerto cycle with the Berlin Philharmonic, widely acknowledged among the greatest orchestras in the world. Barenboim, conducting from the piano, achieves an effortless collaboration with the orchestra, establishing himself once again as a premier Mozart interpreter. Barenboim's intricate playing and sensitive interpretation misses no detail of these works, and draws a warm and vigorous response from the Berliners.