Rossini wrote some of music’s most masterful and lovable operas. His gift for comic and tragic forms was matched by a relish for characterisation, qualities that are always evident in his overtures. La gazza ladra (The Thieving Magpie) is perhaps the most famous, one of the world’s most popular concert openers. But in Otello he reveals his more complex turns of phrase and in Le siège de Corinthe the writing is dramatic and colourful. The overture for Elisabetta, Regina d’Inghilterra was used again a year later by Rossini for Il barbiere di Siviglia. This is the first of four discs of the complete Rossini Overtures.

 Gabriel Fauré Centenary (1845 - 1924)

A collection of his solo piano, chamber music, and vocal works, most prominent among them the composer's favored Requiem.

Valery Gavrilin was one of the most colorful and significant Russian composers of the second half of the 20th century. He was only 25 when he composed 'The Russian Notebook,' a 'poem of love and death' crafted in a new musical language that doesn't employ folk melodies but does use folkloric texts, and with a virtuosic vocal part. These stylized tunes are combined with rich melodies to form a haunting cycle heard here in a 2018 orchestration. The ten numbers from the ballet 'Anyuta' are lively, melodious and touchingly beautiful. Yuri Serov has toured across over 35 countries and has recorded more than 70 albums for record labels across the world. Serov is chief conductor of the Volgograd Philharmonic Orchestra and the St. Petersburg Mussorgsky Youth Symphony Orchestra, and is the author of many articles and essays on music.

In his second solo piano recital disc for Signum, this release further demonstrates Alessio Bax's dazzling skill and flair in performance and interpretation - this time with Rachmaninov's piano works. The programme is centered around the Preludes op.23, but takes in a broad selection of his other studies, etudes, melodies and transcriptions - in performance, Bax describes the programme as being a collection of 'visions and landscapes'.

Features Philippe Entremont (piano), L'orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Berj Zamkochian (organ), Bernard Zighera (piano), Leo Litwin (piano), The Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Pops Orchestra, Samuel Lipman (piano), Martin Hoherman (cello)

Orchestre Nationale du Capitole de Toulouse, Michel Plasson, Charles Munch, Eugene Ormandy, Arthur Fiedler.

Always Ready is the English translation of Semper Paratus, the U.S. Coast Guard motto. +On this album, The U.S. Coast Guard Band performs a wide variety of patriotic classics, some unique to their specific military branch. +This disc also provides timeless patriotic songs like America the Beautiful, marches like The Thunderer and concert works like Charles Ives’ iconic Variations on “America.” +Each of the nineteen tracks offers something different, while still maintaining the band’s core sound.

Witold Lutoslawski's few surviving apprentice works are suffused with the elegance of Ravel and the lush effusiveness of Szymanowski, and this is particularly true of the early Piano Sonata, heard here in Giorgio Koukl's new and corrected edition based on the original manuscript. Further premieres include the wistful 'A Kiss of Roxanne' and the technically complex 'Invention.' Including all of the folk-music tinted pedagogical miniatures, works for piano four hands and other occasional pieces, this is the most comprehensive edition of Lutoslawski's works for solo piano ever recorded. Virginia Rossetti began her piano studies with Massimiliano Ferrati, later attending the 'Antonio Buzzola' Conservatory in Adria where she graduated with honors. In May 2013 she obtained her Master of Performing Arts with distinction at the Hochschule fur Musik in Basle and in 2014 at the Royal Flemish Conservatoire of Brussels. Since 2011 she has been the pianist of the Lunaire Piano Trio. Giorgio Koukl is a pianist/harpsichordist and composer. He studied at the State Music School and Conservatory, and the Conservatories of Zurich and Milan.

Classical Music

Franz Schubert's rarely performed opera, more appropriately dubbed a Singspiel, Fierrabras, is heard here in a fine-sounding, well-sung 1959 Bern, Switzerland radio broadcast concert performance that features the one and only Fritz Wunderlich in the leading role. One of Myto's bestselling titles despite the lack of name recognition of nearly every other cast member, this recording of Fierrebras returns to the marketplace where its competition is slight and interest in anything Schubert is and will always remain high.

In 1827, when writing his Quartet in A minor, Op.13, the eighteen-year-old Mendelssohn was especially interested in Beethoven’s late quartets – at a time when these works were generally written off as ‘confused fantasies of a deaf musician’. In Mendelssohn's A minor quartet the debt to Beethoven is evident in the important role of polyphonic techniques, and particularly in the focus on cyclical connections between movements.

Ten years after the Op. 13 quartet, Mendelssohn composed the three quartets that make up his Op. 44. The D major quartet that closes the present disc was the last of these to be completed, but on publication, Mendelssohn placed it as the first in the set.

Mendelssohn also wrote four individual movements for string quartet. These were gathered together and published posthumously with the opus number 81, and on this second volume of their complete Mendelssohn cycle the Escher Quartet perform two of these pieces, both conceived in August 1847, only a couple of months before the composer’s death.

The first volume in the Eschers' series, released in April 2015, has been warmly received by the critics, with the internet site Pizzicato describing it as 'a noteworthy addition to the Mendelssohn discography'.

Reviewds:

The Eschers offer eloquent, full-blooded playing, with spacious tempos, earthy rhythms and rich, dug-in sound. Nothing is rushed or skittered over - and this is notably rewarding in music where an over-precious surface can risk missing the point…the four players offer a beautiful blend of individuality and accord, and BIS's famous SACD sound quality lets them gleam and glow.

– BBC Music Magazine

This young American group respond particularly vividly to the ebullience of the D major Quartet. Digging into the upward arpeggio with which it launches with infectious glee, while the first movement's coda is uproariously dispatched. Also impressive is their combination of finely honed interaction and a sense of playfulness.

– Gramophone

Classical Music

Heinrich von Herzogenberg (1843-1900) was a singular composer for the 19th Century. He found inspiration in the music of Wagner and Schumann, but was also the founder of the Bach Society and championed works of older composers such as Schütz as well as a personal friend of Brahms. While attracted to the music of the Lutheran church, he was a devout, life-long Catholic.

Herzogenberg's oratorio "The Birth of Christ" was quite extraordinary for its time. Large-scale religious music was no longer fashionable, and even most "Masses" were written for the concert hall rather than the Church. Herzongenberg's Die Geburt Christi is scored for a large orchestra, choir, children's chorus, soloists and organ and deftly combines the countrapuntal textures of Bach with the late Romantic harmonic language of Brahms. The result is a serene and oddly moving score, achieving some of its most touching moments with the simplest of forces (a lovely setting of Jesu, Lieber Jesu Mein" for solo voice and cello is just one highlight).

R. Strauss - Elektra, Chor der Deutschen, Staatsoper Berlin and Saatskapelle Berlin directed by Daniel Barenboim.

Classical Music

“Devine’s harpsichord Goldbergs can stand among the best in a crowded field.” - Phillip Kennicot, Gramophone – September, 2011

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Harpsichord versions of J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations don’t seem to roll off the presses in quite the same quantities as piano versions these days, but this is still a hotly competitive field for any new entry. Just to pick on two good examples, I’ve been having a listen to Masaaki Suzuki’s recording on the BIS label, as well as making comparisons with another fairly recent harpsichord recording by Aapo Häkkinen on the Alba label (see review). Suzuki has plenty of drive and energy, going for brisk tempi and crisp articulation which keeps everything going with plenty of zip – something you may or may not want in your Goldbergs, but is good to have around if you are in the mood. Häkkinen is frequently more reserved in tempo, and more inclined to introduce a rubato flexibility into his musical narrative.

It’s a terrible thing to make sweeping generalisations, but Steven Devine falls somewhere in between these two players. He has a fairly flexible approach, using a certain amount of rubato to bring out the shapes of phrases but not distorting melodic lines in the process, and certainly not applying as much freedom as Häkkinen. Nor does he drive the music as hard as Suzuki. Tempi are decently forward moving without being tumultuous, and Devine’s articulation is clear without being overly picky, with a nice legato effect. Ornamentation is certainly not extreme, with a few extra passing notes here and there – certainly not exceeding the bounds of acceptable convention. There was only one point which made me check my references: Variatio 6 is played with a slightly odd semi-triplet rhythm, a sort of tum-ti-tum-ti effect, but not quite explicitly, and not quite all the time. Devine writes useful booklet notes about the history and some of the forms in this piece, but doesn’t go into his own interpretative choices when recording the work – probably not necessary when going for what is essentially an uncontroversial reading.

This is a fine recording made using a superb instrument by Colin Booth, indeed, the one seen pictured on the cover for this release. The microphones are placed close, but the lack of mechanical noise and the fine sonority of the harpsichord mean you can be close up and intimate without feeling assaulted by upper harmonics. There are some lovely effects in this piece, and the points at which the parts cross in the two-manual variations such as Variatio 8 are particularly distinguished here. Even after extensive listening it is however tricky to know where to place this recording amongst the pantheon. I have a nostalgia-tinted affection for Trevor Pinnock on the Archiv label, though even his fine recording can sound a bit ‘chunky’ these days. While I still like Aapo Häkkinen I accept his more obvious pulling around of the phrasing can sound a little mannered in places, and certainly by comparison with Steven Devine. The Alba recording is a little more respectful in terms of distance though and is ultimately a less fatiguing listen. Häkkinen’s Joel Katzman instrument also has a thrumming/ringing quality which I can take for long periods. The Booth instrument is a little more nasal in tone, though by no means unattractive. Both recordings are almost identical in terms of overall timing by the way.

It’s only when you start casting the net wider and encounter desperately pedestrian sounding recordings like that of Shin-ichiro Nakano on the Meister Music label that you come to appreciate the quality of these performances. There are also plenty of intolerably jangly ones around, but we’re still spoilt for choice. For every also-ran there’s another fine version, such as Ketil Haugsand on the Simax label, and the ancient and stately Wanda Landowska makes her own views on the piece more than emphatically clear despite an antique recording. All I can say is that Steve Devine’s recording of the Goldberg Variations is certainly amongst the best, making all of the crucial musical points very effectively and with plenty of expressive breathing room. There’s nothing stodgy about his playing, but neither is it lightweight and ephemeral. I can’t say it’s revelatory, but I doubt there are any of these left to come, at least, not on harpsichord. If you already have a much loved harpsichord version of this great work on your shelves then this might not push it aside, although you might by chance have one of the dodgy ones and not know what you are missing. Bearing this in mind by all means give this recording a try – you certainly won’t be disappointed.

- Dominy Clements, MusicWeb International

It was in 1842, his ‘year of chamber music’ that Robert Schumann took on the combination of violin, cello and piano for the first time. He seems to have decided against releasing the resulting Fantasiestücke as a fully-fledged piano trio, however, but later returned to the work, revising it for publication in 1850. The model here is not the large-scale, quasi-symphonic trios of Beethoven or Schubert – instead Haydn’s characteristic trio textures spring to mind, especially in the first two movements where the cello largely follows the piano’s left-hand bass line. By the time the Fantasiestücke was published, Schumann had already written two ‘proper’ piano trios, No. 1 in D minor and No. 2 in F major. According to the composer the second of these ‘makes a friendlier and more immediate impression’ but it is in fact the D minor trio that has long been the more popular: passionate, mainly extrovert and bursting with fine thematic material it is the easiest to grasp on one hearing. Both works are filled to capacity with imitative writing, sometimes conspicuously so but often subtly as if on a subconscious level – an aspect that the members of the Kungsbacka Piano Trio, with more than 20 years of playing together, are able to make the most of.

Only a few, famous jazz bassists have ever gone beyond the limitations of their instruments and sought new opportunities on the cello. The cellist Valentin Radutiu turns the tables to show how well the cello suits jazz - at times taking the role of the traditional string bass, at others a resonant tenor guitar while at others giving it's voice wings. The repertoire on Remembering The Rain: A Jazz View, comes mainly from the "Great American Songbook", supplementing that glorious heritage with standards by John Lewis (MJQ) and Bill Evans, both of whom had their own anchors in classical music as well.

Tilting at windmills. The long-suffering Sancho Panza. Sighs of love for Dulcinea. The familiar and fanciful themes of the Don Quixote legend are brought to life by Apollo’s Fire in Telemann’s imaginative portrayal. The Don Quixote Suite sits alongside other suites and concertos by the composer that reveal his cosmopolitan air and whimsical nature.



REVIEW:

Avie deserves credit for spotting this 2002 Koch International label disc and putting it back into circulation once again, as it remains a sterling release. The Cleveland-based Baroque orchestra Apollo's Fire and conductor Jeannette Sorrell pick a program that shows exactly why Telemann was so popular in his own day. They apply just the right level of broad gesture to the two representational suites, which reflect their subjects but are in no way overdone. A wonderful release that holds up to repeated hearings.

– All Music Guide

Grammy Award-winning chamber choir The Crossing brings to life the striking works of six contemporary composers in this Navona Records release, with performances that are unique and awe-inspiring. The Crossing is a professional chamber choir conducted by Donald Nally and dedicated to new music. It is committed to working with creative teams to make and record new, substantial works for choir that explore and expand ways of writing for choir, singing in choir, and listening to music for choir. Many of its over seventy commissioned premieres address social, environmental, and political issues.

Sonya Yoncheva dedicates her new album to the music of Verdi and records some of the most important repertoire for the dramatic soprano. With Massimo Zanetti she has paired up with a conductor very versed in the music of Verdi. The album includes arias from beloved masterpieces such as Il trovatore, La forza del destino, Don Carlo and Otello but also earlier gems such as Stiffelio. Following a series of spectacular debuts at the world’s leading opera houses, soprano Sonya Yoncheva has been heralded as one of the most acclaimed and exciting performers of her generation. She has become a fixture on the most important stages of the world, including the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House, Bayerische Staatsoper, Berlin State Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, and the Opéra de Paris. Her unforgettable portrayals of iconic roles have received tremendous acclaim from critics and audiences alike. Of her performances in La traviata at the Staatsoper Berlin, Die Welt proclaimed: "She is the finest Violetta since Maria Callas. The Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva is possibly the best Traviata in the world at present.” Sonya Yoncheva’s extensive repertoire includes jewels of the Baroque canon, as well as works by Mozart, Verdi, Tchaikovsky, and Puccini. Celebrated for her distinctly beautiful voice and exceptional dramatic presence, Sonya is equally at home on the concert and recital stage, having performed to critical acclaim in several cities including Paris, Dresden, Baden-Baden, and Prague.

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REVIEW:

She certainly has a go at just about everything, ranging from the delicacy of Desdemona’s ‘Ave Maria’, to the wilder grief of the Forza Leonora’s ‘Pace! Pace, mio Dio!’ Perhaps best are the musings of Amelia Boccanegra, which sit perfectly within the size and range of her voice. Massimo Zanetti’s conducting is spacious and supportive, and he makes much of the introductions to the Boccanegra and Don Carlo arias.

– Opera Now