Augusta read thomas : Rhea enchanted (2016)For solo violaDuration: c. 5 minutesFormat: A4 loose sheetsAlso available for solo violin (NMP1035) and solo cello (NMP1037)Available on CD, NI6355“Although highly notated, precise, carefully structured, soundly proportioned, and while the musician is elegantly working from a nuanced, specific text, I like my music to have the feeling that it is organically being self-propelled – on the spot - as if we listeners are overhearing (capturing) an un-notated, deeply musical improvisation.” Augusta Read Thomas

The ‘My First’ album series from Naxos is the ideal springboard for a lifelong journey through classical music. Each selection is carefully tailored for younger listeners and includes famous tracks as well as unexpected gems. The booklet is full of information on every piece of music. Unique and imaginative, these CDs will open a door to a wonderful world that children and parents can discover together.

An orchestra has lots of different instruments producing lots of different sounds. Whether they’re playing on their own or all at the same time, it can be a tremendously exciting experience to listen to them. From Wagner’s grand ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ to Tchaikovsky’s gentle ‘Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy’, you can hear on this album how the character of an orchestra changes all the time!

Over the course of the last 15 years, David Lang and The Crossing, the Grammy-winning chamber choir conducted by Donald Nally, have crafted a body of work that stands apart from the rest for it's profound spiritual connection to our shared sense of humanity-through our stories, our myths, our beliefs, and our dreams. The sense of senses is a milestone that celebrates this connection, across time and space, to deliver a message that music can be a benevolent force for change if we only take the time to listen. "This album is a collection of works that capture the intimate side of The Crossing's relationship with David Lang," Nally explains. "Only two were written for us, yet the others reflect a shared world view, a common idea about sound and community, and a collective focus on our reason for singing. David's thoroughly considered thoughts on 'why we do this' have influenced The Crossing's perpetually reexamined thoughts on that question: how to communicate deep feelings, absent of ego."

The Queen of Instruments meets one of the international leading organists, Iveta Apkalna. The repertoire of the new album includes Vasks' "Viatore" and "Te Deum" as well as Part's famous "Spiegel i'm Spiegel", "Pari intervallo", "Trivium" and "Annum per annum". Two of the most important contemporary composers are united on one album, celebrating Part's 90th birthday in 2025 and Vasks' 80th birthday in 2026. Also a milestone in music history is captured on this release: it is the first ever solo organ recording made on the organ of the Ventspils Concert Hall "Latvija" - one of the most remarkable concert instruments in Norther Europe.

For his third solo album for Alpha, keyboard polyglot Anthony Romaniuk returns to the piano, exploring the seven modes: derived from the major scale, the basis of ancient Greek music but nowadays endemic in folk, jazz, and beyond, each one containing a world of character and mood. Starting with John Adams' Phrygian Gates, Romaniuk devised a programme comprising music by Pärt, Ligeti, Radiohead, and Björk, with his own original compositions; arrangements of traditional Catalan and English/Scottish music; and improvisations. Continuing his search for a personal and original sound, Romaniuk uses two pianos, including a Klavins upright grand piano (from the collection of Nils Frahm), which, thanks to it's massive soundboard and four-metre-long bass strings, overwhelms the listener. The addition of various analogue and digital audio effects, together with innovative recording techniques, brings the listener into a unique sonic landscape, approaching that of a sound installation.

The award-winning vibraphonist Pascal Schumacher and the internationally acclaimed pianist Danae Dorken present their new album 'Glass Two' - an impressive musical homage to one of the most influential composers of our time: Philip Glass. Their unusual instrumentation for piano and vibraphone creates an unrivaled sound world that brings Glass' minimalist worksto life in a new and refreshing way. At the heart of the album are original interpretations of Glass' compositions, complemented by Schumacher's own works. These pieces, inspired by personalities who influenced the American composer, such as the poet Allen Ginsberg or the sculptor Richard Serra, form a unique fusion of two musical worlds. This fusion creates a profound and multifaceted, yet reduced and clear atmosphere. Pascal Schumacher and Danae Dorken impressively demonstrate that less is sometimes more: Their artfully crafted arrangements are characterised by a fascinating transparency that captures the essence of minimalist music. The result is a captivating listening experience that allows the colors and textures of Glass' works to shine in a new light and interact harmoniously with Schumacher's own compositions. The album will be released on the Neue Meister label on CD and vinyl on 8 November 2024 and is an indispensable discovery for all lovers of modern classical music. Immerse yourself in the soundscapes of 'Glass Two' and experience a musical journey that inspires both in it's reduction and diversity

The composer said Music can be defined as a series of proportions in the service of a divine impulse. A philosophy which is shared by composers from Bach to Camilleri, Machaut to Tavener, and which is certainly the ethos of Divine Art Records! While acknowledging the radical experiments of the 1960s and 1970s, Crumb's music became famous for it's instantly recognizable style, integrity and sense of mysticism, and an ability not to alienate audiences.

Lutoslawski was one of the great composers of the 20th century. Although he was imprisoned by the Nazis and subject to the whims of a communist government after the war, Lutoslawski's voice remained original and always provocative. This collection presents orchestral music and two song cycles from a period spanning nearly 50 years of the composer's long life.
Symphony No. 1 was written during the 1940s and is scored for a large orchestra augmented by battery of percussion instruments. The symphony is a work of shifting moods, animated by colorful orchestration. When the Communists took power in Poland they demanded that composers write music based on folk-songs. Lutoslawski's 'Silesian Triptych' written in 1951, meets the party's demands but rises above the genre with its sensitive vocal writing and genial Slavic flavor.
Olga Pasiecznik's warm soprano voice is perfect for the 'Silesian Triptych,' and she floats lovely pianissimo notes in the complex song cycle 'Chantefleurs et Chantefables.' The Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra directed by Antoni Wit play this music with energy and technical proficiency.

SONDHEIM Sweeney Todd • Ulf Schirmer, cond; Mark Stone ( Sweeney Todd ); Jane Henschel ( Mrs. Lovett ); Gregg Baker ( Anthony Hope ); Rebecca Bottone ( Johanna ); Jonathan Best ( Judge Turpin ); Adrian Dwyer ( Beadle Bamford ); Diana DiMarzio ( Beggar Woman ); Ronald Samm ( Pirelli ); Pascal Charbonneau ( Tobias ); Bavarian R Ch; Munich R O • BR 900316 (2 CDs: 123:59) Live: Munich 5/6/2012


Composer-librettist Stephen Sondheim maintains that Sweeney Todd is not an opera, and so does the annotator for the present release. Nevertheless, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (its full title), since it premiered on Broadway in 1979, has been revived by several opera companies, including the New York City Opera, the Houston Grand Opera, and the Chicago Lyric Opera. Why? Musically, it is highly sophisticated, and operatic voices are not wasted on it. Furthermore, with its larger-than-life dramatic themes, including mistaken identity, lust, vengeance, obsession, madness, and murder, how more operatic could a theatrical work be?


There have been several recordings of this work, including the unforgettable original cast recording on RCA with Len Cariou in the title role, and Angela Lansbury in the role of Mrs. Lovett, his cheerfully amoral partner in crime. That version will never be eclipsed, but each new recording adds a welcome new perspective. The one reviewed here, recorded in the Munich’s Prinzregententheater, is the most operatic yet, even more than the one with the New York Philharmonic which features singers such as Heidi Grant Murphy (Johanna), John Aler (Beadle Bamford), and Paul Plishka (Judge Turpin). This time around, we have legitimate operatic singers in all of the main roles; only DiMarzio appears not to be a “classical” musician per se. In other words, here we have an ensemble of acting singers, as opposed to singing actors such as Cariou, Lansbury, George Hearn, Patti LuPone, and Michael Cerveris, who all have made major contributions to this opera’s . . . I mean, musical’s performance history.


It turns out fairly well. I was immediately pulled in by Ulf Schirmer’s conducting, which is tense, taut, and stylish. In fact, you might not hear a better conducted Sweeney Todd anywhere. The Bavarian Radio Choir also adds much to the success of this performance. Although their diction is less clear than that of English-speaking ensembles who have recorded this music, their dramatic involvement is high, as is their musicianship.


This is an actual performance. Apparently the time, funds, or energy to correct the inevitable live lapses was unavailable, and thus we have oddities such as Henschel at one point rechristening Beadle Bamford as “Beadle Rumford.” A few memory lapses are covered professionally, but will leave those who know the show well asking, “What did (s)he just sing?” These issues are minor, though.


I’m more concerned about two other points. One is the lack of (black, very black) humor in this production. For example, I can’t understand why, in “A Little Priest,” the wonderfully uncomfortable pun about a meat pie made from a general (“With or without his privates?”) has been removed. This is a grim show, still there is much about it that can be very funny, and allowing it to be so makes the gore and horror even more effective. As the original Mrs. Lovett, Angela Lansbury was charming and endearing; she might bake you into a meat pie, but you couldn’t stay angry with her for long! Henschel can’t inspire that kind of affection, and she makes it clear that her murderous instincts were present even before opportunity allowed them to come out. The other thing that concerns me is the way in which some of the big dramatic moments are almost thrown away. Todd’s aborted murder of Judge Turpin (interrupted by Anthony’s untimely arrival) should be a big moment, but it isn’t. Similarly, soon after, in Todd’s “Epiphany,” we should feel his mind crack and his murderous rage insanely swell to encompass all of mankind, not just the Judge, but Mark Stone is not that fine an actor, the direction is too hurried, and one of the show’s most Brechtian moments doesn’t come off. The last segment of the show, with its string of murders and its Grand Guignol effects, moves forward jerkily, sometimes grinding to a halt, and sometimes not pausing long enough to make its points. On Broadway, Harold Prince would have fixed these miscalculations, but, at least as I am hearing them on CD, they were not addressed in Munich’s Prinzregententheater.


All of the singing itself is very fine. One curiosity is a baritone Anthony; Gregg Baker’s voice is darker than Mark Stone’s. Anthony is supposed to be an inexperienced sailor, newly arrived in London, and the early scenes between him and Todd feel strange, because the voice relationships have been inverted from the original production. I really missed hearing a tenor’s voice soar into “Johanna,” one of Sondheim’s most rapturous love songs. Also, the multinational cast presents a variety of accents. In 1979, Cariou had almost no accent at all, while Lansbury made the most of hers. Here, we have the reverse: a cockney Todd in Baker, and a Mrs. Lovett of no particular nationality or region in Henschel. Someday, there will be a production of this work in which everyone gets on the same page with dialects.


So, if you want an operatic Sweeney Todd , or a fresh look at it, this new recording will satisfy. It has many enjoyable moments, but a few unfortunate ones as well. If you do not know this show at all, however, the Broadway cast recording—still in print, thank goodness!—is the only place to begin. This show is one of the masterpieces of American musical theater, and absolutely needs to be heard.


FANFARE: Raymond Tuttle

Note: This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

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Also available on standard DVD

At one of her rare appearances with orchestra, Martha Argerich, the grande dame of the piano, joined forces with world-famous cellist Mischa Maisky and the fabulous Lucerne Symphony Orchestra for the world premiere of a newly commissioned work by Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin – “Romantic Offering”, a double concerto for piano, cello and orchestra dedicated to its very first soloists. The programme was rounded off by late-Romantic masterpieces by César Franck, Antonín Dvo?ák and Dmitri Shostakovich’s Ninth Symphony under the baton of renowned maestro Neeme Järvi.

“I’ve attempted to depict and highlight the most distinctive individual qualities of these two musicians … Romantic Offering should inspire new thoughts and experiences. Music isn’t only the product of experiment. It should move your soul and touch your heart.” Rodion Shchedrin

Recorded live at the Concert Hall of the Culture and Convention Center (KKL), Lucerne, 9–10 February 2011.

Bonus:
- Behind the Scenes of a world première with Rodion Shchedrin, Martha Argerich and Mischa Maisky.

Picture format: 1080i Full-HD
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS-HD Master Audio
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 112 mins (concert) + 17 mins (bonus)
No. of Discs: 1 (BD 25)

It would be difficult to find someone who did not recognize the themes from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. Arguably one of the most performed pieces of classical music, it seems to have found its way into every corner of the world. This release titled 8 Seasons contains Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, and also Astor Piazzolla’s Las Cuatro Estaciones Portenas. Piazzolla composed his Seasons between 1965 and 1969 for an ensemble comprised of violin, electric guitar, piano, double bass, and bandoneon. Fusing jazz, classical tradition, and Afro-Hispanic music, Piazzolla’s Seasons are an interesting compliment to Vivaldi’s.

The CD "Northern Lights" with violinist Kathrin ten Hagen, violist Itamar Ringel and the Folkwang Kammerorchester under the direction of Johannes Klumpp, presents works of Scandinavian and Baltic composers, in particular composers of the late Romantic and contemporary Modern periods. Featured are compositions by Ole Bull, Peteris Vasks, Kurt Atterberg, Anders Eliasson and Jean Sibelius. Consisting of sixteen youthful musicians, Essen, Germany’s Folkwang Kammerorchester, founded 1958, continues to earn acclaim through its festival performances throughout Europe and beyond.

Krzysztof Penderecki is one of the world’s great contemporary composers and a Polish classical music icon. His 80th birthday in November 2013 occasioned an extraordinary gathering of the world's most significant musicians and his most important interpreters. Companions and long-time friends of the composer presented their homage to Penderecki with some of his most famous works being performed: Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima, the Duo Concertante, the Concerto Grosso No. 1 and the unique Credo.

In WAM, British composer Michael Finnissy plays with various elements of "musical culture" - rearranging and re-contextualizing old "classics", writing chamber music without traditional synchronicity, and allowing performers the freedom to reorder their pages of music. Through this deconstruction of classical conventions, Finnissy creates music that is endlessly surprising and wide-ranging in it's emotional character.

Krzysztof Penderecki’s works for string instruments constitute a rather abundant group of compositions of different forms and genres. The selection presented on this release comprises concerto pieces created at various stages of Penderecki’s creative path. The Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra was established in 2007. The Orchestra’s mission is to bring together the most talented students and graduates of musical academies who are under thirty years of age. They are deeply convinced that an opportunity to cooperate with outstanding artists will inspire many talented musicians and make them more eager to continue to develop as artists, and the personal artistic responsibility of each musician will translate into shared responsibility for the shape and quality of the orchestra. They believe that the Polish Orchestra Sinfonia Iuventus will be perceived by young musicians not so much as an institution, but as a community of shared objectives.

Marimbist Fumito Nunoya has enjoyed international fame as one of the most in demand marimba players of our day. A native of Odate Japan, he is currently based out of Herford in Germany, where he teaches at the Academy of Music in Detmold. In addition to performing across Europe, he frequently gives concerts in the United States and Japan. For this release, he has chosen Astor Piazzolla's Tango Suite I-III, Tangata "Silfo y Ondina," and other well-known works by the tango master. Nunoya is joined for this recording by pianist Momoko Shano, fellow marimbist Hiroya Honda, and violinist Yuka Sato.

Helsinki–born Parisian Kaija Saariaho’s music sounds like little else, its kaleidoscopic magic evoking Debussy refracted into the twenty-first century. This album includes the ghostly Terra memoria for string orchestra, expanded from a chamber original for the Emerson String Quartet. The beautifully scored vocal suite from Emilie, a 2011 one-woman opera about pioneering eighteenth-century scientist Emilie du Châtelet, will appeal to those beguiled by Saariaho’s dazzling first opera, L’Amour de loin (the works share a librettist, too, French-Lebanese poet Amin Maalouf). One can’t imagine the high-flying vocal role’s originator, Finnish diva Karita Mattila, being much better than French soprano Karen Vourc’h is here, nor in the shimmering song cycle Quatre Instants, also written for Mattila.

– Bradley Bambarger, Listen Magazine