Fromental Hal�vy's five-act grand opera La Juive ('The Jewess') is one of the most popular operas of the 19th century, captivating audiences ever since it's debut at the Op�ra de Paris in 1835. Set in the 15th century and full of pageantry, the subject is the forbidden love between a Christian man and a Jewish woman, and the tragedy that ensues. Oper Frankfurt's contemporary staging won great acclaim, with Ambur Braid being lauded for her 'luminous soprano' as the heroine Rachel, and 'vocal phenomenon' John Osborn heralded in the role of her father �l�azar as 'immensely moving'.

The renowned chamber choir Ensemble Horizons presents it's debut album with GENUIN - an "unheard-of" production in every sense of the word. Many of the featured works are the first recordings of neglected masterpieces by women composers from the 19th through 21st centuries. From the enchanting early Romantic settings of Tubingen's own Josephine Lang to works by Clara Schumann, Luise Adolpha Le Beaus, Ethel Smyth, and contemporary a cappella pieces by Iris Szeghy, Cecilia McDowall, and Galina Grigorjeva - this moving and pristinely performed choral music expands the repertoire in a way that truly makes one sit up and listen!

Classical Music

Recording information: Il Palazzo reale di Caserta e i Borboni di Napoli, Cast (05/2007); Il Palazzo reale di Caserta e i Borboni di Napoli, Cast (11/2007).

Although Couperin is best known today as a composer of harpsichord music, he remained deeply involved in chamber music throughout his career. Les Nations is a vast project in which the virtues of both the French and Italian styles are set next to each other. Each of the four ordres celebrates a Catholic power of Europe – France, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Savoy dynasty of Piedmont – and each is a combination of an Italianate trio sonata, with its free-form virtuosity, and a large-scale and elaborate French dance suite. Juilliard Baroque brings together some of the world’s most respected and accomplished early music instrumentalists for this invigorating program.

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Review:

All eight players are totally absorbed in the style. Their often dense ornamentation never sounds calculated or contrived; their rhythmic flow in slower movements has a captivating insouciance, relaxed, gently fluid. This is French playing that would be hard to better.

– BBC Music Magazine

Johann Sebastian Bach has made the reputation of Caf� Zimmermann ever since the ensemble was formed in 1999. This new recording presents the music of the Leipzig Kantor from a different angle, that of the notebooks in which musicians wrote down pieces and movements they particularly liked. This recording brings together works composed by Bach in the late 1740s which may be described as intimate in character, including the famous trio sonata from his Musical Offering. The Baroque idiom of this 'experimental' sonata is contextualized by the innovative style developed by his son Carl Philipp Emanuel in one of his own trio sonatas. A number of arias by J. S. Bach are also presented here with exclusively instrumental forces. Under the direction of violinist Pablo Valetti and harpsichordist C�line Frisch, the ensemble even ventures into Mozartian territory with the Aria and Fugue K404a, taken from two pieces by Bach that Mozart himself had annotated and arranged in his own musical notebook. Finally, a chorale that Bach was particularly fond of, a three part fugue played here by harpsichord and flute. Carl Philipp Emanuel had it printed at the end of his father's musical testament, The Art of Fugue: 'Before thy throne I now appear'.

Chandos' Featured Release for February will be the final recording made by Richard Hickox, intended as the first in a cycle devoted to orchestral works by Goossens. Offering the premiere recording of Goossens's Phantasy Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, and the rarely recorded Symphony No. 1, this disc serves as a tribute to Hickox and his remarkable legacy of recordings on Chandos. Though principally remembered as a conductor, during the 1920s the prolific Eugene Goossens was regarded as among the foremost British composers alongside Bax, Bridge and Walton. Sadly, his music has been all but forgotten, for the colourful, expressive nature of his music fell out of fashion in the 1950s and 1960s. A recent reviewer of Goossens's music wrote, 'If you have ever gleaned the idea that Goossens is inclined to grey modernism or to windy rhetoric, prepare to have your preconceptions well and truly shattered'. His music is suggestive of fellow composers of the era, notably Holst and Bliss. Having grown up in Britain, Goossens accepted an invitation to come to the United States as the first chief conductor of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra in New York State. He was there for twenty years, before moving to Australia where he served as Chief Conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. His music and character proved a great influence on the Australian classical audience and he is recognised as one of the most important figures in Australian musical life. The rewarding Phantasy Concerto, Op. 60 for Piano and Orchestra was written for the celebrated Spanish pianist José Iturbi who gave its first performance in 1944. 'The work, particularly the slow movement, was influenced by my re-reading at that time of Edgar Allan Poe's The Devil in the Belfry, and might be said to reflect something of the fantastic and sinister character of that story, though in no way being a literal depiction of it', wrote Goossens. The concerto was the outcome of a discussion between Iturbi and the composer over the lack of new piano concertos and especially on a smaller scale. The result is a four-movement piano concerto in compressed sonata form. The soloist plays more of a concertante role than in a display concerto, his part tending towards being integral to the orchestral texture. Goossens used the word 'conversational' to describe this relationship between soloist and orchestra. This premiere recording is coupled with the melodious and imaginative Symphony No. 1. The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is regarded as Goossens specialists and here perform with Howard Shelley as the piano soloist.

Nicola Benedetti -"Violin Caf�" - Violin Caf� brings together music that represents the different musical strands of Nicola's life and career, from virtuosic showpieces to French romance, contemporary favorites and Scottish folk, freshly arranged for a new dynamic group of instruments: violin, guitar, accordion & cello, and smallpipes. This inventive new line-up of instruments delivers a communal, conversational "evening caf� appropriate" sound. A sound with the flexibility to work across genres, cultures and performance environments. The album reunites Nicola with audiences she has known and been supported by for over 22 years. This is a thank you to the people of all ages, from all around the world, who share a deep love of classical music and the violin, whose children Nicola has taught after concerts and whose curiosity of the arts she shares.

Fresh and spontaneously joyful, this is a delightful version of what is probably the most over-duplicated work in the catalogue. Throughout the performances one welcomes the fiery magnetism of Chung. Editor's Choice of Gramophone Magazine when the Four Seasons album was originally released in 2001. Kyung-Wha Chung, an artist of passionate intensity and probing intellect, who communicates a vivid sense of spontaneity in her playing. Is one of the great violinists of the last 50 years.

COATES, E.: London Calling - Music for Wind Band

For anyone new to Hanson’s works this CD is a brilliant introduction to a really inspirational composer.

This is the fifth volume in Gerard Schwarz’s fervent traversal of the seven Hanson symphonies for Delos. The three pieces are drawn from DE 3160, 3092 and 3130. As with the earlier volumes Schwarz brooks no dilution of the music. Nothing is routine or careless.

The old passionate munitions and the aggressive air-burst energy is still there in the six-movement Sixth Symphony. Hanson was writing way against the prevailing current of the times – it was 1968 – but the fuel still ignites! This work initially took a while to take a hold on me but now its swaying Nordic romance will not let go. The music has exuberance, chattering Sibelian zest, an epic stride and the benefit of a resplendent recording. It was dedicated to Leonard Bernstein and the NYPO. Schwarz takes things at a faster lick than Siegfried Landau and the Music for Westchester Symphony Orchestra version from the early 1970s. Landau was first issued on Turnabout LP TV-S34534, revived on CD on Excelsior and also as part of a VoxBox CDX5092.

Lumen in Christo growls with awe. Somewhere in there we are told that there is material by Handel and Haydn. It is deeply subsumed. The choir sings texts with light as their subject from the Latin Requiem and from The Bible. The music has a symphonic mien so do not expect much in the way of relaxation after the rippling power of the Sixth Symphony.

The Seventh also uses the Seattle Symphony Chorale. It’s a setting for choirs and orchestra of texts by Walt Whitman. Hanson – then within four years of his death - sticks to his last. The style essays no change. Indeed he even incorporates that long-breathed treasure of a melody – the grand theme from The Second Symphony. He first set Whitman’s verse in 1915 and latterly in Drumtaps (1935), Song of Democracy (1957) and The Mystic Trumpeter (1970; rec. Delos DE3160). This is not the work’s first recording. That honour rests with the World Youth Symphony Orchestra Interlochen and the National Music Camp High School Choir who recorded it in August 1977 on Bay Cities BCD 1009. Atmospheric though that original is it cannot hope to compete with Schwarz’s fully professional version.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed for a final Schwarz Naxos disc including the Piano Concerto and The Mystic Trumpeter. In due course I would guess that Naxos will also issue a boxed set as they did for Barber and Schuman.

– Rob Barnett, MusicWeb International

Classical Music

Four compositions for winds performed by a diverse assemblage of brass groups. Robert Spradling conducts. The well-known American composers Richard Danielpour and Eric Ewazen each contribute one work to this recording.

Giovanni paolo cima;Francesco Turini; G.B. Buonamente; Dario Cast London Baroque The Trio Sonata in 17th Century Italy.

Famous for his role as the keyboard player in rock band Genesis and as a solo artist, Tony Banks was always fascinated by the idea of writing orchestral music. His success incomposing for films led to the acclaimed Seven - A Suite for Orchestra. The intense orchestral sound pictures in Seven, Six and Five rank among some of Banks's most accomplished works, marrying experimentation with form and structure, and a trademark melodic character which powerfully conveys both melancholy and joy. Originally released on individual discs as 8.57414, 8.572986, 8.557466

The present edition contains the complete productions released by cpo between 1993 and 2018 on the subject of Michael Haydn's symphonies and wind concertos. During the course of a quarter of a century, as might well be imagined, a wealth of material accumulated that could not be put to renewed use without considerable cuts. Nine authors had contributed information about the sources and special qualities of the music to the original releases, which necessarily led to duplications, repetitions, and other redundancies that were to be avoided in the compilation. Moreover, it took some time for the numbering system currently in use for the works to be implemented. The authors initially continued to refer exclusively to the �Thematisches Verzeichnis der Instrumentalwerke von Michael Haydn� (to which we have assigned the letter P) that Lothar Perger had presented in the Denkmaler der Tonkunst in osterreich (DTo). The �enumeration� by the American musicologist Charles H. Sherman (1929-2018) later began to Appear in the booklets. Sherman initially compiled a provisional catalogue and then in 1993 published Johann Michael Haydn: A Chronological Thematic Catalogue of his Works in collaboration with T. Donley Thomas. This chronological listing (MH) and the P numbers, which soon will be 120 years old, are used whenever possible for the identification of the works recorded here. Our wish is that this unique edition may bring you great pleasure.

ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER - PHANTOM OF THE OPERA - ORIGINAL CAST RECORDING [CD] Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera is one of the most celebrated musicals of all time, and this original London cast recording from 1986 remains the definitive recording. Michael Crawford's Tony Award-winning performance as The Phantom and Sarah Brightman's portrayal of Christine Daa� helped make this the best-selling cast recording in history. Re-issued for the first time in decades, this classic album brings the unforgettable score to a new generation of listeners. From the title song to "The Music of the Night" and "All I Ask of You," every track reflects the power and beauty that continue to make The Phantom of the Opera a global phenomenon nearly forty years after it's debut. Since it's premiere, The Phantom of the Opera has been seen by more than 160 million people in 195 cities and has received over 70 major theatre awards. It holds the record as the longest-running show in Broadway history and was the first British musical to debut at number one on the music charts. The recording has been certified Platinum in six countries.

BRAHMS: PIANO QUARTETS NOS. 2 & 3

Jodie Devos is sorely missed. Aged just thirty-five, she died on 16 June 2024. Wishing to perpetuate her memory and her art, we have decided to publish this boxed set containing all of the recordings she made for Alpha Classics over a period of ten years: six albums that bear witness to the exacting standards, sensitivity, eclecticism and curiosity of this unusual soprano who was loved by all. Also included is a concert she gave at the Gaume Festival in August 2017; this deeply moving programme reveals another side of Jodie, notably her love of American music and song, from Gershwin to Michel Legrand. All profits from the sale of this boxed set, which includes all the texts from the original albums, will be donated to the Jodie Devos Fund, created in 2025 to perpetuate the transmission and promotion of the operatic art that she held so dear.

Step into the luminous world of Baroque splendor with Jordi Savall's latest album, a breathtaking interpretation of Marc-Antoine Charpentier's Te Deum and In Natitvitatem canticum. Renowned for his profound musicality and historical insight, Savall invites listeners on a spiritual journey, illuminating the sacred beauty and emotional depth of these iconic works. Under Savall's masterful direction, Le Concert des Nations and the Choir of La Capella Reial de Catalunya deliver performances of exquisite clarity and passion, capturing the essence of 17th-century French court music. This album is not just a recording-it's a celebration of faith, artistry, and the timeless power of music to uplift the soul.

Celebrating Steve Reich's 90th birthday and the 20th anniversary of Colin Currie Group, this landmark release brings together a number of Reich's iconic works. United by the elegant symmetry of sextet forces, these pieces showcase the rhythmic vitality, harmonic clarity, and emotional depth that have defined Reich's music for generations. From the scintillating textures of Sextet, the driving power and poignancy of Double Sextet, and the hypnotic time-bending sonorities of Six Marimbas, the album offers a journey through Reich's unparalleled sound world. Colin Currie Group's fresh interpretation of Dance Patterns adds a lesser-known gem to this celebration, highlighting the composer's enduring fascination with movement and pattern. Recorded with the insight and precision that have become hallmarks of the ensemble, this album is both a tribute and a testament to Reich's lifelong influence and to the Colin Currie Group's deep connection with his music. These works do more than mesmerise-they uplift, entrance, and remind us why Reich remains one of the most significant voices in contemporary music.

Blessed with a captivating, richly sonorous singing voice, Japan-born, Seattle-based Valerie Joyce recorded two albums for audiophile label Chesky Records in the 2000s. The first of them, 2005's critically acclaimed New York Blue, featured the young singer supported by a crack Big Apple jazz band: formidable pianist Andy Ezrin, alternating bassists John Hebert and Tim Lefebvre, and drum stalwart Gene Jackson. They are augmented on some tracks by the veteran session musician Lawrence Feldman's smoky saxophone. Joyce's intriguing repertoire blends deft interpretations of well-known evergreens from The Great American Songbook ('Darn That Dream') with jazz standards (Miles Davis' 'Blue In Green'), jazz-tinged R&B ('Fever'), rock (Jimi Hendrix's 'Little Wing'), and pop (The Beatles' 'Golden Slumbers'). Bolstered with new liner notes featuring a recent interview with Valerie Joyce, New York Blue is reissued in 2026 as part of the Chesky Original Masters series on 180g One Step Pressing Vinyl LP and SACD Hybrid Stereo.

From the tenderness of Faur�'s songs to the famous Sonata by Franck, via Honnor�, B�sser and Enescu, the viola here champions the French School in it's widest sense: full of lyricism, sophistication and intensity, here is a program to match the abilities of Timothy Ridout and his partner at the piano, Jonathan Ware.

The Curious Bards immerse us in the 18th-century popular music of Ireland and Scotland, with reels, jigs, songs and dances that circulated in the oral tradition and in print, from the airs of Turlough O'Carolan to the great collections of the period. Impelled by an irresistible energy and underpinned by historical research, this album restores the vitality of this music that lives for the dance, for the preservation of folk memory, and for sharing with others.

This release features Mahler’s First Symphony in a historically informed performance that features a large, modern orchestra and includes the Blumine movement, which was part of the original version of the symphony, the one preferred by the conductor, Sir Roger Norrington. With the inclusion of the Blumine, the listener can appreciate the return of pastoral motifs in the finale movement. Mahler’s First symphony, sometimes titled “Titan,” was written mostly in February and March of 1888, incorporating music that had been written much earlier. The first performance wasn’t well received, but after several revisions over the following years the work has become a staple in symphonic repertoire. Originally, Mahler called the work a “Symphonic Poem in two parts.” But finally he began to refer to the work as a symphony.