DVD · 7 discs
Outstanding singers, conductors and directors come together in five diverse but compelling operas by Benjamin Britten. The turbulent, inward fishing community of Peter Grimes is transposed to a merciless 1980s society in Richard Jones' production. An 'outstanding' Sarah Connolly (Guardian) stars in The Rape of Lucretia, navigating the difficult tale with superb poise. Billy Budd is grippingly staged aboard the claustrophobic MS Indomitable, with Jacques Imbrailo portraying the troubled sailor in the 2010 Glyndebourne Festival Opera production by Michael Grandage. More light-hearted is the Royal Opera House staging of Gloriana, penned by Britten to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and featuring Susan Bullock as the monarch. Finally, Edward Gardner conducts the English National Opera in Deborah Warner's highly acclaimed production of Death in Venice, In which John Graham-Hall stars as the ageing Gustav von Aschenbach. These productions from some of the world's best opera houses offer five masterful performances that are an ideal way to experience Benjamin Britten's music. Filmed in High Definition and recorded in true Surround Sound. A BRITTEN COLLECTION (7-DVD Box Set) PETER GRIMES Peter Grimes - John Graham Hall Boy - Francesco Malvuccio Ellen Orford - Susan Gritton Captain Balstrode - Christopher Purves Auntie - Felicity Palmer First Niece - Ida Falk Winland Second Niece - Simona Mihai Bob Boles - Peter Hoare Swallow - Daniel Okulitch Mrs. Sedley - Catherine Wyn-Rogers Rev. Horace Adams - Christopher Gillett Ned Keene - George von Bergen Milan La Scala Chorus and Orchestra Robin Ticciati, conductor Richard Jones, stage director Recorded live at the Teatro alla Scala, June 2012 THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA Lucretia - Sarah Connolly Tarquinius - Christopher Maltman Bianca - Catherine Wyn-Rogers Lucia - Mary Nelson Junius - Leigh Melrose Collatinus - Clive Bayley Female Chorus - Orla Boylan Male Chorus - John Mark Ainsley English National Opera Orchestra Paul Daniel, conductor David McVicar, stage director Recorded live at the Aldeburgh Festival, The Maltings, Snape, 2001 BILLY BUDD Captain Vere - John Mark Ainsley Billy Budd - Jacques Imbrailo Claggart - Phillip Ens Mr. Redburn - Iain Paterson Mr. Flint - Matthew Rose Lieutenant Ratcliffe - Darren Jeffery Red Whiskers - Alasdair Elliott Donald - John Moore Dansker - Jeremy White Novice - Ben Johnson Squeak - Colin Judson Bosun - Richard Mosley-Evans Glyndebourne Chorus London Philharmonic Orchestra Mark Elder, conductor Michael Grandage, stage director Recorded live at the Glyndebourne Opera House, 8 and 11 June 2010 GLORIANA Queen Elizabeth I - Susan Bullock Earl of Essex - Toby Spence Countess of Essex - Patricia Bardon Lord Mountjoy - Mark Stone Lady Rich - Kate Royal Sir Robert Cecil - Jeremy Carpenter Sir Walter Raleigh - Clive Bayley Ballad Singer - Brindley Sherratt Royal Opera Chorus Royal Opera House Orchestra Paul Daniel, conductor Richard Jones, stage director Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, June 2013 DEATH IN VENICE Gustav von Aschenbach - John Graham Hall Traveller / Elderly Fop / Gondolier / Barber / Hotel Manger / Player / Dionysus - Andrew Shore Apollo - Tim Mead Tadzio - Sam Zaldivar The Polish Mother - Laura Caldow Two Daughters - Mia Angelina Mather / Xhuliana Shehu The Governess - Joyce Henderson Jaschiu - Marcio Teixeira English National Opera Chorus and Orchestra Edward Gardner, conductor Deborah Warner, stage director Recorded live at the London Coliseum, June 2013 --- Bonus: - Cast gallery (all) - Introduction to the opera (Billy Budd, Gloriana) - Introduction to the designs (Billy Budd) - Interviews with the cast and crew (Peter Grimes) - Comments from the director (The Rape of Lucretia) - Britten’s Aldeburgh (Gloriana) Picture format: NTSC 16:9 anamorphic Sound format: DTS 5.1 (all) / + LPCM 2.0 (The Rape of Lucretia, Billy Budd, Gloriana) / + Dolby Digital 2.0 (Peter Grimes, Death in Venice) Region code: 0 (worldwide) Audio Language: English Menu Language: English Subtitles: English, French, German (all) + Japanese (Peter Grimes, The Rape of Lucretia, Gloriana) + Korean (Death in Venice) / + Spanish (Billy Budd) Running time: 13 hrs 10 mins (opera) + 27 mins (bonus) No. of DVDs: 7 (DVD 9)
CD · 1 disc
The Russian composer Nikolai Kapustin (1937-2020), who died at the beginning of the pandemic-related cultural hiatus which has been unique with regard to world history, was able to experience considerable appreciation in his last two decades, which recently gained more and more momentum. Coming from an aristocracy of piano teaching - Kapustin was a pupil of a pupil of Horowitz's teacher Blumenfeld and then studied with the great Alexander Goldenweiser until 1961 - he was denied great recognition in the Soviet Union. As with many great piano composers since Chopin, the cycle of concert etudes from the middle of his life is particularly suitable for an introduction to this world of works. Kapustin's typical reference to jazz, which probably kept him from greater success in the Soviet years, is based on the highly individual, deliberate adaptation of stylistic elements. He got to know jazz greats such as Ellington, Basie, Cole, Garner, Peterson and others through records and the radio and picked out what suited him.
The extremely sensitive, not monotonously hammering as is so often the case, approach of the Chinese pianist A Bu, who is also trained in jazz, is pleasing with regard to interpretation, and he demonstrates his affinity for Kapustin's music through two samples of his own work. An affectionate and valuable addition to the recording is the story of his acquaintance with Kapustin in Moscow told by the young A Bu in the accompanying booklet, illustrated with photos.
SACD · 1 disc
At the end of the fourteenth century, musical worlds collided in England as Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos spent Christmas at King Henry IV’s royal court. For the first and only time, florid chant, polyphony, royal ceremonial, and imperial acclamations from both kingdoms and rites echoed antiphonally in London’s Eltham Palace. Cappella Romana’s performance is illuminated by the latest research on historically informed performance of medieval music. Cappella Romana tells this musical story of cultural contact in international crisis with clarity and beauty.
Travel back to a Christmas like no other before or since, with music for the Nativity of Christ not heard in centuries. Vocal ensemble Cappella Romana combines passion with scholarship in its exploration of early and contemporary music of the Christian East and West. Its name refers to the medieval Greek concept of the Roman oikoumene (inhabited world), which embraced Rome and Western Europe as well as the Byzantine Empire of Constantinople (“New Rome”) and its Slavic commonwealth. A Byzantine Emperor at King Henry’s Court is Cappella Romana’s 30th release.
REVIEW:
What is most striking here is that Cappella Romana, although deeply immersed in Byzantine ways of singing, also accomplishes a very different and distinctive sound for the English pieces, adding an appealing bit of gravel in the texture. As with other Cappella Romana recordings, this one was splendidly recorded at the Madeleine Parish in Portland, Oregon. With detailed booklet notes exploring the various issues involved, this is a unique and fascinating medieval release.
-- AllMusic.com (James Manheim)
CD · 2 discs
"What a refreshing musical gift this is! Those familiar with the Gloriae Dei Cantores singers know what a sterling ensemble they are; they deliver all the goods here. Seagull Seven's jazzy arrangement of "Deck the Hall" really rocks! In these and all else, the singers exude joy and cheer through artful, infectious performances that are immaculate and engaging. The rich warmth of tone is balanced by vibrancy and energy. This is musical merriment that will bring great cheer at Christmas time–or any time!" —James Hildreth, The American Organist "Here's a joyful and beautifully sung album of seasonal specialties ......this ensemble can claim many choral strengths, but their most remarkable attribute is their spiritual intensity and sincerity. Sound quality is beyond reproach; notes and texts are laid out in a colorful and festive booklet." —Lindsay Koob, American Record Guide "The choral artistry for which Gloriae Dei Cantores has become known can be heard in each selection. The ageless and profound wonder of Christmas comes alive with the singing of each word and the playing of each note." —Wallace Cheatham, Christianity and the Arts
2023 marks 25 years since the death of British composer Paul Reade. He is remembered for his delightful Victorian Kitchen Garden music (Ivor Novello Award) and television themes such as Antiques Road-show. However, he also wrote a huge range of equally wonderful but less well-known pieces, full of melodic invention, wit and fabulous energy. They are previously unpublished and unrecorded works that deserve to be heard.
These are premiere recordings (except for the Chants du Roussillon) and show Paul’s music at its best: tender, poignant, humorous and uplifting, full of wonderful melodic and dramatic invention. Philippa Davies has been hailed as a ‘first-rate virtuoso’, with ’winning charm’, ’exceptional eloquence’ and an ‘almost electrical response to technique’. Since her celebrated performance of Mozart’s Concerto in D major at the BBC Proms in 1988, she has gained an international reputation as one of the finest flautists currently performing.
CD · 4 discs
CD · 21 discs
“It has been almost 50 years since I met Yo-Yo in the cafeteria at the Juilliard School… We became friends very quickly and a couple of years later played a benefit concert for a children’s orchestra... I believe that in the life and career of a musician, luck plays an enormous role. The great piece of luck in my musical life has been my partnership with Yo-Yo. I learned most of the standard cello repertoire with him, but through our work together I also learned an enormous amount about all the other music that I was playing – and about sharing my love of music with audiences. Our approaches to learning a new work together started at opposite ends quite often. Yo-Yo always saw the big picture, he thought first about the emotional impact. I often started by asking why the third eighth note in bar 2 had a dot, and the fourth one didn’t. Gradually, we met in the middle. For me, it was revelatory to work in his way, and I hope I did not annoy him too much with my persnickety questions!
"Our first recordings were the Beethoven Sonatas. We had played them in concert a number of times and thought that we could do a creditable performance on disc. I remember so well the thrill of seeing those LP covers; the pianist is now a white-haired old gentleman, and the cellist looks as young as ever! I am a great lover of Russian music, but never felt that I could play it properly. The albums of Shostakovich, Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev are very special to me as they represent my attempts at music that I adore… When I look at the list of recordings that Yo-Yo and I have done together I feel enormously privileged to have shared in the journey of this unique artist. It was happenstance and great good fortune that gave me this gift, and I am grateful beyond measure for the time we have had together. I hope there are still some years left for me to keep learning from him, and that we continue to have fun exploring together.” (Emanuel Ax)
These five works – four sonatas and a sonatina – chronicle a century of American writing for the viola and are linked by a concern for directness of musical language. But they also reflect diversity in their origins and inspirations, the Ulysses Kay pieces being written by a pioneering African American, Libby Larsen’s by a successful female freelance composer, Eric Ewazen’s animated by a particularly American lyricism and energy, and the sonata by David Tcimpidis commemorating the ‘9/11’ terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, which Tcimpidis heard unfolding.
A glorious collection of Christmas music spanning over 900 years, centered around Britten's A Ceremony of Carols – a work seen as both a signal of Britten’s turn back towards English musical and cultural traditions and as a distinctly modern composition. Owen Rees and the Choir of The Queen's College, Oxford present this alongside works that alternate between the early 17th century – by that most prolific composer and arranger of Lutheran Christmas music, Michael Praetorius – and the present: music by Judith Weir (1984), David Blackwell (2011), Jonathan Dove (2000), Dobrinka Tabakova (2018), Toby Young (2017), and Cecilia McDowall (2007). At one point we interrupt the pattern of alternation to look back half a millennium further than Praetorius, with Hildegard of Bingen’s O virga ac diadema. ‘An undoubted jewel in Britain’s choral scene’ (BBC Music Magazine), the Choir of The Queen’s College Oxford is among the finest and most active university choirs in the UK. Previous releases with Signum A New Heaven (2017) and The House of the Mind (2018) both went straight to no. 1 in the Specialist Classical Chart in their first week of release.
Vinyl · 1 disc
DVD · 1 disc
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