For over 60 years, repeated efforts have been made to capture on recording Robert Schumann’s Complete Works for Piano solo, a fascinatingly broad and varied spectrum ranging from highly virtuosic pieces for the concert hall and valuable literature for teaching purposes. This attractive and yet challenging assignment was not always approached with the necessary intellectual rigor, quite apart from any purely artistic shortcomings, and so none of these sets can justly be deemed “complete”. Schumann had published a string of works in two more or less divergent versions, so that it is highly questionable whether an edition can be labelled “Complete Recordings” if it only contains one of those versions or worse still, makes a misguided attempt to combine two of them. Meanwhile, works that were published at remote locations or remained unpublished have hitherto been taken into account only in exceptional cases.

The first true complete recording of Robert Schumann’s works for piano solo on 17 albums (in 15 volumes), played by Florian Uhlig, seeks for the first time to offer imaginative compilations containing all original works for pianoforte written between 1830 (Abegg Variations op. 1) and 1854 (Ghost Variations) according to the newest critical editions and/or first editions. Several of these albums also contain premiere recordings, often of fragments that were amenable to completion. After the project was completed in 2021, it was evident from a further critical inspection of the five Studien- und Skizzenbücher held in the University and State Library in Bonn, and from the volumes of the complete piano works for two hands that have so far appeared in this comprehensive and groundbreaking edition, that there is a string of either very short complete or longer fragmentary pieces dating from about 1830 to 1837 that are worthy of attention.

In the complete edition compiled by BR-KLASSIK, the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks under the direction of its long-time principal conductor Mariss Jansons explores Mahler's symphonic œuvre. This complete recording of Mahler's impressive symphonies is further enhanced by revealing rehearsal recordings and interesting interviews. In his nine symphonies, Gustav Mahler built up an entire world for himself and his listeners. More than almost any other composer, he tried in his symphonic works to get to the very bottom of the cycle of life, that eternal process of becoming and expiring – so what better complete set of symphonies to express the finest qualities of a modern-day conductor and the unique sound of a leading orchestra?

Mariss Jansons found simple and clear words to express what it was that so fascinated and moved him about Mahler's music throughout his life. He said that the composer’s work always related to what was universal and contained absolutely everything that exists in the world. In his symphonies, said Jansons, Mahler captured nature, faith, love, death, pain, tragedy, happiness, humor, utopia, irony, sarcasm - everything that makes up human existence. Jansons regarded his music as posing questions that ultimately every thinking person has to ask, and everyone can find something in it where they recognize themselves as if in a mirror. There are nevertheless no definitive answers in Mahler, "nothing triumphant that is at one with itself." When he first encountered Mahler’s music, this experience struck Jansons like a bolt from the blue. Gradually, he developed into one of the leading Mahler conductors of his era. The fact that he had the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks as a partner here – an orchestra that can look back on a long Mahler tradition - was certainly a very fortunate coincidence.

The music of the Ukrainian-born Thomas de Hartmann (1885–1956) has been obscured by his association with the Russian mystic Georgi Gurdjieff, but by the time they met in 1916, de Hartmann was already a hugely accomplished composer.

The two works receiving their first recordings here reveal a major late-Romantic voice, downstream from Tchaikovsky, a student of Taneyev, contemporary of Rachmaninov, and alert to the discoveries of Stravinsky and Prokofiev. The Symphonie-Poème occupies a vast canvas and requires a correspondingly huge orchestra, generating a monumental sense of scale from essentially balletic material. The lighter Fantaisie-Concertofor double bass and orchestra moves from tangy dissonance via a tuneful slow movement to a perky, folk-inspired finale.

Rachmaninoff’s tone poem The Isle of the Dead was composed in Dresden in 1908 – 09, inspired by the 1880 painting of that name by the Swiss symbolist Arnold Böcklin. The painting depicts a ferryman rowing a coffin towards the Isle of the Dead, and Rachmaninoff, unusually setting the piece in five beats to the bar, captures the atmosphere and the motion of oars in the water in the most extraordinary detail. Dedicated to the outstanding Ukrainian-born coloratura soprano Antonina Vasilyevna Nezhdanova, the ‘Vocalise’ was first performed, by her with the composer, in January 1916. After creating a version with orchestral accompaniment, Rachmaninoff then produced the version heard here, for orchestra alone.

Following the Russian revolution and his exile to the USA, the compositional output of Rachmaninoff declined dramatically. In great demand both as a virtuoso performer and as a conductor, he toured extensively, but struggled to incorporate ‘modern music’ into his compositional style. In the mid 1930’s he acquired a holiday villa in Lucerne, and surprised the world with his ‘Paganini’ Rhapsody, quickly followed by the Third Symphony. Sinfonia of London and John Wilson demonstrate exceptional ensemble playing throughout, and their glowing string sound suits this repertoire perfectly.

REVIEW:

John Wilson and the Sinfonia of London here deliver an authoritative version of Rachmaninoff’s Third Symphony, in impressive SACD surround sound. For those who want an SACD take on the work, this will become the gold standard.

-- Classical CD Choice

Discover here a performance unlike any other of John Tavener’s Ikon of Light, his landmark setting of the Prayer to the Holy Spirit by the great medieval mystic St. Symeon the New Theologian. Scored for choir and string trio, it is a radiant meditation on the Uncreated Light. Six Orthodox composers collaborated to create Heaven and Earth: A Song of Creation, written for Cappella Romana and its unique musical capacities. Each section of this ecstatic setting in English of the Psalm of the Cosmos (103 lxx) seamlessly unites into a transcendent work Byzantine chant, lush Slavic harmonies, Renaissance counterpoint, Georgian-inspired polyphony, and more. 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. Heaven and Earth is Cappella Romana’s 27th release.

A rare jewel among the piano repertoire, Dvořák’s Poetic Tone Pictures, a cycle of piano solo works, is mostly unknown to the public.

Following the great success of his Sibelius album in 2017, Leif Ove Andsnes once again brings lesser known piano music into the spotlight, delivering a treasure chest of accessible and romantic tunes performed with artistic brilliance. With his commanding technique and searching interpretations, Leif Ove Andsnes has won worldwide acclaim, performing in the world’s leading concert halls and with its foremost orchestras. An avid chamber musician, he is also the founding director of Norway’s Rosendal Chamber Music Festival.

Violinist Théotime Langlois de Swarte and harpsichordist Justin Taylor, two of the most promising virtuosos of the new generation and founder members of the ensemble Le Consort, now present a duo album that pays tribute to a great eighteenth-century dynasty of musicians, the violinists and composers of the Francoeur family. The sonatas of Louis Francoeur (c.1692-1745), known as Francoeur the Elder, and those of his brother François (1698-1787) are dance suites featuring polyphonic effects produced by the use of double stopping. Justin and Théotime bring these varied treasures back to life with the energy and grace for which they are already well known.

Following her passion for seeking out rare musical gems, Angèle Dubeau presents Portrait: Alex Baranowski, the 6th opus in her series of albums dedicated to contemporary composers, which began in 2008 with Portrait: Philip Glass. A successful young composer based in London, multiple award winner and graduate of Paul McCartney's LIPA, Alex Baranowski offers beautiful and generous music, rich in sound atmospheres. Under the breathtaking interpretations of Angèle Dubeau and her remarkable ensemble, La Pietà, these works reveals wonderfully expressive and sensitive writing for the violin. The album includes several key works from Baranowski's repertoire as well as three previously unreleased pieces, including Wiosna, a commission that the composer describes as one of his most intimate works.

Ruth Gipps (1921 – 1999) was born in the English seaside resort of Bexhill-on-Sea. Encouraged as a child by an ambitious pianist mother, she appeared locally as a prodigy pianist. She was accepted by the Royal College of Music in 1937, at the age of sixteen, having won the Caird Scholarship. She quickly matured, both as composer and pianist. She studied with Vaughan Williams and Gordon Jacob, and later the oboe with Leon Goossens. During the Second World War she gained a position as oboist with the City of Birmingham Orchestra and devoted a great deal of her time to composing. Three of the works on this album were composed during the war: the Oboe Concerto, the tone poem Death on the Pale Horse, and the overture Chanticleer (derived from an opera which, sadly, she never completed). The manuscript of the Third Symphony is dated 1 November 1965 and the work was first heard when Gipps introduced it with her London Repertoire Orchestra, on 19 March 1966. Its first professional performance took place on 29 October 1969, Gipps directing the BBC Scottish Orchestra, but it has since gone largely unheard, until now.

REVIEWS:

Each of this foursome, the bulk from the 1940s, offers pungent and individual delights...Throughout the album the BBC Philharmonic plays with bright colours, a sharp attack and swaggering energy – just what this dip into Gipps deserves.

-- BBC Music Magazine

The BBC Philharmonic sound as though they relished communing with the music throughout, and Chandos’s sound is first rate. Warmly recommended.

-- Gramophone

This album is a collection of classic melodies from the repertoire of Ben Webster’s famous employer of many years, Duke Ellington. The album is comprised of three live radio sessions with the Danish Radio Big Band in 1969 and 1971, plus live concert sessions with two different backing trios (Finland in 1967 and Denmark in 1969). Aside from one tune, all the performances with the Danish Radio Big Band are based on Ellington’s original scores. The quartet sessions are also great - one with Ben’s boss from the early 1930’s, Teddy Wilson, and the other with Kenny Drew. That Ben Webster was one of the undisputed jazz greats on the tenor saxophone - both in a big band and small group context - is amply illustrated on this fine album.

Grace Davidson presents her third release with Signum Classics, an intimate disc of Sacred Chants by Hildegard von Bingen, translations by Jeremy Summerly. Hildegard was an extremely accomplished composer, as well as a scientist, a diplomat, a poet, and the founder of a religious community. Her melodies rise out of Gregorian chant, with wide voice ranges that are suited to trained singers. The florid imagery of Hildegard’s texts is matched by suitably florid tunes, whose calculated intervals suggest both vocal improvisation and carefully controlled composition. Hildegard had the ability to write tunes whose very essence is simultaneously spontaneous yet structured. And such was Hildegard’s character – on the one hand she was intensely practical, and on the other she was a vessel for dreams and visions. Grace Davidson is a British soprano who specializes first and foremost in the performance and recording of Baroque music. she has worked as a soloist with leading Baroque ensembles, under the batons of Sir John Eliot Gardner, Paul McCreesh, Philippe Herreweghe and Harry Christophers.

REVIEWS:

There have been many recordings of Hildegard’s works but here Grace Davidson, singing alone, unfolds a tapestry of sounds filled with exceptional purity, mellifluous continuity and a focused sense of form. The vocal techniques of breath control (the long verses in Ave generosa), the command of the stunning leaps and dizzying meanderings of melody (O Ecclesia), and the subtle colouring of modal changes (O presule) are very impressive. An exceptional recording then, though occasionally a more differentiated approach might be possible – perhaps distinguishing slightly between narrative text and dialogue (O Ecclesia), or allowing some of the darker content (in O Jerusalem for example) to influence the grain of the voice and the articulation of consonants.

-- 

In the Autumn of 2021, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra together with its new chief conductor, Nicholas Collon, arranged a Thomas Adès festival in Helsinki devoted to the world famous composer’s music in addition to works by other composers chosen and conducted by Thomas Adès (b. 1971). One of the highlights of the festival’s program was the world première of Märchentänze in its version for violin and orchestra performed by violinist Pekka Kuusisto, Adès’ long-time artistic partner. This new album by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra includes four recent and exciting orchestral works written by the composer between 2016 and 2021 in world première recordings.

In addition to the Märchentänze, this album includes Adès’ orchestral Hotel Suite from Powder Her Face, an adaptation based on the music from the opera through which Adès first made a widespread name for himself in the mid-1990s. The orchestral version of Lieux retrouvés, originally written for Steven Isserlis, could be described as a cello concerto in the spirit of Marcel Proust. Orchestral work Dawn was written for the 2020 London Proms for ‘orchestra at any distance’, due to the coronavirus pandemic. Adès’ Dawn comes across as timeless music floating in a serene universe of beauty all its own.

REVIEW:

These performances by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (FRSO) under their current Chief Conductor, British-born-and-trained Nicholas Collon (b. 1983) are magnificent and bring out all the subtle colorations in these superbly scored works. That said, Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto gets a big hand for his superb playing in Märchentänze [T-10 thru 13]. And the same goes for Finnish cellist Tomas Nuñez in Lieux retrouvés [T-6 thru 9].

The recordings were made in October 2021 (Hotel… & Lieux…) and April-May 2022 (Märchentänze & Dawn) in the Helsinki Music Center’s Concert Hall. They present consistently generous, dynamically wide-ranging sonic images with both soloists centered, well captured and effectively highlighted. As for the orchestral timbre, it’s characterized by titillating highs, a pleasant midrange and clean bass. While these recordings are good on headphones, this colorfully scored music is even better over a good home theater system.

-- Classical Lost and Found (Bob McQuiston)

Named Gramophone Magazine Editor's Choice for December 2022!

For the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the performances on November 26 and 27, 2021 in the Isarphilharmonie marked the beginning of a new chapter in its Mahler interpretation: with its designated new principal conductor Simon Rattle, the orchestra is now headed by a Mahler admirer every bit as ardent as his predecessors Mariss Jansons, Lorin Maazel, and Rafael Kubelík. The musicians dedicated the benefit concert on November 26 to the memory of conductor Bernard Haitink, who died in October 2021 and was associated with the renowned orchestra for 61 years. The very long silence after the final chord was one of those “goosebumps moments” that one goes to concerts for – and for which music is made in the first place.

Gustav Mahler’s Ninth Symphony, in particular, is understood as the composer’s reaction to a heart ailment that was diagnosed shortly before he wrote the first drafts in the summer of 1908. He was in deep despair, but still scarcely aware of how few years he actually had left to live. With Mahler, it was always in and through music that he tried to come to terms with his life experiences and such topics as farewell, the meaning of existence, death, redemption, life after death and love. He wrote his Ninth Symphony in Dobbiaco, in a kind of creative frenzy, between 1909 and 1910. Its premiere took place in Vienna on June 26, 1912, when the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra performed the work under Bruno Walter. Mahler did not witness the premiere of his last completed work – he had already died on May 18, 1911.

REVIEW:

I would rank Rattle's performance here with the best of the competition and would add that even the classic recordings of Bernstein, Giulini, and Karajan have no significant advantage over Rattle's. In the end Rattle would be my top choice among newer versions and probably the equal of the classic performances on disc.

-- MusicWeb International (Robert Cummings)

If he has always shown very sensitive affinities with Symphony No. 9, Simon Rattle delivers his most accomplished recording to the Bavarian Radio. Recorded live between November 24 and 27, 2021, at the Isarphilharmonie im Gasteig in Munich by Winfried Messmer, [this] powerful orchestral mass presents both great volume and precise definition of timbre and range.

-- Diapason (citation for a Diapason d'or)

The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and its designated principal conductor dedicated one of the two concerts used for this recording to the conductor Bernard Haitink, who died in October 2021. It is a great tribute to this outstanding Mahler conductor, and Rattle once again proves what a major Mahler interpreter he is as well.

Right in the first movement, he succeeds in drawing the whole Mahler world in its gripping originality with magnificent breath. Rising and collapse are always close together, and the exciting alternation between tension and release is maintained throughout the symphony. At the same time, this reading is not lacking in sensuality. There is both lyrical beauty, full of abyss, and the light-hearted (and artfully illuminated) play of sound and movement. The three-movement back-and-forth of emotions leads to the Adagio finale, which Rattle conducts thoughtfully and in moderate tempo. The music dies away in a deeply moving 24 minutes with nostalgia, sadness and also some thoughts of hope.

The orchestra is brilliantly disposed and fascinates with both differentiated coloration and the greatest possible transparency. Under Rattle’s direction, Mahler, the orchestral musicians, and he himself merge into a single instrument.

-- Pizzicato

Superbly played and recorded, from November last year (Isarphilharmonie im Gasteig), a memorial concert for Bernard Haitink, Sir Simon’s third recording (following Birmingham and Vienna, both EMI/Warner) of Mahler Nine sports a first movement, if not without a few cosmetic touches, that is a flowing and feisty affair, defiant, better to be alive than not, with impassioned fortissimos, and only in the concluding few minutes does the music issue calmness as well as bittersweet sentiments, although it seems too sudden as well as much too soon – bearing in mind how the Symphony will end, spare and fading to nothingness. The second movement, with its competing waltz and ländler, has its tempo contrasts well-managed, but is perhaps a little too manicured – it needs to be rougher, more rustic and pesante. Poker-faced sophistication suits the ensuing ‘Rondo-Burleske’, its counterpoint wonderfully clear (antiphonal violins swirl either side of the podium) albeit greater bite is sometimes required, and it’s a surprise that Rattle doesn’t linger more in the central section (his is a tempo-related ‘trio’), and the conclusion is thrillingly fast and rendered with A+ virtuosity – the abyss awaits. The final Adagio follows more or less attacca (I can vouch for such a joining from an LSO concert years ago) and is a dignified if intense leave-taking, powerful (vibrant strings, eloquent woodwinds) and ethereal, with a cathartic climax and a hypnotically controlled paring down of resources as expression becomes more and more off the radar.

-- Colin's Column

Alban Berg's output proved tremendously influential in the development of music in the twentieth century. His natural ability to write lyrical melodic lines probably remained the most outstanding quality of his style. His Op. 1 Piano Sonata was the fulfilment of a task set by his teacher and peer Schoenberg to write non-vocal music. The Passacaglia, written between the sonata and World War I, was only completed in short-score, and may have been intended to form part of a larger work. Both pieces are recorded here in skillful orchestrations by Sir Andrew Davis.

The Three Orchestral Pieces were composed alongside his first great masterpiece, Wozzeck, and could be seen as a tribute to his musical hero, Mahler. The Violin Concerto, from 1935, was commissioned by the American violinist Louis Krasner, but was inspired by the premature death (from polio) of Manon Gropius, the daughter of Alma Mahler and the architect and Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius, hence the subtitle ‘to the memory of an angel’. It proved to be one of the composer’s final works as Berg died later that year as the result of an abscess from an insect sting.

REVIEW:

The first track on this disc brings us Andrew Davis’s orchestration of Berg’s Piano Sonata. Berg wrote this accomplished piece when he was studying composition with Arnold Schoenberg. Originally meant to have had a slow movement and a finale, it ended up stand-alone. It is conceived in standard sonata-allegro form. The liner notes mention the structurally conventional fact of the repeated exposition. Harmonically, the work is very chromatic. It presents unstable key centres, whole-tone scales, with sometimes dense, often polyphonic, music. In its original incarnation, it demands a highly technical pianism. Andrew Davis explains that “its emotional and dramatic range is enormous”, and that this new orchestration needed to relate to “the sonorities of the era” – those of Mahler, Schoenberg, Zemlinsky and Schrecker. The result is a wonderful tapestry of sound. The mood varies from gentle to fervent, with a satisfyingly gentle conclusion. The organic nature of the sonata form seems to unfold continually, leading us on a magical, if sometimes disconcerting, journey. For my review, I listened several times to this hauntingly lovely re-creation of Berg’s early masterwork: it has suddenly become one of my favourite Berg pieces.

Berg wrote the Three Pieces for orchestra during the opening stages of the First World War. They present a frightening musical image of the unfolding horrors. It has been pointed out that they have Schoenberg’s Five Pieces for orchestra as an inspiration. Yet, they sound nothing like the elder man’s work. In fact, Mahler is the stylistic arbiter. One commentator has suggested that it is Mahler’s Eleventh Symphony, in the same way that Brahms One is Beethoven’s 10^th (or is it 11^th?).

The movingly beautiful Violin Concerto was the last major work that Berg composed, and one of his greatest. It was dedicated “to the memory of an angel”, the daughter of Gustav Mahler’s widow Alma and the architect Walter Gropius. Sadly, Manon died of polio at only eighteen. The work is a perfect balance of lyricism and drama. James Ehnes’s performance is magical. He tends towards optimism, which seems to bolster Berg’s contention that serial music could also be romantic. I was taken by his interpretation of this concerto and the integration of the various stylistic innovations such as the Bach chorale, the waltz-like theme and the Carinthian folk tune. The balance between the structural serialism and the more tonal moments is well managed here. There is a tenderness of tone that sings of affection but sometimes echoes despair, a tempestuous protest against life’s tragedy, and a sad, requiem-like epilogue.

Gavin Plumley’s booklet notes in English, German and French give a detailed introduction to all four works. “A note by the conductor” is a valuable extra: an essay-length appreciation of Berg’s music and an explanation of his approach to the two orchestrations. There are several photographs of the composer, the recording session, the violin soloist and the orchestra and conductor.

This is a remarkable disc. I enjoyed the two transcribed works, which genuinely add to our appreciation and understanding of Alban Berg’s earlier achievement. The performance of the two works of genius – the Three Pieces for orchestra and the Violin Concerto – are revelatory in their sympathy and understanding. It is an album that all enthusiasts of the composer must own.

-- MusicWeb International (John France)

One of Gramophone's Best Classical Recordings of 2022!

This recording brings together two of the greatest works of the Classical era in transcriptions for solo piano by two of the greatest pianist-composers of the Romantic era, resulting in two of the most thrilling experiences that nineteenth-century pianism has to offer. Successfully marrying the unique charac­teristics of the piano to the defining features of Beethoven’s orchestral writing, Franz Liszt is showed here at his most coloristic. He vividly captures the rapid scene shifts and mood changes of Beethoven’s Eroica and exploits not only the piano’s ability both to whisper and to roar, but also the power and intensity of silence. In Mozart’s 20th piano concerto, Charles-Valentin Alkan takes on a different challenge as he masterfully weaves the orchestral and solo piano parts into a single tapestry that brims from start to finish with piano writing of startling inventiveness and originality.

These two pianistic tours de force are presented here by Paul Wee – also a barrister specializing in commercial law at Essex Court Chambers in London – whose astonishing technique and passion for nineteenth-century pianism have been highlighted on acclaimed recordings dedicated to music by Alkan and transcriptions by Thalberg.

REVIEWS:

[Paul Wee's] fleet basic tempos for the opening movement and the Scherzo raise the bar for lightness, crisp articulation, and forward moving intensity, making his colleagues sound thick by comparison. Wee’s remarkable technique particularly impresses in the Finale’s incisively delineated counterpoint. What staggeringly even runs!–not to mention Wee’s ability to play rapid left-hand octaves more proficiently than most pianists can play single lines.

The main challenge of Alkan’s solo piano transcription of Mozart’s D minor concerto is to differentiate solo passages and orchestral tuttis by way of phrasing, touch, voice leading, smart pedaling, and dynamic control. Wee does this brilliantly throughout.

[A] transcendent achievement.

-- ClassicsToday.com

As one of the finest pianists of his era and an improviser of genius, Ludwig van Beethoven’s preferred vehicle for musical exploration was the piano. With his five piano concertos composed between 1788 and 1809, he not only achieved a brilliant conclusion to the Classical piano concerto, but also established a new model for the Romantic era: a sort of symphony with obbligato piano which was to remain a reference point well into the twentieth century. After the first two concertos, which still closely follow the models of Haydn and Mozart, Concerto No. 3 marks a profound stylistic change. In the piano part, Beethoven pushes the instrument to its limits, leading commentators to remark that he was writing for the piano of the future. This trend continued and reached its fullness in the Fourth and Fifth Concertos, which today rank among the great composer’s most admired works.

In 2009, Haochen Zhang was the youngest pianist ever to receive the Gold Medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Since then he has captivated audiences worldwide with a unique combination of deep musical sensitivity, fearless imagination and spectacular virtuosity. He now performs the five Beethoven concertos supported by the prestigious Philadelphia Orchestra under its principal guest conductor, the charismatic Nathalie Stutzmann.

REVIEWS:

In a crowded pool of complete Beethoven piano concerto recordings, young Chinese pianist Haochen Zhang makes an impressive splash with his traversal of one of the most imposing cycles in the entire repertoire. With French conductor Nathalie Stutzmann leading the Philadelphia Orchestra, Zhang deftly handles Beethoven’s fiendish runs and cadenzas throughout these five imposing works. Most memorable are the 3rd and 4th concertos, which have the most balance between urgency and delicacy.

-- The Flip Side

Following its digital debut on Linn presenting a triptych of works by Josquin des Prez, Vicente Lusitano and Roderick Williams, The Marian Consort now focuses its attention on the central figure of this trio, Vicente 'the Portuguese’. In his own time an important music theorist, Lusitano’s reputation and music have both been neglected in ours. As so often with musical figures of the Renaissance, many of the details of his life remain unknown. We can, however, be reasonably confident that he was the first published composer of African heritage. Referred to as ‘pardo’ in one eighteenth-century source, his only surviving printed book of compositions, the Liber primus epigramatum, was issued in Rome in 1551. True to its pioneer spirit as ‘brilliant discoverers, and exponents, of rare repertoire’ (The Observer), The Marian Consort has recorded a carefully chosen program of these striking, impressive and unjustly forgotten works.

After two successful albums on Signum Records, the American vocal ensemble Cantus present their first Christmas album, Into The Light.

The “engaging” (New Yorker) low-voice ensemble Cantus is widely known for its trademark warmth and blend, innovative programming and riveting performances of music ranging from the Renaissance to the 21st century.

REVIEWS:

“Into the Light” reaches into pockets of brightness and the anticipation of a happier New Year as the sun anxiously arcs back to longer days.

Cantus, an a cappella ensemble featuring the deeply rich resonances of eight distinguished male voices, ushers in the holidays most unconventionally. Though several favorites are represented, the status quo is turned upside down. A heavy investment of arrangements and adaptations surfaces and in the most extraordinary way. Rhythmic textures also cut across a wide range of grains, providing an irresistible élan. Note cutoffs, dynamics and tempos are immaculate while chording is uniquely contemporary and full of positivism…this is what adds such special luminescence.

As an example, Cantus captures the pulsating essences of Aguinaldo Carols with its jazzy verve. Christmas is nuanced inside Joni Mitchell’s 1971 bittersweet River which leans to the heavier gravity of the album, including the nostalgic We Toast the Days, penned by Minnesotan Linda Kachelmeier. A special treat is Chris Foss’ World Premiere take of Clement Clarke Moore’s epic poem that sparkles with quixotic notes and unusual vocal dynamics...this piece holds the listener in deep fascination, and it renders big smiles and a chuckle or two! On another dimension Reginald Bowens tips his hat to I Saw Three Ships, giving the traditional English melody a sassy Manhattan Transfer‑like lilt that lifts the piece onto the page of modernity. Traditional music from around the world is also respectfully represented. Occasionally Cantus utilizes an instrumental accompaniment, such as the guitar (and energized Children Go!) or the percussive woodblock (a spirited Mensaje de Paz) that adds to the album’s variety.

Cantus brings thoughtful reminder of hope and happiness as we glance inside the portal of the future. Though a minuscule light beams at this time of year, the apex will broaden as we ring in 2023.

Cantus is a shining, pulsating octet…perfect in precision, innate in integration.

-- ConcertoNet

A New Yorker Notable Recording of 2022!

French grand-opéra specialist Marc Minkowski has at last recorded Robert le Diable, a jewel of the genre. A triumph at its premiere in November 1831, it captivated contemporaries, and its influence stretched as far as Verdi and Wagner. An imposing international cast brings this repertory cornerstone to life: John Osborn portrays a Robert at once valiant and tender, Amina Edris reveals her full resources in the perilous role of Alice, while idiomatic performances by Nicolas Courjal, Erin Morley and Nico Darmanin complete a line-up offering the most vivid contrasts of tessitura. Against the backdrop of a medieval legend, this fantastical work depicts a confrontation between Good and Evil, pitting against each other a group of protagonists torn between desire and duty. A foundational score of musical Romanticism – performed more than 750 times in the nineteenth century at the Paris Opéra alone – is now gradually emerging from oblivion.

REVIEWS:

In these days of cash-strapped opera houses and risk-averse labels, recordings of the grander grand operas are rarities. Flawless ones are even rarer, making this breathtaking and ground-breaking new Palazzetto Bru Zane recording of Meyerbeer’s Robert le Diable a cause for celebration. In Marc Minkowski’s experienced hands, Meyerbeer’s gothic saga fairly flies off the page, every bar fizzing with energy and with set pieces that burst over our heads like fireworks. Add an outstandingly talented cast, headed by John Osborn as Robert and Erin Morley as Isabelle, and you have a set with award-winner written all over it.

-- Limelight

This tenth volume of violin concertos marks the return of Julien Chauvin and his Concert de la Loge to the Vivaldi Edition, with works linked to Pisendel, a major musical figure in the court of Dresden in the 18th century. Julien Chauvin and his Concert de la Loge released a hugely successful volume of Vivaldi concertos with a theatrical theme in 2020. In this new album they perform works focusing on Johann Georg Pisendel (1687-1755), konzertmeister at the Dresden Court chapel, and pupil and friend of Vivaldi, who played a key role in the popularity of the Red Priest’s music in Dresden. It is thanks to the admiration and foresight of this eminent German violinist not only that the city possesses a considerable Vivaldi catalogue, but also that certain signed manuscripts were preserved that are to be found only in Dresden.

This album comprises three concertos composed for him (RV 237, RV 314 and RV 340) and three others copied by his hand (RV 225, RV 226 and RV 369). All the many contrasts which mark Vivaldi’s concerto repertoire – whatever the instrument –are magnified here under the supple bow of Julien Chauvin: his close bond with Le Concert de la Loge flourishes in a free, rich and diverse discourse, fiery and passionate in the external movements, and lyric or gently melancholic in the central parts. Worth mentioning among the many examples are the splendid elegiac song of the Adagio in concerto RV 237 or the delicate slow movements accompanied by the pizzicato of the strings in concertos RV 314 and RV 226.

Gennady Rozhdestvensky (1931-2018) was one of Russia’s greatest conductors along with Evgeny Mravinsky and Kirill Kondrashin. His close personal and musical relationship with Shostakovich began in the 1950s and continued until the composer’s death in 1975. Rozhdestvensky said at the time, ‘It would be difficult to overestimate the significance of my relations with Dmitri Shostakovich since he opened before me a musical universe like a gigantic magnifying glass reflecting our fragile world’.

Rozhdestvensky conducted the first western premiere of Shostakovich’s Symphony No.4 in Edinburgh in 1962 and after many subsequent performances internationally, it was also the inaugural piece in his tenure as chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra (1979-81). Composed in 1936 but condemned by the Soviet authorities, it did not receive its first performance until 1961 in Moscow. The epic Symphony No.11, given a dramatic performance by the BBC Philharmonic in 1997, is based on revolutionary folksongs relating to the 1905 Russian Revolution, and received the Lenin Prize in 1958. Despite this, questions arose as to whether Shostakovich was denouncing the Soviet regime’s brutal treatment of its opponents in it, specifically the 1956 invasion of Hungary or the Tsarist tyranny and oppression of 1905, to which there are no conclusive answers.

Acclaimed by the New York Times as "an alluring, mystical new work" when it premiered outdoors at the city's Lincoln Center in July 2014, John Luther Adams' Sila: the Breath of the World is so carefully orchestrated that the recording itself pushes the limits of how to capture multiple ensembles of musicians in one setting. Thanks to modern technology and the magic of multi-tracking (with producers Doug Perkins and Nathaniel Reichman at the controls), Sila maintains the composer's vision as a grand invitation to the listener "to stop and listen more deeply." Put simply, like Inuksuit (2009), widely known as Adams' large ensemble piece for percussion, no two performances of Sila are ever the same, due in part to the freedom that is given to the musicians, each of whom plays or sings a unique part at his or her own pace. But on a macro level, Sila can also be described as an intelligent entity all its own — a living, breathing organism that takes on the collective intent of its performers, and its composer, to transcend the forces of nature and become, in a sense, a "breath of the world."

Their fourth Christmas release, BBC Music Magazine Award winning choir Tenebrae return under the expert direction Nigel Short with a sumptuous album of Carols, Hymns and other celebratory works for Christmas.

Tenebrae is regularly engaged with the world’s finest orchestras – appearing regularly with the Academy of Ancient Music and Aurora Orchestra – and has performed at major festivals and venues including the BBC Proms, Edinburgh International Festival, Leipzig Gewandhaus (Germany) and Melbourne Festival (Australia). ‘Passion and Precision’ are Tenebrae’s core values. Through its continued dedication to performance of the highest quality, Tenebrae’s vision is to deliver dramatic programming, flawless performances and unforgettable experiences, allowing audiences around the world to be moved by the power and intimacy of the human voice.

REVIEWS:

The variety of carols is enchanting: Tenebrae includes pieces by authors from the twentieth century (such as Ralph Vaughan Williams, Benjamin Britten, Elizabeth Poston and Herbert Howells), from the nineteenth century (such as Edward W. Naylor) or contemporary (such as Owain Park , Joanna Marsh, Joseph Phibbs and Joanna Forbes l'Estrange), all well-contrasted samples of Christmas music. Short — who presents a new version of Britten's work, A Ceremony of Carols op. 28, a piece full of charm perhaps because of the mystery of the ancient texts—he has done an exceptional job with the musicians in his choir, accompanied by Camilla Pay's harp.

Highlights include the delicate That Yongë Childe ('That little boy'), with a solo of Joshua Davidson—former chorister of the St. John's College—as well as an exquisite duet of soloists Grace Davidson and Martha McLorinan in Spring Carol and the enchanting This Little Babe, in a lyrical and dynamic interpretation of the female voices to the rhythm of the harp. Pay's imaginative and personal interpretation of the interlude deserves a commendable mention. The voices of the choir have been very successful in performing Advent music, such as Marsh's In Winter's House, composed in 2019 for the tenors and basses of the Tenebrae Choir, and the beautiful Advent 'O' Carol by the composer Forbes l'Estrange. Likewise, the version of the traditional Christmas carol The Truth Sent from Above, arranged by Ralph Vaughan Williams, has the splendid baritone Joseph Edwards as soloist.

With his plurality of perspectives, Nigel Short offers a very coherent proposal not only for his varied repertoire but also for the rigor with which he synthesizes the knowledge he has acquired at the head of the Tenebrae Choir.

-- Sonograma

Frank La Rocca extends the genre of the festal Missa solemnis in his Mass of the Americas, a sublime setting of the Traditional Latin Mass for choir and orchestra. La Rocca weaves a rich tapestry with serene Gregorian chants, folk melodies from 18th-century regions of México, and florid praises in Nahuatl, the language spoken by Our Lady of Guadalupe to St. Juan Diego in 1531. Cultures past and present are joined musically as a witness to faith, hope, and reconciliation in this masterpiece of liturgical art.

The Choir of St John’s have received glowing praise for their previous releases, culminating in the choral prize at the 2017 BBC Music Magazine Awards for their debut release of works by Jonathan Harvey. The Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge is one of the finest collegiate choirs in the world, known and loved by millions from its broadcasts, concert tours and recordings. Founded in the 1670s, the Choir is known for its distinctive rich, warm sound, its expressive interpretations and its breadth of repertoire. Alongside these musical characteristics, the Choir is particularly proud of its happy, relaxed and mutually supportive atmosphere, which as of 2022 invites their first female scholars.

REVIEWS:

One of the consistent features of the St John’s recordings that have come my way has been the excellence of the documentation. This latest release is no exception. The booklet contains a general introductory essay about the Book of Psalms by Rev, Andrew Hammond, the College Chaplain. He also contributes short notes on each of the chose psalms while the organist John Challenger furnishes succinct details about the composer of the chants to which each psalm is sung. As usual, though, at the heart of the booklet is an absorbing essay by Andrew Nethsingha. On this occasion he discusses such matters as how psalm chants should be pointed and, of especial relevance, gives us insights into how the psalmody developed at St John’s.

The recorded sound is very good indeed. It’s also remarkably consistent given that producer Chris Hazell and engineer Simon Eadon recorded the choir in five different sessions over four years.

This is another fine addition to the distinguished discography of Andrew Nethsingha and the Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge.

-- MusicWeb International