SAINT-SAENS: THE DEFINITE WORKS / VARIOUS

MENDELSSOHN

2024 release. Danny Elfman, known the world over for his scores to over 115 movies, including numerous collaborations with directors Tim Burton, Gus van Sant and Sam Raimi, not to mention the classic theme for The Simpsons, adds two major orchestral works to his recorded catalogue. The dynamic American conductor JoAnn Falletta directs the forces of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic in this new studio recording. The Percussion Concerto was written for the Scottish virtuoso Colin Currie and was co-commissioned by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Wunderkammer, a concerto for orchestra, was written for the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. The album is completed with a short choral piece in French, 'Are you lost?', from Elfman's song-cycle Trio. Scored for women's voices, piano, strings and various percussion instruments.

The album comprises three works by Andres: the composer's third piano concerto, The Blind Banister, with Andres as soloist, and Upstate Obscura for chamber orchestra and cello, with soloist Inbal Segev both of which feature Metropolis Ensemble and conductor Andrew Cyr and the solo piano piece Colorful History, also performed by the composer. The Blind Banister was written for pianist Jonathan Biss to be performed alongside Beethoven's second concerto. Andres says, My piece is not a pastiche or an exercise in palimpsest. It doesn't quote or reference Beethoven. There are some surface similarities to his concerto (a three-movement structure, a B-flat tonal center) but these are mostly red herrings. The best way I can describe my approach to writing the piece is: I started writing my own cadenza to Beethoven's concerto, and ended up devouring it from the inside out. The piece was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2016. Upstate Obscura takes it's inspiration from American painter John Vanderlyn's Panoramic View of the Palace and Gardens of Versailles. Andres says, In taking on a quintessentially French subject, Vanderlyn somehow came up with something that feels American; it seems to regard Versailles at a bemused distance, with that characteristically American distrust of anything unnecessarily fanciful. My plan was to start with fragments of musical ornament from the French Baroque tradition like loose chunks of masonry and stretch them out until they no longer felt like ornaments... The solo cello moves just as a viewer might explore a virtual world at times wandering, at times with purpose. Andres describes the album's solo piano work: Colorful History is a chaconne, stemming from a single augmented triad, and following the course of various directions it suggests. I think of this as a kind of extended metaphor for historical events, and how they echo each other without literally repeating.

IN A LANDSCAPE

MY PEACE I GIVE YOU

Gershwin Rhapsody - Jean-Yves Thibaudet & Michael Feinstein / Commemorating the 1924 premiere of Rhapsody in Blue, pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet collabs with Michael Feinstein, the 'one-man encyclopaedia of the Great American Songbook' to celebrate the magic of Gershwin. Gershwin Rhapsody sees best-loved Gershwin melodies sit alongside world premiere recordings of 4 rediscovered Gershwin songs: 'Graceful and Elegant', 'Dance of the Waves', 'Sutton Place' and 'Under the Cinnamon Tree'. The album also includes a medley based on Rhapsody in Blue comprising a selection of piano duos, solos and Feinstein vocals featuring the music of George & Ira Gershwin. The two also perform a Gershwin-esque setting of Vincent Youman's classic tune, 'Tea for Two' and the programme rounds off with 'Jasbo Brown Blues' from Porgy & Bess. Michael Feinstein and Jean-Yves Thibaudet extensively toured this programme around the US under the title 'Who Could Ask For Anything More?' including a date at Carnegie Hall on December 13th.

1001

Verve Label Group - Marriner Conducts Beethoven - Sir Neville Marriner - 15 April 2024 marks the centenary of the birth of Sir Neville Marriner, widely considered to have the most extensive discography of any single musician. He recorded for most of Decca's imprints - L'Oiseau-Lyre, Decca, Argo, and by acquisition, Philips Classics. He also recorded extensively for EMI and, in the final chapter of his discographical history, Hanssler Classics. - Known and celebrated for his recordings of Baroque music and of Mozart, Marriner also made highly-desired recordings of Beethoven with 'his' Academy of St. Martin in the Fields - a chapter in his recorded history being gathered together for the first time. - In September 1970 he set down recordings of Beethoven's first two symphonies for Philips. These were first included in a 4-LP set entitled 'The Rise of the Symphony' (6707 013). One more symphony, No. 4, coupled with a string-orchestra transcription of the 'Grosse Fuge' was set down in December 1974. Perhaps a complete Beethoven symphony cycle was never envisaged at the time, for it wasn't until the 1980s that recordings of Beethoven symphonies gathered momentum, starting with the 'Eroica' in 1982 and concluding with the Ninth in April 1989. - Two recordings of the Violin Concerto were also made: with long-standing leader of the Academy, Iona Brown (herself also a conductor) in January 1980 for Argo, and quite surprisingly, again in December that year with Gidon Kremer for Philips, who incorporated two of the Schnittke cadenzas into his performance. These were rounded out with a disc of a selection of charming Minuets, German Dances and Contredanses, also for Philips, in 1978.

SUMMER PORTRAITS

Katia Labèque/Marielle Labèque/David Chalmin/Bryce Dessner -"Sonic Wires"

Founded in 2018, the Dream House Quartet is bringing classical and contemporary music into completely new forms as a matter of course. The members draw on decades of expertise: the two piano sisters, Katia and Marielle Labèque, are joined by Bryce Dessner (Grammy-winning guitarist, composer and founding member of The National), and composer, musician and producer David Chalmin. Together they perform radical commissions from visionary composers and key contemporary works from the past half century.

FRANS BRUGGEN PROJECT

FANTASIA

Global superstar Yunchan Lim's Cliburn-winning performance of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 is available to own for the first time on CD. Yunchan Lim's performance made him the youngest ever winner of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2022 and launched his career, catapulting him to fame and earning him millions of views on YouTube and sold-out concert halls worldwide.

Bruce Liu, winner of the 2021 International Chopin Piano Competition and famous for his distinctive mix of "feline agility and lightness of touch" (New York Times), breaks new ground with the supposedly well known. Following his enormous success with WAVES, a tribute to French composers and nature themes, The Seasons now focuses on Tchaikovsky's and Liu's relationship with music. "For me, this is a moment to explore some personal emotion," the pianist says of his latest album, which envelops the Russian composer's intimate and profoundly poetic language with musical breathing space.

SCHUMANN

Vinyl LP pressing. Broadchurch became "a bona fide national obsession" (Entertainment Weekly) on both sides of the pond. It's BAFTA-winning composer Olafur Arnalds returned for the third and final season in 2017 with another soundtrack of evocative and atmospheric music, deemed crucial by fans and critics alike to this poignant series.

PLAYER 1

Esa-Pekka Salonen/San Francisco Symphony -"Saariaho: Adriana Mater" [2 CD] GRAMMY Award-winner for Best Opera Recording, the late Kaija Saariaho's much-admired second opera, Adriana Mater, was recorded at Davies Symphony Hall in June 2023, just days after it's composer's untimely passing. In it's review, the New York Times wrote, "Saariaho's delicately consoling music stares down the worst of the world and says: the only way forward is grace." Featuring Esa-Pekka Salonen, Fleur Barron, Axelle Fanyo, Nicholas Phan, Christopher Purves, San Francisco Symphony & Chorus. 2 CD set.

COMPLETE DECCA RECORDINGS

SHOSTAKOVICH: CELLO CONCERTO NO. 2 BRITTEN: CELLO

Georgijs Osokins - "For Arvo". Georgijs Osokins, the first Baltic (Latvian) pianist to establish himself at the highest level on the international music scene, brings a deeply personal and eloquent perspective to the stage. He takes on an extraordinary project: an ultimate 21-track collection of Arvo P�rt's music for solo piano in celebration of the Estonian composer's 90th birthday in 2025.

Jean-Yves Thibaudet -"Satie: The Magic of Satie". The solo piano music ofErik Satie is both classic and contemporary, facets which mirror the qualities of Jean-Yves Thibaudet, "the quintessential contemporary French pianist," This repertoire perfectly showcases Jean-Yves' famous palette of sound colors in musical images ranging from "The Dreamy Fish" to the enormously popular "Gymnop�dies." Originally released in 2002.

Secret Garden, the Irish-Norwegian band specialist in new instrumental music is one of the world's most successful duos with more than 3 billion streams and 5 million physical albums sold. Their upcoming 12th studio album "Songs in the Circle of Time", is an enchanting blend of dreamy melodies and powerful arrangements, transporting listeners to a world of beauty and timeless elegance. The sources of inspiration are many and feel timeless, from 17th century baroque - classical music and contemporary melting into their own style.

Anja Lechner devotes herself to a particularly unique convergence of three composers from vastly different contexts: J.S. Bach, Carl Friedrich Abel, and Tobias Hume. With her distinct perspective on works composed for both violoncello and viola da gamba, Lechner sheds a fresh light on music written within a span of two centuries. Produced by Manfred Eicher