Imagining how Bach himself might have transformed the Goldberg Variations for a chamber group, Rachel Podger and Brecon Baroque present a pioneering new arrangement of the Goldberg Variations by Chad Kelly. Employing a variety of instrumental combinations from a typical Bach ensemble of single strings, oboe, flute, bassoon, and harpsichord, these newly-crafted Goldbergs illuminate exquisite responses to the various historical genres inherent in Bach’s scores.

This beloved masterpiece was composed through a period of personal tumult for Bach; two unsuccessful job applications, the premature death of his son Gottfried, and criticism of his music in a prominent Hamburg publication. Bach’s outpouring of beauty in the Goldberg Variations has long captured audience’s imaginations - Chad Kelly, Rachel Podger, and her fleet Brecon Baroque preserve the work’s exquisite intricacy whilst adding breadth, texture and color to its emotional backdrop. This revisioning of Bach’s Goldberg Variations is a perfect transformation of the work for the modern era.

This production is dedicated to the works of two American composers, of whom Morten Lauridsen is certainly the better known in Germany. His choral work O magnum mysterium (1994) in particular has become one of the hits of contemporary choral literature in recent years. Lauridsen (born 1943) grew up in Portland, Oregon, the son of Danish immigrants. The songs of Jerome Kern, Cole Porter and Richard Rodgers were very present in his home. He initially studied English and history and worked as a fireman. He then turned his attention entirely to music and moved to the University of Southern California, where, after graduating, he taught music theory and later became a professor of composition. As a creator of primarily vocal music he received many awards, including the National Medal of Arts in 2007. From 1994 to 2001, he was composer in residence with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, one of the leading professional choirs in the USA, which also premiered his Lux aeterna. All five movements of this cycle refer to the "Eternal Light". While Lauridsen was setting the underlying liturgical texts to music, his mother was dying - but the words about light as a universal symbol of all-encompassing enlightenment gave him consolation. Jake Runestad is one of the latest additions to the list of great American composers and is in the process of securing his place in US music history. Born in 1986 in Rockford, Illinois, he grew up in a family that sang a lot. There was also a piano, and during his primary school years he began to play little melodies on it - also teaching himself Scott Joplin's The Entertainer. From 2009 to 2011, he studied at the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, after which he quickly gained recognition, especially in the field of choral music. However, his catalogue of works also includes operas, orchestral pieces and chamber music. He has received commissions from the Washington National Opera, the vocal ensemble VOCES8 and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, among others. His first album, The Hope of Loving, was immediately nominated for a Grammy Award. A keen mountaineer and camper, Runestad finds nature a great source of inspiration. In his Earth Symphony, Mother Earth herself is given a voice; the five interrelated sections deal with her destruction, her sorrow, her healing, and also her hope for humanity.

This recording of Mahler's Fifth Symphony by the Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich under it's Music Director Paavo Jarvi, is the first in a complete cycle of Mahler symphonies. Jarvi has of course conducted Mahler's works many times in his career, but has waited for the right moment to record the complete cycle in the studio: the right moment not only in his life as a musician but also in his relationship with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich; the maturity and power revealed in the orchestra's recordings for Alpha Classics have been hailed by the music press since 2019. "Mahler truly opened up a new universe with the Fifth, in which he initiated an incredibly personal style of music-making." says Paavo Jarvi. "It is the very nature of it's opening - a military funeral - and of it's tragedy, in conjunction with the very idea of beginning a symphony in this way, which signals that something completely different is in store for us".

The Gondoliers, the twelfth of fourteen operas from Gilbert & Sullivan, has been an audience favourite since it's 1889 premiere. The tunes are infectious, the romantic and family conflicts heartfelt, and the satire of rank and station constantly entertaining and relevant. This Scottish Opera co-production with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and State Opera South Australia is created by some of the world's foremost G&S enthusiasts and experts.

This recording of Mahler's Fifth Symphony by the Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich under it's Music Director Paavo Jarvi, is the first in a complete cycle of Mahler symphonies. Jarvi has of course conducted Mahler's works many times in his career, but has waited for the right moment to record the complete cycle in the studio: the right moment not only in his life as a musician but also in his relationship with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich; the maturity and power revealed in the orchestra's recordings for Alpha Classics have been hailed by the music press since 2019. "Mahler truly opened up a new universe with the Fifth, in which he initiated an incredibly personal style of music-making." says Paavo Jarvi. "It is the very nature of it's opening - a military funeral - and of it's tragedy, in conjunction with the very idea of beginning a symphony in this way, which signals that something completely different is in store for us".

The acclaimed Schubert symphonies recordings by B'Rock Orchestra and Rene Jacobs now appear in a complete boxset. Finally recording Schubert offered Jacobs the opportunity to return to his first great musical love. His interpretation is rooted in profound research into early nineteenth-century developments and ideas, as well as a thorough exploration of Schubert's music and persona. Jacobs perceives this cycle as a series of multiple contrasting tandems of symphonies, oscillating between Italianate lightness and darker currents of Romanticism, between elegant forms and expansive endeavours, all in line with Schubert's dynamic, multi-faceted personality. Schubert's symphonies never acquired the paradigmatic status of his contemporary Beethoven, but with these recordings, Jacobs makes a compelling case to value and understand them on their own terms. He performs these works together with B'Rock Orchestra, one of the most adventurous period instrument ensembles of our times, with whom he has built up a congenial working relationship. In addition to his Schubert symphonies, multi-award-winning conductor Rene Jacobs released Haydn's Stabat Mater (2023) on PENTATONE, together with the Kammerorchester Basel and Zurcher Sing-Akademie. B'Rock Orchestra returned to the label with Antwerp Requiem (2022) and Handel: Water & Fire (2023).

The Gondoliers, the twelfth of fourteen operas from Gilbert & Sullivan, has been an audience favourite since it's 1889 premiere. The tunes are infectious, the romantic and family conflicts heartfelt, and the satire of rank and station constantly entertaining and relevant. This Scottish Opera co-production with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and State Opera South Australia is created by some of the world's foremost G&S enthusiasts and experts.

Ronald Stevenson (1928-2015) was perhaps the only virtuoso pianist-composer in the manner of Rachmaninov and Liszt to have Celtic origins, and so it is natural to find a Celtic flavour emerging in his music - his transcriptions as well as his original compositions. It also helps explain his affinity for fellow composers like Grieg and Grainger, whose creative efforts looked to the north. But Stevenson's openness of spirit put the whole world of music within his reach, and so piano rags can here rub shoulders with works more directly concerned to express his humanist impulse.

Featuring 13 premiere recordings, With Eys Lift Up is a new collection of works written by American composer Nico Muhly for - and the majority commissioned by - the Choir of Magdalen College, Oxford. Comprising settings of the mass and canticles alongside anthems for Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, Ascensiontide, Trinity Sunday and Remembrance, the collection sets a number of little-known texts, casting new light on familiar seasons of the church year.

CLARINET & HORN QUINTETS

Antoine Tamestit and Masato Suzuki, Principal Conductor of the famous Bach Collegium Japan, immersed themselves in Bach's three sonatas for viola da gamba and harpsichord in order to present this sublime interpretation using a modern viola. The change in instrumentation allows the artists total freedom to rediscover the exquisite qualities of these all too rarely played masterpieces. HARMONIA MUNDI

Christmas with The King's Singers New music, old music, music from the Renaissance and Baroque, spirituals, folksongs, jazz and pop... The Beatles, David Bowie, swing, classical avantgarde, waltzes by Strauss, and musical theatre songs. Which genre of music are the King's Singers actually yet to interpret? Which style have they not yet captured within their unique global reach and within their transparent and intimate six-voiced sound world? One thing is for sure - when the King's Singers came together at the end of the 1960s in Cambridge, no one would have believed the success story that lay ahead of them. Some musical experts were scathing: a male-only vocal sextet was most likely to be found in the pop sector. But trained voices are surely better suited to a professional career either in the opera world or in mixed professional choirs. After all, the founding members came from the famous King's College Choir - one of the oldest surviving vocal institutions with nearly 500 years of history to it's name. It is with this tradition behind them that the King's Singers display the typical British musical virtues in which seriousness and humour, self-discipline, and a dash of satire all mix together so wonderfully. This is especially evident in their Christmas repertoire. Christmas carols are a special national treasure for Brits and are therefore the focus of festivities. The six voices' festive destinations also include the continent, such as Spain and Germany. "Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen" by the German early Baroque master composer Michael Praetorius has become a Christmas standard. The world famous carol "Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht" ("Silent Night") comes from the German-speaking world too, written for Christmas Eve in a village near Salzburg in 1818. The simple, classical melody radiates a little of the spirit of Mozart, who was born in Salzburg. What a pity there is no musical contribution to these Christmas festivities from Mozart, the King's Singers may have thought! Perhaps that's how they came up with the idea for an amusing and cheeky Christmas medley of melodies from the great classical composer, reinforced by the harpsichord playing of English conductor Richard Hickox and the singing of guest star Kiri Te Kanawa. © Oliver Buslau, 2017 Translation: texthouse

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Akademie Fur Alte Musik Berlin - Mozart: Gran Partita - The great art of musical entertainment When Mozart takes over the popular genre of serenade, it is to transcend it and give it it's nobility. A festive masterpiece of simplicity and emotion, his Gran Partita quickly became a hit! Thanks to the sliced and captivating colours of their period instruments, the members of the Akademie f-r Alte Musik Berlin give full flavour to these two extraordinary serenades, where a tremendous wind of freedom blows. 2021 release.

Goldberg Variations

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Die Kunst der Fuge

Orgelb…hlein

San Francisco Chronicle: Parisot, the brilliant Brazilian cellist, knew Villa-Lobos, and premiered several of his works. (Villa-Lobos' Second Cello Concerto is dedicated to Parisot.) Parisot has the advantage of a mass of cellos - 20 or so - all from the Yale Music department, and hence, his students. (The jacket lists 34 names.) And what a sound they make - organ-like in resonance and sensational in intonation. Add to this the fact that he has the dulcet voice of soprano Auger for the famous fifth Bachianas, plus Delos' brilliantly lively sonics, and you have a very major release. Highly recommended. Opus: This is a most unusual and enjoyable release. First of all, at long last, recordings of Villa-Lobos' Bachiana brasileiras Nos. 1 and 5 that really do justice to these irresistible scores. Here the works are played by the sort of ensemble Villa-Lobos had in mind: not the usual eight cellos, but an 'orchestra of violoncellos' - the Yale Cellos, twenty in member, conducted by their mentor Aldo Parisot. The gain in tonal richness is immeasurable. And what tremendous vigor and elan they display! I don't mean to imply any degree of roughness or vehemence, however, for this is some of the suavest playing imaginable by such an ensemble. Rather, the rhythms, inflections, and articulations are executed in such an inimitably idiomatic manner as to simply sweep the listener along. In the haunting Aria ('Cantilena') of No. 5, Arleen Auger enters as if another instrument, a soprano cello perhaps. As much as I enjoyed Hendricks' performance, Auger gives the most exquisite rendition I've heard since Bidu Sayao (who recorded only this movement). The aria's central section is treated more expansively than usual, but with a wonderfully apt sensitivity. Auger and the cellists deliver the concluding Dansa ('Martelo') brilliantly, not so fast as to turn it into a meaningless display piece, but at a tempo that allows the infectious dance rhythms to tell. WG, High Performance Review: This recording is an interesting novelty: an orchestra made up entirely of violoncelli! The Villa-Lobos works are placed first and last, in between are arrangements of various compositions by J.S. Bach, including the much arranged 'Chaconne in D-Minor' for solo violin. Aldo Parisot and his student cellists give wonderfully rich, vital and colorful performances. In the famous 'Bachiana Brasileiras No. 5,' we're fortunate to have Arleen Auger. Everything this splendid American soprano does is touched with her intelligence and the beauty of her voice. The Bach pieces are all well-played, and the sound of massed 'celli, at least under Parisot's direction, is not at all as dark, opaque or lush as one might expect. There's light, almost transparent, yet rich, sound, and throughout the compact disc, it is music that's given to us, not a slick demonstration of novel sound.

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Classical Music

Bach: Motets, BWV 225-230

Bach: Clavierübung III, Vol. 2

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My enthusiasm for Volume 1 in the Bach Collegium Japan's cycle of Bach's cantatas continues here in a program that includes a work (BWV 131) based on conductor Masaaki Suzuki's favorite psalm, number 130. (In the notes to the first volume Suzuki candidly declares how important his Christian convictions are to his interpretations, and describes his relationship to Bach as "fellows in faith"). Though thematically based on the depths and multitudes of sin, Bach's settings here are not entirely solemn--nor are Suzuki's spirited renderings. The opening selection, Gott ist mein König, begins with a striking choral "Gott!" followed by enough resounding brass and percussion to simultaneously excite the layman and instill joyous consolation among the faithful. Bass Peter Kooy's more somber though equally compelling fourth-movement aria "Tag und Nacht ist dein" couldn't be more lovely; as the singer muses over God's omniscient reach, he's partnered by a lingering melody that anticipates the composer's famous Sinfonia in C. Likewise countertenor Yoshikazu Mera shines in his brief aria "Durch mächtige Kraft", accompanied only by a trio of trumpet, organ, and timpani.


Arguably one of Bach's most angst-ridden cantatas, Aus der Tiefe rufe ich Herr, zu dir gets a reading that equals if not surpasses Günther Ramin's legendary 1952 account (a statement heretofore unimaginable). Though nearly as dramatically slow in tempo as Ramin, Suzuki often subtly mutes the choir, which heightens the overall impression of humility, misery, despair, and lifelong repentance. Also unlike Ramin, who unfortunately had only less-than-accurate editions at his disposal, Suzuki includes an additional soprano (Midori Suzuki) whose sublime laments beautifully complement Kooy's second-movement aria.


From Bach's so-called "Mühlhausen period" (where he held the post of organist at Mühlhausen's Church of St. Blasius) his Actus Tragicus funeral cantata (Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit) remains his most popular and oft-recorded work. While long-standing favorite recordings include such diverse readings as Karl Richter's grand Munich Bach Orchestra modern-instrument performance and the Collegium Aureum's much more intimate original-instrument account, Suzuki again successfully combines the best of both approaches. The famed opening instrumental sonatina couldn't be more graceful and appropriately suggestive of another world. As well, tenor Gerd Türk and countertenor Yoshikazu Mera deliver exceptionally lovely performances, particularly in the third-movement choral. This Actus Tragicus surely is one of the best, if not the best currently available (both of the recordings mentioned above are scarce imports). BIS again complements Suzuki's achievement with state-of-the-art sonics and engaging and informative booklet notes by Suzuki and Tadashi Isoyama. Highly recommended. [3/5/2003]
--John Greene, ClassicsToday.com

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BACH, J.C.: Sinfonias, Vol. 1

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