Classical Music

Includes work(s) by various composers.

If you're a choral music fan and you somehow managed to miss this classic the first time around, well now's your chance to grab it--and you must--in its newly reissued version, now at mid-price. The program's opening track--Stanford's exquisite impressionistic masterpiece, The Blue Bird--alone is worth any price, and from there the program never falters, in musical quality or choral artistry. If there are other highlights, they might be the Vaughan Williams Shakespeare Songs, Elgar's My love dwelt in a Northern land, or the difficult and powerfully expressive Five Flower Songs of Benjamin Britten. And then there's the wonderful little encore piece, Stanford's setting of the Irish air Quick! we have but a second, which actually is 41 seconds of virtuoso vocal ensemble magic. John Rutter and his Cambridge Singers made many memorable, and in many cases inimitable recordings--and this is one that belongs in every collection, a bright and beautiful celebration of some of the world's finest choral music, sung the way it should be sung. [12/14/2002] --David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

Classical Music

After making his adieux to opera in 2010, José van Dam began venturing into other musical genres by revisiting the tangos of Carlos Gardel in the company of Jean-Louis Rassinfosse and Jean-Philippe Collard-Neven. Caminito, an album released by Cyprès, ravished fans keen to discover the famous bass-baritone in an unexpected repertoire, and also featured an unexpected collaboration with an already atypical duo: a jazz double bass-player and a polymorphic pianist. Sharing moments of music and friendship from one concert to the next, the trio acquired a unique sheen, born of spontaneity and complicity. A desire to prolong the adventure was only natural, though this time in a selection from a much broader repertoire: the French chanson. José van Dam began by exploring songs he has always known, putting lyrics above vocal effect, for in the simple melodies of the chanson, everything can often be said in just a few notes. From this unlimited repertoire, José chose texts that move him the most. Texts that talk of love. The love of the sublime Jacques Brel for the flatness of his homeland, love for a father, for a friend, for the bohemian Montmartre of one’s youth, for jazz, for partying... the trio leads us by the hand in search of the traces of separated lovers whose footprints on the sand are so quickly erased by the sea.

Recordings from 1968-1982.

WILLAERT Huc me sidereo. Dilexi quoniam exaudiet. Audite insulae. Haec est domus Domini. Verbum supernum prodiens. Confitebor tibi Domine. Te Deum Patrem ingenitum. Beati pauperes spiritu. Sustinuimus pacem. Praeter rerum seriem. Alma Redemptoris Mater. Mittit ad Virginem. Benedicta es coelorum Regina. Salve Sancta parens. Inviolata integra et casta. Sub tuum praesidium. O admirabile commercium. Aspice Domine. Peccata mea. Domine quid multiplicati sunt. Pater peccavi. Miserere nostri Deus omnium. Avertatur obsecro. Omnia quae fecisti. Recordare Domine. Victimae paschali laudes. Veni Sancte Spiritus • Singer Pur • OEHMS 835 (3 CDs: 225:35 Text and Translation)


When Adrian Willaert (c.1490-1562) arrived in Venice in 1527, he was the first Flemish musician to be appointed maestro di cappella of St. Mark’s basilica, and the last of a long and distinguished line of Franco-Flemish musicians to dominate the Italian musical scene in the 15th and early 16th centuries. Although his position gave him the opportunity, not to say the duty, of supplying music for Mass and Vespers for his celebrated choir, his output does not appear on records as frequently as the music of his successors, most notably Monteverdi. Only a fraction of his 150 motets are available, and I have only three of his eight Masses in my collection. (His madrigals are better represented.) The Musica Nova , from which these motets come, was published by Gardano in 1559 at the behest of Alfonso d’Este, soon to be duke of Ferrara, who acquired the manuscript from the singer Polissena Pecorina. It contained 25 madrigals and 27 motets, works dating back through his career but kept apart from other music already published earlier. With the madrigals issued earlier ( Fanfare 33:4), Singer Pur has now recorded the entire publication. In the previous review, I indicated that I had not found any of the madrigals on records (no reader has written to offer any information on this).


Most of these motets have two parts; some have three, and O admirabile commercium has seven parts. The motets are set out here in order of themes, not the order of the published book, where the motets are grouped in ascending order of settings for four, five, six, and seven voices. The first disc is generally in praise of the Blessed Trinity, the second is entirely Marian in devotion, and the third is penitential, concluding with the sequences of Easter and Pentecost. Except for the last two pieces, it is remarkable that three very full discs can be equally divided along three distinct themes. The texts are from the Psalms and other scriptural and liturgical sources. Considering that the composition of these motets may have extended over a period of some years, the polyphonic style is notably uniform.


One motet that is special for its breadth is O admirabile commercium , the seven-part motet that takes its text from the seven antiphons for Lauds and Vespers of January 1. (While this is the feast of the Circumcision, it is structured as a Marian feast, and since 1970 has been known as the feast of Mary, the Mother of God.) This motet for five voices runs almost half an hour. The liturgical texts draw on biblical allusions, as in Rubum quem viderat , the third section, which takes the account of the burning bush unburnt from Exodus as a parallel to Mary’s giving birth while her virginity remained intact. Singer Pur’s execution is uniformly exquisite, with four male singers added to the six members of the ensemble (five former choirboys at Regensburg cathedral plus a soprano). Along with the Cinquecento disc (34: 2), these two sets of Musica Nova may be regarded as the preeminent observance of the composer’s 450th anniversary. With this recorded evidence, Willaert demonstrably occupies a place leading up to the glories of the High Renaissance that the next generation of composers achieved. Be sure to hear this impressive set.


FANFARE: J. F. Weber

Caroline Goulding presents her debut CD along with pianist Danae Dörken. Caroline Goulding, a Boston, MA native has received the Kempinsky Young Artists Fellowship, the Avery Fisher Career grant and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions. She appears throughout the world, performing solo repertoire. German newspaper Die Welt describes Dörken as "a poet on the piano". Dörken is one of the most sought-after soloists of her generation, playing regularly at festivals and concert halls around the world.

Classical Music

John Rutter has an unmistakable style whose identifying characteristics include some favorite rhythmic and melodic elements, devices that tell us immediately that this is the composer of both For the beauty of the earth (one of Rutter's more popular, enduring anthems) and Look at the world, written in 1996 for The Council for the Protection of rural England, and one of eight pieces included on this disc (besides the title work), all of which were composed for various occasions during the past 10 years. Many of the familiar and well-loved staples of Rutter's music are here--the flowing melodies, catchy rhythms, and pop-tinged harmonies; but there also is much evidence of a composer both as inspired as in his classic What sweeter music and more complex than usual in both thematic ideas and expressive technique.


The opening of the outstanding Mass of the Children (a work completed in early 2003 and first performed at a Carnegie Hall concert) is full of promise, its exciting, engaging, Britten-esque tune for children's chorus capturing our attention and setting the stage for a fresh, new experience. I only wish that Rutter had continued with this idea and developed it--or at least played off its dancing, jaunty style. But instead the children's song melds (albeit very nicely and easily) into a Kyrie that's more comfortably in the traditional Rutter character--a perfectly effective transition and comprised of very fine, well-fashioned music, but leaving us to imagine what greater adventures might have been.


There are many more marvelous passages for the children's voices, including the lovely Benedictus, a lilting, Siciliana-like section whose initial gentleness expands into a full-bodied expression, joined by the adult choir and soloists. One of the more affecting passages--and most impressive in terms of text setting, mood, and orchestration--is the Agnus Dei, whose opening minutes capture the profound seriousness and eternal consequences of our plea for mercy. Just as suddenly, the children take over with a tender, beguiling setting of William Blake's The Lamb, returning our thoughts to the innocent one who "became a little child", the one to whom we pray. Then, not unsurprisingly for this optimistic composer, we're left with a Dona nobis pacem benediction that's as strongly reassuring as we can imagine. In addition to the standard Latin Missa brevis texts, Rutter also characteristically organizes his material by inserting texts from other sources, "giving the whole work the framework of a complete day, from waking to sleeping", beginning and ending with settings of a morning and evening hymn by Bishop Thomas Ken.


The remaining works are highlighted by A Clare Benediction (which Rutter wrote for his alma mater), the a cappella Musica Dei donum (widely known for its inclusion in the tribute to Linda McCartney, A Garland for Linda), and an unusual and quite demanding setting of Come down, O Love divine for unaccompanied double choir. The Cambridge Singers (whose roster shows a major turnover of singers from its last incarnation) is as vocally well-matched, technically polished, and musically involving as always. The Cantate Youth Choir is a delight, and the two soloists are ideal. The sound grants both spaciousness and warmth to the singers and orchestra, so that in all it's hard to imagine a session with this recording that would be anything less than satisfying, especially for Rutter fans, who will have to have this--and who will be thrilled to have a new release from this revered composer and his choir, whose recordings during the past few years have been all too few and far between. [9/8/2003]
--David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

All the usual virtues of Rutter's music and recordings are here. He is an extremely adept selector of texts, with The Gift of Life moving from the Book of Common Prayer to New England hymnody to Rutter's own poetry, and making it seem effortlessly of a piece. His handling of his handpicked Cambridge Singers is exemplary. The music is warm and well-shaped, with great sensitivity toward text intelligibility and an even greater level of general accessibility than usual. The album is rounded out by a group of shorter pieces, all recent, and the limpid trio of Christmas works at the end goes nicely with everything else and makes the entire album a good seasonal choice.

­– All Music Guide (James Manheim)

Classical Music

Includes work(s) by various composers. Ensemble: VocalEssence Ensemble. Conductor: Philip Brunelle.

HANDEL Dixit Dominus. BACH Magnificat • Peter Dijkstra (cond); Christina Landshamer (sop); Diana Haller (mez); Maarten Engeltjes (ct); Maximilian Schmitt (ten); Konstantin Wolf (bs); Bayerischen Rundfunks Ch; Concerto Köln (period instruments) • BR 900504 (56:07 Text and Translation)


Handel composed his Dixit Dominus in 1707, the same year that Bach composed his first cantata, Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, Herr, zu dir (BWV 131). Both men were 22 years old and presumably intent on announcing to the world that they were ready to take it on—which both emphatically were. It’s interesting to compare the two works, both harbingers of things to come. Bach’s cantata is appropriately serious and introspective, given its somber text (“Out of the depths…”), whereas Handel’s Psalm, mirroring its text, is rife with fireworks, vocal and choral. Like many another emerging artist he obviously set out to toss everything he knew into the project. There’s nothing wrong with fireworks, as long as they are as skillfully executed as they are here. Peter Dijkstra fans the flame in this high-energy realization. The Gloria Patri , which ends the work, is done at break-neck speed and then some. To call it exhilarating is perhaps an understatement. Yet it’s sung with remarkable precision and gusto by the Bavarian Radio Choir. And it’s not all flash; the duet in the penultimate movement is especially touching, with Christina Landshamer’s soprano soaring ethereally over Diana Haller’s lovely mezzo.


Bach’s Magnificat, originally in E?, dates from 1723 but was later revised and transposed to D, probably some time between 1728 and 1731. Both Bach and Handel, in their early-40s, were at the height of their powers then. Bach was settling in at Leipzig. Handel, in London, was producing Italian operas for his English audiences: Ottone, Giulio Cesare, Rodelinda, Tolomeo . If anything, Bach’s Magnificat, with its high trumpets and kettle drums, is even more magnificent that Handel’s Dixit Dominus . Again maestro Dijkstra draws a vital performance from his talented forces. The choir, 33 strong by my count, is splendid throughout, as is their instrumental counterpart, Concerto Köln. The well-matched solo quintet, named above, is as near to flawless as one could reasonably expect: not a moment of weakness in either work. Overall, this is a deeply satisfying release. Competition for the Dixit Dominus is relatively sparse. Dijkstra’s would be hard to beat. There are many fine Magnificats out there. I’m currently carrying Richard Hickox’s version (Chandos) on my MP3 player. I may have to rethink that.


FANFARE: George Chien

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

ORBAN: Book of Lockets / Mass No. 5

Classical Music

Classical Music

Composing over 150 works for piano and voice over a period of 44 years, the songs of Francis Poulenc remain consistently popular to concert audiences the world over. Varying in their individual style and character in a way that defies generalization, Poulenc set music to a wide range of different French poetry - both ancient and modern, and from the serious to the surreal. This is the fourth release in our series that will encompass the complete songs of Francis Poulenc, performed by some of the greatest singers of the day and accompanied by the exceptional Malcolm Martineau.

Classical Music

As part of Signum's 15th anniversary year we are delighted to announce this celebratory collection - The Best of The King's Singers - a 2-CD collection drawn from their now extensive catalogue on Signum. The first CD includes titles from Christmas (the groups debut album with Signum, released in 2004), along with music from Landscape and Time, Treason and Dischord, Gesualdo's Tenebrae Responsories, Sacred Bridges, Siglio d'Oro, Romance du soir, From the heart, High Flight and the 2012 release Royal Rhymes and Rounds. The second CD presents songs from four albums: Six, From the heart, our most recent light album Swimming over London and the Grammy® Award winning Simple Gifts.

Sophia Agranovich, internationally acclaimed virtuoso pianist, and esteemed pedagogue, is a recipient of numerous teaching awards. Described by Fanfare magazine as "a bold, daring pianist in the tradition of the Golden Age Romantics," the Ukrainian-born pianist takes to the keyboard for her second Centaur release, offering up a program perfectly suited to Golden Age aficionados, Schubert's 'Wanderer' Fantasy, D760, and Chopin's Four Ballades, each a masterpiece in itself yet superseding the one before, culminating in the brilliant fourth and last Ballade, the F minor, op. 52.

Includes work(s) by various composers. Ensemble: The Swingle Singers.