ORFF: CARMINA BURANA

The fact that Bernhard Lewkovitch turned 85 in May this year defies the real picture of a vital and prolific composer. Upbringing and educational background in Roman Catholic environment gave Lewkovitch a unique insight to the liturgy and its music. Combined with his interest and experiment in contemporary music both his sacred and secular works brought him considerable fame. This album is the squeal of “All My Springs” Kontrapunkt 32283 (1998).

Piano Concerto Op. 39

Complete Lieder

Danish Golden Age

New Music For Choir

Bo Andersen, like his teacher Ib Nørholm, seeks to achieve a balanced synthesis of tradition and innovation by adopting an approach which aims at accessibility without any compromise in originality. On this CD project Andersen compiles his recent works on the Passion theme, all of which are world premier recordings by international leading soloists and ensembles.

The story goes that Sony had to twist Angelika Kirchschlager’s arm pretty hard to persuade her to record this compilation: after all, she has hitherto been known for rather more rigorous programming both in live recital and on disc. With pictures of herself and her baby enfolded in a bath towel, the packaging may be soft-focus, but Kirchschlager proves herself no soft touch. She takes it all seriously enough to use a Welsh, Provencal and Portuguese language coach where necessary; and to include songs which go darker and deeper than the (itals)Wiegenlieder(end itals) of Schubert and Brahms which frame this recital. For here, too, is Brahms’s ‘Gestille Sehnsucht’, revealing the shadowy yearnings of the distinctly adult soul; and Weber’s ‘Lass mich schlummern’, its latent agitation trembling through John Williams’s guitar accompaniment. The breadth of idiom within this ostensibly single-mood recital is matched by the variety of accompaniment: as well as Williams’s guitar, Yuri Bashmet’s viola puts in an appearance for Brahms, and Roger Vignoles joins the chamber-musical soloists who accompany Haydn’s arrangement of ‘Ar hyd y nos’. Kirchschlager’s kid-gloves Welsh is as nicely attuned to Haydn’s prettification of the folksong as her English is to lullabies by Menotti and Copland, and to the surprising re-invention of ‘Edelweiss’ as folksong manque.

-- Hilary Finch, BBC Music Magazine

DESPREZ: MISSA LA SOL FA RE MI

This selection contains both ADD and DDD recordings.

Regina Resnik's recital disc reissued here was recorded in 1967 and 1968. It illuminates her consummate musicianship and dedication to her art. With conductor Richard Woitach at the piano, she creates track after track of immense beauty and interest. Resnik has always been a dramatic and thoughtful performer on the operatic stage; it is most refreshing to hear her sing small-scale works for voice and piano. Her command of language is particularly astute in the Russian selections of Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev, and in her Spanish set by Turina.
She also sings her heart out in five Mahler songs, four of which are from 'Des Knaben Wunderhorn.' The fifth, "Hans und Grete," has a text by Mahler himself which contains a humorous allusion to the famous fairytale duo. Resnik's handling of this material is both touching and colorful, further emphasizing her vast artistic ability. The inclusion of an excerpt from Menotti's 'The Medium' with Resnik singing one of Madame Flora's arias about the old, scheming, now-repentant woman is a nice programmatic end to the disc. Resnik is able to conjure both scorn and compassion from the listener--not an easy feat.

This live recording of Puccini's 'La Bohème' made by Austrian Radio in 1963 has almost as interesting an off-stage story as went on onstage. Performed at Vienna's legendary Wiener Staatsoper under the artistic direction of conductor Herbert von Karajan, the performance was the subject of international labor disputes, union troubles and such pronounced disharmony that the premiere was actually canceled.
That this performance was captured for posterity is a blessing for music lovers everywhere. Extraordinary performances, highlighted by that of previously unknown Mirella Freni (as Mimì) are a joy to behold. A reading vastly different than any that had come before, this 'La Bohème' pursued the inner-life of the characters with a success that may be the driving factor in subsequent reinterpretations of classic pieces.
The recording quality of this album evokes the sound of Vienna's classic opera house. Digital remastering has cleaned up any irregularities caused by the era's recording techniques, making this classic performance a collector's piece.

Here's a Howdy Do! (A Gilbert & Sullivan Festival)

There is certainly blood aplenty in these bleeding chunks. As Salome kisses the mouth of Jokanaan, the lunar beauty at the core of Jane Eaglen’s dramatic lyric soprano reminds us not only of the chilling purity of Salome’s corruption, but of just what we are missing in hearing Eaglen live so little in Britain.

The partnership of Eaglen and the Israel Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta is at its strongest in the Richard Strauss tracks of this Mozart and Strauss compilation. The orchestra’s superbly balanced wind soloists create dark shadows for Guntram’s Freihild, as she reflects within them, at first perplexed and then, in unflaggingly focused voice, thankful for her love for the Minnesinger – and for the glory of her top B. If Ariadne’s distraction is captured rather less convincingly, then the sustained rapture of Die Aegyptische Helena’s “Zweite Brautnacht!” draws the full effulgence from Eaglen’s golden soprano in what seems to be one breathless sentence.

The five Mozart arias here remind us just what a formidable Mozartian Eaglen is; and one only wishes that Mehta were her equal in this respect. I found myself constantly longing for a livelier orchestral presence, warmer phrasing, more discriminating support. Eaglen’s bleached tone in Donna Anna’s “Non mi dir” gives way to some considerable tension in the florid, high-lying passages, and the matter-of-fact, even peremptory accompaniment of “Or sai chi l’onore” doesn’t help her in what becomes a somewhat shrill revelation.

Eaglen’s own skills at pacing and charging with emotion Electra’s passages of accompanied recitative make for real momentum, lit by a bright platinum gleam in the voice in “Oh smania! ... D’Oreste, d’Aiace”; and her instinctive phrasing gives eloquent voice to Electra’s more demure moments in “Idol mio”.'

-- Hilary Finch, Gramophone [6/1998]

New French Song has created a whole new repertoire of songs by British composers. The artists commissioned twenty exceptional British composers, some of whom were well established, others of whom were yet to receive the recognition they deserve. The composers were asked to set French literature of their choice from the past two hundred years. The result is a fascinating rainbow work covering all the major literary movements of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, overlapping into the twenty-first century - Romanticism, Symbolism, Surrealism, Cubism, Modernism and post-Modernism.

Includes song(s) by Hermann Reutter. Soloists: Doris Soffel, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Axel Bauni, Aribert Reimann.

Live Recordings by Lisa della Casa. Composers: Gottfried Von Einem, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Conductors: Georges Pr tre, Georges Pr�tre, Heinz Wallberg, Jaroslav Krombholc, Josef Krips, Joseph Keilberth, Karl B hm, Karl B�hm Orchestras: Vienna State Opera Orchestra

A choir of young Dominicans conducted by Father Thomas sings solemn vespers in Latin in honor of St. Dominic, founder of the order, in the Hamburg Dominican church of St. Sophien. The order, which celebrates it's 800th anniversary in 2016, has a long tradition in chorale singing. The hymns and anthems on this CD continue to be sung by members of Dominican order in their liturgical prayer worldwide. The Latin chants are in exciting dialogue with the organ improvisations by Thierry Mechler.

Recording information: Ringsaker Church, Hedmark, Norway (02/28/2009-03/01/2009); Ringsaker Church, Hedmark, Norway (05/18/2009-05/20/2009).

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.

Finnish composer Jaakko Mäntyjärvi (b. 1963) writes some of today's more innovative choral music. It's not only creatively interesting but it also maintains the qualities of tonal/harmonic accessibility and text-centered immediacy that allows it to register with a broad spectrum of listeners. His collections of Shakespeare Songs, More Shakespeare Songs, and No More Shakespeare Songs? show a composer at once in love with his subject and fully in tune with his audience--and one clearly in possession of a sense of humor!

On this recording we hear a profoundly serious work, in memory of the victims of a terrible Baltic Sea tragedy in September, 1994, in which the luxury ferry Estonia sank in a storm, killing 852 passengers. Canticum Calamitatis Maritimae incorporates elements of Psalm 107 ("They that go down to the sea in ships...") with news accounts of the disaster (taken from a Latin-language Finnish radio broadcast), employing dramatic, rich-textured choral utterances (including the whispered prayers of the opening and closing bars) along with chant-inspired passages and an occasional folk-song-like melody, all of which culminates in an extended passage of beautiful and often surprising harmonies, ideally defining the text at the end of the Psalm: "He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still..." This is a moving and memorable work, one that these choirs perform with care and confidence under Charles Bruffy's artful direction.

After this solid performance, it's puzzling why Bruffy's rendition of Frank Ticheli's setting of Sara Teasdale's poem There will be rest is so dreadfully slow (completely ignoring the composer's clear markings), a strange deconstruction that robs this gorgeous and well-loved piece of its essential harmonic flow and structural coherence. Oh well, these world-class singers follow their conductor easily, unfazed by the exceptional demands of breath control and balance this pace requires--but still, what's the musical point?

Frank Martin's Mass for double choir has been recorded many times--and mostly very well--and this is another fine rendition of a work that seems to register its "classic" credentials more impressively every time you hear it. René Clausen's In pace, cut from the same vibrant-colored harmonic cloth as the Ticheli, is another work that deserves repertoire status, and again, Bruffy's singers perfectly capture its nuances of texture and dynamics and give full measure to the big sonorities. The complementary acoustics of Camelback Bible Church in Paradise Valley, Arizona, expertly recorded for this hybrid SACD, complete a program that should have strong appeal to all choral music fans.

--David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

Classical Music

The Renner Ensemble has established themselves as one of the leading male choirs in the world since 1987. The ensemble is renowned for its versatility, a wide-ranging repertoire from early medieval to Renaissance to modern avant-garde. This release showcases the ensemble's talent as well as teh musicianship of all it's members. The lyricism of Liszt and textures from Verdi shine through this entire album.

Classical Music

Classical Music

CANONS