Classical Music

Note: This Blu-ray Disc is playable only on Blu-ray Disc players, and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD

Recorded live from the Teatro Regio di Parma, 8 October 2011

Bonus:
- Verdi’s Backyard – A documentary by Sergej Grguric

Picture format: 1080i High Definition
Sound format: PCM 2.0 / DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: Italian, English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Japanese (concert) / English, Italian (documentary)
Running time: 95 mins (concert) + 52 mins (documentary)
No. of Discs: 1 (BD 50)

Bach, J.S.: Vocal Music (1953-1959)

The Kyiv Patriarchate, established in 1992, was denounced by Moscow and the schism between the two Orthodox churches has become part of the geopolitical confrontation between Russia and Ukraine since 2014, even more so since Moscow Patriarch Kyrill has made warlike speeches. All Composers here were born in Ukraine. [Texts will be online at https://altocd. Com/product/alc1478/]

From Monteverdi to Brahms via French Baroque rarities: the Decca Gold (US) legacy of Nadia Boulanger, a complete musician. Newly remastered and issued complete for the first time, with fascinating liner notes by Nigel Simeone. Original Jackets, Limited Edition. Composer, teacher, organist, pianist, harpsichordist, choir trainer, conductor, musicologist: there seemed to be no end to the talents of Nadia Boulanger though she liked to insist that her gifts paled in comparison to her tragically short-lived sister, Lili. Nadia compensated with ceaseless industry. By the time of her early twenties, having studied with Faure and undertaken the famously rigorous Paris Conservatoire formation, she was already reviving Bach cantatas in concert. In this guise she came to the attention of the American heiress and assiduous sponsor of avant-garde culture in Paris, the Princesse de Polignac, and with her support founded a vocal consort which made valuable and often-reissued HMV recordings of Monteverdi and Brahms in the 1930s. Boulanger's postwar recordings for American Decca, while also made in Paris, are much less widely known, having been issued on Brunswick LPs with limited availability outside the US and on Decca Gold in the US. Having returned to Paris after her wartime exile on the American east coast, she revived her consort for concerts at the Polignac salon, drawing together the most resilient of her older colleagues, such as the tenor Hugues Cuenod, with younger vocal talents such as Nadine Sautereau and Irma Kolassi, who had already established an international career for themselves but were devoted to Boulanger and her tender tyranny in securing precise, selfless and stylish performances of a repertoire that was still largely the exclusive property of scholars rather than musicians. As well as returning to Monteverdi, the American Decca sessions of 1952-54 venture into what was then much less familiar territory, of chansons and madrigals by the likes of Josquin, Lassus and Le Jeune, winding up with a typically flamboyant Janequin showpiece which imitates an entire aviary. Then there are pioneering records of excerpts from music-dramas by Charpentier and Rameau, and finally a return to Brahms's domestic vocal music, though as with Monteverdi in 'new' and complementary repertoire, the Neue Liebeslieder and a selection from the more introspective late vocal quartets Opp. 92 and 112. On all these records Boulanger's affection for the music shines through, as well as her scrupulous attention to the detail of it's expression.

Classical Music

A Bridge of Dreams

“We are in the presence of one of the greatest virtuosos of our time. I do not see in her generation any other pianist who possesses an equal mastery of the keyboard, in the service of such a mature mind so rich in imagination.”
— Marc Pincherle Nouvelles Litteraires, France 1959

“No doubt remained as soon as the piano began to reverberate: on the stage was a first class musician and a maestro. A complete freedom went hand in hand with Idil Biret’s interpretations. One has the feeling that she plays as easily as she breathes. With an extraordinary plasticity, she moulds each musical phrase like wax with her fingers. But, the freedom in Miss Biret’s interpretation is not accidental. Her attitude towards the works she is playing is the result of meditation. The art of Idil Biret gives joy and emotion.”
– D. Blagoy SOVIETSKAIA KULTURA – USSR 1960

“All the works [on this LP] require a pianist of true class, because each of them presents challenges demanding something quite different from traditional technique. It has to be said that the young Idil Biret exceeds all expectations. This Turkish artist appeared in Brussels (1959) at the tender age of eighteen. Her virtuosity is astonishing, encompassing clarity, rhythmical rigour, precision and strength or delicacy, as required. She can play at great speed and maintain runs of impeccable luminosity. Her flexible touch conjures a thousand surprising effects; some notes and chords explode like whip-cracks, while others caress the keys, and there is an extraordinary purity to her polyphonic playing. In the hands of an artist of such superior qualities, the very particular characteristics of both Bartók’s and Prokofiev’s piano writing are brought out to the full. Taking into account her passionate vitality and lively musical intelligence as well, I believe her talent offers more than enough to be met not simply with satisfaction but with genuine enthusiasm.”
– Jacques Stehman, LA REVUE DES DISQUES (Belgium) 1962

“This is the most successful direct-to-disc piano recording I have heard. Having an artist as sensitive and accomplished as Idil Biret at the keyboard is an enormous help. Her fluency seems limitless and her ability to control, even at the softest dynamics, is all too rare these days…Hers is a bona fide virtuoso rendition.”
– HIGH FIDELITY – USA 1977

Shostakovich wrote vocal music all of his life, and these works form a kind of satellite to his more well-known symphonic works. Any enthusiast for his work will love to explore this volume and there are extensive notes in English to illuminate these masterly performances.

DOLCE MIO BEN

On their recording Sacred Songs of France, the first disc in a three-volume French choral pilgrimage, the acclaimed American choir Gloriae Dei Cantores takes listeners on a journey from the earliest days of organum in the Middle Ages to the delights of seventeenth century polyphony. This fascinating collection samples the musical genius and spiritual art of celebrated composers such as Josquin des Prez, and their lesser-known compatriots including Dulot, Goudimel and Mouton. Scholars will appreciate this disc for the generous survey it provides, while choral fans will love the grace, beauty and remarkable clarity of this glorious music.

Classical Music

Classical Music

An early TAS List recommendation, Arturo Delmoni's unparalleled artistry is captured on this near-mythical analog recording by David Hancock. Songs My Mother Taught Me was recorded by David Hancock at the Church of the Holy Trinity, New York City, on May 8-9, 1982. The sessions were jointly produced by Arturo Delmoni, David Hancock, and John Marks. Arturo Delmoni plays a violin by Antonio Stradivari, 1721. Mr. Hancock used a Studer A-80 1/2" two-track (30 i.p.s.) analog tape recorder and two Cambridge C35 ribbon microphones. No equalization or noise reduction was employed. This 24k Gold CD was made from a digital transfer from the original analog master tapes by Robert C. Ludwig of Gateway Mastering in 1994 for John Marks Records. Impex presents this rare masterpiece (which has had no official release in two decades) on pristine 24K Gold Compact Disc to dazzle a new generation of music lovers and audiophiles alike. Limited to 2, 500 individually numbered copies.

As Rameau wrote in his treatise on harmony, “A good musician should surrender himself to all the characters he wishes to portray, and like a skillful actor, put himself in the speaker’s shoes.” Regardless of the means used to achieve this, the composer uses music and the interplay of harmony to convey feeling. This album on the Analekta label features bass-baritone Philippe Sly and soprano Hélène Guimette accompanied by musicians from Clavecin en concert under the direction of Luc Beauséjour.

This DVD is accompanied by Harry Christophers and The Sixteen's  audio recording of Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610 (COR16126). In the BBC documentary, actor and former chorister Simon Russell Beale invites us into the heart of the Vespers and the world of their creator. It is the story of a Renaissance Duke and the composer who worked for him - and how their volatile relationship would create one of the most revolutionary and beautiful collections of music ever published: The Monteverdi Vespers of 1610.

Legendary Opera stars from the Golden Age of Television. Many performances released for the first time. All newly remastered from Voice of Firestone telecasts, 1950-1963, and issued for the first time with English subtitles. Arias and duets from La Boheme, La Gioconda, Die Walkure, The Merry Widow, Romeo and Juliet, Mignon, Faust, Carmen, Ernani, Andrea Chenier, etc., sung by Renata Tebaldi, Birgit Nilsson, Franco Corelli, Lauritz Melchior, Hilde Gueden, Roberta Peters, Mimi Benzell, Robert Rounseville, Gladys Swarthout, Cesare Siepi, George London, Elena Nikolaidi, Eleanor Steber, Gabrielli Tucci, and more. Black & White, Mono, NTSC (Playable all regions), 4:3, 94 minutes.

This Recording, first published more than 2 decades ago and not distributed internationally, features Bartok's work for two violins performed by two violinists and singers with deep backgroun in Eastern European Folk Tradition.

Classical Music

Classical Music

The principal place visited is Cordoba, with it's historical records of it's Moorish past and of the reconquest. The music includes works by Russian and French composers, with only two pieces by Spanish composers. Nevertheless all the music breathes the very spirit of Spain.

After Stravaganza d'amore, their superb album of late sixteenth-century Florentine music, Raphaël Pichon and Pygmalion returned to Italy, this time to Mantua. Here they offer us their reading of one of the peaks of sacred music from this period: Monteverdi's Vespers. Revealing like no other interpreters the poignant interiority of these pieces, they bring out to the full their inherent sense of theatre for an overwhelming experience.

While the unifying thread which links these works is that of loss, the underlying focus is an uplifting celebration of life and love. Gabriel Jackson's Requiem combines traditional solemnity with poems which embrace wide-ranging spirituality, resulting in images of light and radiant optimism. Contrasting poignancy of expression is heard in personal tributes from John Tavener and Francis Pott, while Bob Chilcott uses Pachelbel's famous Canon to set Oscar Wilde's Requiescat. Vasari Singers' Great British Anthems (8.572504) was described as 'essential listening' by Gramophone. Founded in 1980, Vasari Singers is among the leading chamber choirs in Britain, performing music ranging from Renaissance to contemporary. The choir performs regularly in London as well as visiting many of England's cathedrals to sing services, with recent trips to Canterbury, Salisbury, Bath and Ripon. The choir and Jeremy Backhouse are deeply committed to contemporary music and have commissioned over twenty works since 2000, including works by Francis Pott and Gabriel Jackson.