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Bennett: Orchestral Works / Wilson, BBC Scottish Symphony
The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and its Associate Guest Conductor John Wilson record for the first time together on Chandos, embarking on a new series devoted to the brilliant orchestral works of Sir Richard Rodney Benentt. While internationally famous for his dances, jazz creations, and film and TV scores, Bennett wrote sumptuous works of ‘concert music’ as he called it. This first volume reveals him as one fo the most brilliant natural talents to emerge in post-war British music. Influenced by both the American Songbook and his teacher Pierre Boulez, he also always strove to place melody- and emotional honesty- at the center of his music. These traits are coupled in the epic Marimba Concerto, an innovative piece for the composer, moving from a colorful and lyrical first movement to highly virtuosic passages and strikingly athletic cadenzas. The demanding solo part is tackled here by the multi-award winning Colin Currie, nowadays seen as the world’s finest and most daring percussionist, as well as a champion of contemporary music.
Elgar: Symphony No. 2 & Serenade for Strings / Gardner, BBC Symphony
Following a highly praised recording of Symphony No. 1 last year, Edward Gardner and the BBC Symphony present here an electrifying interpretation of Elgar’s Symphony No. 2, with the addition of one of his most performed works: the Serenade for Strings. Having now become experts in British repertoire with highly lauded series of Walton and Britten, they reveal all the aspects of Elgar’s masterpiece in this surround sound recording. Symphony No. 2 is richly orchestrated and skillfully constructed, drawing on hugely varied resources of harmony, rhythm and melody, and making considerable use of thematic transformation as a unifying technique. While the Symphony No. 2 is one of the greatest products of Elgar’s maturity, the Serenade in E minor for Strings is perhaps the most charming product of his youth. In this three-movement piece dominated by a deeply passionate Larghetto, the strings of the BBC Symphony superbly encapsulate all the emotions offered by this graceful work: tender lyrical and intense.
Beyond / Treutler
Katharina Treutler's new release offers devilish pleasure alongside intimate worship of God. For example, Ligeti's tricky, demonic 'Treppenwitz' stands opposite the glistening piano work of the faithful Catholic Messiaen. Enlivened by variations of the Holy Spirit, his music seems to sparkle through the windows of an important French cathedral. Katharina Treutler has given numerous recitals around the world, performing in Europe, Asia and in the United States. As a soloist she has played with leading orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, the Tokyo Philharmonic, the Armenian Philharmonic, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie, the San Diego Symphony, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. In February 2015, the album Final Symphony was released worldwide with Katharina performing works by composer Nobuo Uematsu. Featuring pieces performed with the London Symphony Orchestra, as well as solo performances, the album was recorded at London’s Abbey Road Studios and reached number one in the iTunes Classical Music Charts in more than ten countries, as well as the Classical Album top 5 of the Billboard Charts and the Official Charts UK. Her other albums include a recording of Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1.
Bruckner: Missa solemnis in B-Flat Minor, WAB 29
Weinberg: 24 Preludes for violin solo
Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 0, 2 & 6 / Vetter, Ruzicka, Hamburg Symphony
Pianist Sophie-Mayuko Vetter presents the world premiere recording of a reconstruction of around 70 pages of sketches for Beethoven’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 6 in D major (fragment) by Nicholas Cook and Hermann Dechant. Another special feature of this release is that the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 0 in E flat major, WoO 4 is heard in period style, performed on a fortepiano made by the London piano manufacturer John Broadwood in 1806. The expressive and harmonically rich vocabulary of the Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 19 clearly demonstrates the young Beethoven’s development as an autonomous Viennese classicist. Sophie-Mayuko Vetter has been praised as an artist of extraordinary expressivity and versatility by press and colleagues alike. Her previous recording on OehmsClassics received an ICMA nomination and was awarded a Supersonic rating by Pizzicato: ‘Deeply felt performances of two Mozart concertos, where Sophie-Mayuko Vetter’s playing can be compared with that of Clara Haskil, Geza Anda or the young Barenboim.’
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5 / Jordan, Vienna Symphony

For the first time in their history, the Wiener Symphoniker will release a complete Beethoven symphonies cycle. The Wiener Symphoniker wrote music history with the first performances of works by Bruckner, Ravel and Schoenberg. And under the baton of such illustrious music directors as Wilhelm Furtwängler, Herbert von Karajan, Carlo Maria Giulini or Georges Prêtre they acquired worldwide fame for their unique Viennese sound. Considering its rich, more than a century long history, it comes as a surprise that the orchestra has never before recorded a full cycle of the nine symphonies by Ludwig van Beethoven which are widely considered to constitute the apex of the symphonic repertoire. This shortcoming is about to be remedied: Starting in autumn 2017, the Wiener Symphoniker will release the full cycle on 5 albums. With a new release of the series to be issued every 6 months, the full cycle will be completed just in time for the 250th anniversary of the birth of Beethoven in 2020. The symphonies were recorded live during a critically acclaimed concert cycle in Spring/Summer 2017 in the Great Hall of the Musikverein Wien. At these concerts, the international press specifically praised Jordan’s approach to combining a traditional Viennese sound with a more contemporary, slimmed down interpretation of the material, original tempi and insights from the historically informed performance practice. Through a close reading of the score and by focusing on the content of the works, Jordan aimed to create – in his words – a “more natural, direct, humanised“ image of the famous composer.
Tézier: Verdi / Chaslin, Orchestra of the Teatro Comunale of Bologna
The winner of Gramophone's 2021 Voice & Ensemble Award!
Hear the album that set a new standard for Verdi baritones, with excerpts from La forza del destino, Don Carlo, Ernani, Falstaff, La Traviata, Il Trovatore, Macbeth, Nabucco, Otello, Rigoletto, and Un Ballo in maschera.
"Ludovic Tézier has arguably been the leading Verdi baritone on the global stage for the best part of a decade now. As such, the Frenchman’s first solo album is less a calling card of a singer setting out on a career than a consolidation, a demonstration of mature artistry. As anyone familiar with Tézier in the theatre or from his few forays on disc...will know, his is a true Verdi voice. It’s big, generously phrased and both forceful and grand, with a broad colouristic range running from knotty torment to aristocratic elegance...
"The album benefits greatly from programming that puts an emphasis on substantial extracts, several featuring roles that Tézier has made his own...with idiomatic support from Frédéric Chaslin and the Bologna orchestra, and engineering that captures the voice handsomely, this is surely the finest Verdi recital – from any voice type – to have appeared for several years, if not a decade." -Gramophone
Sonates / Collerette, Le Bozec
Vivaldi, Sejourne & Nobunaga: Concertos on Marimba / Schlaefli, Kurpfalzisches Chamber Orchestra
Fumito Nunoya is considered the custodian of the marimba. In the preface to this album, the Japanese musician explains why the marimba is still not a main instrument in the classical music scene. But with an exciting programme ranging from the Baroque to Modernism, he impressively proves the opposite, at least for the inclined listener of this recording. Marimbist Fumito Nunoya is gaining international recognition as one of today’s leading marimbists. Born in Odate, Japan, he currently lives in Kreis Herford, Germany. He has taught marimba at the Hochschule fur Musik Detmold in Germany since 2009. In addition to performances in Germany and around Europe, he regularly travels to perform in Japan and the United States.
Brahms: Sym 1 In C Minor Op 68 / Grieg: Peer Gynt
Stravinsky: Symphony in E-Flat Major and Suites Nos. 1 & 2
Horn Fusion
John Adams Edition / Berliner Philharmoniker
High Definition Concert Recordings: Harmonielehre, Short Ride in a Fast Machine, City Noir, Lollapalooza, Scheherazade.2, The Wound-Dresser, and The Gospel According to the Other Mary.
Bonus: John Adams in Conversation with Sarah Willis and John Adams in Conversation with Peter Sellars
Documentary: A Portrait of John Adams as the Berliner Philharmoniker's "Composer in Residence"
John Adams is considered the musical voice of America. His tonal language is at once unmistakable and of infinite variety. Minimalism mixes with imaginative orchestration and a jazz-inflected spirit to create a cosmos full of energy and colour that constantly reveals new facets. In a unique transatlantic partnership, John Adams has accompanied the Berliner Philharmoniker for a whole season as composer in residence. The orchestra performed a wide variety of his works, from the oratorio “The Gospel According to the Other Mary” and the famous “Harmonielehre” to more unfamiliar treasures. The concerts were conducted by chief conductor Sir Simon Rattle and outstanding guests: Gustavo Dudamel, Alan Gilbert and Kirill Petrenko. In the course of this partnership, John Adams himself also made his debut as conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker.
Stravinsky: Firebird Suite - Tchaikovsky: Romeo & Juliet / Kitamura, Warsaw Philharmonic
Bach: Overture in the French Style in B Minor & Keyboard Par
L'arpa notturna
