Classical
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DIVERTIMENTO K. 563
Bach: Overtures for Orchestra / Alessandrini, Concerto Italiano
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REVIEW:
Fans of these players won’t need much encouragement to purchase this, indeed, it should act as a reminder that Concerto Italiano and Rinaldo Alessandrini haven’t gained their reputation without good reason.
The sound quality is very immediate, especially for the winds, but not tiring. The notes, which run to nine pages on the music, are erudite, tracing in detail the history of the JSB works and their connection to the Leipzig Collegium Musicum. – MusicWeb International
Durey Rediscovered: The Unpublished Song Manuscripts of Louis Durey
In 1917, French composers Louis Durey, Georges Auric, and Arthur Honegger formed the Nouveaux Jeunes under the aegis of Erik Satie which, in 1919, with the addition of Germaine Tailleferre, Francis Poulenc, and Darius Milhaud, became Les Six. Durey’s work has been relatively unexplored compared to his five colleagues. Pianist and Durey scholar Jocelyn Dueck’s efforts have gone a long way toward righting that historical imbalance. Along with several critically acclaimed vocalists, she presents here this wonderful collection of recordings of several of succinct and rich art songs, in performances from unpremiered manuscripts. Jocelyn Dueck is known for her new music interpretations on the New York City circuit, premiering and commissioning works by composere Eve Beglarian, Lisa Bielawa, Tom Cipullo, Corey Dargel, Matthew Schickele, Daniel Felsenfeld, Judd Greenstein, John Glover, Daron Hagen, Gabriel Kahane, Libby Larsen, and more. She was a collaborator on the Billboard Chart-topper Five Borough Songbook, as well as its newly released second volume in 2017. She has served on the faculties of the Manhatten School of Music, Julliard, NYU, and Mannes: The New School for Music.
Parry: 12 Sets of English Lyrics, Vol. 3
Spontini: Le metamorfosi di Pasquale / Montesano, Rossini Symphony
Gaspare Spontini’s “Le Metamorfosi di Pasquale,” was premiered in Venice in 1802. This one-act farce, on a libretto by Giuseppe Foppa was to be his last work for the Italian stage. After its debut, in fact, the young composer moved on to Paris and then to Berlin and the score of this work was lost until 2016, when it was unearthed in the library of the Dukes of Ursel in Belgium. This 2-album release is a world premiere recording of a Fondazione Pergolesi Spontini di Jesi and Fondazione Teatro La Fenice di Venezia coproduction. Baurzham Anderzhanov stars in the title role, alongside other impressive soloists including Carlo Feola, Michela Antenucci, Daniele Adriani, and others.
Inspired by Classics / Czech Philharmonic Cimbalom Ensemble
The Czech Philharmonic Cimbalom Ensemble originated from a group of orchestra members who share passion for folk music and occasionally play it to give joy to themselves as well as their friends and supporters. They gradually started to perform in public- at a joint concert with Bobby McFerrin in Rudolfinum, at social events with orchestra attendees, and at other concerts in various places around the country. Their concert programs are unique- they usually combine folk music with classical music in their own arrangements. One of the paths chosen by the ensemble is the exploration of works by famous composers which were inspired by folk music. It comes as no surprise that each of the composers explored on this release has a different approach to folk and national music, and reflects it in their compositions in varying depth. These compositions have become a source of inspiration for many generations of musicians. The Czech Philharmonic Cimbalom Ensemble uses these scores as a launch pad, but strives to approach them with new ideas, invigorating the pieces and working with their own arrangements.
Segreti Accenti - Italian Renaissance Music / Cantar alla Viola
This release is dedicated to one of the most esteemed musical practices of the Renaissance: the art of accompanying the voice with the viola da gamba. Cantare alla viola (singing with a viol) is the name for this practice, which was quite common at the time. The art of this practice lies in the ability of the “viola” player to arrange and play madrigals to accompany one single voice, as a lutenist or vihuela player commonly does. Cantar alla Viola has careful selected some of the finest pieces of the Italian Renaissance in order to illustrate the intimate and skillful musical practice of Cantare alla viola. The pieces vary from the subtle and transparent trecento 2-voice ballades of Magister Piero and Andrea da Firenze played on the viella, to the exquisite and virtuous madrigals for one soprano by Luzzascho Luzasschi, accompanied by the viola da gamba. The Renaissance villanelle and 3-voice madrigals by Luca Marenzio and Costanzo Festa, are adapted for the polyphonic playing of two different bowed vihuelas. Solo pieces have been added to the release to show the instrumental practice on a bowed vihuela through arrangements of lute and keyboard pieces by composers such as Marco Antonio Cavazzoni or Francesco da Milano.
Glinka: Trio pathétique - Rachamaninov: Trio élégiaque No. 2
Verdi: Don Carlo / Oren, Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini [Blu-ray]
First performed in French at the Paris Opera in 1867, Don Carlo is in many ways an amazingly innovative work. The opera seems to underline Verdi's shift from the Manichean division between good and evil, which had been a clear, structural element of his dramaturgy up to that point in his career. In this opera, Verdi assembles all his mainstay music theatre themes: power, with its honors and burdens; the contrasts of impossible love; the conflict between father and son; and an oppressed people demanding freedom. Verdi radically revised the score in 1883, using an Italian libretto and reducing the opera from five acts to four. The popularity of Don Carlo has grown unremittingly ever since, with today's critics almost unanimously recognizing it as one of Verdi's greatest masterpieces, an opera that continues to reveal new gems. Daniel Oren is fully in control on the podium, ensuring unanimity between orchestra and singers. The Maestro softens teh dark tones of the score, which are well reflected in the visuals, choosing instead to emphasize the various changes of mood.
Künneke: Herz über Bord
“I have given every operetta the style demanded by the space and time in which it is set.” (Eduard Künneke. Driven by success, Künneke committed himself to the genre of the operetta in the 1920s and 1930s. The diversity of his many operettas reveals Künneke’s enormous adaptability to the stylistic currents of entertainment music at that time. He had most international success with Der Vetter aus Dingsda (1921), with which Künneke has almost exclusively been identified up to today. His successful operettas were even adapted for London and New York. Herz über Bord was premiered in 1935, initially at the Zurich Opera and was performed almost 500 times between 1935 and 1937, including in Dresden, Stuttgart, Stockholm and Berlin. The Berliner Zeitung noted: “Once again, we can listen to operetta music written by an artist, a man of taste. Every number has its own weight.”
Palace Premieres / Hammond, Countess of Wessex String Orchestra
We are very pleased to announce a new recording from MPR of music for string orchestra entitled 'Palace Premieres', with the Countess of Wessex's String Orchestra. The playlist consists of hitherto unrecorded music performed during Royal Investitures (where honors are bestowed by Her Majesty the Queen or by one of her close family) and includes works such as Suite: In Rural England by Thomas Dunhill, Shepherd's Delight by Alec Rowley, Pastoral Scene by Frederic Curzon, Fragment for Strings by Bertram Walton O'Donnell, Nocturne by WH Speer, In Georgian Days by Roger Quilter, Rivers of Devon Suite by Ernest Markham Lee and a number of beautiful light music arrangements for strings of folk songs. We have also included as a 'bonus' a suite of Seven Pieces by Giles Farnaby, arranged by Bantock. We recorded the latter only to discover that in fact it has already been recorded but only once to our knowledge and we decided that as it is such good material we just had to include it. The Countess of Wessex's String Orchestra is very sensitively directed by Major David Hammond, a truly fine musician. The orchestra consists of the best string players in the Army who are very fine and highly trained musicians. The quality of playing is really excellent and the performances committed. The album was recorded in the sumptuous acoustic of the Guards Chapel in London and the recording engineer is the legendary Tony Faulkner. Mike Purton was producer and editor and we recommend this recording to anyone who loves British music of a certain period (see above). Lee's 'Rivers of Devon' Suite is very Elgarian, Speer's little 'Nocturne' brings to mind Wagner’s 'Siegfried Idyll' and you can see from many of the titles that spirit of Rural Englandis frequently invoked. This recording has been made in collaboration with the Corps of Army Music Trust.
Giordano: Fedora / Dessi, Galli, Carlo Felice Theatre Orchestra [Blu-ray]
This new release is homage to a great Italian soprano, Daniela Dessì, who passed away last year, just one year after these performances at Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa. This is a superb interpretation of this signature role of her long artistic career. Daniela Dessì was considered one of the world’s leading sopranos and a reference point for the Verdi, Puccini and Verismo repertoire. Thanks to the beauty of her voice, a strong technique and an intense dramatic talent, she was able to sing from Monteverdi to Prokofiev, performing in more than seventy different operas. This versatility has significantly been underlined when, in 2011, she was awarded with the Prize Belcanto “Celletti”, recognized as an “absolute soprano”. In this production of Umberto Giordano’s Fedora, she is joined by an all-star cast, including Fabio Armiliato and Daria Kovalenko.
Hallberg: Concert Overture - Symphony in F Major - Dente: Sy
Vivaldi: L'incoronazione di Dario / Dantone, Torino Teatro Regio Orchestra [Blu-ray]
Also available on standard DVD
The cast is the best we could possible want for Vivaldi nowadays: Ottavio Dantone's skilfull conducting brings the best out of this orchestral enchantment. Sara Mingardo brings her classy voice and remarkable stage presence to the role of the naive Statira. Delphine Galou’s bright tone and excellent agility combine with perfect diction. Roberta Mameli's crystal clear notes make of the role of Alinda a masterpiece of expressivity. Recorded in high definition, this production offers subtitles in Italian, German, English, French, Japanese, and Korean. Octavio Dantone is an Italian conductor and harpsichordist who is particularly noted for his performances of Baroque music. He has served as the Music Director of the Accademia Bizantina in Ravenna since 1996.
CHORALE MASSES & SACRED CONCER
CHAMBER MUSIC
Späth: Romantic Clarinet Chamber Music / Meier, Kolly, Galatea Quartet
Andreas Späth was a clarinetist, a violinist, an organist, and a voice teacher as well as the city music director in Neuchâtel, the concertmaster of the Ducal Court Orchestra in Coburg, and an honorary member of the Swiss Music Society. His death at the ripe old age of eighty-five in 1876 marked the end of an active and richly varied musician’s life – so that it is hardly surprising that he wrote more than 150 compositions for a wide range of genres. Rita Karin Meier has explored Späth’s works for clarinet, his early main instrument, and teams up with the Galatea Quartet and Karl-Andreas Kolly for a long-overdue tribute to this composer who is entirely forgotten today.
The Nocturnes, the three Melodies, and the Elegy also very much reflect the character of romantic composition. The title of the last work in particular might mislead today’s listeners. Anything but melancholy and sorrowful, it tends more to the free form of a fantastic character piece and includes spirited polonaises. There is also more to the Melodies than the title might suggest; they are concertante duets elaborated with fine art. Meier, the principal clarinetist at the Zurich Opera, and Kolly present these works with wit and charm- in what is a highly rewarding discovery!
Lucrezia Borgia's Daughter
Suor Leonora d'Este (1515-1575), Lucrezia Borgia's daughter, was a princess, a nun, and a musician. She left little to illuminate her history, but an obscure book of motets may at least help us understand her musical life: the Musica quinque vocum motteta materna lingua vocata, published in Venice in 1543. The book is anonymous, but it contains clues to its origins that lead us to the door of Leonora d'Este's home, the convent of Corpus Domini in Ferrara, perhaps even suggesting that she was its unidentified composer. The music here is the earliest published polyphony for nuns. This recording by Musica Secreta and Celestial Sirens allows it to be heard for the first time through carefully researched performances.
Tallis: Songs of Reformation / Alamire, Fretwork
Thomas Tallis was active across the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I. He famously mastered all forms, old and new, as dictated by the changing religious landscape in 16th-century England. He died in 1585, very ancient and celebrated, and today is acknowledged widely as the Father of English Church Music. This is a recording that not only demonstrates his consummate skills in many genres, but also features new discoveries. Among these is the first recording of an early version of his grand six-part Gaude gloriosa dei mater, but with words by none other than Henry VIII’s last wife, Queen Katherine Parr. These works are excellently presented by Alamire and Fretwork- both experts in the early music field.
Offenbach: Un mari a la porte / Galli, Maggio Musicale Florentino
Lo schiavo
Faure: Complete Piano Quartets / Mozart Piano Quartet
Gabriel Faure has frequently been termed “the father of Impressionism.” Why this is so rendered very apparent on this state-of-the-art album featuring interpretations of his two Piano Quartets by the superb Mozart Piano Quartet. With great virtuosity, a fine sense of sound, and an intelligent command of the complex overall structure, the four instrumentalists brighten the performance skies with their musical fireworks. The Parisian music world of Faure’s time was characterized by emancipation from Germany hegemony in chamber music after the traumatic outcome of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871 and by the beginnings of an original French musical language beyond the opera. Faure’s quartets draw formally on the tradition- and yet breathe a new spirit: church modes and whole-tone scales mark so many a motif, and here and there, along with the “classical” development of the themes, we also encounter entirely new harmonic fields and soundscapes. For instance, the beginning of the Adagio in op. 45 already suggests Ravel’s “La vallee des cloches” from the Miroirs: like a memory, distant bells ring in the piano part, over which the very lonely viola gives its all in a pastoral song of lament- enchanting! The two slow movements belong to the absolute highlights on this release.
Paganini: Complete Edition
This just might be one of the most important releases in the entire Dynamic catalog. Maybe even in all of recording history. For the first time ever, all of Paganini’s works have been collected in one single release, featuring all the best interpreters of the composer’s music: Salvatore Accardo, Massimo Quarta, Leonidas Kavacos, Luigi Alberto Bianchi, Stefan Milenkovic, Franco Mezzena, the Quartetto Paganini, Bin Huang, Luca Fanfoni, and many others. The release also includes historical documents featuring milestone Paganini interpretations by Ruggiero Ricci, Arthur Grumiaux, Yehudi Menhuin, Franco Gulli, Vasa Prihoda, and others. The six concertos, as well as several other works, are performed on Paganini’s 1742 Guarneri del Gesu violin. There is also a section of the release that features rare and newly re-discovered works in their world premiere recordings.
