Classical
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Shakespeare: Coriolanus / Royal Shakespeare Company
Caius Martius Coriolanus is a fearless soldier but a reluctant leader. His ambitious mother attempts to carve him a path to political power, but he struggles to change his nature and do what is required to achieve greatness. In this new city state struggling to find its feet, where the gap between rich and poor is widening every day, Coriolanus must decide who he really is and where his allegiances lie. This is one of Shakespeare's most overtly political plays, the modern dress setting for Angus Jackson's production emphasizes the contemporary relevance of the themes explored in ‘Coriolanus’. This release completes the RSC’s tetralogy of Shakespeare’s Roman plays ‘Julius Caesar’, ‘Titus Andronicus’ and ‘Antony and Cleopatra’, all released by Opus Arte earlier this year. ‘‘As the culmination of an ambitious, thoughtfully realized season of some of Shakespeare's less popular works, it solidly earns its place in the RSC's Roman canon.’’ (Whatsonstage) ‘‘It's a production that's built around artful clashes of violence and elegance.’’ (Time Out) ‘‘Coriolanus is an illuminating study of extremes and intransigence on both sides of the political divide. It’s a hefty, occasionally unwieldy, beast of a play, but Angus Jackson’s modern-dress production steers a clear line through, pinpointing key moments. ’’ (The Evening Standard)
Berlioz: Benvenuto Cellini / Elder, Rotterdam Philharmonic [Blu-ray]
With his affinity for the 16th-century sculptor Benvenuto Cellini’s advocacy of artistic and personal freedom, Hector Berlioz went straight for the grand gesture with his first completed opera. Returning to it years after initial production debacles, Berlioz stated that he would ‘never again find such verve and Cellinian impetuosity, nor such a variety of ideas.’ The plot revolves around Cellini’s wooing of Teresa, a match frustrated at every opportunity by his rival, the cowardly Fieramosca. Benvenuto Cellini is a pithy work combining romance, excitement, violence, comedy and spectacle; the perfect stage for Terry Gilliam’s stylishly colorful and larger than life directing.
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DETAILS:
Format: NTSC
Language: French
Subtitles: English, French, German, Japanese, Korean
Dubbed: None
Region: All Regions
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Run Time: 180 minutes
Demachi: Chamber Music / Trigono Armonico
Uncertain and mysterious remain the origin and the musical education of Giuseppe Demachi, who after he was established was a composer rather well known in Europe for having published many works in Geneva, Lione, Paris and London. The works published by Demachi known so far number 17, four of which are violin concertos, but others appeared without indication of the opus number, and still others have been found that are hand-written, among which are two program symphonies entitled “Le Campane di Roma” and “Il corso del giorno alla Campagna”. The compositional skill that led him to fame was not second to that of performer: the intense concert activity forced him through the courts of all Europe, where he was highly requested and appreciated. On this release, the ensemble Trigono Armonico led by Maurizio Cadossi performs a vast anthology of his chamber music production on period instruments in full respect of the philological executive practice.
Mozart: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 1 / Muller
Mozart Contemporaries
Cornish: Into Silence / Various
Time, silence, light, reflection and transcendence are all explored in Jane Antonia Cornish's new album, Into Silence. A breathless fragility on the precipice of liminal space imbues the album's six over-arching linear meditations; each work an inquiry into the transitory beauty of the unknown, through self-reflection and the conscious reorientation of perspective. These hallmarks of Cornish's aesthetic experience, along with the exquisitely balanced unfolding of her material, all contribute to a highly expressive and brave musical narrative that is unafraid, and, once heard, cannot be unheard. The six works featured here are not only unified conceptually, but also through their instrumentation; each features a subset of an aggregate ensemble of violin, piano, four cellos, and electronics. Throughout, Cornish brilliantly uses a carefully planned unveiling of instrumental sonorities to actuate and propel the over-arching design of the album's broader narrative. Memory of Time explores a distant nocturnal pathos as the solo violin's expressive presence floats, suspended, over the cello ensemble's irrevocable sighs. The titular Into Silence I incorporates piano and electronics into the sonic tableaux of the proceeding work, reorienting the seemingly unappesed yearning of the introductory material with a tender earthbound comfort. Scattered Light, scored for cello alone, expounds an unbridled moment of cadenza-like virtuosity. As the harmonic rhythm increases and intensifies the work concludes in an evaporated calmness. Elegia returns to the sound-world and material of the album's opening work, now examiend through the aperture of elegiac reflexivity. A meditation on solitude, Into Silence II, for piano solo, probes some of the album's most inner-directed moments of isolation. Luminescence is a culmination of the entire album's exploration of liminality. The electronic component returns with an exquisite and arresting subtly of hushed empyrean filigree. A solo cello momentarily transforms the sighing motif of the opening into a hopeful upward reach towards transcendence. The work ends in deliquesce silence, and the album concludes with a return of the opening motif, exemplifying the elegant notion that silence is the path to transformation.
Lumina
Bach: John Passion / Dunedin Consort
This is the premiere recording of J.S. Bach’s John Passion, heard for the first time within its original liturgical context. Director John Butt succeeds in giving listeners a refreshing outlook on one of the best-known pieces of the choral repertoire. The recording also features works by Jacob Händl Gallus, J. Crüger and J.H. Schein from an original Leipzig hymn book performed by a congregational choir and the University of Glasgow Chapel Choir. John Butt takes centre stage to perform organ chorale preludes by Bach and Schütz on the Collins organ at Edinburgh’s Greyfriar’s Kirk. The impressive cast includes Nicholas Mulroy (Evangelista), Matthew Brook (Jesus), Robert Davies, Joanne Lunn and Clare Wilkinson. The recording was named a Gramophone Award Finalist, ‘Recording of the Month’ by three separate publications and topped the UK Specialist Chart upon its release in 2013. Dunedin Consort’s recreation of this recording at the 2017 BBC Proms was a highlight of the summer, earning critical acclaim for the ‘revelatory’ and ‘vital’ performance.
Artyomov: A Sonata of Meditations, A Garland of Recitations & Totem / Various
Vyacheslav Artyomov is considered by many to be Russia’s greatest living composer. Since the fall of the Soviet regime his music has travelled the world to great acclaim. It is deep, ultimately spiritual and brilliantly crafted, with influences from the Russian symphonic tradition colored by Mahler, Scriabin, Honegger and Messiaen to name a few – but melded into a unique voice. The Divine Art Artyomov Retrospective is a mix of new recordings and former Melodiya releases. It continues with the 7th album containing two works for percussion ensemble and one orchestral – all typifying Artymov’s true genius as a truly individual composer who can make thoroughly modern music listenable and demanding further regular hearings. Mark Pekarsky leads the first percussion ensemble established in Russia and still the foremost group in that country. Russian-American conductor Virko Baley directs the superb Moscow Philharmonic.
Artyomov: Requiem / Kitaenko, Moscow Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra
Vyacheslav Artyomov is considered by many to be Russia’s greatest living composer. After the fall of the Soviet regime his music has travelled the world to great acclaim. It is deep, ultimately spiritual and brilliantly crafted, with influences from the Russian symphonic tradition colored by Mahler, Scriabin, Honegger and Messiaen to name a few – but melded into a unique voice. The Requiem, together with his massive Symphony cycles, was the work which brought enormous acclaim to Artyomov both in Russia and in the USA. It was the first Requiem to be written by a Russian and the first to be performed in the former USSR. Dedicated ‘to the Martyrs of Long-Suffering Russia’ it is a true masterpiece in which several parts of the mass are given treatments very different from the ‘norm’. Exciting, moving and bristling with power and passion, this is a Requiem to stand alongside the established great Requiems of the past. The performers are those who gave the Moscow premiere, and give a stunning performance.
Owl Night: Music for Organ, Vol. 7
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique / Ticciati, Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Robin Ticciati’s recording debut, Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique, received rave reviews: it was named Critics’ Choice ‘Sound of 2012’ (The Independent), ‘Classical CD of the Week’ (The Sunday Times), ‘Disc of the Week’ (BBC Radio 3 ‘Record Review’) and was #3 in The Sunday Times’ Best Classical Albums of 2012 list. Ticciati brings out the deep colours and emotions of this composition while balancing the orchestra and keeping the pace to create an impressive and dynamic sound throughout, showing similar flair to that of his teacher the great Berliozian Sir Colin Davis. The works of Berlioz have featured prominently in Ticciati’s programmes with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra since he was appointed Principal Conductor in 2009 earning critical acclaim. With this recording Ticciati succeeds in his aim to offer audiences ‘a thought-provoking and new way of listening to the piece’. With a performance of this calibre it is easy to see why Symphonie Fantastique continues to be one of the most popular early Romantic compositions with today’s audiences.
Norgard: Early Piano Works / Sivelov
Per Norgard, who turned 85 this year, is widely regarded as the most influential Danish composer since Carl Nielsen. Since the beginning of his career, Norgard has composed music for all kinds of instruments, but the piano is probably the one he has remained closest to. Illustrating the development of the ‘universe of the Northern mind’ as well as early influences by both Bach and Stravinsky, the acclaimed pianist Niklas Sivelov presents a unique portrait of Norgard’s earliest musical thinking, including world premiere recordings of the Sonata determinate, Miniature Concerto G Major and Trifoglio. In fact, four of these six works are dedicated to Niklas Sivelov because Norgard is supremely pleased with Sivelov’s interpretations, making this a uniquely authentic recording.
Gemiani: Quinta Essentia / Concerto Koln
Why Francesco Geminiani is not mentioned these days alongside other great masters of the era of Baroque music is a bit of a mystery. Together with Corelli and Handel he was one of the composers who made a great career for himself in eighteenth-century Great Britain. Concerto Koln has not forgotten him, on the contrary: the ensemble pays homage to him as one of the true greats. And now the musicians have chosen their favorite pieces from his entire oeuvre and called it Geminiani’s Quintessence. He was a composer, virtuoso violinist and itinerant artist, as well as being a dealer and collector of art, a musicographer and musicologist. Francesco Geminiani’s life, and in particular his travels, do not read like the typical story of a more or less sedentary Baroque composer. In comparison with Johann Sebastian Bach, who hardly went beyond a 200 km radius in his entire life, Geminiani was a globetrotter who journeyed to Rome and Paris and as far as Dublin. It would seem that this restlessness is reflected in his music. Things that are hard to imagine nowadays were common practice back then: works by other composers as well as composers’ own works were re-worked and arranged for other solo instruments or orchestra. In the case of Geminiani, however, the large number of arrangements of his own and other works led to a reputation of being unoriginal and lacking in imagination. As a result of his method of constantly composing and arranging, Geminiani’s entire output can be divided into four categories: his Concerti Grossi and arrangements of them, arrangements of his sonatas as Concerti Grossi, and arrangements of sonatas by other composers as Concerti Grossi. Concerto Koln has chosen works from all four categories for this project, with bassoonist Lorenzo Alpert taking a leading role in selecting those rare works “which we think are the loveliest and most accomplished of his compositions.”
Tangos & Milongas / Aussel
Prélude
Händel Tribute
Zaderatsky: Piano Works / Nemtsov
When some of Vsevolod Zaderatsky’s compositions were performed in a concert before the Academic Council of Moscow Conservatory in 2004, its members unanimously concurred that the works were written by one of the most significant Russian composers of his time. Reference was made to the “lost classics of the twentieth century.” The twentieth century brought forth many examples of the suppression of works by certain composers and even of whole categories of music. The numerous composers labeled as “degenerate” in Nazi Germany are fine examples. Since the late 1980s there has been a revival of works by Jewish composers murdered in the Holocaust; such composers include Viktor Ullmann, Pavel Haas, Erwin Schulhoff, Jozef Koffler and Gideon Klein. Only after the breakup of the Soviet Union were Russian avant-garde works of the 1910s and 1920s by Arthur Lourie, Alexander Mosolov, Sergei Protopopov, Nikolai Roslavets, Leonid Polovinkin and Gavriil Popov rediscovered. Barely known until just a few years ago, the works of Mieczyslaw Weinberg have received much attention recently. It is also worth noting the discovery of the New Jewish School, the decline of which in the late 1930s was caused by Stalinism and Nazism in equal measure. A series of first ever album recordings of music by the New Jewish School has been released by Hanssler Classics in recent years.
Telemann: Sacred Music
Turning Point
Mozart, Haydn, Schubert & Others: Orchestral Works
Secret Places
Love and Tragedy
Reinecke: Complete String Quartets
Gernsheim: Complete Cello Sonatas / Hulshoff, Triendl
This release features the first complete recording ever of the cello sonatas of the Worms late romanticist Friedrich Gernsheim, with encores in the form of his only two cello pieces with piano. For the virtuoso parts in his three cello sonatas, Gernsheim could draw on his own brilliant piano technique, which he had demonstrated already in 1850 as an eleven-year-old child prodigy. The five works span five decades. The Sonata in D minor op. 12 from 1868 continues to follow the paths of Mendelssohn’s two sonatas, while the Sonata in E minor op. 79 of 1906 is a dramatically charged work in the style of the turn of the century. The cello composition Elohenu of 1881 and the Andante op. 64bis from 1898 are situated between them chronologically. Two years prior to his death Gernsheim reworked the last movement of his Sonata in E minor and wrote two completely new movements for the first and second positions. The result was the Sonata in E minor op. 87 of 1914, the seventy-five-year-old composer’s farewell to his epoch on the eve of World War I. Alexander Hulshoff and Oliver Triendl perform these works with aplomb.
