YURI BASHMET - BRITTEN, REGER,

Classical Music

Classical Music

A scintillating achievement... Sabina Cvilak's soprano has the focus... Bostridge brings piercing sincerity... Keenlyside - sonorous, commanding... an important issue: Noseda's judgement of pace is unerring, and the orchestra and chorus simply superb. (BBC Music 4). "LSO and Chorus are on cracking form, the soloists are as good as you will get... No one should be without (Britten's) but 50 years later, Noseda's dramatic, pulsating account represents another landmark." (Financial Times). "Noseda seeks to take the audience from the edge of consciousness to the blazing fires of the battlefield... Bostridge spins a beautiful line... Keenlyside is excellent throughout... Decisive and confident, Sabina Cvilak has the Slavic edge that has seemed hard-wired into the part since the incomparable Vishnevskaya." (Gramophone). "[Noseda] brings a strong sense of Italianate lyricism to bear on the score, reminding us of Britten's debt to Verdi... choral singing is fervent and intense, the playing fierce and sensitive." (The Guardian). "Another essential recording." (The Times).

Benjamin Britten had a rare genius for setting words to music, becoming one of the most successful choral composers of the 20th Century... Voices and organ make a mystical union, spotlighting their sonorous incompatibilities... Rejoice: Once again the composer extracts a first-rate performance" "Gloriana Dances: choral singing of such quality... balance of the recording... exceptionally life-like and satisfactory, and the sound as good as I have heard... no carol is more perfect in it's simplicity than his Hymn to the Virgin... I also enjoy Britten's church music from New College, Oxford, directed by David Lumsden. This includes the Hymn to St Cecilia." (Gramophone)

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

(Previously available on CHAN8983/4, now discontinued) Recorded in: St Jude on the Hill, Hampstead, London 24-28 February 1991 Producer(s) Brian Couzens Sound Engineer(s) Ralph Couzens Ben Connellan (Assistant

Classical Music

A most beguiling release crowning the Britten centenary. Les Illuminations and the Serenade for tenor, horns and strings are two of Britten's most enduringly popular works. Tenor Peter Schrier, heard here at the height of his powers, with Herbert Kegel conducting the Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra. Reissue of performances dating from 1967 recordings done in the then DDR (German Democratic Republic). Booklet includes both liner notes and the sung texts.

Horn Universe - Works for Horn, Tenor and Orchestra by Telemann, Mozart, Britten and Kikta Although nameless, the Suite in F Major TWV 44:7/55: F4 by Telemann is extremely pictorial: In the early 18th century, the horn is still somewhat new as an ensemble music instrument, and it serves to evoke the rural. This piece takes us outdoors. Like any French-style suite, it begins with a slow and majestic Overture, almost celestial [...] This recording allows us to discover a new completion of Mozart's Concerto in D, with a reworked second movement (Andante) by horn player Marco Elia Righi in 2020. Not only did he bring the Rondo with Mozart's original melodies back to life, he also added a second movement, Andante: Written in consideration of the natural horn's technique, this new movement is quite reminiscent of the style of the slow movements of the other concertos, while perfectly ?tting into the continuity of the Allegro. Marco shows real Mozartian taste, and brings a little freshness into this familiar music. What a pleasure to rediscover Mozart! The Serenade by Britten begins and ends with calls, not of a bugle as evoked in the Nocturne, but of a horn. In this period of con?ict when many deaths were to be deplored, one cannot ignore the thought of a death knell, recalled by the two horn solos which frame the Serenade. These calls, played without the valves, let the tone of F and it's natural harmonics sound the way the bugle without valves can produce them. On the other hand, not only does Britten's choice highlight the beauty of the horn and the talent of it's interpreter, but these sounds add a plaintive and painful idea that announces everything that the tenor declares. [...] As a great admirer of all the works in this album, hornist Herve Joulain cannot hide his excitement at presenting the Concerto for Horn and Strings by Valery Kikta. The composer is of Ukrainian origin but has been living and teaching in Moscow for decades. It was pure chance that led Joulain to discover the recording by Valery Zhavoronkov, while looking for educational information for the completion of his horn book. He immediately fell in love with the piece, Kikta having mastered the art of playing with half a dozen major thematic elements, which he reuses very happily, not to say brilliantly. These elements are sometimes declamatory, sometimes rhythmic, sometimes melodic, sometimes obstinate, o?ering the instrument a palette of unexpected colors to play with. [...] A great new recording, interpreted by Herve Joulain (Horn), Karlis Rerihs (Horn: Telemann), Kaelig Boche (Tenor: Britten), Sinfonietta Riga Chamber Orchestra and Kaspars Adamsons.

This album marks the beginning of an innovative journey for the Halle under it's newly appointed Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor, Kahchun Wong. Internationally acclaimed for his dynamic stage presence and his thoughtful exploration of Eastern and Western artistic legacies, Singaporean-born Kahchun Wong assumes his new role with the Halle in September 2024, following his electrifying debut with the orchestra last season. This recording of the complete The Prince of the Pagodas ballet, the first in over a decade, reflects Wong's interest in Balinese Gamelan and the deep connection he made during his composition studies to the work of Britten. Music which he says, 'resonates deeply inside me'.

Complete Works for Cello

Guided by his idol George Balanchine, Hans Van Manen has striven all his life to create meaning in his choreography. Alongside conversations with colleagues and collaborators, in the documentary Moving to Music, van Manen talks about his life and work, and from where his inspiration came in ballets that are charged with drama and eroticism. Also included are three complete works from Dutch National Ballet - the early Metaforen; Adagio Hammerklavier, which presents the slow movement of Beethoven's Op. 106 sonata performed live on stage with three couples in various configurations; and Frank Bridge Variations, a late masterpiece that plays with balance and counterpoint to music by Benjamin Britten. Total playing time: 127 minutes (Documentary: 52 minutes � Ballets: 75 minutes). Language: English � Subtitles: English, German, Japanese, Korean. NTSC 16:9 � PCM Stereo � DVD 9 � Region: 0 (Worldwide). Photos: Front cover � Erwin Olaf; Back cover Courtesy Galerie Ron Mandos, Amsterdam � Erwin Olaf. Documentary � 2022 RM Creative � Ballets � 2017 La Belle T�l� - Festival Montpellier Danse - Mezzo. � 2024 Naxos Rights (Europe) Ltd � Made in Germany.