Norwegian soprano Mari Eriksmoen is undoubtedly a rising star at the moment, following successful appearances at the Opéra-Comique in Paris, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Oper Frankfurt, Komische Oper Berlin, and Teatro alla Scala in Milan. On the concert stage she has made recent important appearances with the Orchestre de Paris, Berliner Philharmoniker, Oslo Philharmonic, and Münchner Philharmoniker among others. Here she joins the Bergen Philharmonic and Edward Gardner for a powerful album of orchestral songs, coupling Britten’s Les Illuminations and Four French Songs with a selection of Cantaloube’s inimitable Songs of the Auvergne. Eriksmoen spent a year studying in Paris, and proves an effective and natural singer of the French language. As she mentions in her program note: ‘It is highly demanding to sing in French when it is not one’s native tongue, but I have always felt at home when singing in French and nurture an emotional attachment to the French language.’

REVIEWS:

One cannot can’t praise Eriksmoen enough for the accuracy of her singing, its tonal beauty, and her absorption in the text. There are running passages, exposed intervals, and those chromatic steps to contend with. She faces every challenge with ease.

-- Fanfare

In Britten’s Les illuminations, the generally belllike accuracy of Norwegian soprano Mari Eriksmoen’s singing is more than matched by the expressive truth of her interpretations. She is most beguiling when floating her voice weightlessly and with a serene joie de vivre in ‘Antique’, perfectly partnered by the lovely violin playing of the Bergen Philharmonic leader Melina Mandozzi.

-- BBC Music Magazine

Three Donizetti masterpieces in a limited edition box set of internationally acclaimed productions.

L’ELISIR D’AMORE: Heidi Grant Murphy, Paul Groves, Ambrogio Maestri, Laurent Naouri, Orchestre et Chœurs de l’Opéra national de Paris / Conductor Edward Gardner Stage production Laurent Pelly - HD recording: Opéra national de Paris (2006)

• 133 MINS | SUBTITLES: ENGLISH, FRENCH, GERMAN. SPANISH | AUDIO: 2.0 PCM, 5.1 DOLBY DIGITAL, 5.1 DTS | 1 DVD9 16:9

"well worth catching for Kurzak and Gavanelli alone. And there's plenty in the production to impress visually and much to enjoy as a series of stylishly assembled tableaux." Hugo Shirley

DON PASQUALE: Patrizia Ciofi, Simone Alaimo, Norman Shankle, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Chœur du Grand Théâtre de Genève / Conductor Evelino Pidò Stage production Daniel Slater - HD recording: Grand Théâtre de Genève (2007)

• 127 MINS | SUBTITLES: ENGLISH, FRENCH, GERMAN, SPANISH | AUDIO: 2.0 PCM, 5.1 DOLBY DIGITAL, 5.1 DTS | 1 DVD9 16:9

"Donizetti’s final comic masterpiece demands velocity, pathos and above all wit. This Don Pasquale from Geneva has them all, and with Evelino Pidò conducting in the pit it bubbles with excitement...Patrizia Ciofi’s Norina is a joy. Looking like the Hollywood comic actress Aline McMahon (Ginger Rogers’s gold-digging friend in Top Hat), this is a benchmark performance" DVD CHOICE, BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE [BAC033]

LE CONVENIENZE ED INCONVENIENZE TEATRALI (VIVA LA MAMMA): Jessica Pratt, Vincenzo Taormina, Simon Bailey, Christian Senn, Orchestra e Coro dell’Accademia del Teatro alla Scala / Conductor Marco Guidarini Stage production Antonio Albanese - HD recording: Teatro alla Scala (2009)

• 114 MINS | SUBTITLES: ENGLISH, FRENCH, GERMAN, SPANISH | AUDIO: 2.0 PCM, 5.1 DOLBY DIGITAL | 1 DVD9 16:9

'Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali' was inspired by two comedies written by Antonio Simone Sografi between 1794 and 1816. It follows the theatrical tradition of Goldoni, Gozzi and Metastasio, and subjects the bad habits of the operatic world to biting and sardonic criticism.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Four years after a highly successful Bartok recording with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Edward Gardner here returns to the composer on SACD, with James Ehnes as solo violinist, and his Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. The central piece in this recording is the Concerto for Orchestra, the largest work that Bartok completed during the last five years of his life and described by the composer, in the program notes for its 1944 premiere, as ‘a gradual transition from the sternness of the first movement and the lugubrious death-song of the third, to the life-assertion of the last one.’ It is joined by the Dance Suite, the immediate predecessor, among Bartok’s few works for full orchestra without a soloist, of the Concerto for Orchestra, though by more than two decades; and by the violin Rhapsodies, the colorful folk influences of which are revealed by James Ehnes, a specialist in the repertoire, who already has recorded the complete sonatas as well as the concertos for violin and for viola to critical acclaim.

Tying in with the 100-year anniversary in 2013 of the composer’s birth, we here present two such works, performed by the BBC Philharmonic under Edward Gardner with Chandos stars Tasmin Little and Howard Shelley. The Violin Concerto, here performed dazzlingly by Little, is essentially tragic and weighty in tone, perhaps reflecting his growing concern with the escalation of war-related hostilities. Under Shelley’s fingers the Piano Concerto – in a rare recording with the original third movement, “Recitative and Aria” – is generally lighter and brighter, more transparent and simpler in style.