This release, part of harmonia mundi's series celebrating the Beethoven year, pairs the composer's iconic and much-loved Symphony No.5 with the far less well-known Symphony In 17 Parts by Francois-Joseph Gossec. The dramatic power and intensity of Beethoven stands in sharp contrast to to the cheerful and gallant music of Gossec. Les Siècles, led by François-Xavier Roth, apply their usual virtuosity and keen insight to both works in performances that are sure to delight.

 

REVIEW:

 

It is hard to recall a more relentlessly driven performance of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony than this newcomer...especially in the outer movements. It is not that it sets any new land-speed records, though it is certainly brisk. Rather, Roth elicits a consistent and persistent sense of forward momentum that, allied to a willingness to accentuate the coarser aspects of the period instruments, places this symphony as an irruption of the Classical era rather than a blueprint for musical Romanticism.

 

– BBC Music Magazine

 

 

A fantasy that turned into a symphony? First and foremost, this double album enshrines the exemplary work of an ensemble whose designation 'Baroque Orchestra' by no means limits it's excursions into later repertories: under the watchful eye of a gifted conductor, the 'Freiburgers' (and co.) offer us a profoundly renewed vision of the Ninth, that myth among myths, that touchstone of a genre in quest of the absolute - and the direct descendant of a much earlier 'Choral Fantasy'. The latter work showcased one of Beethoven's most extraordinary talents: improvisation. Kristian Bezuidenhout has joined forces again with his concerto partners to let us experience this little-known score as if it had just been premiered... then transcribed by Beethoven himself! 2020 release.

The original colors of two "tubes" from the repertoire. Toscanini considered this orchestration of the Tables of a exhibition as an instrumentation treaty. Les couleurs originales de deux "tubes" du r�pertoire. Toscanini consid�rait cette orchestration des Tableaux d'une exposition comme un trait� d'instrumentation, au m�me titre que celui de Berlioz : la partition de Ravel s'est rapidement impos�e devant ses nombreuses concurrentes ! Dans l'esprit de Fran�ois- Xavier Roth, Valse et Tableaux se rejoignent au sommet de ce que le compositeur a pu destiner � l'orchestre de son temps... c'est-�dire, tel que nous le restituent aujourd'hui Les Si�cles. Quel bonheur de retourner aux couleurs d'origine ! 2020 CD release.

Bach's motets, most of them composed during the 1730s, are among his finest vocal works. They feature a meticulous attention to the musical expression of the word, employing a tremendous variety of tone-colors, textures and effects. On this recording, Raphaël Pichon and his ensemble Pygmalion bring out every nuance of these exceptional choral masterpieces.

The figure of prodigiously gifted violinist Nicola Matteis looms large in this program featuring composers active in Restoration England. Transplanted from his native Italy to London, he was one of a host of artists and performers from across Europe who flocked to the city and made a crucial impact on the country's musical culture. The artistry of Alice Julien-Laferrière and the members of the ensemble Ground Floor, demonstrates that this sumptuous and sonically seductive repertoire from the middle of the 17th century can truly hold it's own against the work of later masters.

Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643-1704) : Messe A 4 Choeurs - Ensemble Correspondances - S�bastien Dauc� - Composer: Charpentier, Marc-Antoine (1643-1704) Works: Charpentier, M-A: Carnets de voyage d'Italie. Charpentier, M-A: Messe � Quatre Choeurs. Conductors: S�bastien Dauc�. Groups & Artists: Ensemble Correspondances. Label: Harmonia Mundi. Contents: Charpentier, M-A: Messe � Quatre Choeurs - Ensemble Correspondances (early music ensemble) S�bastien Dauc� Charpentier, M-A: Carnets de voyage d'Italie - Ensemble Correspondances (early music ensemble) S�bastien Dauc�

This boxed set collects all 9 discs in fortepianist Kristian Bezuidenhout universally acclaimed Mozart Keyboard Music cycle. Praised by Gramophone as "interpretations of today" and BBC Music Magazine for bringing "out all the drama and intensity," this survey is now the benchmark standard for these works.

Written between 1818 and 1823, Beethoven's Missa solemnis was the result of intensive theological and musical research in the library of it's dedicatee, Archduke Rudolph of Austria. It is, in Beethoven's own view, his most ambitious composition. On this recording, Ren� Jacobs shows us that it is also his loftiest. This is the work of a composer with deeply held religious sentiments and profound tenderness for humanity, so confident in his artistry that he could create that which goes beyond liturgical form and expresses in musical terms the universality of divine transcendence.

Édouard Herriot once said, "In Beethoven, everything comes from within. His model is not the rule of the schoolroom." This is particularly true of the late sonatas, which contain elements of both an intimate journal (Romain Rolland saw in Op.101 "a day in the inner life" of Beethoven) and total experimentation (the variations of Op.109) before attaining the mystical serenity of the very last sonata, Op.111. Here is Nikolai Lugansky's powerful vision of this pianistic Everest.

A musical banquet from the Golden Age. This programme brings together a true choral landmark from the sixteenth century, with its present-day reflection, a commission by Sir James MacMillan. These two monumental, large-scale pieces bookend a ‘tasting menu’ of Renaissance works by Byrd, Tallis and many other composers. Common to them all is a link to Nonsuch Palace, arguably the location of the first performance of Spem in alium, and the centre of a rich vein of Tudor musical patronage.

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REVIEW:

Standing at either end of this programme are the forty-part motets. Spem in alium is very familiar and is widely acknowledged as a masterpiece of Tudor polyphony. Suzi Digby directs a performance that is simply magnificent. She had at her disposal a group of expert singers who were positioned in a circle with the conductor at the apex. The combined skills of the musician and the engineers means that, even in “vanilla” stereo the listener gets a very clear sense of the eight separate choirs – goodness knows what the performance would sound like in surround sound! There’s a truly thrilling sound at the points where the full ensemble sings flat-out, but just as impressive are the more subdued passages, which are delivered with admirable subtlety.

It can’t be an easy task to compose a homage to Spem but few composers are better equipped than Sir James MacMillan who has shown a deep understanding of and respect for the music of the Renaissance – notably that of Robert Carver – in some of his previous scores. In the booklet he comments that he “used the Tallis original as an inspiration in the way I utilised the eight five-voiced choirs, and how I moved the music from choir to choir, gradually building the sound up from one to forty voices.” He doesn’t quote from Spem in his score but he has used the structure of Tallis’s masterpiece as an inspiration. For his text, MacMillan used the text ‘Vidi aquam’ from the prophecy of Ezekiel.

As a homage to the great Tudor masterpiece, I’d say that Vidi aquam is an unqualified success. More than that, though, I’d say the work is a masterpiece in its own right. It is a wonderful response to the chosen text. In addition, it challenges both performers and listeners, yet it never leaves the listener behind because it exercises a huge sensory appeal.

The camera work and sound on the DVD is excellent. As for the CD, producer Nick Parker and engineer Mike Hatch have made a fantastic job of the recording. All the smaller pieces benefit from clarity and intimacy of sound. The two big pieces have been captured with great success. You can hear an abundance of detail and when the full ensemble sings out at full volume, the sound is magnificent. John Milsom’s notes are first-rate.

This is a simply terrific disc. I’ve admired all of the previous ORA Singers releases but, considering both the expert performances of the smaller works and the thrilling forty-part performances, I’m inclined to think this is their finest achievement to date.

– MusicWeb International (John Quinn)

After a successful trilogy devoted to the concertos and trios of Schumann, Freiburger Barockorchester and Pablo Heras-Casado could not ignore one of Beethoven's most unusual works: the Triple Concerto. Alongside Isabelle Faust, Jean-Guihen Queyras and Alexander Melnikov, they bring this score to life as only true chamber musicians can, revealing it's subtlest colors and balances. The trio transcription of the Second Symphony, which was supervised by the composer himself, judiciously completes this exploration of lesser-known Beethoven, in which intimacy mingles with grandeur.

Stravinsky / Stravinsky: Spring Festival, E�tv�s: Alhambra Pablo Heras-Casad & Paris Orchestra, Isabelle Faust Import - Isabelle Faust (violin), Orchestre de Paris, Pablo Heras-Casado 2021 release.

Two of Bach's finest cantatas, both for solo alto, composed in Weimar (1714) and Leipzig (1726) respectively, are here coupled with Pergolesi's Stabat Mater of 1736, the eighteenth century's favourite sacred work. The gap between austere Lutheran piety and searing Mediterranean emotionalism might seem unbridgeable. Yet Bach so admired the composition of his Neapolitan colleague that he made his own 'parody' of it to a German text. On this recording, La Nuova Musica and it's two eminent soloists display equal mastery of both idioms.

By modifying the balance of the dialogue between the two protagonists, whom he turns into genuine alter egos, Mozart leads the genre of the sonata for fortepiano and violin onto the road to modernity. Isabelle Faust and Alexander Melnikov present here the third volume of an exciting complete set on period instruments. Their playing, showing 'great elegance and utter rigour', is distinguished by 'a tender and delicate expressiveness served by exceptionally subtle nuances' (Classica).