Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

The new opus "Wonder Women" by L'Arpeggiata and Christina Pluhar is dedicated to women. On the one hand, it is a homage to all the wonderful female composers of the 17th century, but also to all the talented female musicians of all times who too often had to hide their talent behind their husbands or give up their careers too early. On the other hand, Christina Pluhar also draws her inspiration from the traditional music of South America and Italy and looked for songs that tell stories about extraordinary, strong, courageous but also sad women. First and foremost is the wonderful Mexican song "La Bruja" (The Witch), which symbolizes the freedom of all women at all times and in all cultures. Celebrate women in all their facets and with all their talents together with Luciana Mancini, C�line Scheen, Benedetta Mazzucato, Vincenzo Capezzuto, Christina Pluhar and L'Arpeggiata!

Orfeo in Gluck's opera Orfeo & Euridice has become a signature role for Jakub Józef Orlinski on stages around the world. Now the countertenor embodies the mythical Greek bard in a recording that for him is the realization of a dream. Made in his native Warsaw, it is conducted by the dynamic Stefan Plewniak and the instrumentalists and chorus are drawn from his ensemble Il Giardino d'Amore. The roles of Orfeo's wife Euridice and the god Amore are taken by two further rising stars of the opera and concert stage: the sopranos Elsa Dreisig and Fatma Said. Orlinski has acted as producer, casting director, and, with Stefan Plewniak, joint artistic director of the recording.

"One of my great dreams as a student was to sing the role of Orfeo," says Orlinski, "and now I've been lucky enough to perform Orfeo & Euridice in different settings... Working on those different versions I achieved my very own interpretation. I knew that I would love to create my own personal version of the piece, to record my dream role, expressing myself in the way I wanted... I had a clear vision of what I wanted to do with it and how. The most important thing for me as a musician is to have great collaborators, and I couldn't imagine a better team. Everyone was so willing to make the most of every single take during our long recording sessions. I am really grateful that I can work with people with so much passion... And now I invite you to follow Orfeo on his journey and listen to what the power of love can do."

Handel: Messiah (2xCD + Bonus DVD) / "A lifetime of performing Messiah has brought me enough courage to record this singularly famous piece of music. With the finest musicians and soloists on the planet surrounding me, I'm finally ready to lay down my personal interpretation for posterity." The American conductor John Nelson, especially famed for his interpretations of Berlioz, conducted Handel's most celebrated oratorio at Coventry Cathedral in the heart of England in November 2022. "In today's turbulent world, I hope that this concert of Messiah in this symbolic location can be a powerful message of hope." The performance is now released as a three-disc set - comprising the audio version (2 CDs) and the video (1 DVD). Nelson's chosen version of the score reflects Messiah's evolution over the period from 1741 (the original autograph) to the early 1750s, when a 'standard' version of the oratorio took shape. In addition, the CDs offer eight bonus tracks - alternative versions of now-familiar arias. Joining John Nelson are the historically informed orchestra and choir of The English Concert, soprano Lucy Crowe, countertenor Alex Potter, tenor Michael Spyres and bass Matthew Brook. As the Times wrote of the performance: "From shadowy strings in 'For behold, darkness shall cover the earth' to gilded trumpets and exuberant timpani in the final chorus, this was Handel straight from the opera house: dramatic and eloquent."

For his first album as an exclusive Erato artist, the French clarinettist Pierre Ge�nisson focuses on his instrument's most inspired 18th century advocate: Mozart. The centrepiece of his programme is the composer's sublime clarinet concerto. "The spiritual and symbolic scope of this concerto is immense," says Ge�nisson. "Every time I come back to this masterwork, I experience the same thrill as when I discover a piece for the first time... Mozart and the clarinet - what a special combination!" Ge�nisson is established as one of today's leading French wind instrumentalists. A multi-faceted soloist, and a frequent guest with orchestras around the world, he trained in Paris at the Conservatoire National Sup�rieur de Musique and in Los Angeles at the University of Southern California. His repertoire ranges from Mozart to jazz by way of folk music, and his lively interest in new music has led to collaborations with a number of prominent composers. Collaborating on this album with the period instruments of Concerto K�ln and conductor Jakob Lehmann, Ge�nisson plays period clarinets, copies of instruments from Mozart's time, and modern clarinets specially crafted for the recording. The programme complements the sublime concerto with a number of shorter pieces. In two arias from La clemenza di Tito G�nisson partners mezzo-soprano Karine Deshayes, but his clarinet also 'sings' the vocal lines in arrangements of numbers from Cos� fan tutte and Le nozze di Figaro. Rounding out the album is a new arrangement by Bruno Fontaine of the 'Lacrimosa' from the Requiem, made for clarinet, organ and Fender Rhodes electric piano.

The music of Ravel is especially close to Alexandre Tharaud's heart. Now, in partnership with the Orchestre National de France and conductor Louis Langr�e, he has recorded both the composer's piano concertos, pairing them with Noches en los jardines de Espa�a (Nights in the Gardens of Spain), Manuel de Falla's sumptuous work for piano and orchestra. "Ravel's Concerto in G major is fresh and Mozartian in it's colours, while his Concerto for the Left Hand is haunted by dark shades and suppressed fears," says Tharaud. Both concertos were premiered in 1932. "Characteristically for Ravel, they are simultaneously unique and alike. They share meticulous craftsmanship and jazzy touches, and both evoke little automata and the ghosts of war." The cross-currents of French and Spanish culture, so evident in Ravel's aesthetic, flow though Falla's concerto-like piece too. The Andalusian composer lived for a time in Paris and became friendly with Ravel. "The solo piano in Noches en los jardines de Espa�a plays a different role from the piano in the Ravel concertos," continues Tharaud. "It blends in more closely with the orchestra, though the works share a Romantic spirit and a poignant sense of nostalgia."

Laurence Equilbey, conducting her period-instrument Insula Orchestra, champions more music by Louise Farrenc, a prominent and pioneering composer in 19th century Paris. This set completes the cycle with Symphony No. 2 in D Major Op. 35 and two overtures: Overture No. 1 in E minor, Op. 23 and Overture No. 2 in E-flat Major, Op. 24. The Financial Times states,.The score is so well written that it deserves a prominent place in the history of the early Romantic symphony... Equilbey and the Insula orchestra gave it a fleet, fiery performance. Their crusading spirit lived up to the day's billing".

Alexandre Tharaud's relationship with film music runs deep - it also ranges wide. On his double album CINEMA, the French pianist delves into 50 celebrated film scores by composers from France, Italy, the USA, Japan, Poland, Romania and Lebanon - 19 in all. Among them are Michel Legrand, John Williams, Ennio Morricone, Francis Lai, Marvin Hamlisch, Nino Rota and Philip Glass. As Tharaud says: "This album pays tribute to them with a selection of pieces for piano and orchestra and for piano solo, most in their original versions, creating a sound-world every bit as thrilling without the motion picture." The movie magic is reinforced by Tharaud's starry partners on the album: Antonio Pappano conducts the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, and making guest appearances are singers Vanessa Paradis, Cam�lia Jordana and Sabine Devieilhe, clarinettist Michel Portal and vioinist Nemanja Radulovic.

A complete Handel program recorded with Thomas Dunford, Ensemble Jupiter, mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre and British countertenor lestyn Davies. They all wanted to build the narrative of a strong love story between the two heroes. The album features arias from Semele, Theodora, Saul, Susanna, Esther, and more.

Croisette French musical arias by Patricia Petibon 2022 release.

Swiss-born Michel Corboz was a conductor whose joy in singing inspired his exploration of choral works and opera. A fine baritone with a background in church music, he strove for an orchestra that sings. In addition to the ancient repertoire which brought him fame, he devoted the same energy and profound continuity to the periods that followed: Austro-Germans Mozart, Haydn, Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Brahms and Beethoven; Italians Verdi, Puccini and Rossini; Swiss and Frenchmen Martin, Honegger, Saint-Sa�ns and Faur� - whose Requiem Corboz recorded in 1972, marking a true milestone in recorded music history! Beyond his vast flexibility of style, Corboz, the sculptor of voices, sought to draw the listener into an encompassing experience of expressiveness and joy.

Five superb singers - Lisette Oropesa, Joyce DiDonato, Paul-Antoine B�nos-Djian, Michael Spyres and John Chest - portray the characters in Handel's Theodora under the direction of Maxim Emelyanychev, Chief Conductor of the instrumentalists and choral singers of Il Pomo d'Oro. An elevated and moving oratorio, Theodora tells the story of Christian martyrs in ancient Antioch under Roman occupation. Handel considered it among his best works. This recording was made at the end of a concert tour that visited Vienna, Milan, Paris, Luxembourg and Essen. "An evening of top-flight singing of a kind that is only rarely experienced," was how one German reviewer summed up the performance, while in France it resulted in "a state of bliss".

The first album from Nathalie Stutzmann as conductor features Dvor�k's well known Symphony No. 9" From The New World". Nathalie Stutzmann studied conducting with legendary Finnish teacher Jorma Panula, and has benefited from the mentoring of Simon Rattle and the late Seiji Ozawa. She holds two major posts in the USA - Music Director at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and Principal Guest Conductor of The Philadelphia Orchestra - and has guest engagements with the London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Bayreuth Festival amongst others. Simon Rattle told the NY times: "Nathalie is the real thing. So much love, intensity and sheer technique."

For me, the Elgar Cello Concerto is about passion," says Gautier Capu�on, who has now recorded the work with the London Symphony Orchestra - which played at the concerto's premiere in 1919 - and it's new Music Director, Antonio Pappano. The companion piece for the Elgar is William Walton's cello concerto, premiered nearly 40 years later in 1957. "The Elgar is the quintessence of deep emotions, and the cello is exactly the right instrument to transmit them," continues Capu�on. "The Walton Cello Concerto is absolutely gorgeous, a magical piece It's very challenging, very difficult. There are the two cadenzas, which are very demanding on the cellist, and like the Elgar, structurally, the second movement is an extremely virtuosic dialogue with the orchestra." As Antonio Pappano explains, "This is not the first time the Elgar, which is a very strong, dark piece, has been paired with the Walton, and it's a wonderful coupling. Walton uses a richer harmonic palette, a more diverse orchestra, more colourful forces: vibraphone, celesta, harp. The music twinkles and has the mystery of the night about it. But it sings. It sings the way Elgar's concerto sings. At the end of the day it is a mood piece, and I think it shares that with the Elgar. And you can see the history of English music and how it progressed. I believe English music really has a lot to say if it's done with full-on intensity and drama, and the London Symphony Orchestra can produce that like no other.

Ever since it's release in 2011, this album has been one of the jewels of Isabelle Faust's discography, with Daniel Harding and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra providing tremendous accompaniment in the concerto. The coupling is a poignant reading of the delicate and highly personal Sextet no.2. "Her performance is wonderfully proportioned... never grandiose nor unnecessarily rhetorical, with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra supplying perfectly scaled support..."(The Guardian).

After a formidable first volume, C�dric Tiberghien continues his exploration of Beethoven's corpus of variations. At the heart of this new album are the famous Thirty-two Variations in C minor and their tangy reminiscences of Bach - the Ciaccona from Partita No.2 for violin solo, presented here in Brahms's masterly transcription. He also takes the opportunity to show us what a certain school of American composers (Crumb, Cage, Feldman) has made of this tradition of variation form.

Following on their impressive debut album [Ex]tradition, the Curious Bards - an early music ensemble founded by violinist Alix Boivert in 2015 - continue to explore material from the Scottish and Irish folk traditions preserved in 18th-century publications. This new collection of airs and dances is a chance to discover more of this fascinating repertoire, in which the distinctions between serious music and popular inspiration need no longer apply.

Passionate about travel, Saint-Sa�ns was strongly influenced by the cultural diversity he encountered in North Africa. Zahia Ziouani, as one immersed in these twin cultures herself, is able to shed new light on the composer's travel-inspired works by reflecting them through the prism of traditional Algerian music, ranging from Ahmed El Alaoui to Idir and performed in the company of Rachid Brahim-Djelloul, this is a fascinating musical dialogue.

These two works represent the alpha and omega of Mozart. With these performances of Die Entf�hrung aus dem Serail (1782), probably the composer's first absolute masterpiece, and Die Zauberfl�te (1791 - the year of his death), Ren� Jacobs penetrates to the heart of Mozartian singspiel. Featuring singers, a chorus and an orchestra ideally suited to the works, these two complete recordings are now among the benchmarks of the discography.