Following their recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 10, which has been shortlisted for the 2017 Gramophone Awards and described as “a game changer for all concerned,” Thomas Dausgaard and the Seattle Symphony return with electric and superbly played performances of Nielsen’s two most famous symphonies. Dausgaard has championed the music of his countryman throughout his career- and this album marks the beginning of his long-awaited cycle of the great Danish composer’s human and majestic symphonies. With naturalistic imagine, depth of field and dynamic range, all Seattle Symphony Media recordings have been engineered to audiophile standards and aim to capture as realistically as possible the sound of the orchestra performing on the Benaroya Hall stage.

Renowned for his interpretation of the French repertoire, Seattle Symphony Music Director Ludovic Morlot and the orchestra are joined by acclaimed tenor Kenneth Tarver, a "voice of considerable beauty and freedom" (Washington Post) in a masterful performance of Hector Berlioz's momentous Requiem. The first performance of Hector Berlioz's Grande messe des morts, or Requiem, took place in Paris in 1837. It was one of the high points of it's author's career, but this triumph did not come easily. Still in his early 30s, Berlioz was widely considered the untamed radical among French composers, and the conservative bureaucrats who controlled the Paris Opera, the Conservatoire and other musical institutions saw fit to place obstacles in his path whenever they could. Kenneth Tarver is considered one of the outstanding Bel Canto tenors of his generation, acknowledged for his beauty of tone, virtuosic technique, extensive and even vocal range, coupled with an attractive and elegant stage presence.

Tenor Ian Bostridge joins Ludovic Morlot and the Seattle Symphony in an album exploring the music of iconic French composers renowned for their inventive spirit: Berlioz, Ravel and Debussy. Hailed by The Seattle Times for his "warm tone quality and beautiful expression" during the performance of Berlioz's Les nuits d'ete, the live-in-concert track is paired with studio recordings of Ravel's imaginative Sheherazade and Debussy's colorfully rich Le livre de Baudelaire, orchestrated by John Adams. With naturalistic imaging, depth of field and dynamic range, all Seattle Symphony Media recordings have been engineered to audiophile standards and aim to capture as realistically as possible the sound of the orchestra performing on the Benaroya Hall stage. The present release was mastered by 2017 Grammy Award Winner Dmitriy Lipay.

This new release is the third volume in the Seattle Symphony Orchestra’s Grammy Award-winning Dutilleux cycle. Especially notable on this installment, is the inclusion of a live performance of Dutilleux’s masterpiece “Timbres, espace, mouvement.” German-born violinist Augustin Hadelich is featured on this recording of “Sur le meme accord.” He performs on the 1723 Kiesewetter Stradivarius violin, provided by the Stradivari Society of Chicago.

Thomas Dausgaard and the Seattle Symphony return with inspiring and powerful performances of works rooted in the fascination with the Antichrist. For Langgaard it became his opera, Antichrist, which was also the original title for Strauss' An Alpine Symphony. Coupling Langgaard's Prelude to Antichrist with Strauss' An Alpine Symphony, this album explores the composers' disparate ideological interpretations of the Antichrist in expansive, thought-provoking live performances, superbly played by the Seattle Symphony. With naturalistic imaging, depth of field and dynamic range, all Seattle Symphony Media recordings have been engineered to audiophile standards and aim to capture as realistically as possible the sound of the orchestra performing on the Benaroya Hall stage.

The Seattle Symphony releases live performances of Olivier Messiaen's Des canyons aux �toiles... ("From the Canyons to the Stars..."), which takes inspiration from the rock spires, birdsong and night sky of Utah's national parks. With Judith Fong Conductor Emeritus Ludovic Morlot on the podium and guest Steven Osborne on piano, the Symphony presents Messiaen's starry-eyed journey through nature and the divine, recorded before a live audience in the stunning acoustics of Benaroya Hall alongside video projections of inspiring national parks and monuments.

Thomas Dausgaard and the Seattle Symphony bring electric and superbly played performances of Nielsen’s early symphonies. Dausgaard has championed the music of his countryman throughout his career, and this album features the Danish composer’s ecstatic First Symphony and the strong-willed Second Symphony. The live concert recordings capture the vitality and energy shared by the orchestra and their new Music Director, all in the spectacular acoustics of Benaroya Hall. Led by Music Director Thomas Dausgaard and recognized as one of the “most vital American orchestras” (NPR), the Seattle Symphony is internationally acclaimed for its inventive programming, community-minded initiatives and superb recordings on the Seattle Symphony Media label. With a strong commitment to new music and a legacy of over 150 recordings, the orchestra has garnered five Grammy Awards, 26 Grammy nominations, two Emmy Awards and was named Gramophone’s 2018 Orchestra of the Year. In recent years, recordings made by the orchestra with Thomas Dausgaard have earned critical acclaim and international honors, including a 2017 Gramophone Award nomination for Mahler’s Symphony No. 10, and a 2019 Best Orchestral Performance Grammy Award nomination for Nielsen’s Symphonies Nos. 3 and 4 — the first installment in the orchestra’s cycle of Carl Nielsen’s symphonies. The Symphony performs in Benaroya Hall in the heart of downtown Seattle from September through July, reaching over 500,000 people annually through live performances and radio broadcasts.

Henri Dutilleux' Symphony No. 1 is an early work and the composer’s first piece for orchestra. It is in four movements, but these do not all conform to traditional types. (SSM)

The Seattle Symphony releases powerful live performances of works by two brilliant American composers, William L. Dawson and Pulitzer Prize winner George Walker. These deeply expressive scores — recorded in the stunning acoustics of Benaroya Hall — take inspiration from a variety of sources, including Negro spirituals, jazz harmonies and modernist traditions.

The music of George Walker and William Levi Dawson is a microcosm of Black classical composers’ stylistic diversity. Each draw upon African American music idioms for different settings, characters and functions. And yet, the works connect through the importance of programmatic and emotive narratives within the Black classical practice. Whether quoting or arranging spirituals, or using blues notes or serialism, the music of both Walker and Dawson tells a story, be it enormous internal journeys or a massive historical epic.

REVIEW:

The performances are universally excellent. The sound quality is full and clear. My criticisms of the music are generally minor. But all of the music is worth knowing and rewards repeated listening. This disc warrants a hearty recommendation.

-- Fanfare

Stravinsky’s much-loved work Petrushka receives a beautiful performance in this live recording by the Seattle Symphony. Alongside this titan of a work is the little-known children’s ballet by Debussy, La boite a joujoux (The Toy Box). Conductor Ludovic Morlot does a fantastic job of interpreting these works by two of the twentieth century’s finest conductors.

Ludovic Morlot and the Seattle Symphony deliver exhilarating live performances of Stravinsky’s The Firebird and Vladimir Nikolaev’s The Sinewaveland: Homage to Jimi Hendrix.

Continuing Seattle Symphony Media’s acclaimed tradition of mixing the familiar with the unfamiliar, this superb disc couples a thrilling live recording of Stravinsky’s complete ballet The Firebird with Russian composer Vladimir Nikolaev’s tribute to Seattle’s own Jimi Hendrix, The Sinewaveland, described as “an image of Hendrix atop Bald Mountain, lighting his guitar on fire.

With naturalistic imaging, depth of field and dynamic range, all Seattle Symphony Media recordings have been engineered to audiophile standards and aim to capture as realistically as possible the sound of the orchestra performing on the Benaroya Hall stage. Digital content will be available on stereo, 96k 24-bit high resolution and 5.1 surround sound.

"Despite their common French nationality, Camille Saint-Saëns and Maurice Ravel represent very different aspects of French music. Saint-Saëns Third Symphony, one of his finest creations, is lush, ecstatic and compositionally innovative with an eye towards Lisztian methods. Ravel's orchestral works sparkle with endlessly fascinating coloristic outpourings. The Seattle Symphony under their Music Director Ludovic Morlot has enjoyed national and international acclaim for its programming and performances. "

Disc five in the Seattle Symphony’s new in-house label, reflecting the highly acclaimed partnership between French conductor Ludovic Morlot and his American orchestra. + Composer Alexander Raskatov is gathering an increasingly impressive international reputation, with performances of his opera A Dog’s Heart at English National Opera, Netherlands Opera and Milan's La Scala. + His new Piano Concerto, written for pianist and performance artist Tomoko Mukaiyama and commissioned by the Seattle Symphony, is a major addition to the repertoire. + By turns dramatic, poetic, startling and tender, it’s a journey into new sound worlds, inspired by a childhood walk in the forest surrounded by butterflies. + The work is appropriately coupled with innovative sounds from a previous Russian generation – Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring – captured live in an electrifying performance in June 2014 in Seattle’s Benaroya Hall.

Ludovic Morlot and the Seattle Symphony present passionate performances of two rarely recorded masterpieces by Morlot's countryman, French composer Olivier Messiaen. One work celebrates Messiaen’s love for his wife, the other his commitment to his faith. Together they make up an album of sacred and transcendent beauty, showing the two sides of one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. A quarter-century since his passing, Olivier Messiaen stands securely among the major French composers of the 20th century. From a broader perspective, he was one of the most original musicians of any period, the creator of a singular and often astonishing body of work. Adhering to none of the modernist styles or movements in vogue during his lifetime, Messiaen followed his own sensibilities throughout his career, forging a unique musical language out of bird calls, scales and chords of his own invention, rhythms derived from an ancient Hindu treatise, numerical symbols, and a strongly felt affinity between sound and color. The Seattle Symphony is one of America’s leading symphony orchestras and is internationally acclaimed for its innovative programming and extensive recording history. Under the leadership of Music Director Ludovic Morlot since September 2011, the Symphony is heard from September through July by more than 500,000 people through live performances and radio broadcasts. It performs in one of the finest modern concert halls in the world- the acoustically superb Benaroya Hall- in downtown Seattle. Its extensive education and community engagement programs reach over 65,000 children and adults each year. The Seattle Symphony has a deep commitment to new music, commissioning many works by living composers each season. The orchestra has made nearly 150 recordings and has received three Grammy Awards, 23 Grammy nominations, two Emmy Awards and numerous other accolades. In 2014 the Symphony launched its in-house recording label, Seattle Symphony Media.

In 2014, the Seattle Symphony and Music Director Ludovic Morlot announced the launch of Seattle Symphony Media, the Symphony’s in-house record label, with its first three recordings.

This disc is dominated by two masterpieces of early 20th century American music, which reflect eclectic influences of jazz club, church hall and military band. Elliott Carter’s last orchestral work and his penultimate composition of any kind, Instances, received its world premiere in February 2013 in Seattle Symphony’s Benaroya Hall. The work was a co-commission by the Seattle Symphony and Tanglewood Music Center and the first live performance of this single-movement piece is featured on this recording. Carter dedicated Instances to Ludovic Morlot, who, in his words, “has performed many of my works so beautifully.” All works on this disc were recorded live. - Seattle Symphony Media