The Calidore Quartet begin their new cycle of Beethoven's complete String Quartets with the Late Quartets, a 3-volume set of Opp. 127, 130, 131, 132, 133 & 135. Performances of the Calidore String Quartet are renowned for their “deep reserves of virtuosity and irrepressible dramatic instinct” (New York Times). Their unique “balance of intellect and expression” (Los Angeles Times) is complemented by the feeling that “four more individual musicians are unimaginable, yet these speak, breathe, think and feel as one” (Washington Post). After over a decade of performances and residencies in the world’s most esteemed venues and festivals, the release of numerous critically acclaimed recordings and lauded with significant awards, the Calidore String Quartet is recognized as one of the world’s foremost interpreters of a vast repertory; from the cycles of quartets by Beethoven and Mendelssohn to works of celebrated contemporary voices like Grygory Kurtag, Jörg Widmann and Caroline Shaw.

The monumental third part of the Clavier-Übung (1739) is perhaps one of J S Bach’s greatest musical sequences with its explorations into both Lutheran hymnody and the ‘German Organ Mass’. As a didactic work, it also pursues virtually every contrapuntal device and structure. In giving voice to this immensely varied work, fascinating, inspiring and spiritual in equal measure, it seems particularly apt to make through it an ‘organ tour’ of Saint Thomas Church, with its rich and rewarding instrumental resources.

REVIEW:

Each piece is played with fastidious care, with its mood and scale perfectly matched to an appropriate organ. Jeremy Filsell provides yet another masterclass in manual and pedal dexterity, packed with interpretative insights and always mindful of a sense of flow and grace. Recorded by David Hinitt in the very best sound, this is a Clavier-Übung III to savor and revisit.

-- Gramophone

‘Darkness to light is a theme which continues to engage artists, musicians, philosophers and thinkers through time, and this theme, coupled with thoughts of remembrance, hope, redemption and acceptance is the thread that ties together all the music performed on this recording.’ - © Bob Chilcott ‘Canticles of Light’ is Bob Chilcott’s ninth album on Signum Records. Featuring celebrated composers including Cecilia McDowall, Francis Pott and James MacMillan each work has been carefully selected by conductor and professor Agnieszka Franków-Zelazny, with the final track written especially for the NFM Choir. Hailed by The Observer as ‘a contemporary hero of British choral music’, composer and conductor Bob Chilcott has enjoyed a lifelong connection with singing and choirs. As a composer he has a large catalogue of music published by Oxford University Press that reflects his broad view of musical styles and genres.

Looking at the variety of Italian baroque instrumental music on offer to today’s listener, one could be forgiven for thinking that Vivaldi had faced little competition during his lifetime. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. Whilst the volume of music that flowed from Vivaldi’s pen was unusually plentiful, many other composers were needed to fulfil the needs of the regional courts and churches throughout Italy. Expert early-music ensemble La Serenissima perform works by Lorenzo Gaetano Zavateri, Giuseppe Sammartini, Evaristo Felice Dall’Abaco and Giuseppe Antonio Brescianello alongside works by Vivaldi on this new album of Italian Baroque masterpieces.

In November 2022 Fretwork return for the second instalment of their cycle of works by Matthew Locke. Matthew Locke was born 400 years ago in 1622, and while he is often ranked as one of England’s finest composers, he is still unaccountably neglected: his music may not be as immediately appealing as his immediate successor, Henry Purcell, nor as wide-ranging as William Byrd, yet his forceful musical personality and luxuriant technique place him in the first echelon of English composers, with his works described by Richard Boothby of Fretwork as having a “quixotic, capricious restlessness that is constantly challenging the listener to follow his argument ... a thrilling musical ride”. Accompanying Fretwork on continuo for this recording are David Miller (archlute and theorbo) and Silas Wollston (harpsichord). The cover of the album bares an inscription in the walls by the choir stall of Exeter Cathedral, thought to have been carved by the composer during his time as a member of the choir there.

REVIEWS:

In most of the suites, Fretwork exploits the textural and percussive effects of the theorbo and harpsichord - both played with terrific flair - which articulate the all-pervasive dance rhythms. In the serene F major Suite No. 6, omitting the continuo highlights the sparse transparency of the three-part texture and Fretwork ‘play plain’ its interlaced melodies, weaving them into a sheer fabric of sound.

The players obviously relish these convivial musical conversations and the album makes for felicitous listening and, for the uninitiated, a perfect introduction to Locke’s viol consorts.

-- BBC Music Magazine

An intriguing recording: on first playing, I found this album difficult to get into, an experience. However, with repeated listenings it did it start to reveal its true – and beautiful – self. These ‘Pavans, Ayres, Corants and Sarabands’ by Matthew Locke are strange things indeed. It is the strangely shifting, uncanny edge to Locke’s music that is his trademark – and Fretwork here transform it into something beguiling.

Most intriguing are the fleeting moments when Fretwork do not sound like a viol consort. Locke’s designation of the book as ‘for viols or violins’ acknowledges that the viol was soon to be usurped by the violin; here, Fretwork embody this historical juncture through a flexibility and agility of stroke.

-- Gramophone

Following their successful Dvořák cycle with Signum Records, Albion String Quartet are back with a selection of string quartets by Walton and Shostakovich, recorded in 2021. The concept: to juxtapose two masterpieces written in the same year in the immediate aftermath of war (1946) by composers inhabiting two entirely different social and political worlds in the Soviet Union and Britain respectively.

Formed in 2016, the Albion Quartet brings together four of the UK’s exceptional young string players who are establishing themselves rapidly on the international stage. Recent engagements from the 2017-18 season included performances at the Louvre in Paris, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Robert Schumann Gesselschaft in Frankfurt, Båstad Festival in Sweden, Festival of Music in Franconia and Rhine Valley Music Festival in Germany, as well as the Hay Festival in the UK. The members of the quartet play on a fine collection of instruments, including a Stradivarius and Guarnerius.

REVIEW:

Founded in 2016 and led by Tamsin Waley-Cohen, the Albion Quartet pace, phrase, point and color Walton’s volatile textures and agile rhythms with all the sensitivity and energy they require. Yet they are equally successful in the fiercer, more unpredictable contrasts in the Shostakovich, all the way from the deadpan perkiness of the opening to the searing outburst in the middle of the finale that sounds like some hysterical lament for the fallen.

-- BBC Music Magazine

To mark their 30th Anniversary, Britten Sinfonia and Thomas Adès are releasing their acclaimed Beethoven and Barry cycle as a box set. The works were recorded between 2017 and 2019 at Barbican Hall, London and Theatre Royal, Brighton. Thomas Adès: “This collection is the fruit of two parallel passions. After twenty years of performing and often premiering Gerald Barry’s works, I was frantic to record as much of it as possible. I had also loved working on Beethoven Symphonies with Britten Sinfonia, and suddenly an idea was born: why not dare the two firebrands to join hands? As soon as this idea took hold, everything fell into place. I believe Ludwig van Beethoven must be treated as a living composer, and I find Gerald’s music to be entirely classic. So the two complement each other ideally.” Gerald Barry: “Tom Adès decided on this pairing. It startled me. The first record I bought when I was about 13 was Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto. We didn’t have a record player so all I could do was study the cover and advertisements on the back. I could look and see but not hear. I would take the record out and smell it. I used my nose as a stylus going round and round.”

Ravel's status as one of the most popular composers of all time rests to a large extent on the phenomenal success of Bolero. Yet there is much more to this endlessly intriguing man's work than the "seventeen minutes of orchestral tissue without music": childhood fantasy, Spain, the Orient, American jazz, the theater, clockwork toys and all the things mechanical, preoccupied Maurice Ravel throughout his life, and echoes of each can be found in all corners of his music.

Ravel grew up in Paris during la belle epoque, the thirty-odd years prior to 1914 when Paris was the unquestioned artistic center of the world. The fin de siecle years saw him enter the Paris Conservatoire. He was an immensely gifted youth, and one by one his early compositions began to show a real mastery of conception and execution-before the 1800s were out, he had produced such assured works as Habenera, Menuet antique, several fine songs, and Pavane pour une infante defunte.

International award-winning composer Amanda Lee Falkenberg has composed a dynamic new work that merges music and science. The seven-movement symphony dramatizes past, present and future moon explorations, and highlights discoveries that have been made in our search for other worlds that could possibly sustain life.

Through seven exhilarating movements, concertgoers will experience a stunning space adventure that focuses on the stories of these fascinating moons. But what uniquely defines this symphony is its planetary core message which culminates in the 7th movement, dedicated to Earth-Moon. This final movement offers a discovery of a different kind and provides a unique opportunity to view our planet united and whole, from the surface of the Moon, a breathtaking, life-changing experience referred to as THE OVERVIEW EFFECT. The impact of such a privileged sight has inspired a call to action from Astronauts and as a result  has propelled them to share this profound perspective shift with all of us here on Earth.

Through the persuasive and powerful forces of music, the symphony offers Earthlings a chance to contemplate who and where we are in the universe. In 42 minutes they will be taken on an emotional journey, marveling at the wonders of these moons, the beauty of our planet, and possibly even experience their own perspective shift as crew-mates aboard this spaceship we cruise, Earth. This is the story of THE MOONS SYMPHONY.

Learn more through the project's YouTube channel!

REVIEWS:

Growing up in the Barossa Valley, composer Amanda Lee Falkenberg had a better view of the starry night sky than most. Such a view doubtless inspired this seven-movement choral symphony, a majestic evocation of three moons circling Jupiter, two orbiting Saturn and one from Uranus, as well as our own moon. 

An inquisitive and intrepid explorer, Falkenberg involved astronomers and astronauts in her quest to summon up each moon as vividly and accurately as possible. This research is reflected not only in the music but in the economically expressive sung texts which she also composed.

Out of hundreds of moons, Falkenberg’s choice illustrates enormous diversity: from Jupiter’s volcanic Io to oceanic depths of its sister Europa, then to the vast expanses of Saturn’s Titan, the mighty geysers of tiny Enceladus, the enormous canyons of Uranus’ Miranda and the magnetic force of Jupiter’s Ganymede. Finally, and most importantly, the symphony celebrates earthrise as seen from the surface of the moon, issuing a heartfelt call for all humanity to unite. 

Unabashedly cinematic in style, Falkenberg’s score naturally pays homage Holst’s ground-breaking depiction of the planets, while also echoing film music great John Williams and occasionally Bernard Herrmann. 

Falkenberg’s passionate and creative adaptation of the film music genre is firmly embraced by the committed artistry of the London Symphony under Marin Alsop and the warm cohesion and crystalline diction of the London Voices directed by Ben Parry, who recorded the choral music separately due to COVID restrictions. 

The Moons Symphony offers a precious and timely perspective on our own fragile planet that we would do well to heed.

-- Limelight

After two successful albums on Signum Records, the American vocal ensemble Cantus present their first Christmas album, Into The Light.

The “engaging” (New Yorker) low-voice ensemble Cantus is widely known for its trademark warmth and blend, innovative programming and riveting performances of music ranging from the Renaissance to the 21st century.

REVIEWS:

“Into the Light” reaches into pockets of brightness and the anticipation of a happier New Year as the sun anxiously arcs back to longer days.

Cantus, an a cappella ensemble featuring the deeply rich resonances of eight distinguished male voices, ushers in the holidays most unconventionally. Though several favorites are represented, the status quo is turned upside down. A heavy investment of arrangements and adaptations surfaces and in the most extraordinary way. Rhythmic textures also cut across a wide range of grains, providing an irresistible élan. Note cutoffs, dynamics and tempos are immaculate while chording is uniquely contemporary and full of positivism…this is what adds such special luminescence.

As an example, Cantus captures the pulsating essences of Aguinaldo Carols with its jazzy verve. Christmas is nuanced inside Joni Mitchell’s 1971 bittersweet River which leans to the heavier gravity of the album, including the nostalgic We Toast the Days, penned by Minnesotan Linda Kachelmeier. A special treat is Chris Foss’ World Premiere take of Clement Clarke Moore’s epic poem that sparkles with quixotic notes and unusual vocal dynamics...this piece holds the listener in deep fascination, and it renders big smiles and a chuckle or two! On another dimension Reginald Bowens tips his hat to I Saw Three Ships, giving the traditional English melody a sassy Manhattan Transfer‑like lilt that lifts the piece onto the page of modernity. Traditional music from around the world is also respectfully represented. Occasionally Cantus utilizes an instrumental accompaniment, such as the guitar (and energized Children Go!) or the percussive woodblock (a spirited Mensaje de Paz) that adds to the album’s variety.

Cantus brings thoughtful reminder of hope and happiness as we glance inside the portal of the future. Though a minuscule light beams at this time of year, the apex will broaden as we ring in 2023.

Cantus is a shining, pulsating octet…perfect in precision, innate in integration.

-- ConcertoNet

Their fourth Christmas release, BBC Music Magazine Award winning choir Tenebrae return under the expert direction Nigel Short with a sumptuous album of Carols, Hymns and other celebratory works for Christmas.

Tenebrae is regularly engaged with the world’s finest orchestras – appearing regularly with the Academy of Ancient Music and Aurora Orchestra – and has performed at major festivals and venues including the BBC Proms, Edinburgh International Festival, Leipzig Gewandhaus (Germany) and Melbourne Festival (Australia). ‘Passion and Precision’ are Tenebrae’s core values. Through its continued dedication to performance of the highest quality, Tenebrae’s vision is to deliver dramatic programming, flawless performances and unforgettable experiences, allowing audiences around the world to be moved by the power and intimacy of the human voice.

REVIEWS:

The variety of carols is enchanting: Tenebrae includes pieces by authors from the twentieth century (such as Ralph Vaughan Williams, Benjamin Britten, Elizabeth Poston and Herbert Howells), from the nineteenth century (such as Edward W. Naylor) or contemporary (such as Owain Park , Joanna Marsh, Joseph Phibbs and Joanna Forbes l'Estrange), all well-contrasted samples of Christmas music. Short — who presents a new version of Britten's work, A Ceremony of Carols op. 28, a piece full of charm perhaps because of the mystery of the ancient texts—he has done an exceptional job with the musicians in his choir, accompanied by Camilla Pay's harp.

Highlights include the delicate That Yongë Childe ('That little boy'), with a solo of Joshua Davidson—former chorister of the St. John's College—as well as an exquisite duet of soloists Grace Davidson and Martha McLorinan in Spring Carol and the enchanting This Little Babe, in a lyrical and dynamic interpretation of the female voices to the rhythm of the harp. Pay's imaginative and personal interpretation of the interlude deserves a commendable mention. The voices of the choir have been very successful in performing Advent music, such as Marsh's In Winter's House, composed in 2019 for the tenors and basses of the Tenebrae Choir, and the beautiful Advent 'O' Carol by the composer Forbes l'Estrange. Likewise, the version of the traditional Christmas carol The Truth Sent from Above, arranged by Ralph Vaughan Williams, has the splendid baritone Joseph Edwards as soloist.

With his plurality of perspectives, Nigel Short offers a very coherent proposal not only for his varied repertoire but also for the rigor with which he synthesizes the knowledge he has acquired at the head of the Tenebrae Choir.

-- Sonograma

The Choir of St John’s have received glowing praise for their previous releases, culminating in the choral prize at the 2017 BBC Music Magazine Awards for their debut release of works by Jonathan Harvey. The Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge is one of the finest collegiate choirs in the world, known and loved by millions from its broadcasts, concert tours and recordings. Founded in the 1670s, the Choir is known for its distinctive rich, warm sound, its expressive interpretations and its breadth of repertoire. Alongside these musical characteristics, the Choir is particularly proud of its happy, relaxed and mutually supportive atmosphere, which as of 2022 invites their first female scholars.

REVIEWS:

One of the consistent features of the St John’s recordings that have come my way has been the excellence of the documentation. This latest release is no exception. The booklet contains a general introductory essay about the Book of Psalms by Rev, Andrew Hammond, the College Chaplain. He also contributes short notes on each of the chose psalms while the organist John Challenger furnishes succinct details about the composer of the chants to which each psalm is sung. As usual, though, at the heart of the booklet is an absorbing essay by Andrew Nethsingha. On this occasion he discusses such matters as how psalm chants should be pointed and, of especial relevance, gives us insights into how the psalmody developed at St John’s.

The recorded sound is very good indeed. It’s also remarkably consistent given that producer Chris Hazell and engineer Simon Eadon recorded the choir in five different sessions over four years.

This is another fine addition to the distinguished discography of Andrew Nethsingha and the Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge.

-- MusicWeb International

The countertenor Randall Scotting’s debut album on Signum Records – with Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, conducted by Laurence Cummings – explores repertoire composed for the (in)famous countertenor Senesino, featuring works by composers including Ariosti, Oralandini, Giocomelli and Gaj.

A dramatically persuasive and intensely musical interpreter, Randall is recognized for winning over audiences with his stunning vocal beauty, stylish singing, and charismatic stage presence. He has become a sought-after artist by some of the world’s most esteemed opera houses. Recent performances include the Royal Opera House, the Metropolitan Opera, and the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. A distinctive ensemble playing on period-specific instruments, The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment’s values are to question, challenge and trailblaze. They have worked with conductors including Elder, Rattle, Jurowski, Iván Fischer and John Butt. There’s no orchestra quite like this one.

WATCH THIS LIVE Q+A WITH RANDALL SCOTTING, PRODUCED IN COLLABORATION WITH ARKIVMUSIC!

La Serenissima explore the sacred works of Vivaldi, many of which were composed for the Ospedale della Pietài – a Venetian institution that cared for unwanted children, which included a talented group of performers (the figlie di coro). The album includes several firsts, including a new recording of a 'lost' Concerto that has recently been credited to Vivaldi, and performances on a newly built Violin in Tromba Marina - an instrument thought unique to the Ospedale which Vivaldi composed for. La Serenissima is recognized as the UK’s leading exponent of the music of 18th-century Venice and connected composers. Uniquely, the group’s entire repertoire is edited from source material, and it has been praised for its ‘glorious and all-too-rare ability to make one’s pulse race afresh with every new project’ (Gramophone). La Serenissima has become synonymous with virtuosity, dynamism and accessibility, uncovering a plethora of new repertoire and making it available to all through live performance, high calibre recording work, education and outreach initiatives.

REVIEW

During his time at the Ospedale della Pietà, a Venetian institution that cared for disadvantaged children, Vivaldi wrote vocal works for the local orchestra and choir, as well as many concertos. From this oeuvre, la Serenissima’s CD presents a mixed selection. It convinces with ambitious, historically informed interpretations. Appropriate tempi, good soloists, and a conductor who knows how to keep a wonderful balance between rhythmic conciseness and sung-out melodies leave a more than positive impression. The violin concertos captivate with their interpretive coherence and rousing drive. Particularly noteworthy is the rather rarely heard violin concerto with organ and strings RV 541. Just as in instrumental music, Chandler uses all the tonal possibilities in sacred music to support the soloists with the orchestra. Jess Dandy’s darkly glowing alto is particularly impressive. The recording technique is exceptionally brilliant, a plus not to be neglected.

-- Pizzicato (Remy Franck)

On his second album with Signum Records, internationally acclaimed violinist Charlie Siem is joined by the Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Oleg Caetani to perform works by Beethoven.

Charlie Siem is one of today’s foremost young violinists, with such a wide-ranging diversity of cross-cultural appeal as to have played a large part in defining what it means to be a true artist of the 21st century. Siem has appeared with many of the world’s finest orchestras and chamber ensembles, including: the Bergen Philharmonic, the Camerata Salzburg, the Czech National Symphony, the Israel Philharmonic, the London Symphony, the Moscow Philharmonic, the Oslo Philharmonic, the Rotterdam Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

The Philharmonia is a world-class symphony orchestra for the 21st century, based in London at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, resident in cities and at festivals across England, and streaming online.

A unique demonstration of massed instrumental playing, featuring no less than 48 violinists under the baton of Geoffrey Simon. Three of London's finest sections drive the concept of the violin ensemble to new heights in these innovative, hugely sonorous treatments of repertoire from Debussy to Gershwin. "Monti's Csardas of course sounds appropriately passionate: and when it gets going the 48 players clearly enjoy their own virtuosity: the result is exhilarating" (Gramophone) "Stand out track is Shostakovich's Romance from The Gadfly which demonstrates how an effective melody can benefit from an arrangement sympathetic to colorful harmonies" (Classic CD)

“JS Bach’s seven concertos for solo harpsichord & strings, BWV 1052-1058, occupy a significant place in the history of music, marking as they do the origin of the keyboard concerto genre. Collectively, they encompass the gamut of Baroque rhetorical expression; indeed, leaving aside the six ground-breaking ‘Brandenburg’ Concerts avec plusieurs instruments, it is difficult to think of a more diverse, revolutionary and technically refined set of instrumental concertos from the Baroque period.” -Andrew Arthur

For their first recording on Signum Classics, The Hanover Band, directed by Andrew Arthur, present four of these revolutionary concertos, and dedicate this release to their Founder and Artistic Director, Caroline Brown (1953-2018). The Hanover Band’s players are amongst the finest in their field and the orchestra has built an international reputation for the excellence of its performances and recordings of eighteenth and nineteenth-century music. Andrew Arthur is best-known for his work in the field of historically informed performance, he is in great demand as a conductor, keyboard soloist and continuo player, working with many of the UK’s leading period-instrument orchestras and professional choirs.

REVIEW:

Arthur stresses how much these works owe to Bach’s early immersion in Vivaldi’s set of concertos L’estro armonico, several of which he transcribed, and that Italian influence does indeed permeate the performances on this recording. There’s a triumphal warmth in the Hanover Band’s delivery of the D minor work[.]

Arthur’s note on BWV 1054 indicates that he himself is aware of the danger that the harpsichord may be swamped, and in the Adagio e piano sempre of the D major work, the soloist is indeed allowed to breathe. In the joyous A major concerto the sonic balance is nicely resolved.

--BBC Music Magazine

The conductor and harpsichordist Bridget Cunningham brings back to life Handel’s pasticcio opera, Caio Fabbricio first performed in London in 1733 and based on an earlier opera by Johann Adolf Hasse (1732).

Caio Fabbricio is London Early Opera’s eighth album in the prestigious Handel Series with Signum Records and is a pasticcio opera, a brilliant and well-considered collection of some of the finest 18th-century Neapolitan arias by different composers, including Leonardo Vinci and Leonardo Leo, selected and arranged by Handel who composed his own dramatic recitatives. London Early Opera (LEO) is a vibrant, baroque group of instrumentalists, singers, music teachers, re- searchers, historians and musicologists on a voyage of rediscovery making glorious baroque music and op- era relevant today.

As Artistic Director of London Early Opera, Bridget Cunningham is a leading exponent of baroque music and continues to create these outstanding recordings with Signum Records exploring Handel’s colorful life, influences and experiences which inspired his magnificent musical legacy.

REVIEW

Bridget Cunningham directs Caio Fabbricio brilliantly, leading from the harpsichord to energise the other players, and to give them space to exploit juicy passages. The singers’ virtuosity and rich characterisations are delightful; particularly good are rising stars  sopranos Miriam Allan and Anna Gorbachyova-Ogilvie and mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron. Each of the three has a vocal quality optimally suited to her character: Allan’s luminous core for the heroine Sestia, Gorbachyova-Ogilvie’s velvety textures for the lover Velusio, and Barron’s dark hues for the brutish ruler Pirro.

-- BBC Music Magazine

Malcolm Martineau follows up his acclaimed complete song collections of Poulenc and Faure with an album celebrating the solo songs of Henri Duparc, performed by an acclaimed roster of British singers – Dame Sarah Connolly, Huw Montague Rendall, Nicky Spence & William Thomas. An iconic figure in the world of French music – his songs described as being ‘imperfect...but works of genius’ by Ravel and ‘perfect’ by Debussy – Duparc only composed a handful of works during the first half of his life: following a nervous disorder in 1885 at age 37 he lived for a further 48 years, orchestrating and tinkering with his songs, but publishing nothing new.

Scottish pianist Malcolm Martineau is recognized at the highest international level as one of the UK’s leading accompanists, performing worldwide alongside the world’s greatest singers and with a discography of over 100 albums, including a number of award-winning recordings.

REVIEW

With four singers in the line-up, there is plenty of vocal variety. The lion’s share of the songs is allotted to Sarah Connolly who still has her voice in fine fettle. She perhaps displays a wider vibrato than in past, but the tone is beautiful and her expressiveness is undiminished, and her high notes ring out gloriously. She is allotted seven songs, while her three male colleagues have three each. But we shouldn’t forget the fifth participant, Malcolm Martineau at the piano. His role is just as important as the singers’, since these songs are no mere melodies with accompaniments but rather dramatic or narrative scenes, where the piano sets the scene and propels the action forward. In that respect Duparc is Wagnerian in his approach. Obviously we focus on the singer, but the piano part mustn’t be suppressed. Malcolm Martineau shows that he is a born director and keeps the proceedings on a tight rein.

-- MusicWeb International

This is the fourth volume in our The Library EP series. The idea behind it is to explore, maintain and grow our library of close-harmony repertoire. “Close-harmony” is arguably the part of our work for which we are best known, and our library of thousands of pop, jazz and folksong arrangements is one we’re always determined to nurture. The track-listing for each volume in the series is designed to celebrate old favorites alongside brand new arrangements created especially for these recordings, which we hope will become the ‘old favorites’ of the future. The King’s Singers were founded on 1 May 1968 by six choral scholars who had recently graduated from King’s College Cambridge. Their vocal line-up was (by chance) two countertenors, a tenor, two baritones and a bass, and the group has never wavered from this formation since.

Christopher Glynn continues his series of Schubert in English releases with a new recording of ‘The Fair Maid of the Mill’ (Die schöne Müllerin) with acclaimed Scottish tenor Nicky Spence. Set to a new translation by writer and director Jeremy Sams, Willhelm Müller’s direct and emotionally-charged poetry became the basis of Schubert’s first cycle to tell a complete story over the course of its 20 songs. Nicky Spence is one of Scotland’s proudest sons and his unique skills as a singing actor and the rare honesty of his musicianship have earned him a place at the top of the classical music profession. Nicky won a record contract with Decca records while still studying at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and then took a place as an inaugural Harewood Artist at the ENO. Christopher Glynn is a Grammy award-winning pianist, praised for his ‘breathtaking sensitivity’ (Gramophone), ‘irrepressible energy, wit and finesse’ (The Guardian) and ‘perfect fusion of voice and piano’ (BBC Music Magazine). He is also Artistic Director of the Ryedale Festival, where he has been praised as a ‘visionary’ and ‘inspired programmer’ (The Times).

REVIEWS

"The Fair Maid of the Mill [is] extraordinary: For the first time, as a native English speaker, I found myself understanding this song cycle on a more intimate and revelatory level...The meticulousness of word-for-word accuracy is traded for emotional accuracy. Playwright and director Jeremy Sams was commissioned to write this new translation, and his background in both opera and musical theater lends itself well to finding the right words to convey poetic, emotional, and dramatic honesty.

Tenor Nicky Spence’s own sense of crossover theatricality heightens the immediacy and intimacy of the cycle and Sams’s new texts with a verdant tenor that blooms and contracts in emotional fits and starts. (These beats are both offset and at times juxtaposed by pianist Christopher Glynn...) As the journeyman’s dream begins to collapse on itself...Spence spits out his pleas in a fit of jealousy and panic. The clarity with which he delivers the words makes it easy to slip into the language of Schubert’s work and tap into the small details that render the story so devastating at the end—try listening to him sing of how his love 'loves hunting green' without your throat catching a bit. It’s these small details that make this English Müllerin so rich and compulsively listenable.

--Van Magazine (Olivia Giovetti)

This is the third in the Signum label’s sequence of Schubert song cycles using an English version of the texts by Jeremy Sams. His is in no sense a literal translation and is never in the least archly “poetic”, but is instead couched in relatively, plain, direct English which captures the spirit and directness of the original German while jettisoning any faux-Romantic or medieval archaisms such as “fain would I”. The translation is vernacular and quotidian but not modish or vulgar – and Sams does a fine job of reproducing the rhyming, strophic form of some songs, finding workable rhymes which do not sound forced, so in “Mine” we hear “sound, round, resound” and “found”, and “shine, wine, intertwine, combine” and “mine” sequentially to reproduce the effect of the German. The freedom of the English into which some songs are rendered might initially take the listener aback but a moment’s reflection will confirm the aptness and fidelity of Sams’ rendering; hence, the opening song begins “A miller loves to sit and dream of somewhere” rather than “To wander is the miller’s delight, to wander” or some such precious transliteration – and I know which I prefer. Sometimes the translation is both felicitous and amusing, as when in “Impatience” (Ungeduld) Sams picks up on the German: “ich möcht es sän auf jedes frische Beet/ Mit Kressensamen” (I’d like to sow it in every fresh bed with cress seeds) and translates that colloquially as “I want to sow the words in watercress” so that it rhymes with “happiness” in the next line, and in “The Hunter” the miller girl’s cabbage patch (Kohlgarten) is transformed into a “strawberry bed” so that “fruit” rhymes conveniently with “shoot”. Certain lines impress themselves immediately upon the mind of the listener by their memorability, such as the alliterative “The sound of rushing water has mesmerised my mind” in the second song.

Nicky Spence’s diction is so pellucid as to render the provision of the English texts almost superfluous but such thoughtfulness on the part of the label remains a welcome gesture. [Spence's] beautiful, flexible, easily-produced sound...never falters; his tone encompasses both sweetness and power as required and his knack of placing just the right emphasis or applying a momentary pause in the words without unduly disrupting the vocal line is apparent throughout. I particularly like the way he can introduce a desperate sighing note into his timbre without it turning mawkish. Christopher Glynn supports him with some of the most subtle and sensitive pianism I have even heard applied to this work; his playing is by turns as fluid, sparkling and turbulent as rushing water. He and Spence make an ideally matched partnership – fresh and immediate, presenting it in a manner which could easily win new adherents to this miraculous song cycle but, in Glynn’s words, is also capable of 'offering a new perspective to those who know it well.'

--MusicWeb International (Ralph Moore)

Winner of a Gold award from Diapason Magazine!

Fretwork explores the somewhat overlooked English musical dynasty. The grandson of an Italian immigrant family brought to England under Henry VIII's reign, Thomas Lupo (1571-1627) was a talented composer, viol player and violinist who served in the Royal Court from the age of 16 until his death. His consort music for viols demonstrates a variety of moods and musical devices, with a clear parallel in places to some of the three-part music by his friend and colleague Orlando Gibbons.

In 2021, Fretwork celebrated its 35th anniversary. In the past three and a half decades they have explored the core repertory of great English consort music, from Taverner to Purcell, and made classic recordings against which others are judged. In addition to this, Fretwork have become known as pioneers of contemporary music for viols, having commissioned over 40 new works. The list of composers is like the roll call of the most prominent writers of our time: George Benjamin, Michael Nyman, Sir John Tavener, Gavin Bryars, Elvis Costello, Alexander Goehr, John Woolrich, Orlando Gough, Fabrice Fitch, Peter Sculthorpe, Sally Beamish, Tan Dun, Barry Guy, Andrew Keeling, Thea Musgrave, Simon Bainbridge, Poul Ruders, John Joubert, Duncan Druce and Nico Muhly. The group now frequently presents programmed consisting entirely of contemporary music.

REVIEW

Thomas Lupo was one of the earlier exponents of the viol consort as well as being a violinist. He came from a musical family which was first brought to England by Henry VIII to enhance his court music. The Lupo family, like others which came over at this time were Sephardic Jews, probably from Portugal.

This is a delightful collection of pieces. They are very varied in their moods. Some are playful and fast moving, such as 2, 8, 10 and 14. Some are slow and melancholy, such as 5, 13 and 15, and some show sudden changes in mood such as 13 and 17. The scoring also varies, from three to six instruments, and even when Lupo scores for only thee instruments, they can be any combination of treble, tenor and bass. He can rejoice in a rich texture with only three instruments, as in 5, or be lighthearted with five or six instruments, as in 8, 14 and 18. Curiously, the richest sound he likes comes from five rather than six instruments, so that 3, for example, sounds positively Brahmsian.

Fretwork, who play here, are one of the two leading viol consorts of our times, the other being Phantasm. I tend to find Fretwork rather plainer in their music-making, and possibly closer to how these pieces would have been played at the time. Phantasm tend to be more nuanced, even perfumed, and closer to the style of more recent chamber music. Both are valid. Fretwork here play with evident enjoyment and the recording is good.

Although Lupo turns up fairly frequently on mixed programmes, this is only the second disc dedicated to him that I am aware of. The other is a 1996 disc by The English Fantasy on ASV Gaudeamus. That offers a rather similar programme but it has been long deleted so Fretwork currently have the field to themselves. Fans of viol consorts need no encouragement; others would find this a good place to start.

--MusicWeb International (Stephen Barber)

Viktoria Mullova and Alasdair Beatson present their first release with Signum Classics. Performed on a period-style fortepiano and gut strings, the works presented on this recording span the final decade of Schubert’s life. Beginning with the Sonata in A of 1817, its lyrical, wistful opening giving way to a Viennese joy and exuberance. Closing with the Rondo in B minor of 1826, thrilling in its heroic journey through an abundance of themes, with twists and turns almost competitively athletic between the two instruments. At the heart of the recording, the Fantasie in C of 1827 – a music unutterably inspired, ravishingly beautiful, a tour de force of color and texture, an unpredictable and unparalleled dreamlike vision of another world.

Viktoria Mullova is known internationally as a violinist of exceptional versatility and musical integrity. Her curiosity spans the breadth of musical development from baroque and classical right up to the most contemporary influences from the world of fusion and experimental music. Scottish pianist Alasdair Beatson works prolifically as a soloist and chamber musician. Renowned as a sincere musician and intrepid programmer, he champions wider repertoire with particular interest in Beethoven, Schumann and Schubert among others.

REVIEW:

Schubert’s three mature works for violin and piano make an ideal disc-length programme, the Duo Sonata (1817) expanding on the 18th-century models that informed the three ‘sonatinas’ of the previous year, before the full power of the tragic composer’s late music is distilled in the fearsome technical challenges of the B minor Rondo (1826) and C major Fantasy (1827). Viktoria Mullova lavishes her laser-like focus and intense musicality on these works, sometimes eschewing tonal beauty...in favor of fervent expressivity. Mullova remains faithful to her Guadagnini violin, gut-strung and played with a classical bow...blazing commitment and consummate musicianship on display from both players.

--Gramophone

Following the acclaimed Brahms recording in 2021, Emmanuel Despax presents his sixth album with Signum Classics: Chopin Piano Concertos (chamber versions) with Chineke! Chamber Ensemble. “Chopin’s Piano Concertos are among his first and most significant points of departure, a marked liberation from the constraints of an early but short-lived respect for custom and tradition... I would say that the exceptional nature of this Chopin recording lies in the combination of the chamber music, quintet slimmed-down version of the Piano Concertos complemented by a pianist who plays with an almost epic size and grandeur.” (Bryce Morrison)

Emmanuel Despax has gained worldwide recognition as a singular artist, whose interpretations bring a rare sincerity and imagination to the music. Chineke! was founded in 2015 by the double bass player, Chi-chi Nwanoku OBE, to provide career opportunities for established and up-and-coming Black and ethnically diverse classical musicians in the UK and Europe. The Chineke! Chamber Ensemble comprises the principal players of the Chineke! Orchestra.

REVIEWS:

Chineke!'s accomplished and delightful playing forced at least this particular listener to pay greater than usual attention to music that can sometimes seem little more than a lengthy introduction to the piano-enriched score to come. This is, then, a quite delightful and distinguished release with an individual character of its own. It has been expertly recorded, moreover, in first-rate sound. While, as we’ve noted, the chamber versions of the Chopin concertos have done rather well on CD over the years, the new disc can hold its own with any of the others and will certainly not disappoint anyone who buys it.

--MusicWeb International

[The] brilliant young French pianist, Emmanuel Despax, already well known in Europe and according to Gramophone magazine, “A formidable talent, fleet of finger, elegant of phrase and a true keyboard colourist”...collected five string players (the Cheneke! Chamber Ensemble) to perform Chopin’s two piano concertos with the orchestra reduced to a string quintet, so what we have here is effectively a piano sextet. 

Chopin’s orchestration has been much criticized over the last centuries...but since the piano plays almost continuously, this version with smaller forces is quite enjoyable.

--The WholeNote