Lorin Maazel leads the Philharmonia Orchestra and a star-studded ensemble of performers in Mahler's first three symphonies. This is the first set in a series that will encompass Mahler's nine symphonies, featuring live orchestral recordings from London's Royal Festival Hall of Maazel and the Philharmonia's much-lauded Mahler cycle.

Tenebrae return to the sublime music of Tomás Luis de Victoria on Signum with this recording of his timeless Tenebrae Responsories. The works mix the words of the Gospels with other texts commenting on collective suffering written around the 4th century, and would traditionally have been performed as part of a moving service in which candles are slowly extinguished to mark the progress and suffering of Christ that forms the Passion story.

Classical Music

BRITTEN War Requiem • Paul McCreesh, cond; Susan Gritton (sop); John Mark Ainsley (ten); Christopher Maltman (bar); Gabrieli Young Singers’ Scheme; Trebles of the Ch of New College Oxford; Wroclaw P Ch; Gabrieli Consort & Players • SIGNUM 340 (2 CDs: 84: 05)


Time was when Paul McCreesh was considered a specialist—and a brilliant one—in the Baroque and Classical periods, primarily in operas and liturgical choral works. In the last two years, however, he has released four extraordinary recordings, three of which might seem, at least to the record collector, to be outside his domain: the Berlioz Grande Messe des Morts , Mendelssohn’s Elijah , and a collection of British choral works on loss and consolation, A Song of Farewell , featuring the Herbert Howells Requiem. (The only exception is a newly refined conjectural reconstruction of the 1595 coronation service for Doge Marino Grimani in Venice.) Now, for the Benjamin Britten centennial, he has produced a new studio recording of the incomparable War Requiem . Each of these large scale undertaking is an outgrowth of McCreesh’s association with the International Festival of Oratorio and Cantata Music in Wroclaw, Poland (Wratislavia Cantans) and each employs not only a much augmented Gabrieli Consort and Players, but also the very fine Wroclaw Philharmonic Choir. Those familiar with McCreesh’s earlier masterful shaping of the large musical canvasses of Berlioz and Mendelssohn with his hundreds of performers will know exactly what to expect here.


And in fact, from the hushed suspense of the opening of the Requiem aeternam , to the more gentle than usual beginning to an extraordinarily powerful Dies irae , on to a more accurate than typical Sed signifier sanctus Michael , and an explosive Hosanna in excelsis , McCreesh and his 175-voice adult choir combine huge dynamic range with precision and flawless balance, perfect intonation, and great depth and variety of tone. The equally fine youth choir is made up of trebles from the Choir of New College Oxford, as well as choirs from McCreesh’s educational project, the Gabrieli Young Singers’ Scheme: Chethams Chamber Choir, North East Youth Chorale, Taplow Youth Choir, and Ulster Youth Chamber Choir. From its first appearance in a perfectly judged halo of resonance, the distanced body of treble voices is touchingly angelic.


The full orchestral forces make an awesome commotion in all the right places, the brass especially impressive in the various apocalypses and dramatic explosions; the one with organ near the end of the Libera me gave me chills. However, the chamber music, with an ensemble of superb soloists, lingers just as long in memory, aided as they are by McCreesh’s willingness to suspend forward momentum, to focus more than customary attention on details in the settings of Owen’s poems. I do not know a recording that gives greater support to the soloists than this.


These soloists know how to use the opportunities afforded them. McCreesh opts for an all-British trio, rather than continuing the symbolic use of English, German, and Russian soloists. More than many tenor soloists, John Mark Ainsley manages to break the hold of the Peter Pears tradition in the solos, while still being true to the substance of the work. He sings “One ever hangs” with breathtaking beauty of tone, and finds great poignancy and palpable fury in “Move him into the sun.” Baritone Christopher Maltman does the same in “Bugles sang,” sounding little like Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau but matching him in text pointing and intelligence of phrasing, here and in a chillingly scornful “Be slowly lifted up.” Together, they are arresting in “So Abram rose,” aided by McCreesh’s perceptive pacing, as they had been in the earlier sardonic “Out there, we’ve walked.” Susan Gritton is not as piercingly imperious as Galina Vishnevskaya in the Sanctus or Libera me , but the beauty of her voice in the Benedictus and the concluding In paradisum is more than ample compensation. The two male soloists outdo themselves in the concluding scena, “It seemed that out of battle I escaped,” and if “Let us sleep now” does not reduce you to tears, nothing in music can.


My two small complaints seem almost churlish in the face of such perfection: first, the books in which this and all of McCreesh’s Signum/Winged Lion releases are issued are quite beautifully done—texts, intelligent notes, and striking illustrations—but the endsheet sleeves invite scratches and, as in my case, surface scuffs. There must certainly be a better way. The second is the decision to provide only six tracks for the entire work, one at each of the major divisions of the Mass. Maybe only critics making comparisons care, but it would have been simple to add more.


But enough, the essential question is, does this new recording supplant Britten’s own with the soloists for whom he wrote the work? Britten was a master conductor of his own music, so almost inevitably the answer is, well … no. And yet, so powerful is McCreesh’s performance, so insightful the interpretive choices, so fine the soloists, and so clear and dynamic the recording, it would be hard indeed to have to choose between this and the original. Adding to the dilemma, Decca has just remastered the 1963 Britten recording from the master tapes—described as increasingly fragile—for its comprehensive anniversary issue and has made yet another incremental improvement in the transfer of the always fine Culshaw production. I recommend having both in the collection—this is, after all, no different than having multiple Beethoven symphony sets—and for the truly devoted, add Noseda’s hyper-dramatic performance on LSO Live and Rilling’s on Hänssler. There are other fine performances of this masterpiece, but these four—and definitely this new one—now define summa cum laude.

FANFARE: Ronald E. Grames

Classical Music

Classical Music

Composing over 150 works for piano and voice over a period of 44 years, the songs of Francis Poulenc remain consistently popular to concert audiences the world over. Varying in their individual style and character, Poulenc set music to a wide range of different French poetry – both ancient and modern, and from the serious to the surreal. The final disc in Signum’s series of The Complete Songs of Francis Poulenc features a cast of the finest singers of our generation, accompanied by Malcolm Martineau as well as additional instrumental soloists for Poulenc’s larger-ensemble settings of his songs.

Charles Ramirez is a guitarist of rare skill. A preeminent performer in the generation of guitarists that followed Segovia, he has held the post of Professor of Guitar at the Royal College of Music since the age of 25, raising the profile of the instrument through his concerts and education activities since mid-1970s. This disc is the first in a new series of recordings featuring Charles Ramirez and sees him perform works by Joaquín Rodrigo with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe - the Concierto de Aranjuez and Fantasia para un gentilhombre - under conductor and founding member of the orchestra Douglas Boyd. The programme is completed with Rodrigo's enchanting solo-guitar piece Elogio de la guitara.

Classical Music

Signum’s fourth disc with the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra continues their series of the great core Russian repertoire. Featuring the Orchestral suite of one of Tchaikovsky’s most famous ballets Swan Lake, complemented with Rachmaniov’s final composition Symphonic Dances.

This recording follows the St Petersberg Philharmonic’s 2010 releases of Verdi’s Requiem (SIGCD184), Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7 "Leningrad" (SIGCD194) and Prokofiev’s Cinderella and Romeo & Juliet Orchestral Suites (SIGCD214).

“This is a full-blooded performance of Verdi?s late work … Full marks for passion” The Telegraph, January 2010

“Temirkanov is good, noble and intense, gripping our attention with Shostakovich?s sustained lines.” Musicweb-International, June 2010

Over thirty years ago, Fretwork made it's first recording - well, technically speaking it was the second album to be recorded, but the first to be released - and it was called 'In nomine', which consisted mainly of 16th-century examples of this remarkable instrumental form. While this isn't an anniversary of that release, we want to look both back to that first release and forward, to bring the genre up to date. There were several examples of the In nomine and related forms that we didn't or couldn't record in 1987, and this album seeks to complete the project. The form was created unwittingly by John Taverner (1490-1545). His 6-part mass, Gloria tibi Trinitas, is based on the plainchant of that name. In the Sanctus, at the words Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini (Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord), the six-part texture is pared down to two and three parts; and then, with the words in nomine Domini, Taverner makes, for the only time in the mass, a complete statement of the cantus firmus, accompanied by three voices. This four-parts section - very beautiful as it is - must have struck contemporaries as some kind of perfection, to be used as a template, to be emulated and copied. And then those copies were copied and changed again.

Milestones is a cross-genre project by violinist Hugo Ticciati and the O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra, bringing together music by Josquin des Prez, Igor Stravinsky, and Miles Davis. Conceived around shared anniversary years, the album reflects O/Modernt's practice of placing music from different periods and traditions into direct conversation. Instrumental arrangements and collaborative performances draw attention to common ground between Renaissance polyphony, early modernism, and jazz, particularly in approaches to rhythm, texture, and improvisation. Recorded in Germany and the UK in 2021, the project documents an ensemble-led approach that emphasises attentive listening, flexible roles for soloists, and collective music-making across stylistic boundaries.

This recording brings together recent choral works by British-Swiss composer Jessica Ulusoy-Horsley exploring sound, silence, and the spaces between them, performed by Tenebrae under Nigel Short. The programme includes the work Engelsmusik, inspired by writings on angelic music which draw on texts by Rumi, Greek liturgy, and spiritual philosophy. At it's centre is the large-scale work The 99 Names, setting Arabic and Aramaic texts from Islamic and Christian traditions, and finishing with Cycle of Peace, responding to contemporary conflict. Together, the works examine listening, stillness, and shared spiritual experience across cultures.

This first volume of The Complete Alkan Organ Works presents Joseph Nolan's recording of Charles-Valentin Alkan's major works for organ and pedal-piano, performed on the restored Stahlhuth-Jann organ of St Martin's Church, Dudelange. The release includes the 11 Grands Pr�ludes and Handel transcription Op. 66, the Petits Pr�ludes sur les huit gammes du plainchant, and the Impromptu on Luther's "Ein feste Burg", Op. 69. The booklet outlines Alkan's background, his distinctive position in 19th-century French music, and the technical demands of these rarely recorded pieces. It also documents the instrument's history and Nolan's long-term commitment to the project.

This second volume of Peter Donohoe's Haydn Keyboard Works series brings together a wide-ranging selection of sonatas, partitas, capriccios and fantasias spanning almost the composer's entire career. From the early Partita in G major to the dramatic B minor Sonata and the late works of the 1780s, the programme traces both Haydn's stylistic development and the evolution of the keyboard itself. Folk-inspired pieces such as the Capriccio in G major and the Fantasia in C major sit alongside sonatas of elegance, wit and expressive depth. Donohoe's clarity, rhythmic vitality and architectural insight illuminate Haydn's invention and craftsmanship throughout.

This album presents a new arrangement of Franz Schubert's song cycle Die schone Mullerin, performed by baritone Roderick Williams with the Carducci Quartet. Originally composed in 1823 for voice and piano, the cycle sets poems by Wilhelm Muller that trace the emotional journey of a young miller through hope, love, jealousy and despair. In this recording, the piano part is reimagined for string quartet, drawing out the implied instrumental textures in Schubert's writing while preserving the narrative flow of the songs. The arrangement offers a fresh perspective on the work's structure and atmosphere, highlighting it's central Romantic themes of nature, longing and reflection.

Santtu conducts Shostakovich: Moscow Cheryomushki and Symphony No. 1 is the seventh album from Philharmonia Records. Led by Santtu-Matias Rouvali, these performances were recorded live at the Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall, where they are resident. The Philharmonia Orchestra has an extensive legacy of recording the music of Shostakovich, and in this latest release it's Principal Conductor brings his own distinctive energy, precision, and flair to two contrasting masterpieces: the sharp-witted exuberance of Moscow Cheryomushki and the youthful brilliance of the First Symphony.

Naruhiko Kawaguchi's A Journey with Beethoven presents a thoughtfully curated selection of shorter piano works and arrangements that reveal the composer's diverse character beyond the sonatas. Performed on three historical fortepianos from the Finchcocks Collection, the programme traces a musical and emotional path through bagatelles, rondos, dances, transcriptions and the Fantasy in G minor, alongside a rarely heard 1822 revision of Fur Elise. The recording highlights the evolving sound world of Beethoven's era while showcasing varied expressive styles, from wit and lyricism to introspection. Through historically informed performance, Kawaguchi offers a fresh perspective on familiar and lesser-known repertoire within a cohesive artistic narrative.

On a new disc to celebrate the 2012 Diamond Jubilee, the King's Singers present a selection of works from the past 500 years written in honor of the great Monarchs of Britain. Starting with works for (and in some cases by) Henry VIII, the program covers the Elizabethan 'Triumphs of Oriana' by composers such as Gibbons, Mundy and Dowland; a very Victorian selection of dedicatory works by Elgar, Parry and Parratt; choral arrangements from the opera 'Glorianna' by Benjamin Britten; and a new piece by Paul Drayton that comically pens 'A Rough Guide to the Royal Succession'. (Drayton is perhaps best known to fans of the King's Singers as the composer of their much-loved encore work Masterpiece.)

The Choral Scholars of University College Dublin and Artistic Director Desmond Earley follow up their debut release with a programme of new choral music inspired by the evocative imagery of the natural world in traditional Irish and Scottish folksong and poetry. The disc includes a number of world-premiere recordings of new works and arrangements commissioned by the choir.

The Choral Scholars of University College Dublin, under the artistic direction of Desmond Earley, is Ireland’s leading collegiate choral ensemble. With a large repertoire ranging from art to popular music, and stretching from the medieval to the contemporary in style, this choir gives many concerts throughout the academic year, both in Ireland and abroad.

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REVIEW:

The first thing that strikes you about ‘Perpetual Twilight’ is the sheer number and quality of young tenors. Produced by Nigel Short, this whole project exudes quality, from the choral texture down to the array of fine instrumentalists. Caught somewhere between spotlight and Celtic twilight, it’s a strong follow-up to the group’s 2015 debut, ‘Invisible Stars’.

– Gramophone

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. This disc marks the first release in a new Dvorák cycle with Signum Records, as well as future releases of Walton and Britten plus the premiere recording of Richard Blackford’s Kalon with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra later in 2019. Having made their debuts last season at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam as well as the Auditorium du Louvre in Paris, the 2018/19 season sees the Albion Quartet’s debuts at the Wigmore Hall and at Town Hall/Symphony Hall Birmingham. They also continue their residency at London’s Kings Place, become quartet-in residence at the Stratford Festival of Words and Music and perform at the Oxford Lieder Festival. Violins Tamsin Waley-Cohen and Emma Parker | Viola Rosalind Ventris | Cello Nathaniel Boyd

This second disc with the Choir of the Queen's College Oxford is centered around the concept of "revelation", both divine revelation (particularly the apocalyptic visions fo the book of Revelation) and revelatory visions of earth and heaven. The bulk of the pieces on the recording are inspired by the extraordinary visions of John, the writer of th eBook of Revelation, describing the ravaging of the world through divine judgement, the battles between good and evil, and the world's eventual remaking as "a new heaven and a new earth" in which death and suffering are no more. The album features three new commissions, by Phillip Cooke, Toby Young and Marco Galvani, who was a final-year student at queen's at the time of recording.

The Sacred Veil - a project led by Eric Whitacre and Charles Anthony Silvestri - was created following the passing of Charles’ wife, Julia in 2005. It represents a journey towards the answer for many questions, including whether departed loved ones are truly gone, and how can we mourn those we have lost whilst still moving forward? In Charles’ own words, the project became “a significant part of my journey toward healing and wholeness after great loss.”

Poet, author, composer, and speaker Charles Anthony Silvestri has worked with other artists from all over the world to create texts tailor-made for their commissions and specific artistic needs. He enjoys the challenge of solving these creative problems and has provided custom choral texts, opera libretti, program notes and other writing for composers including Eric Whitacre, Ola Gjeilo, Kim Arnesen, and Dan Forrest, and for ensembles ranging from high schools to the Houston Grand Opera, from the King’s Singers to the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, from Westminster Choir College to Westminster Abbey.

Grammy® Award-winning composer and conductor Eric Whitacre is one of the world’s most performed living composers. His works have been programmed worldwide by millions of amateur and professional performers, while his ground-breaking Virtual Choirs have united singers from over 120 different countries. Eric, a graduate of the prestigious Juilliard School of Music, is presently Artist in Residence with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, following five years as Composer in Residence at the University of Cambridge, UK.As conductor of the Eric Whitacre Singers, he has released such chart-topping albums including Light and Gold and Water Night. In high demand as guest conductor, he has drawn capacity audiences to concerts with the Netherlands Radio Choir, London Symphony Orchestra, Flemish Radio Choir, and Minnesota Orchestra.

REVIEWS

The Sacred Veil is notable simply as one of the most deeply personal pieces of concert music heard in quite some time. Yet there is more to its profound effect than this. Whitacre responds to the texts with a sober language akin to but quite distinct from his usual style, something like the dark language cultivated by Renaissance composers for the requiem mass and other serious texts. The performances by the Los Angeles Master Chorale, under Whitacre's direction, are superb, and the sound, from California's Musco Center for the Arts, is exemplary.

– AllMusicGuide.com (James Manheim)

Composer Eric Whitacre and poet Charles Anthony Silvestri, longtime collaborators and close friends, come together for their most personal and expansive work to date. Whitacre has created a powerful score for Silvestri’s heartfelt poetry in the 12-movement work The Sacred Veil. Silvestri’s wife, Julie, died of ovarian cancer at age 36 in 2005, leaving two young children. His texts, written collaboratively with Whitacre, and the intimate, compelling score tell a story of courtship, love, loss, and the search for solace. Whitacre leads the Los Angeles Master Chorale in the world-premiere recording.

– WFMT-FM (Lisa Flynn)

The Mozartists continue their MOZART 250 project of staging operas by Mozart and his contemporaries with their recording of the UK premiére of Niccolò Jommelli’s Il Vologeso, first performed over 250 years ago on 11 February 1766 for the Stuttgart court in Ludwigsburg. For this eagerly awaited performance The Mozartists assembled a superb young cast, headed by the Irish mezzo-soprano Rachel Kelly, a graduate of the Royal Opera’s Jette Parker Young Artist Programme, tenor Stuart Jackson, a former Mozartists Associate Artist, and soprano Gemma Lois Summerfield, winner of the 2015 Kathleen Ferrier Award. Jommelli was born just north of Naples in 1714 (the same year as Gluck) and died there in 1774. Largely forgotten now, he was one of the most celebrated composers of his day, and during a career which spanned thirty-seven years he wrote some eighty operas as well as a great number of sacred works. He was seen as an important and progressive composer in combining the vocal melodiousness and lyricism of Italian opera with more elaborate and dramatically charged elements of French opera. Set in Ephesus, on the western extremes of the Parthian Empire, in c.164 AD, Il Vologeso centres on Berenice, a woman who becomes caught between two men – the victorious Roman general Lucio Vero, and Vologeso, King of the Parthians (thought dead, but recently returned after his defeat battle). The Mozartists, under the dynamic leadership of conductor and artistic director Ian Page, are leading exponents of the music of Mozart and his contemporaries. Originally called Classical Opera, the company was founded in 1997, and has received widespread international acclaim for its stylish and virtuosic period-instrument orchestra, its imaginative and innovative programming, and its ability to nurture and develop world-class young artists.

David Goode continues his Bach series on the Metzler organ of Trinity College Chapel, Cambridge. This seventh volume includes festive works such as In dulci jubilo.