Now celebrating his twentieth year of distinguished operatic achievements, this collection of arias from mostly “Verismo” operas features tenor Marcelo Alvarez delivering high-impact accounts of both popular and lesser-known selections by masters such as Puccini, Leoncavallo, Giordano, Mascagni and Massenet. + You will also hear – possibly for the first time – a fascinating array of choice rarities by Verismo-era composers (Gomes, Cilea, Zandonai, and Halévy) who were prominent in their day, but whose music has since fallen into comparative neglect. + Maestro Constantine Orbelian – leading the St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra – provides the necessary and important support. + “Marcelo Alvarez gave his usual passionate and thrilling performance ... taking advantage of his beautiful voice by phrasing the musical lines with elegance.” - Ingrid Haas

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Delos’ “strong personality” is due, above all, to the pioneering goals and philosophy of late founder Amelia S. Haygood, whose unshakable faith in the power of classical music, determination to record deserving American artists, championing of unusual repertoire, and cutting-edge recording technology forged an independent label that quickly gained a worldwide reputation for extraordinary artistry and the audiophile quality of its recordings. This 3-disc collection celebrates 40 choice tracks drawn from Delos’ catalog of over 500 orchestral, vocal and chamber/instrumental recordings.

The Delos label, a long-standing champion of great music's therapeutic and healing powers, offers another example in this musical celebration of peace. Distinguished conductor Sir Gilbert Levine's career is particularly notable for his many concerts with major orchestras that have been widely broadcast on PBS. This Jewish musician's activities have largely focused upon interfaith concerts of spiritually potent music celebrating universal human themes and values. The performances preserved here celebrate the canonization of two recent Popes: John XXIII and John Paul II. This "Pope's Maestro" became a friend of the latter "Polish Pope," which led to a series of similar events at the Vatican and elsewhere. The reigning Pope Francis is also honored. The peace-themed program includes well-known music by Copland, Verdi, Gorecki, Bernstein and Brahms. Meticulously recorded and filmed for repeated major-metro domestic PBS broadcasts (also in Europe) through 2017, these masterpieces are played by the vaunted Orchestra of St. Luke's and two accompanying choirs, the Krakow Philharmonic Choir and the Choral Arts Society of Washington.

This selection contains both DDD and ADD recordings.

Meet the Delos pets, Lucky and Leo. Lucky (our dog) is sweet and lovable, truly the best of all friends. Leo (our cat) is a ten-year-old tabby, a noble beast indeed. Both probably share much in common with your own pets. Leo loves napping, meowing, stalking, pouncing, kneading, and grooming. Lucky's favorite activities include: excited barking, non-stop panting, and sniffing everything in sight. Whether you consider yourself a cat lover or a dog lover, no one will be able to resist these adorable furballs. Classical music has long been heralded as the most perfect form of entertainment for relaxing, introspection, joyous moments, and as a booster to our ability to focus -- why should this music only be available to humans? It's with this in mind that Delos presents a wonderful collection of classical music to accompany you and your cat or dog during the day's activities.

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As the innovative, world-renowned guitarist Smaro Gregoriadou says in her notes for this stunning new recording, her fourth for Delos, its music offers “encouragement and hope,” and illuminates with “a different kind of light, a different sort of fire.” The program begins with her beautiful transcription of Bach’s beloved Solo Violin Sonata #2 and offers Britten’s fascinating Nocturnal, along with works by Gubaidulina and Hétu. As Raymond Tuttle put it, in a Fanfare review of one of Smaro’s earlier Delos releases, “Gregoriadou evokes musicians such as Vladimir Horowitz, Glenn Gould, and Wanda Landowska in her willingness to find a new way to express herself and to reanimate the music.”

REVIEW:

What is special about this recording is Gregoriadou’s focus on timbre. Her technique is exceptional, but it is always at the service of creating a sound world with a wide spectrum. Her dynamic shading in the last movement of the Hétu is astonishing, and it is so effortlessly achieved that you don’t think about technique as you listen. I don’t think of Gregoriadou as a guitarist. I think of her as a musician who happens to play the guitar. This is a very beautiful guitar recital, with recorded sound that makes it seem as if you are in the room with Gregoriadou, and at just the right distance for the best perspective.

-- Fanfare

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American tenor Stephen Costello’s meteoric career has taken him to the stages of the world’s top opera houses. In this, his first recording for Delos, he performs a glittering assortment of arias that will appeal strongly to any opera lover, but that will be a particular treat for fans of the bel canto repertoire. While it mainly showcases classic arias by Gaetano Donizetti, we also hear single selections by Vicenzo Bellini and Giuseppe Verdi. Polished and sensitive orchestral collaboration comes courtesy of Maestro Constantine Orbelian and his vaunted Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra. The Associated Press has called Stephen Costello “… a prodigiously gifted singer whose voice makes an immediate impact.”

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REVIEW:

Stephen Costello provides a consistent quality of performance across the collection well chosen to display his stylish and engaging voice to significant effect. The opening track, one of the most celebrated arias in all opera, is Tonio’s act two cavatina and cabaletta ‘Ah, mes amis’ from Donizetti’s opéra comique, La fille du régiment. Costello agilely and astutely manages the manifold challenges of this aria that requires no less than nine high C’s, which is a treat when performed as admirably as this. From Donizetti’s masterwork L’élisir d’amore described as a melodramma giocoso, Nemorino’s act two romanza, Una furtiva lagrima is one of the most attractive of all tenor arias. As Nemorino singing passionately to Adina believing a love potion is working Costello performs beautifully, with clarity and particularly fine phrasing, making every word count. Another Donizetti work, a further highlight and a particular favourite of mine, is Spirto gentil from La favorita a grand opera that deserves increased recognition. Here Fernando in the final act discovers that Leonora has been the king’s mistress and sings brokenheartedly at the betrayal of his love. This is a splendid display of Costello’s most attractive tone and the tenor achieves his high notes resolutely and with relative ease. Throughout Costello receives first class support from Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra under Constantine Orbelian which feels entirely sympathetic.

Recorded at Kaunas Philharmonic the engineering team excel providing sound that has both satisfying clarity and balance. As I have come to expect from Delos the documentation accompanying the album is first class. The valuable booklet notes by Lindsay Koob places each aria in the context of the opera. I’m delighted that full sung texts are included together with English translations which are helpfully placed alongside. My only grumble concerns the playing time of just under fifty minutes, very short by today’s standards.

Beautifully performed, recorded and presented, Stephen Costello’s bel canto album will complement any opera collection.

– MusicWeb International

Clarinetist Danny Granados was a remarkable musician as well as a passionate arts administrator. While serving as chief financial officer of the Houston Symphony Orchestra, he made this recording with the Fidelis String Quartet (all orchestra members) and friends. But the album was put on hold when Danny became ill with cancer. After he passed away last year, the recording’s remaining players resolved to release it as a memorial tribute to their dear friend and colleague. Hence this very moving and attractive album of masterpieces by Johannes Brahms, Astor Piazzolla and Osvaldo Golijov: a program that explores common threads between the works of three prominent, yet very different composers. The result is a release that will both ravish listeners’ ears and touch their hearts.

Gilbert Duprez, a prominent Parisian tenor during the first half of the nineteenth century, is mostly unknown to today’s opera fans. But his profound influence upon operatic vocal style and practice has persisted up to the present day. His fellow tenors sang their highest notes using a delicate and fluty-sounding falsetto technique. But Duprez pioneered the novel technique of singing upper-range notes up to high C in a much more heroic-sounding chest voice- a practice soon adopted by tenors worldwide. One of today’s most thrilling tenors, John Osborn is in constant demand on the world’s most prestigious opera stages. His gorgeous voice is particularly noted for its magnificent top end. Who better, then, to present an album devoted to Duprez’s seminal influence on vocal technique for tenors? With the incomparable support of maestro Constantine Orbelian and his Kaunas City Symphony, Delos and Osborn proudly offer a beguiling album of selections from both well-known and more obscure French grand operas: bel canto arias that are sure to captivate listeners.

The Mighty Handful, also known as The Five, were a group of prominent nineteenth century Russian composers who strived to produce a specifically ‘Russian’ style. The group consisted of Mily Balakirev, Cesar Cui, Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and Alexander Borodin. The Russian Guitar Quartet has chosen works by The Mighty Handful for this new release, reviving the lost tradition of seven-string Russian guitar quartet. These accomplished performers, all with solo careers of their own, perform these arrangements with purpose and passion, leading the listener on a journey through nineteenth century St. Petersburg.

This outstanding new release, Home Is a Harbor, is Mark Abel’s first opera. In addition to the opera in three acts, this two-disc set includes the composer’s newest song cycle, The Palm Trees Are Restless, set to poems by Kate Gale. The Palm Trees are Restless is performed beautifully by Grammy-winning soprano Hila Pittman, who is known for her work with contemporary composers such as her husband, Eric Whitacre. A key character in the opera is a veteran of the Afghanistan war. Because of this, Delos will donate a portion of this album’s sales revenue to various Veterans’ organizations, starting with American Legion Cathay Post No. 384.

Reviews:

“Looking over the cast bios (for "Home Is a Harbor"), one is struck by the fact that nearly all the participants in this project are California-based, making the point very clearly that (the state) has become an important cultural hub in the country, and Mr. Abel is at the forefront of its musical life.

The opera deals with young twin sisters who set out on their post-high school lives in different directions … ; both find disillusionment and sadness, only to return home in a third act which offers hope for the future ... But the ultra-optimistic ending does not destroy the effectiveness of the piece. It is ... filled with characters and situations that remind us all too well of the realities of our world.

All the singers do a fine job; I would not be surprised to read some of their names on the rosters of major opera companies. The two sopranos who sing the twins Lisa and Laurie, Jamie Chamberlin and Ariel Pisturino, create very believable young women with their well-supported sopranos. Best of the lot is Babatunde Akinboboye, whose rich baritone demands special notice from the listener. As with many modern operas, the vocal line is not typical of romantic opera. But it is tonal and effective in conveying the drama of the situation.” - Richard Sininger, American Record Guide

“Abel is as good a poet as he is a musician. (...) anyone who is interested in modern vocal music will want to own this disc.” - Maria Nockin, Fanfare Magazine

“It's more than just a nice story set in a town that San Luis Obispo County locals will appreciate, for Abel Home is a Harbor speaks to where we are as a country today and where we could go.” - Ryah Cooley, New Times San Luis Obispo

Mark Abel pushes his music further forward with striking chamber works and three powerful vocal pieces featuring acclaimed singers Isabel Bayrakdarian, Hila Plitmann and Kindra Scharich. Abel's own evocative lyrics are heard in two moving song cycles, while poet Kate Gale's libretto powers Two Scenes from "The Book of Esther." He writes: “For me, Spectrum represents both an expansion of horizons and a summing-up of the ground traveled during my decade with the Delos label. The 2020 release The Cave of Wondrous Voice introduced my first three chamber pieces; it was followed a year later by Approaching Autumn, a duet that appears on cellist Jonah Kim’s album of the same name. Spectrum continues this trend, featuring three new and compact instrumental works that partner the piano with strings, horn and flute.”

REVIEW:

Mark Abel continues to demonstrate his versatility in the works on the newest Delos release of his music, ‘Spectrum’, a generous two-disc helping of song-cycles, chamber pieces and excerpts from an opera still roaming around the California-based composer’s fertile brain. As the previous recordings revealed, Abel writes in a poetic tonal style, at times reminiscent of Samuel Barber, peppered by flavourful harmonies and piquant turns of phrase.

They are all performed with elegant vibrancy.

-- Gramophone

Composer Mark Abel is a composer of lyrical gifts, a crafter of vibrant melodic-harmonic landscapes of a ravishing sort, perhaps in the footsteps but not the actual shoes of a Samuel Barber. There are some extraordinarily well-wrought song cycles and settings here, all showing a sure sense of the vocal potentials; dramatic and lyric, with heighten musical light like a contemporary sort of Impressionist pallette, for vocalist and pianist and added instruments at times, such as very evocative clarinet on “Two Scenes from the Book of Esther.”

And then happily there are also some strong instrumental chamber works that show a marked lyrical gift, from the melodically mesmerizing “Reconciliation Day” for viola and piano, "Out the Other Side" for piano trio, and the "Long March" for horn, flute and piano.

The performances are all you might hope for in a world premiere situation, very well done...you will appreciate the sheer beauty of it all. You listen, you grow fond of it, or I hope you like I do. Do not miss this happy set if you want a lyrical smile to brighten you up.

-- Gapplegate Classical-Modern Music Review

"On these three unique art song cycles, composer Mark Abel combines hard‐hitting lyrics and a unique musical fusion of rock and classical. Outstanding performances from world‐class West Coast artists – Jamie Chamberlin, soprano; Ariel Pisturino, soprano; Victoria Kirsch, piano. ""Abel is as good a poet as he is a musician. … I think that anyone who is interested in modern vocal music will want to own this disc."" - Fanfare, on “The Dream Gallery”."

The music in this album sings and dances, in Abel’s “colorful blend of styles that serve the emotional nature of each work to bracing and poignant effect” (Gramophone). It further clarifies why Abel is “one of the most interesting figures in American contemporary music” (Pizzicato). Composer Mark Abel has been based in California for the past three decades. Abel’s idiom eludes easy pigeon-holing. It includes chamber music and vocal works, whose contours extend from art song to larger forms with orchestra to a 103-minute chamber opera, Home Is a Harbor. This is Mark’s fifth release on Delos. The incomparable David Shifrin begins the program with Intuition’s Dance, a combination of frolic and dreamy ruminations in which he is joined by pianist Carol Rosenberger. (This is the first time Shifrin and Rosenberger have recorded together since their memorable albums in 1984!) Next comes the remarkable Hila Plitmann singing the powerfully moving Four Poems of Marina Tsvetaeva — the first-ever setting of Tsvetaeva’s poetry in English translation. She is joined by Rosenberger and English hornist Sarah Beck. Colorful and haunting, The Elastic Hours are brought to life with virtuosity by Sabrina-Vivian Höpcker and Dominic Cheli. This is Sabrina’s first Delos recording since her success with the Brahms Hungarian Dances in 2018 (DE 3558). In the richly lyrical Clarinet Trio, Shifrin and Rosenberger are joined by Fred Sherry for a musical journey beginning with “The Unfolding,” moving to “Taking Flight,” and finally ending with a peaceful and tender “In Good Time.”

McCartney's tried it; Costello, too. So have Sting, Peter Gabriel, and even Bernstein. But a maverick California composer named Mark Abel has created what may be the most elegant and persuasive attempt yet to marry classical and rock. So get ready for a unique and powerful listening experience. The Dream Gallery is an evocative, sophisticated and hard-hitting cycle of songs for soloists and chamber orchestra that explores the inner lives, struggles, illusions and home turf of 7 archetypal Californians. Uncover a new strain in American art song.

In this spellbinding new album, Abel gives sensitive listeners food for thought, stimulates the ear with his signature fusion of classical, rock, and jazz, and makes you feel, with his gut-grabbing epressions of potent emotion. Grammy-winning soprano Hila Plitmann brings her full emotional range to three Abel works, including “Those Who Loved Medusa,” – a powerful story and evocative musical setting that connects ancient Greek legend with our present day’s “Me Too” movement. “In the Rear-View Mirror Now” resonates with anyone reflecting upon life’s myriad twists and turns from past to present. Warmth fills “The Ocean of Forgiveness” cycle sung by mezzo-soprano Janelle DeStefano. The affecting “Benediction” expresses a range of profound emotion as it laments tragic elements in our society while offering heartfelt wishes for our future. This is hard-hitting music and text that stimulates the ear, intellect, and emotions, retaining Abel’s trademark lyricism while demonstrating a remarkable degree of prescience in pinpointing effects of long-standing societal flaws.

Winner of the 14th Banff International String Quartet Competition in 2022 and an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2023, the Isidore String Quartet makes it's recording debut on Delos. Formed at The Juilliard School and coached with members of the Juilliard String Quartet past and present-the name Isidore comes from the legendary violinist Isidore Cohen, one of the Juilliard Quartet's early members-the quartet is rapidly making a name for itself on the international concert scene. The album Adorations is a celebration of chamber music at it's essence: a tapestry of joy, human connection, and the enduring resonance of lives intertwined. Each work on the album reflects a unique form of adoration, offering it's own expression of wonder, reverence, and the profound beauty of shared musical experience. Comprising Joseph Haydn's String Quartet in C major, Op. 20, and Felix Mendelssohn's String Quartet in E-flat major, Op. 44, the recital also features Samuel Barber's celebrated Molto adagio and Florence Price's Adoration.

Albeniz, I.: Iberia (Arr. for Guitar Quartet)

Charles Ward, Ovation: Mstislav Rostropovich leads his National Symphony in a striking performance.

Classical Music

"•The music of late-Romantic composer Margaret Ruthven Lang (1867-1972)– though quite well known in her time – fell into near-total neglect after she stopped composing in 1919. • Following earlier surveys of her art songs and piano music, this offering features a program of fourteen of Ms. Lang's secular and sacred choral works, all beautifully crafted and very appealing. • Musicians from the Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam, perform."

Mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton burst upon the global opera and concert scene in recent years after having won many of the world’s most prestigious prizes for vocal excellence and accomplishments. Delos has scored a major coup in releasing her debut album. Jamie’s well-chosen program of late-Romantic repertoire begins with eight of Gustav Mahler’s finest lieder- including his wonderful Five Ruckert Songs- before treating us to the rare delights of Antonin Dvorak’s song cycle Gypsy Songs. Her album concludes with even more seldom-heard selections from the many lovely Swedish-language songs of Finnish master Jean Sibelius. This sublime release- further graced by pianist Brian Zeger’s peerless collaboration- will take your breath away, and leave you hungry for more from Jamie Barton, considered by many of the world’s top vocal and operatic experts to be the rising mezzo of our time.

Tenor Lawrence Brownlee is largely considered by critics and audiences alike to be the world’s leading bel canto tenor. His previous release on Delos was an enchanting array of Rossini arias which garnered him a Grammy nomination. Brownlee has a rich and varied repertoire, which is evident on this release. He has mixed standards such as Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, and L’elisir d’amore and Bellinis’ I Puritani with lesser-performed pieces like Donizetti’s Rita and La Favorite. For this release, as in his previous, Brownlee is joined by Lithuania’s Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra and the Kaunas State Choir. The brilliant interpretations and sensitive reading from conductor Constantine Orbelian lend themselves beautifully to Brownlee’s impeccable voice.

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REVIEW:

The tenor’s renown owes much to his breathtaking flair for executing Rossinian fiorature, but the expansive melodic lines of Vincenzo Bellini and the dramatic bel canto of Gaetano Donizetti are equally apt outlets for Brownlee’s prodigious gifts. Avoiding the forcing that compromises many singers’ endeavors in this repertory, Brownlee’s singing on Allegro io son possesses an evenness spanning the full range that, though perhaps easier to control in the recording studio than in the theatre, cannot be faked. As with the sincerity of his expression, the authenticity of his vocalism is remarkable, especially as it is employed in the performances on this disc.

­– Voix des Arts

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For his debut album on Delos, the brilliant emerging virtuoso Sean Kennard has chosen a captivating program featuring solo piano music by two of America’s most iconic composers: Samuel Barber and Aaron Copland. While neither composer’s body of work includes a great many pieces for solo piano, each has left a legacy of superb piano compositions to memorable effect.

Of the five works on this album, Barber’s finger-twisting Sonata for Piano and Copland’s stunning Piano Variations stand as enduring masterpieces of twentieth-century American piano music. Both pieces incorporate broad spectrums of modernist musical language and styles, as well as degrees of difficulty that only the finest and most technically accomplished artists can master. And most of the shorter pieces offer delightfully evocative treatments of musical Americana.

REVIEWS:

A triumphant debut from a brilliant young pianist.

America still produces superb pianists and one is Sean Kennard, whose first recording this is. (He studied at Juilliard with Boris Berman and Richard Goode.) Not only is Kennard’s technique flawless, his understanding of the music’s expressive requirements is second to none… This marvellous debut disc is a triumph.

-- Limelight

Sean Kennard places familiar works by Barber and Copland in a mutually illuminating dialogue. This achievement in programming is matched by very fine playing indeed. His penetrating sense of structure in Barber’s Piano Sonata and Copland’s Piano Variations is balanced by an infectious sense of fun in Copland’s 4 Piano Blues.

-- Fanfare