Composer, trumpeter, arranger and bandleader Ben Bierman releases a collection of his music, Beyond Romance, that is a deeply personal statement and an amalgam of his wide breadth of musical experience. His song cycle Beyond Romance reflects influences from jazz, Broadway, cabaret and art song, and sets poignant lyrics about midlife relationships by Earl Shuman, performed elegantly by Broadway and jazz notables Hilary Gardner, Matthew Scott, and pianist Jeb Patton. Bierman's instrumental version of his Six Songs rounds out the disc, tying together his rich background accrued through years as a New York freelancer.

Not much is known about the English composer John Sheppard. When he was born, and where he grew up, is lost to history but most scholars place his birth at somewhere between 1515 and 1520. This places him in one of the most turbulent periods in English church history, something that can be heard on this disc in the wide stylistic range he used in order to adapt to the quickly changing politics of the day. The sophisticated six part texture of Gaude, gaude, gaude Maria suggests the influence of Queen Mary who encouraged elaborate sacred composition. It is one of Sheppard’s most thrilling and ambitious works. On the other hand, Christ rising again reflects Thomas Cranmer’s insistence on musical simplicity but demonstrates the genius with which Sheppard explores the limits of expressive power with only the most restricted means. The works are performed by the Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge under the directorship of Andrew Nethsingha. One of the finest men and boys choirs in the world, it is known and loved by millions from its recordings, broadcasts, and concert tours. The choir has been a cornerstone of the great English choral tradition since the 1670s and is recognized for its distinctive, rich, and expressive sound.

Review:

This is a very nice disc: beautifully sung; a well-balanced recording in both stereo and a warmly inclusive surround sound, and with a rich selection of John Sheppard’s superb music. What on earth could there be to complain about?

Styles of choral singing differ, and long may this remain. The comparisons I’ve tended to admire most in this music have been of the purer, reduced-vibrato angelic type. This is all a matter of taste, and I can easily become used to the St John’s College sound in these works, though with plenty of vibrato in the singing the word ‘fruity’ constantly springs to mind. I’m not anti-vibrato as such, but these works have such a refinement of counterpoint and polyphony that I find it hard to come to terms with a technical approach which clouds such marvels.

All that said, this is a very fine program, and if you like the general choral sound then there are good musical experiences to be had. Simpler works such as the four-part In pace, in idipsum dormiam create nice moods, but there was no point in this album that my world stopped turning and I was left speechless with the wonder of it all - and I know this can all too easily happen to me with John Sheppard’s music.

– MusicWeb International (Dominy Clements)

n Christian symbolism, the rose is closely associated with the Mystery of the Nativity, and therefore with both Jesus Christ and Mary. The idea of the perfect flower, springing forth from a thorny stem, has - like the Nativity itself - captured the imagination of poets and musicians throughout the ages and from all stations of life. With this original and wide-ranging Christmas collection, Grete Pedersen - the artistic director of the Norwegian Soloists' Choir - has created what might be compared to a rosary, combining 12th-century hymns by Hildegard of Bingen with a carol by the Danish 20th-century composer Per Nørgård, as well as traditional Christmas psalms, in many cases sung to Norwegian folk tunes following age-old usages. Grete Pedersen and the choir have reached a wide international audience through four previous discs on BIS, ranging from collections of Grieg, or of Brahms and Schubert, to the folk-inspired White Night and, most recently, Refractions: the unexpected combination of three 20th-century giants - Berg, Webern and Messiaen - with their Norwegian contemporary Fartein Valen. On the present disc, the team is once again joined by the singer Berit Opheim and the violinist Gjermund Larsen - both with a background in folk music - as well as by Rolf Lislevand, internationally acclaimed lutenist, and the highly respected jazz bassist Bjørn Kjellemyr.

The greater part of the CD is taken up by the Noels pour les Instruments that Charpentier set for instrumental ensemble and organ. Ricecar's interpretation of this work is based on the original manuscript and respects the marked instrumentation as well as Charpentier's own specifications for organ registrations. They also recorded the original versions of the above-mentioned Christmas carols, complete with their many verses as they appeared in French collections published at the beginning of the 18th century. This recording of Christmas music can be enjoyed throughout the year!

This is the second volume of Michael Kallstrom's flute chamber work. They offer varied timbres, interesting orchestrations, thoughtful melodies, bold harmonies, and interesting new cross-rhythms. Heidi Pintner has made performances of Kallstrom's music a specialty for her.

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 in a way that defies generalization, Poulenc set music to a wide range of different French poetry - both ancient and modern, and from the serious to the surreal. This is the fourth release in our series that will encompass the complete songs of Francis Poulenc, performed by some of the greatest singers of the day and accompanied by the exceptional Malcolm Martineau.

Throughout her career, internationally heralded harpist Yolanda Kondonassis has found herself fascinated by the luscious creations of French composer Maurice Ravel. Ravel: Intimate Masterpieces is a celebration of Kondonassis' longtime love of Ravel's music, and a celebration of the great roster of Oberlin Conservatory of Music talent that came together with her to record the album on campus in January 2013. 'This disc is especially meaningful because I was able to make it with such wonderful players and to celebrate the wealth of artistry and musical opportunity that lives at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music,' says Kondonassis.

This lieder recording ranges from the end of the 18th century to the 1970s. Baritone Elem Eley performs with great sensitivity and insight.

At the center of this recording is the Suite liturgique by Andre Jolivet, a French composer whose neglect is utterly unjustified. Christiane Karg interprets this sacred work in a ravishing and captivating manner. Stefan Schilli, solo oboist of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, is the soloist of the other titles on this CD; his guests include Sebastian Klinger and Oliver Triendl.

Here/After: Songs of Lost Voices gives voice to those no longer with us, including Camille Claudel, Francis Poulenc, Wanda Landowska, Pierre Bernac and Paul Eluard. It also pays tribute to the lives lost on September 11, 2001. Here/After is a double play on the spiritual hereafter that their voices are still here even though their bodies are gone.

BACH Masses, in g, BWV 235; in F, BWV 233. Cantata No. 102 • Harry Christophers, cond; The Sixteen Ch & O (period instruments) • CORO 16115 (74:07 Text and Translation)


It’s getting harder to lament the curious neglect of Bach’s short or “Lutheran” Masses. Within recent memory I’ve had the privilege of auditioning new sets by Ton Koopman, (Challenge), Konrad Junghänel (Harmonia Mundi), and Raphaël Pichon (Alpha). Philippe Herreweghe’s excellent set was reissued by Virgin, and Brilliant has even revived Hanns-Martin Schneidt’s 1974 version in its complete Bach Edition box. Helmuth Rilling on Hänssler is still around. Now comes the first installment of a new set by Harry Christophers. Nevertheless, the short Masses do get considerably less attention than the cantatas, which they resemble in every way except for the absence of recitatives and closing chorales. The cantatas, after all, tell stories; the Masses do not. In fact, most—probably all—of the music in the Masses is recycled from pre-existing cantatas.


In these performances Christophers has reduced The Sixteen by a half, to eight singers only: Grace Davidson and Julia Doyle, sopranos; Robin Blaze and William Purefoy, countertenors; Jeremy Budd and Mark Dobell, tenors; Ben Davies and Eamonn Dougan, basses. The voices are accompanied by a slightly larger instrumental ensemble: 3, 3, 2 (or 3), 2, and 1 of strings, plus the necessary winds and continuo. All of the singers take solo turns, except Doyle. The only soprano aria on the disc, in the F-Major Mass, went to Davidson.


One lesson we might take from this release is that Bach rocks, although we already knew that. The Kyrie of the G-Minor Mass, a real toe-tapper, gets the ball rolling, and Christophers takes it from there, injecting the choral movements, especially, with abundant energy. The double quartet is very effective throughout. I was a little less enthralled by some of the arias, but not enough to discourage me from giving the whole enterprise a thumbs up. Because the combined Masses run just over 52 minutes, Coro has generously added a Cantata, No. 102, between the Masses, a welcome bonus. I’m looking forward to Volume II.


FANFARE: George Chien

On this disc internationally acclaimed bass Sir John Tomlinson and pianist David Owen Norris bring together settings of Michelangelo poems by Britten, Wolf and Shostakovich. This unique program is frequently played by the duo in theatrical Michelangelo-themed performances and can now be heard on CD for the first time.

Orlande de Lassus, Europe's most famous musician during his lifetime, created nothing finer than the Lagrime di San Pietro, a collection of twenty spiritual madrigals and one motet for seven voices; A cycle of intense reflections on the sorrows of St Peter following his denial of Christ, it was assembled shortly before the composer's death in 1594 and dedicated to Pope Clement VIII. Into this collection Lassus pours every dramatic nuance and piece of harmonic invention he could possibly muster, hurling the listener through the stages of Peter's rage, remorse and resignation, and concluding with a motet which presents Christ's response to the world. Gallicantus (Latin for 'song of the rooster') add to their already impressive catalogue of works on Signum with this new recording. Their previous release The Word Unspoken: Sacred Music by William Byrd and Philippe de Monte was picked as one of the best discs 2012 by BBC Radio 3 CD Review.

The Baroque Ensemble of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra present six recordings produced at the Pilgrimage Church at Triberg.

All over the world, millions of mothers, fathers and grandparents get their children to sleep by the pacifying ritual of singing and rocking the infant or toddler. “Slaap, kindje slap”, for example, is sung in the Netherlands, “Baju, bajuschki, baju” in Russia, and “Thula baba” in South Africa.

Singers and instrumentalists from all over the world have recorded the most beautiful lullabies from their home countries exclusively for this CD collection. The accompaniment by tradition instruments highlights the original sound of these songs. The CD contains lullabies from Armenia, Belgium, China, Germany, Finland, France, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lebanon, New Zealand, North America, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Spain, South Africa, the Czech Republic, Turkey, Hungary and a lullaby in Yiddish.

With this recording the prize-winning “Liederprojekt”, promoting singing with children, is being continued and expanded by an international collection.

The Peñalosa-Ensemble is an a cappella quartet consisting of four absolutely experts for the early vocal music: the German singers Susan Eitrich, Sebastian Mory, Jörg Deutschewitz und Pierre Funck. The CD presents a cappella works by Hans Leo Hassler (1564–1612) for advent and Christmas. The selected works, which cover the entire gamut of Hassler’s productivity with respect to different compositional types and genres, profit greatly from the clear performance by the solo mold of the Peñalosa quartet.

Bringing together three of the most renowned practitioners of historically-appropriate performance of Early Music and Baroque repertoires, the Sono Luminus release of Io Vidi in Terraprovides a rare immersion into a mysterious world that, despite its relative obscurity in the perspectives of 21st century observers, shaped almost every aspect of music as it blossomed in subsequent generations. José Lemos shares his passion for the Italian vocal music of the 17th century with friends and frequent collaborators Deborah Fox, theorbist and baroque guitarist, and GRAMMY®-nominated harpsichordist Jory Vinikour, as well as with listeners throughout the world.

Soprano Kyoung Cho is a teacher and singer of international recognition. Music critics praised her performances as "Sublimely beautiful, transcendent, serene, dazzling, and heavenly". Dr. Cho holds degrees from Yonsei University, Manhattan School of Music, University of Memphis, Yale University and Israel International Vocal Institute.

Classical Music

• With this release Ondine presents two dramatic works by Dmitri Shostakovich, The Execution of Stepan Razin and the Zoya Suite, coupled with his Suite on Finnish Themes.
• The Execution of Stepan Razin, premiered in Moscow in 1964, got a mixed reception. The execution scene and the final, tragic vision is simply spine-chilling: Stepan Razin’s bloody head rolls to the ground and bursts out laughing at the Tsar. Capturing rich intonations and melodies of the text, the bass soloist and the chorus engage in a multi-layered dialogue of this very theatrical work.

This production of Britten's most important song cycles for guitar and voice is released on the occasion of his 100th birthday. Britten wrote all these works for his longtime partner, Peter Pears, and the exceptionally talented guitarist Julian Bream. The works are heard here in a superb interpretation on this recording.

The Unknown Sibelius presents a spectrum of the music that is the least wide-spread of the Finnish master’s production, either because the pieces included belong to genres not usually associated with ‘Sibelius the symphonist’, or because they appear in versions that differ from the ones that are performed frequently all over the world. A case in point is the opening Finland Awakes, a rarely heard version of what is possibly Sibelius’ best-known piece, Finlandia, in which the famous ‘hymn’ tune is restated in full, scored with unashamed flamboyance for brass, at the end of the piece. That recording and others on this disc are culled from the complete SIBELIUS EDITION brought to a close in 2011 – but completeness is a relative concept: a ‘complete’ edition is only complete until the next mislaid manuscript or forgotten work is re-discovered. The present disc thus serves a dual purpose, as it also includes première recordings of works and fragments that have been discovered or otherwise have become available after the EDITION was brought to a close. Among these, the late orchestral fragments earned a certain celebrity in October 2011, as media across the world greeted the discovery of what was soon proclaimed to be sketches for the famed 8th Symphony – that elusive Holy Grail of all Sibelius-spotters. Dr. Timo Virtanen, the respected authority on Sibelius, has prepared the sketches for the present recording and also written a text – available on the BIS web site – discussing them and the context in which they may have been written. If the orchestral fragments generally tend towards the harmonically bold sound world that Sibelius explored in some of his very late works, the three piano pieces that have also come to recent light are earlier works which all in different ways are connected to other compositions by Sibelius.

Anne Schwanewilms ranks among the greatest Strauss and Wagner interpreters today, but for her new album she deliberately chose songs by Schumann and Wolf. In Anne’s words, “The tranquility that can emerge with Schumann and Wolf is incredibly intense and fascinating for me.”

THÉRACHE Missa Comment peult avoir joye. Missa Fortuna desperate : excerpts . Missa O vos omnes : excerpts . Gaude Maria. Verbum bonum. JOSQUIN DES PREZ Comment peult avoir joye. ISAAC Missa Comment peult avoir joye —excerpt • Peter Urquhart, dir; Capella Alamire; Alamire Consort • CENTAUR 3282 (50:39 Text and Translation)


Pierrequin de Thérache (c.1470–1528) spent his career at the court of Lorraine in Nancy from 1492, serving from 1500 to 1527 as master of the choirboys. One motet heard here, Verbum bonum , is his most well-known work, not least because Mouton used it as the cantus firmus of a Mass. Peter Urquhart’s plan to present more of his work embraces an entire Mass, excerpts from two more Masses, a second motet, and related works by two contemporaries. The Josquin chanson provides the cantus firmus for the main work on this program, and Isaac’s Mass (of which we hear only a single Agnus Dei) is also based on Josquin’s chanson. All that might have been used to fill up the disc would be a sample of Mouton’s Mass, mentioned in the notes.


I knew just where to find the only previous recording of Thérache’s music in my collection, for the estimable Dominique Vellard recorded a disc for the K617 label devoted to the chapel of the dukes of Lorraine ( Fanfare 19:6). That disc included the entire Missa O vos omnes (on a motet by Loyset Compere) and the same motet Verbum bonum. Pascal Desaux, who wrote the notes and provided the research for that disc, estimated Thérache’s birth a little earlier, at c.1460. The connection between the court of Lorraine and the cathedral of Cambrai, where the unique manuscript of the Mass is found (a source as well for works of Josquin des Prez), is the brothers Loyset and Pierrequin de Thérache. They spent their early days in Cambrai, but Loyset eventually became music copyist at the cathedral, while his brother went off to Lorraine. Little wonder that the latter’s Mass found its way into the Cambrai manuscript. That Mass is heard here with the shorter pieces inserted to break up the sequence of movements (without separating the Kyrie-Gloria pair), exemplifying the familiar style of the Josquin era. The performance is of high quality, sung by a homogeneous vocal ensemble of fine tonal sheen and precise execution.


This disc deserves notice for the obscurity of the composer and the excellence of the performances, which should not have been neglected when it was issued over a year ago. The capella consists of nine singers, the consort five players. The Josquin and Isaac fillers, the only tracks that combine vocal and instrumental, are intelligent supplements to the main collection. Get acquainted with one more unfamiliar composer.


FANFARE: J. F. Weber

Classical Music