Classicalreleases - harmonia mundi UK

Classical releases
MARCH 17
DISTRIBUTED LABELS:
ACCENT RECORDS, ACTES SUD, ALIA VOX, APARTE, BELVEDERE, KINGS COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE, CHRISTOPHORUS,
CSO RESOUND, EDITION CLASSICS, EVIDENCE CLASSIQUES, FRA MUSICA, GLOSSA, harmonia mundi,
LA DOLCE VOLTA, LES ARTS FLORISSANTS, LSO LIVE, MARIINSKY, MIRARE, MYRIOS, NAÏVE, ONYX, PAN CLASSICS,
PRAGA DIGITALS, RUBICON CLASSICS, SIGNUM CLASSICS, UNITED ARCHIVES, WIGMORE HALL LIVE
available March 17th 2017, order from Cinram
RELEASE DATE
17TH MARCH 2017
RAVEL: Daphnis & Chloé
Les Siècles / François-Xavier Roth
'Daphnis and Chloé' is conceived as a ballet in one act and three parts, and tells the story of the love between the
shepherd Daphnis and the shepherdess Chloé. A warlike tableau is framed by two pastoral ones: in the first, Daphnis
and Chloé acknowledge their mutual love following a dance contest that provokes the jealousy of each of them in turn.
The interruption of a group of pirates, who abduct Chloé, puts an end to the rejoicing. The second tableau depicts the
pirate camp; the captive girl is commanded to dance for her abductors. In the final tableau, Chloé is restored to Daphnis
through a miracle of the god Pan, whom the nymphs have called on for help. After miming the tale of Pan and Syrinx, the
young lovers let their joy burst forth in a General Dance of dazzling orgiastic virtuosity.
The orchestral forces are the largest Ravel ever employed and he adds a mixed chorus that sometimes hums and
sometimes sings. As we have come to expect, François-Xavier Roth, in his début for harmonia mundi, has gone through
Ravel's much-amended score with a fine-tooth comb and subsequently showed himself capable, in a ‘historically
informed’ performance, of reproducing with the musicians of Les Siècles all the transparency and stylistic precision one
could wish for in Ravel’s masterpiece.
Label: harmonia mundi
File Under: Classical/Orchestral
Catalogue No: HMM905280
Barcode: 3149020528020
NORMAL Price
Format: 1 CD
Packaging: digipack
Les Siècles, Ensemble Aedes
Marion Ralincourt [flute]
François-Xavier Roth
ADVERTISED IN GRAMOPHONE & BBC
"Daphnis et Chloé is part of the large-scale project we embarked on with Les Siècles in 2009: the odyssey of the Ballets
Russes. To celebrate the centenary of that incredible artistic adventure, we wanted to reconstruct the Parisian orchestra
that premiered these works in order to restore their original colours...As with each work of the Ballets Russes that we’ve
played so far, we noticed just how remarkably the instruments of Ravel’s time, those French-built instruments typical of
the early twentieth century, do justice to this music and make it meaningful!" FXR [from the booklet essay]
Pt 1: 1 | Introduction 3’09 2 | Danse religieuse 5’15 3 | Vif - Danse générale 3’10
4 | Danse grotesque de Dorcon - Scène 1’51 5 | Danse légère et gracieuse de Daphnis 2’54
6 | Lent [devant le groupe radieux que forment Daphnis et Chloé enlacés] 1’42
7 | Danse de Lyceion 1’30 8 | Scène [Les Pirates] 1’46 9 | Nocturne [Une lumière irréelle enveloppe le paysage] 1’32 10 |
Danse lente et mystérieuse des Nymphes 2’47 11 | Interlude 2’55
Pt 2: 12 | Introduction - Danse guerrière 4’31 13 | Danse suppliante de Chloé 3’37
14 | Lent [Soudain l’atmosphère semble chargée d’éléments insolites] 2’19
Pt 3: 15 | Lever du jour - Scène 5’38 16 | Pantomime [Daphnis et Chloé miment l’aventure de Pan et de Syrinx] 1’20
17 | Très lent [Chloé figure par sa danse les accents de la flûte] 2’34
18 | Chloé tombe dans les bras de Daphnis 2’19 19 | Animé - Danse générale 4’00
RELEASE DATE
17TH MARCH 2017
SCHUBERT: Fantasie in F Minor & other piano duets
works for 4-hand piano
Andreas Staier, Alexander Melnikov
"I have composed a big sonata and variations for four hands, and the latter have met with a specially good reception
here, but I do not entirely trust Hungarian taste, and I shall leave it to you and to the Viennese to decide their true merit"
So wrote Franz Schubert in 1824, evoking the popular 19th-century genre for 4-hands piano that publishers were always
pestering him to write for. In his brief life Schubert devoted 32 compositions to this form and the least of these pieces, be
it a ländler, polonaise or march, radiates with all of his finesse and sensitivity. Three are incontestable masterpieces, in
the same rank as his sonatas or quartets: the Variations D813, the Fantasie D 940 and the Rondo D 951. All three date
from the composer’s final years, a period that gave birth to his most accomplished works.
In concert, Andreas Staier and Alexander Melnikov have played Bach’s 'Well-Tempered Clavier', with Staier at the
harpsichord, alongside Shostakovich’s '24 Preludes and Fugues', with Melnikov at the piano. Sharing a keyboard
evidently suits them just as well; their unique musical complicity bringing together four hands and two immense talents.
Label: harmonia mundi
File Under: Classical/Instrumental
Catalogue No: HMM902227
Barcode: 3149020222720
NORMAL Price
Format: 1 CD
Packaging: digipack
Andreas Staier, Alexander Melnikov
[fortepiano Graf by Christopher Clarke]
ADVERTISED IN BBC MUSIC
1-4 Fantasie Op.103 D940, F minor
5
Ländler D814
6
Marche Caractéristique D886 No. 1, C major
7-15 Variations on an original theme Op.35 D813, A flat major
16 Grande Marche Op.40 No. 3 D819, B minor
17 Polonaise Op.61 N° 1 D824, D minor
18 Rondo Op.107 D951, A major
"Two very different but like-minded musicians, Andreas Staier and Alexander Melnikov, sat down together and
offered a careful selection of these pieces...two musicians indulging in a Schubert feast of often outstanding quality...
They breathed together, evolved together, gave each other wings. It is such a pleasure watching music being
made through teamwork, even in – particularly in – the smallest of teams...
Staier might as well have sung simultaneously, or instead of playing, such was his understanding and interpretation
of those lines, behind which there is always a wordless Lied. The haunting opening theme in the Fantasy in F minor,
D.940, with its pounding appoggiatura that stubbornly delays the perfect fourth interval that follows, defied
any description."
Reviewed at Auditorio Nacional de Musica, Madrid on 23 September 2014, Laura Furones, Bachtrack
RELEASE DATE
17TH MARCH 2017
Catharsis
Xavier Sabata
Label: Aparté
File Under: Opera & Vocal
Catalogue No: AP143
Barcode: 3149028099324
NORMAL Price
Format: 1 CD
Packaging: digipack
Xavier Sabata [counter-tenor]
Armonia Atenea/George Petrou [direction]
ALSO AVAILABLE: AP048 Bad Guys
“Matchless, and highly recommended.”
The Guardian, 6/2/2013 *****
Around the year 1600, a group of Florentine aristocrats, inspired by ancient Greek drama, gave birth to opera. It was
intended to move and glorify human passions in such a strong way that the spectator's soul would be cleansed of these
passions in a process that Aristotle called 'catharsis'. Xavier Sabata, in his 3rd solo album for Aparté, grasps the cathartic
mettle.
Sabata has rapidly established a reputation as one of the leading countertenors of his generation. Born in Avià,
Catalonia, he trained as an actor at Barcelona’s Institut del Teatre, perfecting his vocal technique at the Escola Superior
de Musica Catalunya and at the Musikhochschule, Karlsruhe, where his teachers were Hartmut Höll and Mitsuko Shirai.
After early successes working with William Christie and Les Arts Florissants, he now also appears with such ensembles
as Europa Galante and Collegium 1704 with conductors such as Fabio Biondi, René Jacobs, Jordi Savall, Fabio
Bonizzoni, Ivor Bolton, Riccardo Minasi and Harry Bicket.
The Greek conductor George Petrou studied piano in Athens and at the RCM and RAM in London. He has gradually
turned to conducting and is establishing a flourishing international career. He is the artistic director of the renowned
Athens based Orchestra Armonia Atenea, with which he tours and records extensively, performing both on period or
modern instruments.
ORLANDINI: Adelaide, Act I, Scene 12: 1 Recitativo "Ciò che donò la frode", 2 Aria "Alza al ciel pianta orgoglioso"
CONTI: Griselda, Act III, Scene 3: 3 Recitativo "In te, sposa Griselda, mi uccido", 4 Aria "Cara sposa"
TORRI: Griselda, Act III, Scene 14: 5 Aria "Vorresti col tuo pianto"
VIVALDI: Il Farnace, RV 711, Act II, Scene 5: 6 Aria "Gelido in ogni vena",
ORLANDINI: Adelaide, Act I, Scene 12: 7 Recitativo "O del moi caro ben", 8 Aria "Già mi sembra al carro avvinto"
HANDEL: Admeto, HWV 22, Act I, Scene 1: 9 Introduzzione. Lentemento, 10 Recitativo accompagnato "Orride larve",
11 Arioso "Chiudetevi miei lumi"
HASSE: La conversione di Sant'Agostino, Part II: 12 Recitativo accompagnato "Viver vogl'io sempre per te moi dio",
13 Aria "Or mi pento"
ARIOSTI: Caio Mazio Coriolando, Act III, Scene 8: 14 Recitativo accompagnato "Spirate, o oniqui marmi",
15 Aria "Voi, d'un figlio tanto misero"
CALDARA: Temistocle, Act III, Scene 3: 16 Aria "Ah, frenate il pianto imbelle",
SARRO: Il Valdemaro, Act III, Scene 10: 17 Recitativo accompagnato "Sorte nemica!",
18 Aria "Quando onor favella al core"
AP093 I Dilettanti
“[Sabata] has a rich and glorious tone,
seemingly-limitless breath control and a
formidable dramatic sense, all of which are fully
deployed here.” Early Music Review, Dec 2014
RELEASE DATE
17TH MARCH 2017
BEETHOVEN: Missa Solemnis Op.123
Carolyn Sampson
Marianne Beate Kielland
Thomas Walker
David Wilson-Johnson
Cappella Amsterdam
Label: Glossa
File Under: Classical/Choral
Catalogue No: GCD921124
Barcode: 8424562211247
NORMAL Price
Format: 1 CD
Packaging: digipack
Carolyn Sampson [soprano]
Marianne Beate Kielland [alto]
Thomas Walker [tenor]
David Wilson-Johnson [bass]
Cappella Amsterdam
Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century
Daniel Reuss [conductor]
The Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century continues its vibrant music-making journey, very much in the spirit of its late founder
Frans Brüggen, with specially invited conductors. In order to tackle Beethoven's mighty 'Missa Solemnis', the orchestra
formed a partnership with highly-regarded Daniel Reuss, who has recorded a sizeable number of critically-acclaimed
choral masterpieces, many of them with Cappella Amsterdam. This fine Dutch chorus is possessed of all the right skills
to climb this glorious mountain of a work; notably vocal agility and stamina.
The chorus is joined by an outstanding quartet of soloists in Carolyn Sampson, Marianne Beate Kielland, Thomas Walker
and David Wilson-Johnson. The Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century has significant experience performing the music of
Beethoven on period instruments (and its current concert schedule embraces the symphonies, piano concertos and
Fidelio), all the more necessary with such a demanding work.
This new recording comes with an elegant essay from Bas van Putten, but also by a fascinating series of images
captured by photographer and violinist Annelies van der Vegt, taken across The Netherlands during the course of the
orchestra’s concert tour with the Missa Solemnis.
1 Kyrie
2 Gloria
3 Credo
4 Sanctus
5 Agnus Dei
Gramophone's video of the day 24/10/2016: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYvpMeaaS3A
RELEASE DATE
17TH MARCH 2017
Orazio VECCHI: Requiem
Rubens’s funeral and the Antwerp Baroque
Graindelavoix, Björn Schmelzer
Label: Glossa
File Under: Classical/Choral
Catalogue No: GCDP32113
Barcode: 8424562321137
NORMAL Price
Format: 1 CD
Packaging: digipack
Graindelavoix,
Björn Schmelzer [director]
For his latest Glossa CD with Graindelavoix, Björn Schmelzer takes his lead from the funeral rites for the Flemish
Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens in 1640, which might well have encompassed the Requiem Mass by Orazio Vecchi
as recorded here, to demonstrate two interconnected facets of Baroque Antwerp. The city was a major centre for music
printing and Vecchi’s Requiem was brought out there, as were the other works presented on this disc: George de La
Hèle, Duarte Lobo and Pedro Ruimonte (the recording ends with three successive Agnus Deis!). The other facet is that of
the image of Rubens’s art: full of energy, seductive, optimistic and scintillating. The Northern Baroque par excellence.
Included in his recording are an intriguing booklet essay (about the “Baroque in disguise”) and a stylised selection of
pictorial images. Schmelzer encourages the listener/reader to enter into this strange world of artistic clashes and
ruptures; not least the fact that Vecchi, a composer better known for his secular music popular in Venice, would have had
his sacred music performed in Antwerp. This is achieved with Graindelavoix’s customary uncompromising – often
provocative – vocal sound, complete with artfully-executed ornamentation.
Orazio VECCHI: Missa pro defunctis: 01 Requiem aeternam 02 Kyrie 03 Si ambulem 04 Dies irae
05 Domine Jesu Christe 06 Sanctus 07 Agnus Dei 08 Lux aeterna 09 Libera me Domine (Paolo Bravusi)
George de La HELE: Missa Praeter rerum seriem: 10 Kyrie 11 Sanctus 12 Agnus Dei
Pedro RUIMONTE: Missa Ave Virgo Sanctissima: 13 Agnus Dei
Duarte LOBO: Missa Dum aurora: 14 Agnus Dei
ALSO AVAILABLE: GCDP32110 Machaut Messe de Notre Dame
“shocking with visceral, stone-ground sonorities in exciting, idiosyncratic, dangerous, Marmite interpretations.”
Choir & Organ, January 2017
"compelling, because of the beauty of the voices and the evident care that has been lavished on so many details;
provocative, because so many of those details will surprise, startle and perhaps infuriate.”
Gramophone Editor's Choice, June 2016
RELEASE DATE
17TH MARCH 2017
MONTEVERDI: Madrigali & altri canti
Ballo delle Ingrate, Selva Morale, Combattimento di Tancrede...
Les Arts Florissants
William Christie
This box set assembles the complete Monteverdi recordings that William Christie and Les Arts Florissants made for
harmonia mundi over some 15 years. Together, they constantly refreshed their inspiration at the wellspring of his finest
and most famous madrigals, with a memorable incursion into the sacred repertory of the Selva Morale.
Label: harmonia mundi
File Under: Classical/Choral
Catalogue No: HMX290877275
Barcode: 3149020877241
BUDGET Price
Format: 4 CD
Packaging: box set
Les Arts Florissants
William Christie
CD1: Altri Canti
1 | Altri canti di Marte (Libro VIII) 2 | Perchè t’en fuggi o Fillide (Libro VIII)
3 | Chiome d’Oro (Libro VII)
4 | Hor ch’el Ciel e la Terra (Libro VIII)
5 | Lamento della Ninfa “Non havea Febo ancora” (Libro VIII) 6 | Gira il nemico (Libro VIII)
7 | Amor che deggio far (Libro VII) 8 | Ballo: Tirsi e Clori (Libro VII)
CD2: Il Ballo delle Ingrate - Libro Ottavo
1 | Ouverture 2 | Amore: De l’implacabil Dio 3 | Sinfonia 4 | Venere : Udite, Donne, udite
5 | Plutone: Bella madre d’Amor 6 | Amore e Venere: Ecco ver noi 7 | Ballo
8 | Plutone : Dal tenebroso orror 9 | Ballo 10 | Una delle Ingrate : Ahi troppo è duro
Sestina - Lagrime d’Amante al Sepolcro dell’Amata - Libro Settimo
11 | Prima parte: Incenerite spoglie 12 | Seconda parte: Ditelo voi
13 | Terza parte: Darà la notte il sol 14 | Quarta parte: Ma te raccoglie
15 | Quinta parte: O chiome d’or 16 | Sesta et ultima parte: Dunque amata reliquie
CD3: Selva morale e spirituale (1640) - Florilège / Anthology
1 | Gloria 2 | Chi vol che m’innamori 3 | O ciechi ciechi 4 | Adoramus
5 | Confitebor terzo alla francese 6 | Confitebor tibi Domine 7 | Laudate Dominum
8 | È questa vita un lampo 9 | Beatus vir
CD4: Madrigali
1 | Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda (Libro VIII). Torquato Tasso
2 | Mentre vaga Angioletta (Libro VIII). Battista Guarini 3 | Con che soavità (Libro VII). Battista Guarini
4 | Eri già tutta mia 5 | Quel sguardo sdegnosetto (Scherzi musicali) 6 | Tu dormi, ah crudo (Libro VII)
7 | Presso un fiume tranquillo (Libro VI). Gianbattista Marino
8 | Zefiro torna (Madrigali e canzonette [Libro IX]). Ottavio Rinuccini
9 | O come sei gentile (Madrigali e canzonette [Libro IX]). Battista Guarini 10 | Ardo, avvampo (Libro VIII)
RELEASE DATE
17TH MARCH 2017
MONTEVERDI: L'Orfeo
La Venexiana / Claudio Cavina
Label: Glossa
File Under: Classical/Opera &
Vocal
Catalogue No: GCD920941
Barcode: 8424562209411
2 FOR 1.5 Price
Format: 2 CD
Packaging: digipack
Emanuela Galli: La Musica / Euridice
Mirko Guadagnini: Orfeo
Marina De Liso: Messaggiera
Cristina Calzolari: Proserpina
Matteo Bellotto: Plutone
Josè Maria Lo Monaco: Speranza
Salvo Vitale: Caronte
Vincenzo Di Donato: Apollo
Francesca Cassinari: Ninfa
Giovanni Caccamo, Makoto Sakurada,
Claudio Cavina, Tony Corradini
As part of their comprehensive survey of the music of Claudio Monteverdi, Claudio Cavina and La Venexiana delivered
an exceptional version of 'L’Orfeo', a reading which had been honed by their trailblazing interpretations of the composer’s
madrigals.
This highly-esteemed recording of the favola in musica – critics applauded and fêted it in many different countries –
subsequently dropped out of the catalogue and Glossa is very pleased to have the opportunity to return it there as part of
this year’s 450th anniversary commemorations of the composer’s birth.
The seductive power of Claudio Cavina’s interpretation lay, in part, in his choice of orchestral colours but also in his
shaping of the mythical story of the shared love of Orfeo and Euridice; the latter’s death and descent into the Underworld;
and the former’s efforts to rescue from there. Into that reading Mirko Guadagnini excelled with nobleness in the title role,
and Emanuela Galli brought sensuality to that of Euridice (and fervour to her Musica), whilst other key roles were taken
by Salvo Vitale, Marina De Liso and Josè Maria Lo Monaco. In keeping with his habits of the time Claudio Cavina also
found a small part for he himself to sing: the third Shepherd in this case – a reminder not just of his own talents and
legacy on record as a singer but of La Venexiana’s tight-knit ensemble approach also.
Claudio Cavina’s 'L’Orfeo' has lost nothing of its grandeur in the passing of the years and is recommendable today as
when it was first issued in 2006.
CD I [52:34] Prologo Atto Primo Atto Secondo
CD II [62:18] Atto Terzo Atto Quarto Atto Quinto
“Cavina’s wonderful account goes straight to the top of the list of recommended recordings.
Do not miss it.” Editor’s Choice, Gramophone, November 2007
RELEASE DATE
17TH MARCH 2017
BUXTEHUDE: Trio Sonatas
Manuscrits d'Uppsala
La Rêveuse
Dietrich Buxtehude was a key figure of the north German instrumental repertory for violin and viol. It was he who firmly
established the prestige of the German trio sonata by introducing into it the stylus phantasticus, that highly contrasted
and dramatic instrumental language in which imagination and virtuosity reign supreme.
1-3 BUXTEHUDE: Sonata in A-Moll, BuxWV 272
4-12 Dietrich BECKER: Sonata & Suite in D-Dur
13-14 ANON: Violadagamba Solo in D-Moll
15-19 BUXTEHUDE: Sonata III in G-Moll, Op. 2, BuxWV 261
20-24 Sonata in D-Dur, BuxWV 267
25-30 Sonata & Suite in B-Dur, BuxWV 273
Label: Mirare
File Under: Classical/Instrumental
Catalogue No: MIR303
Barcode: 3760127223030
NORMAL Price
Format: 1 CD
Packaging: digipack
La Rêveuse
Florence Bolton
Benjamin Perrot
“This has got to be one of my recommendations of the month – flawless playing from all concerned…both in
the suavity of sound, the perfect balance and neat interplay between the voices, and the keen sense of drama
they bring to Telemann’s outstanding chamber music.”
Early Music Review, February 2015 [on Telemann Trios & Quartets with viola da gamba / La Rêveuse MIR267]
“beautifully crafted pieces, fluid, suave, airy, varied. Under the direction of Benjamin Perrot, the members of
La Rêveuse bring a Gallic elegance to their playing that serves the music beautifully.”
Sunday Times, [on Buxtehude Sonatas, MIR074]
RELEASE DATE
17TH MARCH 2017
SHOSTAKOVICH: String Quartets 2
No. 4 Op.83, No.6 Op.101, No.9 Op.117
Borodin Quartet
The second volume of a tribute to violinist Rostislav Dubinsky (1923-97), keystone of the Borodin Quartet until 1974
when he emigrated to the West. The former Moscow Philharmonic Quartet was composed of orchestra members such as
Rudolf and Nina Barshaï and Mstislav Rostropovitch who often played only for one season. Dubinsky however managed
to keep the same Borodin Quartet together for 20 years. They acted as ambassadors of Russian music to the outside
world. Although Shostakovich entrusted the premieres of 13 of his 15 quartets to the Beethoven Quartet, the Borodin
Quartet earned them world acclaim, and their post-Beethoven rendering was quickly taken up by non-Slavic musicians.
1-4 String Quartet No. 4, Moscow USSR Radio Broadcasts January 1966
5-8 String Quartet No.6, Moscow USSR Radio Broadcasts January 1966
9-13 String Quartet No. 9, Moscow USSR Radio Broadcasts January & November 1966
Label: Praga Digitals
File Under: Classical/Chamber
music
Catalogue No: PRD250331
Barcode: 3149028083026
NORMAL Price
Format: 1 CD
Packaging: cristal
Borodin Quartet:
Rostislav Dubinsky
Jaroslav Alexandrov [violins]
Dmitry Shebalin [viola]
Valentin Berlinsky [cello]
ALSO AVAILABLE:
PRD250323 Shostakovich String Quartets 1, 2 & 5
“these arresting performances possess a devil-may-care spontaneity and adrenal flow.”
BBC Music Magazine, July 2016 ****
RELEASE DATE
17TH MARCH 2017
DVORAK: Serenades from Bohemia
In memoriam Sir Neville Marriner [1924-2016]
Czech Nonet
Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields
Sir Neville Marriner
First perfected by Mozart, the ‘classic’ serenade spread its wings with Dvorák: from village fête music and bandstand
concerts to waltzes and minuets. A tribute to Sir Neville Marriner and the particular Czech approach to wind instruments.
1-5 Octet-Serenade in E B36,
6-10 Serenade for Strings in E Op.22, [ASMF, London, Nov 1965]
11 Serendae in D min Op.44 arr for nonet
[1-5, 11 Prague, Czech Nonet, Sept 30, Nov 28-30 1998]
Label: Praga Digitals
File Under: Classical/Orchestral
Catalogue No: PRD250371
Barcode: 3149028108224
NORMAL Price
Format: 1 CD
Packaging: cristal
Czech Nonet
Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields
Sir Neville Marriner
Ivan Klánsky, Pavel Hula, Vladimir Klánsky