New string quartet recordings from the Heath Quartet playing Bartók and the Chiaroscuro Quartet playing Haydn, while Ensemble Pygmalion and Raphaël Pichon explore the music of sixteenth-century Florence. Alice Coote singing Mahler and Vittorio Grigolo starring as Offenbach's Hoffman are also included in this week's selection.
Mahler: Song Cycles
Alice Coote (mezzo-soprano), Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Marc Albrecht
Marc Albrecht conducts the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra with acclaimed mezzo-soprano Alice Coote in a new recording of Mahler's orchestral song cycles, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Kindertotenlieder, and the Rückert-Lieder.
Available Formats: SACD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Shostakovich & Martinů: Cello Concertos
Christian Poltéra (cello), Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Gilbert Varga
Composed in 1966, Shostakovich's Second Cello Concerto is often regarded as a watershed work, heralding his final stylistic period marked by a certain sombreness and a trend towards more transparent scoring. Martinů's Cello Concerto No. 2 didn't receive its first performance until 1965, six years after Martinu's death.
Available Format: SACD
Bartók: String Quartets Nos. 1-6 (complete)
Heath Quartet
Bartók's six quartets were written (between 1907 and 1939) at crucial turning points in his creative development. From the elegiac tone of Quartet No. 1 to the sadness and wry parody of No. 6, by way of the mirror forms and atmospheric 'night music' of Nos. 4 and 5, they represent perhaps the biggest interpretative challenge in the genre alongside the Beethoven quartets.
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Charles Villiers Stanford: Choral Music
Trinity College Choir Cambridge, Stephen Layton
A programme spanning the variety and sheer emotional range of Stanford's Anglican choral music (with a notable contribution from Owain Park in the Fantasia and Toccata for organ). You are unlikely to hear quite so stirring a rendition of St Patrick's Breastplate for some time to come…
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Haydn: Sun Quartets Op.20, Nos. 4-6 (Volume 2)
Chiaroscuro Quartet
Joseph Haydn's Op. 20 quartets are often said to represent an unprecedented flowering of his string quartet writing. The last three quartets of the set are performed here by the Chiaroscuro Quartet, an ensemble formed in 2005 by the violinists Alina Ibragimova and Pablo Hernán Benedí, violist Emilie Hörnlund and cellist Claire Thirion.
Available Format: SACD
Offenbach: Les Contes d'Hoffmann (DVD)
Vittorio Grigolo (Hoffmann), Kate Lindsey (Nicklausse/Muse), Christine Rice (Giulietta), Sonya Yoncheva (Antonia), Sofia Fomina (Olympia), Thomas Hampson (Coppélius/Dapertutto/Lindorf/Miracle), Royal Opera House, Evelino Pidò
The final revival of this production by John Schlesinger, filmed at the Royal Opera House in November 2016, provided the perfect vehicle for Vittorio Grigòlo as Hoffmann to display his wonderful voice and masterful acting, surrounded by an exemplary supporting cast, including Sonya Yoncheva in the role of Antonia, and Thomas Hampson as Hoffmann's arch rivals.
Available Format: DVD Video
