Quatuor Mosaïques mark their thirtieth birthday with late Beethoven, Steven Isserlis performs on an improvised cello with an extraordinary history, and the Sistine Chapel Choir mine their archives in a new collection of music for Advent.
Beethoven: Violin Sonatas Vol. 1
Chloë Hanslip (violin), Danny Driver (piano)
The first instalment in a complete Beethoven cycle from two musicians praised by Classical Source for their ‘superb collaborative relationship’; the recordings capture the duo’s live performances for BBC Radio 3, the last of which took place just ten days ago.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Veni Domine: Advent & Christmas At The Sistine Chapel
Cecilia Bartoli (mezzo), Sistine Chapel Choir, Massimo Palombella
Based on original manuscripts (spanning six centuries) from the Sistine Chapel Choir Archive, this Advent collection includes music by Palestrina, Victoria, Mouton and Josquin; Cecilia Bartoli makes a guest appearance in Pérotin’s Beata viscera, becoming the first female singer to record with the choir.
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Quella Fiamma - Arie Antiche
Nathalie Stutzmann (contralto/musical direction), Orfeo 55
The multi-tasking French contralto sings and directs a programme of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century works, based on Alessandro Parisotti’s collection of 24 Italian Songs and Arias which continues to be widely used by singing students and teachers today. Includes music by Pergolesi, Caccini, Scarlatti, Porpora and Handel.
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra; Dance Suite; Rhapsodies Nos. 1 & 2
James Ehnes (violin), Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Edward Gardner
Four years after the success of his Miraculous Mandarin recording with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Gardner returns to Bartók with his Bergen players; reviewing a live performance of the Concerto for Orchestra, The Arts Desk enthused that ‘[Gardner] has a vision for this music…that can easily accommodate the distinctive Bergen sound, and show it off to its best.’
Available Formats: SACD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Vaughan Williams: A London Symphony (1920 version)
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Royal College of Music Brass Band, Martyn Brabbins
Brabbins presents Vaughan Williams’s own favourite of his symphonies in its rarely-recorded first version; the companion-pieces (especially the beautiful setting of Sound sleep for three female voices) are a real delight.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Chopin: Préludes, Piano Sonata No. 2 & Scherzo No. 2
Cédric Tiberghien (piano)
Following acclaimed recordings of the Mazurkas in 2010 and the Ballades in 2006 (described as ‘state-of-the-art Chopin…lucid and beautifully poetic’ by BBC Music Magazine), the French pianist takes on the Marche funèbre Sonata and Preludes Op. 28.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
The Cello in Wartime
Steven Isserlis (cello), Connie Shih (piano)
This extraordinary project sees Isserlis performing on an improvised instrument with a remarkable history: originally designed for holiday music-making, Harold Triggs’s portable ‘trench cello’ survived the horrors of Ypres and was played by Isserlis at the Westminster Abbey Remembrance Service in 2014.
Available Format: SACD
Walton: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Kirill Karabits
Their barnstorming account of Belshazzar’s Feast was one of the highlights of this year’s Proms season, so the prospect of Karabits and his Bournemouth orchestra in Walton’s two symphonies (recorded at Poole Lighthouse last year) promises a great deal!
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Dreams
Pretty Yende (soprano), Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Sagripanti
The effervescent South African soprano shines in arias from Roméo et Juliette, Linda di Chamounix, Dinorah, La sonnambula, La straniera and Lucia di Lammermoor (which she sings at the Metropolitan Opera next spring).
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
