Transcription and arrangement seem to be recurring themes this week, with flautist Sharon Bezaly and cellist Daniel Müller-Schott both exploring repertoire that was originally conceived for other instruments. There’s also a rewarding triptych of British violin concertos (all receiving their first outing on record), and a filmed concert-performance of Peter and the Wolf from Australia - complete with a very special guest narrator!
Fauré, Franck and Prokofiev: Sonata Transcriptions
Sharon Bezaly (flute), Vladimir Ashkenazy (piano)
Perhaps best known for her championing of new repertoire for the flute, Bezaly turns her attention to two well-known nineteenth-century works for violin and piano – Fauré’s First Sonata in her own arrangement, and the Franck Sonata in a transcription by Jean-Pierre Rampal – plus Prokofiev’s flute sonata, itself often performed in an version for violin by the composer and David Oistrakh.
Available Format: SACD
#CelloReimagined - Bach, Haydn, Mozart
Daniel Müller-Schott (cello), L’arte del mondo, Werner Ehrhardt
Transcription is also the order of the day on German cellist Daniel Müller-Schott’s latest concerto album – the Haydn featured here is not one of the two cello concertos but an arrangement of the G major violin concerto, whilst the Mozart is an adaptation of the Oboe Concerto (which the composer himself reworked for flute).
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Graham Fitkin: String Quartets
Sacconi Quartet
Following on from the success of their recent recording of works by Jonathan Dove, the Sacconis take on the complete existing works for string quartet by Graham Fitkin, from the half-hour-long Inside (2006) to the aptly-named ‘small quartets’ (1993 and 1994), each lasting just two minutes!
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Saint-Saëns: Symphonic Poems
Orchestre National de Lille, Jun Märkl
Jun Märkl has won significant acclaim for his recordings of twentieth-century French repertoire (particularly Messiaen, Ravel and Debussy), and here he turns to Saint-Saëns with three Classically-inspired rarities (Phaéton, Le Rouet d’Omphale, and La Jeunesse d’Hercule) plus the popular Danse Macabre.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
JS Bach: Musikalisches Opfer
Masaaki Suzuki (harpsichord), Members of the Bach Collegium Japan
Taking a side-step from his Bach secular cantatas project, Suzuki is joined by four of his Bach Collegium Japan colleagues to explore one of the composer’s most fluid compositions, bringing decades of scholarship to bear on his decisions regarding instrumentation and ordering.
Available Format: SACD
Strauss: Ein Heldenleben & Tod und Verklärung
Göteborgs Symfoniker, Kent Nagano
The second instalment of Nagano’s Strauss trilogy with the national orchestra of Sweden, who boast an impressive Strauss pedigree: Tod und Verklärung featured in their repertoire from as early as 1912 (just a few years after their inception). Nagano’s long experience of Strauss in the opera-house manifests itself in readings of real drama and character.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
British Violin Concertos
Clare Howick (violin), BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Grant Llewellyn
A specialist in twentieth-century British music, Howick presents world premiere recordings of concertos by Kenneth Leighton (1952), Gordon Jacob (1953) and Paul Patterson (2013) – the latter work is dedicated to her, and she gave its first ever performance at St John’s Smith Square. Watch out for Katherine’s interview with Clare about the project next month!
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
