Today's highlights include an exciting and idiomatic Má Vlast from the Czech Philharmonic (released as a fitting memorial to their late chief conductor Jiří Bělohlávek), Copland's rarely-recorded First Symphony from John Wilson and the BBC Philharmonic, and a beautiful collection of songs and chamber-music by Vaughan Williams from tenor James Gilchrist, violist Philip Dukes and pianist Anna Tilbrook. Monday brings the CD release of this week's New Year's Day Concert from Vienna, with Riccardo Muti taking the reins for the fifth time in his career.
Smetana: Má Vlast
Czech Philharmonic, Jiří Bělohlávek
One of the final recordings which the orchestra made with their chief conductor, who died last May. Their previous recordings of Smetana have been described as ‘big-boned though never ponderous’ (BBC Music Magazine on an earlier Má Vlast) and extraordinarily moving’ (The Guardian on The Bartered Bride).
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Copland: Orchestral Works, Vol. 3 - Symphonies
BBC Philharmonic, John Wilson
The third instalment of Wilson’s immensely popular Copland series (Volume 1 was one of our Top 10 Discs of 2016, and praised by Gramophone for the 'strongly characterised interpretations' on offer) includes An Outdoor Overture, the First Symphony, the Dance Symphony of 1929, and Statements, completed in the early 1930s but not performed in full until 1942.
Available Formats: SACD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Elgar & Bruch: Violin Concertos
Rachel Barton Pine (violin), BBC Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Litton
Barton Pine dedicates her interpretations of two of the most popular violin concertos to the memory of her ‘musical hero and generous friend’ Sir Neville Marriner, who collaborated with her whilst she was preparing the scores and was to have conducted the album, but died before the recording took place.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Rachmaninov: The Two-Piano Suites & Six Morceaux
Charles Owen, Katya Apekisheva (piano)
After the success of their 2016 Stravinsky ballets album (‘the precision of their playing is a delight in itself’ - BBC Music Magazine), regular duo partners Owen and Apekisheva turn to Rachmaninov, with the two Suites for Two Pianos and Six Morceaux Op. 11 for four hands.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Vaughan Williams: Songs and Chamber Works
James Gilchrist (tenor), Anna Tilbrook (piano), Philip Dukes (viola)
Gilchrist takes on the Songs of Travel (a cycle more commonly associated with baritones), and is joined by Dukes for the Studies in English Folksong and Four Hymns in versions for viola, voice and piano, as well as Rhosymedre in an arrangement for the same forces by Times classical music critic Richard Morrison.
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Crossing Borders
Ars Nova Copenhagen, Paul Hillier
The latest instalment in Ars Nova's survey of Danish choral music explores the concept of liminality, with works including Gade’s Three Motets, Swedish composer Stenhammar’s settings of Danish poetry, Holmboe’s Border Ballads, and Line Tjørnhøj’s new work Vox Reportage, interweaving texts by Elias Canetti, Chelsea Manning and 8th-century Sufi mystic Rabi’ahal Adawiyya.
Available Formats: SACD, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Maconchy: Héloïse and Abelard
Hannah Francis (Héloïse), Tom McDonnell (Abelard), Philip Langridge (Fulbert); English Symphony Orchestra, James Gaddarn
Maconchy’s 1977 dramatic cantata tells the story of the two medieval star-crossed lovers through historical sources including the Historia Calamitatum, Abelard’s Latin Hymns, and the impassioned letters between the two; this live recording of the work’s premiere in 1979 features a young Philip Langridge as Héloïse's uncle.
Available Formats: CD, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Schumann, Dvořák, Grieg: Works for Piano Trio
Hagai Shaham (violin), Arnon Erez (piano), Raphael Wallfisch (cello)
Three eminent soloists (who first came together as a piano trio at the Pablo Casals Prades Festival nearly a decade ago - Gramophone praised the 'reciprocity in their playing' on their debut disc shortly afterwards) join forces for Grieg’s Andante con moto, Schumann’s Piano Trio No. 1, and Dvořák’s Piano Trio No. 4.
Available Formats: CD, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
New Year's Concert 2018
Wiener Philharmoniker, Riccardo Muti
Earlier this week Riccardo Muti ushered in the Viennese New Year for the fifth time in his career – the concert was broadcast live to over 90 countries, and the programme featured a rarity by Austro-Hungarian composer and bandmaster Alphons Czibulka as well as the perennial favourites by the Strauss Family. The DVD and Blu-ray versions will follow on 26th January.
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Debussy: The Complete Works
Artists include Martha Argerich, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Samson François, Renaud Capuçon, Natalie Dessay, André Cluytens, François-Xavier Roth
This 33-disc set includes performances by the composer himself, as well as several world premiere recordings such as the fragments from the unfinished Poe opera La Chute de la maison Usher and his own piano reductions of Khamma and Jeux.
Available Formats: 33 CDs, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
