Today's new releases include Bach's Sonatas & Partitas for solo violin from Giuliano Carmignola, the world premiere of Wolfgang Rihm's Requiem-Strophen, Haydn concertos from Amandine Beyer and Gli Incogniti, and a collection of sacred baroque rarities from the up-and-coming Polish countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński with Il pomo d’oro and Maxim Emelyanychev (who has just succeeded Robin Ticciati as Principal Conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra).
JS Bach: Sonatas & Partitas for solo violin
Giuliano Carmignola (violin)
Recorded especially for Decca and Deutsche Grammophon’s mammoth BACH 333 project (see below) but also available as an individual album, the Italian violinist and conductor’s is the first period-instrument account of these landmark works in the DG catalogue; Carmignola’s recording of the Bach violin concertos in 2014 was praised in Gramophone for its ‘visceral resonance and poetic engagement‘.
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Debussy: Suite bergamasque
Nikolai Lugansky (piano)
Lugansky’s tribute to the centenary of Debussy’s death takes the composer’s fascination with travel (through time and space alike) and exoticism as its focal point, beginning with L’isle joyeuse and moving through the Deux Arabesques, Suite Bergamasque, the second book of Images, and Hommage à Haydn.
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Haydn: Concerti per Esterházy
Amandine Beyer (violin), Marco Ceccato (cello), Gli Incogniti
Beyer, Ceccato and Gli Incogniti present three works which Haydn composed towards the beginning of his long residency at the Esterházy establishment: the Violin Concerto Nos. 1 and 4 (both thought to have been written for the Italian virtuoso Luigi Tomasini, who came to lead the court orchestra), and the Cello Concerto No. 1, composed for Haydn’s friend and colleague Joseph Franz Weigl.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
The Scene of the Crime
Colin Currie (percussion) & Håkan Hardenberger (trumpet)
A 2017 work by the Australian composer Brett Dean (scored for trumpet, flugelhorn and drumkit, and written especially for this percussion/trumpet duo) gives this album its title; it’s preceded by André Jolivet’s Heptade, Joe Dudell’s Catch, Tobias Broström’s Dream Variations, and Daniel Börtz’s Dialogo 4.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Wolfgang Rihm: Requiem-Strophen
Mojca Erdmann, Anna Prohaska, Hanno Müller-Brachmann; Chor und Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Mariss Jansons
Recorded live in Munich last March, this is the world premiere of Rihm’s ‘Requiem-Verses’, which interleaves the liturgical text with poems by Michelangelo and Hans Sahl; the work was described as ‘deeply felt and subtly made’ (The Telegraph).
Available Formats: SACD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Anima Sacra
Jakub Józef Orliński (countertenor), Il pomo d’oro, Maxim Emelyanychev
The sensational young Polish countertenor (who won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2016 and is also a champion breakdancer!) makes his solo recording debut with a programme of sacred baroque arias by predominantly Neapolitan composers including Francesco Durante, Nicola Fago, Domenico Sarro and Francesco Feo; eight of the works here receive their world premiere recordings.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Puccini in Love
Aleksandra Kurzak (soprano), Roberto Alagna (tenor), Orkiestra Sinfonia Varsovia, Riccardo Frizza
The husband-and-wife team (whose recording of Massenet's La Navarraise was released last week) join forces on an all-Puccini album which includes duets from Il tabarro, Tosca, La bohème, Manon Lescaut, La rondine, La fanciulla del West and Madama Butterfly; Kurzak will make her debut in the title-role of the latter opera in Naples next summer.
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Momento immobile
Venera Gimadieva (soprano), The Hallè, Gianluca Marciano
The Russian soprano’s debut solo album focuses on bel canto repertoire and includes excerpts from two of her signature-roles (Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor and Amina from Bellini’s La sonnambula) as well as arias from Don Pasquale, L’elisir d’amore, I Capuleti, Linda di Chamounix, and Rossini’s Otello and Guillaume Tell.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Monteverdi: Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria
Monteverdi Choir & English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardiner
Recorded live in Wrocław last year as part of Gardiner's Monteverdi 450 tour, this recording stars Italian baritone Furio Zanasi as the returning hero, French contralto Lucile Richardot as his loyal wife, Polish tenor Krystian Adam as their son Telemaco, and Czech soprano Hana Blažiková (a regular on Masaaki Suzuki's Bach cantatas series) as Minerva/Fortuna.
Available Formats: 3 CDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Le Ballet Royal de la Nuit
Ensemble Correspondances, Sébastien Daucé
Featuring music by court musicians and dancers Michel Lambert and Jean-Baptiste Lully as well as visiting Italians Cavalli and Rossi, Daucé’s reconstruction of the 1653 extravaganza celebrating the 14-year-old ‘Sun King’ Louis XIV was first issued on CD in 2015, but now appears in a spectacular staged production (complete with jugglers and acrobats) filmed at the Théâtre de Caen last November.
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
