Today’s new releases include a musical journey following in the footsteps of a medieval Islamic explorer from Jordi Savall and Hespèrion XXI, an all-Polish programme from violinist Jennifer Pike, Bach’s Italian Concerto from Italian pianist Federico Colli, and Boris Lyatoshynsky’s Third Symphony from Kirill Karabits and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.
Ibn Battuta: The Traveler of Islam (1304-1377)
Hespèrion XXI, Jordi Savall
Hot of the heels of their toe-tapping celebration of baroque dance (Terpsichore, released last month), Savall and his acclaimed early music ensemble present a musical travelogue based around the pioneering journeys made by the Muslim explorer and scholar (1304 – 1377), taking in Mali, China, The Maldives, Egypt, Yemen, India, Zanzibar, and his native Morocco. Includes a beautifully illustrated and highly informative hardback book.
Available Formats: 2 SACDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
JS Bach: Italian Concerto & Partita No. 4
Federico Colli (piano)
Following his debut on Chandos last January with a strikingly vivid Scarlatti recital which was one of our Top Ten Recordings of 2018, the young Italian pianist continues to explore baroque repertoire through a Romantic prism with all-Bach programme which includes Busoni’s transcription of the great Chaconne from the D minor Partita for Solo Violin, the Italian Concerto, and the Keyboard Partita in D BWV828.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Boris Lyatoshynsky: Symphony No. 3
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Kirill Karabits
Karabits has a personal connection with the Ukrainian composer (1895-1968), who taught his father Ivan orchestration at the Kiev Conservatory in the late 1960s; subtitled ‘To the 25th Anniversary of the October Revolution’, the Third Symphony was premiered in 1951 and is paired here with the symphonic ballad Grazhyna, written to commemorate the centenary of the death of Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz.
Available Formats: SACD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
The Polish Violin
Jennifer Pike (violin), Petr Limonov (piano)
The British violinist (whose mother is Polish) has been exploring music by contemporary Polish composers in her live concerts over the past year or two, but for this album she focuses on music from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, including Szymanowski’s Mythes, Wieniawski’s Légende and Polonaise de Concert, and works by Moszkowski and Mieczysław Karłowicz. Look out for Katherine's interview with her next week…
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Forgotten Russians
Vladimir Feltsman (piano)
The Russian-American pianist’s programme of early twentieth-century rarities includes Samuil Feinberg’s Berceuse, Alexei Stanchinsky’s Prelude in Lydian Mode and Four Sketches, Sergey Protopopov’s Piano Sonata No. 2, Arthur Vincent Lourié’s A Phoenix Park Nocturne, and Alexander Mosolov’s Two Nocturnes and Two Dances.
Available Formats: CD, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Smetana, Dvořák & Janáček: Works for String Quartet
Quartet Wihan
Founded in 1985, the Czech quartet have made something of a speciality of repertoire by their compatriots (their previous album of Dvořák and Janáček was praised in BBC Music Magazine for the ‘sweetness of tone’ and ‘deeply considered ensemble’ on display); here they perform Smetana’s String Quartet No. 2, Dvořák’s String Quartet in E flat Op. 51, and Janáček’s Intimate Letters.
Available Formats: CD, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Salut d'Amour
Sueye Park (violin), Love Derwinger (piano)
Following a formidable recording debut with the Paganini Caprices last year (‘Park makes the technical demands sound like child’s play’ - Gramophone), the young South Korean violinist teams up with pianist Love Derwinger for a programme of encores and showpieces including music by Kreisler, Sarasate, Tchaikovsky, Falla, Wieniawski, Dvořák, Rachmaninov and of course Elgar.
Available Format: SACD
Felix Woyrsch: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5
NDR Radiophilharmonie, Thomas Dorsch
Born in Silesia in 1860, Woyrsch enjoyed a close friendship with Brahms in his youth, and his influence plays out in these two symphonies, composed in 1921 and 1927 respectively; this is the third instalment of Thomas Dorsch’s projected cycle of the symphonies on CPO, which began in 2012.
Available Formats: CD, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Kuhnau: Complete Sacred Works IV
Camerata Lipsiensis & Opella Musica
This fourth volume of choral works by the German polymath (1660-1722) centres on his Missa Brevis, and also includes the motets Muss nicht der Mensch auf dieser Erden, Ich hebe meine Augen auff, Ach Gott, wie lässt du mich erstarren, and the cantata for solo soprano In te Domine speravi.
Available Formats: CD, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Berlioz: The Damnation of Faust & Dvořák: Te Deum
Joan Hammond, Richard Lewis, Marian Nowakowski, Hervey Alan; BBC Symphony Orchestra & Choral Society, Sir Malcolm Sargent
Taken from the Richard Itter Broadcast Collection, this concert performance of Berlioz’s ‘légende dramatique’ was broadcast live from the Royal Festival Hall in February 1953 and is sung in English; the Dvořák took place at the same venue in May of the following year, with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Bruce Boyce as the soloists.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
