Elsewhere, the Munich Opera Horns offer a treat for lovers of the French horn, with an all-horn programme of ensemble works, arrangements and new commissions that charts the instrument's development over time; Hilary Hahn presents Ysaÿe's six solo sonatas; and tenor Brian Smith Walters makes a stunning debut with the LGBT song-recital album A Phoenix Rising.
And it wouldn't be mid-summer without the Wiener Philharmoniker's Sommernachtskonzert, which this year features mezzo Elīna Garanča in Yannick Nézet-Séguin's proudly Francophile programme of Bizet, Boulanger, Berlioz, Boléro and more.
Ysaÿe: Six Sonatas for Violin Solo Op. 27
Hilary Hahn (violin)
Described by Hahn as 'iconic' and 'generation-defining', Ysaÿe's six sonatas (dedicated to six of his own musical friends and combining extended techniques with a deep sense of musical poetry) are a vehicle for any violinist to express their own musicianship - it was in many ways high time that Hahn gave us her spin on these works, and the results are well worth the wait.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Voyager
Munich Opera Horns, Konstantia Gourzi
Ranging from horn-ensemble repertoire (in the form of a selection from Reicha's extensive writing for horn trio) to arrangements (a delightful transcription of Richard Strauss's ever-popular Horn Concerto No.1), and from the natural horn up to the present day, the Munich Opera Horns take us on a musical voyage. Konstantia Gourzi conducts the world premiere of her own new work Voyager 2, inspired by perhaps the most audacious traveller ever to set out from Earth.
Available Formats: CD, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Handel: Water & Fire
B'Rock Orchestra, Dmitry Sinkovsky
Handel's Water Music and Royal Fireworks suites remain among his best-loved works today, despite having likely only had a single performance in the composer's own time. B'Rock Orchestra recreate the generous orchestral forces that Handel called upon for these ceremonial suites - fifty musicians or more. The brass and in particular the horns have a pleasing period-instruments bite to them - unashamedly owning their hunting-horn ancestry!
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Dvořák: Mass in D Major, Biblical Songs, Te Deum
Prague Philharmonic Choir, Prague Symphony Orchestra, Václav Smetácek
Though much of Dvořák's reputation rests on his orchestral and chamber works, his sacred music was of great personal importance to him as an extension of his own religious convictions. Sandwiched between the large-scale Mass in D major and Te Deum (the latter with its instantly-recognisable martial opening) are the first five of the ten Biblical Songs. These much more intimate works express an individual rather than a corporate faith, and are here sung by baritone Jindřich Jindrák, a towering figure of the Czech opera scene in the latter half of the twentieth century. All the recordings here were made in 1969 and 1970.
Available Formats: CD, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Janáček: The Cunning Little Vixen
The Lily's Project, Fabrice Bollon
Pocket Janáček! Re-cast in an ingenious COVID-inspired chamber arrangement (for just twelve instruments, without brass) by Fabrice Bollon, the bittersweet light opera is complemented by Bollon's highly-compressed suite arranged from Šárka for violin and cello, and by his own work Twelve Lilies for Leoš, a tribute to the composer that incorporates quotations from his works.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
The Paris Recital
Kirill Troussov (violin), Alexandra Troussova (piano)
Brother-and-sister duo Kirill and Alexandra present a live-recorded recital of favourites for violin and piano - evergreen sonatas by Brahms and Tartini, Vitali's melancholy Chaconne, and Rachmaninoff's inimitable Vocalise to finish.
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Adam Michna: The Czech Lute
Musica Bohemica, Prague Chamber Chorus, Jaroslav Krček
The three volumes of hymn-like sacred works by Adam Michna z Otradovic (The Czech Lute, Czech Music for the Virgin Mary, and Music of the Holy Year) are among his most influential works, with many still in regular use in the Czech Republic today. This recording (originally from 2002) draws all three sets together - mixing carol-like songs, re-tellings of Biblical episodes, Marian prayers, and more meditative texts from the perspective of the individual believer.
Available Formats: CD, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
A Phoenix Rising: An LGBT Song Chronology
Brian Smith Walters (tenor), Adam Johnson (piano)
Heldentenor Brian Smith Walters bursts onto the scene with this recital of LGBT songs - presenting repertoire from several eras and in numerous languages and armed with a truly phenomenal voice, Smith Walters's delivery consistently lives up to the release-notes' single-word summary: 'intense'. A thoughtful and inspired debut, and very much an artist to watch for the future.
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
The Zurich Affair - Wagner's One and Only Love
A Film by Jens Neubert
Jens Neubert's film traces Wagner's steps as he flees the failed German Revolution for democratic Switzerland, there to meet merchant Otto Wesendonck and his writer wife Mathilde, and to set aside the unfinished Ring cycle in favour of the searing Tristan und Isolde. Neither their marriage, nor Wagner's own to Minna, and perhaps not even the course of musical history itself, would ever be the same again.
Available Format: DVD Video
