Bartók: The Wooden Prince, Divertimento, Romanian Folk Dances
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Thomas Dausgaard
The main event on this third instalment of Dausgaard's Bartók series is the pantomime ballet The Wooden Prince, based on a story by the Hungarian poet Béla Balázs and premiered in Budapest in 1917; Dausgaard conducts Bartók's final version of the score, which eliminates material relating to specific stage action and was regarded as 'an absolute improvement' by the composer. The programme is completed by the Divertimento for Strings and the Romanian Folk Dances.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Rachmaninoff for Two
Daniil Trifonov (piano), Sergei Babayan (piano)
Recorded to coincide with Rachmaninoff's 150th birthday, this album opens with Trifonov's transcription of the Adagio from Symphony No. 2 and also includes the two Suites for Two Pianos (composed in 1893 and 1901 respectively) plus the composer's own arrangement of his Symphonic Dances - premiered by Rachmaninoff and Horowitz at a private part in Beverly Hills in 1942.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Bach: Violin Concertos
Leonidas Kavakos (violin), The Apollon Ensemble
Two years on from his recording of the solo sonatas and partitas (described by the Sunday Times as 'one of the most virtuosic, technically dazzling accounts since Heifetz'), the Greek violinist directs his recently-founded one-per-part ensemble in the two violin concertos proper plus reconstructions of the keyboard concertos BWV1052 & 1056. Reviewing the recording last week, The Strad applauded Kavakos's 'technical athleticism, lightly articulated bow-strokes, clinical precision, pliancy and rhetorical spontaneity' as well as the 'rare unanimity of sound and purpose' on display.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Stainer: The Crucifixion
Liam Bonthrone (tenor), Arthur Bruce (baritone), Choir of St Mary’s Cathedral Edinburgh, Duncan Ferguson
Premiered in 1887, Stainer's Bach-inspired oratorio was dedicated to the choir of Marylebone Parish Church (where it is performed every Easter) and is a firm favourite with choral societies across the UK. This new recording was made at St Mary's Cathedral, with participation from the pupils and staff at St Mary's Music School and the cathedral congregation; tenor soloist Liam Bonthrone is currently a member of the Opera Studio of the Bayerische Staatsoper (where he debuts as Pedrillo in Die Entführung aus dem Serail this month), whilst Arthur Bruce was a prize-winner at The Emmy Destinn Young Singers Awards last year.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
La Nascita del Violoncello
Bruno Cocset (cello), Les Basses Réunies
This 2-CD set couples a reissue of Cocset's 2011 disc devoted to music from Bologna & Modena (focusing on Vitali, Gabrielli and Jacchini) with a new album centring on Naples: the repertoire includes sonatas by Alessandro Scarlatti, Salvatore Lanzetti & Francesco Alborea, plus shorter works by Gregorio Strozzi, Francesco Paolo Supriano, Diego Ortiz & Rocco Greco. Cocset plays ten different instruments, including modern copies of a viola bastarda (after Amati) and a violoncino (after Gasparo da Salò).
Available Formats: CD2+BOOK, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Ysaÿe: Sonatas for Solo Violin
Sergey Khachatryan (violin)
This is the first recording of the Ysaÿe sonatas to be made on the composer’s Guarneri del Gesù violin, which dates from 1740 and had previously been owned by his teacher Henri Vieuxtemps. Born in Armenia in 1985, Sergey Khachatryan's early career successes included the International Sibelius Competition in 2000 and the Queen Elisabeth Competition in 2005; his recording of the Bach sonatas and partitas was Record Review's Disc of the Year in 2010, and was described as 'vividly rendered, detailed and potently expressive' by The New York Times.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
L'Heure Bleue
Quatuor Zahir
This second album from the saxophone quartet features world premiere recordings of two new works: Graciane Finzi's Petite Suite and Fabien Waksman's Les Lunes galantes (conceived as a fifth movement to Debussy's Petite Suite, two movements of which also feature on the album in arrangements by Alexandros Markeas). The programme also includes transcriptions of Debussy's Trois chansons de Charles d'Orléans, Ravel's Pavane pour une infante défunte, Nadia Boulanger's Trois Pièces and Poulenc's Les Chemins de l'amour.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Pergolesi: Stabat Mater & Vivaldi: Nisi Dominus
Shira Patchornik (soprano), Maarten Engeltjes (countertenor), Prjct Amsterdam
This Pentatone debut from the Dutch baroque collective (founded by Maarten Engeltjes in 2017) is an Editor's Choice in the April edition of Gramophone, with Edward Breen hailing the group as 'one of the newest and slickest ensembles on the scene' thanks to their 'palpable urgency of communication' in the Pergolesi and the 'sense of space and stillness' which Engeltjes finds in the long phrases of the Vivaldi.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
