Schubert: Lieder
Philippe Jaroussky (countertenor), Jérôme Ducros (piano)
The French countertenor's all-Schubert recital focuses primarily on contemplative songs, including 'Litanei auf das Fest Allerseelen', 'Du bist die Ruh', 'Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt', 'An die Musik' and 'Nacht und Träume'. When the pair performed a similar programme at Wigmore Hall in early 2020, Opera Today praised Jaroussky's 'elegance, precision, mellifluous lyricism and sweet warmth of tone' and observed that 'if one occasionally missed the range of colour, variety of weight and tonal darkness with which a tenor or baritone might inject drama and tension, then Jaroussky’s exquisite phrasing and Ducros’ sensitivity were more than recompense'.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Yuletide Treats
Duo Pleyel
This festive recital from keyboardists Alexandra Nepomnyashchaya and Richard Egarr includes four-hand arrangements of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite, Johann Strauss I's Radetzky-Marsch, Johann Strauss II's An der schönen blauen Donau, 'For unto us a child is born' and the 'Hallelujah Chorus' from Handel's Messiah, and three movements from Liszt's Weihnachtsbaum. In a recent five-star review, BBC Music Magazine enthused that 'every one of the little musical vignettes is delectable.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Bruckner: Piano Works
Mari Kodama (piano)
Kodama marks the bicentenary of Bruckner's birth with a collection of charming miniatures which reveal 'a different Brucker than the one who comes across to us in stories, or in the concert halls through his monumental works'; most of the works here were not intended for publication, and a significant number were taken from a sketchbook which he compiled during his studies with Otto Kitzler in 1862. The programme included waltzes, a polka, a mazurka, 'Stille Betrachtung an einem Herbstabend' ('Quiet Meditation on an Autumn Evening'), and the Vier Lancier-Quadrille on themes from Lortzing's Der Wildschütz and Zar und Zimmermann.
Available Formats: SACD, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Crossroads
Ksenija Sidorova (accordion), Sinfonietta Rīga, Normunds Šnē
Following an album dedicated to Piazzolla, the Latvian accordionist's new project is devoted to JS Bach and some of the responses which his music inspired from living composers. Her programme opens with her own transcription of the Concerto For Two Violins (Sidorova comments that 'I don't think a version for an instrument with two keyboards will surprise anyone!'), and also includes Gabriela Montero's Beyond Bach, Sergey Akhunov's reflection on the Chaconne BWV1004, and Dobrinka Tabakova's Horizons.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Dancing Queen - Rameau meets ABBA
Asya Fateyeva (saxophone), Lautten Compagney, Wolfgang Katschner
Having explored some surprising connections between Purcell and The Beatles on their 2021 album Time Travel, Lautten Compagney Berlin and Asya Fateyeva mix excerpts from Les Indes Galantes, Hippolyte et Aricie and Les Boréades with songs including 'Waterloo', 'SOS', 'Take A Chance On Me' and 'Lay All Your Love On Me'; the final track blends the Tambourin from Les Fêtes d'Hébé with 'Money, Money' Money'.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Prokofiev, Rimsky-Korsakov & Tsfasman: Works for Piano and Orchestra
Zlata Chochieva (piano), BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Karl-Heinz Steffens
The Russian pianist's third album for Naïve offers a rare opportunity to hear Rimsky-Korsakov's sole piano concerto from 1883: dedicated to Franz Liszt, the single-movement piece is just fifteen minutes long and incorporates a Russian folk-song from a collection by Mily Balakirev. (The first performance was given at one of Balakirev's Free Music School concerts in St. Petersburg). It's followed here by Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 2 from 1912/13, and the Jazz Suite for piano and orchestra by Alexander Tsfasman, who gave the Russian premiere of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
JS Bach (arr. Robin O'Neill): Goldberg Variations
Philharmonia Orchestra, Robin O'Neill
The bassoonist and conductor Robin O'Neill found himself drawn to Glenn Gould's recordings of the Goldbergs during the lockdowns of 2020, and began work on this chamber arrangement shortly afterwards: some variations use the full complement of strings, flute, oboe/cor anglais and a pair of bassoons, whilst others are scored for smaller combinations of these instruments. The results were described in Gramophone as 'a joy of a listen: an entirely new, quietly bold creation that exudes intimate knowledge and love of its raw musical material and chosen instrumental forces'.
Available Format: SACD
Stravinsky: Chamber Works
Alexandra Heath (soprano), Juilliard School Ensemble, Royal Academy of Music, Barbara Hannigan
Hannigan directs students from the two distinguished institutions in an all-Stravinsky programme comprising Dumbarton Oaks, the Septet and Octet, Three Japanese Lyrics, Two Poems of Balmont, Three Little Songs (Recollections of my Childhood), the Concertino for Twelve Instruments, and Ragtime for Eleven Instruments. Reviewing the album earlier this month, Gramophone observed that 'Hannigan and her players breathe with the music, not overworking the texture but keeping it light and airy', whilst The Guardian applauded their 'nicely abrasive edge' in Dumbarton Oaks.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
A Gift For Your Garden
Ensemble Hesperi
Telemann developed a keen interest in botany in his sixties, often writing to friends abroad with requests for specimens to cultivate in his Hamburg garden: Handel (himself an enthusiastic gardener) and Graun were among those who obliged, and both are represented here by a trio sonata. The album also includes one of Telemann's 'Paris' quartets and a fantasia for solo recorder, plus ‘The Hyacinth’, ‘The Anemone’ and ‘The Tulip’ from Scottish composer James Oswald's Airs For Spring.
Available Format: SACD
Howells & Wood: String Quartets
Madeleine Mitchell (violin/director), London Chamber Ensemble
The two major works on this album are Herbert Howells's String Quartet No. 3 'In Gloucestershire' (given here in its recently rediscovered early version from c.1920) and Charles Wood's String Quartet No. 6 in D, which is thought to have been composed during World War One and incorporates Irish laments, jigs and folk-tunes. In between the two quartets are Mitchell's own arrangements of 'Luchinushka' and the 'Chosen Tune' from the Three Pieces for Violin and Piano Op. 38 - the first is based on a Russian folk-song, and the second (dedicated to the composer's future wife Dorothy) is named after a hill in Gloucestershire.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Bach - Abel - Hume
Anja Lechner (cello)
Aside from the first two of JS Bach's Cello Suites (which sit at the heart of this album), most of the works here were originally conceived for viola da gamba and are given here in Lechner's own arrangements. Highlights include an Adagio and Arpeggio by Carl Friedrich Abel, and numerous short works by Scottish composer, violist and soldier Tobias Hume: 'A Question' and 'An Answer', 'Hit it in the Middle', 'Touch me lightly' and 'Tom and Mistresse Fine'.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
La Naissance de Versailles
Consort Musica Vera, Chœur de l'Opéra Royal, Chœur de la Maîtrise du CRR de Paris, Jean-Baptiste Nicolas
This project assembles a hypothetical programme of music which might have been heard at a consecration ceremony for the palace, including a mass by Nicolas Formé, motets by Guillaume Bouzignac and Eustache du Caurroy, a Magnificat by Jean Titelouze, and fanfares and dances by François-André Philidor.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Donizetti: Chiara e Serafina
Pietro Spagnoli (Don Meschino), Fan Zhou (Serafina), Greta Doveri (Chiara), Orchestra Gli Originali, Coro dell'Accademia Teatro alla Scala, Sesto Quatrini
Composed in 1822, the piratical opera Chiara e Serafina was Donizetti's first commission for La Scala, and ended up being something of a flop owing to factors beyond the composer's control: the librettist Felice Romani delivered the text so late in the day that Donizetti was left with under a fortnight to write the score, and a high-profile treason-trial in Milan had a negative impact on the box-office. This recording was made live at the Donizetti Opera Festival in 2022, when BachTrack opined that 'it will probably not find a place in the upcoming seasons, due to the plot's shortcomings, but the music does have some gems of beauty, which certainly make this a worthwhile endeavour'.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
