Today's new releases include Debussy and Messiaen from Magdalena Kožená and Mitsuko Uchida on Pentatone, Sibelius's Symphony No. 5 and works for violin and orchestra from Nicholas Collon and Christian Tetzlaff with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra on Ondine, the final instalment of Angela Hewitt's Mozart sonatas series on Hyperion, and Haydn's 'Russian' quartets from the Chiaroscuro Quartet on BIS.
Joseph Haydn: 'Russian' Quartets
Chiaroscuro Quartet
The Chiaroscuros complete their survey of Haydn's Op. 33 quartets with Nos. 4, 5 and 6 - dubbed the 'Russian' quartets because they were dedicated to Catherine the Great's son Grand Duke Paul (who would later become Tsar). Released in 2023, the first volume impressed Gramophone with its 'crisp, earthy clarity and lively, virtuoso sparkle', whilst The Strad declared that 'the Chiaroscuro players are bang in tune with Haydn and bang in tune, to an uncanny degree, with each other.'
Available Format: SACD
Sibelius: Symphony No. 5 and works for violin and orchestra
Christian Tetzlaff (violin), Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Nicholas Collon
The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and their Chief Conductor continue their Sibelius series with a set of works which were written during or shortly before World War I: Symphony No. 5, the Two Serenades and Two Serious Melodies for violin and orchestra, and the incidental music for August Strindberg’s 1901 play Swanwhite. Tetzlaff has a distinguished Sibelius discography already under his belt, including a Gramophone Award-nominated recording of the Violin Concerto with Robin Ticciati and Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Mozart: Piano Sonatas Vol. 3
Angela Hewitt (piano)
This is the final instalment of Hewitt's Mozart sonatas series as well as her fiftieth release on Hyperion; her relationship with the label began in 1994, with a recording of JS Bach's Inventions. The programme includes the Fantasia in C minor K475, Piano Sonatas Nos. 14-18, and the Variations on ‘Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman'. Reviewing the previous volume in late 2023, Gramophone declared that 'If you want Mozart from an Apollonian vantage point, with spotless surfaces and impeccable proportions, Hewitt is your ideal pianist.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
L'extase: Debussy & Messiaen
Magdalena Kožená (mezzo), Mitsuko Uchida (piano)
Although Kožená and Uchida have been regular recital-partners for almost two decades, this is their first recording together, made at Aldeburgh last spring; the programme comprises Debussy's Trois chansons de Bilitis, Cinq poèmes de Baudelaire and Ariettes Oubliées (which Kožená has previously recorded in Brett Dean's orchestrations), plus selections from Messiaen's ecstatic Poèmes pour Mi.
Read our interview with Magdalena Kožená about the project.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Ellis Island
Julia Hamos (piano)
Taking its title from a song by Meredith Monk, Hamos's debut solo album celebrates her American and Hungarian roots, and includes Kurtág's Klavierstücke Op. 3 and excerpts from Játékok, Bartók's Hungarian Peasant Songs and Six Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm, Ligeti's 'Fanfares' Étude, and Charles Mingus's Myself When I Am Real. Hamos's family has direct links with two of the featured composers: her ancestors hail from the same area of Transylvania as Kurtág, and her maternal grandfather knew Ligeti as a child.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Nei Giardini d'Amore
Carlo Vistoli, Hugh Cutting (countertenors), Les Arts Florissants, William Christie
This recital of Baroque arias for two altos received four stars in The Times this week for the 'vigorous level of dramatic characterisation and technical finesse' on display from Vistoli and Cutting (who recently became the first-ever countertenor to win the Kathleen Ferrier Award and to be named as a BBC New Generation Artist). The programme includes Caldara's cantata Medea in Corinto, Handel's Caro autor di mia doglia, Bononcini's Sempre piango, and music by Steffani, Fontani, Monteverdi and Vivaldi.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Horizons: French Mélodies
Kitty Whately (mezzo), Edwige Herchenroder (piano)
This programme of mélodies by composers who were based in Paris at the turn of the twentieth century includes world premiere recordings of three songs by Hedwige Chrétien (a pupil of Ernest Guiraud) and Marguerite Canal’s song-cycle La flûte de jade, which sets French translations of ancient Chinese poetry. The album also features settings from the same collection by Armande de Polignac, Chansons de Bilitis by Claude Debussy and Rita Strohl, and songs by Henri Duparc and Lili Boulanger.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Orlandus Lassus: The Alchemist, Vol. 2
Magnificat, Philip Cave
This second part of Magnificat's Lassus triptych exploring the composer's Magnificats based on motets, including works on Josquin's 'Praeter rerum seriem' and 'Benedicta es, coelorum regina', Giaches de Wert's 'Omnis homo primum', and Lassus's own 'Deus in adiutorium meum', 'Memor esto verbi tui' and 'Recordare Jesu pie'. Volume One was shortlisted for a Gramophone Award last year, and was applauded by American Record Guide for the 'technical polish and musical coherence' on display.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
The Krasiński Codex
Ensemble Peregrina, Ensemble Dragma, Agnieszka Budzińska-Bennett
An Editor's Choice in the March issue of Gramophone, this album presents a wide selection of music from a fifteenth-century manuscript which was copied at the Royal Polish Court in Cracow, including works by Nicholas of Radom, Johannes Ciconia, Estienne Grossin, and Zacara da Teramo. The collection is divided into three chapters: 'Marian Songs from Medieval Cracow', 'Songs for Cracow and the Royal House', and 'European Masters and Local Compositions'.
Available Formats: 3 CDs, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
William Mundy: Vox Patris Caelestis
Choir of New College Oxford, Robert Quinney
Born into a musical family around 1529, Mundy spent almost three decades as a member of the Chapel Royal under Elizabeth I, although his career also encompassed the latter part of Henry VIII's life and the reigns of Edward V and Mary I. The album takes its title from an antiphon on the Assumption of the Virgin Mary which is thought to have been written whilst Mary was on the throne. The programme also includes 'A solis ortus cardine', 'Videte miraculum', 'Sive vigilem', a setting of the Magnificat, and 'O Lord, the Maker of All Thing'.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Be Still, My Soul
Choir of Magdalen College Oxford, Mark Williams
Recorded with the Herman Eule organ which was installed at the college in 2023, this collection of favourite hymns includes 'Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer, 'How Shall I Sing That Majesty', 'The King Of Love My Shepherd Is', 'Be Still, My Soul' (based on a melody from Sibelius's Finlandia), and 'Love Divine, All Love Excelling'. A solo recital showcasing the new instrument from former Assistant Organist Alexander Pott will be released on Convivium in September.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Rossini: Adina (Blu-ray)
Lisette Oropesa (Adina), Vito Priante Califo), Levy Sekgapane (Selimo), Matteo Macchioni (Ali), Davide Giangregorio (Mustafà); Orchestra Sinfonica G. Rossini, Coro Del Teatro Della Fortuna M. Agostini, Diego Matheuz, Rosetta Cucchi
Premiered in Lisbon in 1826 and set in Baghdad, this one-act farsa is a 'rescue opera' in the tradition of Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Beethoven's Fidelio. This rare staging was filmed at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro in 2018, when BachTrack praised Oropesa's 'sparkling and perfectly supported' coloratura in the title-role, and South African tenor Sekgapane's 'strong and confident' high notes as her lover Selim.
Available Format: Blu-ray
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen
Tomasz Konieczny (Wotan/Der Wanderer), Camilla Nylund (Brünnhilde), Klaus Florian Vogt (Siegfried), Daniela Köhler (Sieglinde), Eric Cutler (Siegmund), Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke (Mime), Christopher Purves (Alberich); Philharmonia Zürich, Gianandrea Noseda, Andreas Homoki
This production by Andreas Homoki was the Opernhaus Zürich's first complete staging of The Ring in over twenty years. Wagner composed significant portions of the cycle whilst staying in Switzerland under the patronage of Ludwig II of Bavaria, and Homoki spoke of a desire to 'return [the work' to its origins' - The Guardian applauded his 'clear and compelling' vision and noted that 'Homoki trusts Wagner more than some modern directors do: he has staged a storyteller’s Ring.'
Available Format: 4 Blu-rays
