Today's new releases include Barber's Vanessa from the National Symphony Orchestra and Gianandrea Noseda with soloists including Nicole Heaston, J'Nai Bridges, Matthew Polenzani and Thomas Hampson, a new recording of Dvořák's ninth symphony from Lahav Shani and the Rotterdam Philharmonic that's preceded by a Wagenaar tone-poem, Aapo Häkkinen's tasteful performance of Book 1 of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier variously using a modest harpsichord, a clavichord and a chamber organ, and an intriguing double handful of absolutely tiny Schubertian jewels from Rudolf Buchbinder.
Barber: Vanessa
Nicole Heaston (Vanessa), J'Nai Bridges (Erika), Matthew Polenzani (Anatol), Susan Graham (The Old Baroness), Thomas Hampson (The Old Doctor), National Symphony Orchestra, Gianandrea Noseda
Barber's Gothic-tinged best-known opera receives a turbulent new recording - captured live in concert. Noseda uses Barber's revised, tightened-up version in three acts. Giorgio Koukl of earrelevant.net was particularly impressed with Polenzani's playboy Anatol and Bridges' vulnerably complex Erika, concluding that the recording 'deserves a special recommendation, certainly for the magnificent voices, but also for the meticulous capture of the orchestral sound in all its details.'
Available Formats: 2 SACDs, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 'From The New World'
Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Lahav Shani
Shani's symphonic recordings move into Bohemian territory with Dvořák's ever-popular Ninth Symphony; reflecting on his 2023 Bruckner 7, Gramophone wrote "This is as fine a recorded account … as I’ve heard for some time, both in terms of Lahav Shani’s conception of the music and its realisation on the orchestra." Complementing Dvořák's paean to the New World is a rarely-heard, rather Straussian tone-poem by Johan Wagenaar based on the story of Cyrano de Bergerac.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Bach: Das Wohltemperierte Clavier I
Aapo Häkkinen (early keyboard instruments)
Contrasting with some other harpsichord players (who I will diplomatically not name...), Häkkinen takes a delightfully restrained approach here. Flitting between a simple harpsichord, a clavichord and a chamber organ, he eschews showy registrations in favour of allowing what Gramophone described as the 'precise, silvery tone' to speak for itself. The market for recordings of these Preludes and Fugues is unbelievably crowded and has been for decades, but this is an account with much to recommend it. To pick just one example, the D flat major Fugue is particularly enjoyable for how relaxed the performance is.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Schubert: Treasures
Rudolf Buchbinder (piano)
Not rediscovered childhood recordings, despite the cover art! Buchbinder marks his eightieth birthday by venturing into the hidden depths that these apparently simple works conceal - cycles of tiny miniatures that contain more than they first appear to. A comparison to Lieder suggests itself, with a seemingly naive format transformed into a vehicle for self-expression. Almost every track on this album is under a minute long - Schubert the miniaturist is very much to the fore.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
The Deep Has Always Known Me
Brandon Patrick George (flute), Bryan Wagorn (piano)
Inspired by the various legends of the water-nymph Undine, this duo recital draws together themes of love and longing alongside an interest in nature, particularly - of course - water. The centrepiece is Reinecke's substantial flute sonata explicitly named for the 'Undine' story, with works by Still, Price, Lili Boulanger and Schubert rounding out the programme. Brandon Patrick George's rich tone in the lower register is especially enjoyable - bringing to life the wordless renditions of the five Price songs.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
In Plain Sight
Joanna Kacperek (piano)
Focusing on female composers, this solo recital from Kacperek aims to broaden the palate of classical listeners - with relatively well-known names such as Louise Farrenc and Cécile Chaminade sitting alongside composers still relatively overlooked. Works by Marianne Martines (an influential Vienna-based contemporary of Haydn) and Ingeborg Bronsart von Schellendorf (a Finnish-Swedish, and later Germany-based, Romantic in the Lisztian tradition, though also acclaimed in her lifetime for her operas) are particularly of note.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Polish Nostalgia
Cyprien Katsaris (piano)
Interbellum Poland has provided Cyprien Katsaris with a rich vein of audience-pleasing pieces with which to conclude recitals - so a recording capturing some of them is hardly unexpected. The fruits of a considerable amount of work hunting down authoritative copies of scores, this album shines a light on a nostalgic era in Polish musical history. Kamila Stępień-Kutera of the Chopin Institute recommends 'listening to this album while strolling through Warsaw's Old Town', but it's a wonderful listening experience even if you can't manage that level of immersion.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Elements
Huw Wiggin (saxophone), Oliver Wass (harp)
A calling-card for the unorthodox combination of saxophone and harp - mixing arrangements of Baroque favourites with new commissions from Yshani Perinpanayagam, Laura Bowler and others - this recital draws on the idea of the four elements of classical thinking - Earth, Air, Fire and Water. A particularly fun track, straddling these categories, is Bowler's volatile Caesium, playing with the concept of an element that bursts into flames or outright explodes on contact with air or water.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Music For These Troubled Times
Dmytro Kokoshynskyy (harpsichord)
'These times' have been troubled for quite a while now, but albums reflecting on our turbulent global era continue to draw rich and resonant parallels with the responses of English composers to the upheavals of the Civil War. This recital from Ukrainian keyboardist Dmytro Kokoshynskyy, drawing on his experience of over four years of war right on his doorstep, makes that resemblance especially clear. Maxim Shalygin's KHORA, a meditative contemporary work that inhabits the same kind of soundworld as that of Byrd, Bull and the English School, fits seamlessly into the programme.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
