New Release Round-up,
New Release Round-Up - 5th August 2022
Today's new releases include Bach harpsichord concertos from Masato Suzuki and Bach Collegium Japan, Allan Pettersson’s Symphony No.15 and Viola Concerto from the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra and Christian Lindberg, the Emperor Quartet's complete Britten recordings, and Vaughan Williams's music for brass from the Tredegar Town Band.
Pettersson: Symphony No. 15 & Viola Concerto
Ellen Nisbeth (viola), Norrkoping Symphony Orchestra, Christian Lindberg
Lindberg embarked on his cycle of the Swedish composer's symphonies back in 2010, when he gave the world premiere of Symphony No. 1 in his own edition, prepared from Pettersson's manuscripts. This latest instalment brings together two works from opposite ends of Pettersson's composing life: the Symphony No. 15 (completed in 1978, just two years before his death) and the Fantaisie pour alto seul, written in the 1930s when Pettersson himself was poised to embark on a career as a professional violist. The Viola Concerto, premiered by Yuri Bashmet in 1988, completes the programme.
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
JS Bach: Concertos for Harpsichord & Strings, Vol. 2
Masato Suzuki (harpsichord), Bach Collegium Japan
This second instalment of harpsichord concertos by Masato Suzuki and BCJ focuses on works which Bach arranged from his earlier concertos for other instruments: BWV 1054 and 1058 (both adaptations of violin concertos written during his time in Cöthen), BWV 1055 (thought to have been conceived for oboe or viola d’amore), and BWV 1057, which sees the Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 transposed down a tone whilst retaining its original two recorders. Reviewing the first volume, BBC Music Magazine noted that 'Suzuki, with the lively and responsive partnership of the Bach Collegium Japan, provides invigorating performances'.
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
This 3-CD set brings together the Emperor's recordings of Britten’s complete published music for string quartet, made at Potton Hall in Suffolk between 2010 and 2014 and praised for the quartet's 'fabulously imagined range of colour' (Classic FM), 'mix of witty insouciance and technical accomplishment' (The Guardian) and 'outstanding' playing (International Record Review). As well as the three string quartets proper, the set includes the world premiere of the Miniature Suite, the Three Divertimenti, the Simple Symphony, the Quartettino, and the Phantasy for String Quintet in F minor.
Available Formats: 3 SACDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Wolf composed his sole major orchestral work (a symphonic poem inspired by Heinrich von Kleist's 1808 tragedy about the Amazon queen who falls in love with Achilles) in his mid-twenties, not long before dejectedly remarking to a friend that he was 'too cowardly to be a proper composer'; it's prefaced here by a selection of his Lieder on texts by Goethe, Mörike and Heyse, many of them orchestrated by the composer himself.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Born in Stockholm in 1831, Norman studied at the Leipzig Conservatory (where his acquaintances included Robert Schumann) and went on to conduct the first Stockholm performances of several Wagner operas. His Symphony No. 3 (composed in 1881 but premiered only after his death) is preceded here by the Concert Overture in E flat Major, the Funeral March 'To the Memory of August Söderman', and the Overture to Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The main work on this third instalment of Borowicz's survey of another Swedish symphonist (described by Gramophone as 'a charming, interesting and laudable series with some wonderful playing') is the Symphony No. 2 from 1900 - the first of his works to be published, Alfvén viewed it as his breakthrough composition. It's followed by the Swedish Rhapsody No. 3 ('Dalarapsodi'), from 1931.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Leo Blech: Complete Orchestral Works and Orchestral Songs
Sonja Gornik (soprano), Sinfonieorchester und Opernchor Aachen, Christopher Ward
A pupil of Engelbert Humperdinck, Blech composed a number of operas, songs and choral works alongside his career as an opera conductor (which saw him holding positions at major houses in Berlin, Vienna, Prague and Riga). This programme opens with the 1901 orchestral work Waldwanderung, and also includes selections from his numerous sets of Children's Songs, Von den Englein (for female chorus), Sommernacht (for mixed chorus), and the symphonic poem Die Nonne.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The main events on this programming celebrating Vaughan Williams's 150th birthday are three pieces for brass band - the Henry the Fifth Overture, Prelude on Three Welsh Hymns and Variations for Brass Band - plus Phillip Littlemore's brass band version of the Tuba Concerto. Also includes a number of shorter pieces such as 'The Truth From Above', Prelude on Rhosymedre', 'Seventeen Come Sunday' and 'My Bonny Boy' in arrangements by Littlemore and Paul Hindmarsh.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Acquired in 1534 by Hernando Columbus (son of Christopher), the Cancioniero de la Colombina manuscript is thought to have been compiled by one of the first viol ensembles in the Duchy of Medina-Sidonia, and features vocal and instrumental works by composers including Joan Ambrosio Dalza, Juan de Urrede, Juan de Triana, and Jacob Obrecht.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Described in this month's Gramophone as 'a blend of authenticity and sly anachronism, affection and irreverence...guarantee[ing] plenty of colour and entertainment along the way', the German early music ensemble's programme explores Monteverdi's foreshadowings of jazz and blues in pieces such as 'Zefiro torna', 'Damigella tutta bella', and even excerpts from some of the sacred works.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Katherine Cooper - Head of Editorial
