Today's new releases include Shostakovich's Symphonies Nos. 2 and 5 from John Storgårds and the BBC Philharmonic on Chandos, Fauré from Pascal Rogé and Elena Font on Decca, a prayerful operatic recital from soprano Elsa Dreisig on Erato, and super-sized Benevoli masses from I Fagiolini and Robert Hollingworth on CORO.
The French pianist will celebrate his 75th birthday on 6th April, and marks the occasion with an album devoted to a composer who has occupied a central place in his repertoire since he was signed by Decca at the tender age of eighteen on the recommendation of his teacher Julius Katchen. Rogé’s first-ever recording of the complete Barcarolles is followed by the Dolly Suite, for which he is joined by his wife Elena Font (who recently partnered him in Poulenc for Onyx Classics).
Available Formats: CD, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
I Fagiolini complete their survey of large-scale sacred works by Orazio Benevoli (1605-72) with world premiere recordings of a pair of masses written for Rome, where the composer was choirmaster of the Cappella Giulia at St Peter's: the three-choir Missa Angelus Domini was composed for Easter, whilst the four-choir Missa Dum complerentur is based on a Pentecostal motet by Palestrina (included here alongside Grandi's Plorabo die ac nocte). The series has been hailed by Gramophone as 'sonic bliss...like Italian sunshine'.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Invocation
Elsa Dreisig (soprano), Orchestra e Coro dell' Teatro Carlo Felice di Genova, Massimo Zanetti
The Paris-born soprano's programme of operatic prayers and supplications includes 'Casta diva' from Bellini's Norma, the Song to the Moon from Dvořák’s Rusalka, 'Allmacht'ge Jungfrau!' from Wagner's Tannhäuser, Desdemona's 'Ave Maria' from Verdi's Otello, and rarities from Carolina Uccelli's Anna di Resburgo, Gounod’s Sapho and Mireille, and Bizet's Clovis et Clotilde.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 2 'To October'; Symphony No. 5
BBC Philharmonic, CBSO Chorus, John Storgårds
This sixth instalment of the Finnish conductor's Shostakovich cycle couples one of the composer's best-known works with a rarely-performed early composition: premiered in Leningrad in 1927 and originally titled ‘Symphonic Dedication to October’, Symphony No. 2 was commissioned by the Propaganda Department of the Soviet State Music Publishing House to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the October Revolution. Previous volumes in the series have been praised for the 'cleanly articulated and pristine sound' (BBC Music Magazine), 'expansive, widescreen approach' (Gramophone), and sense of 'inner detail' (MusicWeb International).
Available Formats: SACD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Composed around a decade before the mighty Mass in B minor, Bach's four shorter Kyrie–Gloria Masses repurpose music from some of his finest sacred cantatas, including Alles nur nach Gottes Willen, Warum betrübst du dich, mein Herz?, and Gott, der Herr, ist Sonn und Schild. Willens's account of the St Mark Passion with the same forces was welcomed by BBC Music Magazine for its 'agreeably soft-grained intimacy' and 'clear bright sound' (Early Music Review).
Available Formats: 2 CDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
The Finnish early keyboard specialist plays three different instruments for this account of Book One of The Well-Tempered Clavier: a Christian Vater harpsichord from 1738, a Christoph Friedrich Schmahl clavichord from circa 1800, and a Johann Friedrich Wenthin organ from 1783. In the February issue of Gramophone, Philip Kennicott noted that 'the harpsichord is a particular delight...Like Häkkinen's performances, its tonal palette is a curious mix of the sprightly and austere'.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Born in Dresden in 1870, Büttner spent much of his early career working as a dance-band musician, music critic for the Socialist press and director of working men's choirs and ensembles. His own music enjoyed some time in the spotlight after Arthur Nikisch premiered his Symphony No. 3 in 1915, but his political affiliations and marriage to a Jewish journalist led to his ostracism under the Nazi regime.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Recorded live at the Dutch premiere performances, this album brings together two contemporary cello concertos: Anna Clyne's Rumi-inspired DANCE (2019) and Osvaldo Golijov’s Azul (2006), which draws on influences from Baroque music to Piazzolla and is scored for a vast orchestra including hyper-accordion, celeste, waterphone, finger-cymbals and goat’s nail. Golijov remarks that 'Maja understands Azul better than I understand it myself', whilst Clyne enthuses that the Serbian cellist 'captures the emotional and technical breadth of the music with such conviction'.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Born in the northern Spanish town of Alfaro in the mid-1550s, Garro spent much of his career in Lisbon, where he served as Master of the Royal Chapel for three decades. Though some of his manuscripts were lost in the fire which destroyed the Library of John IV during the Lisbon earthquake of 1755, partbooks survive for significant works including the Missa Maria Magdalena, Missa Saeculorum, 'Asperges me' and 'Vidi aquam' featured on this recording.
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Wagner: Tristan und Isolde (Blu-ray)
Klaus Florian Vogt (Tristan), Camilla Nylund (Isolde), Tanja Ariane Baumgartner (Brangaene), Martin Gantner (Kurwenal), Georg Zeppenfeld (King Mark) Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, Staatsopernchor Dresden, Christian Thielemann, Marco Arturo Marelli
Filmed in Dresden in 2024, this production marked Vogt's debut as Tristan, which was applauded by Operamagazin for his 'natural phrasing and clear diction'; BachTrack enthused that he and Nylund 'both surpassed all vocal and interpretative expectations, perfectly embracing Thielemann's poetic approach to Wagner's work.'
Available Format: Blu-ray
