harmonia mundi distribution • usa new releases May 2014

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SCHUBERT The Late Piano Sonatas

PAUL LEWIS

CLASSICALAccent Page3AliaVox Page5APO Page6Channel Page7Delphian Page7Fremeaux Page8harmoniamundi Page9Helicon Page13Hyperion Page14LSOLive Page19Onyx Page20OrangeMountain Page20PhilharmoniaBaroque Page21Praga Page22Tahra Page23Testament Page24Wergo Page25

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NEWS & HIGHLIGHTSSTREET DATE: MAY 13, 2014

Piano music is in the spotlight this month. Gramophone Award-winning pianist Paul Lewis returns to Schubert with a third volume of Piano Sonatas for harmonia mundi, this time focusing on the composer’s late works in the genre (p.9). Stephen Hough, “The thinking man’s virtuoso,” presents In the Night – the latest in his ongoing series of themed recital albums for Hyperion (p.15). Following on the success of his critically acclaimed recordings of C.P.E Bach, Danny Driver turns to the music of Handel, with an album of the Eight Great Suites, also on Hyperion (p.16). Lute virtuoso Paul O’Dette is featured in a brand new recording highlighting the artist’s favorite works by John Dowland (p.12). Vocal music also features prominently in our list of priorities. In tribute to the late, great soprano Montserrat Figueras, Alia Vox offers a second volume of The Voice of Emotion, this time including a bonus DVD (p.5). Mezzo-soprano Bernarda Fink teams up with pianist Anthony Spiri and the Gustav Mahler-Ensemble for an album of Mahler songs on harmonia mundi (p.11). Conductor Valery Gergiev offers his second release of music of Johannes Brahms for LSO Live, this time featuring the powerful German Requiem (p.19). And for baroque opera fans, Nicholas McGegan and the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra present an album of excerpts from Handel’s Teseo (p.21).

AccentAccords-CroisésActes SudAd VitamAgogiqueAlbionAlia VoxAmbronayApartéAPOAPRArchie BallArmideAsphalt TangoBlack SaintBonsaïChannel ClassicsChant du MondeClassic RecordsContre-JourDaquiDawn of FreedomDelphianDiscographDog My CatDoumtakDucaleDuttonEast Meets WestEloquentiaFirst HandFRA MusicaFrémeauxGimellGloriae Dei CantoresGramercy Park Musicharmonia mundiHeliconHowe RecordsHyperionInstitut du Monde ArabeJazz Village

King’s CollegeLa Dolce VoltaLa MúsicaLes Arts FlorissantsLong DistanceLoreleyLSO LiveLusafricaMariinskyMCO RecordsMélisandeMelisseMirareM’ister ProductionsMN RecordsOcoraOnyx ClassicsOpella NovaOpera RaraOrange MountainOtáParadizoParatyPenguin CafePhilharmonia BaroquePonderosaPragaRadio FranceRCOCRetrospective RevivalSFS MediaSignatureSmallsLIVESound GrammarSpirit of AmericaTahraTestamentVan CliburnWahooWergoWorld VillageYsayë

Wholesale & RetailTel:(800)634-0674x1516Fax:(818)333-1502Email:[email protected]

Press & RadioTel:(800)634-0674x1509Email:[email protected]

IN THE PRESS

COMING NEXT MONTH

“Overwhelming, fascinating.”—THE NEW YORK TIMES

“A bristling, fiery interpretation” —THE NEW YORK TIMES

“Ripe, affecting and utterly beautiful.”—SAN FRANCISCOCHRONICLE

Lucky Peterson débuts on Jazz VillageLucky Peterson is considered one of the preeminent blues artists of the modern era. Not just a killer guitarist and a wizard of the keyboard, he’s also a first-rate vocalist. His début on Jazz Village, The Son of a Bluesman, pays tribute to his father, James Peterson, who owned a blues club in Buffalo called The Governor’s Inn where all the greats used to play. Recorded in Dallas, The Son of a Bluesman mixes originals and inspired covers in a poetic blend of darkness and light, all supported by a irrepressible groove.

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IMPORTThere was a rumor that the Passacalli della Vita – a genuine hit in the early music scene – was not an original composition from the 17th century at all, but the work of a present-day musician. Lutenist and conductor Michael Dücker obtained a copy of the printed edition containing the song and discovered that not only was the aria original, there were other musical treasures in the collection as well. In it, 17th Century organist Francesco Ratis compiled numerous popular songs and provided them with spiritual texts. The aim was to convert listeners with catchy melodies set to colloquial texts, thereby encouraging piety. The most exciting and interesting work in the collection is a type of miniature oratorio featuring angels and demons that confront personified figures such as the soul, the world, the conscience and the body. Through richly-colored instrumentation, the ensemble Nuovo Aspetto is able to bring out the various characters in a particularly vivid manner.

RATIS Dialoghi con l’Angelo – Dramatic Cantatas & Popular Songs

Chiyuki Okamura (soprano), Cornelia Samuelis (soprano), Franz Vitzthum (countertenor), Christian Dietz (tenor), Yorck Felix Speer (bass)Nuovo Aspetto, Michael DückerAccent • ACC 24290

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Also availableReutter: Arie & SinfonieAccent • ACC 24275 (4015023242753)“The music here is attractive... it’s well worth hearing...”—MUSIC WEB INTERNATIONAL

accent

Price Code: A22 (Suggested Retail Price: $22.98)

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MAY 2014CLASSICAL

IMPORT William Dongois is one of the best-known cornettists of our time. On this recording, together with the ensemble Le Concert Brisé, he presents a portrait of the composer Antonio Bertali, who hailed from Verona and was active

at the Habsburg court in Vienna starting at the age of 20. He composed in the stylus fantasticus, which represents a synthesis of the Italian and Austrian styles. Today, Bertali’s great Chaconne for solo violin (also recorded here) belongs to the standard baroque repertoire, but Dongois and his ensemble also demonstrate in the lesser-known works how variegated and enticing this music is.

IMPORTMore or less “invented” in Spain in the mid-17th century, it did not take long for the guitar to become popular throughout Europe. On this recording, guitarist Pierre Pitzl, on his first solo CD for Accent, explores this development in

exemplary fashion, using the examples of three musical centers and composers active there. The image resulting from this is a highly varied one: only a strummed instrument in the beginning, the guitar soon developed a highly differentiated technique consisting of both strumming and plucking. In this way, a new style of composition and sound was created hand in hand with a previously unheard-of, bold treatment of dissonances.

BERTALI Sonatas

Le Concert Brisé, William DongoisAccent • ACC 24260

Rome • Paris • MadridEuropean Baroque Guitar Music

Pierre Pitzl (guitar)Accent • ACC 24287

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MAY 2014CLASSICAL

IMPORTSACD Hybrid/ Stereo & Multi-channel/ DSDBonus DVD: 55 minutes, Region 0, PAL FormatSoprano Montserrat Figueras, a genuine and beloved superstar of the early music world, passed away on November 23rd, 2011. A few months later, Jordi Savall released a tribute album to his wife entitled The Voice of Emotion. This specially-priced compilation, which featured gems from the Naive and Alia Vox catalogs, was a huge success. Alia Vox now presents a second volume, which further explores the legacy of this great artist. Fourteen tracks of audio are combined with a 55-minute DVD portrait (offered on two DVDs to allow for multi-language subtitles). Housed in a beautiful CD-book containing rich illustrations and scholarly notes, this set is both a superb introduction to Figueras’s talents to those unfamiliar with her and a perfect way for fans to rediscover and remember this legendary musician.

The Voice of Emotion II

Montserrat Figueras (soprano), Jordi SavallAlia Vox • AVDVD 9904

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Also availableThe Voice of Emotion IAlia Vox • AVSA 9889 (7619986398891)“She was simply unique and has no direct successors or parallels.”—AMERICAN RECORD GUDE

alia vox

Price Code: A26 (2 CDs+Bonus DVD,

Suggested Retail Price: $26.98)

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MAY 2014CLASSICAL

“Figueras style of singing early music was at once steeped in historical sources and

animated by freewheeling personal expression; she had a phenomenal ability to make ancient

song come alive in the present.”—ALEX ROSS

[PRIORITY RELEASE]

DOMESTICSACD Hybrid/ Stereo & Three-channel/ DSDThrough the decade following 1953, RCA Victor made a wondrous and substantial body of recordings that have come to be identified with their early release label, Living Stereo. At the beginning of the widespread adoption of stereo audio in the home, Living Stereo offered a superb range of quality music and performances in high quality sound. An impressive number of these records offer music, performances and audio quality that are still top choices and in many cases, still definitive. In both its recording and marketing philosophies, Living Stereo influenced many of the recordings made since. Although available on CD since the early 90s, this marks the first time that the SACD remastering experts at Analogue Productions have worked their magic on RCA’s legendary recordings. The début releases include two recordings that remain favorites of critics everywhere. Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony are featured in Respighi’s tone poems Pines of Rome and Fountains of Rome and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade – widely considered to be the jewel in the RCA Living Stereo crown.

RESPIGHI Pines of Rome, Fountains of Rome

Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Fritz ReinerAPO • CAPC 2436 SA

RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Scheherazade

Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Fritz ReinerAPO • CAPC 2446 SA

Hk53088c@$#^^?K Hk53088c@$$^^\R

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MAY 2014CLASSICAL

IMPORTIt has been said that the hope for western music can be found in the east. The recent spate of Asian superstar musicians offers some support for that position, and with Dances of the Dolls, the Channel Classics début album by 9-year-old

Serena Wang, the cycle continues. Wang began her piano studies at age 4. Her talents developed quickly, and only six years later she became the youngest-ever prize winner of Berkeley University’s Bach Piano Competition. It was to be the first in a string of prizes, and the beginning of what promises to be an impressive career. This recording, appropriately, is a disc of music for children, played by a child. It features works by Mozart, Poulenc, Shostakovich and works by Chinese composers including Tan Dun.

IMPORT In a golden age of organ-building, Merton College’s new Dobson instrument stands out as exceptional. It is only the third American-built organ sent to the UK since the Second World War, a bold commissioning choice made by

Benjamin Nicholas, the Director of Music at Merton College. Designed to accompany the chapel’s daily choral services and to honor the chapel’s ancient architecture, the instrument also had to be equipped to perform a large part of the solo repertoire. Ranging from Stanley to Messiaen, no inquisitive listener will feel short-changed by the variety and virtuosity on display here. In his solo début, Nicholas combines flair and intelligence as he presents the stunning instrument he helped mastermind.

Dances of the Dolls

Serena Wang (piano)Channel Classics • CCS 81014

The Merton Organ Works by Franck, Stanley, Messiaen, Bach, Dupré and Vierne

Benjamin Nicholas (organ)Delphian • DCD 34142

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channel classics



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MAY 2014CLASSICALdelphian

IMPORT Winner of the coveted Prix de Rome, Alfred Desenclos remains an almost unknown figure in twentieth-century music. His Requiem Mass setting dates from 1963. Incorporating influences from Gregorian chant as well as rich harmonies

based on added-note chords, this piece is a revelation. Also featured on this recording by David Trendell and the Choir of King’s College, London, are works by Villette and Poulenc, whose return to Catholicism in 1936 initiated a line of pieces that represent some of the most significant religious choral music of the twentieth century.

IMPORT 180 Minutes; Region 0; Stereo; 4:3 Aspect; French with English SubtitlesConstance Frei, a musicologist at the University of Geneva and herself a violinist and documentary-filmmaker, created this three-hour video-class on the violin in 17th century

Italy. Her program takes the form of an interactive chart allowing us to navigate through an absorbing didactic work divided into six parts, each subdivided into different chapters. This DVD groups together historical and musicological analyses, musical performance practices, studies related to instrument-making, various scores, interviews and concerts. The DVD also features the participation of Stefano Montanari, a violin virtuoso and renowned baroque violin expert, who has conducted numerous operas at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice and at the Opera in Lyon.

DESENCLOS Messe de Requiem, Salve Regina, Nos autemPOULENC Litanies à la vierge noireVILLETTE O sacrum convivium, Hymne à la Vierge, Attende Domine

Choir of King’s College London, David TrendellDelphian • DCD 34136

The Violin in Italy 1600-1700A Video Course by Constance Frei

Stefano Montanari (violin)Frémeaux • FA 4025

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MAY 2014CLASSICAL

[PRIORITY RELEASE]

IMPORT Selections on this set Available as HMU 901800 (794881705924)British pianist Paul Lewis’s auspicious 2001 harmonia mundi début release marked the beginning of his fascination with the music of Franz Schubert. Thirteen years later, now hailed as “the finest Schubert interpreter of his generation” (Gramophone), Lewis offers this two-disc collection, the final installment of his three-part Schubert series, which presents newly recorded interpretations of sonatas D784 and D958 paired with his 2002 recording of sonatas D959 and D960. The ‘late’ works of Schubert hold a special place in Lewis’s heart. In a recent interview he said, “There is no precedent in his music for what the language becomes – that sense of austerity, sparseness, hopelessness, terror even! I think he suddenly had an acute awareness of his own mortality.”

SCHUBERT The Late Piano Sonatas Piano Sonatas D784, D958, D959 & D960

Paul Lewis (piano)harmonia mundi • HMC 902165

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Also availableSchubert: Piano Sonatas D840, 850 & 894harmonia mundi • HMC 902115 (3149020211526)“Superbly well played...”—THE GUARIDAN

Schubert: Piano Sonata D845harmonia mundi • HMC 902136 (3149020213629)“A revelation.”—BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE

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Price Code: A22 (2 CD Set, Suggested Retail Price: $22.98)

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MAY 2014CLASSICAL

LISTEN NOW

“Lewis’s Schubertian mastery undoubtedly commands the respect and attention of piano lovers.”

—CLASSICS TODAY

IN CONCERTAPRIL 17-19 Seattle, Wa - Benaroya Hall

May 1-3 Chicago, IL - Symphony Hall

IMPORT “At last, something genuinely new.” It was in these terms that Ferruccio Busoni greeted the publication in 1908 of the 14 Bagatelles, in which Béla Bartók conveyed the violent aesthetic impact of his discovery of authentic Hungarian peasant music. Over the next twenty years, up to the magisterial Piano Sonata of 1926, he indefatigably refined an innovative pianistic language – pungent, dissonant, percussive, with multiple new playing techniques – that was to influence the entire 20th century. A master of every style, from Haydn to Boulez by way of Chopin and Chabrier, Alain Planès stands revealed here as a Bartókian of the front rank.

BARTÓK Dance Suite, Hungarian Peasant Songs, Four Old Songs, Piano Sonata, Romanian Folk Dances, Bagatelles Op.6

Alain Planès (piano)harmonia mundi • HMC 902163

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Also available

“He plays ravishingly… Planès is a remarkable musician...”

—FANFARE

Chopin: Chopin chez Pleyelharmonia mundi • HMC 902052 (794881924721)

“A tour de force...”—AUDIOPHILE AUDITION

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MAY 2014CLASSICAL

[PRIORITY RELEASE]

IMPORT Can one really grasp the whole of Mahler’s symphonic output without knowing his songs? Not only do they extensively influence the first four symphonies (sometimes referred to as the ‘Wunderhorn symphonies’), they also encapsulate the fundamental principles of his reading of the world. On this recording, the superb mezzo-soprano Bernarda Fink explores Mahler’s song cycles from three different angles. It includes the traditional lieder format with piano, songs with orchestral accompaniment and Arnold Schoenberg’s illuminating chamber transcription of the Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen.

MAHLER Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (arr. for chamber ensemble by Arnold Schoenberg), Kindertotenlieder, Wo die schönen Trompeten blasen, Ich atme einen linden Duft, Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen

Bernarda Fink (mezzo-soprano), Anthony Spiri (piano), Gustav Mahler-Ensemble, Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich, Andrés Orozco-Estradaharmonia mundi • HMC 902173

D14opw0c@!&#@)s

Also available

“Fink’s singing is always warm, elegant and thoughtful, with sensitivity to the text and a very personal

point of view...”—OPERA NEWS

Canciones espanolasharmonia mundi • HMC 902133 (3149020213322)

“These performances are idiomatic and thrilling.” —THE GUARDIAN

harmonia m

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Price Code: A19(Suggested Retail Price: $19.98)

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MAY 2014CLASSICAL

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IN CONCERTMay 15-17 New York, NY - Avery Fischer Hall

[PRIORITY RELEASE]

IMPORTNow revered as a titan of the lute and one of today’s pre-eminent early music scholars, it may come as a surprise that Paul O’Dette began his musical career playing electric guitar in a rock band in Columbus, Ohio. After exploring guitar transcriptions of lute music he opted to focus solely on the lute and music of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. In addition to a catalog of more than 120 recordings, O’Dette has garnered five GRAMMY® nominations and numerous other awards. The music of John Dowland has long been one of O’Dette’s specialties. This new recording is an appendix to his mid 90s recordings of Dowland’s complete music for lute on harmonia mundi.

DOWLAND My Favorite Dowland

Paul O’Dette (lute)harmonia mundi • HMU 907515

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Also available

“One of today’s most gifted lutenists...”—GRAMOPHONE

Milano: Works for Luteharmonia mundi • HMU 907557 (093046755720)

“It’s a perfect match between composer and performer...”—FANFARE

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MAY 2014CLASSICAL

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IN CONCERTMay 28 New York, NY - MUSIC BEFORE 1800

BRUCKNER Symphony No.8

Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Zubin MehtaHelicon • 029674


Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin MehtaHelicon • 029675

H2o3y2uc(^&$@^s H2o3y2uc(^&%@%s

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MAY 2014CLASSICAL

IMPORTThese three new recordings from the Israel Philharmonic, released to support the orchestra’s recent US tour, demonstrate the group’s remarkable versatility and technical brilliance. In an especially colorful program, the extraordinary Italian maestro Gianandrea Noseda leads the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique and the overture to Borodin’s unfinished operatic masterpiece, Prince Igor. The music of Anton Bruckner has always been a favorite of conductor Zubin Mehta. However, for the Israel Philharmonic, performing Bruckner has been somewhat controversial, due to Bruckner’s unrequited status as a Nazi idol. Mehta leads the orchestra in thrilling performances of the Symphony No.8 (in the Nowak edition) and the Symphony No.7 in the 1944 edition by Robart Haas.

BERLIOZ Symphonie FantastiqueBORODIN Prince Igor Overture

Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Gianandrea NosedaHelicon • 029673

H2o3y2uc(^&#@&sPrice Code: A22

(Suggested Retail Price: $22.98)

IMPORTPianist Leslie Howard is joined here by three of his frequent string collaborators for two forgotten masterpieces of Russian nineteenth-century chamber music by pianist-composer

Anton Rubinstein. In his day, Rubinstein was a hugely important figure and the first international professional Russian composer. His influence is almost incal-culably vast on the succeeding generations of Russians who benefited from his grasp of Western musical forms allied to an excellence of craftsmanship and an easy melodic fluency.

IMPORT Hagai Shaham and Arnon Erez continue their exploration of the early twentieth-century violin repertoire, turning this time to Italy and works by Pizzetti and his pupil Castelnuovo-Tedesco. Included here are Pizzetti’s impressive

Violin Sonata and his Tre canti. Works by Castelnuovo-Tedesco include his Sonata quasi una fantasia and the Tre vocalizzi, originally written for voice and piano. They are heard here in an arrangement for violin and piano by Mario Corti, who saw the potential in these pieces for transcriptions that used violin techniques to imaginative effect.

RUBINSTEIN Piano Quartets

Rita Manning (violin), Morgan Goff (viola), Justin Pearson (cello), Leslie Howard (piano)Hyperion • CDA 68018

PIZZETTI Violin Sonata, Tre cantiCASTELNUOVO-TEDESCO Violin Sonata, Tre vocalizzi

Hagai Shaham (violin), Arnon Erez (piano)Hyperion • CDA 67869

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MAY 2014CLASSICAL

[PRIORITY RELEASE]

IMPORTThe latest recital album by Stephen Hough takes the listener on a journey through that most intense and absorbing of nineteenth-century obsessions, the night. The Romantic night was one without sleep, where experiences are mutated through darkness. Hough’s thoughtful programming creates a new aural sphere for some of the most celebrated piano works in the repertoire. Hough explores Schumann’s troubled, reeling In der Nacht, and continues with Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata and two Chopin Nocturnes. Also included is Stephen Hough’s own Piano Sonata No.2, subtitled Notturno Luminoso, which he describes as, “about a different kind of night… the brightness of a brash city in the hours of darkness; the loneliness of pre-morning; sleeplessness and the dull glow of the alarm clock’s unmoving hours; the irrational fears which are only darkened by the harsh glare of a suspended, dusty light bulb.”

In the NightBEETHOVEN Moonlight SonataCHOPIN Nocturnes Op.27SCHUMANN In der Nacht (Fantasiestück), CarnivalHOUGH Piano Sonata No.2 ‘Notturno luminoso’

Stephen Hough (piano)

Hyperion • CDA 67996

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Also available

“One of our most consistent, dazzling, and adventurous artists…”—ENJOY THE MUSIC

Brahms: Piano ConcertosHyperion • CDA 67961 (4571179612)“Stephen Hough will satisfy connoisseurs and initiates...”—AUDIOPHILE AUDITION

hyperion


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MAY 2014CLASSICAL

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IMPORTDanny Driver’s recordings of C.P.E. Bach’s keyboard works have been praised by critics as deeply stylish and revelatory accounts of eighteenth-century works on a modern piano. Now he turns to Handel’s Eight Great Suites, largely written when the composer was living in England. They are an inspired, idiosyncratic amalgam of Gallic courtly dances, Italian vocal lyricism, Teutonic counterpoint and robust English tunefulness. Whereas Bach’s keyboard suites follow broadly similar patterns, Handel’s are unpredictable, with no two suites alike in the number and ordering of their movements. There are fugues, arias with variations, Italian-style sonata movements and even a Passacaglia. Compared with the elaborate finish of Bach’s suites, Handel’s often give the impression of written-down improvisations. In the fantasia-like Preludes, especially, Handel hints at his own genius as extemporizer, while leaving plenty to the performer’s own imagination.

HANDEL The Eight Great Suites

Danny Driver (piano)Hyperion • CDA 68041

Aa34571c@*)$!\R

Also availableC.P.E. Bach: Keyboard Sonatas Vol.1Hyperion • CDA67786 (034571177861)“Impeccable pianism...”—INTERNATIONAL RECORD REVIEW

C.P.E. Bach: Keyboard Sonatas Vol.2Hyperion • CDA67908 (034571179087)“Unusual and fascinating...”—BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE

hyperion

Price Code: 2A19 (2 CD Set, Suggested Retail Price: $39.98)

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MAY 2014CLASSICAL

[PRIORITY RELEASE]

“It would be impossible to over-estimate Driver’s impeccable technique and musicianship… ”

—GRAMOPHONE

LISTEN NOW

IMPORTThis welcome release presents all of Kathryn Stott’s superb recordings of Fauré’s piano music, critically acclaimed as benchmark performances, at a special low price. It offers the listeners just under five hours of pure, unadulterated pleasure. Fauré’s major sets of piano works include thirteen nocturnes, thirteen barcarolles, six impromptus, and four valses-caprices. These sets were composed during several decades in his long career, and display the change in his style from uncomplicated youthful charm to a final enigmatic, but sometimes fiery introspection, by way of a turbulent period in his middle years. His other notable piano pieces, including shorter works, or collections composed or published as a set, are the Romances sans paroles, Thème et variations and Huit pièces brèves.

FAURÉ Complete Music for Piano

Kathryn Stott (piano)Hyperion • CDS 44601

Aa34571c!$^)!?K

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APRIL 2014CLASSICAL

“An extraordinarily interesting and incisive interpreter...”—THE WASHINGTON POST

IMPORTPreviously Available as CDA 67200 (034571172002) Deleted December 2012Bruckner called the Symphony No.3 his ‘Wagner Symphony’ and it contains many quotations from the Wagner operas including the famous

cascading strings from the Tannhäuser Overture. Of all the symphonies, No.3 is the most fraught with editorial problems. At least eight versions are known to exist. This recording with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra led by Osmo Vänskä features the 1877 third (first published) version, with the inclu-sion of an 1876 version of its Adagio containing much new material, which was discovered pasted over in the orchestral parts used in the first performance.

IMPORT Previously Available as CDA 66368 (034571163680) Deleted January 2013Erstwhile organist of St Paul’s Cathedral, John Scott puts the cathedral’s wonderful instrument to the best possible use in this album of Maurice

Duruflé’s complete works for organ. Duruflé studied with the greatest organists of the age, Charles Tournemire and Louis Vierne, and there is no doubt that his exposure to the genius of both in their respective organ lofts had a formative influence. Duruflé’s compositional reputation is assured through one work: his beloved Requiem of 1947. In his organ music we hear his fascination with Gregorian plainchant themes, which is such a feature of that work.


BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Osmo VänskäHyperion • CDH 55474

DURUFLÉ Complete Organ Music

John Scott (organ)Hyperion • CDH 55475

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hyperion

Price Code: A11(Suggested Retail Price: $11.98)


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IMPORT SACD Hybrid/ Stereo & Multi-channel/ DSDValery Gergiev and the London Symphony Orchestra present Brahms’s greatest choral work, the German Requiem, featuring soprano Sally Matthews and baritone Christopher Maltman. Gergiev’s first Brahms release on LSO Live, which featured the Symphonies Nos.1 & 2, the Tragic Overture and Haydn Variations, was highly acclaimed by the worldwide press. Intended to be for ‘all humanity,’ the German Requiem is a powerful and deeply moving work. Its central themes of melancholy and comfort are universally applicable. Non-liturgical, yet sacred and devotional in spirit, it showcases the great romantic melodies for which Brahms was renowned, and has become a popular work with choirs all over the world – admired for its mystical, consolatory and contemplative tone.

BRAHMS German Requiem

Sally Matthews (soprano), Christopher Maltman (baritone), London Symphony Orchestra & ChorusValery GergievLSO Live • LSO 0748

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MAY 2014CLASSICAL

[PRIORITY RELEASE]

CONCERT REVIEWS“The London Symphony Chorus was wonderfully

incisive and articulate...”—THE GUARDIAN

“An undoubted plus was the solo singing – Christopher Maltman giving of his considerable best.”

—CLASSICAL SOURCE

LISTEN NOW

Also availableBrahms: Symphonies Nos.1 & 2LSO Live • LSO 0733 (822231173328)“Gergiev declares himself a major new Brahms interpreter to be contended with.”—FANFARE

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IMPORT Onyx presents the first release in a complete Prokofiev symphony cycle featuring Kirill Karabits and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, featuring the Symphonies Nos.3 and 7. The third makes extensive use of music from

the opera The Fiery Angel. It is a vividly colorful work, sensual and exciting. The seventh dates from 1952, the year before the composer’s death. Intended as a work for young people, it harkens back to the great ballet scores. Prokofiev provided an alternative ‘upbeat’ conventional ending to the symphony so as not to provoke criticism from the Soviet authorities. This alternate finale is included on the CD. Today the work is always performed with the reflective peaceful ‘leave taking’ ending that the composer preferred.

DOMESTICDirected by Michael Blackwood, the film A Composer’s Notes takes the form of an interior monologue as Philip Glass allows us an intimate look at the inspiration, development, and production of his third opera, Akhnaten. It

follows two productions of the opera that were premièring almost simultaneously at the Stuttgart Opera and the Houston Grand Opera. Their dramatically different interpretations of the work make for a fascinating contrast in American and European theatrical values. Filmed at rehearsals and performances in Germany and the United States, the disc also includes interviews with conductors and directors and a look back to two earlier Glass operas, Einstein on the Beach and Satyagraha. Now more than three decades after its creation, Akhnaten proves to be a watershed moment in Glass’s career. This fascinating in-depth portrait of the composer is a must see for any Glass fan.

PROKOFIEV Symphonies Nos.3 & 7

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Kirill KarabitsOnyx Classics • ONYX 4137

A Composer’s Notes Philip Glass and the Making of an Opera – A film by Michael Blackwood

Stuttgart Opera, Houston Grand OperaOrange Mountain • OMM 5007

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MAY 2014CLASSICAL

DOMESTICMusic Director Nicholas McGegan leads Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and an acclaimed cast of soloists in highlights from Teseo, a rarely performed masterpiece of Handelian opera. Writing of the live performance of the opera, the New York Times said, “Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, led by Nicholas McGegan, gave a performance that confirmed its leading position in the field.” The cast, led by the glowing soprano Dominique Labelle as the witch Medea and the outstanding lyric soprano Amanda Forsythe in the title role, is buoyed by the brilliance of the orchestra under McGegan’s direction. The recording was made in 2013 from live performances at the First Congregational Church in Berkeley, California.

HANDEL Teseo (Highlights)

Amanda Forsythe (soprano), Amy Freston (soprano), Dominique Labelle (soprano), Céline Ricci (soprano), Robin Blaze (countertenor), Drew Minter (countertenor), Jonathan Smucker (tenor), Jeffrey Fields (baritone), Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Nicholas McGeganPhilharmonia Baroque • PBP 07

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Also availableHandel: Atalanta Philharmonia Baroque • PBP 04 (852188003065)“One more Handel opera is put handsomely and securely in place.”—AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE

philharmonia baroque


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MAY 2014CLASSICAL

[PRIORITY RELEASE]

LISTEN NOW

“Listening to Philharmonia Baroque under music director Nicholas McGegan ... is a thrill.”

—MUSICAL TORONTO

IMPORT SACD Hybrid/ Stereo/ DSDThis SACD release, part of Praga’s Reminiscences series of remastered historic recordings, features music of Richard Strauss. Wilhelm Furtwängler leads the Vienna Philharmonic in the

composer’s tone poems Don Juan, Tod und Verkärung and Till Eulenspiegel. Soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf is the soloist in an early recording of the Vier letzte Lieder, accompanied by the Philharmonia Orchestra led by Otto Ackermann under the supervision of Walter Legge. This homage to Richard Strauss on the occasion of his 150th anniversary is an essential release for collectors.

IMPORT SACD Hybrid/ Stereo/ DSDThis special release in Praga’s SACD-remastered Reminiscences series recreates a legendary Bartók concert given by Ferenc Fricsay at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées on May 25, 1952. This event

offered premières of four works that show the full breadth, color and diversity of Bartók’s music. It includes the Two Portraits, the Dance Suite and the Divertimento, paired with the great pianist Géza Anda’s first performance of the Piano Concerto No.2. This homage to Fricsay is released in celebration of his centenary.

STRAUSS Don Juan, Tod und Verklärung, Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, Vier letzte Lieder

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (soprano), Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto AckermannPraga • PRD 350100

BARTÓK Two Portraits, Dance Suite, Piano Concerto No.2, Divertimento for String Orchestra

Géza Anda (piano), RIAS Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Ferenc FricsayPraga • PRD 350108

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MAY 2014CLASSICAL

IMPORT Between October 1957 and March 1996, the famous Italian conductor Carlo Maria Giulini conducted the famous orchestra of the Concertgebouw of Amsterdam 81 times. The concert recorded here took place on June 22,

1960 at the Holland Festival, and the program comprised only Italian music. Repertoire included Vivaldi’s Gloria and Verdi’s Four Sacred Pieces with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf as the featured soloist. This recording is issued here for the first time.

IMPORTThis set documents the penultimate concert conducted by Pierre Monteux (he was 88 years old), leading the famous Concertgebouw of Amsterdam. The program includes Beethoven’s Eroica, performed as a tribute to President

Kennedy who had just been assassinated two days earlier. Also featured are the Symphony No.1 by Brahms and Harold in Italy by Berlioz. As a bonus, the set includes a performance of Dvorák’s Cello Concerto performed by Mstislav Rostropovich with the above artists. All these recordings are first-time releases.

VIVALDI GloriaVERDI 4 Pezzi Sacri

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (soprano), Ursula Boeze (alto), Concertgebouw Orchestra, Carlo Maria GiuliniTahra • TAH 765

BEETHOVEN Symphony No.3 BRAHMS Symphony No.1 BERLIOZ Harold in ItalyDVORÁK Cello Concerto

Mstislav Rostropovich (cello), Concertgebouw Orchestra, Pierre MonteuxTahra • TAH 766

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MAY 2014CLASSICAL

IMPORTBoth as a man and as a musician, Carlo Maria Giulini was often thought to be the very embodiment of elegance. However, that view took insufficient account of the fires that burned within. Plácido Domingo once said, “It would be difficult to find another musician with Giulini’s combination of gentleness and intensity. His music making is extremely refined. Yet in [Verdi’s] ‘Dies irae’ he seemed to personify God the Father on the Day of Judgment.” This Testament release of the Verdi Requiem, a live performance from the 1960 Edinburgh Festival, features the great soprano Joan Sutherland. One critic of the time hailed the performance as being, “as near to perfection as I ever hope to experience.”

VERDI Messa da Requiem

Joan Sutherland (soprano), Fiorenza Cossotto (mezzo-soprano), Luigi Ottolini (tenor), Ivo Vinco (bass), Philharmonia Orchestra, Philharmonia Chorus, Carlo Maria GiuliniTestament • SBT2 1494

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Also availableMahler: Das Lied von der ErdeTestament • SBT 1465 (749677146528)“An absolute highlight...”—INTERNATIONAL RECORD REVIEW

testament

Price Code: A23 (2 CD Set, Suggested Retail Price: $20.98)

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MAY 2014CLASSICAL

IMPORT Composed between 1946 and 1948, the Sonatas and Interludes for prepared piano are among the most famous works of John Cage. Several years earlier, Cage had already developed the technique of piano preparation to explore the

possibilities of sound manipulation. At first, Cage tried to achieve a specified sound image – an ideal which he later modified. Cage explains, “When I first placed objects between piano strings, it was with the desire to possess sounds (to be able to repeat them). But... it became clear that not only are two pianists essentially different from one another, but two pianos are not the same either.” This recording from Wergo features illuminating readings of these masterpieces of modern music played by pianist Antonis Anissegos.

IMPORTIn the1960s, Wergo made a name for themselves as a contemporary music label thanks to a series of ground-breaking recordings entitled Studio Reihe Neuer Musik. Wergo is now offering these gems from their early years on CD for the

first time. Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Momente, written for soprano, four choral groups and thirteen instrumentalists, was not designed as a fixed work with a clearly defined beginning, formal structure, and ending. It is a composition of independent events with multiple meanings. Premiered in May 1962, the composition underwent some changes in the following years which led to several variants, with this CD presenting “Version 1965.”

CAGE Sonatas and Interludes

Antonis Anissegos (piano)Wergo • WER 6782

STOCKHAUSEN Momente

Martina Arroyo (soprano), Aloys Kontarsky (organ), Alfons Kontarsky (organ), Kölner Rundfunkchor, Kölner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester, Karlheinz StockhausenWergo • WER 6774

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MAY 2014CLASSICAL

IMPORTFile in: JazzThe members of the RP Quartet were steeped in and inspired by the aesthetics of the quintet Hot Club de France, which was formed by the great Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli.

Consisting of two guitars, violin and bass, the RP Quartet represent the best of Parisian gypsy jazz. Goat Rhythm is a daringly ambitious album that reconciles the partisans of Panassié and Delaunay while having all it takes to make the group a new reference on the international jazz scene.

IMPORTFile in: JazzBoth the public and the critics have been won over by Django à la Créole, the group led by Evan Christopher, no doubt the greatest jazz clarinetist on today’s New Orleans scene.

Reaching the end of a hugely successful world tour, the band decided to record a live album that would show the rapport they’d created with audiences thanks to the extraordinary color and savor of their music. The music is intimate and generous, and the band goes way beyond gypsy swing and the jazz of New Orleans: the concept here is to take music outside the notion of genres. In fact, Django à la Créole is a genre of its own: a fantastic universe of sound somewhere between the Old World and the New.

Goat Rhythm

RP QuartetFrémeaux • FA 8500

Django à la Créole Live!

Evan Christopher & Django à la CréoleFrémeaux • FA 8501

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MAY 2014JAZZ

IMPORTFile in: JazzAfter several musical collaborations (Malka Family, Le Professeur Inlassable, The Selenites), Bibi Tanga has focused his attention on a new solo project. Driven by his sunshine vocals and the slippery groove of his bass, this is soul music at its most inventive and elegant. Now, the album’s punchy title, perfectly captures its spirit. With inspiration springing from R&B, jazz, hip hop, and afrofunk, no wonder this music is so in tune with contemporary urban culture.

Now

Bibi TangaJazz Village • JV 570037

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MAY 2014JAZZ

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“A true musical globe-trotter.”—NPR

IMPORT File in: JazzSix years after Songlines / Night & Blue, the Paolo Fresu Quintet have returned to the studio. The result is an album that celebrates these talented and creative artists’ three decades of

collaboration and friendship on stage and in life. ¡30! explores the quintet’s many fruitful years together through thirteen original compositions.

IMPORT File in: JazzSpringtime is a celebration of renewal, tranquility and intoxication in a vocal jazz style tinged with influences including soul, spiritual and Latin nuances. This album marks the consecration of

Annick Tangorra not only as a singer but also as a songwriter and composer. In the company of Mario Canonge, the man behind the splendid production of this album, plus Tony Rabeson, Thomas Bramerie, but also Alain Jean-Marie, Arnaud Dolmen and Adriano Tenorio as guests, Tangorra gives us an album that is a master-class in finesse, elegance and sensuality.

¡30!

Paolo Fresu QuintetBonsaï • BON 140401

Springtime

Annick TangorraFrémeaux • FA 598

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MAY 2014JAZZfrém

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IMPORT File in: World / Africa / Cape VerdeFlor di Bila, the début album by Neuza, unveils the secrets of Fogo Island rhythms such as talaia baxo, rabolo or samba. On “Trabessado,” one of the key tracks of this album, Neuza explores

the curcutiçan, a traditional lyrical battle between female and male voices using irony and provocation. Neuza is joined by Michel Montrond who is an author, composer and singer.

IMPORT File in: World / Africa / CongoBlack Bazar, the brainchild of writer Alain Mabanckou, was formed in 2012 with the support of the label Lusafrica. The first album featured a return to the musical roots of Congolese Rumba.

Audiences were enthusiastic and the numerous artists involved in the project were hailed as “the new masters of the African scene in Paris.” Black Bazar – Round 2 – is based on compositions by the legendary guitarist Popolipo Beniko and the talented bass-player Michel Lumana. Each track is full of atmosphere and deeply rooted in musical tradition, while also opening onto new avenues described by the German press as “dancehall Rumba,” orchestrated by the producer Francky Moulet.

Flor di Bila

NeuzaLusafrica • 025102

Black Bazar Round 2

Black BazarLusafrica • 662882

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MAY 2014WORLD

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Apr 13 Boston MA Symphony HallApr 24-26 New York NY Avery Fischer HallApr 28 San Francisco CA SFJazz CenterMay 2 Boston MA Jordan HallMay 8-10 Chicago IL Symphony HallMay 20 Washington DC Kennedy CenterJul 16 Aspen CO Aspen Music FestivalJul 20 New York NY International Keyboard InstituteAug 26, 28 Los Angeles CA Hollywood Bowl

Apr 11-13 Philadelphia PA Kimmel CenterMay 30 Newark NJ New Jersey Performing Arts CenterMay 31 Red Bank NJ Count Basie TheatreJun 1 Newark NJ New Jersey Performing Arts CenterJun 11 San Diego CA Mainly Mozart Festival

Jul 29-30 Highland Park IL Ravinia FestivalJul 31 - Aug 3 San Francisco CA SFJazz CenterSep 18 -20 New York NY Jazz at Lincoln CenterOct 4 Philadelphia PA Zellerbach Theatre

Con

cert

Hig

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hts

Marc-André HAMELINHyperion

Chucho VALDÉSJazz Village

James EHNESOnyx Classics

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Apr 11 Fairmont MN Fairmont Opera HouseApr 12 Pella IA Central CollegeApr 13-14 Columbia MO Murry’sApr 16 Kansas City MO KnuckleheadsApr 18 Fayetteville AR Starr TheatreApr 19 St. Louis MO Sheldon Concert HallJun 18 Woodbridge NJ Music on Main StreetJun 23 Rochester NY Harro East Ballroom

Apr 10 New York NY The Church of the TransfigurationApr 13 New York NY Trinity ChurchApr 14 Chestnut Hill PA Presbyterian Church of Chestnut HillApr 15 Philadelphia PA St Clement’s ChurchApr 16 Williamsburg VA Bruton Parish ChurchApr 17, 19 &20 White Marsh VA The Abingdon Church

May 30-31 Birmingham AL Alys Stephens CenterJun 15 Purchase NY Purchase College PACJun 17 Bloomfield Hills MI St. Hugh of the HillsJun 19-20 Bloomfield Hills MI Temple Beth ElJune 21 Beverly Hills MI Seligman Performing Arts Center

Concert H

ighlights

Catherine RUSSELLJazz Village

Tai MURRAYharmonia mundi/Mirare

Choir of MertonCollege, OxfordDelphian

harmonia mundi distribution 1117 Chestnut Street, Burbank, CA 91506 • Tel: (818) 333–1500 • Order Fax: (818) 333–1502

www.hm-distribution.com • sales–[email protected] SOON

SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONYMICHAEL TILSON THOMASAlexandra SilberCheyenne Jackson

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harmonia mundi distribution • usa new releases May 2014