The winners of the 2014 Gramophone Awards are announced!

As well as the category winners announced late last month, special awards have been presented at a ceremony in London last night to Sir Neville Marriner, Sir James Galway, violinist Leonidas Kavakos and Riccardo Chailly, with the Scottish Delphian Records being named 'Record Label of the Year'.

Riccardo Chailly's recording for Decca of the Brahms Symphonies was named Recording of the Year - a deserved winner, this superb set also includes other orchestral works, overtures and the popular Haydn Variations.

BRAHMS: THE SYMPHONIES
Gewandhausorchester
Riccardo Chailly







The Lifetime Achievement Awards was given to Sir James Galway, and a timely new compilation from RCA celebrates this legendary flute player's work.

THE ESSENTIAL JAMES GALWAY









A special award for Outstanding Achievement was presented to Sir Neville Marriner, who also celebrates his 90th birthday this year.

NEVILLE MARRINER
The Argo Years








Artist of the Year is voted for by the public and this year was awarded to the Greek Violinist Leonidas Kavakos; his recordings of the Brahms Violin Concerto and Brahms Violin Sonatas for Decca have been highlights this year. Last year's winner, Alison Balsom, presented the award.

LEONIDAS KAVAKOS
Brahms Violin Concerto








Young Artist of the Year was presented to the Nightingale String Quartet. Their two recordings for Da Capo of the String Quartets by Rued Langgaard have received universal praise.

NIGHTINGALE STRING QUARTET
Langgaard String Quartets Vol. 1

NIGHTINGALE STRING QUARTET
Langgaard String Quartets Vol. 2









For the main category winners all on special offer please see our 'Monthly Offers' icon on our homepage.

It has been a while since a recording has changed my perspective on a great masterwork, but a new recording by the period instrument orchestra ‘Les Siecles’ does just that. They are performing two great ballet scores by Stravinsky, the ‘Rite of Spring’ and ‘Petrushka’.

‘Les Siecles’ are an orchestra on a mission to present music in a refreshing and new way, selecting instruments from the period to create the most authentic performance possible. Their aim, to get back to the sounds that may have accompanied the dancers on that famous premiere night in Paris of the ‘Rite’. This is the only recording of the ‘Rite’ on period instruments and the results are stunning, revealing much of the score hitherto unheard in my previous listening. The gut strings have a different timbre, altering the balance and shifting it towards the woodwind. Whilst listening to this recording I became far more aware of how revolutionary this score must have been back in 1913. The wind writing is exposed and sounds like a beautifully barbaric free-for-all. The opening of the work is now so familiar to us - a lone bassoon playing in a high register, sounding like a fish out of water, a familiar instrument in unfamiliar territory. The bassoonist of Les Siecles uses an instrument that predates the modifications of the modern bassoon, making life a little more difficult for the player!

The complex layers of rhythm and texture in Petrushka are also given a different quality. The decision to use an Erard piano really adds a sparkle to the score. Once again the strings are less prominent revealing Stravinsky delicate scoring. Really recommended!!

Stravinsky: Rite of Spring – Petrushka

Francois-Xavier Roth / Les Siecles

Actes Sud ASM15

Jason Hatton, August 2014

"BRAZIL" – QUATOUR EBENE

Fun in the sun! I should tango!

It is hot. I am hot and at the moment under-cheered. With the door shut it is stifling, yet with the door open, in wanders the noise of the street, exhaust fumes and even more heat. On the CD player is the album Brazil by Quatour Ebene with chums Bernard Lavilliers, Stacey Kent and the Brazil Choir and String Orchestra. It is the quartet's latest recording and is the second of their ‘fusion’ projects. This one is firmly camped in the rhythms and atmosphere of South America, samba, bossa nova and the tango.

Their choice of repertoire for this recording runs from Piazzolla to Stevie Wonder, Sting to Chaplin, taking in lesser-known Brazilian composers along the way and a collaboration with the extraordinary Bernard Lavilliers – a ruggedly handsome,  smokey-voiced French singer/songwriter, ex-steel worker, boxer, ex-con, traveller and sometime reporter with a fascination for the music of South America and Africa.

Now, I love this album. I’m not usually a big fan of classical musicians adventuring beyond their customary boundaries and comfort zones – it just never sounds all that convincing.  I don’t cringe very easily but classical-jazz/samba/rock crossovers will usually have me blushing and wondering where to put myself before realising that it’s the CD that needs to be put somewhere else, out of its-and my-misery.  But this… the first track I heard was their take on Libertango – not a piece that is under represented in the world of recorded music. After an enigmatic introduction the cello begins with the familiar ostinato rhythm, crisp and unwavering, which is passed between instruments throughout. One of the reasons I think that this works so well is the quality of the sound that the quartet produces. It doesn’t have the over refined aura which could mark them out as 'classicos' on a rather self-conscious holiday. It has a wonderful edginess, bordering on but never tipping over into abrasiveness. You can believe that you are listening to string players who have never left Brazil and are steeped in the culture.

Something else that sets this recording apart is the outstanding quality and inventiveness of the arranging. Brave choices that push at the harmonic structure of the pieces but don’t undermine the original versions; a keen awareness of how string instruments blend with one another and as part of a larger group, and always managing to sound fresh and spontaneous, almost improvised. The two voices are both husky and sultry. Both accomplished and evocative of times and places beyond the tawdry here and now of a Friday afternoon. Both of whom you will gladly let take up residence in your soul to provide the soundtrack for a landscape to which you can transport yourself when the world encroaches…

The sheer joy of life that these young men and their collaborators exhibit is the main reason that I love this CD. This is joyful music, reveling in the heat and intense feeling and rhythms of South America. At the beginning I said that I was hot and cheer-lite - I am still hot but I can imagine the heat to be the heat of a Brazilian beach after dark with its compelling beats and seductive voices. I’m off home now to put this CD on again and pour myself a caiparinha and let the abundant cheer wash over and through me. I suggest you do the same.

Brazil - Quatuor Ebene

Erato 2564632043

Blog: Matthew Greswell 

Martha Argerich and friends – Live from Lugano 2013

Martha Argerich, and a very long list of friends are back in another release from Warner Classics, recorded at the Lugano Festival in 2013. One of the most interesting features of this series is the inclusion of rare repertoire; this issue is no exception and includes an intense performance of Respighi’s violin sonata from 1917. Other highlights include the Shostakovich Cello Sonata and a glittering performance of the ‘Carnival of the Animals’ (Note the humourous, badly played scales in the ‘pianistes’). The pianist/arranger Carlo Maria Griguoli has made several contributions to previous volumes, and  this time he presents a terrific arrangement of Offenbach ‘Gaite Parisienne’. When all is said and done, this is most entertaining and thoroughly rewarding.  Highly recommended.

Argerich is joined by Renaud and Gautier Capucon, Gabriela Montero, Mischa Maisky, Lilya Zilberstein amongst others, and although mostly chamber music recitals, the set does include a performance of Beethoven’s first Piano Concerto with Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana under Hubert Soudant.

“With Martha at the keys, Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto sparkles and winks, with friendly assistance from the Dutch conductor Hubert Soudant and the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana... But as usual the special treats come in the lighter items, when hair is let down and feet stomp.” (The Times)

Martha Argerich & Friends

Warner Classics: 2564 631220 (3CDs)

On Special Offer

Jason Hatton (Bath CDs)

The 2014 BBC Music Magazine Awards – The Winners!

This year’s award winners were announced on 8^th April, and it was no surprise to find Alisa Weilerstein’s moving recording of Elgar’s Cello Concerto with Daniel Barenboim named ‘Record of the Year’.

The awards are unique in the Classical world in that the winners are voted for by the public; they vote on twenty one shortlisted recordings which have been chosen by an expert jury. These shortlisted recordings represent the best of all the many recordings reviewed by the magazine during the year.

The recordings chosen are indeed a good representation of the best of last year’s releases. All the winners had universally good reviews, not just from BBC Music, and were significant highlights of 2013 here at the shop.

We have the winners on special offer until the end of June 2014:

Record of the Year

Elgar Cello Concerto, Elliott Carter Cello Concerto

Alisa Weilerstein; Staatskapelle Berlin; Daniel Barenboim

DECCA 4782735 OFFER £11.99

Chamber Music Category Winner

Felix & Fanny Mendelssohn String Quartets

Quatuor Ebene

VIRGIN 4645462 OFFER £11.99

Choral Music Category Winner

Britten War Requiem

Choir of New College, Oxford; Gabrieli Consort & Players; Paul McCreesh

SIGNUM SIGCD340 OFFER £17.99

Instrumental Category Winner

Guardian Angel

Rachel Podger (violin)

CHANNEL CLASSICS CCSSA35513 OFFER £11.99

Opera Category Winner

Britten Peter Grimes ('Grimes on the Beach')

Alan Oke; Giselle Allen etc; Britten-Pears Orchestra; Steuart Bedford

SIGNUM SIGCD348 OFFER £17.99

Orchestral Category Winner

Brahms Complete Symphonies

Gewandhausorchester; Riccardo Chailly

DECCA 4785344 OFFER £24.99

Vocal Category Winner

Jonas Kaufmann sings Wagner

DECCA 4785189 OFFER £11.99

Newcomer Category Winner

Beethoven Late Piano Sonatas

Igor Levit

SONY 88883747352 OFFER £12.99

Premiere Category Winner

George Benjamin Written on Skin

Christopher Purves; Bejun Mehta etc; George Benjamin

Nimbus NI5885 OFFER £11.99

DVD (Performance) Category Winner

Puccini Tosca

Angela Gheorghiu; Jonas Kaufmann; Bryn Terfel; Antonio Pappano

EMI/WARNERS 4040639 OFFER £13.99

Kaufmann and Finley in two new recordings of Schubert's Winterreise. 

After a long winter that seemed like it would never end, we all look forward to the spring. So winter as a subject for a spring blog may seem a little unseasonal and just a tad retrospective, and if you take Schubert's 'Winter Journey' literally, you might be right. However it is more often viewed as a beautiful yet tragic metaphor for an inner journey of self-discovery, concluding with 'Der leiermann' (the hurdy-gurdy man), a symbol of inexorable misery and dejection. This last song is asymmetrical, giving it an unfinished quality, its drone perfectly encapsulating a mood of utter futility; here there is no light, it is all darkness, devoid of hope. We have to remember this is a work by a young composer barely in his thirties at the height of his powers. By any standards this work is a magnificent achievement.

There are currently many versions on disc of 'Winterreise', and these two new recordings join the pantheon of great interpretations. Tenor Jonas Kaufmann’s recent forays into Wagner and Late Romantic opera have given his voice a ferocity and dramatic intensity, so his reading of Schubert's cycle is full of 'heart-on-sleeve' passion and drama, aided in no small way by Helmut Deutsch at the piano. It is important to mention the pianist as they are as much part of the interpretation as the singer; in Schubert's songs the piano provides the background and comments on the text, with the music demanding more of a partnership than just a singer/accompanist relationship.

The baritone voice of Gerald Finley gives the work a darker hue, finding the introspective aspect of the cycle. Perhaps this is more of a soliloquy, a confession of  dark thoughts. Finley has a wonderful hushed quality to his voice in the final song. We are left feeling at the end of the cycle that the winter may be over but this is a troubled soul in need of absolution. 

Jason Hatton

3rd March 2014

Schubert: Winterreise D911

Jonas Kaufmann & Helmut Deutsch        Sony   88883795632

Gerald Finley & Julius Drake       Hyperion  CDA68034

“A countertenor voice in its prime.”

So says The Daily Telegraph in a recent review of Iestyn Davies’ new album of Handel Oratorio arias for the Vivat label, entitled ‘Your Tuneful Voice’. If you have been impressed by his sublime countertenor voice, you will love this new collection. We even have a free signed photo from Iestyn Davies when you order this new album.

'Your Tuneful Voice’ is an outstanding programme of arias from Handel oratorios including the lyrical ‘O sacred oracles of truth’ (from Belshazzar), the exquisite ‘Tune your harps’ (Esther), with its vocal and oboe duet set over a delicate bed of pizzicato strings, ‘Eternal source of light’ (featuring supreme trumpet playing from Crispian Steele-Perkins), the melodious ‘Your tuneful voice’, and a virtuoso performance of the warlike ‘Mighty love now calls to arm’. Rarities include two arias from The Triumph of Time and Truth: ‘On the valleys, dark and cheerless’, and an especial jewel, ‘Mortals think that Time is sleeping’, with its gentle, inexorably tick-tocking orchestral accompaniment. 

Iestyn is also joined in two duets by soprano Carolyn Sampson: the ecstatic ‘Welcome as the dawn of day’ (from Solomon) and the ghostly ‘Who calls my parting soul from death’ (Esther). The orchestral accompaniment from The King’s Consort is full of varied colours: the disc also includes the vividly characterised overture to Jephtha, and the bucolic overture to Samson, featuring splendid natural horn playing. 

The disc was recorded in the wonderful acoustic of The Menuhin Hall, bringing great clarity to the sound. The album includes a 36 page booklet with an authoritative liner note by renowned Handel scholar Professor Donald Burrows, together with full texts and translations.

Your Tuneful Voice - Iestyn Davies

VIVAT105

Happy New Year!!

2014 is beginning with an exciting crop of new releases; despite the usual media grumblings and general woes, the record companies seem raring to go with some great new Classical recordings on offer. In particular the Jerusalem Quartet playing Janacek and Smetana String Quartets - going by their previous work these performances are bound to have great vivacity and flair. Jerusalem Quartet HMC902178 Offer £12.99

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet continues his Beethoven Piano Sonata cycle with volume two (a three disc set). The cycle will be completed with one more installment in the near future. Bavouzet CHAN10798 Offer £24.99

Staying with keyboard music, Hyperion has released a disc of CPE Bach played by harpsichordist Mahon Esfahani. Although not yet a household name, Esfahani is presently on tour and has had a lot of positive attention from critics and he was the first harpsichordist to be named a BBC New Generation Artist. Esfahani CDA67995 Offer £11.99.  Returning to Beethoven, we have a new set of his Cello Sonatas performed by Steven Isserlis and his regular collaborator, the forte-pianist Robert Levin. Included on this disc are the three sets of variations and the Horn Sonata. We are running a promotion on Steven Isserlis’ back-catalogue recordings this month as well – just click on Isserlis’ picture on the homepage. Isserlis CDA67981/2 Offer £23.99

Steven Isserlis also features on a fascinating new disc, again from Hyperion, this time of his grandfather, Julius Isserlis’ music. The disc mainly contains piano music in editions made by the pianist Sam Haywood. Julius Isserlis CDA68025 Offer £11.99

There has been much interest in Chandos’ new release of rarely heard Overtures from around the British Isles, with some lovely gems by Arthur Sullivan, Frederic Austen, Coleridge-Taylor, Stanford and others. A cracker of a release! British Overtures CHAN10797 Offer £12.49

This month sees the welcome release of Georg Tintner’s Bruckner symphony cycle as a boxed set on Naxos. These are the great recordings he made in the 1990's with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Tintner 8501205 £29.99

Two contemporary British composers are also featured this month: Signum are reissuing their recording of the late John Tavener’s magnum opus, 'The Veil of the Temple'. This is the concert version on two CDs taken from a work that is originally eight hours in length. Opus Arte are finally releasing the much- anticipated DVD of George Benjamin's 'Written on Skin'. Since its premiere at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence in 2012 this work has captivated audiences, and the CD recording which came out in February last year (on Nimbus NI5885) is regularly asked for. Tavener SIGCD367 £19.99  Benjamin OA1125D £24.99

This is just the tip of the iceberg – check out our ‘New Releases’ and ‘Future Releases’ pages (click the ‘What’s New?’ tab).

The first thing I thought when I saw this disc was “not another Brahms violin concerto!” It is after all a rather saturated market, with so many recordings of the great violin concertos by Mendelssohn, Beethoven and Brahms and their ilk. I think it is easy to get rather jaded by the commerce-driven record industry, who can churn out recordings of established artists playing well-known masterpieces, seeing it as a risk free way of making money in today’s difficult record industry.

With this in mind it took me a while to get round to listening to this ‘war horse’ of a concerto. The main attraction for me was the soloist, Leonidas Kavakos, having been interested in his career since hearing his rendition of the Sibelius violin concerto on BIS. Right from his first entry my attention was held, and what followed was playing of miraculous technique and tone. Kavakos seems to bring so much insight to this work. His playing has an individual character and an acknowledgement of the gypsy idiom that Brahms was so keen to assimilate in this concerto. The disc is programmed very thoughtfully, with Joachim's arrangements of some of Brahms' Hungarian Dances for violin and piano (and also Bartok's two Rhapsodies for Violin and Orchestra, again in violin and piano arrangements), continuing the gypsy/folk aspect of the music. Kavakos is a remarkable musician and you would have to go far to find playing of similar calibre.

Brahms – Violin Concerto, Op. 77 (coupled with Bartok Rhapsodies and Brahms Hungarian Dances)

Leonidas Kavakos – violin

Gewandhausorchester/Riccardo Chailly

Decca 478 5342

Taneyev & Arensky: Piano Quintets

A marvellous new recording from Hyperion of Russian chamber music. The two composers featured came from the same stable, but were poles apart in many respects. The stable in question was the Moscow Conservatoire, and the composers: Taneyev and Arensky.  Both of them form an interesting link between the composers of the generation before (the brothers Rubinstein, Rimsky-Korsakov and Tchaikovsky) and after (Rachmaninov and Scriabin).

Listening to the G minor Piano Quintet on this new disc, I can see why Taneyev has been dubbed the ‘Russian Brahms’. It certainly has the heady mix of swagger and counterpoint associated with the German master, and is also music that is brilliantly constructed.  It has a dense texture, the music working through the motivic relationships in a tight structure, again much like Brahms. It treads the line between spontaneity and academia. Reading the liner notes I came away with the impression that Taneyev did not lack self confidence in his abilities - his teacher, none other than one Piotr Tchaikovsky, had to put up with his star pupil advising him on rewriting the variation section of his great Piano Trio in A minor!

By contrast, the Arensky Piano Quintet certainly sounds far more rhapsodic than the taut structure of the Taneyev quintet. Where Taneyev is constantly developing, Arensky writes with a more open, jovial feel; there is more space to breath in this music. You might say it is an ideal foil to the work of Taneyev. Indeed I think these two works perfectly demonstrate their respective approach to composition.

The recording by the Goldner String Quartet and Piers Lane is quite exceptional, but then again based on their previous productions on the Hyperion label I was expecting great things. This is really worth buying !! Get it !!!

P.S.  Congratulations to Hyperion for a wonderful choice of artwork ('Vasilisa the Beautiful' from Russian Fairy Tales (1899) by Ivan Bilibin). Icing on an already delicious cake I think.

Arensky & Taneyev: Piano Quintets

Piers Lane & Goldner String Quartet

Hyperion CDA67965

Offer Price: £11.99

Jason Hatton

October 2013

Transcendental Mahler from Christian Gerhaher

Mahler: Orchestral songs

with Christian Gerhaher; Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal conducted by Kent Nagano

‘A symphony must be like the world. It must contain everything’.

When discussing Mahler this quote is never far from my mind. The quote comes from a conversation between Mahler and Sibelius, both of them great symphonists but different in so many ways. Sibelius viewed the symphony as the apotheosis of form, a concentration of organic unity and above all the music was about nothing but itself. By contrast, Mahler viewed the symphony as a grand statement, taking on huge philosophical ideas. His symphonies are all-encompassing and deal with many facets of life. However, the symphonies are only one aspect of Mahler’s genius; his complexity as an artist can only be fully appreciated when one listens the songs in addition to the symphonies. The songs help to explain the thematic origins of the symphonies and also deepen understanding of his symphonic works.

The three groups of songs appear on this new disc by baritone Christian Gerhaher, with Kent Nagano and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. One could hear the disc as a travelogue - it takes us on a journey turning from naïve sentimentality to cynicism in the first song cycle on the disc (lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, often translated as ‘songs of the wayfarer’). We then enter the realm of the morbid ‘kindertotenlieder’ (songs on the death of children). These songs are a reminder of Mahler’s preoccupation with mortality, and portray the anxiety of parenthood and the unconditional love of the parent/child relationship. This cycle is an internal journey from grief and doubt to comfort and eternal love. Finally, the disc ends with not a cycle but a group of songs inspired by the poetry of Friedrich Ruckert (1788-1866). These songs are contemporary with the fifth symphony, a period of great creativity in Mahler’s life. As is evident in the fifth symphony it was also a time when Mahler had been studying the scores of Bach, resulting in an increased density and contrapuntal complexity in his own music. One famous setting in this group of ‘Ruckert songs’ is ‘Um mitternacht’ (At midnight). It depicts the lonely nocturnal thoughts of a person in turmoil and deals with isolation and self analysis. The orchestration starts out very sparse, just a rocking, sighing motive in clarinets, then a deep brass descending scale. It sounds lonely, isolated. It eventually arrives at resignation and spiritual fulfillment. You may notice a common thread - Mahler is always travelling from one state to another, the listener is always taken from one place and ends up in a different place. In the symphonies it is a large scale, slow process. In the songs it is over a shorter time period and the process is far more explicit.

The performances on this new disc are very fine indeed. I think you would have to go back to Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau to find performances of a similar calibre. Gerhaher has a beautiful tone, made even more focused by his lack of vibrato. This results in a very expressive reading. Please listen to this and then try to resist buying it!

CD reference: Sony Classical 88883 701332

Jason Hatton (September 2013)

The Tallis Scholars' 40th Anniversary

What is the connection between a sixteenth-century mass setting and an instrumental work that was to continue for well over 150 years?

The answer is the words ‘in nomine’.

In the early sixteenth-century, John Taverner composed a mass setting based on the antiphon ‘Gloria tibi trinitas’. In the Benedictus section of the mass, Taverner scores the words ‘in nomine Domini’ for a reduced number of singers (four parts). This portion of the work became popular and instrumental arrangements emerged soon after. However these were more than just mere arrangements; the melody was used in numerous different ways and composers wrote free, imitative counterpoint around the melody. This is known as ‘cantus firmus’, literally ‘fixed song’. Music in England seemed to evolve in parallel with the latest trends in the rest of Europe. Instrumental groups made up of viols flourished in England whilst in Italy the violin had been invented and string writing was rapidly changing to a more virtuosic style. There was also a shift away from contrapuntal harmony writing towards functional harmony; florid counterpoint had lost its dominance and a more homophonic style had taken its place. By the early seventeenth–century composers had started a new chromatic style, and text was expressed in a very direct and sometimes radical way.       

Carlo Gesualdo (1566-1613) is perhaps one of the best known composers from this period. His music places the expression of the text at the forefront, making the music serve the text and not the other way round. Even to 21^st century ears his music can sound strange - Gesualdo connects distant harmonies with ‘pivot’ notes, sometimes resulting in highly chromatic passages. This highly expressive style previously associated with madrigals is also present in his sacred works. His music for holy week is full of beautifully expressive passages, reflecting the sombre nature of the text.

Over the past 40 years, the Tallis Scholars have produced a formidable number of high quality recordings, and on the 14^th August they will be celebrating this remarkable anniversary at the BBC Proms, with music by Taverner and Gesualdo.

Recordings are available from their back catalogue: The JohnTaverner ‘missa Gloria tibi trinitas’ CDGIM004 is from the early days of the choir. 

They have also recorded the Gesualdo pieces that  feature in the Proms concert on CDGIM015. Both are invaluable introductions to this glorious music.

Rachmaninov from the Singapore Symphony Orchestra

“Vengeance is mine, I shall repay…”

Rachmaninov’s first symphony had a far from auspicious premiere. From the beginning it received criticism from Rimsky-Korsakov and Glazunov (who would turn out to be the conductor on the rostrum for the premiere).

Rachmaninov had written a symphony before (The Youth Symphony) but it bore little resemblance to this new, dark and foreboding work. Despite its poor reception at the first performance (Glazunov is thought to have been slightly drunk at the time) this work has since become regarded as one of the finest symphonies of it time.

This symphony was written several years after Tchaikovsky had completed his ‘Pathetique’ symphony, and much like the last three symphonies of Tchaikovsky, it employs a ‘motto’ theme to draw the work together, uniting the symphony as a whole. This ‘cyclic’ form had been in use for decades in works by Berlioz, D’Indy, Franck and other composers wishing to bring thematic unity to a four movement symphonic structure.

Rachmaninov inscribed on the score “vengeance is mine, I shall repay” (Romans 12:19). These words from St. Paul echo through the mind as you hear the symphony progress from its oppressive opening right through to the closing pages of the symphony, drawing towards its inexorable climax.

This new recording on the BIS label by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra under Lan Shui completes arguably one of the finest of the recent Rachmaninov symphony cycles.

The market is certainly a crowded one, but this cycle has the bonus of pianist Yevgeny Sudbin; his superb performance of the first piano concerto makes this an even more desirable disc to add to any collection.

Rachmaninov: Symphony No.1 Op.13, Piano Concerto No.1 Op.18

Yevgeny Sudbin, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Lan Shui

BIS2012 (Hybrid SACD)

www.bathcds.co.uk
bathcds@btinternet.com
Written by Jason Hatton

A rumble from the timpani and a lonely clarinet solo… 

That is how Sibelius embarked upon one of the great symphony cycles. This modest opening contains much of the material of the first movement. Osmo Vanska takes this movement at a lively pace, which for me makes sense when it comes to the tempo changes that come at a later point. Vanska gives the scherzo an energetic bite, often missing from many recordings. In the finale Vanska really displays his flair for this music, taking the marking of Quasi una fantasia at its word.

The other work on the disc is the dark and brooding fourth symphony. Sibelius wrote this work during a health scare (throat cancer symptoms which turned out to be benign). Its fragmented nature has made this symphony the least performed of the seven numbered symphonies. Vanska is a great ambassador for this work as he seems to have a deep understanding of it. He makes the most of its thick string textures and dark orchestral hues.

This second release from BIS of this cycle is most welcome and compliments Vanska's previous cycle from the Lahti SO on the same label.

www.bathcds.co.uk
bathcds@btinternet.com
Written by Jason Hatton

Sibelius - Symphonies Nos. 1 & 4
Minnesota Orchestra & Osmo Vanska

"Exceptional: incredibly tense and energetic, yet teeming with detail. The orchestral sound, lithe and sparse, suits Vanska's unsentimental approach" The Times, 27 April 2013

Sibelius - Symphony No. 2, The Oceanides & Pohjolas Daughter The Halle Orchestra & Sir Mark Elder

"The Halle strings conjure up wondeful dark hues in the opening of Pohjola, and a silvery lightness to underpin the dancing woodwing in The Oceanides. Elder's approach to the symphony is a measure, slow-burning one. He's careful no to ratchet up the drama too early." The Guardian, 16th May 2013

Summer Special Offers!!

Summer is here and with comes the release of the Bath Compact Discs Summer Newsletter. For the last 4 years we have produced a quarterly newsletter advertising new releases and back-catalog promotions. The launch of our website left many customers with the alarming impression that we would not longer be sending out our newsletters! But do not fear, the newsletter is still going strong, if you would like to receive a copy drop and email with your name and address to Bathcds@btinternet.com or give us a call on +44 (0) 1225464766.

We have many discounts on our website to coincide with the release of the summer newlsetter. In particular we have two exciting Labels on promotion in the way of Chandos Records and LSO Live, both available at 20% off for a limited time. We have also put the most exciting picks a selection from the newsletter in an easily accessible place to help make browsing our website for special offers easier for you.

Chandos Records was founded in 1979 and has become of of the world's premiere record companies, their focus is on "superb quality recordings. LSO Live recordings are owned by the London Symphony Orchestra itself. The musicians not only choose what should be recorded, but are also involved throughout the production process, ensuring only recordings they are happy with get released.


We have endeavoured to get as much of the available catalogue onto the website but there are a few gaps that we will continue trying to fill in. As usual if there is anything you can't find email us and we will do our best to help you!!

www.bathcds.co.uk
bathcds@btinternet.com
Written by Matt Elson