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“Après un rêve” is an ode to the French Belle Époque repertoire, depicting the beauty of dreams and the night. The album is an opportunity to hear and perhaps discover rarely played / rarely recorded wonderful works (Chaminade Nocturne, Duparc Aux étoiles, Poulenc Les soirées de Nazelles), alongside central pillars of the rep- ertoire, and includes a world premiere of Despax’s arrangement of Après un rêve. The album is attributed to his grandfather, Jacques Charpentreau, a French poet who adored this repertoire and frequently drew inspiration from the night in his works. Despax has curated some of his poetry, as well as works by other poets he admired to complement this music, taking the listener on an immersive poetic and musical journey through this nocturnal landscape. Classic FM ALBUM OF THE WEEK ★★★★ "Vividly recorded…dispatched with full-blooded power and melting tenderness by Emmanuel Despax…kaleidoscopic panache of Poulenc's Soirées de Nazelles, a particularly heart-tugging Clair de lune" - The Times ★★★★★ Performance ★★★★★ Recording "Despax is a formidable pianist, thoughtful and imaginative. Like an expert painter at the canvas, he carefully layers and tones sound, expertly measuring touch and pedal. This is beautiful playing, on an elegant yet substantial album" - BBC Music Magazine "This is a delightful recital" - BBC Radio 3 Record Review -
A composer inextricably linked with London’s Covent Garden, Thomas Arne’s greatest opera, Artaxerxes, was premièred at the Theatre Royal, the predecessor of the Royal Opera House, on 2 February 1762 and remained in the Covent Garden repertory until the late 1830s, where it received a documented 111 performances before 1790. The young Mozart almost certainly attended a performance when he came to London in the mid1760s and Haydn was also acquainted with the work, enthusiastically exclaiming that he “had no idea we had such an opera in the English language.” The Mozartists, under the dynamic leadership of conductor and artistic director Ian Page, are leading exponents of the music of Mozart and his contemporaries. Originally called Classical Opera, the company was founded in 1997 and has received widespread international acclaim for its stylish and virtuosic period-instrument orchestra, its imaginative and innovative programming and its ability to nurture and develop world-class young artists. Renowned for their fresh and insightful interpretations of well-known masterpieces as well as for their ability to bring rare and neglected works to light, they have mounted staged productions of many of Mozart’s operas. In 2015 the company launched MOZART 250, a ground-breaking 27-year project exploring the chronological trajectory of Mozart’s life, works and influences. Described by The Observer as “among the most audacious classical music scheduling ever,” this flagship project presents 250th Anniversary performances of most of Mozart’s important works, placing them in context alongside other significant works by Mozart’s contemporaries -
Matthew Barley adds to his reputation as one of the UK's most innovative and creative performers with the new programme and CD Around Britten – celebrating the centenary of Britten's birth with a selection of his works, including the Third Cello Suite and pieces by Sir John Tavener and Gavin Bryars. As always, Barley's playing is fearless. The disc is a voyage around the cello as well as around Britten, and one that never becomes relentless - Gramophone The performance of the Suite is a very fine one - International Record Review This engrossing recital is a defining statement in modern cello playing - Sinfini Music -
Simon Desbruslais returns to disc on Signum with an album that continues to expand the repertoire of the trumpet even further, with four new commissions for Trumpet, Piano and String Orchestra Toby Young’s The Art of Dancing is described by the composer as being ‘a modern homage to the baroque dance suite’, drawing inspiration from modern dance music styles including Acid House, Garage and Drum & Bass. Geoffrey Gordon’s Saint Blue is inspired by the visionary artist Wassily Kandinsky, creating a double concerto with a remarkable jazz-inspired cadenza between the trumpet, piano and double bass. Deborah Pritchard’s Seven Halts on the Somme responds to the series of oil paintings by artist Hughie O’Donoghue that mark seven stopping points for British troops during the Battle of the Somme – one of the most bloody conflicts of the First World War. Finally, Nimrod Borensteins’ Concerto for Piano, Trumpet and String Orchestra juxtaposes rhythms to create a multiplicity of different atmospheres in this highly effective and powerful work. For these premiere recordings Simon Desbruslais performs with pianist Clare Hammond, accompanied by the English String Orchestra under Kenneth Woods. ★★★★ Beautifully performed, highly original disc - BBC Music Magazine Simon Debruslais continues to expand the repertoire of his instrument with four new commissions… creating a double concerto with a remarkable jazz inspired cadenza - Northern Echo -
Ash Wednesday marks the start of Lent, the forty-day period of fasting and penitence which precedes Easter. Ashes are placed on worshippers’ foreheads in the shape of a cross, as a sign of repentance. Evensong on this day has been an especially important service in the liturgical year at St John’s; the BBC started transmitting it live in 1972. For several decades the service was broadcast annually; more recently it has been biennial. 2019 was a live broadcast year, however the recording on this release uses our own microphones, permanently installed in St John’s College Chapel for webcasting, rather than those of the BBC. This recording will be released around the same time that the Dean of St John’s, Mark Oakley, releases a book on George Herbert’s poems, called My Sour Sweet Days. The book and the recording go well in tandem, as in the Deans first sermon at St. John’s, he said “I believe that when we walk here (The Chapel), we walk into a poem. The liturgy is poetry in motion, and we sometimes fail to understand its density of suggestion, the eavesdropping on the soul, the sensitive state of consciousness that its poetry can prompt.” All downloads include booklets. ★★★★ “This disc has a transportive quality. The choir moves as one, with stunning top tenor lines. Glistening and ethereal throughout” - BBC Music Magazine ★★★★★ “An exceptionally satisfying item...[The Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge] has a combination of fervency and clarity that is always impressive and is uniquely well suited to this particular project...the group really inhabits the sound environment and the space. Bravo. Bravissimo” - AllMusic.com ★★★★★ “This CD captures perfectly the special atmosphere of the occasion...A perfectly presented CD” - Choir and Organ -
The Bevan Family Consort return with a selection of choral works celebrating the season of lent and passiontide, including a world premiere recording of the six-voice Lamentations by Alfonso Ferrabosco the Elder. The programme follows the liturgy from the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday to the darkness of Holy Saturday. For each day of Tenebrae, they've included a setting of a Lamentation. ★★★★★ Performance ★★★★★ Recording - "The ensemble is consistently faultless: attention to blend and diction are strikingly precise" - BBC Music Magazine "Graham Ross gives the utmost importance to the interpretative warmth, expressiveness and stimulating reflections of the Easter texts." - Sonograma "They produce a marvellously blended sound, as much at home in complex Renaissance polyphony as in 20th- and 21st-century works" - Europadisc Classical -
Early-music pioneers Charivari Agreable perform an engaging collection of overtures from the Italian Baroque Opera, best described by Kah- Ming Ng as being “lucidly crafted for the purpose of turning heads”. In a decadent era when the antics of theatre-goers was often as intriguing as the performances taking place on stage, these works were composed with the express intention of thrilling, beguiling and engaging an often hard-to-impress audience.This disc is full of insight and revelation, and to be highly recommended - Early Music Review An inspired piece of programming ... a sense of sheer delight that brings these enticing scores resplendently to life - International Record Review [The disc] is very enjoyable and the music is brilliantly played... another gem [in an] already impressive discography - Music Web International -
A compilation of quartets by Schumann, Shostakovich and Caroline Shaw from the acclaimed American string quartet, Calidore String Quartet, exploring the visceral forms of expression that exist at the intersection of music and language. For this recording the Calidore String Quartet gathered music which transmits ideas by imitating language; its rhythms, cadences and intentions. But it also explores what happens when music substitutes for language. When it fills the void of forbidden speech or even how it carries on when language has been exhausted. The Calidore String Quartet has been praised by The New York Times for its “deep reserves of virtuosity and irrepressible dramatic instinct” and the Los Angeles Times for its balance of “intellect and expression.” Recipient of a 2018 Avery Fisher Career Grant and a 2017 Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists, the Calidore String Quartet first made international headlines as winner of the inaugural $100,000 Grand Prize of the 2016 M-Prize Chamber Arts Competition. The quartet was the first North American ensemble to win the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship, a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist, and is currently in residence with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Bowers Program (formerly CMS Two). All downloads include booklets. "Exceptional…a universally expressive disc…recorded sound is vivid and warm" - The Strad "One thing is for sure, and that's the urgent communicative abilities of the Calidore Quartet, whose members seem to meld the impetuosity and freshness of youth with the capacity for meditation on music and its meaning at the most profound level…[Schumann] heard here in a performance of exemplary ardour by the young Calidore Quartet…A most stimulating release" - Classical Explorer "Taken together, it’s one of the year’s best albums. When live musical performances return in a few months, the CSQ shouldn’t be missed. Until then, at least we have this superb release" - Arts Fuse -
On this recording, the Choir of Men & Boys sings the Lutheran chorales preceding Bach’s organ settings. There are five organs in the church, three of which reside in the church space; the Miller-Scott Dobson Chancel organ [2018], the rear gallery Loening-Hancock mechanical action instrument, built by Taylor & Boody [1996], and the Martha J. Dodge continuo organ built by Taylor & Boody [2001]. The Tower carillon space houses a Peter Collins mechanical action organ [2008], and a 2-manual Aeolian-Skinner practice organ [1957] resides in the Choir Rehearsal Room. The Miller-Scott Dobson Organ is one of North America’s most significant pipe organs, supporting the parish’s internationally- renowned liturgical and musical life, while the rear gallery instrument, inspired by the tradition of organ building active in the Netherlands and North Germany in the 17th and 18th eighteenth centuries, provides foil to the Dobson’s eclecticism. ★★★★★ "Blending all of [the 5 organs] with acoustic seamlessness is a technical challenge triumphantly achieved in this recording which in ever way - from the chorales sung by the Choir of Men and Boys to Jeremy Filsell's magisterial playing - does full justice to Bach's monumental exploration…This is a compelling, definitive recording, affording boundless listening pleasure" - Choir & Organ ★★★★ Performance ★★★★ Recording "Beautifully balanced…an impressive 'tour'" - BBC Music Magazine "Each piece is played with fastidious care, with its mood and scale perfectly matched to an appropriate organ…Filsell provides yet another masterclass in manual and pedal dexterity, packed with interpretive insights and always mindful of a sense of flow and grace. Recorded by David Hinitt in the very best sound, this is a Clavier-Übung III to savour and revisit" - Gramophone “Another recording I can’t get enough of…Jeremy Filsell’s playing is awe-inspiring…I concluded that these performers and these organs have together produced the best recording of Clavier-Übung III I am ever likely to hear” - Choir & Organ -
David Goode continues his new series of the complete organ works of Johann Sebastian Bach, played on the Metzler Söhne organ of Trinity College Chapel, Cambridge. This fourteenth volume includes ‘Clavier Ubung III: Prelude (“St Anne”), BWV 552a’ and the ‘Clavier Ubung III: Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr (Fughetta), BWV 677.’ This digital-only recording is available from all major download stores and streaming services in MP3, CD Quality and Studio Quality/24-bit audio, and includes an extensive note on the works by George Parsons. It is also available to buy as a disc on demand – made to order with a printed booklet and inlay. All downloads include booklets. -
Tenebrae bring their trademark passion and precision to this live performance of music by J. S. Bach and Sir James MacMillan, to be recorded live at Snape Maltings in May 2023. Renowned for their technical difficulty, Bach’s motets are pillars of the choral repertoire, requiring minute attention to detail as well as a full emotional range. Here, Tenebrae performs the three most well-known of the set, culminating in the joyful Singet dem Herrn. Like Bach, Sir James MacMillan has written much of his music for the church, and his settings of the Tenebrae responsories paint a vivid picture of the events of Holy Week. This album also features the premiere recording of I saw Eternity the other night, which MacMillan composed for Tenebrae in 2021 to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the London Bach Society. "It’s a monumental programme - a huge sing in terms of both brain and body. Short's singers tackle it with all their signature precision. [MacMillan Responsories] explode in the ear: all translucent vertical clarity and balance. The flickering ornaments in "Tenebrae factae sunt" shoot like sparks around the choir, and the bladed purity of Short's upper voices comes into its own in the gleaming exchanges of "Tradiderunt me"… There's plenty to admire here" - Gramophone 10/10 "The vocal consort Tenebrae bring their trademark passion and precision to their performance recorded live at Snape Maltings…the sound quality is uniformly excellent…an illuminating and at times numinous listening experience" - Cross Rhythms "This is an intriguing and delightful disc of music composed almost three hundred centuries apart by the Lutheran Johann Sebastian Bach and Catholic Sir James MacMillan... an extremely moving listen." - RSCM -
Signum Classics is proud to announce a new label partnership and recording debut with Irish National Opera, presenting the world-premiere recording of Gerald Barry’s opera, Alice’s Adventures Under Ground, based on the famous book by Lewis Carroll. Irish National Opera is Ireland’s newest and most enterprising opera company. It champions Irish creativity in its casting, its choice of creative teams and in its commitment to the presentation of new operas. André de Ridder’s stylistic versatility, projects and collaborations make him much in demand by the BBC Proms, the Holland, Sydney and Manchester International Festivals, and orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, Chicago and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, among others. “Barry’s artistic voice is shocking, enchanting and often downright weird. He revels in contrasting the hilariously absurd with the heart-wrenchingly beautiful to create a surreal musical language that is perfectly suited to the fantasy world of Lewis Carroll.” Toby Young, composer ★★★★★ Performance, ★★★★ Recording "[Such] musical references are so beautifully integrated they enhance the referential nature of Carroll's original narrative arc" - BBC Music Magazine ★★★★★ "An explosive version of Alice in Wonderland…the album version of this memorable lyrical comedy is brilliantly conducted by André de Ridder at the head of an unleashed Irish Chamber Orchestra…Barry pulls off brilliant satire saturated with ferociously destructive nonsense with panache." - Classica ★★★★★ "I missed it on stage, but this recording does the work theatrical justice simply because it is a theatrical score, full of surprises delights the ear. André de Ridder conducts the Irish Chamber Orchestra with total control of the chaotic score" - Musical Opinion -
The Choral Scholars is an internationally acclaimed chamber choir of gifted student singers led by founding Artistic Director, Dr. Desmond Earley, based at University College Dublin College of Arts & Humanities. Scholars come from various academic disciplines and commit to an intensive programme of choral study. Be all Merry is one of three new pieces especially composed for the Choral Scholars. This lively carol for choir, orchestra and violin by Irish composer Eoghan Desmond evokes the joyful play of Christmas in the lines ‘Be all merry in this house/Exultet celum laudibus!’. The recording contains a remarkable setting of the Advent plainsong hymn Christe Redemptor Omnium for tenor solo, chorus, violin and violoncello by Ivo Antognini, crafted for Choral Scholars with the kind support of the Swiss Embassy in Dublin. The Adoration of the Magi by American composer Timothy Stephens is a breathtaking setting of W. B. Yeats’ poetry. A beautiful Irish-language lullaby – Cró na Nollag – set by father and son, Adhamhnán and Uinseann Mac Domhnaill, and the much-loved Scottish tune simply titled Suantraí, are also included. The Irish Chamber Orchestra are also featured on a number of tracks including The Wexford Carol and Carol of the Bells. The choir closes the album with the song most associated with friendship, hope and the promise of a new year, Auld Lang Syne. The post-production phase of this recording project took place as the world grappled with the outbreak of COVID-19. American composer Linda Kachelmeier’s piece – We Toast the Days – serves as a reminder of the strength, love and hope that resonates throughout the world not simply at Christmastide but also during periods of hardship. All downloads include booklets. ★★★★★ "No fewer than half the choir’s two-dozen members step out for solos, revealing the in-depth quality of Earley’s singers. The glowing tonal blend that he elicits is a constant pleasure, and there’s a real emotional connection in the performances." - BBC Music Magazine ★★★★½ "Listeners in search of something different from the usual output of British collegiate and cathedral choirs will find it here…The sound is fresh in numerous ways, and so is the program…This is a heartening and satisfying holiday release" - All Music "Be All Merry is a slick album of new, largely unrecognisable settings of old carols woven through with the sound of Gaelic folk song…It provides that one thing we desperately need from Christmas albums - something different that is still consistent and festive" - Gramophone "A disc full of things you might hear nowhere else, all sensitively performed". - Planet Hugill "A contemporary, and unmistakeably Irish, take on the Christmas tradition...the Scholars, and soloists Kiri O’Neill and Emily Doyle, achieve a beautifully delicate, almost vulnerable sound in Elaine Agnew’s Curoo Curoo, Fionntán Ó Cearbhaill’s Scots lullaby Suantraí and Adhamhnán Mac Domhnaill’s evocative Cró na Nollag" - Presto -
‘Beauty for Ashes’ is a unique collection of unrecorded music from some of the UK’s foremost choral composers. Whilst the programme includes well-established names from classical music such as Bob Chilcott and Judith Weir, it also includes newer voices such as Alison Willis, Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Judith Bingham, Sarah Macdonald and Roxanna Panufnik. Six of the contemporary composers featured on the recording are women, and their work exemplifies the enormous contribution female composers are making to the English choral tradition, in a genre where they have been historically under-represented and under-recorded. The principal aim of the recording is to enable these compositions to find new audiences and to promote the creation of new choral works. At a time when the sacred choral tradition is under severe threat from budget cuts, Beauty for Ashes reveals the vibrancy and variety of contemporary composition. "You can hear works from well-established names from the choral scene like Bob Chilcott and Judith Weir. A lovely disc to add to your collection.” - Scala Radio ★★★★★ "The choir's tuning in the a cappella pieces is superb. A cracking album to which I'll be returning frequently." - Choir and Organ -
The second volume of celebrated pianist, composer and conductor Thomas Adès and the Britten Sinfonia’s collaborative performances of the works of Beethoven and Gerald Barry. Beethoven’s 4th, 5th and 6th symphonies are interspersed with Barry’s ‘Viola Concerto’ (featuring Lawrence Power) and piece for orchestra and bass ‘The Conquest of Ireland’ (featuring Joshua Bloom). The pairing is ideal, for Gerald Barry’s compositional style was greatly influenced by Beethoven, giving a piece a title such as Beethoven would suggest an attempt at emulating his legacy nearly two centuries after his death. His music also shows his major influence from radio, moving from the sublime and the ridiculous with carefree abandon. All downloads include booklets. "The performances of both symphonies are terrific from start to finish…I love the outdoor, festively martial quality he [Adès] gives to the Fifth, and how the coda generates tremendous excitement while remaining light on its feet…under Adès the Britten Sinfonia play both scores for all their worth... Heartily recommended." - Gramophone "Particularly poised and precise in the Finale; an urgent and blazing Fifth; and, as a whole, a standout fresh-faced ‘Pastoral’, especially notable for a nippy Scherzo and an elemental ‘Storm’…The recorded sound is excellent." - Colin's Column -
The final installment in the BEETHOVEN & BARRY recording series which, over three volumes, has traced all nine of Beethoven’s Symphonies coupled with music by the celebrated Irish composer Gerald Barry. “This set [Vol.1] cuts pristine interpretations of Beethoven’s early symphonies with Gerald Barry’s 21st- century zesty homage ... tightly knit performances ...” - BBC Music Magazine ★★★★ Performance ★★★★ Recording "The Britten Sinfonia rises brilliantly to the challenges" - BBC Music Magazine ★★★★ "Alert, skilful playing of the Britten Sinfonia" - Financial Times -
Pianist Min-Jung Kym makes her recording debut on Signum Records, leading the Philharmonia Orchestra under conductor Clemens Schuldt in performances of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4, and alongside Zsolt-Tihamer Visontay for Mendelssohn’s Double Concerto for Violin, Piano and String Orchestra in D Minor.
Steinway Artist Min-Jung Kym has acquired an internationally recognised reputation performing with some of the world’s leading orchestras and musicians, including collaborations with (amongst others) Barry Wordsworth, Alison Balsom, the Haffner Ensemble, Pierre Amoyal, Leon Bosch, Joy Farrall, Andrew Haveron, Sergey Levitin, Adrian Brendel, Thomas Carroll, Mats Lidstrom and the soprano Susan Bickley. Min-Jung was the ‘pianist of choice’ for the masterclasses of the legendary violinist Ruggiero Ricci.
This is an unhurried, richly expressive interpretation the eloquent nature of which is matched by the Philharmonia Orchestra - Classical Source Happily, the musicians on this Signum recording respect the letter of the score - Gramophone -
Alessio Bax returns to disc on Signum with the Southbank Sinfonia under Simon Over, in a new recording of works by Beethoven centred around the majestic “Emperor” Piano Concerto No. 5.
Combining exceptional lyricism and insight with consummate technique, Alessio Bax is without a doubt “among the most remarkable young pianists now before the public” (Gramophone). He catapulted to prominence with First Prize wins at both the Leeds and Hamamatsu International Piano Competitions, and is now a familiar face on four continents, not only as a recitalist and chamber musician, but as a concerto soloist who has appeared with more than 100 orchestras, including the London and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras, Dallas and Cincinnati Symphonies, NHK Symphony in Japan, St. Petersburg Philharmonic with Yuri Temirkanov, and the City of Birmingham Symphony with Sir Simon Rattle.
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“[Their Beethoven performance’s] were shockingly deep. I’ve never heard a quartet so young get so inside this ultimately inscrutable music” - LA Times The Calidore Quartet return to Signum Classics for the first installment of their Beethoven Cycle: The Late Quartets. Their interpretation is informed by their diverse set of mentors which include Alban Berg, Emerson, Guarneri and yet still uniquely representing the senti- ments, aesthetics and research of their generation. Their interpretations of Beethoven are already critically acclaimed with future performances planned at prestigious venues to be announced. WINNER CHAMBER MUSIC AWARD 2024 ★★★★★ Performance ★★★★★ Recording "Meticulously detailed performances…with playing of quite remarkable technical accomplishment: I'm not sure, for instance, that I've ever heard the tremendously challenging Op.133 Fugue…done with greater precision and clarity…the Calidore players penetrate right to the heart of the music, giving warm and intensely lyrical accounts…[the players] have produced performances that can stand comparison with the best" - BBC Music Magazine "They are boldly recorded here, played with remarkable depth, yet another example of astonishingly life-affirming music making." - LA Times "Deeply satisfying, impeccably recorded and representative of the gratifyingly high standard of quartet playing we may hear today from so many of today’s young artists" - Musicweb International -
The second in their award winning series, the Calidore Quartet return with a three disc album of the Middle Quartets. Their Beethoven performances have been described as ‘shockingly deep’ by LA Times. The first album of Late Quartets won the Chamber Music Award at the BBC Music Magazine Awards 2024. Their interpretation is informed by their diverse set of mentors which include Alban Berg, Emerson, Guarneri and yet still uniquely representing the sentiments, aesthetics and research of their generation. Their interpretations of Beethoven are already critically acclaimed with performances at the Lincoln Centre planned as part of their residency. All Music Classical Highlights October 2024 Recording of the Month (October) "What cannot be denied is the sophistication and sheer polish - in tuning, rhythm and ensemble - of the Calidore's Beethoven...A performance of such fearless attack and rhythmic precision...[Coda] a miniature tour de force that sets the seal on Beethoven-playing of rare vividness and technical aplomb" - Gramophone “The works played here reflect the intense experimentalism of Beethoven’s middle years – the leading Viennese critic of the day declared the ‘Razumovskys’ ‘not generally comprehensible’ – and the Calidore Quartet are well up to all the challenges…this album set is highly collectible.” - BBC Music Magazine "The group's sense of ensemble is excellent, and overall, the intensity of the Calidore Quartet's playing is notable and commendable...the sound is both clear and idiomatic...this is a recording that demands attention" - AllMusic -
Their third duo album on Signum Classics, Viktoria Mullova and Alasdair Beatson perform Beethoven’s Sonatas 2 and 10. Uniquely for the A Major sonata Op 12 No 2 they use a copy of an 1805 Walter (a Viennese fortepiano), and for Sonata No 10 op. 96 they use a copy of an 1819 graf, both by Paul McNulty. Together with violin strung with gut, these instruments are what Beethoven’s music craves, giving a rich texture and distinct colours between the registers. ★★★★ - “A wonderful performance that becomes richer on each listening” - BBC Music Magazine ★★★★ - “The fine detail of both the violin and the keyboard playing is exquisite” - The Guardian “Yielding to none in sensitivity and imagination, Mullova and Beatson make an eloquent case for the more intimate, transparent sound world of period instruments” - Gramophone “Their perceptive interpretations express these works’ full gamut of emotions from introspection to humour.” - The Strad “The wait has been worth it: Mullova’s superb musicianship shines in close-knit partnership with Beatson.” - Europadisc -
The highly anticipated recording of Thomas Adès and the Britten Sinfonia playing Beethoven and Barry; specifcally the Beethoven Symphony Cycle and a selection of Barry’s works. This CD features Beethoven’s first three symphonies, interspersed with Barry’s piece Beethoven and his Piano Concerto. Beethoven intended to stake his claim to be the rightful successor to the Viennese classical tradition with the first of his symphonies, premiered in 1800. He had already began to lose his hearing by this point, and when he composed his second symphony, he placed on the page his spirit of defiance and determination against his deafness. The third marks a significant turning point in his style, as well as in the framwork of how a symphony was expected to be composed. Gerald Barry grew up in rural Ireland. His music shows us how his upbringing had an effect on his compositional style - giving a piece a title such as Beethoven would suggest an attempt at emulating his legacy nearly two centuries after his death. Do not be fooled by this however; his music shows his major influence from radio, moving from the sublime and the ridiculous with carefree abandon. All downloads include booklets. ★★★★★ Performance ★★★★ Recording "Thomas Adès and the Britten Sinfonia present tightly knit performances, and dynamic subtleties are largely preserved in the concert recordings" - BBC Music Magazine "The opening movement of the Eroica had me on the edge of my seat. The quasi-fugal passage at 7'03" is thrillingly taut and the subsequent crunching climax…packs plenty of power without losing a degree of momentum. And listen to the Britten Sinfonia's violins at 11'12", where one can almost hear the rosin spraying off their bows" - Gramophone "Adès’ interpretation is lighthearted but also meticulous…A solid effort by Adès and the Britten Sinfonia, then, and well worth a close listen" - The Classic Review "Adès tackles the “Eroica” in a blazing performance, very energetic but not lacking in affection…I shall return to these CDs" - Musicweb International "All in all, there isn't a dull moment here" - AllMusic.com -
The third and final instalment in their award-winning series, the Calidore Quartet return with a three-disc release of Beethoven Early Quartets. Their previous Beethoven recordings have been described as ‘highly collectible’ by BBC Music Magazine. The first album of Late Quartets won the Chamber Music Award at the BBC Music Magazine Awards 2024, and the second awarded Recording of the Month by Gramophone Magazine. “Our interpretation speaks to the influences of our teachers and the great traditions associated with this repertoire, but also to that of our own generation, contemporary research, style and experience. Though this music speaks in a language that is hundreds of years old, its message remains immediate, relevant and comforting to listeners of today and of generations to come even, and especially, in the most challenging of times”. ★★★★★ - Ritmo "Very enthusiastically recommended" - Gramophone ★★★★ “With playing of this calibre the results are always exhilarating” - BBC Music Magazine -
A stunning 12-CD box set, Beethoven Unbound, will be released to mark the completion of Llŷr Williams’ monumental Beethoven cycle at Wigmore Hall and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD) – recorded live at Wigmore Hall over three years and nine recitals. As well as the complete piano sonatas, the box set also features other works including the 32 Variations in C minor, Eroica Variations, Opus 126 Bagatelles and the Diabelli Variations, a total of almost 14 hours of music. This is Williams’ fourth album on Signum Classics. Beethoven Unbound is presented in a beautiful hinged box with extensive notes by Misha Donat, and personal notes by Williams and the album’s award-winning producer Judith Sherman, with whom Williams worked previously on his Wagner Without Words release. Williams comments on the box set and the partnership with Sherman: “Rather than adopt the chronological approach, I have arranged the works roughly in the order that I played them in the concerts, and each CD has been devised as a mini-recital programme. This has sometimes allowed for creativity in putting the pieces together. Working with Judy on this project has been a joy and a privilege. It was sad to reach the end – but at least we still have a Schubert cycle to look forward to!” Williams has developed a reputation as one of the finest exponents of Beethoven, since giving his first Beethoven cycle in Perth in 2010, and winning a South Bank Sky Arts Award in 2012 for an epic two-week marathon in Edinburgh. The Guardian said of one of his RWCMD cycle recitals in 2016: “Williams’ already considerable stature as a Beethoven interpreter seems to grow with every performance” (Rian Evans, 25 March 2016) and The Independent commented on a Wigmore recital: “Williams treats it [the keyboard] as an extension of his body, and with the three Opus 10 sonatas plus the Diabelli Variations he took us onto an altogether higher plane” (Michael Church, 12 October 2016). 2017 saw the conclusion not only of the solo series at Wigmore Hall and the RWCMD, but also of a complete concerto cycle with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Williams plays with profound intelligence and a wittily knowing ear for the quirky surprises Beethoven lays in the path of the pianist - The Observer [Williams' playing contains] wisdom and humour, comedy and tragedy, the lyrical and the fierce - BARN Magazine A musical feast of almost 14 hours of music that comes highly recommended - Northern Echo The best of these performances are out of the top drawer and all are worthy of careful listening. At its bargain price this set is highly recommended to all lovers of Beethoven’s piano music - iClassical Wonderful recordings - BBC Radio 3 In Tune -
When he was just three years old, violinist Charlie Siem heard something that would change his life: a concerto by Beethoven, which inspired him to pursue a career in music. Now one of classical music’s biggest stars, the virtuoso is paying homage to the master with his new album Beethoven: Violin Concerto Romances, performed with the Philharmonia Orchestra and conducted by Oleg Caetani. Featuring five tracks of Beethoven’s greatest pieces, the album is one of Siem’s most ambitious and challenging works yet, which he accomplishes with the trained ear, technical prowess, intuition and charisma that have become his hallmark. ★★★★ 'And while this is a very classical, traditional recording, it can please because of the virtuoso and technically flawless playing of the soloist, as well as a powerfully performing orchestra under a dynamic conductor' - Pizzicato “Terrific performance there from Charlie Siem and the Philharmonia Orchestra and conductor, Oleg Caetani" - Classic FM Album of the Week "Siem produces a pure, sweet sound, accentuated by the resonant acoustic, and there's something appealingly old-school about his playing" - BBC Music Magazine -
Tamsin Waley-Cohen and Huw Watkins return with the start of a Beethoven Violin Sonata Cycle - here recording the 1st, 5th and 8th sonatas. Gramophone Magazine said “The heart gives a little leap at the prospect of...a duo as engaging and intelligent as Tamsin Waley-Cohen and Huw Watkins.” This cycle is sure to be one of the highlights of Signum’s year, as well as of Beethoven 250. Beethoven’s ten violin sonatas add up to a comprehensive exploration of the possibilities and potential of writing for the two instruments on equal terms – possibilities that he was ideally placed to understand. The three sonatas on this recording are waypoints on a journey, crafted by a composer who was both violinist and pianist, and who never ceased exploring the practical possibilities of the instruments for which he wrote. All downloads include booklets. -
La Serenissima presents a post-lockdown recording of the little-known 18th Century Italian composer, Brescianello. A contemporary of Vivaldi, Brescianello is a composer whose music languishes in relative obscurity. Whilst the mists of time have claimed some composers’ music for justifiable reasons, Brescianello’s music presents many compelling arguments for its restoration. Having first included Brescianello in La Serenissima’s 2014 season, they have since staged his opera Tisbe, recorded a violin concerto (Extra Time, SIGCD641), a trio sonata (Settecento, SIGCD663) and other works. It is surprising that the Opus 1 was the only set of works that Brescianello chose to publish and thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic, La Serenissima have now been given the opportunity to start their exploration of this wonderful publication. La Serenissima is recognised as the UK’s leading exponent of the music of eighteenth-century Venice and connected composers. Uniquely, the group’s entire repertoire is edited from source material, and it has been praised for its ‘glorious and all-too-rare ability to make one’s pulse race afresh with every new project’ (Gramophone). La Serenissima has become synonymous with virtuosity, dynamism and accessibility, uncovering a plethora of new repertoire and making it available to all through live performance, high calibre recording work, education and outreach initiatives. "★★★★★ Performance, ★★★★★ Recording. "The performances by this accomplished ensemble are polished and invigorating. Chandler's solo violin playing is articulate, warm toned and communicative, and he is supported throughout by his disciplined and responsive players, among whom the continuo group excels…In summary, a rewarding issue." - BBC Music Magazine. "[The three Opus 1 concertos]they are a delight to hear in these vital, refreshing accounts. They are effervescent in spirit and rich in invention. Chandler leads readings which are perfectly paced and tastefully inflected…La Serenissima’s performance and Signum’s recording of this delightful music seems ideal to me…this is a marvellous disc. The variety of Brescianello’s invention and the quality of the playing provide seventy minutes of pure listening pleasure. It’s a disc to savour piece by piece, not one to be relegated to background listening…the selections here achieve a consistently high quality. I certainly hope that Signum don’t delay too long in sharing the next instalment." - Musicweb International -
Signum’s first disc with Rodrigo Ruiz highlights the Mexican composer’s musical and literary passions, in performances by world-class soloists Kerenza Peacock, Huw Watkins and Laura van der Heijden. Born in Tijuana, Mexico, Ruiz has attracted commissions from a number of leading artists, with both the opening Violin Sonata and ‘A Riveder Le Stelle’ commissioned by Kerenza Peacock for this recording. The second work is a duo for violin and piano that is accompanied by poetic quotations from Canto XXXIV of Dante’s ‘Inferno’. The booklet notes include an interview with the composer by Jessica Duchen, who describes how the programme “clearly shows Rodrigo ́s roots in the traditions of Beethoven and Brahms, but with individual twists that clearly indicate we are in fact on new territory”. -
This recording made by the Royal Holloway Choir celebrates the music of Ben Parry. His compositions and arrangements include the popular Faber Carol Book and a burgeoning catalogue of choral music for Peters Edition and Oxford University Press. He has enjoyed commissions from, among others, St John’s College, Cambridge, The Cathedral Choral Society of Washington DC, VOCES8, the BBC Singers, Chelmsford, Ely, Norwich and Worcester cathedrals, and his music has been heard at the BBC Proms and on the TV and radio. In this recording, he sets the words of poems by Garth Bardsley, who says about Ben’s work “all of my poems stand alone but given the Parry treatment, I know that they take flight.” The Choir of Royal Holloway is considered to be one of the finest mixed-voice collegiate choirs in Britain. Their recordings on the Hyperion label have attracted top reviews from all major music publications. The choir gives 50-plus concerts a year with a particular specialism in collaborating with living composers. The choir has collaborated, performed and recorded with many prestigious ensembles, including The King’s Singers, BBC Singers, London Mozart Players, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Onyx Brass, Fretwork, and the Britten Sinfonia. All downloads include booklets. -
VOCES8 and Les Inventions shine a light on a hidden musical treasure in these world-premiere recordings of Charles Avison’s 1757 adaptation of Benedetto Marcello’s Estro-poetico armonico. A fresh and original collection, Marcello’s Psalm settings were composed in Venice and quickly found fame across Europe after their publication between 1724 and 1726. ★★★★★ The results are wholly delightful and absorbing, and the intimate forces of VOCES8 and Les Inventions are completely at home in this repertoire - Choir & Organ ★★★★ With their vivid word-setting and lively declamation, the English texts give a slightly homespun quality to the enterprise. Well sung, there's a striking triple canon with Latin text to finish - The Observer ★★★★ Marcello's masterpiece receives...world premiere recording here by VOCES8, accompanied by the organ, recorder and strings of French early-music ensemble Les Inventions - The Independent Very polished - BBC Radio 3 CD Review A nice variety of vocal colours and a lovely blend make for a convincing representation of Marcello's largely unknown masterpiece Estro poetico-armonico. More please - Early Music Review -
The story of Beowulf, although thousands of years old, is still loved by many all over the world. This recording of a new musical telling of the story, composed by Toby Young, blurs traditional sense of the genre of classical music by merging it with folk and popular music. This fusion is what makes Beowulf a fantastic story. The greatest versions of the story are not the simple good verses bad, but the ones which involve slight ambiguous points; ones which allow the reader/listener to mkae his/her mind up about what is exactly going on. The combination of Toby Young’s score and Jennifer Thorp’s libretto create this ambiguity perfectly. All downloads include booklets. -
Signum Classics are proud to announce the first album from the Heath Quartet with acclaimed soprano Carolyn Sampson. Together the three works on the present CD demonstrate the extraordinary advances made in the development of the musical language of Schoenberg and his two chief pupils, Berg and Webern, over a period of a mere five years at the start of the 20th century. The charismatic and sought-after Heath String Quartet won the 2016 Gramophone Chamber Award for their recording of the complete quartets of Sir Michael Tippett, and in 2013 became the first ensemble in 15 years to win the prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society’s Young Artists Award. Formed in Manches- ter in 2002 they were selected for representation by YCAT, awarded a Borletti-Buitoni Special Ensemble Scholarship and won the Ensemble Prize at the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Equally at home on the concert and opera stages, Carolyn Sampson has enjoyed notable successes in the UK as well as throughout Europe and the US. Carolyn has released multi award-winning discs for multiple record labels including BIS, Decca, Harmonia Mundi, and Hyperion, receiving accolades in- cluding the Choc de l’Année Classica, Gramophone Magazine Editor’s Choice, BBC Music Magazine’s “Record of the Month”, an ECHO Award, and a Diapason D’or. RECORDING OF THE WEEK "(Berg) the marvellous thing about this performance is the way the Heaths balance absolute textual fidelity with a sense of spontaneity – the expressive portamenti in the opening pages are a case in point, as are the subtle variations in vibrato … (Schoenberg) (Sampson) Her crystal-clear soprano complements the string sound quite beautifully, though where required there’s also a thrilling weight to the sound…She and the quartet are ever-sensitive to the mystical beauty of Georg’s poetry, painting the ‘hazy vapours’ and ‘holy fire’ in the most vivid of colours as this superb album draws to a transcendent close" - Presto ★★★★★ "A distinguished record…performances of notable insight and technical address, very well recorded…The performances are finely consistent throughout; Carolyn Sampson is also admirable here, her diction, musical intelligence, phrasing and tonal variation are exception, as is the recording. This issue is comprehensively recommended" - Musical Opinion ★★★★★ "They are not afraid to relish the Romantic remnants still present with a warmly full sound performance as much as they are attentive and detailed in pointing out the structural innovations. With sensitively sounded out reserved moments they offer one side of their performance. The other side they offer with gripping playing, which, however, always remains subtly controlled" - Pizzicato -
Internationally-acclaimed violinist Charlie Siem and pianist Itamar Golan release their debut album on Signum including works by Kreisler, Sarasate, Paganini, Elgar and Wieniawski, showcasing Siem’s versatility and virtuosity in an intimate Parisian-style ‘salon’ programme. Siem has appeared with many of the world’s finest orchestras and chamber ensembles, including: the Bergen Philharmonic, the Camerata Salzburg, the Czech National Symphony, the Israel Philharmonic, the London Symphony, the Moscow Philharmonic, the Oslo Philharmonic, the Rotterdam Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He plays the 1735 Guarneri del Gesù violin, known as the “D’Egvill”. "This is a marvellous selection of mostly miniatures played in an outstanding manner by the English violinist Charlie Siem. His playing is in turn rhapsodic, charming, virtuosic and always imaginatively musical. Each performance is a gem...Siem sounds superb...The liner notes written by David Truslove are excellent and informative. There are many such recordings of potpourris of violin pieces but this is one of the best that I have heard. Very highly recommended. " - AUSTA National Journal -
Voce’s mission, as articulated by Artistic Director Mark Singleton, is to Serve Harmony. They strive to perform each piece as a unified ensemble – to get straight to the heart of each composition. This cooperative spirit enables them to render music that expresses, as closely as possible, the intent of the composer. Paul Mealor’s music, in turn, comes from a place of deep humility. It stirs the soul, allowing the spirit of all who hear it a direct, unconditioned experience of peace, love, compassion and a profound joy. When Paul came to work with Voce in 2017, it was obvious that Voce and Paul Mealor were a perfect pairing. Some things are just meant to be. All downloads include booklets. Paul Mealor described Voce as “one of the finest choirs on the planet” with “a warmth of tone and beauty that is unique.” Ēriks Ešenvalds described Artistic Director Mark Singleton as “a very sensitive and smart conductor – he finds hidden beauties in the scores that most conductors would never know existed.” Morten Lauridsen praised Singleton’s work as “exemplifying choral performance at its finest.” -
"Darkness to light is a theme which continues to engage artists, musicians, philosophers and thinkers through time, and this theme, coupled with thoughts of remembrance, hope, redemption and acceptance is the thread that ties together all the music performed on this recording" - Bob Chilcott ‘Canticles of Light’ is Bob Chilcott’s ninth album on Signum Records. Featuring celebrated composers including Cecilia McDowall, Francis Pott and James MacMillan each work has been carefully selected by conductor and professor Agnieszka Franków-Żelazny, with the final track written especially for the NFM Choir. Hailed by The Observer as ‘a contemporary hero of British choral music’, composer and conductor Bob Chilcott has enjoyed a lifelong connection with singing and choirs. As a composer he has a large catalogue of music published by Oxford University Press that reflects his broad view of musical styles and genres. ★★★★★ "The album was recorded in 2019 but its themes gain additional resonance with its release earlier this year in a very different world" - Choir & Organ ★★★★★ "The challenge of translating this music to the point in sound and emotion is mastered by the NFM Choir under Agnieszka Frankow-Zelazny without fault. [An] engaging sound...It is choral singing full of light, with voices that radiate from within...In general – splendor and radiance stands for the performance of the NFM Choir" - Pizzicato ★★★★ Performance ★★★★ Recording "[Chilcott’s Move him into the sun] Tenor Sebastian Mach’s plangent solo in ‘Apologia pro Poemate meo’ is a highlight here, feelingly supported by players from the Wrocław Philharmonic" - BBC Music Magazine -
A work filled with ambition, Circlesong is a musical portrayal of the human life cycle as captured in the indigenous poetry of North America. Based on poetry from the Chinook, Comanche, Dakota, Eskimo, Iroquois, Kwakiutl, Navajo, Ojibwa, Pueblo, Seminole, Sioux, and Yaqui traditions, the thirteen movements, in seven parts, mark the different stages of life, from birth and childhood to adulthood, middle age and death. With energetic percussion accompaniment, climactic moments for tutti choir, tender unaccompanied passages and solo song, Circlesong is a work of impressive drama, variety, and depth, performed here by the Grammy® Award winning Houston Chamber Choir under Robert Simpson. Founded in 1995 by Artistic Director Robert Simpson, the Houston Chamber Choir received the 2019 Grammy® Award for Best Choral Performance for its recording of the complete works of Maurice Duruflé (also available from Signum). Other honours include Chorus America’s Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence and the American Prize, Professional Choir Division. Dubbed by Jamie Bernstein as“the choral equivalent of the Harlem Globetrotters” the Houston Chamber Choir is as comfortable singing jazz with Christian McBride and Dave Brubeck as performing Morton Feldman’s Rothko Chapel with violist Kim Kashkashian, and Mass Observation by Tarik O’Regan. "I was impressed by their singing of Circlesong. They make a most attractive sound. The singing is very well disciplined and there's good attention to both dynamics and diction…The instrumentalists are uniformly excellent…They've recorded the performances very successfully…This is a most enjoyable disc which I hope will increase awareness among other choirs of these rewarding pieces, especially Circlesong" - MusicWeb International ★★★★ "Circlesong is a choral work packed full of fun, with vibrant, dynamic sections alongside more reflective, ethereal moments. Placed alongside a series of shorter pieces by the contemporary composer here, there's plenty to enjoy" - BBC Music Magazine "The Houston Performers give an immaculate, eloquent performance of a charming, life-affirming piece." - Choir and Organ -
Chilcott’s mighty setting of words from St John’s Gospel is a dramatic yet optimistic retelling of the Passiontide story. The work combines 13th and 17th century English poetry with the King James Bible text settings and, as with Bach’s great Passion settings, the role of the Evangelist is taken by the tenor soloist, who provides a melodious narrative throughout. Including 5 well- known hymn texts set to new, original melodies, the work further confirms Chilcott’s status as one of the world’s most popular active choral composers.
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The three works on this 2CD set further confirm Chilcott’s status as one of the world’s most popular active choral composers. The Angry Planet was a commission inspired by conductor David Hill for the BBC Proms in 2012, and combines the precision and skill of the BBC Singers and The Bach Choir with the exuberance of a host of young persons and Children’s choirs including The Young Singers, London Youth Choir and Finchley Children’s Music Group. -
Tamsin Waley Cohen is joined by pianist Huw Watkins for a new disc exploring folk- inspired Bohemia from before the First World War – featuring works by Antonin Dvořák, Josef Suk and Leoš Janáček. Waley-Cohen captures the score’s spirit of infectious bonhomie to perfection… this gifted duo refreshingly exchanges the percussive tendency and angular introspection of some recent accounts for a spiritually intense espressivo reminiscent of Yehudi Menuhin in his prime - The Strad Just fresh, thoughtful and committed interpretations shot through with poetry and alertness - Gramophone The performances are all well prepared, well integrated, well-conceived and beautifully played. Altogether a cherishable disc - MusicWeb International English violinist Tamsin Waley-Cohen’s flexible and versatile technique is assured, especially demonstrated in Dvořák’s and his son-in-law Suk’s Four Romantic Pieces...They have an affinity with this music and play lyrically ...This is classy playing from both performers. - AUSTA National Journal -
BBC Music Magazine Award-winning choir Tenebrae perform a sumptuous selection of motets by Johannes Brahms and Anton Bruckner. Choral Recording of the Year: Performance ★★★★★ Recording ★★★★★ A beautifully balanced programme - BBC Music Magazine ★★★★★ Complex, rich and beautiful... performances are everything we have come to expect from Tenebrae, likewise Signum's recorded sound - Classical Music ★★★★ Richly Expressive - The Observer Tenebrae score on all counts. They submit with impressive stamina and unfailing intonation to Bruckner’s instrumental scoring and phrasing - Gramophone The dense harmonies suit this well-established professional choir perfectly - The Guardian Beautifully performed, seraphic sequence - The Sunday Times -
Marking 70 years since Enescu’s death, celebrated violinist Charlie Siem returns to Signum Classics performing the Brahms Violin Concerto, and works by George Enescu with previous collaborators, conductor Oleg Caetani and the Philharmonia Orchestra. This release features a world premiere recording of the Brahms Violin Concerto cadenza written by George Ensecu. ★★★★½ Fono Forum - “Light, fluid, almost weightless and dusted” ★★★★ The Times“The perfect conclusion to an obviously desirable album” - Best classical albums of 2025 so far. -
This album features the second half of Brescianello’s Opus 1; works 1 – 6 were released as Behind Closed Doors in 2022. La Serenissima passionately believe that Brescianello is a composer who deserves greater recognition with the result that many of his works have been included in releases dating from 2019, our first release on Signum. Solo concertos for violin alternate with Sinphonias for strings and continuo; both forms illustrate Brescianello’s talent for fusing virtuosity with the sweetest of melodies. Also included on the album is an orchestral suite in A major that finishes with a rousing Giga.★★★★★ Performance, ★★★★★ Recording "His [Chandler's] playing is brilliantly skilful, immediate and engaging. The handling of the cadenza at the end of the Sixth Concerto is especially impressive." - BBC Music Magazine"Chandler and La Serenissma give a very colourful picture of Brescianello's music, which is not lacking in individuality" - CONCERTO -
Signum Classics is proud to release an album of string works by the award-winning composer, Brian Elias. Spanning almost half a century, this survey of Brian Elias’s chamber music for strings arose from a retrospective staged in 2020 by the Music@Malling festival in Kent. His first album on Sig- num, it is released alongside ‘Music for Wind’ and will be launched at Music@ Malling in September 2024. The album artwork is by celebrated artist Anish Kapoor. All Music Classical Highlights October 2024 EDITORS CHOICE "This is the finest album of contemporary chamber music I have encountered this year...Brian Elias' String Quartet (2012) is a gem that should be in the repertoire of every British Quartet...A tour de force of compositional ingenuity...The Castalian Quartet play it for all its worth in a performance that is little short of a revelation...Clein's performances are the album's high points (the magic is particularly strong in Of Elutropia)" - Gramophone “Amply gifted as an orchestral composer...purified intensity, immediacy and unrestrained lyricism” - Paul Griffiths, The Sunday Times "It’s hard to imagine more committed or more persuasive accounts of the string music of Brian Elias than the ones gathered together here. The Indian-born British composer is a senior figure in UK music, with an appropriately broad and considered output to match...It’s a deeply rewarding disc whose exquisitely crafted music is matched by performances of authority” - The Strad -
Released as part of a double launch, ‘Music for Wind’ is an album of world pre- miere recordings by composer Brian Elias, winner of two British Composer Awards. He has had previous compositions performed and recorded extensively by leading orchestras and soloists including the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Brit- ten Sinfonia among many others. The album artwork is by world-renowned artist Anish Kapoor. “Every inflection tells, the balance of sound is exact, and the sound seductive in the best traditions of glamorous 20th century orchestral writing.” - Paul Driver, The Sunday Times "Marvellously well played - not least the 2016 Oboe Quintet by Nicholas Daniel and the Sacconi Quartet...recommendable" - Gramophone "The playing of David Zucchi is remarkable and very controlled. [Five Bagatelles for Clarinet and Bassoon] The performance by Mark Simpson and Amy Harman is superb. This is an important addition to the repertoire for this combination" - Clarinet & Saxophone Magazine -
Recorded in 2014 at the begninning of a series marking his 85th birthday season, Christoph von Dohnányi leads the Philharmonia Orchestra in a rousing live performance of Bruckner’s monumental Ninth Symphony, which stands alongside the other epoch-defining Ninth symphonies of Beethoven and Mahler. [A] beautifully prepared account... Dohnanyi's new recording is distinguished by the clarity with which it presents Bruckner's score as well as the excellence of its sound - Gramophone Dohnanyi's is a considerable performance in its own right. The Philharmonia plays very well for a conductor who they clearly and rightly esteem - MusicWeb International The recording is everything you'd wish from a Bruckner recording. You'll get the grand and the detail all in silky sound. Very highly recommended - Audiophilia A wonderfully passion-filled performance by the Philharmonia in Salzburg and an excellent CD edition of this occasion - North East Music Magazine The performance is as devastating an experience as it should be, and one of the most powerful that the whole literature of music can provide - BBC Music Magazine Maazel's Seventh is very decent...the clangorous coda is fantastic - The Arts Desk A wonderfully passion-filled performance by the Philharmonia in Salzburg and an excellent CD edition of this occasion -NE:MM -
Led by Mark Williams, the Choir of Jesus College, Cambridge continue their critically-praised series of recordings on Signum with this new recording of works by British composers Britten and Byrd. William Byrd and Benjamin Britten, their respective careers separated by about three hundred and fifty years, share one very significant characteristic. They were both, in quite different ways, outsiders. As a devout Catholic existing within an alien environment – a state which ultimately viewed Catholicism as the equivalent of sedition – Byrd was obliged to pursue a kind of double life, expressing his spiritual exile in music of emotional intensity. Like Byrd, Britten became highly regarded by the establishment for his artistic achievements, but reservations regarding his homosexuality prevented his complete acceptance. Both his pacifism and his sexual orientation made him an outsider. -
Rupert Gough and The Choir of Royal Holloway release a new single with soprano Laura Wright, raising awareness of mental health and encouraging people to seek support and donate to mental health charities if they feel able to. The track, written by composer Thomas Hewitt Jones and lyricist Matt Harvey, speaks of the loneliness and despair felt by many around the world during the COVID-19 pandemic. All of the musicians involved gave their services for free and hope that the song can be an anthem for kindness, bringing hope all around the world to those suffering with their mental health. Proceeds from the single will be donated to a number of UK-based mental health charities. The music video for Can You Hear Me? can be found HERE. -
In a new arrangement for solo harp, celebrated harpist Gwyneth Wentink presents Dutch composer Simeon ten Holt’s Canto Ostinato and Aforisme No. 2 (a transcription by Jeroen van Veen on behalf of Simeon ten Holt). “I first heard Canto Ostinato on piano in 2011 and I felt as if I was on fire. THIS is something I wanted to play on the harp: I clearly recall the zeal and enthusiasm I felt at the time. I was buzzing with curiosity, excitement and vitality. Exploring various musical genres, arranging music for the harp and working in interdisciplinary settings is something that has always been important to me. Playing the harp, one is being confronted with a rather restricted repertoire, and one almost evidently scans the horizon for what else one can arrange, commission and/or discover” – Gwyneth Wentink.★★★★ "Fans of 'Canto ostinato' will cheer at the arrangement by harpist Gwyneth Wentink. She cunningly highlights opposing voices and rhythms, as if Canto ostinato is simply rock-solid music." - De Volkskrant
"Canto Ostinato is one of the great works of minimalist music. At 48 minutes... I imagine the player needs to have very tough fingertips to play continuously for this length of time. In addition to the whole work, we are given on an extra track, a version of Section 74. It is exquisite." - MusicWeb International