Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No. 1 & Cello Sonata

�[Bertrand] wears the piece lightly, dancing rather than carving through it, with a silvery line that can be ghostly or piercing but never gruff�her bright, neat staccato is effective even if climaxes lack heft�The BBC National Orchestra of Wales under Pascal Rophe, however, really does dance on hot coals and give the requisite blast�[the Moderato in A minor] has a haunting poetry and one can hardly imagine it better played.� --BBC Music Magazne, May 3013

 

�In the Concerto, almost all of the playing is of intense musicality and virtuosity, which this highly original work demands...I feel that Bertrand does overdo at times the 'expressive' nature of her interpretation, but this observation is brought about solely because the rest of her performance is so impressive.� --International Record Review, May 2013

�Bertrand is nothing if not a gutsy player. The close-up recording captures her every breath and every rasp of bow on string. Pascal Rophe makes sure that the BBC NOW responds in kind...If she is as good live as she sounds here, and if she is as full of insight in the rest of her repertoire, I would certainly travel a distance to hear her.� --IGramophone Magazine, June 2013

The Gershwin/Ravel Cycle

�Ravel once played Rhapsody in Blue to Gershwin at a private party. It's tempting to think it must have sounded something like Rog�'s performance here: sophisticated, elegant, oh-so-well-well-behaved� the Left Hand Concerto starts well with wonderfully saturnine grumblings and a superbly sculpted long orchestral crescendo. Rog�'s long soliloquy after the Allegro's huge climax is particularly fine.� --BBC Music Magazine, Proms 2008 ****

�Rog�s playing of Ravel�s Left-Hand concerto is masterly. He has complete technical regard for the work; more importantly, he appreciates the range of the music, its darkness, menace, anger, other-worldly escape, introspection and defiance.� --International Piano, May/June 2008

Gershwin/Ravel: Piano concertos

Here�s a disc whose breathtaking sonic detail and attractive, roomy ambience make a cogent case for investing in SACD surround-sound hardware, although it sounds perfectly fine and vivid enough via standard stereo two-channel playback. Regarding the performance, pianist Pascal Rog� here surpasses his early-1980s Ravel Concerto recording under Charles Dutoit. He makes more of the first movement�s lyrical, unaccompanied episodes, yet never overindulges, and he treats the central slow movement like a song rather than a dirge, with tasteful droplets of rubato.

The finale�s busy fingerwork appears to fly off the printed page through Rog�s incisive articulation and biting accents. Just listen to his dazzling repeated notes here and in the finale of Gershwin�s concerto. The latter also finds Rog� in dapper fettle and fully attuned to the composer�s syncopated swagger.

Bertrand de Billy elicits alert and translucent playing from the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, aside from thin, undifferentiated string tone and some less than idiomatic first-desk solo work in the Gershwin. While these performances won�t make you forget the above-mentioned reference versions, nor recent contenders of equal stature (like Grimaud�s Gershwin and Moravec�s Ravel), their combined sonic and interpretive assets add up to a pleasurable and memorable listening experience. --classicstoday.com [4/23/2005]

Hakola & Hosokawa: Guitar Concertos

Ondine proudly presents world premi�re recordings of two Guitar Concertos: one by Kimmo Hakola and the other by Toshio Hosokawa. These are performed by Timo Korhonen � the guitarist for whom the concertos were written � and the Oulu Symphony Orchestra conducted by Santtu-Matias Rouvali.

Kimmo Hakola�s Guitar Concerto is a colourful exploration of themes connected to both medieval and modern Southern Spain and Northern Africa. Toshio Hosokawa takes a more meditative approach as he searches for symbolic universal harmony in his music.

Timo Korhonen is one of the world�s most acclaimed guitarists. He has premiered over 40 new works during his career, and has made several critically acclaimed and award-winning recordings.

Santtu-Matias Rouvali has recently made a number of significant international debuts. He participated in the Dudamel Fellowship Programme in 2011/12, and will start his tenure as Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra in September 2013. He is also the Principal Guest Conductor of the Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra. This CD is his debut disc.

The Oulu Symphony Orchestra has developed considerably over the last few years under Anna-Maria Helsing. Johannes Gustavsson will continue this development from this autumn when he takes over as Chief Conductor.

Britten: Cello Symphony, Cello Sonata & Cello Suites

�This is the fastest version of Britten's Cello Symphony on record. From the opening chords there's a brisk vigour to Alban Gerhardt's approach that marks it out as distinctive. He seems hell-bent on grasping this sometimes awkward and ungainly beast by the scruff of its neck and finding something new in its gruff exchanges...Last but not least his reading of Britten's Sonata with Steven Osborne is utterly thrilling. A must-have set for all Britten enthusiasts.� --BBC Music Magazine, February 2013 ****

Gramophone Awards 2013 Finalist - Concerto

�This poetic, virtuosic player makes a powerful case for the three unaccompanied Cello Suites on the second disc. There's no shortage of recordings of these suites...but this is as good as any.� The Observer, 27th January 2013

�[Gerhardt] has a cool-headed precision Britten would probably have admired...Given Gerhardt's fine Britten credentials, this makes a recommendable package: performances are well judged, with clean-cut rhythms and good attention to detail.� Gramophone Magazine, February 2013

�Strongly and sensitively partnered by Steven Osborne, Gerhardt gives a wonderfully vital performance of the Cello Sonata, alert to the cunning interplay between the two instruments...[in the Suites] Gerhardt�s playing is supple, richly coloured and articulated with the utmost finesse...These performances demonstrate a mature affinity with Britten�s highly personal style� The Telegraph, 18th January 2013

Fran�aix: Orchestral Music

'Thierry Fischer seems totally attuned to Fran�aix's idiom, and the engineers have captured the excellent acoustics of Belfast's Ulster Hallto colourful effect. The Ulster Orchestra plays with wit, point and vitality: it can rarely if ever have sounded better on record' --BBC Music Magazine

'The playing throughout is sensitive and fully attentive to the varied rhythms, while the sound is clear and bright, bringing out Fran�aix's imaginative writing for individual instruments, especially the woodwind. The CD will not change opinions of Fran�aix; but it will surely suit those who already appreciate his style' --Gramophone

'This is the third Fran�aix CD from Thierry Fischer and the Ulster Orchestra. I'll extend the praise they've already received from other reviewers by saying that these performances are polished and idiomatic. With their rhythmic point and colour, they invite the dance. The engineering is well balanced and not hyped' --International Record Review

'The musicians are excellent, not merely in instrumental sections or as a balanced ensemble, but in their respective solo passages as well. They shine in providing intimate, strongly characterised work that brings the tenements of Les demoiselles de la nuit to life. Combine this with competent liner notes and spacious sound, and you have an album that should please older fans of Fran�aix, and make new ones out of a fresh generation of listeners' --Fanfare, USA

*Reemplaze las car�tulas/Replace the cover

*download booklet: http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/notes/67489-B.pdf

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: Concerti

�This music is in the best of hands with the Freiburger Barockorchester: The ensemble does not succumb too much to the sensitive, excessive expression of feelings; rather it renders them with clear contours and with an irresistible forward drive, and in addition, with a joyful tendency towards vital, sonorous playing.�

This recording of three concertos and a symphony by the second oldest son of J.S. Bach continues the Carus series with music from �The Sons of Bach.� Once again the Freiburger Barockorchester underscores its leading position in the field of early music. �This music is in the best of hands with the Freiburger Barockorchester: The ensemble does not succumb too much to the sensitive, excessive expression of feelings; rather it renders them with clear contours and with an irresistible forward drive, and in addition, with a joyful tendency towards vital, sonorous playing.�

Alexander Mackenzie: Orchestral Music

�Another hugely enjoyable Hyperion rescue-act� all told, a delightful release� --Gramophone Magazine

�Full of panache, wit and good tunes. This deserves to be one of the great orchestral records of the year� --Classic CD

�A recording like this practically recommends itself�a feast for the ear and the soul, not to be missed under any circumstances� --American Record Guide

This recording of wonderfully theatrical orchestral music by Scottish composer Sir Alexander Mackenzie (1847�1945) revived an unfairly neglected composer�s profile when first issued in 1995. The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Martyn Brabbins are on top form in these colourful showpieces, from the tuneful good cheer of The Cricket on the Hearth overture and the soaringly lovely Benedictus, to the characterful incidental music for two Shakespeare plays, Twelfth Night and Coriolanus, as well as the Burns-inspired Second Scottish Rhapsody. This reissue on Helios is certain to introduce a new audience to Mackenzie�s irresistibly tuneful sound world.

The Musical Treasures of Leufsta Bruk II

In the 18th century, Leufsta Bruk � some 140 kilometres northwest of Stockholm � was the centre of a major industry producing iron both for Swedish needs and for export. It was a little principality in the middle of the forest governed by the descendants of Louis De Geer, the Belgian financier who had developed the ironworks. Highly cultured and musical, the family gathered together a remarkable collection of musical scores, a collection which mirrors the development of music and music publishing on the Continent, as well as the musical activities at a flourishing Swedish manor of the period.

Presenting a sample from the Leufsta collection, this disc contains music by international stars � Tartini and Handel � as well as less familiar names, such as the London-based German composer Gottfried Keller and the Swedish composers Johan Helmich Roman and Hinrich Philip Johnsen. Concertos, keyboard solos, sonatas and duets bear testament to the entertainments � often with the active participation of members of the De Geer family themselves � that enlivened the evenings at Leufsta in the mid-18th century. The programme closes with music that has a special connection to the church of Leufsta Bruk and its famous organ from 1728: excerpts from Johnsen�s Church Music, composed for the Easter Day service of 1757.

Bringing these musical treasures to life is the Drottningholm Baroque Ensemble, whose many recordings on BIS have created a following around the world. Released in 1985 their version of Vivaldi's Four Seasons, with soloist Nils-Erik Sparf, is still considered one of the classic recordings of this work. More recently the forerunner of the present disc (Musical Treasures of Leufsta Bruk I, BIS-CD-1526) was described as a �superbly performed � unique collection of pieces demonstrating an eclectic and aristocratic taste of the early 18th century� by the reviewer on the website MusicWeb International.

Khachaturian: Symphony No.2, Gayaneh Suite

Aram Khachaturian was one of the most popular composers of the Soviet period of Russian history, successfully managing to combine the folk music of his native Armenia with the more formal Russian musical tradition as represented by Rimsky-Korsakov. Born in 1903, he showed early signs of a love of music, but his formal training did not begin until 1922, when he was admitted to the famous Gnessin Institute in Moscow (his family having moved there the previous year) and continued at the Moscow Conservatory with the eminent composer Myaskovsky.

The first major work of Khachaturian to be performed was his Symphony No. 1 (1934). International acclaim greeted his rumbustious Piano Concerto of 1936, the success of which was quickly duplicated with the Violin Concerto of 1940, and throughout the 1940s Khachaturian composed many successful works, such as the ballet Gayaneh with its famous Sabre Dance (1942), his Symphony No. 2 (1943) and Cello Concerto (1946).

His Symphony 2 is perhaps darker--in both mood and orchestral color--than his other symphonies; but then it was written in 1943 in the midst of World War II and Stalin's ongoing purges of the Soviet bureaucracy. However, works such as Gayneh almost guaranteed that Khachaturian would stay out of jail.

Mozart Opera and concert Arias

�Diana Damrau's intelligently planned and superbly executed recital� I can�t remember when I last enjoyed a Mozart recital of this kind so much.� --BBC Music Magazine, December 2008 *****

��J�r�mie Rhorer draws tangy, rhythmically lively playing from his period band. "Taste", "fire", "flexibility", "sweetness", "grace of execution" - these were the qualities especially prized in singers of Mozart's day. On this showing Damrau, like Lucia Popp before her, has them all.� --Gramophone Magazine, March 2009

Diana Damrau (soprano)
Le Cercle de l�Harmonie, J�r�mie Rhorer

In her second recording as an exclusive Virgin Classics artist Diana Damrau interprets concert and operatic arias by Mozart in a programme which displays her virtuosity and impressive vocal range.

Indeed Diana Damrau�s new recital shows she can sing practically all of Mozart�s notably varied soprano roles � ranging from the bravura (Donna Anna, Konstanze, Donna Elvira�) via the more serious (Pamina) to the lighter soprano (generally soubrette roles such as Susanna, Blonde�).

From her first recording everyone noted her outstanding Queen of the Night � here she is Pamina (in New York�s Met last Fall, Diana Damrau alternated the two roles with brio). She is also Susanna and the Contessa (Le Nozze di Figaro), Konstanze and Blonde (Die Entf�hrung), Donna Anna and Elvira (Don Giovanni), Servilia and Vitellia (La Clemenza di Tito), pairing major soprano roles within the operas, and concert arias.

As for her first recital, �Arie di bravura�, French conductor J�r�mie Rhorer, who is rapidly gaining international recognition, directs his French period-instrument ensemble Le Cercle de l�Harmonie

Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 17 & 27

�[Hewitt] weights the finale [of K491] to reflect rumination or melancholia, and propounds it supremely well too...Yet the Andante evokes the finest in her, its trajectory exposed through pathos and proud gesture.� --Gramophone Magazine, June 2013

�Hewitt displays her pianistic talents to full advantage. Particularly enjoyable are the concluding variations, with their opera buffa-style coda, in which she seems completely at one with the alert playing of the Mantua Chamber Orchestra under Hannu Lintu.� --BBC Music Magazine, August 2013 ****

�[the Presto of K453] is brilliantly done, anmd this is a brilliant performance all round.� --International Record Review, May 2013

�The sound is wonderfully clean and focused, with an ideal balance between Hewitt�s customary Fazioli piano and the orchestra...a Mozart release to cherish.� --The Telegraph, 10th May 2013

Angela Hewitt turns to two of Mozart�s greatest and most popular concertos for her latest album. Together with her frequent collaborators, the Orchestra da Camera di Mantova and brilliant Finnish conductor Hannu Lintu, she presents these works in performances which are both elegantly stylish and profoundly felt. This release is completed by a personal reflection on the music by Hewitt herself in the accompanying booklet.

The Haydn Project

In celebration of its 25th anniversary season, the Emerson String Quartet turns its attention to Franz Joseph Haydn with this collection of some of the composer's best-known string quartets. Haydn is the natural choice for such a commemoration -- he established the string quartet as a genre -- and the Emersons, who play here with characteristic precision and intensity, waste no time finding the lyricism, wit, and pure joy in his wonderful music.

The program of seven works is organized chronologically, beginning with the Fifth Quartet from the breakthrough Opus 20, in which the composer first showed the profound artistic potential of the new genre. The following Quartet Op. 33 no. 2, called "The Joke," is the first of several with titles, this one derived from the work's humorous ending without an end. Listeners unfamiliar with its pause-filled finale will simply not know when it has finished. With the second disc, we encounter Haydn's quartets in full maturity, especially Op. 76 no. 2, the "Quinten" or "Fifths" Quartet, where a new experimental spirit can be heard, as well as premonitions of Beethoven, who studied with Haydn.

A third "bonus disc" offers an anthology of samples from the Emerson's extensive recording catalogue -- ranging from Mozart and Beethoven to Ives and Shostakovich. Their recording of the complete Shostakovich quartets won a 2001 Grammy Award. Curiously, the Emersons have not often recorded Haydn's quartets. This set, then, is not only a timely tribute to them; it's a crucial addition to their growing collection of superb recordings.

Casella: Concerto for Orchestra, Pagine di guerra & Suite

"Solo work is polished and distinctive, and the ensemble is well blended and disciplined. Conductor Francesco La Vecchia seems to know what he wants to get out of these scores�If you have enjoyed earlier releases in this series, there is no reason to hesitate. If you haven�t heard Casella yet, then what are you waiting for? This disc is as good a place as any to begin." --Fanfare, May 2013

"Playing, interpretation, and sound are all good. This pioneering Naxos survey of the Italian symphonic tradition has opened my ears to a worthwhile composer." --American Record Guide, January 2013

"These performances are extremely fine. Chandos just released the Concerto in its own Casella series�but I prefer Francesco La Vecchia�s more relaxed way with the music. If his orchestra isn�t perhaps as polished as the BBC Philharmonic, his approach gives the piece just that much more breathing room to make an impression. He allows its Italianate lyricism to blossom naturally, while the neoclassical chatter of its rhythms never turns mechanical. The engineering also ranks with the best in this generally excellent ongoing series. Both the Suite and Pagine di guerra are recording premieres. This disc is a treat, and a major release." ---ClassicsToday.com, October 2012

"�here is a tribute to La Vecchia�s judicious balancing of raw pictorialism and real feeling.

The Concerto for Orchestra, dedicated to the Dutch conductor Willem Mengelberg, is the most substantial work here. It�s also a summation of Casella�s progress to date; in the highly animated Sinfonia various parts of the orchestra are allowed to shine, those see-sawing string figures reminiscent of Shostakovich at times. That said, there�s a boldness�an ease of invention if you like�to Casella�s writing that confirms he�s mastered his craft; the Passacaglia, artfully worked, is not as dry as one might expect, and the finale takes us on a thrilling ride�La Vecchia and his band are every bit as engaged�and engaging�in this strange, delightfully dishevelled work.

Music of unbridled energy, a big, sense-sating sound and unusually detailed liner-notes add up to a most desirable package. In short, Naxos have given us another cracker�and it�s not even Christmas!

Great fun; buy now and beat the rush." --MusicWeb International, October 2012

The Musical Treasures of Leufsta Bruk I

In the 18th century, Leufsta Bruk � some 140 kilometres northwest of Stockholm � was the centre of a major industry producing iron both for Swedish needs and for export. It was a little principality in the middle of the forest governed by the descendants of Louis De Geer, a Belgian financier who developed the ironworks. The family was highly cultured and musical, and in particular Charles De Geer, a noted scientist as well as industrialist, contributed greatly to the remarkable collection of musical scores at Leufsta. These scores were to a large extent brought from Amsterdam and mirror the development of music and music publishing on the continent, as well as the musical activities at a flourishing Swedish manor of the period.

Not surprisingly the collection � and this disc � contains music by well-known composers such as Vivaldi and Tartini, but there are also rarely heard works, for various instrumental combinations. Duets, keyboard solos, trio sonatas and the charming collection of �Boer Dances� bear testament to the entertainments � often with the active participation of members of the De Geer family themselves � that enlivened the evenings at Leufsta in the mid-18th century.

Bringing these musical treasures to life is the Drottningholm Baroque Ensemble, whose many recordings on BIS have created a following around the world. Released in 1985 their version of Vivaldi's Four Seasons, with soloist Nils-Erik Sparf, is considered one of the classic recordings of this work. A much later disc, Telemann�s Don Quixotte (BIS-CD-1226) was recommended by the Spanish magazine CD Compact, and received a 5 star review in BBC Music Magazine, containing the following words of praise: 'the Drottningholm musicians capture all with admirable esprit and no breaches of stylistic decorum.' The same may safely be said about the present recording.

Bach: Une cantate imaginaire

�Her contralto is distinctive - at once voluptuous and androgynous, with an impressively wide range and sure technique - while her direction is idiosyncratic. At times, her approach seems mannered...Elsewhere, though, Stutzmann really captures the sublime quality of Bach's sacred music� --BBC Music Magazine, March 2013 ****

�This is certainly a very attractive and intelligent offering indeed, astutely compiled and most beautifully performed.� --International Record Review, February 2013

�Stutzmann has an ear for captivating attention and her orchestra, Orfeo 55, are often as responsive to her 'stick' as they are to her dark-hued vocalisation...Immediacy of sentiment and fresh anticipation of the core 'conceit' of each one of these disparate movements is Stutzmann's strongest suit...This [disc] is, overall, rather too much of a good thing - but still admire the sparkle and committed intent.� --Gramophone Magazine, February 2013

�Stutzmann has a unique voice, one which hasn�t always appealed to me. However, she uses it to good effect here. Her fruity, sometimes throaty contralto has a unique colour that sets it apart...Orfeo 55 make a lovely sound, lithe and flexible with great rhythmic bounce, and they�re shown off to their finest effect in the Sinfonia that opens the disc.� --MusicWeb International, January 2013

Victor Jara (1932-1973)

Chile recuerda al cantautor V�ctor Jara a 41 a�os de su asesinato en dictadura.

The love and justice songs of Chilean folk singer Victor Jara were apparently so threatening to the military leaders who staged the nation's 1973 coup that they had to murder him. After beginning his career in the theater, Jara took up songwriting as his country endured the social convulsions of the Sixties. He supported the Socialist presidential candidate Salvador Allende, who was overthrown from office by the Chilean right wing and later died under mysterious circumstances. Taken prisoner with thousands of others in a stadium that now bears his name,


Jara was tortured; after they broke his hands, guards mocked the singer, ordering him to play guitar. Defiant, he sang a political anthem that translates as "We Will Win." For his insubordination, Jara was machine-gunned to death, his body dumped on a street outside Santiago. A few months later, Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger and Phil Ochs headlined a benefit in Jara's name in New York.

Este domingo 15 de septiembre [2013] se cumplen 40 a�os del bestial crimen cometido en el Estadio Chile, donde el cantautor fue torturado y acribillado por los militares. Le machacaron los dedos a culatazos para que no volviera a tocar la guitarra y despu�s jugaron a la ruleta rusa con �l. Siga leyendo

Te recuerdo Amanda

Te recuerdo Amanda,
la calle mojada,
corriendo a la f�brica
donde trabajaba Manuel.

La sonrisa ancha,
la lluvia en el pelo,
no importaba nada,
ibas a encontarte con �l.

Con �l, con �l, con �l, con �l.
Son cinco minutos. La vida es eterna en cinco minutos.
Suena la sirena. De vuelta al trabajo
y t� caminando lo iluminas todo,
los cinco minutos te hacen florecer.

Te recuerdo Amanda,
la calle mojada
corriendo a la f�brica
donde trabajaba Manuel.

La sonrisa ancha,
la lluvia en el pelo,
no importaba nada
ibas a encontrarte con �l.

Con �l, con �l, con �l, con �l.
que parti� a la sierra,
que nunca hizo da�o. Que parti� a la sierra,
y en cinco minutos qued� destrozado.
Suena la sirena, de vuelta al trabajo
muchos no volvieron, tampoco Manuel.

Te recuerdo Amanda,
la calle mojada,
corriendo a la f�brica
donde trabajaba Manuel.

His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts Grand Tour

'Very stylish and well-informed performances of some fascinating repertoire' --Classic CD

'This is everything a grand tour should be: educating, entertaining and enriching. Well worth exploring' --BBC Music Magazine

'A strong recommendation' --Gramophone

'A thoroughly recommendable issue' --Fanfare, USA

This is the first record in a projected series on Hyperion by His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts. The works featured comprehensively survey the remarkable repertoire composed over two hundred years in Italy, Germany and Spain and reveal an astonishing breadth of atmosphere. The musical pomp and splendour of bygone royal ceremony can be answered by the most tender and delicate of chamber music: all legitimate repertoire for what was in the past recognized as the most versatile of all instrumental ensembles.

Italian Virtuosi of the Chitarrone

The chitarrone is one of the more spectacular instruments of the early baroque. The name probably means �large kithara�, after the instrument played by the Classical Greek poets, and it was first developed as a bass lute to accompany singing and recitative Between 1604 and 1640, Giovanni Girolamo Kapsperger (also known as Johann Hieronymus Kapsberger), Alessandro Piccinini and Bellerofonte Castaldi published a number of collections of chitarrone music, from which Jakob Lindberg has chosen some favourite dances, arias, toccatas and passacaglias.

Combined into seven suites, they provide rich opportunity to enjoy the particular timbre and the special playing techniques of this instrument.

Jakob Lindberg has a long-standing interest in the many varieties of lutes and has now dedicated himself to researching their relative � research which informs both the performances and Lindberg�s own liner notes.

Schwertsik: Baumges�nge

�Gruber directs with conviction music he doubtless understands intuitively, while the BBC PO takes its many subtleties in its stride. Spaciously immediate sound, informative notes and a disc worth acquiring.� --Gramophone Magazine, November 2011

�Schwertsik's Viennese blend of gentle irony, nostalgia and absurdism has made little headway in the UK. This beautifully played orchestra disc should help.� --BBC Music Magazine, December 2011 ****

 

�Gruber ensures the best possible performances of music that proves very engaging... When listening there is an invitation to return to these appealing scores, and it�s difficult to think of them being better served than in these performance conducted by Gruber and captured in dynamic and vivid sound.� --International Record Review � September 2011

�Gruber is the BBC Phil�s composer/conductor, and Schwertsik (b1935) his lifelong Viennese friend and mentor, whose work he has tirelessly promulgated. These pieces well convey Schwertsik�s mercurial, ironic sensibility and his dextrous juggling of Romantic tonality and modernist impulse.� --Sunday Times, 4th September 2011

�The effectiveness of [Schwertsik 's] reconstituted language is shown in the three orchestral works by his close friend that Gruber conducts here. Nachtmusiken is the most recent: first performed by the BBC Philharmonic last year, it's a sequence of Viennese nocturnes, elegies and reminiscences of composers including Jan�cek, Mahler and Shostakovich.� --The Guardian, 25th August 2011 ****

�This disc of music by the quirky Austrian Kurt Schwertsik is a consistent joy...Schwertsik is far more than a skilled pastiche artist � ghosts from several centuries of Western art music drift in and out of these scores without overwhelming a distinctive and drily witty personality...Fantastic stuff, and sumptuously recorded.� --The Arts Desk, 15th October 2011

Gerhard: Symphony No. 2; Concerto for Orchestra

�Although the avowed purpose of Gerhard's Concerto for Orchestra (1965) was to highlight the orchestra as an entity rather than its constituent sections or instruments, and while it may not have the immediate universal appeal of, say, Kod�ly's or Bart�k's works with the same title, it has never been surpassed for its imaginative handling of instrumental sonorities or for its virtuoso demands on the players. It has to be said right away that this is a stunning performance: not merely does the BBC SO rise spectacularly to the work's demands, but Bamert shows himself exceptionally skilful at securing internal balances.

It's worth quoting Gerhard's own words: 'My favourite listener is one who does not read explanatory programme notes � I stand by the sound of my music, and it is the sound that must make the sense�a work of music takes shape only in the mind of the listener.'

Gerhard's Second Symphony has been represented on disc only by the revised version (Metamorphosis) which had had to be completed by Alan Boustead (available on Auvidis Montaigne); although Gerhard may have felt the original too cerebral, it was at least all his, and tough going as it undoubtedly is, it's very welcome to all interested in the mental processes of this quite exceptional musician. The opening of the work's second section, with its clicking percussion, is hauntingly mysterious, and the final nightmare palindrome Scherzo (of which only a fraction exists in the Boustead version) is one of his most astonishing creations. With first-class recording throughout, this must be regarded as an essential disc for all admirers of Gerhard.� --Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5

�Eschenbach's live recording of Shostakovich Five with the Philadelphia is a monumental reading, seeking drama in the work's gaunt architecture rather than its moment-to-moment events.� --BBC Music Magazine, May 2008 ****

�formidable Ondine/Eschenbach/Philadelphia partnership� --Gramophone Magazine

One Five that won... - This release in the successful recording series with The Philadelphia Orchestra and its Music Director Christoph Eschenbach features Dmitri Shostakovich's epic and monumental Fifth Symphony, which has become a signature piece of the orchestra. The Largo movement - one of the most heartrendingly beautiful slow movements written by the composer - and the bombastic Finale of this perennially popular work provide for an entrancing super audio listening experience with the world-renowned sound of The Philadelphia Orchestra. Officially viewed as "the practical creative reply of a Soviet artist to just criticism," this symphony was the Russian composer's mid-career coup - after his music had been politically attacked, he got back into the good graces of both communist officials and the public, who stood and cheered its premi�re in 1937.

An added bonus of this CD is the spellbinding song cycle 'Seven Romances on Poems of Alexander Blok' (1880-1921), making this unusual coupling a unique release; Christoph Eschenbach accompanies on piano the acclaimed mezzo-soprano Yvonne Naef and two members of the The Philadelphia Orchestra.

The Philadelphia Orchestra deservedly takes pride in its long and triumphant association with the music of Shostakovich, beginning with the U.S. premiere of his First Symphony in 1928, conducted by Leopold Stokowski. In fact, through 1973 the Orchestra gave the U.S. and Western premieres of seven of the composer's symphonies variously, as well as the First Cello Concerto, the First Piano Concerto, and the Five Pieces for Small Orchestra. Since Leopold Stokowski led the first Philadelphia performances of the Fifth Symphony in March 1939, the Orchestra has performed the work many times, as well as featured it on domestic and international tours, including performances in Russia under Eugene Ormandy in 1958.

Dvor�k: Silent Woods

�This recording bathes the listener in a stream of irresistable song that lingers in the memory weeks later. It also proves how well the composer's lyricism translates across timbre and sonority: this 'Song to the Moon' is as searingly effective as any I've heard sung...the recorded sound is ideal.� --BBC Music Magazine, January 2013 ****

�[the Sonatina] works particularly well in its new baritone and tenor register...This attests to both the sensitive way in which Poltera has adapted the music to the cello medium and to the deft and affectionate manner in which he plays it. So natural does the Sonatina sound on the cello that you wonder why Dvorak himself never thought of doing it.� --Gramophone Magazine, January 2013

On this disc, Christian Polt�ra and Kathryn Stott chart the gradual development in Dvor�k�s composition for cello.

The disc includes chamber works that Dvor�k composed originally for cello and piano or arranged for the combination including Polonaise in A major, the Rondo in G minor and Silent Woods which was originally a piano duet.

Polt�ra also presents his own transcriptions of several violin pieces and songs, including the Violin Sonatina, and Lasst mich allein, alongside the ever-popular Songs My Mother Taught Me and Song to the Moon from Rusalka.

Christian Polt�ra and Kathryn Stott are regular chamber music partners and have previously recorded music by Honegger and Frank Martin.

French Baroque Cantatas � Volume 1

The Perfection of Music - Masterpieces of the French Baroque is a new series of five discs of French Baroque chamber music. This album, Volume 1 in the series, explores the beautiful cantata repertoire, featuring Taryn Fiebig, Fiona Campbell, an ensemble on period instruments playing rare Baroque pieces and several world premiere recordings. With in-depth scholarly notes on Baroque music and performance practice, this prestigious series will become indispensable to any fan of Baroque music.

This innovative project is a collaboration between ABC Classics, the University of Western Australia, Edith Cowan University and the Australian Research Council.