harmonia mundi UK

Classical new releases DISTRIBUTED LABELS: ACCENT RECORDS, ACTES SUD, AGOGIQUE, ALIA VOX, AMBRONAY, APARTE, ARTE VERUM, AUDITE, BEL AIR, BELVEDERE, THE CHOIR OF KINGS COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE, CONVIVIUM, CHRISTOPHORUS, CSO RESOUND, DELPHIAN, DUCALE, EDITION CLASSICS, EVIDENCE, FLORA, FRA MUSICA, GLOSSA, harmonia mundi, HAT[NOW]ART, HERITAGE, KAMER, KML, LA DOLCE VOLTA, LA MUSICA, LES ARTS FLORISSANTS EDITIONS, LSO LIVE, MARIINSKY, MIRARE, MODE, MUSO, MYRIOS, MUSIQUES A LA CHABOTTERIE, NAÏVE, ONYX, OPELLA NOVA, ORFEO, PAN CLASSICS, PARADIZO, PARATY, PHIL.HARMONIE, PRAGA DIGITALS, RADIO FRANCE, RAM, REAL COMPAÑIA ÓPERA DE CÁMARA, RCO LIVE, SFZ MUSIC, SIGNUM, STRADIVARIUS, TREASURE ISLAND, UNITED ARCHIVES, WALHALL ETERNITY, WERGO, WIGMORE HALL LIVE, WINTER & WINTER, YSAYE

available August 14th, call-off August 3rd

AUGUST 2015

heritage

August BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE

Concerto Choice harmonia mundi HMU807573 Vaughan Williams & MacMillan Oboe Concertos Nicholas Daniel; Britten Sinfonia

BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE

Opera Choice harmonia mundi HMC902212/13 Rameau Castor et Pollux Ensemble Pygmalion/Raphael Pichon

BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE

Choral & Song Choice Signum SIGCD408 In the midst of life/Baldwin Partbooks Contrapunctus/Owen Rees

RELEASE DATE 14TH AUGUST 2015

HANDEL: Saul RIAS Kammerchor Concerto Köln René Jacobs “Jacobs is dramatic in every number, and among his soloists Rosemary Joshua as Michal and counter-tenor Laurence Zazzo are outstanding.” Andrew Clements, The Guardian, 16 September 2005 "The sustained excellence of Concerto Köln in a score which is strikingly opulent by the standards of the day is further reason to place this dramatically satisfying performance at the head of the league table. Add to these many virtues one of the finest recorded sounds that I can recall having heard for some while and the result is an outstanding issue.” Nicholas Anderson, Disc of the Month, BBC Music Magazine, October 2005, Benchmark, *****performance/*****sound

Label: harmonia mundi File Under: Classical/Opera & Vocal Catalogue No: HMY2921877/78 Barcode: 3149020187753 2 FOR 1 Price Format: 2 CD Packaging: special Rosemary Joshua [Michal] Emma Bell [Merab] Lawrence Zazzo [David] Jeremy Ovenden [Jonathan] Michael Slattery [High Priest, Witch of Endor] Finnur Bjarnason [Amalekite, Abner] Henry Waddington [Doeg, Samuel] Gidon Saks [Saul]

“It is Jacobs’s thrilling, theatrical conducting, his excellent RIAS Chamber Choir and Concerto Köln which make this set a must for all Handelians…this is surely the Saul to have on your shelves if you don’t own one already.” Hugh Canning, International Record Review, October 2005 “this is certainly the most excitingly theatrical Saul on disc…Chorus and orchestra are superbly responsive throughout, and the soloists, led by Gidon Saks's baleful, black-voiced Saul, are at least as fine as those on the rival sets. Lawrence Zazzo as David matches Andreas Scholl in lyrical allure and surpasses him in dramatic flair.” Richard Wigmore, The Daily Telegraph, 22 October 2005 “Jacobs’s understanding of the dramatic workings of Baroque opera and oratorio is second to none and, as usual, his performance is outstandingly successful in linking Handel’s sequences of numbers into a coherent whole...If it is dramatic involvement you want from Saul, then Jacobs’s is the one to have.” Lindsay Kemp, Editor’s Choice, Gramophone, November 2005 Sunday Times Classical CD of the Week Gramophone Editor’s Choice BBC Music Magazine Disc of the Month+Benchmark Amazon.Com Best of 2005

RELEASE DATE 14TH AUGUST 2015

DELALANDE: Symphonies pour les soupers du Roy [Complete] La Simphonie du Marais Hugo Reyne

Label: harmonia mundi File Under: Classical/Orchestral Catalogue No: HMY2921337/40 Barcode: 3149020133750 4 FOR 1 Price Format: 4 CD Packaging: box set Hugo Reyne, Sébastien Marq, Marie-Ange Petit, Gilles Rapin, Jérôme Hantaï

"In 1990, Hugo Reyne and his period-instrument ensemble La Simphonie du Marais recorded and Harmonia Mundi published what was not exactly the "complete" Symphonies for the King's Suppers of Michel-Richard Delalande, but, with 5 hours of music filling 4 CDs, the best thing to be had thus far - and still now... it was 5 hours of sheer enjoyment, thanks to his skilful instrumentations (the manuscripts come in the form of two- or three-part scores with hardly any indication of instrumentation, so it falls on each interpreter to provide his own), his free use of percussion instruments in the dance numbers, adding great color and dynamism, and his genuine sense of authentic style and phrasings... But the good news now is that one doesn't need to settle for less anymore: Harmonia Mundi has announced, for August, the reissue of the complete set, Delalande Complete Symphonies, and at budget price. For those who'd still be on a diet of music feasting, this CD of selections, in this edition or in its original guise, depending on market price, remains the choice." Amazon.com review

RELEASE DATE 14TH AUGUST 2015

Robert de VISEE: Complete Works for Guitar Rafael Andia "Andia's recording follows the natural order of the pieces, presenting first the two printed books of 1682 and 1686, 12 Suites... Rafael Andia was born in France, of Spanish parents, and his musical development was shaped by Alberto Ponce and Emilio Pujol, the latter no doubt mainly responsible for his interest in the early guitar and its music... I recommend this album for your turntable. Baroque music is rarely to be played as it looks on the page, a point (or points) well made by Andia's stylish performances. Two guitars are used in the recording, reproductions based on a string-length of 68cm, that of Voboam, made by Charles Besnainou of Paris (1980, 1983)... the guitars have strong and full sounds, and the recording transmits the strength, energy and fluency of Andia's playing of them. The music may be enjoyed even if you don't bother to open the booklet!" John Duarte, Guitar International 12/86

Label: harmonia mundi File Under: Classical/Instrumental Catalogue No: HMY2928464/65 Barcode: 3149020846452 2 FOR 1 Price Format: 2 CD Packaging: digipack Rafael Andia [guitar]

RELEASE DATE 14TH AUGUST 2015

CAVALLI: La Calisto Concerto Vocale René Jacobs "Long a champion of Cavalli’s rarefied, but seductive oeuvre, the Belgian early-music specialist René Jacobs has now recorded this masterpiece, in a comprehensive, if unorthodox, three-act, almost three-hour version...It is also very well sung. Maria Bayo’s determined nymph, Calisto, is impeccable, her purity of voice beautifully complemented by Alessandra Mantovani’s creamily toned Diana and Sonia Theodoridou’s soaring Juno. As Jupiter (a baritone who has to assume the falsetto guise of Diana), Marcello Lippi demonstrates a formidable range, even if he is not absolutely secure in the higher register, and he is well matched by a gloriously robust and Leporello-like Mercury from Simon Keenlyside, the most exciting baritone to have emerged for some time." BBC Music Magazine

Label: harmonia mundi File Under: Classical/Opera & Vocal Catalogue No: HMY2921515/17 Barcode: 3149020151556 3 FOR 1 Price Format: 3 CD Packaging: digipack Maria Bayo (Calisto), Marcello Lippi (Giove), Hans Peter Kammerer (Mercurio), Graham Pushee (Endymion), Louise Winter (Diana), Alexander Oliver (Linfea), Dominique Visse (Satirino, une furie); Barry Banks (Pan, Natura), Reinhardt Dorn (Silvano), Sonia Theodoridou (Giunone) Robin Tyson (furie)

"When this was first released in 1995, I thought it was the finest recording of a Baroque opera I’d ever heard. Since then there have been many others as good, but this one remains positively superb, making the case for an otherwise unknown work, bringing to the fore all of its colors, wit, bawdiness, and complications... Furthermore, Cavalli’s tunes are almost catchy. It’s a gem, and this performance is just about perfect...Simon Keenlyside’s Mercury is wise and snide. Since this recording was made he has gone on to become world-famous, and deservedly so. René Jacobs and his band turn this into a great, sharp drama, beautiful to listen to and endlessly appealing. Don’t miss it – it’s a great work and this is a great performance." Classicstoday.com 10/10

RELEASE DATE 14TH AUGUST 2015

J.S. BACH: St Matthew Passion Philippe Herreweghe "The major selling point of this recording is Howard Crook, finest of all evangelists, who astonishes with his ability to leap from dark bass notes to an upper register glowing with soft colours...The St Matthew Passion has never sounded darker or more beautiful." Damian Thompson, Top Choice, The Classic Collection, The Daily Telegraph, 3 April 2004

Label: harmonia mundi File Under: Classical/Choral Catalogue No: HMY2921155/57 Barcode: 3149020115558 3 FOR 1 Price Format: 3 CD Packaging: digipack Barbara Schlick, René Jacobs, Howard Crook, Hans Peter Blochwitz, Peter Kooy, Ulrich Cold, Collegium Vocale Gent, La Chapelle Royale

RELEASE DATE 14TH AUGUST 2015

HANDEL: Siroe, Ré di Persia Johanna Stojkovic / Sunhae Im / Ann Hallenberg Gunther Schmid / Sebastian Noack / Timm de Jong Capella Coloniensis / Andreas Spering Classical CD of the Week, The Sunday Times Record of the Week, The Guardian CD of the Week, The Daily Telegraph

“This is, without doubt, one of the most dazzling performances of any Handel opera on disc.” Hugh Canning, International Record Review, May 2004

Label: harmonia mundi File Under: Classical/Opera & Vocal Catalogue No: HMY2921826/27 Barcode: 3149020182659 2 FOR 1 Price Format: 2 CD Packaging: digipack Johanna Stojkovic [Emira] Sunhae Im [Laodice] Ann Hallenberg [Siroe] Gunther Schmid [Medarse] Sebastian Noack [King Cosroe] Timm de Jong [Arasse] Capella Coloniensis Andreas Spering

“Spering fields an excellent cast headed by the Swedish mezzo Ann Hallenberg and the well-contrasted sopranos Johanna Stojkovic and Sunhae Im. Spering’s conducting is a sheer delight.” Three stars (Outstanding) Hugh Canning, The Sunday Times, 14 March 2004 “Spering draws a lithe, crackling performance from his expert orchestra, dangerously precipitate at times but always excitingly alive. The nimble, diamantine-toned Sunhae Im and the richer-voiced Johanna Stojkovic sing and characterise with fluency and panache, but the real star of the show is the mezzo Ann Hallenberg. Her pure, gleaming tone, supple, shapely phrasing and immaculate coloratura give constant pleasure.” Richard Wigmore, Opera, August 2004 “Hallenberg is perfectly cast in the title role..In the Bordoni role of Elmira, Stojkovic shares with Hallenberg not only a sensitivity to vocal nuance but also an idiomatic understanding of the art of ornamentation. She excites with a stratospheric ascent during a cadenza, but has the good sense (and taste) to return to earth for the cadential resolution.” Andrew Jones, Early Music Today, December 2004/January 2005

RELEASE DATE 14TH AUGUST 2015

Carolus HACQUART: La Maistre de Musique - Sonatas Van WICHEL: Sonatas

François Fernandez Rainer Zipperling Philippe Pierlot Carolus Hacquart: under this name is hiding one of the most ingenius composers of the 17th century in the Netherlands. He was born in Bruges and worked in the Hague but very little is known about his life. He referred to himself as 'maistre de musique' and he taught talented pupils from the Dutch aristocracy his favourite instrument, the viola da gamba. His compositionas combine the very different influences in the Netherlands of the period. The sonatas of his collection 'Harmonia Parnassia', published in 1686, constitute the majority of this recording. Philippe Pierlot and his musical collaborators have taken 3 sarabands out of his Chelys collection, dedicated to the viol. The programme is completed with 2 sonatas from the Brussels composer Philippus Van Wichel.

Label: Flora File Under: Classical/Instrumental Catalogue No: FLO0705 Barcode: 3149028051421 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack François Fernandez, Luis Otavio Santos, Laurent Stewart, Eduardo Eguez Rainer Zipperling, Kaori Uemura, Philppe Pierlot

RELEASE DATE 14TH AUGUST 2015

HAYDN: Piano Trios Hob.XV 10, 18, 21 & 23 Joseph Haydn composed his works always sitting at the fortepiano. He aimed to move the limits of the musical result without touching the rules. He described it with his own words : “the art is free and should not be limited by craftchains. The mind and soul has to be free. The ear – a well educated of course- has to decide and I do not allow myself more than others to invent new rules. Such bad manners have no merrit but I wished that someone tried to compose a real new Menuet”. We wish you joy and pleasure with listening to these gems of chamber music.

Label: Flora File Under: Classical/Chamber music Catalogue No: FLO0805 Barcode: 3149028055429 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack François Fernandez [violin] Rainer Zipperling [cello] Boyan Vodenitcharov [piano]

RELEASE DATE 14TH AUGUST 2015

GRIEG: The Violin Sonatas • No. 2 in G major, Op. 13 • No. 1 in F major, Op. 8 • No. 3 in C minor, Op. 45

Franziska Pietsch Detlev Eisinger Franziska Pietsch and Detlev Eisinger make their Audite debut with chamber works by Edvard Grieg. The three Violin Sonatas represent half his oeuvre in this field, epitomising central stages in his artistic development: his emancipation from the inspirational proximity to Schumann, references to Norwegian folk music, and his expansive use of themes and time. Grieg rated these three sonatas amongst his best works.

Label: Audite File Under: Classical/Instrumental Catalogue No: AUDITE97707 Barcode: 4022143977076 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack Franziska Pietsch [violin] Detlev Eisinger [piano]

RELEASE DATE 14TH AUGUST 2015

Joachim MENDELSON: En hommage Symphony No. 2, Chamber Symphony, Oboe Quintet, Violin Sonata

Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra / Jürgen Bruns Joachim Mendelson was born in Warsaw in 1892. Like nearly all Polish composers of his generation, he went to Paris in the 1920s and joined the Association des Jeunes Musiciens Polonais. In the mid-1930s, Mendelson accepted a professorship at the Warsaw College of Music. After Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland, he was interned in the Warsaw ghetto, where he was murdered in 1943. Only five of his compositions survived. Four of these works from the late 1930s are recorded here for the first time.

Label: EDA Records File Under: Classical/Orchestral Catalogue No: EDA40 Barcode: 840387100401 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Frédéric Tardy, Ulrike Petersen, Ignacy Miecznikowski, Claudio Corbach, Tatjana Blome

RELEASE DATE 14TH AUGUST 2015

Simon LAKS: En Hommage Trois pièces de concert, Sonate pour violoncelle et piano, Suite polonaise, Ballade 'Hommage à Chopin'

Judith Ingolfsson Leonid Gorokhov Vladimir Stoupel

Label: EDA Records File Under: Classical Catalogue No: EDA31 Barcode: 4012476000312 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Judith Ingolfsson [violin] Leonid Gorokhov [cello] Vladimir Stoupel [piano]

Born in 1901 in Warsaw, Laks belonged to a group of Polish musicians and composers who banded together in Paris in the late 1920s as the Association des Jeunes Musiciens Polonais. Under the stewardship of Paderewski, Szymanowski, Arthur Rubinstein and Nadia Boulanger, it was considered the most important non-French music association in what was then the music capital of the world. Laks, who had studied at the University of Warsaw and the Conservatoire in Paris, began his auspicious career as a composer in the early 1930s. He composed for famous ensembles such as the Roth Quartet and renowned soloists such as Maurice Maréchal and Vlado Perlemuter. Laks’s Jewish background led to his internment in 1941 and deportation to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where he led one of the camp’s orchestras – and narrowly survived the Shoah “after an endless series of wonders.” This CD presents a collection of world-premiere recordings of Laks’s works from the pre-war era that marked his breakthrough into the French music scene. It also includes his ballad, 'Hommage à Chopin', which he composed in 1949, commissioned by the Chopin competition in Warsaw, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the great composer’s death. These recordings present a composer who succeeded in creating a highly original synthesis of Slavic and French elements of style.

RELEASE DATE 14TH AUGUST 2015

Giacomo Susani plays Petrassi, Bach, Tansman, Weiss Giacomo Susani PETRASSI: Nunc J.S. BACH: Preludio Fuga Allegro BWV 998 TANSMAN: Variations sur un thème de Scriabine, Cavatina WEISS: Tombeau sur la mort de M. comte de Logy Giacomo Susani's debut album is devoted to music by Petrassi, Bach, Tansman and Weiss with a sound that is immediately recognisable, warm and immediate. Despite being only 20 years old he has a technical ease and artistic maturity that belies his years. His CV is impressive: born in Padua in 1995 he has studied with Stefano Grondona and in 2014-15 he is at the Royal Academy of Music of London, where he has been awarded a Julian Bream Trust Scholarship, the first Italian to achieve this recognition.

Label: Stradivarius File Under: Classical/Instrumental Catalogue No: STR37013 Barcode: 8011570370136 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: digipack Giacomo Susani [guitar]

RELEASE DATE 14TH AUGUST 2015

Cristóbal HALFFTER [b.1930]: Homo electricus Líneas y puntos, Variaciones sobre la resonancia de un grito, Planto por las víctimas de la violencia

Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid José Ramón Encinar

Label: Stradivarius File Under: Classical/Orchestral Catalogue No: STR33946 Barcode: 8011570339461 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Packaging: cristal Gregorio García Karman [live electronics] Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid José Ramón Encinar [conductor]

Although Halffter’s electronic production has enjoyed some international prestige, it continues to be little known. The three compositions on this CD are interesting, not only because they represent an important period for the composer, but also because they are good creative examples of Halffter's use of electro-acoustics. One of the most characteristic elements of these compositions is the use of live electronics to broaden the instrumental possibilities and communicative potential. The 'Variaciones sobre la resonancia de un grito' relates to the tension accumulated through dictatorship and to the simultaneous cry of a multitude: the cry which circles the earth is an image which Halffter borrows from Chardin’s 'noosphere' (Pierre Teilhard de Chardin in 1922[4] in his Cosmogenesis: the noosphere/noösphere) is the sphere of human thought. As Halffter himself asserts: “I believe the freedom we can achieve with electro-acoustic means is not only greater but also of a different nature, as long as it is we who dominate the means and not the means which dominates us”.

RELEASE DATE 14TH AUGUST 2015

Charlotte SEITHER: Equal Ways of Difference Champlève, Cry, Gran Passo, Playing Both Ends Towards the Middle, Merging Strain

Elole-Klaviertrio Charlotte Seither is one of the most promising German composers of her generation. She has received many honours and prizes, including the 2010 Praetorius Musikpreis for Composition and the 2012 Pfalzpreis für Musik. In August 2013, her orchestral piece 'Language of Leaving' was prèmiered by the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Proms and was broadcast live from Royal Albert Hall. This collection of Seither's chamber music played by the Elole-Klaviertrio includes two trios, a duo for violin and cello and solo works for each of the three instruments of the group.

Label: Wergo File Under: Classical/Chamber music Catalogue No: WER7321-2 Barcode: 4010228732122 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Elole-Klaviertrio

RELEASE DATE 14TH AUGUST 2015

Jörg-Peter MITTMANN: Kontrapunkte ...mit bach, dona nobis pacem, lamento, kreuzgesang, passacalia, dem unendlichen

Ensemble Horizonte Jörg-Peter Mittmann's compositions approach music in the broader context of history and philosophy. This programme, performed by Ensemble Horizonte, features pieces that are inspired by some of the greatest works of our time: contemporary works forged on the building blocks of the past. 'Mit Bach' borrows from Bach's Cantata 147, 'Dona nobis pacem' was inspired by Beethoven's Eroica Symphony, 'Lamento' echoes Monteverdi's 'Lamento della Ninfa' and 'Dem Unendlichen' is based on Mahler's 'Kindertotenlieder'.

Label: Wergo File Under: Classical/Instrumental Catalogue No: WER6798-2 Barcode: 4010228679823 NORMAL Price Format: 1 CD Ensemble Horizonte Katrin Bähre [soprano] Nicole Pieper [alto] Jörg-Peter Mittmann [direction]