Hi-Res Highlights,
Hi-Res Highlights - February 2017
It's been two years since we launched our Hi-Res download offering - and our catalogue now includes over 8,000 albums, both old and new. You can browse through our full Hi-Res selection here.
However, eight thousand is quite a lot - so last July we started putting together a monthly round-up offering some of our thoughts on the best of the best! Here's February's selection…
Hi-Res New Releases
Mendelssohn's sparkling incidental music to Shakespeare's fantastical comedy (including sections of dialogue) in a new version by Sir John Eliot Gardiner, who conducts the London Symphony Orchestra and Monteverdi Choir on this live recording from the Barbican last February.
Available Formats: SACD + Blu-ray, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The Bulgarian soprano presents a selection of Handel arias, showcasing heroines from the strong and forthright (Cleopatra and Agrippina) to the downtrodden and despairing (Theodora and Almirena); Alessandro de Marchi directs the Academia Montis Regalis.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Contrapunctus continue their survey of the enchanting pre-Reformation music of the Baldwin Partbooks - English Catholic works from the reigns of Henry VIII and Mary Tudor, with Fayrfax, Taverner, Tallis and other composers writing at the height of their powers.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Star clarinettist Andreas Ottensamer joins forces with oboist Albrecht Mayer and flautist Emmanuel Pahud for this exciting insight into the concertante writing of the Mannheim School, inspired by the newly-invented clarinet: includes works by Mozart, Danzi, and Carl and Johann Stamitz.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Sonia Prina and Roberta Invernizzi are among the virtuoso cast on this world-premiere recording of Catone, a pastiche opera dating from the 1730s and featuring contributions from Handel, Vivaldi, Porpora and other major composers of the time.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Paul Agnew and Les Arts Florissants complete their series of Monteverdi madrigals with these inventive works, including the twenty-minute operatic scena Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
David Fray returns to Chopin after a fifteen-year break with this selection of Nocturnes, Mazurkas and Polonaises, with a Waltz and an Impromptu thrown in for good measure.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The clarinet is in the spotlight once again on this double-bill of concertante works by the Estonian composer Erkki-Sven Tüür - clarinettist Christoffer Sunqvist is joined by violinist Pekka Kuusisto for the double concerto Noēsis, and Hannu Lintu and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra accompany.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Recent Hi-Res Re-issues
The greatest performances of yesteryear, newly remastered and re-released in Hi-Res.
Maurizio Pollini is joined by the Quartetto Italiano for a committed and sensitive performance of Brahms's Piano Quintet.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Mstislav Rostropovich gives a searing and passionate account of Dvořák's cello concerto, accompanied by the RPO and Adrian Boult.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC