Coming Soon,
Jonas Kaufmann's French album and other forthcoming highlights
It's shaping up to be a particularly exciting autumn in terms of new releases, so over the next month or two we'll be running regular round-ups of our personal upcoming highlights…as well as Kaufmann's welcome return to French repertoire (DVDs of complete operas aside, he hasn't recorded any since his Romantic Arias ten years ago), we're particularly looking forward to hearing the Takács Quartet in Dvořák, and Barbara Hannigan's intriguing debut recording with the Ludwig Ensemble (it's not so often that you see Gershwin and Berio side-by-side on one album!).
@[Sony~88985390832]( "The German tenor sings arias from Werther, Carmen, Les contes d’Hoffmann and more, plus comparative rarities by Lalo and Halévy, and a chance to finally hear him in Enée's great scene from Les Troyens, which he was scheduled to sing in London in 2012 but cancelled due to ill-health. Ludovic Tézier and Sonya Yoncheva join him for duets from Manon and The Pearl-Fishers." "L'Opéra (out 15th September)" "Jonas Kaufmann (tenor), Bayerisches Staatsorchester, Bertrand de Billy")
@[ALPHA~ALPHA293]( "Renaissance Woman Hannigan does double-duty as soprano and conductor in this intriguing programme centring on one of her signature-roles, Berg's Lulu, and featuring Berio's formidable Sequenza III, and a new arrangement of music from Gershwin's Girl Crazy. Also includes a film about the project by acclaimed French director Mathieu Amalric." "Crazy Girl Crazy: Music by Gershwin, Berg and Berio (out 22nd September)" "Barbara Hannigan (soprano/conductor), Ludwig Orchestra")
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 2 in B flat 'Lobgesang' (out 19th September)
Lucy Crowe (soprano), Jurgita Adamonyté (mezzo), Michael Spyres (tenor); London Symphony Orchestra, Monteverdi Choir, Sir John Eliot Gardiner
Gardiner's Mendelssohn cycle with the LSO comes to a glorious conclusion with this radiant account of the 'symphony-cantata', a work which he'd never conducted before embarking on this project; recorded in concert at London's Barbican last October, his interpretation was praised by Classical Source for its 'enormous conviction and swagger'.
Available Formats: SACD + Blu-ray Audio, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Their 2015 accounts of Janáček and Smetana quartets were a firm favourite in the Presto office, so we're delighted that the Takács have turned their attention to Dvořák for their latest disc; Lawrence Power joins them for the 'American' string quintet (and with an imminent new recording of this work from the Pavel Haas Quartet also in the offing it's going to be fun to compare and contrast!).
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Monteverdi: Vespro della beata Vergine (1610) (out 8th September)
Dunedin Consort, His Majestys Sagbutts & Cornetts, John Butt
I gave a brief heads-up (with the promise of more details) on this 'visceral, compelling and bold' (The Guardian) recording of the Vespers from the Edinburgh-based maverick and his Dunedin forces last month, and I've been as good as my word - it's now available to pre-order, with a short video trailer to whet appetites!
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Debussy: La mer & Ariettes oubliées (out 22nd September)
Magdalena Kožená (mezzo); Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Robin Ticciati
Ticciati celebrated the news of his appointment as the orchestra's principal conductor (he officially takes the reins this autumn) with a performance Debussy's evocative sea-scape, so it seems a fitting start to their collaboration on disc. Magdalena Kožená joins them for the Ariettes oubliées in a new orchestration by Brett Dean, currently winning plaudits galore for his wonderful Hamlet at Glyndebourne.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
JS Bach: Cantatas for Bass (out 25th August)
Matthias Goerne (baritone), Freiburger Barockorchester, Gottfried von der Goltz
I've been listening to this at least once a day since a preview copy landed on my desk last week, and it moves me more and more on each hearing - I don't imagine it'll appeal to everyone, but for me Goerne's oaky timbre captures the resignation of Ich habe genug like few others I've heard, even in a year which has seen several outsanding recordings of this cantata already.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 25 & 26 (out 18th August)
Francesco Piemontesi (piano), Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Andrew Manze
The Italian pianist's 'Mozart Odyssey' at the Wigmore Hall (he set off in 2015!) draws to a close next month, and these joyous, sparkling accounts of two of the late concertos amply demonstrate many of the virtues which have made that series such a resounding success. I'll be speaking to him about his Mozartian journey over the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned for an interview very soon!
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Katherine Cooper - Head of Editorial
