After D’Oustrac’s striking success as Cassandre in Berlioz Les Troyens, this will reach audiences less familiar with her core repertoire in the baroque and grand opéra. Berlioz’s Les nuits d’été and La mort d’Ophélie, Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder and the Lieder of Franz Liszt are very well known, but the finesse of D’Oustrac’s timbre lends a lucid gloss which makes them feel fresh and pure.
Category: Recordings
Luminous Mahler Symphony no.3: FranÁois-Xavier Roth, G¸rzenich-Orchester Kˆln
Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No.3 with FranÁois-Xavier Roth and the G¸rzenich-Orchester Kˆln, now at last on CD, released by Harmonia Mundi, after the highly acclaimed live performance streamed a few months ago.
A First-Ever Recording: Benjamin Godard’s 1890 Opera on Dante and Beatrice
The composer Benjamin Godard (1849–95) is today largely unknown to most music lovers. Specialist collectors, though, have been enjoying his songs (described as “imaginative and delightful” by Robert Moore in American Record Guide), his Concerto Romantique for violin (either in its entirety or just the dancelike Canzonetta, which David Oistrakh recorded winningly decades ago), and some substantial chamber and orchestral works that have received first recordings in recent years.
Between Mendelssohn and Wagner: Max Bruch’s Die Loreley
Max Bruch Die Loreley recorded live in the Prinzregenstheater, Munich, in 2014, broadcast by BR Klassik and now released in a 3-CD set by CPO. Stefan Blunier conducts the M¸nchner Rundfunkorchester with Michaela Kaune, Magdalena Hinterdobler, Thomas Mohr and Jan-Hendrick Rootering heading the cast, with the Prager Philharmonischer Chor..
Gottfried von Einem’s The Visit of the Old Lady Now on CD
Gottfried von Einem was one of the most prominent Austrian composers in the 1950s–70s, actively producing operas, ballets, orchestral, chamber, choral works, and song cycles.
Britten: Hymn to St Cecilia – RIAS Kammerchor
Benjamin Britten Choral Songs from RIAS Kammerchor, from Harmonia mundi, in their first recording with new Chief Conductor Justin Doyle, featuring the Hymn to St. Cecilia, A Hymn to the Virgin, the Choral Dances from Gloriana, the Five Flower Songs op 47 and Ad majorem Dei gloriam op 17.
Si vous vouliez un jour – William Christie: Airs SÈrieux et ‡ boire vol 2
“Si vous vouliez un jour…” Volume 2 of the series Airs SÈrieux et ‡ boire, with Sir William Christie and Les Arts Florissants, from Harmonia Mundi, following on from the highly acclaimed “Bien que l’amour” Volume 1. Recorded live at the Philharmonie de Paris in April 2016, this new release is as vivacious and enchanting as the first.
Bohuslav Martin? – What Men Live By
World premiere recording from Supraphon of Bohuslav Martin? What Men Live By (H336,1952-3) with Ji?Ì B?lohl·vek and the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra from a live performances in 2014, with Martin?’s Symphony no 1 (H289, 1942) recorded in 2016. B?lohl·vek did much to increase Martin?’s profile, so this recording adds to the legacy, and reveals an extremely fine work.
Berlioz: Harold en Italie, Les Nuits d’ÈtÈ
Hector Berlioz Harold en Italie with FranÁois-Xavier Roth and Les SiËcles with Tabea Zimmermann, plus StÈphane Degout in Les Nuits d’ÈtÈ from Hamonia Mundi. This Harold en Italie, op. 16, H 68 (1834) captures the essence of Romantic yearning, expressed in Byron’s Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage where the hero rejects convention to seek his destiny in uncharted territory.
Le Bal des Animaux : Works by Chabrier, Poulenc, Ravel, Satie et al.
Belgian soprano Sophie Karthaüser’s latest song recital is all about the animal kingdom. As in previous recordings of songs by Wolf, Debussy and Poulenc, pianist Eugene Asti is her accompanist in Le Bal des Animaux, a delightful collection of French songs about creatures of all sizes, from flea to elephant and from crayfish to dolphin.