June 2012

It is difficult to understand today the critical mauling meted out to Bizet’s operatic masterpiece Carmen after its Paris premiere in 1875. Act 3 was greeted with total silence. The music and characters described as vulgar and not fit for the stage by critics. Later that year, the Viennese premiere set Carmen on the path to success it deserved, but by then Bizet had died aged just 37, not knowing that the opera would become one of the world’s favourites. Carmen broke new operatic ground in that the characters are real, earthy, and flawed. The portrayal of Jose’s decline from honest peasant, to soldier, to a drunk deserter and smuggler is a masterpiece of theatre. Bizet’s score is crammed full of colourful tunes that have become firm favourites. The two suites on this CD were arranged by Ernest Guiraud, who produced the sung recitatives for the production in Vienna to replace the spoken dialogue of the original. Using the preludes and entr’actes Guiraud skilfully draws material from the opera not in sequence, but in a way that makes a satisfying orchestral condensation of what the opera is about. Batiz is a master of orchestral showpieces, and has recorded the complete orchestral music of Bizet

Everyone knows Vivaldi's Four seasons, often without consciously knowing! This is an extremely infectious performance of Vivaldi's much-loved masterpiece by early music specialists La Magnifica Comunita led by violinist Enrico Casazza.

Airy and playful, Eine kleine Nachtmusik ('a little night-music') is one of the most popular pieces by Mozart. It is accompanied on this recording by the lesser-known but equally as charming Posthorn serenade.

Alfred Brendel is one of the most respected and well-loved pianists of his generation. On this new release he performs three of Beethoven's most famous solo piano pieces - the 'Pathetique', 'Moonlight', and 'Appasionata' sonatas.

Like many of his colleagues and predecessors, Dvorak wrote 9 symphonies. His final symphony, ‘From the new world’ is by far his most famous. Composed while Dvorak was living and working in the United States of America, the Ninth Symphony has become one of the stalwarts of the symphonic repertoire for orchestras all over the world.

Orff's choral masterpiece is presented here by the Boys of the Temple Church Choir and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, under the baton of renowned English conductor Richard Cooke.

This new album recollects and celebrates some of the choral music heard on royal occasions during the lifetime of HM Elizabeth II. The music chosen reflects the personal choices and commissions by the Royal Family for weddings, funerals, and anniversaries. Featuring John Rutter's celebratory royal wedding anthem This is the day, written for the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey in 2011. Newly orchestrated specially for this recording, it reminds us of the event that captivated the attention of the nation last year. The CD also includes a new arrangement for unaccompanied choir of the much-loved Air from County Derry to the text I would be true, and an orchestration of Schubert's beautiful Psalm 23 - The Lord is my Shepherd by John Rutter for this recording.

Rutter This is the Day, Mozart Laudate Dominum, Schubert Psalm 23, Brahms How lovely is thy dwelling place, Elgar The spirit of the Lord, McKie We wait for thy loving kindness, Mealor Ubi caritas, Durufle Ubi caritas, Harris Holy is the true light, Tavener Song for Athene, Bennett These Three, Walton Set me as a seal, Waldford Davies God be in my head, I would be true (arr. Rutter), Walton Touch her soft lips and part, Britten Choral Dances from Gloriana, Handel Let the bright seraphim, Let their celestial concerts all unite

Musorgsky's musical tribute to the painter and architect Viktor Hartmann has become his most familiar work, and this recording presents the original piano version of Pictures at an Exhibition. It is an extraordinary work, combining intense demands for virtuoso technique with an inexorable momentum which keeps what is fundamentally an impressionistic work in many movements moving towards its grand climax with the 'Great Gate of Kiev' finale. Prokofiev is one of those composers who would constantly reuse material from one work in another. However, although the Ten Pieces from Romeo and Juliet may seem at first glance to be merely a medley gleaned from the more famous ballet, it should not be forgotten that Prokofiev published the set independently and that it was first performed the year before the finished ballet, perhaps by way of an advertisement for the more challenging (financially, at least) work to follow. Also included here is Prokofiev's Toccata, written in 1912 while he was at the St Petersburg Conservatoire. The work was possibly conceived as a movement of the Second Piano Sonata, but Prokofiev evidently decided the work was worthy of publication in its own right.

From CDA67018

Musorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition, Prokofiev Ten Pieces from Romeo and Juliet Op 75, Toccata in D minor Op 11

Celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee 2012 with the programme of music the London Philharmonic Orchestra will be performing as part of the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant flotilla on 3 June 2012. The selection of music by British and Commonwealth composers relates either to monarchy, royal events and ceremonial occasions or to familiar landmarks along the Thames. It includes works by Elgar, Holst, Walton, Coates, Gilbert and Sullivan, as well as the James Bond and Chariots of Fire themes.

Walton March: Orb and Sceptre, Vaughan Williams Fantasia on Greensleeves, E Coates Knightsbridge March from London Suite, Gilbert and Sullivan Overture to HMS Pinafore, The UK Theme arr. Spiegl and Arlan, Padstow Lifeboat, Vangelis Theme from Chariots of Fire, Grainger Country Gardens, Walton Overture 'The Globe Playhouse' from Henry V Suite, E Coates March The Dam Busters, Elgar Nimrod from Enigma Variations, Holst Jupiter from The Planets, Norman Theme from James Bond, Wood From Fantasia on British Sea Songs, The Saucy Arethusa, Jack's the Lad, See the Conqu'ring Hero Comes, Rule Britannia!, Elgar Pomp and Circumstance March No 1, British National Anthem

Of his many works for the stage, Adolphe Adam's ballet Giselle ou Les Wilis is the best known. The story is based on a legend in which the Wilis, or ghosts of unmarried girls, seek revenge on the living. Speedily written amidst a hotbed of Parisian infatuations and given a timeless parochial setting, this archetypal romantic ballet has everything from unrequited love to deceit, drama, tragedy, and conciliatory resolution. Andrew Mogrelia has been acclaimed for conducting of 'warmth, grace and vitality'. (The Penguin Guide on Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty 855049092)