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major releases
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Cheryl Barker - Great Operatic Arias In English
Cheryl Barker (soprano), Gillian Keith (soprano), William Dazeley (baritone), London Philharmonic Orchestra, David Parry (conductor)
CHANDOS | CHAN3161 | CD | 095115316122
Adriana Lecouvreur ‘See Now, I Am Exhausted’, ‘Poor Little Flowers’, La Wally Aria, Arabella ‘I’m Very Glad’, ‘He’s Not The One’, Pagliacci ‘His Eyes Were’, Duet ‘Nedda’, The End Of The Affair, Queen Of Spades ‘It’s Nearly Midnight Now’, Williamson ‘The Violins of St Jacques’, Louise Aria
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Opera Australia’s extraordinary soprano, Cheryl Barker, sings her favourites on CD. This highly original program showcases thrilling moments of her dramatic artistry in music both familiar and fresh, all performed in English. It includes a moving scene from The End of the Affair (premiered by Cheryl with her husband Peter Coleman-Wright in 2004), arias from Strauss’s Arabella (for which she won the 2008 Helpmann Award for Best Female Performer in an Opera) and from a beautiful, rarely heard Australian work: The Violins of St Jacques by Malcolm Williamson. All this alongside memorable moments from La Wally, Pagliacci, Adriana Lecouvreur and more! Great Operatic Arias arrives in the wake of Cheryl’s triumphant performances in Opera Australia’s Manon Lescaut.
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Angela Hewitt Plays Handel and Haydn
Angela Hewitt (piano)
HYPERION | CDA67736 | CD | 034571177366
Handel Chaconne with 21 Variations in G Major HWV435, Suite No 2 in F Major HWV427, Suite No 8 in F Minor HWV433, Haydn Sonata ‘un piccolo divertimento’ Variations in F Minor Hob XVII:6, Piano Sonata in E Flat Major Hob XVI:52
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Recorded and released in the ‘anniversary year’ of both Handel and Haydn, Hyperion’s Record of the Month is an effusive celebration of the two composers, performed by an artist whose renditions of 17th- and 18th-century keyboard works on the piano have received the highest possible acclaim. This recital is a welcome gesture from the ‘high priestess of Bach’ (The Sunday Times), Hewitt’s trademark clarity of line, singing tone and instinctive musicality perfectly suited to the urbane elegance of the works recorded here. An enchanting release that will delight Angela’s fans in the wake of her extraordinarily successful 2008 Bach World Tour.
Hyperion Special Offer
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Handel Ode to Queen Anne, Dixit Dominus
Andreas Scholl (countertenor),
Hélène Guilmette (soprano), Andreas Wolf (bass), Vocal Consort Berlin, Akademie Für Alte Musik Berlin, Marcus Creed
HARMONIA MUNDI | HMC902041 | CD | 794881924325
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Composed to celebrate the birthday of Queen Anne of England, this Ode was subtitled ‘Ode for the Peace’ in reference to the Treaty of Utrecht which the monarch was about to sign, marking the end of the War of the Spanish Succession. It features the famous soaring trumpet obbligato of 'Eternal Source of Light Divine', one of the most celebrated moments in all Handel's vocal music. Six years earlier, the 22-year-old composer exploited in his sacred music what he had begun to learn from Italian opera: the result was the powerful, intensely passionate Dixit Dominus. Andreas Scholl is without doubt the world’s most celebrated counter-tenor, much admired by Australian audiences for his frequent national tours with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra.
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Between Heaven and Earth: Handel Arias
Sandrine Piau (soprano), Accademia Bizantina, Stefano Montanari
NAÏVE | OP30484 | CD | 709861304844
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Sandrine Piau is without doubt the finest French coloratura soprano of our time. Her deep affinity for the music of Handel has yielded two previous discs highly praised by critics the world over: Gramophone’s David Vickers described her spectacular debut on Naïve as the ‘perfect synthesis of elegance, extravagance and emotion…the finest recital of Handel arias I have ever heard’. On Between Heaven and Earth, Piau is again in top form with brilliant offerings from The Messiah, Theodora, Samson and other favourites.
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Cheryl Barker - Great Operatic Arias In English
Cheryl Barker (soprano), Gillian Keith (soprano), William Dazeley (baritone), London Philharmonic Orchestra, David Parry (conductor)
CHANDOS | CHAN3161 | CD | 095115316122
Adriana Lecouvreur ‘See Now, I Am Exhausted’, ‘Poor Little Flowers’, La Wally Aria, Arabella ‘I’m Very Glad’, ‘He’s Not The One’, Pagliacci ‘His Eyes Were’, Duet ‘Nedda’, The End Of The Affair, Queen Of Spades ‘It’s Nearly Midnight Now’, Williamson ‘The Violins of St Jacques’, Louise Aria
read more »
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September, 2009
Souvenirs for Mandolin and Guitar
Craig Ogden (guitar), Alison Stephens (mandolin)
CHANDOS | CHAN10563 | CD | 095115156322
Kiouphides Armin Kaufmann, Diferencias, Stephens Mount Fiji, Zambrano Suite Venezolano
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In 1999 Chandos released an album featuring music from the novels of Louis de Bernières (CHAN9780) to great acclaim, and it launched the ingenious partnership of Australian guitarist Craig Ogden and Alison Stephens, the celebrated mandolinist who played on the motion picture soundtrack to Captain Corelli's Mandolin. The pair have been performing together internationally ever since and this new disc celebrates their decade-long musical partnership. During this time, they have amassed an eclectic repertoire of vibrant music from Columbia, Mexico, Greece and other regions. The result is a wildly colourful album of fresh works bound to appeal to lovers of classical and world music alike, as well as plucked instrument enthusiasts. Alison will donate her royalties from the sale of this disc to Macmillan Cancer Support.
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August, 2009
Sacred Garland: Devotional Music From the Age of Monteverdi
The Gonzaga Band
CHANDOS | 095115076125 | CHAN0761 | CD
Founded and led by cornettist Jamie Savan, this acclaimed Renaissance ensemble takes its name from the Gonzaga family: the powerful Dukes of Mantua who were Monteverdi’s patrons and helped to shape a musical establishment that was the envy of the world. These gems of sacred music from the dawn of the Italian Baroque are remarkable for their beautiful interplay between soprano voice and cornett, matched in ‘dazzling duet’.
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new on naxos |
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Daugherty: Metropolis Symphony, Deus ex Machina
Terrence Wilson (piano), Nashville Symphony,
Giancarlo Guerrero (conductor)
8559635 | CD | 636943963524
Inspired by the fiftieth anniversary of Superman’s first appearance in the comics, Metropolis Symphony has been performed by orchestras all over the world. Hailed by the London Times as a “Symphonie Fantastique for our times,” Metropolis Symphony is a musical response to the myth of Superman, expressing the energies, ambiguities, paradoxes, and wit of American popular culture. Deus ex Machina is a piano concerto inspired by trains of the future and past: Fast Forward re-creates the machine-like rhythms of modern trains admired by the Italian futurists; Train of Tears recalls Abraham Lincoln’s funeral train; Night Steam evokes O. Winston Link’s historic photographs of steam locomotives rumbling and whistling their way into extinction.
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Hubay: Violin Concertos Nos 1-2
Chloe Hanslip, Bournemouth Symphony, Andrew Mogrelia (conductor)
8572078 | CD |747313207879
Lauded as ‘the most charismatic violinist the UK has produced in recent years’, Chloë Hanslip has delighted music lovers with her Naxos recordings of virtuosic 19th century music by Bazzini (8.570800) and Godard (8.570554), as well as the Violin Concerto by John Adams (8.559302). Hubay’s first two Violin Concertos not only make full use of the violin’s singing qualities, especially in the gorgeous slow movements, but require considerable virtuosity in performance. With their Hungarian folk-dance elements the Scènes de la Csárda are among Hubay’s most famous works.
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Haydn: Masses Complete
Soloists, Trinity Choir, Rebel Baroque Orchestra, Jo Owen Burdick, Jane Glover
8508009 | CD8 |747313800933
Today Haydn is viewed mainly in the light of his string quartets and symphonies, yet his first and last compositions were Mass settings. They encompassed an extraordinary musical output, within which his Masses shine as uplifting and deeply satisfying sacred works. Whilst acknowledging the Viennese traditions of church music, these Masses are infused with the kind of inspiration and originality which make Haydn an undisputed master in so many genres. This collection by Trinity Choir includes all the complete and authenticated Masses by Haydn as well as his early Stabat Mater. 'A performance that goes straight to the top of the heap in terms of clarity, energy, musicality, and ensemble coordination' - Classics Today
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audiobooks |
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Wilde: The Picture of
Dorian Gray (Unabridged)
Oscar Wilde (author),
Greg Wise (reader)
NAXOS AUDIOBOOKS | 799112 | CD7 | 9789626349915
Dorian Gray, starring Colin Firth, comes to Australian cinemas soon, ensuring that there will be a surge of interest in this brilliant classic. The Picture of Dorian Gray (9789626349915). Dorian Gray tells the unnerving Faustian tale of a young man of luminous beauty, who pledges to preserve his attractive looks at any cost. Banished to the recesses of his house, a terrible portrait bears a record of a secret sinful life, tormenting Dorian to distraction. The popularity of Oscar Wilde’s only novel is astonishing and constantly provides inspiration for new revivals, films and adaptations.
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coming soon |
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Eternal Fire
The Monteverdi Choir, John Eliot Gardiner
SOLI DEO GLORIA | SDG177 | CD
Available from October 2009
A superb collection of the greatest choruses from the award-winning Bach Cantatas series, at a special price!
The first, highly anticipated compilation featuring the most glorious moments from John Eliot Gardiner’s acclaimed Bach Pilgrimage. The fourteen choruses heard here were recorded during the course of the Pilgrimage and each exhibit clearly Bach’s depth, originality and incomparable genius. With beautifully bound packaging and at a special price, this collection is the ideal Christmas gift for music lovers, an essential introduction to the glory and grandeur of Bach’s wonderful choral universe.
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Dreamland
Choral Riches from the Hyperion Catalogue
Polyphony, Schola Cantorum of Oxford, Holst Singers, Westminster Abbey Choir,
Trinity College Choir Cambridge
HYPERION | HYP41 | CD
Available from October 2009
This new and intriguing compilation features a selection of pieces from Hyperion’s extensive and varied choral collection.
This disc seeks to give a flavour of the contemporary choral music recorded by Hyperion over the last decade. Whilst on one level it can stand alone as a tribute to the beauty of the composers’ writing and choirs’ singing, it also lifts the lid on the albums from which the tracks are drawn. A perfect introduction to the magic new worlds of sound that await the listener.
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Schubert Complete Works for Violin and Piano Complete Vol 1
Julia Fischer (violin), Martin Helmchen (piano)
PENTATONE | PTC5186347 | SACD
Available from October 2009
This stunning recording of Schubert’s Violin Sonatinas (the first of two volumes) completes the collaboration between star violinist Julie Fischer and Pentatone, after several critically acclaimed releases.
The second volume will show Julia Fischer in a rare and riveting moment as pianist in the much-loved duet, Fantasie in F Minor D940, Op.103. Fischer possesses ‘musical as well as technical maturity astonishing in one so young’ and is lauded for her ‘seamless technique’ (New York Times).
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