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Andrew McGregor with Gillian Moore and Marina Frolova-Walker

The best new classical releases, plus Gillian Moore introduces and surveys Gyorgy Kurtag's music and recommends the essential recordings.

with Andrew McGregor

09.30
Building a Library: Gillian Moore introduces and surveys the music of György Kurtág and recommends the essential recordings. Still active in his tenth decade, Hungarian-born Kurtág is one of the most highly regarded composers of our times, as well as a remarkable pianist, whose often fragmentary and brief works paradoxically pack and an intensely emotional punch.

1050
Marina Frolova-Walker has been listening to new releases of Russian music including chamber works by 20th-century Soviet composer, Mieczysław Weinberg and a box set of the complete piano music of Tchaikovsky.

11.45
Andrew chooses an outstanding new release as his Disc of the Week.

3 hours, 13 minutes

Music Played

  • Francesco Cavalli

    Ombra mai fu (Xerse)

    Singer: Philippe Jaroussky. Ensemble: Ensemble Artaserse.
    • Erato.
  • Francesco Cavalli

    Che pensi, mio core? (La virtu de' strali d'Amore)

    Singer: Philippe Jaroussky. Ensemble: Ensemble Artaserse.
    • Erato.
  • Grace Williams

    Suite for 9 Instruments: III. Allegro con brio

    Performer: Madeleine Mitchell. Ensemble: London Chamber Ensemble.
    • Grace Williams: Chamber Music.
    • Naxos.
    • 10.
  • Carl Maria von Weber

    Grand Duo Concertant in E flat, Op.48: II. Andante

    Performer: Andreas Ottensamer. Performer: Yuja Wang.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
  • Anton Bruckner

    Symphony No.6: III. Scherzo

    Orchestra: Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. Conductor: Robin Ticciati.
    • Linn Records.
  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Toccata und Fuge D-Moll, BWV 565

    Performer: Olivier Latry.
    • Bach to the future.
    • La Dolce Volta.
    • 3.
  • Joseph Haydn

    Die sieben letzten Worte, Hob. XX:1: Introduzione.

    Ensemble: Ensemble Resonanz. Conductor: Riccardo Minasi.
    • Haydn: Die sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze.
    • harmonia mundi.
    • 1.
  • Leos Janáček

    The Cunning Little Vixen, JW I/9, Act III: Nos. 3 & 4

    Singer: Louise Alder. Singer: Jenny Carlstedt. Singer: Sebastian Geyer. Singer: Lilli Trosien. Choir: Frankfurt Opera Children's Chorus. Choir: Chor der Oper Frankfurt. Orchestra: Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester. Conductor: Johannes Debus.
    • Janáček: Das schlaue Füchslein (Live).
    • Oehms Classics.
    • 3.
  • Mieczysław Weinberg

    Fantasia for Cello and Orchestra

    Performer: Alla Vasilieva. Orchestra: Moscow Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Rudolf Barshai.
    • Melodiya.
  • Mieczysław Weinberg

    Cello Sonata No. 1: II. Un poco moderato

    Performer: Alla Vasilieva. Performer: Mieczysław Weinberg.
    • Melodiya.
  • Galina Ustvolskaya

    Children's Suite: Bear's Dance; Game of Tag

    Conductor: Yevgeny Mravinsky. Orchestra: Leningrad Philharmonic.
    • Profil.
  • Boris Klyuzner

    Violin Concerto: I. Recitativo-Allegro

    Performer: Mikhail Vaiman. Orchestra: Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Yevgeny Mravinsky.
    • Profil.
  • Dmitry Shostakovich

    Quartet No.2: I. Overture: Moderato con moto

    Ensemble: Carducci String Quartet.
    • Signum.
  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Seasons: XI. November: On the Troika

    Performer: Valentina Lisitsa.
    • Decca.
  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    The Nutcracker: Act 1, Sc. 1 The battle

    Performer: Valentina Lisitsa.
    • Decca.
  • Modest Mussorgsky

    Pictures at an Exhibition: No.2 Gnomus

    Performer: Peter Donohoe.
    • Signum.
  • Olivier Messiaen

    Cantéyodjayâ

    Performer: Peter Donohoe.
    • Signum.
  • Hector Berlioz

    La Damnation de Faust, Op. 24, H. 111: Pt. IV

    Singer: Karen Cargill. Singer: Bryan Hymel. Singer: Christopher Purves. Choir: London Symphony Chorus. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle.
    • Berlioz: La damnation de Faust.
    • Lso Live.
    • 11.

Record Review

9.00am 

‘Ombra mai fu’ – Opera arias by Cavalli
Philippe Jaroussky (countertenor)
Artaserse (ensemble)
Erato 0190295518196
http://www.warnerclassics.com/shop/3252111,0190295518196/philippe-jaroussky-ombra-mai-fu-francesco-cavalli-opera-arias 

Grace Williams: Violin Sonata, Sextet for Oboe, Trumpet and Piano Quartet, Suite for 9 Instruments, Romanza (arr. Z. Vulliamy for oboe and bass clarinet), Sarabande for Piano Left Hand & Rondo for Dancing (version for 2 violins and cello)
Madeleine Mitchell (violin and director)
London Chamber Ensemble
Naxos 8.571380
https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.571380 

Brahms: Six Pieces for piano, 5 lieder No.1 (transcr. for clarinet and piano); Weber: Clarinet Concerto No.1 in F minor, Grand Duo Concertant; Mendelssohn: 7 pieces from Lieder ohne Worte arr. for Clarinet and Piano
Andreas Ottensamer (clarinet)
Yuja Wang (piano)
Berliner Philharmoniker (orchestra)
Mariss Jansons (conductor)
Deutsche Grammophon 483 6069
https://www.deutschegrammophon.com/gb/cat/4836069 

Bruckner: Symphony No.6
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (orchestra)
Robin Ticciati (conductor)
Linn Records CKD 620 
https://www.linnrecords.com/recording-bruckner-symphony-no-6 

9.30am – Building a Library – Kurtág recordings by Gillian Moore

Composer: György Kurtág

Reviewer: Gillian Moore

Some of the recordings featured:

Játékok (excerpts)
Márta Kurtág (piano)
György Kurtág (piano)
ECM 4535112

Complete Works for Ensemble and Choir
Natalia Zagorinskaya (soprano)
Gerrie de Vries (mezzo-soprano)
Yves Saelens (tenor)
Harry van der Kamp (bass)
Jean-Guihen Queyras (cello)
Elliott Simpson (guitar)
Tamara Stefanovich (piano) 
Netherlands Radio Choir (chorus)
Schoenberg chamber orchestra
Reinbert de Leeuw (conductor)
Others
ECM 4812883

Signs, Games and Messages for strings & Hommage to R. Schumann
Hélène Desaint (viola)
Louis Lortie (piano)
Ronald Van Spaendonck (clarinet)
Louis Lortie (piano)
Nathanaël Gouin
Fuga Libera FUG611

Kafka Fragments
Caroline Melzer (soprano)
Nurit Stark (violin)
BIS BIS2175

Grabstein für Stephan
Jurgen Ruck (guitar)
Berliner Philharmoniker
Claudio Abbado (conductor)

10.20am – New Releases

‘Bach to the Future’ – J.S. Bach: Ricercare a 6 (The Musical Offering) BWV1079, Fugue in G minor BWV578, Toccata & Fugue in D minor, ‘Erbarm' dich mein, o Herre Gott’ (chorale), Fantasia in G minor BWV542, Fugue in G minor BWV542, In dir ist Freude, ‘Herzlich tut mich verlangen’ (chorale), Piece for organ BWV572 & Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor BWV582
Oliver Latry (organ)
La Dolce Volta LDV69

‘If’: Michael Nyman & Henry Purcell – Nyman: No Time in Eternity, Balancing the Books, If & Why from ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’, Music After a While & The Self-Laudatory Hymn in Inanna and her Omnipotence; Henry Purcell: Music for a While No.2, Evening Hymn & O Solitude, my Sweetest Choice (arrangements: Richard Boothby)
Iestyn Davies (countertenor)
Fretwork (ensemble)
Signum Classics SIGCD 586
https://signumrecords.com/product/if-michael-nyman-henry-purcell/SIGCD586/ 

Haydn: The Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross
Ensemble Resonanz
Riccardo Minasi (conductor)
Harmonia Mundi HMM902633
http://www.harmoniamundi.com/#!/albums/2508 

Janácek: The Cunning Little Vixen
Sharp-Ears, the Vixen – Louise Alder (soprano)
Gold-Spur, the Fox – Jenny Carlstedt (mezzo-soprano)
The Forester’s Wife / Owl – Joanna Krasuska-Motulewicz (mezzo-soprano)
The Schoolmaster – Beau Gibson (tenor)
The Forester – Simon Neal (baritone) 
Frankfurt Opera Chorus and Children’s Chorus
Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra
Johannes Debus (conductor)
Oehms Classics OC982 (2 CDs)
https://www.oehmsclassics.de/artikel/21096/Frankfurter_Opern-_und_Museumsorchester_Leo%C5%A1_Jan%C3%A1cek__Das_schlaue_F%C3%BCchslein?erweitertesuche=true 

10.50am – New Releases with Marina Frolova-Walker 

Weinberg: Sonatina for Violin & Piano, Violin Sonata No.2, Viola Sonata No.1, Cello Sonatas Nos.1 & 2, Fantasia for Cello and Orchestra, String Quartet No.7 & Trumpet Concerto 

Alexei Mikhlin (violin)
Alexander Brusilovsky (violin)
Fyodor Druzhinin (viola)
Alla Vasilieva (cello)
Timofei Dokschitzer (trumpet)
Mieczysław Weinberg (piano)
Evgeniya Seydel (piano)
Borodin Quartet
Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
Moscow Chamber Orchestra
Algis Zhuraitis (conductor)
Rudolf Barshai (conductor)
MEL CD 10 02519 (3 CDs)

‘Yevgeny Mravinsky Edition Vol.4’ – Orchestral music by Beethoven, Glinka, Liadov, Shostakovich, Rimsky Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, Ustvolskaya, Klyuzner, Schubert, Bartók, Glazunov, Sibelius, Khachaturian, Arutiunian, Babadzhanian, Berlioz, Liszt & Debussy
Yevgeny Mravinsky (conductor)
David Oistrakh (violin)
Mikhail Vaiman (violin)
Leonid Kogan (violin)
Vladimir Krasavin (clarinet)
Lev Oborin (piano)
USSR State Symphony Orchestra
Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra
PH18045 (10 CDs)

Shostakovich: String Quartets Nos.1, 2 & 7
Carducci String Quartet
Signum SIGCD559
https://signumrecords.com/product/shostakovich-string-quartets-nos-1-2-7/SIGCD559/ 

Tchaikovsky: Complete Solo Piano Works
Valentina Lisitsa (piano)
Alexei Kuznetsoff (piano)
Decca 483 4417 (10 CDs)

Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition; Messiaen: Cantéyodjayâ; Ravel: Miroirs
Peter Donohoe (piano)
SIGCD566
https://signumrecords.com/product/mussorgsky-messiaen-ravel/SIGCD566/

 

11.45am – Disc of the Week

Berlioz: The Damnation of Faust
Gábor Bretz (soprano)
Karen Cargill (mezzo-soprano)
Bryn Hymel (tenor)
Christopher Purves (baritone)
London Symphony Chorus
London Symphony Orchestra
Simon Rattle (conductor)
LSO Live LSO0809 (2 hybrid SACDs)
https://lsolive.lso.co.uk/products/berlioz-the-damnation-of-faust 

Broadcast

  • Sat 23 Mar 2019 09:00

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