EMI Classics and Virgin Classics August 2009 Releases
England, My England
Choir of King’s College,
Cambridge
Two-CD set and downloads
available August 11 from EMI Classics
The glory of English music is
brought to resplendent life in a new compilation featuring the incomparable
Choir of King’s College, Cambridge.
England My England, a new two-CD compilation drawn from the choir’s extensive
EMI Classics catalog, captures the quintessentially
English sound of the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, as heard in the
singular acoustic of its magnificent chapel. Over the course of 40 tracks, the new album
offers motets ancient and modern, well-known psalms and favorite hymns
(“Jerusalem,” “Praise, my Soul, the King of Heaven”), and many pieces made
recognizable through their association with key events in English history.
“Come ye sons of art away” is
Purcell’s 1694 birthday ode for Queen Mary. “Thou knowest, Lord” is part of the music he wrote for her
funeral just nine months later. John
Ireland’s “Greater love hath no man” is often heard on Remembrance Sunday; Sir
John Tavener’s “Song for Athene” made a powerful impression at the funeral of
Diana, Princess of Wales; while John Rutter’s small-scale, personal Requiem touched a
wider public following the attacks of September 11, 2001. But “Nimrod,” above all, represents
music of national remembrance and this collection boasts a choral setting of
it: Lux aeterna, by Edward Elgar.
A full track list follows.
CD1
1. Zadok the Priest (Handel)
2. Lux aeterna (Elgar arr. John Cameron)
3. Hymn: “Praise, my soul, the king of
heaven”
4. Spem in alium (Tallis)
5. Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd”
(chant by Goss)
6. “Hallelujah” Chorus (Handel)
7. Requiem – “Pie Jesu” (Rutter)
8. Hymn: “Come down, O love divine”
9. “O nata lux de lumine” (Tallis)
10. Evening Hymn (“Te lucis ante terminum”) (Balfour
Gardiner)
11. Ave verum corpus (Byrd)
12. Hymn: “When I survey the wondrous cross”
13. Beati quorum via (Stanford)
14. Antiphon (“Let all the world in every corner sing”)
(Vaughan Williams)
15. Iustorum animae (Byrd)
16. “Come ye sons of art away” – Symphony, solo, and
chorus (Purcell)
17. “Faire is the heaven” (William Harris)
18 Psalm 67: “God be merciful unto us” (Bairstow)
19. Ave Maria (Robert Parsons I)
20. Hymn: “All people that on earth do dwell”
CD2
1. Jerusalem (Parry)
2 Requiem – Requiem aeternam (Rutter)
3 I vow to thee, my country (Holst)
4 Song for Athene (Tavener)
5 Hymn: Abide with me (W. H. Monk; vv. 2, 4 & 5
arr. Cleobury)
6 Magnificat in G (Stanford)
7 Thou knowest, Lord Z58c (Purcell)
8 Hosanna to the son of David (Gibbons)
9 Hymn: The day thou gavest, Lord, is ended 3.16
10 Psalm 84: O how amiable are thy dwellings (Parry)
11 Mass in G minor – Kyrie (Vaughan Williams)
12 Greater love hath no man (Ireland)
13 If ye love me (Tallis)
14 Hymn: Dear Lord and Father of mankind (Parry)
15 Jubilate Deo (Britten)
16 Hymn: Drop, drop, slow tears (Gibbons)
17 To be sung of a summer night on the water I
(Delius)
18 Psalm 150: O praise God in his holiness
(Goodenough)
19 When David heard (Weelkes)
20 I was glad (Parry)*
Other special boxed sets,
reissues, and compilations
Best 100 Cello
Various Artists
Specially priced 6CD set and
downloads available August 11 from EMI Classics
The new installment in EMI Classics’ popular
“Best 100” series is a fine collection of 100 favorite cello classics,
performed by some of the world’s leading artists. Among them are giants of the
past such as Pablo Casals, Janos Starker, Pierre Fournier, Paul Tortelier,
Jacqueline du Pré and Mstislav Rostropovich, as well as more recent stars like
Lynn Harrell, Truls Mørk, Steven Isserlis, Julian Lloyd Webber, Robert Cohen,
Han-Na Chang, Gautier Capuçon and Natalie Clein.
Each CD is themed according to eras and
genres:
-CD 1: THE BAROQUE CELLO
-CD 2: THE CLASSICAL CELLO
-CD 3: BRAHMS AND BEFORE
-CD 4: THE ROMANTIC CELLO
-CD 5: THE MODERN CELLO
-CD 6: ENCORES AND SHOWPIECES
There are currently more than 20 releases
in the “Best 100” series, each containing a generous and compellingly
programmed sampling of music from the renowned vaults of EMI Classics and
Virgin Classics. One of the best
consumer values on the classical recordings market – each set is amazingly
priced at six CDs for the price of one – the “Best 100” series has thus far
sold more than two million sets worldwide.
VIRGO Series
Five New Titles
Budget-priced CDs and
downloads available August 11 from Virgin Classics
Virgin Classics adds five new titles
to its superb VIRGO series, which features beautifully-packaged reissues at a special
budget price. The new installment
surveys masterpieces from five favorite composers, including piano music by Debussy,
Schumann, Schubert and Mozart as well as orchestral music by Handel (details
follow).
Mozart :
Piano Sonatas KV310, K331 “Alla Turca”, K333, Fantasy in C
Jean-Bernard
Pommier
Debussy: Pour le Piano, Children’s
Corner, Estampes, Arabesques, L’Isle Joyeuse
Jean-Bernard Pommier
Handel:
Concerti Grossi, Op.3 (extracts)
Linde
Consort, Hans-Martin Linde
Schumann:
Davidsbündlertänze, Fantasie, 3 Pieces from Album Für Die Jugend
Stephen
Hough
Schubert:
The Last Sonatas, D959 & 960
David
Levine
20th Century Classics Series
Five new titles
2CD sets available August 11 from EMI Classics
EMI Classics adds to its distinguished 20th-century
Classics series with five new 2CD sets spanning a thrilling and wide-ranging spectrum
of repertoire.
This month’s releases survey the quintessentially
French music of Francis Poulenc, the brilliantly diverse compositions of
Englishman Benjamin Britten, Béla Bartók’s Hungarian-folk-tinged Mikrokosmos, the adventurous works of German
Karlheinz Stockhausen, and the spiky sounds of Russian Sergei Prokofiev
(details below).
With striking covers and budget prices, these sets
provide a perfect introduction to the composers who helped define the
remarkably diverse sound of 20th-century classical music.
Poulenc :
Organ Concerto, Piano Concerto, Concert Champêtre, Concerto for Two Pianos,
Aubade, Les Biches
Maurice Duruflé, Gabriel Tacchino, Francis Poulenc,
Jacques Fevrier, George Prêtre, Pierre Dervaux
Britten: Serenade for Tenor, Horns
& Strings, Les Illuminations, Nocturnes, Sinfonia Da Requiem, Simple
Symphony, Four Sea Interludes, Young Persons Guide to the Orchestra
Jill Gomez, Neil Mackie, Barry Tuckwell,
Robert Tear, Steuart Bedford
Jeffery Tate, Libor Pesec
Bartók:
Mikrokosmos (selections)
Georges
Solchany
Stockhausen:
Spiral I&II, Pole, Wach, Japan, Zykus, Tierkreis, In Freundschaft
Harald
Bojé, Christoph Caskel, Peter Eötvös, Tristan Fry,
Markus
Stockhausen, Margareta Hurholz
Prokofiev:
Piano Sonatas 1-3 & 6-8, Ballet Arrangements
Michel
Béroff, Boris Giltburg, Roustem Saitkoulov, Vladimir Ovchinnikov, Navah Perlman
Critical acclaim for recent EMI Classics and
Virgin Classics releases
Shadows of Silence: Piano Concertos by Dalbavie and
Lutoslawski; solo works by Sorensen and Kurtág
Leif Ove Andsnes, piano; Bavarian Radio Symphony
Orchestra / Franz
Welser-Möst
CD released July 2009 on EMI Classics
“This superb new disc from the Norwegian pianist Leif
Ove Andsnes is a godsend for listeners convinced they don’t like or understand
contemporary music – and for anyone else besides. Deploying the same blend of
technical panache and emotional transparency that he brings to the music of
Schubert, Chopin and Grieg, Andsnes tackles a brilliantly planned array of
recent works, by turns grand and intimate. Anchoring the lineup are two piano
concertos, Witold Lutoslawski’s profound 1988 masterpiece and a dazzling
showpiece commissioned by Andsnes in 2005 from Marc-André Dalbavie. Both are
exciting, dramatic works, written to show off the pianist’s technique while
gratifying the listener’s desire for beauty and engagement. In between, Andsnes
offers a series of emotionally eloquent solo pieces, including a few terse
excerpts from György Kurtág’s “Games,” and the title work, a
delicately evocative soundscape by Bent Sørensen.”
– Joshua Kosman/San Francisco
Chronicle
Kate
Royal – Midsummer Night
Kate Royal, soprano
English
National Opera Orchestra / Edward Gardner
Crouch End Festival Chorus / David
Temple, chorus master; Thomas Allen, baritone (“Embroidery Aria”); Andrew
Staples, tenor (“Nightingale Aria”)
Released June 2009 on EMI Classics
“For her
much-anticipated second EMI recital disc, the elegant British soprano Kate
Royal (b. 1979) graces us with a collection of gorgeously sung arias from the
last century….From the first notes of the title aria, William Alwyn’s
atmospheric ‘Midsummer night’ from Miss Julie, it’s hard not be seduced by
Royal’s gifts of tonal beauty and heartfelt commitment. Her singing has an
emotional groundedness, an unforced connection between throat and heart that
bespeak both purity and maturity. It’s a wonderful voice, from a woman whose
beauty clearly extends far beyond surface allure… his is a glowing recital by a
gifted soprano who matches beautiful sound with emotional depth.”
–
Jason Victor Serinus/San Francisco Classical Voice
Thomas
Adès: The Tempest
Kate Royal, Ian Bostridge, Simon Keenlyside, Toby
Spence, Philip Langridge, etc.
Orchestra & Chorus of the Royal Opera House,
Covent Garden / Thomas Adès
Released
June 2009 on EMI Classics
“An
alluring Adès score and a first-rate cast make this Tempest unmissable… . After a number of
decent attempts in recent years, the Royal Opera House finally hit gold with a
new opera – one that will surely stand the test of time, that deepens with
every hearing, and which gets a worthy first recording here. The performances, which derive from the
(somewhat) revised 2007 revival, are in all ways stronger than the
premiere. The casting assembles
some of the finest performers around today… . Ades’s own conducting drives
inexorably the groundswell of lyricism that motivates this piece and unifies all
the vocal acrobatics.”
– Gramophone CD of the Month, August 2009
EMI Classics
and Virgin Classics artists on tour this month
August
11, 17, 22, 26, 29
Natalie
Dessay continues run as Violetta (role debut) in Santa Fe Opera’s La traviata
August 15
David Fray with Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom Music
Festival, OH
August
21
David Fray with Boston Symphony at Tanglewood Music
Festival, MA
For further information contact:
Glenn Petry, 21C Media Group: (212)
625-2038, [email protected]
Mariko Tada, EMI Classics: (212)
786-8964, [email protected]
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© 21C Media Group, Inc. August 2009