May 5, 2020
Spring has sprung (for us in the northern hemisphere), and we found many new compositions along with the old favorites in recent releases. Most, but not all, of these original works involve the voice. American composer Richard Danielpour's Passion of Yeshua is an operatic re-telling of the Passion of Christ story. Ellen Reid's opera, p r i s m, won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2019. Scottish composer James MacMillan's Symphony No. 5, "Le gran Inconnu," combines voices and orchestra on a sweeping scale. Among the instrumental works are new variations on Anton Diabelli's waltz theme, made famous in Beethoven's set of variations, plus music for string quartet, also inspired by Beethoven, commissioned and performed by Brooklyn Rider.
Zuill Bailey - William Walton: Cello Concerto; Richard Strauss: Don Quixote
Isabel Bayrakdarian - The Other Cleopatra, Queen of Armenia
Mark Bebbington, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Jan Latham-Koenig - Poulenc: Piano Concerto; Concert Champetre; Trio for Piano, Oboe & Bassoon; Sonata for Oboe & Piano
Jiří Bělohlávek, Jakub Hrusa, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra - Dvorák: Requiem; Biblical Songs; Te Deum
Virgil Boutellis-Taft - Incantation
Brooklyn Rider - Healing Modes
Rudolf Buchbinder - The Diabelli Project
Julien Chauvin, Le Concert de la Loge - Vivaldi: Concerti per violini VIII 'Il teatro'
Choir of Clare College, Cambridge; The Dmitri Ensemble; Graham Ross - Stabat: Arvo Pärt, Peteris Vasks, James Macmillan
The Crossing, Donald Nally - Michael Gordon: Anonymous Man
Teodor Currentzis, MusicAeterna - Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 5
Stéphane Degout, Simon Lepper - Epic: Lieder & Balladen
Lara Downes - Some of These Days
Ensemble Correspondances, Sébastien Daucé - Les Plaisirs du Louvre: Airs pour la Chambre de Louis XIII
JoAnn Falletta, UCLA Chamber Singers - Richard Danielpour: The Passion of Yeshua
Anna Fedorova, Sinfonieorchester St. Gallen, Modestas Pitrenas - Sergei Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 1; Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Martin Fröst, Concerto Köln - Vivaldi
Choir of Girton College, Cambridge; Gareth Wilson - Marc'Antonio Ingegneri: Missa Laudate Pueri Dominum A8; Motets; Giovanni Croce: In Spiritu Humilita
Philip Glass - King Lear [Original Score]
Matthias Goerne, Jan Lisiecki - Beethoven: Lieder
Gringolts Quartet, Meta4 - Mendelssohn, Enescu: Octets
Barbara Hannigan, Ludwig Orchestra - La Passione
Andrew Haveron, John Wilson - Korngold: Violin Concerto; String Sextet
Paavo Järvi, Estonian Festival Orchestra - Erkki-Sven Tüür: Mythos
Carlos Kalmar, Oregon Symphony - Aspects of America: Putlitzer Edition
King's College Choir of Cambridge, Academy of Ancient Music, Stephen Cleobury - Bach: St. Matthew Passion [2019]
Jack Liebeck, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Gourlay - Schoenberg, Brahms: Violin Concertos
Rachel Mahon - Canadian Organ Music: On the Organ of Coventry Cathedral
Marian Consort, Rory McCleery - Singing in Secret: Clandestine Catholic Music by William Byrd
Zubin Mehta, London Philharmonic Orchestra - R. Strauss: Symphonia Domestica; Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade
Riccardo Minasi, Ensemble Resonanz - Mozart: Symphonies Nos. 39, 40 & 41 "Jupiter"
Meredith Monk, Bang on a Can All-Stars - Memory Game
Anne-Sophie Mutter, Yo-Yo Ma, Daniel Barenboim - Beethoven: Triple Concerto; Symphony No. 7
Víkingur Ólafsson - Debussy - Rameau
Joel Pitchon, Marie-Volcy Pelletier, Yu-Mei Wei - New England Trios: Leonard Bernstein, Ronald Perera, Walter Piston
Portland State Chamber Choir, Ethan Sperry - Eriks Esenvalds: Translations
Gabriel Prokofiev, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Yaniv Segal - Beethoven Reimagined
Chen Reiss - Immortal Beloved: Beethoven Arias
François-Xavier Roth, Les Siècles - Ravel: La Valse; Mussorgsky: Tableaux d'une exposition (orch. Ravel)
The Sixteen, Britten Sinfonia, Harry Christophers - James MacMillan: Symphony No. 5 'Le gran Inconnu'; The Sun Danced
Tugan Sokhiev, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse - Shostakovich: Symphony No. 8
Andreas Staier - Beethoven: Ein neuer Weg. Piano sonatas Op. 31, Variations Opp. 34 & 35
John Storgårds, BBC Philharmonic - Shostakovich: Symphony No. 11 ' The Year 1905'
Cai Thomas - Seren
Voces8 - After Silence: I. Remembrance
Voces8 - After Silence: II. Devotion
Lars Vogt, Royal Northern Sinfonia - Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2; Handel Variations
Julian Wachner, Choir of Trinity Wall Street, Novus NY - Ellen Reid: p r i s m
Zuill Bailey - William Walton: Cello Concerto; Richard Strauss: Don Quixote
Isabel Bayrakdarian - The Other Cleopatra, Queen of Armenia
Mark Bebbington, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Jan Latham-Koenig - Poulenc: Piano Concerto; Concert Champetre; Trio for Piano, Oboe & Bassoon; Sonata for Oboe & Piano
Jiří Bělohlávek, Jakub Hrusa, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra - Dvorák: Requiem; Biblical Songs; Te Deum
Virgil Boutellis-Taft - Incantation
Brooklyn Rider - Healing Modes
Rudolf Buchbinder - The Diabelli Project
Julien Chauvin, Le Concert de la Loge - Vivaldi: Concerti per violini VIII 'Il teatro'
Choir of Clare College, Cambridge; The Dmitri Ensemble; Graham Ross - Stabat: Arvo Pärt, Peteris Vasks, James Macmillan
The Crossing, Donald Nally - Michael Gordon: Anonymous Man
Teodor Currentzis, MusicAeterna - Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 5
Stéphane Degout, Simon Lepper - Epic: Lieder & Balladen
Lara Downes - Some of These Days
Ensemble Correspondances, Sébastien Daucé - Les Plaisirs du Louvre: Airs pour la Chambre de Louis XIII
JoAnn Falletta, UCLA Chamber Singers - Richard Danielpour: The Passion of Yeshua
Anna Fedorova, Sinfonieorchester St. Gallen, Modestas Pitrenas - Sergei Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 1; Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Martin Fröst, Concerto Köln - Vivaldi
Choir of Girton College, Cambridge; Gareth Wilson - Marc'Antonio Ingegneri: Missa Laudate Pueri Dominum A8; Motets; Giovanni Croce: In Spiritu Humilita
Philip Glass - King Lear [Original Score]
Matthias Goerne, Jan Lisiecki - Beethoven: Lieder
Gringolts Quartet, Meta4 - Mendelssohn, Enescu: Octets
Barbara Hannigan, Ludwig Orchestra - La Passione
Andrew Haveron, John Wilson - Korngold: Violin Concerto; String Sextet
Paavo Järvi, Estonian Festival Orchestra - Erkki-Sven Tüür: Mythos
Carlos Kalmar, Oregon Symphony - Aspects of America: Putlitzer Edition
King's College Choir of Cambridge, Academy of Ancient Music, Stephen Cleobury - Bach: St. Matthew Passion [2019]
Jack Liebeck, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Gourlay - Schoenberg, Brahms: Violin Concertos
Rachel Mahon - Canadian Organ Music: On the Organ of Coventry Cathedral
Marian Consort, Rory McCleery - Singing in Secret: Clandestine Catholic Music by William Byrd
Zubin Mehta, London Philharmonic Orchestra - R. Strauss: Symphonia Domestica; Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade
Riccardo Minasi, Ensemble Resonanz - Mozart: Symphonies Nos. 39, 40 & 41 "Jupiter"
Meredith Monk, Bang on a Can All-Stars - Memory Game
Anne-Sophie Mutter, Yo-Yo Ma, Daniel Barenboim - Beethoven: Triple Concerto; Symphony No. 7
Víkingur Ólafsson - Debussy - Rameau
Joel Pitchon, Marie-Volcy Pelletier, Yu-Mei Wei - New England Trios: Leonard Bernstein, Ronald Perera, Walter Piston
Portland State Chamber Choir, Ethan Sperry - Eriks Esenvalds: Translations
Gabriel Prokofiev, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Yaniv Segal - Beethoven Reimagined
Chen Reiss - Immortal Beloved: Beethoven Arias
François-Xavier Roth, Les Siècles - Ravel: La Valse; Mussorgsky: Tableaux d'une exposition (orch. Ravel)
The Sixteen, Britten Sinfonia, Harry Christophers - James MacMillan: Symphony No. 5 'Le gran Inconnu'; The Sun Danced
Tugan Sokhiev, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse - Shostakovich: Symphony No. 8
Andreas Staier - Beethoven: Ein neuer Weg. Piano sonatas Op. 31, Variations Opp. 34 & 35
John Storgårds, BBC Philharmonic - Shostakovich: Symphony No. 11 ' The Year 1905'
Cai Thomas - Seren
Voces8 - After Silence: I. Remembrance
Voces8 - After Silence: II. Devotion
Lars Vogt, Royal Northern Sinfonia - Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2; Handel Variations
Julian Wachner, Choir of Trinity Wall Street, Novus NY - Ellen Reid: p r i s m