harmonia mundi usa new releases January 2009

harmonia mundi usaNEW RELEASES STREET DATE JANUARY !", #$$%

TOKYO STRING

QUARTET Beethoven

String Quartets | p. 3

NEW RELEASES

Table of contents

CLASSICALharmonia mundi Page 3Alia Vox Page 4APR Page 5Bel Air Classiques Page 5 Channel Classics Page 6Dutton Page 7Hyperion Page 11LSO Live Page 15Mirare Page 16Onyx Page 16Opera Rara Page 18San Francisco Symphony Page 19Testament Page 20

CONCERT CALENDAR Page 26

POPULARWorld Page 22 CONCERT CALENDAR Page 23

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news & highlightsNew Release Highlights! is month on harmonia mundi, the Tokyo String Quartet is back with the latest installment of their stellar Beethoven cycle, this time featuring Opp.74 & 95 (p.3). Hyperion superstar Marc-André Hamelin continues his e" orts in the standard repertoire, this time o" ering stunning readings of Chopin (p.13). On LSO live, Valery Gergiev leads the London Symphony Orchestra in an searing performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 (p.15). Onyx o" ers Homage – a CD and DVD combo from 2008 Grammy and Gramophone Award winner James Ehnes with exclusive recordings of rare instruments from the Fulton Collection (p.17). Now on DVD, Michael Tilson ! omas and San Francisco Symphony are joined by no less than Yo-Yo Ma, Dawn Upshaw and ! omas Hampson for A Celebration of Leonard Bernstein (p.19), Carnegie Hall’s tribute to the New York Philharmonic’s beloved music director. Testament has unearthed a rare gem – Van Cliburn’s historic 1958 concerto performances from the Tchaikovsky competition (p.21). Of special note, Alia Vox founder Jordi Savall leads a cast of star musicians on Jerusalem – a 2-SACD set that explores musical connections between the three religions of that historic city (p.4). On World Village, Bulgarian clarinetist and BBC Radio 3 Award winner Ivo Papasov presents Dance of the Falcon (p.24), while desert rockers Tinariwen return with a live DVD that includes many exclusive extras (p.25).

Street Date: Tuesday, January 13, 2009PROMOTIONAL COPIES AVAILABLE FOR

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Long DistanceLSO LiveMarabiMarsyasMirareMondomixNetworkOcoraOnyx ClassicsOpera RaraO PlusOrange MountainOtáPiranhaPonderosaPragaRCO LiveRussian SeasonSan Francisco SymphonySDGShefaSignatureSound GrammarSound of WorldTahraTestamentVan CliburnWergoWisdom MountainWorld VillageYsaÿe / Nascor

Editor–in–Chief: Ma! hew OwenDesign: Scarle! Freund

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Contact information: Ma! hew Owen National Sales Manager [email protected] Sarah Folger Publicity & Promotions Director [email protected]

In The Press Ludovico Einaudi tours US featuring music from Divenire

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“ My aim in these two discs has been to o! er the richest possible panorama of Satie’s piano and chamber music, ranging over his whole lifetime. Immersed in the world of Satie, we were touched, often deeply moved by the trust he shows in his interpreters.” —!A"#$%&'(#!T)%(%*'!!

“ With his unique blend of classical melodies, pop structures and ambient atmospherics… Einaudi unveiled a new song with a gorgeous two-note cascade of simple counterpoint melodies.” —!B+"",-%('!!

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“ Aided by producers Alê Siqueira and Swami Junior, and a consummate group of musicians, Portuondo gives a modern touch to nostalgia creating a disc that will delight fans inside and outside Cuba.” —!S-&."+&#/!

Buena Vista Social Club’s Omara Portuondo delights with Gracias

Alexandre Tharaud and friends explore Satie

“ Wi t h h i s u n i q u e b l e n d o f c l a s s i c a l m e l o d i e s , p o p s t ru c t u re s a n d a m b i e n t

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TSQ’s outstanding Beethoven cycle continues

SACD Hybrid/ Stereo & Multi-channel/ DSDThe Tokyo String Quartet continues its complete Beethoven cycle with this third volume. Both the graceful Opus 74 (nicknamed ‘Harp’ for its use of pizzicato) and Opus 95, with its quest for the essential, testify to the new maturity achieved by the composer around 1810.

“The Tokyo is in a new era of musical power and finesse.”— LOS ANGELES TIMES

BEETHOVENString Quartets Opp.74 & 95

Tokyo String Quartet

Aa93046c&$^)^XNPrice Code: A!"

(Suggested Retail Price: $20.98)

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Beethoven: String Quartets Op.59, Nos.1-3

“Beautiful through and through.”— DALLAS MORNING NEWS

Beethoven: String Quartets Op.18

“These are distinguished readings: technically impeccable, beautifully balanced...”— INTERNATIONAL RECORD REVIEW

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SACD Hybrid/ Stereo & Multi-channel/ DSDJerusalem is simultaneously a Jewish, Arab and Christian city — a city of pilgrimage, exile and refuge. With this new release from Alia Vox, Maestro Jordi Savall makes a powerful and timely statement. The project, the result of many years of fastidious research by Savall and Israeli musician Yair Dalal, aims to present many aspects of this city through the musical traditions of all three monotheistic religions. By bringing together the music of these seemingly disparate cultures without blurring their boundaries, Savall and Dalal demonstrate that they are in fact intimately related. To help make his point, he has collected a team of star musicians from many cultures. To supplement Savall’s own groups, Hespèrion XXI and La Capella Reial de Catalunya, Savall and Dalal are joined by sufi ensemble Al-Darwish and musicians from Armenia, Greece and Turkey. This amazing two super-audio CD set is accompanied by a 400 page book (in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Catalan, Hebrew and Arabic) that features discussions about the history, cultural background and other aspects of the musical selections. Ultimately, Savall and his colleagues hope that the power of music will be a force for peace and understanding in this troubled part of the world.

A musical pilgrimage to the Holy Land

JerusalemRazmik Amyan, Omar Bashir, Yair Dalal

Lior Elmalich, Montserrat Figueras, Muwafak Shahin Khalil, Andrew Lawrence-King

Marc Mauillon, Gaguik Mouradian Begoña Olavide, Lluis Vilamajó Al-Darwish

Hespèrion XXI, La Capella Reial de CatalunyaJordi Savall

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(2 SACD Set + Book, Suggested Retail Price: $59.98)

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The Route of the Orient

“A gorgeous visual and aural experience.”— BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE

In recent years, York Bowen the composer has enjoyed a spectacular revival. However, until now ,his talents as pianist (barring one recording for Lyrita) have not been heard since the days of 78s. At the height of his success in the beginning of the 20th century, Bowen was well known as a soloist. His fi rst recording, a rare disc on the Marathon label, was released in 1915. However, the bulk of his output was offered by Vocalion. Bowen’s Beethoven Piano Concerto No.4 was the very fi rst recording of the work. Its neglect has been due to the fact that it was one of the last recordings to be made using the old acoustic process. Through all the featured works on this CD we hear a pianist who plays in the ‘grand manner.’ That, as well as his preference for romantic repertoire, reveal him as somewhat atypical of English pianists of his time and earned him the nickname ‘the English Rachmaninov.’

F0wr70oc!^))&%sPrice Code: A$#

(2 CDs for the Price of 1, Suggested Retail Price: $19.98)

Complete solo 78-rpm recordingsYork Bowen (piano)

105 Minutes/ Dolby Digital 5.1/ DTS 5.1/ 16x9/ Region FreeHeinz Spoerli’s Zurich Ballet Cinderella production, fi lmed as a musical from Hollywood, turned out to be a huge success at its premiere and must rank as one of the most ‘dancerly’ stagings Prokofi ev’s popular ballet has ever received. Sumptuously designed and dressed by Johan Engels, the ballet’s main sponsor was Switzerland’s leading silk manufacturer. Conducted by Vladimir Fedoseyev, one of today’s leading Russian music directors, it is lavishly choreographed by Spoerli, who makes the most of the purely classical sections of the drama, contrasting them effi ciently with the grotesqueries of the ballet mistress and her spoiled daughters in drag. Lead dancers include Karine Seneca as Cinderella, Stanislav Jermakov as Frederic, Marine Castel as The Godmother, Jozef Varga as The Stepmother, and Nicolas Blanc and François Petit as The Stepsisters.

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Prokofi ev’s madcap fairy tale balletPROKOFIEVCinderellaKarine Seneca, Stanislav JermakovZurich Ballet, Zurich Opera Orchestra Vladimir Fedoseyev

York Bowen the pianist

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SACD Hybrid/ Stereo & Multi-channel/ DSDThe Dutch group Frommermann is named after Harry Frommermann, founder of the Comedian Harmonists. This legendary German ensemble, comprised of fi ve singers and a pianist, was a huge sensation in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The group was famous for their broad variety of vocal styles and natural comedic sensibility. In 1935, the Nazis forced the group to disband. Frommermann was formed to revive the memory and tradition of the Comedian Harmonists. Their latest relase, Holland-America Line, is dedicated to American and Dutch music of the 1930s and 1940s. Performed in the same manner as the Comedian Harmonists, all the pieces on this CD are especially arranged for the Frommermann ensemble.

DVD: 65 minutes/ Stereo/ Region FreeFor the Amsterdam Loeki Stardust Quartett, some of the high points of their thirty year performing career have included winning the Musica Antiqua Festival in Bruges, winning the Edison Classic Award, performing with a big band, recording in Abbey Road studios, their concerts for the Royal Family of the Netherlands, as well as many fascinating encounters with colleagues, composers, recorder makers and audiences around the world. To celebrate this milestone, Channel Classics has put together a disc that features tracks from the Loeki Stardust catalog. Each was personally selected by members of the quartet. As a special bonus, this specially-priced release includes a DVD with three concerts, an interview and some material from the group’s private archives. Altogether, The Loeki Files is a fi tting tribute to these extraordinary artists.

The Loeki FilesAmsterdam Loeki Stardust Quartet

Holland-America LineFrommermann

Sparkling vocal harmoniesHk23385c@())*\R

Price Code: A!'(Suggested Retail Price: $24.98)

Hk23385c%@)*@ZPPrice Code: A$(

(CD)DVD, Suggested Retail Price: $18.98)

Celebrating thirty years

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SACD Hybrid/ Stereo & Multi-channel/ DSDRossini was a genius, especially as a melody composer. His instrumental music is like colorful opera arias or songs without words. To perform these melodies one needs to articulate and characterize like actors on stage. And of course one needs to have a brilliant, fast tongue and fast fi ngers. Italians talk fast with beautiful diction, especially in a heated discussion. This disc features works for both the full orchestra as well as for small ensembles of musicians taken from the larger group. Each has a solistic fl avor, from the oboe solos in the Silken Ladder overture to the double-bass wizardry in the String Sonata in G major. All are played with just the right levels of verve and wit by the Budapest Festival Orchestra led by Ivan Fischer.

The celebrated baritone David Wilson-Johnson makes his debut on Dutton Epoch, with soprano Amanda Pitt and pianist David Owen Norris in a heartfelt group of song- cycles by the Northamptonshire composer Trevor Hold. Following the success of Dutton Epoch’s recording of Hold’s song cycle The Unreturning Spring (CDLX 7196), the team present three of the composer’s engrossing song cycles: The Image Stays, River Songs and Voices from the Orchard. Norris and Wilson-Johnson have uniquely championed Trevor Hold’s music. For all interested in English song, this is a must-have.

HOLDThe Image Stays — Song Cycles

Amanda Pi! (soprano) David Wilson-Johnson (baritone)

David Owen Norris (piano)

ROSSINIInstrumental Music

Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer

The verve and wit of RossiniHk23385c@&&)*]T

Price Code: A!'(Suggested Retail Price: $24.98)

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English song cycles

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onThe lyrical quartets of

Stephen DodgsonDODGSONString Quartets Vol.2Tippe! Quartet Hk65387c&@!$@]T

Price Code: A!!(Suggested Retail Price: $22.98)

TheTippett Quartet’s survey of the string quartets of Stephen Dodgson reaches its second volume with the third and fourth quartets and the Quintet for Guitar and String Quartet. This is essentially lyrical music with graceful melodic lines, and the fi ve movements of the Fourth Quartet can each be played as separate works. The guitar quintet features the Australian guitarist Craig Ogden, who brings a mercurial lightness to the virtuoso writing of the scherzo and a lyrical interplay with the strings in the outer movement. He draws a rich variety of sound in the fi nale, which leads to a resounding climax.

English orchestral music raritiesCROSSLEY-HOLLANDSymphony in DGOOSSENSVariations on Cadet RouselleIRELANDMerry Andrew, Bagatelle, Cavatina, Elegiac Meditation; The Holy Boy; Salon PiecesRoyal Sco! ish National Orchestra, Martin Yates

Hk65387c&@!%@\RPrice Code: A!!


Dutton Epoch’s recording sessions with the Royal Scottish National Orchestrathis summer have yielded two fascinating programs. Most intriguing is a collection of all John Ireland’s shorter pieces — mainly orchestrations by other hands — including Merry Andrew, Bagatelle, Cavatina, The Holy Boy, Elegiac Meditation, Villanella and Menuetto-Impromptu. Only one of these has been previously recorded. These delightful miniatures are coupled with Ireland pupil Peter Crossley-Holland’s epic Symphony in D, a tuneful and tonal masterpiece of wide appeal. Crossley-Holland, for a long time associated with the BBC Third Program, was also an ethnomusicologist and is wide-ranging in the sources he has absorbed in the symphony.

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With this release, Martin Yates’s authoritative cycle of the Richard Arnell symphonies is now complete. Featured works are the fi rst and sixth symphonies and the early Sinfonia quasi Variazioni, which in effect is ‘Symphony No.0’ and the work in which Arnell fi rst triumphantly developed the many characteristic features of his symphonic style. If you have enjoyed any of the previous volumes, this is a must-have release. The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, now with the Arnell style in their blood, play like angels.

Hk65387c&@!&@ZPPrice Code: A!!


ARNELLSymphonies Nos.1 & 6

Sinfonia quasi variazioniRoyal Sco! ish National Orchestra

Martin Yates

Du0 on’s Arnell cycle complete

This gorgeous program of viola concertos features music that has been unjustly neglected. Played by celebrated British violistRoger Chase, the Stanley Bate and W.H. Bell concertos are both heart-warming and tuneful scores that ooze popular appeal. These remarkable finds are made even more appealing by the coupling — Chase’s own orchestration of Vaughan Williams’s wonderful Romance. The BBC Concert Orchestra is on top form under the direction of Steve Bell.To top it all off, Roger Chase plays the program on Lionel Tertis’s celebrated Montagnana Viola.

Hk65387c&@!^@[QPrice Code: A!!


BATEViola Concerto

VAUGHAN WILLIAMSRomance

BELLViola Concerto, Rosa Mystica

Roger Chase (viola) BBC Concert Orchestra, Stephen Bell

English viola concertosdutton

Dutton’s Epoch’s York Bowen series continues with the two-piano music in a cheering and invigorating program, brilliantly played by Michael Dussek and John Reid. Even more than the solo piano music, York Bowen’s writing for two pianos in the Second Sonata, the Theme and Variations and three concert encores is powerful and rewarding. To complete the program, Michael Dussek also plays a solo encore, the heart-on-sleeve Rhapsody Op.8, which is terrifi c, barnstorming music.

The vibrant young violinist Jacqueline Roche, accompanied by pianist Robert Stevenson, explores two notable additions to the repertoire of twentieth century British romantic violin music in their attractive Dutton Epoch recital. Walford Davies’s big-boned four-movement Second Violin Sonata, published in 1900, and Holbrooke’s attractive and lyrical Third Violin Sonata of 1926 are commandingly played. Completing the program is the charming Sonata of 1925 by Cyril Rootham, and — with different artists (Justin Pearson and Sophia Rahman) — the Arthur Benjamin Cello Sonatina of 1939.

HOLBROOKEViolin Sonata No.3WALFORD DAVIESViolin Sonata No.2ROOTHAMViolin SonataBENJAMINSonatina for CelloJacqueline Roche (violin), Robert Stevenson (piano) Justin Pearson (cello), Sophia Rahman (piano)

BOWENMusic for One and Two PianosMichael Dussek (piano), John Reid (piano)

York Bowen the composerHk65387c&@!*@YO

Price Code: A!!(Suggested Retail Price: $22.98)

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Modern English violin sonatas

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The all-Polish Royal String Quartet are one of the most interesting string quartets of the young generation. They are particularly acclaimed for their performances of music from their homeland and have received the Special Prize of the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage in recognition of their contribution to Polish culture. Their debut recording for Hyperion features music by Szymanowski and Rózycki. The two Szymanowski quartets are contrasting masterpieces from different periods in the composer’s career. The fi rst is impressionistic, with a voluptuous, erotic sensibility and many layers of texture and color. The second is from the composer’s last phase and draws on the full range of folk materials he had encountered in the Tatra highlands. The disc concludes with a contemporary rarity, the string quartet by Rózycki, a work that shows the virtues of a late-Romantic idiom untouched by French or Russian style.

On this new disc, the Nash Ensemble turns its attention to two works from decisive moments in Beethoven’s career. The String Quintet in E fl at major Op.4 is a radical rethinking and expansion of his octet for pairs of wind instruments that was written in Vienna in 1793. Throughout the quintet, the textures are lighter and more fl exible than those of the octet, full of the free, informal contrapuntal interplay that is among the glories of the Viennese classical style. Beethoven’s String Quintet in C major Op.9, his sole work conceived for the medium, was written in 1801. This strangely neglected masterpiece is Janus-headed, at once retrospective and prophetic. On the other hand, the tranquil expansiveness and harmonic breadth of the quintet’s fi rst movement presage masterpieces like the fi rst ‘Razumovsky’ quartet and the ‘Archduke’ piano trio.

BEETHOVENString Quintets Opp.4 & 29

Nash Ensemble

SZYMANOWSKIString Quartets Nos.1 & 2

ROZYCKIString Quartet in D minor

Royal String Quartet

Romantic string quartetsAa34571c!&^*$?K

Price Code: A$#(Suggested Retail Price: $19.98)

Aa34571c!&^(#WMPrice Code: A$#


Beethoven

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Last printed edition — see page 41 for details

Graham Johnson’s monumental and triumphant complete Schumann songs edition comes to an end with an eleventh disc of rarities and delights. The fi rst issue in the Hyperion edition of Schuman’s songs, with the soprano Christine Schäfer, included a number of the composer’s later lieder. With this last issue we come full circle, in returning to some of the least known songs-music seldom heard on the concert platform. Hanno Müller-Brachmann appears in his debut recording for Hyperion. As well as a devoted lieder singer who has performed with some of the greatest living pianists, he is also a considerable presence on the world’s opera stages and an acclaimed interpreter of Bach’s passions. He brings all these qualities to this fascinating disc. Various duets and ensemble pieces are included on this disc and feature familiar and well-loved singers from elsewhere in this series, as well as the winner of the 2008 Kathleen Ferrier Prize: Katherine Broderick. The release is complemented by Graham Johnson’s renowned booklet notes.

The Binchois Consort’s fi rst recordings of Dufay for Hyperion achieved iconic status, winning the group a Gramophone award along the way. Their latest recording contains what many consider to be Dufay’s masterpiece. His Missa Se la face ay pale is one of the best known, and perhaps most revered, of all polyphonic masses. Along with a handful of other such works, it has become a touchstone for the idea and structural design of the unifi ed cantus fi rmus mass, a classic exemplifi cation of the musical style and achievement of an era. The work is presented here, however, not as a fi ve-movement sequence but in a more differentiated and perhaps more appropriate dramatic fashion, interspersed with music in a contrasting style for the Proper of the Mass. The program is completed by two motets and the ballade on which the mass is based. This recording evokes in sound something of the cultural achievement and brilliance of the Court of Savoy at its fi rst peak of maturity, during the middle decades of the fi fteenth century.

DUFAYDufay & the Court of SavoyThe Binchois Consort, Andrew Kirkman

SCHUMANNSongs Vol.11Hanno Müller-Brachmann (baritone) Graham Johnson (piano)

Schumann Edition now completeAa34571c!#!!!ZP


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Echoes from the Court of Savoy

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Recent discs from Marc-André Hamelin have concentrated on music that is obscure, under-recorded or virtually unplayable. However in this latest recording he turns his attention to two mainstays of the Romantic repertoire: Chopin’s Piano Sonatas. The results are simply staggering: playing of matchless brilliance and consummate artistry, stunningly recorded. As a recent critic of Hamelin’s live performance of the B minor sonata remarked, “Hamelin starts where most other pianists leave off... such was his control that frequently it seemed as though an extra dimension were being added, the music’s teeming internal life clarifi ed by his ability to voice the inner parts.” The disc is completed by some of Chopin’s greatest single-movement works. the contrasting two Nocturnes of Op. 27, the extraordinarily coloristic Berceuse Op. 57 and the monumental Barcarolle in F sharp major.

“As each new recording appears from this pianist, his uncanny ability to make just about anything he plays his own becomes stronger.”

— FANFARE

Hamelin plays Chopin

CHOPINPiano Sonatas Nos.2 & 3

Nocturnes Op.27 Berceuse Op.57

Barcarolle Op.60Marc-André Hamelin (piano)

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Also available

Godowsky: Strauss Transcriptions

“ Hamelin’s most poetic, lyrically inspired playing on disc.”

— GRAMOPHONE

Piano Sonatas

“ The total Haydn package... Listen, and be amazed.”

— CLASSICSTODAY.COM

Godowsky:

“ Ham el in’s m ost poetic, l y r ical l y

— GRAM O P HO N E

Previously Available as CDA 67030 (034571170305) Deleted January 2008 & CDA 67040 (034571170404) Deleted December 2007Albéric Magnard really is the great so-far-undiscovered master of French music. Born in 1865 (the same year as Sibelius, Nielsen and Glazunov), the son of the managing editor of Le Figaro, his reticent personality prevented him from courting fame or even performances of his music. But he wrote two operas, chamber music and four wonderful symphonies unsurpassed by any other French composer of his time. His end was tragic: in 1914, defending his estate in Normandy, he was shot dead by German soldiers who then burned his house down, destroying many manuscripts (including one of the operas mentioned above which is now lost forever). His four-movement symphonies are substantial in length, cyclic in character, serious, attractively scored, slightly melancholic and well worth getting to know.

Previously Available as CDA 66653 (034571166537) Deleted November 2004“An enthralling disc, a wholly persuasive intro-duction both to this little-known repertoire and

to how it should be performed.”— BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE

A Voice in the GardenGothic Voices

Christopher Page

MAGNARDSymphonies Nos.1-4BBC Sco! ish Symphony Orchestra Jean-Yves Ossonce

Undiscovered master of French music

Aa34571c!@)^*XNPrice Code: A$#

(2 CDs for the Price of 1, Suggested Retail Price: $19.98)

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Early music re-issues

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PURCELLHis Most Admirable ComposuresThe King’s Consort, Robert King

Aa34571c!%#)#WMPrice Code: A$$


Previously Available as CDA 66288 (034571162881) Deleted February 2007“James Bowman must surely be the finest vocal

interpreter of Purcell today. His grasp of sentiment, his sense of timing, and his enunciation,

are unsurpassed.”— GRAMOPHONE

SACD Hybrid/ Stereo & Multi-channel/ DSDIf there is one quality that summarizes Valery Gergiev’s Mahler, it is unpredictability. It is music making that lives in the moment — it speaks to the heart rather than the head. The second symphony was clearly a favorite of the composer. Mahler conducted it thirteen times and programmed it for the farewell concert that marked the end of his tenure director of the Vienna Opera. It was the fi rst of his symphonies that he performed in America and the fi rst of his own works that he conducted in Paris. Gergiev’s interpretation of Mahler’s Resurrection symphony provides a wealth of emotional and spiritual riches. Throughout the performance, the London Symphony Orchestra’s players give Gergiev their total commitment, producing delicate pianissimos and climaxes of thunderous and percussive power.

“It is difficult to resist Valery Gergiev in full flow. He summons such reserves of power and commitment from the LSO that one cannot help but be swept along.”

— GRAMOPHONE

Also available

Gergiev’s Mahler cycle continues

MAHLERSymphony No.2,

Adagio from Symphony No.10Elena Mosuc (soprano)

Zlata Bulycheva (mezzo-soprano) London Symphony Chorus,

London Symphony Orchestra Valery Gergiev

Il22231c!^^^@\RPrice Code: 2A$%

(2 SACD Set, Suggested Retail Price: $27.98)

lso live

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Symphony No.1 Symphony No.3 Symphony No.6 Symphony No.7

In the late seventeenth century, religious music enjoyed a true golden age in north Germany. Although the outstanding works of Buxtehude are better-known today, those of his father in law Franz Tunder and his pupil Nikolaus Bruhns display the same exceptional creative fervor. This program of sacred music for bass voice is bathed in an atmosphere of intense devotion, sometimes tender, sometimes heart-rending. Swiss Bass Stephan MacLeod’s concert career began in 1992 when he debuted with Reinhard Goebel and Musica Antiqua Cologne. More recently he was lead bass for the Huelgas Ensemble. He can be heard on over 35 CDs, of which many have received important awards.

This is the fourth release on Onyx from “Britain’s premier chamber ensemble” (The Times) and the second in their ongoing Brahms series. It is a generous 74-minute coupling containing the G minor and C minor Piano Quartets. Their recent Brahms String Sextet recording (ONYX 4019) showed the world the quality of the current Nash Ensemble, garnering rave reviews around the world, including a Gramophone Editor’s Choice. Critics proclaimed, “Gorgeous chamber music-making — urgently recommended” (Fanfare) and “A red wine, red-meat disc from the must-have boutique label” (Independent on Sunday). This new recording is produced by the legendary Andrew Keener who will also produce the next title in the series, the String Quintets, scheduled for release in 2009.

BRAHMSPiano Quartets Nos.1 & 3Nash Ensemble

De ProfundisStephan MacLeod (bass) François Fernandez (violin) Ricercar Consort, Philippe Pierlot

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The Nash Ensemble Brahms cycle continues

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Sacred music for basso profundo

DVD: 100 minutes/ Stereo 5.1 Surround/ Picture Format 16:9/ Region FreeOn this new disc, 2008 Grammy® and Gramophone Award winning violinist James Ehnes pays tribute to the world’s most celebrated violin-makers. This unique Onyx project features performances on twelve of the greatest instruments ever made. The Fulton Collection is perhaps the most important private collection of instruments in the world. It contains many examples of the legendary names Stradivari, Guarneri, da Salo and Guadagnini. For example, the priceless La Pucelle has never been heard in a recording, and the Lord Wilton was Yehudi Menuhin’s last instrument. Ehnes performs twenty-one selections in a carefully planned recital program specially chosen to suit each instrument and to work on its own terms. It fi nishes with a section comparing each instrument in an excerpt of the same piece, a unique opportunity to contrast the sound qualities of these spectacular instruments. The set includes a DVD with the complete performances plus spectacular close-ups of the instruments and substantial interviews. This highly collectible package includes detailed notes by Ehnes himself. This is a landmark recording for all lovers of great instruments and of course great playing.

“A splendid violinist, with a sweet, lyrical string tone and a zippy rhythmic sense.”— SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

A tribute to the world’s most celebrated violin-makers

HomageJames Ehnes (violin)

Il80040c$)#*@VLPrice Code: A!#

(CD)DVD, Suggested Retail Price: $29.98)

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Also available

Elgar: Violin Concerto, Serenade

“A performance of conspicuous pedigree and insight guaranteed to make you fall in love all over again with this sublime music.” — GRAMOPHONE

WINNER

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Onyx is proud to announce the debut release on the label by the legendary virtuoso and poet of the keyboard Nikolai Demidenko. Recognized as one of the great Chopin players of our time, this is his fi rst recording of the Preludes. Bryce Morrison in Gramophone magazine praised his last Chopin recital disc by saying, “Demidenko’s razor-sharp articulation and immaculate dexterity are complemented by the finest musical grace and individuality” (Editor’s Choice, 2007). Demidenko rose to prominence when he won the International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1978. He then recorded a highly acclaimed series of discs in the 80s and 90s (mainly on Hyperion) including a Gramophone award-winning disc of Medtner concertos. As a young man he was widely acclaimed as a fi rebrand virtuoso, but this was never the whole story and like a good wine, his playing has matured gloriously. Now with new management, Nikolai plans to resume a more high-profi le international concert career.

Il80040c$)#^@XNPrice Code: A!$


CHOPINPreludes Op.28, Piano Sonata No.3Nikolai Demidenko (piano)

As with a previous issue in Opera Rara’s acclaimed Il Salotto series, which comprised Pauline Viardot’s delightful chamber operetta Cendrillon, this release focuses on a single work designed for intimate performance — J.B. Wekerlin’s ‘opérette de salon’ La Laitière de Trianon (The Milkmaid of Trianon). Just two singers take part in the piece, set at Versailles in 1775. The composer, Jean-Baptiste Wekerlin (1821-1910), was a pupil of Halévy who spent much of his career as a distinguished librarian and editor of early French operas. However, his own stage compositions won success in their day, with L’organiste dans l’embarras clocking up more than 100 performances. None of them had a more auspicious launch, however, than La Laitière de Trianon, which made its debut at one of Rossini’s soirées musicales 1858. This disc is accompanied by a fully illustrated, 76-page booklet written by Jeremy Commons.

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Wekerlin’s charming opere0 aWEKERLIN

La Laitière de TrianonJoan Rodgers (soprano)

Yann Beuron (tenor), Je" Cohen (piano)

Demidenko returns with Chopin

san francisco

84 minutes/ Dolby Stereo 5.1 Surround/ Region FreeMusic Director of the New York Philharmonic from 1958 to 1969 and Laureate Conductor from 1969 to 1990, Leonard Bernstein brought his own particular New World sensibility to classical music. Equally at home

in a Broadway theater or concert hall, the beloved “Lenny” — who performed at Carnegie Hall more than 400 times during his career — had an enthusiasm for an understanding of music far beyond the classical realm, extending into jazz, world music, American song and even rock. Michael Tilson Thomas, who fi rst met the maestro in 1968, was a close friend and colleague for many years. This connection made the choice of MTT and The San Francisco Symphony to headline the Bernstein gala concert that opened the Carnegie Hall 2008-09 season an easy one. The sold-out concert kicked off a New York City-wide tribute to composer Bernstein, who would have celebrated his 90th birthday in 2008. Filmed in high defi nition and 5.1 surround sound, the performance features music from a wide variety of Bernstein’s stage works, from early triumphs like West Side Story and On the Town to later works such as Mass and A Quiet Place. Featured superstar guests include Dawn Upshaw, Thomas Hampson,Yo Yo Ma and Broadway star Christine Ebersole. The DVD also includes a bonus of MTT interviewing Hampson, Ma and Upshaw.

“This is a show with something to say.”— THE LOS ANGELES TIMES

A celebration of Leonard Bernstein

BERNSTEINA Celebration of Leonard Bernstein

Christine Ebersole (soprano) Thomas Hampson (baritone), Yo-Yo Ma (cello) Dawn Upshaw (soprano) San Francisco Symphony Michael Tilson Thomas

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The concert that Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic gave in London’s Royal Festival Hall on the evening of Saturday April 27, 1985 was their fi rst in England for four years and followed a brief period of strife in the relationship between conductor and orchestra. Now in his mid-70s, Karajan was troubled by a painful and ultimately irreversible spinal condition that had nearly cost him his life in the winter of 1975-76. Yet once settled on the podium, Karajan was, as ever, fully in control, master of all he surveyed. This concert featured repertoire for which the conductor and orchestra had a long history, Beethoven’s fourth symphony and the Strauss tone-poem Ein Heldenleben. The second disc offered here dates from October 1988. Forty years had passed since he had fi rst conducted in London in April 1948. During those years, audiences throughout the world had fl ocked to his concerts. This would be the great conductor’s fi nal London concert, and features the Brahms fi rst and Schönberg’s expressionistic Verklärte Nacht.

Hk49677c!$#!@VLPrice Code: A!!


BRAHMSSymphony No.1SCHÖNBERG

Verklärte NachtBerlin Philharmonic Orchestra

Herbert von Karajan

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BEETHOVENSymphony No.4

STRAUSSEin Heldenleben

Berlin Philharmonic OrchestraHerbert von Karajan

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1958 was a red-letter year not only in music competition history but in the entire history of performance. In that year the USSR established the first International Tchaikovsky Competition as a showcase for its own imperial talent. Once again they would demonstrate that in the sphere of great romantic piano playing they had no equals. Summoning the finest pianists and jurors they prepared for a victory followed by international acclaim. But neither they nor anyone else could have expected the gauntlet thrown down by a twenty-four-year-old Texan pianist named Van Cliburn. Viewed with suspicion, Cliburn’s nationality

Van Cliburn’s historic victory

TCHAIKOVSKYPiano Concerto.No.1

RACHMANINOVPiano Concerto No.3

Van Cliburn (piano) Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

Kyrill Kondrashin

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invited hostility. This was the time of the cold war and the USSR and America viewed each other across a seemingly unbridgeable chasm. Pre-conceived notions of Juilliard-trained American pianists were in the air. Cliburn’s performances, characterized by broad tempi, rare poetic rhapsody and freedom captured in massive and delicate tone, came like a bolt out of the blue. All possible animosity turned to awe and amazement as Cliburn’s audience

“For we Russians his way with Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov in particular was uncanny. Such grandeur, romantic warmth and empathy. He came close to sentimentality, but he never quite crossed the line. His playing had an extraordinary nobility.”

— Irina Zaritskaya (2nd place to Maurizio Pollini in the 1960 Chopin Competition in Warsaw)

listened to a pianist ‘more Russian than the Russians,’ one who played their own music with a rare emotional warmth and charisma. Suddenly Cliburn, an outsider from alien territory, became their beloved ‘Vanushka’, the stage and dressing-room littered with gifts and fl owers. Cliburn arrived in Moscow with three suitcases and left with seventeen. Later, when both jury and audience had recovered, their comments came thick and fast and this Testament release will surely re-ignite not a controversy but a unique triumph and occasion.

File in: World / Europe / Spain

Ferran Savall, son of world-famous classical musicians Montserrat Figueras and Jordi Savall, was born in 1979. He began his professional musical career in 2001 singing in the SonAzul ensemble (funk, blues, jazz and flamenco fusion), which performs on a regular basis in Barcelona’s jazz clubs. In 2002, he sang with Bobby McFerrin at the Vitoria Jazz Festival and in 2005 he sang on the classical album “Du temps et du l’Instant” along with the other members of his superstar family. The album was toured around the world and was met with high critical acclaim. Mireu el nostre mar, Ferran’s solo debut, is a project that brings together his own music, pieces by South American authors and traditional Catalan folk songs. Savall felt that despite the great beauty and emotion of the old Catalan melodies, many of them had become anchored in a nostalgic past and no longer related to the younger generation. Therefore, to ‘reawaken’ them, he has infused them with the musical and multicultural infl uences of his own time.

A Catalan folk music revival

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Mireu el nostre marFerran Savall

WORLD

File in: World / Africa / EgyptIn June 2001, on the occasion of the second Music Festival, the Institut du Monde Arabe paid a resounding tribute to the great lady of Arab song. The same concert, an exceptional event, was then given as part of the “Les Orientales Festival” at Saint-Florent-Le-Vieil. It brought together a new generation of performers from various Arab nations such as Karima Skalli (Morocco), Abir Nasraoui (Tunisia), and Riham Abdelhakim (Egypt), accompanied by the National Arab Music Ensemble of the Cairo Opera, conducted by Salim Sahhab. This album offers you live recordings of the best moments from the two concerts, as well as some of the most beautiful and moving songs associated with the “Star of the East.”

File in: World / South America / BrazilGilberto Gil is a legend of Brazilian music and a cultural icon in his country. From 2003 to 2008, he has served as his country’s Minister of Culture in the administration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. He started out as a bossa nova musician, eventually writing songs that refl ected a new focus on political awareness and social activism. He was a key fi gure in the Música Popular Brasileira and Tropicalismo movements of the 1960s, alongside artists such as longtime collaborator Caetano Veloso. The Brazilian military regime that took power in 1964 saw both Gil and Veloso as a threat, and the two were held for nine months in 1969 before they were told to leave the country. Gil moved to London, but returned to the Brazilian state of Bahia in 1972 and continued his musical career, as well as working as a politician and environmental advocate. Gil’s musical style incorporates an eclectic range of infl uences, including rock, Brazilian genres including samba and forró, African music, and reggae. This Iris ‘best-of ’ collection includes some of Gil’s most popular songs, most of which were recorded in the ‘80s.

Banda UmGilberto Gil

Tribute to Oum KalsoumVarious Artists

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Best-of Gilberto Gil

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WORLD

File in: World / Europe / BulgariaIvo Papasov, nicknamed Ibryama, is a Bulgarian clarinetist. He leads the Ivo Papasov Wedding Band in performances of jazz-infused Stambolovo music, and is one of the premier creators of the genre known as “wedding band” music in Bulgaria, along with saxophonist Yuri Yunakov and accordionist Neshko Neshev. Built upon virtuosic technique, inventive improvisation, rapid tempos and daring key changes, “wedding music” is based in Balkan folk music and infused with a riveting mix of jazz and rock, Gypsy, Turkish and Indian music. Papasov and Yunakov have toured the United States several times. In 2005 Papasov won the Audience Award from the BBC’s Radio3 World Music Awards.

The king of “wedding band” music

Dance of the FalconIvo Papasov

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“ Papasov is a whirlwind of a musician, a technical virtuoso out of whom spills a phenomenal approach to the clarinet, one that bubbles and boils away with volcano-like energy and heat. It might be stretching things to say you’ll find references here to most middle- and eastern European music traditions, but not by very much. You don’t have to be about to get married to listen to Papasov’s intoxicating collec-tion of wedding songs, but do clear a space on the nearest available floor and be prepared to get up and dance.”

— BBC.com“Ivo’s wedding music, played first thing in the morning, provides thorough and

long-lasting attitude adjustment for the busy executive.”

— FRANK ZAPPA

WORLD

140 Minutes/ Stereo/ Region FreeFile in: World / Africa / MaliTouareg desert rockers Tinariwen look set to consolidate their position as the world’s favorite African band with the release of their fi rst DVD, Live In London. The DVD features twelve songs fi lmed at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London, December 2007. The soundtrack was mixed and supervised by Justin Adams, producer of Tinariwen’s recent album Aman Iman, and regular guitarist with Robert Plant. Some of the Saharan guitar rebels’ most popular songs appear on the DVD, including “Chet Boghassa,” “Cler Achel,” “Amassakoul ‘n’ Tenere” and “Matadjem Yinmixan.” The DVD also includes exclusive extras including an intimate fi fty-minute campfi re interview with the band’s founder, Ibrahim, tips on how to tie a “Shesh” (Toureg turban) as well as a mini documentary on Tinariwen.

“One of the hottest names in world music.”— SONGLINES

Tinariwen Live on DVD

Live in LondonTinariwen

Hk13746c*)*^(XNPrice Code: A!$


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Radio Tisdas Sessions Amassakoul Aman Iman

Live in LondonTinariwen

WORLD

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Artist Label Date City State VenueBorodin Quartet Onyx Classics Jan 20 New York NY

Eugene ORJan 30 CA Ace GalleryJan 31 Los Angeles CA Doheny Mansion

Brentano String Quartet aeon Feb 17 The Menil CollectionBudapest Festival Orchestra Channel Classics Jan 23 New Brunswick NJ State Theater

New York NY Stern Auditorium: Perelman StageJan 25 West Palm Beach FL Kravis CenterJan 28 Miami FLJan 30 Sarasota FL Van Wezel Performing Arts CenterJan 31 Orlando FL Bob Carr Performing Arts Center

Conspirare harmonia mundi Feb 26 Fredericksburg St. Mary's Catholic ChurchFeb 27 San AntonioFeb 28 Austin St. Martin's Lutheran Church

Cuarteto Casals harmonia mundi Feb 22 New York NY Walter Reade TheaterColin Currie Onyx Classics Phoenix AZJames Ehnes Onyx Classics Brandenton FL Neel Performing Arts Center

Sarasota FLSan Diego CA Mainly Mozart

Bernarda Fink harmonia mundi Jan 11 ClevelandNew York NY

Fretwork harmonia mundi Los Angeles CAAlban Gerhardt Hyperion Birmingham ALMa0 hias Goerne harmonia mundi Los Angeles CASusan Graham Onyx Classics St. Louis MO

New York NY Stern Auditorium: Perelman StageMarc-André Hamelin Hyperion Jan 9 Newark NJ New Jersey Performing Arts Center

New Brunswick NJ State TheaterFeb 20 Chicago IL

Angela Hewi0 Hyperion Sea" le WAFeb 22 Boston MA

San Jose CAStephen Hough Hyperion Chicago IL

Chicago ILJan 29, 31 Baltimore MDJan 30 Baltimore MD Music Center at Strathmore

San Francisco CAFeb 10 OberlinFeb 12 New York NY Stern Auditorium: Perelman Stage

Steven Isserlis Hyperion New York NYOlga Kern harmonia mundi Detroit MI

Madison WIFeb 13 La Jolla CA Sherwood AuditoriumFeb 21 Eugene OR

Portland OR Newmark TheatreSalt Lake City

Katia & Marielle Labèque KML Records Los Angeles CALondon Symphony Orchestra LSO Live New York NYJon Manasse harmonia mundi Jan 2 FLAndrew Manze harmonia mundi New York NYSpencer Myer harmonia mundi Jan 10 Dayton Shiloh Church

Fort Lauderdale FL Broward County Main Library Coral Gables FL Granada Presbyterian ChurchBozeman MT Willson Auditorium

Jon Nakamatsu harmonia mundi San Jose CA The California TheatreFeb 3 Greensboro NC

Roanoke VAWinchester VA

Orlando Consort harmonia mundi Birmingham ALFeb 10 New York NY Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium

Mark Padmore harmonia mundi New York NYSan Francisco Symphony San Francisco Symphony Los Angeles CAJordi Savall Alia Vox Feb 22 New York NY

Berkeley CA First Congregational ChurchChristianne Stotijn Onyx Classics Atlanta GA

Middlebury VT Mahaney Center for the ArtsTakács Quartet Hyperion Portland OR First Methodist Church

Sea" le WABoulder COBerkeley CA

The Hilliard Ensemble harmonia mundi San Francisco CATokyo String Quartet harmonia mundi Pasadena CA Beckman Auditorium

Jan 31 New York NYMarion Verbruggen harmonia mundi Sea" le WAPieter Wispelwey Boston MA

January 2009

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Artist Label Date City State VenueC.J. Chenier World Village Berwin IL Fitzgerald’s

Feb 13 Great Barrington MANY Dance Flurry Festival

New York NY Connolly'sVienna VA

Feb 19 Mount Vernon NY Bayou RestaurantFeb 20 MAFeb 21 Cranston RI Rhodes on the PawtucketFeb 22 Pawling NY Towne Crier

Cedarburg WA Cedarburg Performing Arts CenterMamadou Diabaté World Village Jan 12 New York NY

Mar 31 Roanoke VA Fallon Park Elementary SchoolTamworth Arts Council of Tamworth

NCZakir Hussain Network New York NY

New York NY Stern Auditorium: Perelman StageKayhan Kalhor World Village Los Angeles CAKlezmatics Piranha Feb 22 CA

Eastsound WA Orcas CenterTacoma WA Broadway Center

Mar 1 Kirkland WA Kirkland Performance CenterLos Angeles CATucson AZ

Congregation Beth IsraelNew York NY Stern Auditorium: Perelman StageAlbuquerque NM South Broadway Cultural CenterFarmington NM San Juan College

Habib Koité World Village Berkeley CABerea KYRaleigh NC Steward Theatre

Les Yeux Noirs World Village Jan 20 Marque" e MIJan 22 Columbus Fawce" CenterJan 23 Arden DE

Atlanta GA Rialto CenterMahwah NJ

Ana Moura World Village Jan 12 New York NYNew Orleans Jazz Orchestra World Village Sea" le WACatherine Russell World Village New York NY The Allen Room at Lincoln Center

Fort Lauderdale FL Legendary Rhythm & Blues CruiseFeb 13 NY

NY Dance Flurry FestivalFeb 21 Morristown NJ Mayo Center for the Performing Arts

VAFrederick MD Weinberg Center for the ArtsLewisburg WVRoanoke VA

Chango Spasiuk World Village MN The Cedar Cultural CenterNew York NYBoston MA Somerville TheatreLos Angeles CA The Ge" y

CA Grace ChurchTinariwen World Village San Francisco CA SF Jazz Fest

Santa Cruz CA Rio Theatre

Coming soon

harmonia mundi usa

Documents

harmonia mundi usa new releases January 2009