Featured Releases: December 2011
Herrmann: Moby Dick Cantata, Sinfonietta (Danish National Symphony Orchestra and Choir cond. Michael Schønwandt)
"This is the first recording of the original version of the Sinfonietta, a strikingly well-crafted piece in five short movements, fascinating above all for its debt to the Second Viennese School, in what was to be a short-lived flirtation with modernism. The Moby Dick Cantata is very different, much closer to the world of Herrmann's later film music. What began as an opera on Melville's novel morphed into this cantata, first performed in New York in 1940, conducted by John Barbirolli. It's a mix of imposing choral set-pieces, orchestral interludes and solo narrations – and this Danish performance captures its immediacy...baritone David Wilson-Johnson is superb as the manic Captain Ahab." -- Andrew Clements, The Guardian
Viva!: Simone Kermes sings Vivaldi
"On the level of sheer vocal beauty and virtuosity, this is a staggering disc. Throughout, the gorgeous Kermes voice glints like the finest gold picked out by a shaft of sunlight, unfailingly on the note, and negotiating every run and ornament incorporated in Vivaldi’s virtuoso writing with a consummate ease that at first takes the breath away, but then comes to seem almost routine. It isn’t routine, of course, and commands the utmost admiration and respect. Slow movements, all taken very slowly indeed, are spun on the richest of threads, with much use of a floated mezza voce (one of the principal weapons in the Kermes armory) that time after time ravishes the ear. "-- Brian Robins, Fanfare
Irgens-Jensen: Symphony, Air, Passacaglia (Bournemouth Symphony cond. Bjarte Engeset)
"...music of unaffected grandeur and nobility, one of the monuments of the Scandinavian orchestral repertoire. It receives a powerful performance from Bjarte Engeset and the Bournemouth Symphony, particularly when the brass weigh in with the concluding chorale...this performance ranks with the best available." -- David Hurwtiz, Classics Today
Mendelssohn: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4 (Musikkollegium Winterthur cond. Heinz Holliger)
"A wonderful breath of fresh air in so many ways...Throughout the Musikkollegium Winterthur play delightfully and it is not for nothing that Holliger compares them (favourably) to the Chamber Orchestra of Europe & the Mahler Chamber Orchestra! This is timeless playing that brings a smile every time the most innocuous of phrases starts...The sound is at one with the performances and must be one of MDG's most natural sounding recordings yet presented. Enthusiastically recommended!" -- Polly Nomial, SA-CD.net
Waxman: Taras Bulba (City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra cond. Nic Raine)
"The original soundtrack album was a studio rerecording with a smaller orchestra than what the score called for. Now, Waxman’s classic score arrives complete in all its raw Cossack glory. This is a score built on energetic bursts of orchestral color and fast rhythmic figures...Raine and The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra perform the fiendishly difficult music with great skill and boundless energy. This recording shows more clearly than ever what a full-bodied, stunning piece of music Waxman composed, giving the score greater depth." -- Jim Lochner, Film Score Click Track