New Releases

CHAN 10080 CD
CHSA 5014 SACD

premiere recordings

Sir Lennox Berkeley
(1903–1989)
Symphony No. 4

Michael Berkeley
(b. 1948)
The Garden of Earthly Delights
Cello Concerto*

Alban Gerhardt cello*
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Richard Hickox

Also available
as a
multi-channel and stereo
hybrid SACD

This third volume in Chandos’ successful Berkeley series, featuring music by Lennox and Michael Berkeley, is released to celebrate the centenary of Sir Lennox Berkeley’s birth.

All the works on this disc are premiere recordings. Rising star Alban Gerhardt studied in Berlin and Cincinnati and his international career has flourished since his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in 1991.

He has subsequently won numerous prestigious competitions and performed as soloist with many of the world’s leading orchestras. This release is also available as a Surround Sound Hybrid SACD (CHSA 5014).

The Berkeleys

REVIEWS

The previous two volumes in this series were warmly received:

‘As on the first disc Richard Hickox and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales give powerfully committed performances, warmly and fully recorded.’
Gramophone on CHAN 10022 (Volume 2)

‘Performances and presentation are exemplary; this music seems right up Richard Hickox’s street, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales is ideally recorded in the Brangwyn Hall… This latest instalment of the Berkeley Edition is once again both challenging and rewarding.’
International Record Review on CHAN 10022 (Volume 2)

‘A fascinating programme, extremely well played and recorded.’
The Sunday Times ‘CD of the Week’ on CHAN 9981 (Volume 1)

PREVIOUS RELEASES
The Berkeley Edition,Volume 1 – CHAN 9981
The Berkeley Edition,Volume 2 – CHAN 10022

Gioachino Rossini
(1792–1868)

The Thieving Magpie
Libretto by Giovanni Gherardini
English translation by Jeremy Sams

Fabrizio Vingradito, a rich farmer Jeremy White bass
Lucia, his wife Susan Bickley mezzo-soprano
Giannetto, their son, a soldier Barry Banks tenor
Ninetta, a servant in their house Majella Cullagh soprano
Fernando Villabella, Ninetta’s father, a soldier Russell Smythe baritone
Gottardo, the village mayor Christopher Purves baritone
Geoffrey Mitchell Choir
Philharmonia Orchestra
David Parry

CHAN 3097(2)

This is the first recording of Rossini’s The Thieving Magpie sung in English.

The recording features Prunella Scales as the Magpie.

This drama of village life is one of Rossini’s most interesting and enjoyable operas, and contains some of his finest music.

The cast is made up of internationally famed artists who specialise in the bel-canto repertoire, resulting in a totally idiomatic performance.

The Theiving Magpie

REVIEWS
Most of the cast on this recording took part in Garsington Opera’s 2002 production of The Thieving Magpie. The reviews were outstanding:

‘Majella Cullagh, topping the bill as Ninetta, the affianced heroine who hoards her secret near-fatally, wins our hearts and embraces Rossini’s coloratura demands with astonishing ease and command.’
The Independent

‘Parry conducts with fizzing urgency… Majella Cullagh sings with sustained power and precision. She is matched by the bassbaritone, Christopher Purves, who has a magnificent voice that dominates with its firm cutting edge… Fernando, beautifully sung by Russell Smythe.’
The Guardian

‘…stylishly played and sung, especially by Majella Cullagh as Ninetta, Christopher Purves as the malevolent Mayor and Nerys Jones in the trouser role of Pippo.’
The Sunday Times

PREVIOUS RELEASES
By Rossini
The Barber of Seville – CHAN 3025(2)
With Majella Cullagh and Barry Banks
Don Giovanni – CHAN 3057(3)

Ottorino Respighi
(1879–1936)

La Boutique fantasque, P 120
Ballet in One Act Music by Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868) Orchestrated and arranged by Ottorino Respighi
La pentola magica, P 129
Choreographic Action in Two Pictures
Prelude and Fugue, P 158 in D major
by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
Orchestral interpretation by Ottorino Respighi

BBC Philharmonic
Gianandrea Noseda

This is the second recording from the BBC Philharmonic under its brilliant new Principal Conductor, Gianandrea Noseda.

The BBC Philharmonic is renowned for the great energy, virtuosity and vibrancy of its performances, making it the perfect exponent of the work of one of the greatest orchestrators of all time, Ottorino Respighi.

The disc features some of Respighi’s most popular music, the glittering ballet La Boutique fantasque, alongside the rare and intriguing Prelude and Fugue in D major and La pentola magica.

About the music on this disc

REVIEWS

Gianandrea Noseda’s work with the BBC Philharmonic has been greeted with tremendous enthusiasm as can be seen in reviews of his most recent concert where he conducted Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony:

‘Masterfully handled by Noseda and the BBC Philharmonic. Noseda knows how to balance a beautiful sound with dramatic impact, and every climax was perfectly judged… it was a radiant performance.’
The Guardian

‘Noseda is a man of the theatre, after all. Responding to his dramatic wit and pace… the BBC Philharmonic sounded as if they had been playing for him all their lives.’
The Independent

‘Noseda and the Philharmonic then gave as emotionally truthful, as exquisitely coloured and as intelligently structured an account of the epic Fifth Symphony as I had heard, live or on record.’
The Telegraph

previously released and conducted by Gianandrea Noseda
Prokofiev - The Stone Flower - CHAN 10058(2)

Nino Rota
(1911–1979)

‘La Strada’ Ballet Suite
Sinfonia sopra una canzone d’amore
Waltzes from ‘Il Gattopardo’
Valzer Verdi and Valzer del Commiato

Orchestra Sinfonica del Teatro Massimo di Palermo
Marzio Conti

CHAN 10090

Nino Rota achieved international recognition primarily as a composer of film music. His most admired and enduring work in this field sprang from his collaboration with Federico Fellini. However, his orchestral music has recently undergone a reappraisal.

Much of this music is rare on CD and this programme is unique.

Notes on the music

REVIEWS

Marzio Conti’s previous recording of Rota’s music released on Chandos last year was very well received:

‘Most of these are first recordings… but the performances are so loving, spirited and ingratiating that it is unlikely that any newcomers will best them. Splendid sound.’
American Record Guide

‘Altogether a pleasure.These are bright, capable, affectionate, well-pointed performances in good sound, with soloists who sound totally at home with the music…’
International Record Review

‘Given Chandos’s exemplary sonic and production values, no lover of the idiosyncratic but always approachable master will be disappointed by this release.A hearty quadruple bravo!’
Fanfare

‘…orchestra and conductor are alert, light on their feet and very cleanly recorded. Light music, nearly all of it, but of the most superior and entertaining kind.’
Gramophone

Anton Webern
(1883–1945)

CHAN 10083

Chamber Music Slow Movement, Op. post. (1905)
String Quartet, Op. post. (1905)
Rondo,Op. post. (1906)
Five Movements, Op. 5 (1909)
Four Pieces, Op. 7 (1910)
Six Bagatelles, Op. 9 (1911–13)
Sonata, Op. post. (1914)
Three Little Pieces, Op. 11 (1914)
String Trio,Op. 20 (1926–27)
String Quartet, Op. 28 (1936–38)

Schoenberg Quartet
Janneke van der Meer and Wim de Jong violins
Henk Guittart viola
Viola de Hoog cello
with Sepp Grotenhuis piano

The music of the Second Viennese School is a speciality of the Schoenberg Quartet and their recordings of that repertoire for Chandos have received hearty endorsement from the press.

The repertoire on this CD forms an illuminating survey of the composer’s chamber music.

Webern's Chamber Music

REVIEWS

‘…this is music they [the Schoenberg Quartet] care about with a passion, and their performances convey that belief in ample measure. However well you think you know this fascinating and often inspiring music, do acquire this set.’
Gramophone on CHAN 9939(5) (Schoenberg)

‘…this is playing of rare elegance and commitment.’
The Independent on CHAN 9772(2) (Zemlinsky)

‘…performed here with outstanding refinement, warmth and technical precision.’
The Observer on CHAN 9999 (Berg)

Previous releases from the Schoenberg Quartet
Berg – Complete Chamber Music – CHAN 9999
Zemlinsky – Chamber Music for Strings – CHAN 9772(2)
Schoenberg – Complete Works for Strings – CHAN 9939(5)

Sir John Blackwood McEwen
(1868–1948)
premiere recordings

String Quartet No. 13 (1928) in C minor
String Quartet No. 3 (1901) in E minor
String Quartet No. 6 ‘Biscay’ (1913) in A major

Chilingirian Quartet
Levon Chilingirian and Charles Sewart violins
Asdis Valdimarsdottir viola
Philip de Groote cello

This is the second volume of McEwen’s String Quartets on Chandos. The first was released to excellent critical acclaim.

All the works on this disc here receive their premiere recordings.

McEwen’s music is characterised by the folk traditions and landscapes of his native Scotland but infused with colours of French impressionism. During his lifetime McEwen was principally known as a composer of string quartets and can be considered the foremost British practitioner of the genre.

The Chilingirian Quartet is one of today’s most renowned quartets. Its large discography on Chandos includes acclaimed interpretations of chamber music by Haydn and Dvorák.

McEwen's String Quartets

Ernest Bloch
(1880–1959)

Concerto symphonique in B minor
Scherzo fantasque
Hiver-Printemps

Halida Dinova piano
Symphony Orchestra of the
State Academic Cappella of St Petersburg
Alexander Tchernushenk

This is an important collection of Bloch’s rarely recorded music for piano and orchestra.

The St Petersburg State Cappella Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1882 and during its first decade performed mainly for aristocratic audiences. It was dissolved in 1921 but resurrected in 1991 and today, led by its Chief Conductor,Alexander Tchernushenko, it performs regularly at the majestic Cappella Concert Hall in St Petersburg as well as touring internationally.

Pianist Halida Dinova has performed and recorded with some of Europe’s finest orchestras. A champion of rare and interesting twentieth-century repertoire from her native Russia and Europe, she is renowned for her virtuosity and exquisite interpretations.

Bloch

Symphony No. 1, Op. 4
premiere recording
Cantata on the Tenth Anniversary of the Coronation, Op. 26*
Fantasia on Themes by I.T. Ryabinin, Op. 48†
Variations on a Theme by Tchaikovsky, Op. 35a
premiere recording
Three Vocal Quartets with cello accompaniment, Op. 57‡

Tatiana Sharova soprano*
Andrei Baturkin baritone*
Tatiana Polyanskaya piano†
Dmitri Miller cello‡
Russian State Symphonic Cappella*‡
Russian State Symphony Orchestra
under Valeri Polyansky

This CD contains the premiere recordings of Arensky’s Cantata on the Tenth Anniversary of the Coronation and Three Vocal Quartets with cello accompaniment.

Polyansky’s Russian choir and orchestra have demonstrated a special commitment to their native repertoire and their performances have the unmistakable ring of authenticity.

Arensky studied at St Petersburg under Rimsky-Korsakov and later taught harmony and counterpoint at St Petersburg Conservatory. The distinctive and highly romantic music of this eclectic composer reveals the influences of the work of other Russian composers as well as mainstream Western European music.

Arensky and his music

REVIEWS
‘These are splendid, colorful and exciting performances to be set beside Polyansky’s other fine Grechaninov recordings for Chandos…’
Fanfare on CHAN 9845 (Grechaninov)

‘Polyansky’s three vocal soloists are uncommonly well chosen… Polyansky sets spacious tempos which allow every nuance of that suffering to register, and his orchestra are responsive and idiomatic in colouring… a must for Shostakovich collectors…’
Gramophone on CHAN 9600 (Shostakovich)

‘A wonderful disc, strongly recommended.’
International Record Review on CHAN 9937 (Szymanowski)

CHAN X10087

This is the only available recording of the brilliant arrangement for violin and piano of nineteen of Shostakovich’s Twenty-four Preludes, Op. 34 by Dmitri Mikhailovich Tsyganov. Shostakovich personally endorsed this arrangement – Tsyganov was a friend of the composer’s and Shostakovich had the highest regard for his musicianship.

The violinist in this performance is Eleonora Turovsky, a pupil of Tsyganov’s.

The Preludes are ideally coupled with a legendary performance by Rostislav Dubinsky and Luba Edlina of Shostakovich’s Violin Sonata.

These recordings are available at mid-price for the first time.

Shostakovich

REVIEWS
‘Clarity and truth were the words I used to describe the original Chandos sound, and here it strikes me as even more vivid. I particularly enjoyed the wide range of dynamics and colour… The playing of this husband-and-wife duo cannot be overpraised throughout the whole programme.’
Gramophone

‘Rostislav Dubinsky’s account is undoubtedly eloquent, and Luba Edlina makes a fine partner.The recording is excellent too…’
The Penguin Complete Guide

‘…a clear-cut, penetrating, warm performance, clearly the product of long association and deep involvement.’
Fanfare

COMPACT DISC ONE
Ballet Suite No. 1 (1949)
Ballet Suite No. 2 (1951)
Ballet Suite No. 3 (1952)
Festive Overture, Op. 96 (1947)

COMPACT DISC TWO
Ballet Suite No. 4 (1953)
Ballet Suite No. 5, Op. 27a, from ‘The Bolt’ (1931)
Suite from ‘Katerina Ismailova’
(Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District) (1934/1962)

Scottish National Orchestra
Neeme Järvi

Shostakovich’s Ballet Suites contain some of Shostakovich’s most vivaciously tuneful and witty music.

These recordings were made during Neeme Järvi’s vintage period with the SNO and are notable for the freshness of the playing and brilliance of sound. The couplings include the exciting Festive Overture, as well the substantial Suite from Katerina Ismailova.

This two-CD set is now available at mid-price in attractive slim-line packaging for the first time.

Shostakovich Ballet Suites

REVIEWS

‘Järvi is entirely at home in all this music and clearly relishes its dry humour.The playing is equally perceptive and full of flair.The recording is spectacular and resonantly wide-ranging in the Chandos manner.’
The Penguin Guide

Now available as a
multi-channel and stereo hybrid SACD

Ralph Vaughan Williams
(1872–1958)

Symphony No. 5 in D major
Prelude and Fugue in C minor
Hymn-tune Prelude on Song 13
by Orlando Gibbons
The Pilgrim Pavement
Valiant-for-truth
Psalm 23

Richard Hickox Singers
London Symphony Orchestra
Richard Hickox

Richard Hickox conducts the London Symphony Orchestra in three Vaughan Williams premieres.

'Hickox and the London Symphony Orchestra have proved themselves the most popular and notable interpreters of Vaughan Williams music. Their previous discs have earned high acclaim from all areas of the musical world'.

It is interesting to see that Vaughan Williams was deeply moved by the simple, noble and uplifting prose that John Bunyan used in The Pilgrim's Progress. Vaughan Williams reserved his most contemplative music for works derived from The Pilgrim's Progress, including the Fifth Symphony, Valiant for Truth and the Twenty-third Psalm, which are all featured on this disc.

Notes about the music on this disc

REVIEWS
Voted top choice for this repertoire on BBC Radio 3's Building a Library

‘…one of the best Fifths I have heard.’
Classic FM Magazine on CHAN 9666 (Symphony No. 5, etc.)

‘Hickox’s interpretation and the LSO's playing are outstanding.’
The Sunday Telegraph on CHAN 9902 (A London Symphony, etc.)

Previous Vaughan Williams releases from Richard Hickox
Symphony No. 4 etc. – CHAN 9984
A London Symphony etc. – CHAN 9902
Symphony No. 3 etc. – CHAN 10001
Five Tudor Portraits etc. - CHAN 9593
Pilgrims Progress - CHAN 9625(2)
Riders to the Sea etc. - CHAN 9392
A Cotswold Romance etc. - CHAN 9646