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'… beautifully orchestrated… an ideally warm, aptly sensuous performance under Hickox.'
Gramaphone |
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Wagner's The Mastersingers,
Chandos and the Peter Moores Foundation are proud to announce that, for the first time ever, the centenary production of Wagner's The
Mastersingers, conducted by Reginald Goodall, broadcast live from Sadler's Wells Theatre, 10 February 1968 will be released on Opera in English in July 2008. Wagner's The Mastersingers was first performed on 21 June, 1868.
The 4-CD set is currently being re-mastered from a BBC Radio live broadcast from Sadler's Wells Theatre on 10 February 1968.
The cast includes: Alberto Remedios (Walther von Stolzing) * Norman Bailey (Hans Sachs) * Derek Hammond-Stroud (Sixtus Beckmesser) * Gregory Dempsey (David) * Margaret Curphey (Eva) * Ann Robson (Magdalene) * Noel Mangin (Veit Pogner) * with the Orchestra and Choruses of Sadler's and Wells opera companies.
Sir Peter Moores commented: 'The resounding success of Reginald Goodall's Mastersingers led to his conducting an 'English' Ring at the London Coliseum in the 1970s. That Ring started me recording opera in English. So I am thrilled that we have been able to add The Mastersingers to our Opera in English catalogue - now offering more than fifty operas - alongside Goodall's Ring.'
Ralph Couzens, Chandos MD said: 'I am thrilled that this legendary performacnce
will now be available on the Chandos label; for years this has been one of the
most talked about 'lost' recordings, and I'm delighted to be able to make it
available again.'
Release date - JULY 2008
Cat Number: CHAN 3148(4)
Classical Brit Award nominations
announced - Chandos nominated for Critics'
Choice award!
At a glitzy launch night at the beautiful May Fair Hotel, the Classical Brit
nominations for 2008 were announced. Chandos was delighted to find out we are
nominated for the cerebral award, Critics' Choice, for the Charles Mackerras
recording of Janacek's Makropulos Case.
CLASSIC BRITS NOMINATIONS IN FULL
Male Artist of the Year:
Alfie Boe
Rolando Villazon
Sir Colin Davis
Female Artist of the Year:
Angela Hewitt
Anna Netrebko
Natalie Clein
Critics' Award
ENO Chorus and Orchestra Sir Charles Mackerras BC - Janácek: The Makropulos
Case (Chandos)
Pavel Haas Quartet - Janácek: Quartet No 1/Pavel Haas:Quartets Nos 1& 3
(Supraphon)
Steven Isserlis - Bach: Cello Suites (Hyperion)
NS&I Album of the Year
Alfie Boe - Onward (EMI Classics)
All Angels - Into Paradise (Universal/UCJ)
Blake - Blake (Universal/UCJ)
Choirboys - The Carols Album (Universal/UCJ)
Fron Male Voice Choir - Voices of the Valley
Encore (Universal/UCJ)
Gardar Thor Cortes - Cortes (Believer Music)
Hayley Westenra - Treasure (Universal/Decca)
Ludovico Einaudi - Divenire (Universal/Decca)
Natasha Marsh - Amour (EMI Classics)
Royal Scots Dragoon Guards - Spirit of the
Glen (Universal/UCJ)
Young British Classical Performer or Group
Kate Royal
Lawrence Power
Nicola Benedetti
Soundtrack of the Year
Dario Marianelli - Atonement (Universal/UCJ)
James Newton Howard - Blood Diamond (Varese
Sarabande)
Craig Armstrong/Ar Rahman - Elizabeth - The
Golden Age (Universal/UCJ)
Chandos Records scoops two Grammy Awards
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The awards were received at the 50^th annual Grammy Awards ceremony, which took place in Los Angeles on 10 February 2008
Best Opera Recording: Humperdinck:
Hansel and Gretel – Rebecca Evans,
Jane Henschel, Jennifer Larmore, Rosalind
Plowright, Sarah Coppen, Diana Montague,
Sarah Tynan; New London Children’s Choir,
Philharmonia Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras
(Brian Couzens, producer). CHAN 3143(2)
Best Engineered Classical Album: Grechaninov: Passion Week – John Newton,
engineer. Phoenix Bach Choir & Kansas City Chorale, Charles Bruffy. CHSA 5044
Ralph Couzens, who was present at the award ceremony, said, ‘I am thrilled that
we have received these two awards. It is wonderful that our Opera in English
series has won the best opera recording. This series, made in association with
the Peter Moores Foundation, has always had the goal of introducing more people
to opera and we have always aimed for the highest quality in terms of both artistic
and technical excellence. This award is a wonderful testimony to that endeavour'.
Chandos has always taken pride in its engineering, and it is gratifying, too,
that Charles Bruffy's Grechaninov's CD has been honoured in this way.
Both recordings won superb critical acclaim on their first release: Hansel
and Gretel was made an ‘Editor's Choice' in Gramophone (7
/ 07), in which Edward Greenfield wrote, ‘this set will clearly stand the test
of time as an English version, rivalling even the best of versions in the original
German'. In BBC Music Magazine (5 / 07), Michael Tanner wrote, ‘What distinguishes
this version is primarily the vigorous and large-scale conducting of Sir Charles
Mackerras… he pulls out all the stops for an exceptionally vivid main section
of the overture, which shows that he is intent on not treating this as a small-scale
children's piece… A fine introductory version, in Pountney's ghoulish and very
free translation'. It was ‘Classical CD of the Week' in The Sunday Times (11
/ 5 / 2007), where Hugh Canning wrote, ‘The opera is a little miracle, and this
new English version – David Pountney's translation – deserves to attract new
generations of admirers'. In The Sunday Telegraph , too,
it was ‘Classical CD of the Week' (16 / 6 / 2007), with Matthew Rye writing, ‘The
stuff of fairytales: Charles Mackerras's conducting of Humperdinck's Hansel
and Gretel is a triumph'.
Of Grechaninov's Passion Week ,BBC Music Magazine wrote
(5 / 2007), ‘The superlatives have already piled up against Charles Bruffy's
name and deservedly so. There can only be one reason for a label to release repertoire
they have already had in their catalogue, and that is that the new performance
is so striking… the massed forces of the Phoenix Bach Choir and the Kansas City
Chorale… make a formidable choral machine, one which seems to produce an unending
waver of smoothly blended sound' (five stars for performance and sound). American
Record Guide said, ‘It's a stunner in all respects (9 – 10 / 2007), and Classic
FM Magazine wrote (5 / 07), ‘Vocal weight here brings a welcome
lustre to the sound without any loss of focus, a quality upheld by Chandos in
its excellent surround-sound recording'.
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Reviews for Passion
Week
“Rapt
and utterly unrushed under Maestro Bruffy’s
guidance, it unfolds out of silence as an
extended prayer that never loses its devotional
energy. The singing is simply gorgeous, with
the Super Audio format flattering the artistic
intentions of everyone involved. Bravo to
Chandos for its willingness to compete against
itself with this new offering. My guess is
that Passion Week sung in Church Slavonic
by these two gifted choirs will become one
of the most celebrated releases of 2007,
and deservedly so. It’s a stunner in
all respects.”
American
Record Guide
“The
massed forces of the Phoenix Bach Choir and
the Kansas City Chorale (both are professional
groups) make a formidable choral machine,
one which seems to produce an unending wave
of smoothly blended sound. If Grechaninov’s
music is sentimental in the best sense, this
performance has an integrity and honesty
to it which I find profoundly moving.”
BBC
Music Magazine's Vocal/Choral CD of the
Month, May 2007
PERFORMANCE *****
SOUND *****
“If
I had heard this album knowing nothing about
its performers, I would smile, nod sagely
and say, “They’re Russian, of
course”. Phoenix, Arizona and Kansas
City would not have registered for a second
on my choral radar, but their respective
Bach Choir and Chorale will do from now on.
Their combined professional forces do full
justice to Gretchaninov’s 13 eloquently
simple Passion Week pieces, matching the
basso profondo richness of the best Russian
choirs with refined tuning and impeccably
unanimous ensemble. Vocal weight here brings
a welcome luster to the sound without any
loss of focus, a quality upheld by Chandos
in its excellent surround-sound recording.”
Classic
FM
“A milestone
in Russian choral music delivered in thrilling
style here.”
Gramophone
“Luxuriant
textures, sumptuous harmonies, mouth-watering
melodies, all beautifully conveyed
with ravishing choral tone; this is a simply
gorgeous disc.”
International
Record Review
“...ravishingly
sung by two American choirs, both specialists
in unaccompanied choral music.
A glorious disc, and highly recommended.”
The Guardian
“This will
be one of my discs of the year, without question.
Rarely have I heard a cappella singing
of such quality and refinement or a recording
that so perfectly complements it.”
Musicweb International
Click
Here to watch a TV clip from a local station
in Phoenix Arizona about the FIVE Grammy
nominations for the Phoenix Bach Choir's
Grechaninov Release
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Reviews
for Hansel and Gretel
“Jennifer
Larmore’s swaggering Hansel is perfectly
matched with Rebecca Evan’s radiant
and unusually voluptuous Gretel… The
opera is a little miracle, and this new
English version – David Pountney’s
translation – deserves to attract
new generations of admirers.”
The
Sunday Times
“Hansel
and Gretel is one of the supreme achievements
of 19th Century opera, and a
work that benefits immeasurably from being
sung in the language of it audience… The
conducting of Charles Mackerras is a major
plus. His unfolding of the overture, both
spacious and theatrical is a model, just
as the rapturous orchestral pantomime that
closes the first act is perfectly judged… A
thoroughly enjoyable performance.”
The
Guardian
“It
is more or less a foregone conclusion that
a recording of Hansel and Gretel conducted
by Charles Mackerras will be a triumph,
and this latest is Chandos’ Opera
in English series proves this to be the
case.”
The Telegraph – Classical
CD of the Week. |
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