The Music Pages | February 2008


	Cat. No.: 480 0120 Barcode: 0028948001200 Label: Philips 2CD Release Date: 9 February			SIR COLIN DAVIS \| HANDEL: Messiah ARTISTS Margaret Price, soprano Hanna Schwarz, alto Stuart Burrows, tenor Simon Estes, bass Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks Sir Colin Davis TRACK LISTING HANDEL: Messiah Sir Colin Davis recorded Handel’s Messiah twice for Philips – in the 1960s with an English cast and then in the 1980s with British soprano and tenor soloists, a German alto and an American bass, not to mention a German orchestra and chorus. It’s a warm and voluble reading and was for a short while available on 3 CDs at full price. It is now restored to the catalogue at budget price on 2 CDs, not a moment too soon, and is bound to join the pantheon of great Messiahs currently available on CD. ‘this is a beautiful performance, very well recorded.’ Gramophone RETURN TO THE TOP

	Cat. No.: 476 9781 Barcode: 0028947697817 Label: Decca CD Release Date: 9 February			ISTVÁN KERTÉSZ MOZART:Requiem \| Masonic Funeral Music ARTISTS REQUIEM: Elly Ameling, soprano Marilyn Horne, mezzo soprano Ugo Benelli, tenor Tugomir Franc, bass Weiner Staatsopernchor Weiner Philharmoniker MASONIC MUSIC Werner Krenn, tenor Tom Krause, baritone Edinburgh Festival Chorus London Symphony Orchestra István Kertész TRACK LISTING MOZART: Requiem in D minor, K.626 (Completed by Franx Xaver Süssmayr) Die Maurerfreude, K.471 Maurerische Trauermusik, K477 Laut verkünde unsre Freude, K623 Kertész’s orchestral Mozart has been well documented on Eloquence, with many releases appearing on CD for the first time. Now, restored to the catalogue, is his dramatic, muscular reading of the Requiem. Stretching to 79 minutes, the disc is filled out with selections from the composer’s Masonic Music, with the Maurerische Trauermusik bearing an uncanny resemblance to the opening Kyrie of the Requiem. RETURN TO THE TOP

	Cat. No.: 442 9098 Barcode: 0028944290981 Label: Decca CD Release Date: 9 February			DAME JOAN SUTHERLAND BARRY TUCKWELL RICHARD BONYNGE Romantic Trios ARTISTS Joan Sutherland, soprano Barry Tuckwell, horn Richard Bonynge TRACK LISTING DENZA: J’ai peur de l’aimer PANSERON: Les Nobles Sons du cor KREUTZER: Das Mühlrad NICOLAI: Die Träne PROCH: Das Alpenhorn ŠKROUP: Liebes Tal, warum so stille? DONIZETTI: L’amor funesto LACHNER: Fragen KÜCKEN: Vöglein LACHNER: Frauenliebe und-leben MASSENET: Les Yeux clos BERLIOZ: Le Jeune Pâtre Breton LACHNER: Herbst MASSENET: Amours bénis One of Dame Joan Sutherland’s last records was a disc of trios for soprano, horn and piano. All the music is virtually unknown (and texts / English translations are included), all of it charming and lovingly performed by the trio of Australians. ‘The performances are accomplished and tasteful…all three artists convey a sense of enjoyment’ Gramophone RETURN TO THE TOP

	Cat. No.: 442 9448 Barcode: 0028944294484 Label: Decca 2CD Release Date: 9 February			SIR PETER PEARS \| OSIAN ELLIS \| WILBYE CONSORT BRITTEN: Folk Songs (with harp); A Birthday Hansel; Suite for Harp; Canticle V; Part Songs ARTISTS Sir Peter Pears, tenor* Osian Ellis, harp+ Wilbye Consort# TRACK LISTING BRITTEN: Folk songs with harp+ Two Scottish Folk songs+ Second Lute Song from Gloriana+ A Birthday Hansel# Canticle V# Suite for harp+ Sacred and Profane# Continuing its exploration of Britten rarities, Decca Eloquence’s latest release features Sir Peter Pears as both tenor as well as director (of the Wilbye Consort) and the much-loved harpist Osian Ellis. While the Pears/Britten recording of Britten’s folk song arrangements is well known, the recording with Pears and Ellis is a decided rarity. Using this as a point of departure, much of the music on this recording incorporates the harp, with the Decca recording of the Suite that Britten wrote for Ellis making its first appearance on CD. In fact, much of this program is new to CD and will be welcomed by all who cherish this composer’s music. RETURN TO THE TOP

	Cat. No.: 442 9521 Barcode: 0028944295214 Label: Decca 2CD Release Date: 9 February			BENJAMIN BRITTEN J.S. BACH: Brandenburg Concertos; PURCELL: O Lord, grant the king a long life; ARNE: Vocal Music CLARKE: Trumpet Voluntary ARTISTS English Chamber Orchestra The Aldeburgh Festival Orchestra* London Symphony Chorus# London Symphony Orchestra# Benjamin Britten Sir Peter Pears, tenor* Aldeburgh Festival Chorus The Aldeburgh Festival Orchestra Imogen Holst Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden+ Sir Adrian Boult+ Trumpeters of Kneller Hall Royal Military School of Music++ London Symphony Orchestra++ Kenneth Alwyn++ TRACK LISTING J.S. BACH: Brandenburg Concertos Nos. 1-6 in F, BWV1046 VARIOUS:** Sellinger’s Round (Variations on an Elizabethan Theme)* ARNE: Rule Britannia (Arthur) ARNE:** Now the air shall ring (The Fairy Prince) PURCELL: O Lord, Grant the Queen a Long Life J.S. BACH: Air (Suite No. 3 in D, BWV1068+ J.S. BACH: Sheep may safely graze (Cantata BWV208)+ ANON. arr. Britten: God Save the Queen# CLARKE: Trumpet Voluntary++ Britten’s stately and clear-sighted readings of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos begin a program that continues with a group of rarities. Much requested and finally available on CD is the complete 1953 Opening Concert of the Aldeburgh Festival in which Britten and Imogen Holst shared the conducting honours. In addition to the anthems (in which the soloists include Alfred Deller), there is Sellinger’s Round, based on a theme by William Byrd with a series of variations composed by a range of British composers, including Tippett, Walton, Searle and Britten himself. The disc is completed with four ‘encores’ that formed an EP issued by Decca. From Sir Adrian Boult’s Handel sessions with Kenneth McKellar come the Air from Suite No. 3 and Sheep may safely graze. The second side of the EP was taken up by Britten’s hushed arrangement of the EnglishNational Anthem, and a blazing performance of Clarke’s Trumpet Voluntary, complete with the Trumpeters of Kneller Hall. RETURN TO THE TOP