Works: Piano Sonata in A flat major Op 26 [19'13]
Piano Sonata in F major Op 10 No 2 [16'19]
Piano Sonata in E minor Op 90 [13'22]
Piano Sonata in C sharp minor ‘Moonlight’ Op 27 No 2 [14'58]
Artist: Angela Hewitt, piano
Angela Hewitt’s legion of fans will be delighted at this eagerly awaited third volume of Beethoven sonatas. Her first
two releases in this series were praised for their ‘clarity, intelligence and elegance’ … ‘fusing poetry and passion’, and all
these trademark qualities of her playing are fully present in this third disc.
Four contrasting sonatas are presented here, including Op 27 No 2 ‘Moonlight’, which needs no introduction.
Praise for BEETHOVEN Piano Sonatas Volume 2 CDA67605:
'Angela Hewitt is on characteristic top form in three of Beethoven's iconic sonatas … (Classic FM Magazine *****)
'Hewitt punches out the dramatic opening chords of Beethoven’s Pathétique sonata with stinging vehemence, but otherwise plays the three sonatas here with a light touch. She often lingers deliciously over the Pathétique’s rich dissonances, while the adagio cantabile sings under her featherweight fingers and the rondo surges with spritely abandon at each return of the theme' (The Times)
Works: WILHELM TAUBERT Piano Concerto No 1 in E major Op 18
WILHELM TAUBERT Piano Concerto No 2 in A major Op 189
JACOB ROSENHAIN Piano Concerto in D minor Op 73
Artists: Howard Shelley piano
Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
Howard Shelley conductor
The Romantic Piano Concerto series continues to surprise and delight with a 51st disc of 19th century pianistic
splendour. This new releases includes the two piano concertos by Wilhelm Taubert, as well as one of the two works for
piano and orchestra by Jacob Rosenhain. Both composers were near exact contemporaries with Mendelssohn (born
1809), Chopin and Schumann (both 1810), Liszt (1811) and Wagner and Verdi (1813).
Taubert’s A major Concerto was described by Schumann as ‘one of the best’ – he also noted the parallels between it and
Mendelssohn’s Op 25. But these similarities, however, do not negate the marvellous and distinctive music contained
within Taubert’s Concerto. Nearly half a century separates Taubert’s first concerto and his Piano Concerto No 2 in A
major Op 189 (c1874), and the second concerto reflects developments in the areas of harmonic expansion, cyclic
development, and, of course, increased virtuosity.
Rosenhain wrote two concerted for works for piano and orchestra, and the A minor Concertino Op 30 (probably written
in the 1840s, though published later), and the work included on this disc, the Piano Concerto in D minor Op 73. This
work is fairly conservative in its form, offering little that had not been heard before. Still, there is much gorgeous and
masterful music within its traditional three-movement form.
Howard Shelley directs the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra from the piano; a partnership that has garnered the highest
praise for their previous Hyperion recordings.
‘Howard Shelley, conducting from the keyboard, produces blistering accounts of the solo parts, and his Tasmanians
play their hearts out. The recorded sound is fine, too. Recommended with every enthusiasm: 70 minutes of unalloyed pleasure’ ( International Record
Review on Volume 48 Benedict/MacFarren
Johannes Brahms
(1833–1897) The Complete Songs VOLUME 1
CDJ33121 CD
Benjamin Britten
(1913–1976) Songs & Proverbs of
William Blake and other songs
Works: 1 Scheiden und Meiden Op 19 No 2 [1'09] 2 In der Ferne Op 19 No 3 [2'16] 3 Von ewiger Liebe Op 43 No 1 [4'45]
4 Der Gang zum Liebchen Op 48 No 1 [1'19] 5 Der Überläufer Op 48 No 2 [1'39]
6 Liebesklage des Mädchens Op 48 No 3 [1'25] 7 Gold überwiegt die Liebe Op 48 No 4 [1'22]
8 Trost in Tränen Op 48 No 5 [3'08] 9 Vergangen ist mir Glück und Heil Op 48 No 6 [4'03]
10 Herbstgefühl Op 48 No 7 [3'20] 11 O komme, holde Sommernacht Op 58 No 4 [1'06]
12 Dämmrung senkte sich von oben Op 59 No 1 [3'53] 13 Auf dem See Op 59 No 2 [3'08]
14 Junge Lieder I: Meine Liebe ist grün Op 63 No 5 [1'35] 15 Junge Lieder II: Wenn um den Holunder Op 63 No 6 [2'11]
16 Salome Op 69 No 8 [1'57] 17 Abendregen Op 70 No 4 [5'09]
18 Therese Op 86 No 1 [1'33] 19 Feldeinsamkeit Op 86 No 2 [2'55] 20 Nachtwandler Op 86 No 3 [3'11]
21 Über die Heide Op 86 No 4 [1'58] 22 Versunken Op 86 No 5 [1'57]
23 Bei dir sind meine Gedanken Op 95 No 2 [1'40] 24 Beim Abschied Op 95 No 3 [1'00] 25 Der Jäger Op 95 No 4 [1'12]
26 Da unten im Tale WoO33 No 6 [1'54] 27 Soll sich der Mond nicht heller scheinen WoO33 No 35 [3'05]
28 Feinsliebchen, du sollst mir nicht barfuss gehn WoO33 No 12 [3'01]
29 Och Moder, ich well en Ding han! WoO33 No 33 [2'16]
Artists: Angelika Kirchschlager,
mezzo-soprano
Graham Johnson, piano
Graham Johnson’s complete Schubert and Schumann songs series for Hyperion are landmarks in the history of recorded
music. Now this indefatigable performer and scholar turns to the songs and vocal works of Brahms. Each disc of this
Hyperion edition takes a journey through Brahms’s career. The songs are not quite presented in chronological order but
they do appear here in the order that the songs were presented to the world. Each recital represents a different journey
through the repertoire (and thus through Brahms’s life). In a number of these Hyperion recitals an opus number will be
presented in its entirety (in the case of this disc, Op 48). The folksongs of 1894 will be shared between all the singers in
the series.
Hyperion is delighted to present the celebrated mezzo-soprano Angelika Kirchschlager in this first volume of the series.
She enjoys an international career as one of today’s most important singers, dividing her time between recitals and
opera in Europe, North America and the Far East.
‘As Ms. Kirchschlager shaped the spacious, arching phrases of the first Brahms song, “Meine Liebe Ist Grün” ... she conveyed the poet’s evocation of a
lush, sun-drenched lilac bush, a symbol of his love. Yet the ardor evoked here is intoxicated by the natural fragrance. Ms. Kirchschlager captured this
love-drunk state hauntingly through the shimmering and slightly disoriented quality she brought to her singing ... Ms Kirchschlager has a rich,
dusky-toned penetrating sound’ (Anthony Tommasini, New York Times)
Works: 1 Lemady [1'21] 2 She’s like the swallow [2'43] 3 I wonder as I wander [3'29] 4 Tom Bowling [5'29]
Songs and Proverbs of William Blake Op. 74 [25'44]
5 Proverb I [1'06] 6 London [2'04] 7 Proverb II [0'33] 8 The Chimney-Sweeper [2'14] 9 Proverb III [0'42] 10 A Poison Tree [4'52]
11 Proverb IV [0'57] 12 The Tyger [2'00] 13 Proverb V [0'51] 14 The Fly [1'57] 15 Proverb VI [1'30] 16 Ah, Sun-flower [2'56]
17 Proverb VII [0'44] 18 Every Night and every Morn [3'04]
Tit for Tat [10'07]
19 A Song of Enchantment [2'41] 20 Autumn [1'09] 21 Silver [2'02] 22 Vigil [1'58] 23 Tit for Tat [2'05]
24 Um Mitternacht [3'41] 25 A Poison Tree [3'06]
26 Evening [1'45] 27 Morning [1'06] 28 Night [1'44]
29 David of the White Rock [3'33] 30 Greensleeves [2'11] 31 The Crocodile [5'21]
32 The Deaf Woman’s Courtship [1'31] 33 Bird Scarer’s Song [1'02]
Artists: Gerald Finley baritone
Julius Drake piano
The unbeatable, multi-award-winning partnership of Gerald Finley and Julius Drake turn to the composer Benjamin
Britten for their latest Hyperion release. Although Britten is particularly celebrated for the substantial body of music he composed for the tenor voice, the composer also left an important legacy of music for baritone. Characteristically, Britten’s output for low voice was also inspired by the talents of specific performers with whom he was closely associated, among them Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and John Shirley-Quirk. In addition to song-cycles, individual songs and folksong arrangements, Britten wrote challenging baritone roles in operas as diverse as Billy Budd (1951), Owen Wingrave (1970) and Death in Venice
(1972)—the title role of the second of these made very much Gerald Finley’s own in his magnificent interpretation in
Margaret Williams’s 2001 television film of the opera.
This disc contains Britten’s two important song cycles for baritone: Tit for Tat, setting the poems of Walter de la Mare,
and the more substantial and challenging Songs and Proverbs of William Blake. The latter was written for Dietrich Fischer-
Dieskau; designed to showcase his unique blend of intense lyricism and dramatic characterization, qualities which are
undoubtedly also exhibited by Gerald Finley.
Also included are some of Britten’s popular folksong settings, and a selection of later songs, which received exposure
and publication only after the composer’s death in December 1976.
'Finley as ever acquits himself as a fine singer, a conscientious artist and a thoroughly reliable musician … Julius Drake is the superb pianist' Gramophone
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