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Hyperion Records of the Month
More exciting new releases from Hyperion
at an introductory offer price
for a limited time.
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Benjamin Britten
(1913–1976)
Complete works
for piano and orchestra
Cat. No. CDA 67625
Offer Price £9.79
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Robert Schumann
(1810–1856)
Dichterliebe
& other Heine settings
Cat. No. CDA 67676
Offer Price £9.79
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Steven Osborne piano
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Ilan Volkov conductor
Works:
Piano Concerto in D major Op 13 (1938, revised 1945) [32'27]
1 Toccata Allegro molto e con brio [11'15] 2 Waltz Allegretto with Scott Dickinson (viola) [4'46]
3 Impromptu Andante lento [8'06] – 4 March Allegro moderato – sempre alla marcia [8'08]
5 Original version of the third movement of the Piano Concerto Recitative and Aria Lento (1938) [9'10]
6 Young Apollo Op 16 for piano and strings (1939) [6'56]
Diversions Op 21 for piano (left hand) and orchestra (1940) [22'26]
7 Theme Maestoso [1'01] 8 Variation I: Recitative L’istesso tempo (Maestoso) [1'24] 9 Variation II: Romance Allegretto mosso [1'20]
bl Variation III: March Allegro con brio [1'15] bm Variation IV: Arabesque Allegretto [1'31] bn Variation V: Chant Andante solennemente [1'40]
bo Variation VI: Nocturne Andante piacevole [2'12] bp Variation VII: Badinerie Grave – Vivacissimo [1'23]
bq Variation VIII: Burlesque Molto moderato [1'38] br Variation IXa: Toccata I Allegro [0'44]
bs Variation IXb: Toccata II – Cadenza L’istesso tempo [1'53] bt Variation X: Adagio [3'44] bu Finale: Tarantella Presto con fuoco [2'31]
The three compositions which comprise Britten’s music for solo piano and orchestra constitute a unique, yet still little
explored, part of his output. Here they are brought together in a stunning disc that pays tribute to the great artistry of
all involved.
Steven Osborne’s performance of Britten’s Piano Concerto with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Ilan
Volkov at the 2007 BBC Proms redefined this often undervalued work in the ears of his listeners, imbuing it with
hitherto unsuspected emotional and musical weight; playing the bravura passages with glittering assurance and joie
de vivre. The same musicians have put down a benchmark recording here.
Diversions for left-hand piano and orchestra is a gem of a piece, which has rarely been recorded. Britten
reaches unexpected levels of emotional intensity, most notably in the Chant and the powerful Allegro.
Seventy years or so after these works were first performed, their freshness and vitality speaks with the same musical
truth that Imogen Holst divined in Britten’s work. In revisiting these unjustly
neglected early works, through performances of matchless brilliance, we can discover qualities that were missed or
overlooked when they first appeared.
"Oborne yields nothing to the great Sviatoslav Richter in the punchiness and fine-tuned filigree of his playing"
Arnold Whittall - Gramophone
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Gerald Finley baritone
Julius Drake piano
Works:
1-2 Tragödie Op 64 No 3 1 Entflieh’ mit mir und sei mein Weib [1'26] 2 Es fiel ein Reif in der Frühlingsnacht [2'10]
3 Die beiden Grenadiere Op 49 No 1 [3'54] 4 Abends am Strand Op 45 No 3 [3'25]
5 Die feindlichen Brüder Op 49 No 2 [2'27]
Der arme Peter Op 53 No 3 6 Der Hans und die Grete tanzen herum [1'13] 7 In meiner Brust [1'22] 8 Der arme Peter wankt vorbei [2'19]
9 Belsatzar Op 57 [4'56]
from Myrthen Op 25
10 Die Lotosblume Op 25 No 7 [1'52] 11 Was will die einsame Träne? Op 25 No 21 [2'06]
12 Du bist wie eine Blume Op 25 No 24 [1'57]
songs originally conceived for Dichterliebe
13 Lehn’ deine Wang’ an meine Wang’ Op 142 No 2 [0'46] 14 Es leuchtet meine Liebe Op 127 No 3 [1'52]
15 Dein Angesicht so lieb und schön Op 127 No 2 [2'20] 16 Mein Wagen rollet langsam Op 142 No 4 [3'20]
17-32 Dichterliebe Op 48 [31'47]
Why another Dichterliebe recording? Because Gerald Finley has simply one of the greatest voices of his generation, and
is an artist at the peak of his powers. He brings to this noble song cycle the supreme technical ability and penetrating
musical understanding that characterize all his performances, whether on the concert platform, in the recording studio
or on the great opera stages of the world. This is his fourth disc with collaborator Julius Drake, and the partnership has
proved to be a uniquely rewarding one.
This fine recital also includes many of Schumann’s other Heine settings.
The extremes of elation and despair in Heine’s
poetry stimulated Schumann to write some of his most poignant and unforgettable songs.
This is truly a disc to treasure.
‘Gerald Finley has everything and more in his darkly full-bodied voice to match
the often formidable technical and expressive requirements of Ives’s songbook—reinforced by Drake’s elastic, expressive piano … this is a must-buy
album’
The Times on IVES Romanzo di Central Park Compact Disc CDA67644
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Leopold Godowsky
(1870–1938)
Strauss transcriptions
and other waltzes
Cat. No. CDA 67626
Offer Price £9.79
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York Bowen
(1884–1961)
Music For Viola
Cat. No. CDA 67651
Offer Price £15.99
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Marc-André Hamelin
piano
Works:
1 Symphonic Metamorphosis on Künstlerleben after JOHANN STRAUSS II [14'55]
from Walzermasken 24 tone poems in triple time
2 No 2 Pastell [2'05] 3 No 14 Französisch [2'42] 4 No 22 Wienerisch [2'56] 5 No 24 Portrait—Joh. Str. [6'02]
6 Symphonic Metamorphosis on Die Fledermaus after JOHANN STRAUSS II [11'04]
from Triakontameron 30 moods and scenes in triple measure
7 No 4 Rendezvous [2'46] 8 No 11 Alt Wien [2'39] 9 No 13 Terpsichorean Vindobona [2'09]
10 No 21 The Salon [3'02] 11 No 25 Memories [3'48]
12 Symphonic Metamorphosis on Wein, Weib und Gesang after JOHANN STRAUSS II [12'02]
13 The Last Waltz OSCAR STRAUS; idealized version by LEOPOLD GODOWSKY [2'33]
Marc-André Hamelin’s programme is mostly devoted to Godowsky’s works based on themes by—or directly inspired
by—Johann Strauss II. It is not intended to be a comprehensive survey but is, nevertheless, fully representative of
Godowsky’s finest reflections on the Waltz King. In the three great Strauss transcriptions, Godowsky elevated the art of
the piano paraphrase to a higher musical and pianistic plane; however their extreme technical difficulty remains a
striking feature and places them out of the reach of ordinary pianists. And Marc-André Hamelin is, of course, no
ordinary pianist—in fact his playing on a recent disc was compared to that of Alkan and Liszt.
Triakontameron and Walzermasken are rarely performed examples of Godowsky’s original work, and continue the
composer’s love-affair with the waltz—they are written entirely in 3/4 time.
The last work on this dazzling disc is an oddity—indeed, a rarity. Sometime prior to 1925, Godowsky made a piano roll
of his arrangement of The Last Waltz by Oscar Straus (1870–1954), the Vienna-born composer. The eponymous Waltz is
heard throughout the 1920 operetta. The music of Godowsky’s transcription was never published for some unknown
reason—it is a uniquely appealing arrangement. In the early 1970s, Gilles Hamelin, the pianophile father of Marc-
André, notated, arranged and edited The Last Waltz from Godowsky’s piano roll, which was then published in 1975.
Shortly afterwards, a copy of the negative of Godowsky’s manuscript was sent to Gilles Hamelin. It was all but illegible,
so Hamelin Snr. made a fair copy in his own hand: in almost every respect it tallied with the version he had transcribed
from the piano roll.
‘The sheer
keyboard brilliance of Hamelin’s playing is exceptional. The breathtaking clarity with which he articulates even the most ferocious passages, while
unerringly projecting melodic shapes that are often obscured under welters of notes, never fails to dazzle, and the way in which he sustains the huge
first movement of the Concerto so that each discursive paragraph seems a natural consequence of what precedes it is a triumph of pure musical will’
The Guardian on CDA 67569
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Lawrence Power viola
Simon Crawford-Phillips piano
Works CD1:
1-3 Viola Sonata No 1 in C minor Op 18 (1905) [25'44]
4 Romance in D flat major (1900, arr. 1904) [6'28]
5 Fantasia for 4 violas Op 41 (1907) [9'42] LAWRENCE POWER, PHILIP DUKES, JAMES BOYD, SCOTT DICKINSON violas
6 BEETHOVEN Adagio sostenuto from ‘Moonlight’ Piano Sonata in C sharp minor, Op 27 No 2 [5'40]
with viola obbligato by YORK BOWEN, completed and edited by LAWRENCE POWER
7 Phantasy in F major Op 54 (1918) [13'32]
Works CD2:
1-3 Viola Sonata No 2 in F major Op 22 (1906) [25'41]
4 Romance in A major (1908) [5'50]
5 Allegro de concert (1906) [7'49]
6 Melody for the G string Op 47 (1917) [3'53]
7 Melody for the C string Op 51 No 2 (1918) [3'48]
8 Rhapsody in G minor (1955) [13'15]
Any appraisal of Lawrence Power affirms his status as one of the foremost violists of today, the heir to the long
and honoured tradition of Lionel Tertis and William Primrose. His unwavering musical eloquence and brilliant
technical ability have consistently drawn the highest praise for all his recordings and performances. His renditions of
viola concertos by Walton, Rubbra, Cecil Forsyth and York Bowen have been acclaimed as benchmark recordings. He
now presents a fascinating double-album of York Bowen’s viola music: a selection that fully demonstrates the great
artistry of the composer known as the ‘English Rachmaninov’.
Bowen first came under the spell of the viola player Lionel Tertis when a student at the Royal Academy of Music. He
responded to Tertis’s unprecedented virtuosity and large tone with two sonatas, a concerto and many shorter pieces. He
continued to write works for Tertis throughout his life, all of which are recorded here, and they display the sort of
extraordinary technical challenges which prove what an amazing virtuoso he was.
’If proof were still needed of Lawrence Power’s pre-eminence among viola-players, then this magnificent disc is it’
Daily Telegraph
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George Frideric Handel (1685–1759)
Dettingen Te Deum
Cat. No. CDA 67678
Offer Price £9.79
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Louis Spohr
(1784–1859)
and others
Clarinet Concertos Nos 3 & 4
Cat. No. CDA 67561
Offer Price £9.79
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The Choir of Trinity College,
Cambridge
Academy of Ancient Music
Richard Marlow organ
Stephen Layton conductor
Works:
Te Deum in D major ‘Dettingen’ HWV283 [38'04]
Organ Concerto No 14 in A major HWV296a [17'15]
Zadok the priest HWV258 [5'11]
The Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge, is one of Britain’s great mixed choirs. Under its new director, the mercurial
Stephen Layton, it has reached new heights of musical excellence in this latest disc for Hyperion. Accompanied
throughout by the Academy of Ancient Music, the choir performs one of Handel’s most florid and dazzling works, the
Dettingen Te Deum, which was written to celebrate King George II’s triumphal return from the Battle of Dettingen in
1743. As might be imagined, much of this work is thrillingly bellicose, but some highly cultivated writing shows the
composer’s range, expressive versatility and imagination.
The disc also includes a stylish performance of the Organ Concerto No 14 in A major with Trinity’s former musical
director Richard Marlow at the organ, as well as Handel’s best-loved and most gloriously ceremonial anthem, Zadok the
Priest.
'The score simply teems with incredible invention … Layton's tempos are faultless, the Academy of Ancient Music plays as though possessed, and Neal Davies's solos lend an authority complementing the more soft-grained soloists from within the choir (itself fresh-sounding and impeccably collegiate in every sense).'
(BBC Music Magazine)
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Michael Collins clarinet
Swedish Chamber Orchestra
Robin O’Neill conductor
Works:
Clarinet Concerto No 3 in F minor WoO19 [27'21]br />
1 Allegro moderato [10'23]
2 Adagio [9'18]
3 Vivace non troppo [7'36]
Clarinet Concerto No 4 in E minor WoO20 [25'20]
4 Allegro vivace [10'43]
5 Larghetto [7'07]
6 Rondo al espagnol [7'22]
This disc is a long-awaited sequel to Hyperion’s disc of Spohr’s Clarinet Concertos Nos 1 & 2, recorded by the same
forces. It was at Gotha in the autumn of 1808 that Spohr met the clarinet virtuoso Johann Simon Hermstedt, and the
two men hit it off straight away. Spohr immediately began work on his first clarinet concerto. Hermstedt was so taken
by the work that—rather than insisting on the composer modifying some of his more outlandish, and unplayable,
demands—he adapted and expanded his instrument to suit the music, thus bringing about important developments in
the range and flexibility of the clarinet, expanding it from five keys to thirteen. Of the four concertos Spohr wrote for
Hermstedt, the Third is the most overtly virtuosic, with a fiery restless energy supporting grand, sweeping themes of
real distinction. The Fourth ranks among Spohr’s finest compositions
Collins dazzles like a bel canto diva in the pyrotechnic leaps, trills and runs"
Hugh Canning - The Sunday Times
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