At the top of each month, WRTI broadcasts a special Sunday Classical focused on recommended new releases. Join host Mark Pinto on WRTI on Oct. 5 from 3-6 p.m. to hear highlights from these albums, which he delves into below.
Lea Desandre (mezzo), Thomas Dunford (lute, theorbo, conductor), with Alex Rosen (bass-baritone), Jess Dandy (contralto), Laurence Kilsby (tenor), Huw Montague Rendall (baritone)
The French-based early music ensemble Jupiter, their lutenist founder/Artistic Director Thomas Dunford, mezzo Lea Desandre and a cadre of rising young singers offer a collection of vocal and instrumental music by John Dowland and Henry Purcell, two seminal English composers born nearly a century apart. The amorous melancholy of Dowland meets the music of Purcell, rich in its diversity of moods and emotions. Highlights include excerpts from two of Purcell’s works for the stage, The Fairy Queen and Dido and Aeneas.
Orchestre National de France, Chœur de Radio France, Cristian Măcelaru (conductor)
This album captures performances from a five-day festival in March 2025 across the French capital celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Maurice Ravel. The Orchestre National de France and Music Director Cristian Măcelaru bring listeners nearly three hours of the great French composer’s colorful orchestral works, including complete performances of Daphnis et Chloé, Ma Mère l'Oye, and Le Tombeau de Couperin, which inserts David Molard Soriano’s orchestrations of the two movements Ravel left out of the orchestral version of his piano suite. A Ravel lover’s delight!
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, JoAnn Falletta (conductor)
The considerable impact that Spanish landscapes and culture had on French composers of the early 20th century is the theme uniting evocative masterpieces by three French composers. In their latest release, the Buffalo Phil and Music Director JoAnn Falletta — now in her 26th season with the ensemble — render Debussy’s Iberia, Ibert’s Escales, and Ravel’s Rapsodie espagnole and Alborada del gracioso.
Yunchan Lim (piano)
The youngest-ever winner of the Van Cliburn Piano Competition in 2022 at age 18, the South Korean virtuoso delivers a personal and thought-provoking take on Tchaikovsky’s suite which would be more accurately called “The Months.” Yunchan Lim views the music as a story describing the last year of a man’s life, each piece reflecting a different moment or feeling, from sadness and quiet thoughts to joy, love, and peace. Lim’s recent live performances of the suite drew rave reviews from critics and audiences. This is a recording to reflect on and treasure.
Nielsen: Clarinet Concerto, Helios & Symphony No. 5
Alessandro Carbonare (clarinet), Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Edward Gardner (conductor)
The Bergen Philharmonic and former chief conductor Edward Gardner continue their exploration of Nielsen’s symphonies and concertos. The Danish composer described his Fifth Symphony, constructed in two movements, as a division of dark and light, the battle between evil and good, and the opposition between Dreams and Deeds. The 1928 Clarinet Concerto, an unsettled and stormy work cast in one long movement, features soloist Alessandro Carbonare, principal clarinet of Rome’s Santa Cecilia Orchestra. One of Nielsen’s most popular compositions, the Helios Overture, depicting sunrise, noon, and sunset over the Aegean Sea, rounds out the album.
Ene Salumäe (organ), Vox Clamantis, Jaan-Eik Tulve (conductor)
Once suppressed by the Communist authorities in his native Estonia, Arvo Pärt has become one of the most performed living composers in the world. His mesmerizing and deeply felt works, composed in a modern style derived from ancient liturgical chant, have been widely appreciated. This is the first of two recordings we’re spotlighting this month that have been released in celebration of Pärt’s 90th birthday. Recorded in Haapsalu Cathedral, this collection of sacred choral works is performed by Estonia’s Vox Clamantis, which has been one of the leading interpreters of Pärt’s music over a quarter-century of close collaboration with the composer.
Kalle Randalu, Estonian Festival Orchestra, The Estonian National Male Choir, Ellerhein Girls' Choir, Ellerhein Alumni Choir, Paavo Järvi (conductor)
This tribute recording encapsulates an even closer bond between conductor and composer. Arvo Pärt has been part of Paavo Järvi's life since childhood: "Arvo was my sister's and my father's supercool friend,” says Järvi. “He wore a baseball cap, jeans and a denim jacket." With the Estonian Festival Orchestra, this album presents eight short orchestral pieces by Pärt, plus the title selection for chorus and orchestra. Credo was the work conducted in a now legendary 1968 concert by Paavo’s father Neeme which caused the Soviet regime to blacklist the Järvi family, leading to their departure from Estonia.
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle (conductor)
Spouting with vibrant Slavic rhythms and the composer’s own colorful, lyrical, folkloric melodies, the Slavonic Dances catapulted Antonín Dvořák to fame and recognition across Europe and beyond. His two sets of dances receive idiomatic performances here from the Czech Phil and Sir Simon Rattle, their masterful Principal Guest Conductor.
Shani Diluka (piano)
Centuries-old keyboard works are brought to new life in modern piano performances by Monaco-born pianist Shani Diluka. She invites listeners to explore the effect of English and Italian Renaissance traditions on the development of European classical music in the Baroque era. Works by Renaissance masters Dowland, Monteverdi, Byrd, and Frescobaldi lead to compositions by the likes of Purcell, J.S. Bach, Handel, and Scarlatti.
Gaspard Le Roux: Complete Suites
Daniel-Ben Pienaar (piano)
Though not much is known about Gaspard Le Roux’s life, the fame of the enigmatic French harpsichordist and composer has been assured through his only published work, the Pièces de clavessin of 1705. This set of seven exquisite and charming suites — originally for solo harpsichord, harpsichord duet and trio sonata — are given their first ever recording on the modern piano in this reimagining by this ever-probing South African-born pianist.
Kevin Puts: Concerto for Orchestra, Silent Night Elegy & Virelai
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, Stéphane Denève (conductor)
Pulitzer- and Grammy-winning composer Kevin Puts is saluted by his hometown orchestra in this world premiere recording of three new works. Dedicated to the orchestra and Music Director Stéphane Denève, Puts composed the Concerto for Orchestra in response to the horrific 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. Silent Night Elegy draws on the music from Puts’ acclaimed opera, Silent Night, which tells the story of the spontaneous ceasefires along the Western Front on the first Christmas Eve of World War I. The short Virelai, inspired by medieval French composer Guillaume de Machaut, completes this stunning release.
Schubert: Quintette Imaginaire
Sandrine Piau (soprano), Quatuor Psophos
The album’s title refers to the “imaginary Schubert quintet” formed by the blending of the voice of soprano Sandrine Piau and the strings of the Psophos Quartet. The French performers present modern arrangements for voice and string quartet of several Schubert lieder, plus Schubert’s compelling Quartettsatz and the Andante of the Death and the Maiden string quartet, a theme-and-variations movement based on Schubert’s lied of that name.
Olga Amelchenko (saxophone), Xénia Maliarevitch (piano), Florentino Calvo (mandolin), Giani Caserotto (banjo), Iurie Morar (dulcimer), Kudsi Erguner (flute)
Orchestre de Paris, Alexandre Desplat (conductor)
Four decades of movie-music magic are captured in this live concert recording of music by Oscar, Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Grammy-winning French composer Alexandre Desplat. The composer himself conducts the Orchestre de Paris in new arrangements of music from fifteen of his best-known film scores, including The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Little Women, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Imitation Game, Godzilla, and The Tree of Life. Enjoy with plenty of popcorn!
