Charlotte Sohy composed her only symphony, Grande Guerre ("The Great War"), during World War I, but it wasn't heard in performance until 2019. Conductor Bar Avni returns to the work on her debut album Symphonies in 3 Movements, one of more than a dozen new releases in the next edition of Sunday Classical, hosted by Mark Pinto.
Overtures from the British Isles, Vol. 3
BBC Philharmonic, Rumon Gamba (conductor)
Gamba and the BBC Philharmonic return with their third installment of overtures by British composers. Including works by Frank Bridge and Benjamin Britten, all were composed within a narrow but turbulent period of history – 1938 to 1949. Some wonderful finds in this survey of rarely played music – including three world premiere recordings -- written in an eclectic mix of styles.
Phantasy
Piatti Quartet, James Gilchrist (tenor), Sharon Carty (mezzo-soprano) et al.
More music from the British Isles here in this exploration of the art of the ‘Phantasy,” a uniquely British musical genre from the early 20th century inspired by Renaissance-era works for string ensembles. Phantasies by Vaughan Williams, Herbert Howells, and Malcolm Arnold are featured alongside song settings by Ina Boyle, the prolific Irish composer now enjoying a welcome renaissance of rediscovery.
Lux Intus
Barbican Quartet
Connoisseurs of the string quartet will be delighted by this release from the highly sought-after, young, London-based Barbican Quartet. First-prize winners of the 2022 ARD Music Competition, referred to as the “Olympics of Music” by Simon Rattle, the Barbican deliver performances of Mozart’s Quartet No. 21, K. 575 and Britten’s Quartet No. 1, alongside works by Elgar and Rebecca Clarke and a commissioned work by young German composer Sophia Jani.
Rachmaninoff: Piano Works
Boris Giltburg (Piano)
Critically acclaimed Rachmaninoff interpreter Giltburg plays early works by Rachmaninoff showing the young composer finding his voice while providing glimpses of the Rachmaninoff we recognize today. Included are the Op. 3 Morceaux de Fantaisie, written at the age of 19 and containing his iconic Prélude in C-sharp minor, plus the Tchaikovsky-inspired Morceaux de Salon and melodically rich Three Nocturnes.
Italian Perspectives
Bamberger Symphoniker, Riccardo Frizza (conductor)
Frizza and the Bamberg Symphony trace the revival and evolution of Italian orchestral music in this collection of works by Giuseppe Martucci and Ottorino Respighi. Martucci’s 1895 Symphony No. 1 blends the rigorous structure of Brahms and Wagnerian color with striking, passionate outbursts. Respighi, the master colorist, brings Renaissance paintings to life with his 1927 Trittico Botticelliano and reveals his genius for orchestration in five of Rachmaninoff’s Op. 39 Études-Tableaux, originally for piano.
Mozart : Great Mass in C Minor
Le Concert des Nations, La Capella Nacional de Catalunya, Giulia Bolcato (soprano), Elionor Martinez (soprano), David Fischer (tenor), Matthias Winckhler (bass-baritone), Jordi Savall (conductor)
A must-listen for Mozart lovers, his unfinished masterpiece is presented in a complete version led by one of the principal figures in historically informed performance, Jordi Savall. Mozart wrote the work in 1782-83 Vienna, where it premiered in its unfinished form, showcasing the talents of his new wife Constanze, who sang the challenging, wide-ranging, coloratura soprano solos. The Mass setting demonstrated a new level of expression from Mozart, combining his mastery of Baroque counterpoint with Classical operatic intensity. This completion is based on Mozart’s own sketches and other compositions.
Colors of Bach
Eldbjørg Hemsing (violin), Norwegian String Quintet, Tim Allhoff (piano), Martynas (accordion), Louisa Tuck (cello)
The endlessly adaptable music of Johann Sebastian Bach is performed here in modern-sounding arrangements for solo violin and string quintet, occasionally with the addition of piano, harpsichord, and other instruments. The arrangements, termed “variations,” are on roughly twenty, mostly well-known Bach melodies from sonatas, chorale preludes, concertos, and even the St. Matthew Passion. As a bonus, the album includes an ‘untouched,’ intimate, complete performance of the much-loved Violin Concerto in E major.
J.S. Bach: Sonatas & Partitas
Renaud Capuçon (violin)
Bach’s six solo violin Sonatas and Partitas, completed in 1720, are often regarded as among the most important pieces ever written for solo violin. They push the violin’s technical, polyphonic, and expressive limits, reflecting Bach’s own skill as a violinist. Celebrated French violinist Capuçon, who’s cultivated a very personal relationship with this music since childhood, marks his 50th birthday with this release.
Symphonies in 3 Movements: Sohy - Milhaud - CPE Bach - Stravinsky
Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, Bar Avni (conductor)
Multi-award-winning, Israeli conductor Avni brings together three-movement symphonies by four composers in her debut recording with this orchestra. The earliest piece is a sparkling 1775 symphony by C.P.E. Bach; the latest, Stravinsky’s first major work composed in America around 1940. The great discovery here is the symphony “Grande Guerre” (“Great War”) by Charlotte Sohy, the French composer’s only symphony, a substantial and colorful work commemorating World War I. She composed it in 1914, though its premiere did not come until 2019.
Elsa Barraine: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2 'Voïna'
Orchestre National de France, Cristian Măcelaru (conductor)
This welcome release reveals the distinctive voice of Elsa Barraine (1910-1999), regarded as an outstanding French composer of the mid 20th century. With music director Măcelaru, the National Orchestra of France offers her two symphonies and an orchestral suite depicting a river in Vietnam. Winner of the Prix de Rome at age 19, Barraine studied with Paul Dukas at the Paris Conservatoire, later spent more than 20 years as a music professor, and was prominent in the French Resistance during World War II. As critic David Smith has noted, “her music evokes harder-edged styles such as those of Walton, Prokofiev and the later Shostakovich, while at the same time retaining distinctively French qualities.”
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3 'Scottish', The Hebrides
Les Ambassadeurs ~ La Grande Écurie, Alexis Kossenko (conductor)
The musically curious will want to seek out this release of early versions of two famous works by Felix Mendelssohn in first-ever recordings on period instruments. In both instances, the pieces are longer than their better-known final versions, with the symphony having a more tentative, ‘work-in-progress’ feel, and the overture a brighter, more joyous tone similar to Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream.
In Her Hands
Neave Trio
Hailed as one of the finest ensembles of its generation, the Neave Trio enchants with this program of works by female composers. The album includes Clara Schumann’s dramatic 1846 Piano Trio, the Piano Trio No. 2 of Cécile Chaminade, an acclaimed 1887 work which the pianist-composer performed frequently, and the late-romantic second piano trio of 1910 by Croatia’s Dora Pejačević.
Mahler: Symphony No. 9
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski (conductor)
Gustav Mahler’s final completed symphony gets a new outing in a “memorably bracing” (Gramophone Magazine) 2022 concert performance by the London Philharmonic with Conductor Vladimir Jurowski. Mahler completed the symphony in 1909 following the death of his beloved daughter, Maria Anna, and the diagnosis of his own fatal heart disease. This extraordinary masterpiece is considered the great composer’s profound farewell to Vienna and to life itself.
