SCHUBERT
An den Mond / Lieder Dietrich Henschel (baritone) Helmut Deutsch (piano) [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 10/Jul/2014 ] "Schubert's recurring themes of death, night and wandering shape a thoughtful, expressive and beautiful recital by this baritone and accompanist." (BBC Music) |
ANDRE CAMPRA
Messe de Requiem Elisabeth Baudry, Monique Zanetti, Josep Benet, John Elwes & Steven Varcoe / La Chapelle Royale, Philippe Herreweghe [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 10/Jan/2014 ] This French Baroque icon from the early days of harmonia mundi [around 1986? Ed] has been 'download only' for some years and we are delighted that Herreweghe's benchmark Campra 'Requiem' is now reissued at mid price, on hm gold, due to popular demand. |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Le Violoncelle Au 20E siècle Emmanuelle Bertrand (cello) [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / 2 CD - released 17/Jun/2016 ] |
ELGAR
Nursery Suite, Serenade, Dream Children & other works English Chamber Orchestra / Paul Goodwin (with William Bennett, flute) [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 20/Feb/2009 ] "Paul Goodwin conducts with flair; alert to what's written on the page, sensitive to what's not." - CLASSIC CD |
BIBER
Missa Christi Resurgentis The English Concert, Andrew Manze [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 29/Sep/2008 ] The interpretation of Andrew Manze and The English Concert 'succeeds in exalting the luxuriance of this voluptuous style' (Diapason). |
ARCANGELO CORELLI
Corelli: Concerti grossi op.6. Ensemble 415 / Chiara Banchini / Jesper Christensen [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / 2 CD - released 1/Jun/2010 ] 'With Ensemble 415's splendid performances radiating relaxed spontaneity in every bar (...) one has only to close one's eyes to feel oneself transported to a warm summer evening in Rome.' Gramophone |
MACHAUT
Messe de Notre-Dame Ensemble Organum / Marcel Paras-director [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 1/Sep/2008 ] As a 'craftsman of the old and the new forge', Guillaume de Machaut contributed to the tradition of his famous predecessors such as Adam de la Halle and Jehan Lescurel in laying the foundations for an aesthetic with an illustrious future, the Ars... |
POULENC
La Voix Humaine / La Dame de Monte-Carlo Felicity Lott (soprano) / Orchestre de la Suisse Romande / Armin Jordan [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 1/Jun/2012 ] "Lott uses [her voice] exquisitely. You want to hear Felicity Lott's anguish, textual inflections and lacerating pain in 'La Vox humaine." San Francisco Examiner |
PETRUCCI
Harmonice Musices Odhecaton Fretwork [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 1/Sep/2008 ] Editor's Choice Gramophone Magazine - ClassicsToday 10 (sound)/ 10 (performance) |
MANUEL de FALLA
El Amor Brujo / El Retablo de maese Pedro [Master Peter's Puppet Show] Ginesa Ortega (sngr) Joan Martin (treb) Joan Cabero (ten) Ifiaki Fresiin (bar) / Orquestra de Cambra Teatre Lliure, Josep Pons [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 20/May/2011 ] "Ginesa Ortega is most effective as the passionate gitana Candelas, a lady of such strong personality that one suspects that even a sturdy gipsy lover might be flattened by its force...This is an attractive disc." (Gramophone) |
ORTHODOX CHANT
Orthodox Chant: Orthodox Music of the 17th & 18th Centuries Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Paul Hillier [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 10/Apr/2008 ] "The choir...sing with exceptional blend and purity of tone" (The Absolute Sound) |
DUFAY
O Gemma Lux - Complete Isorhythmic Motets Huelgas Ensemble, Paul van Nevel [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 20/May/2011 ] 1001 Classical recordings you must hear before you die (Pre 1700) - A sumptuous farewell to the musical Middle Ages. |
J.S. BACH
Trauerode BWV 198 / Jesu, der du meine Seele BWV 78 Ingrid SchmithAsen, Howard Crook, Peter Kooy, Charles Brett / La Chapelle Royale / Philippe Herreweghe (dir) [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 1/Sep/2008 ] Whatever the occasions for which they were written (a tribute to a dead queen, or a chorale cantata), the two works on this recording have one subject in common: death and the soul's salvation. Performed in 1727 in memory of the sorely mourned... |
MOMPOU
Mompou: Música callada Javier Perianes (piano) [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 10/Jun/2012 ] "Mompou's Musica callada...requires a special evocative power and contemplative intimacy, and pianist Javier Perianes is marvellously engaging and beautifully recorded." BBC Music Magazine, October 2012 **** |
LEONARD BERNSTEIN
Bernstein: Mass Jerry Hadley (tenor) / Rundfunkchor Berlin, Pacific Mozart Ensemble, Staats-und Domchor Berlin, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. Kent Nagano [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / 2 SACD - released 10/Jun/2012 ] "Nagano got everyone going, heads nodding, feet tapping, smiling all around me, and at least half the audience was on their feet at the end." - ClassicsToday.com (on the concert) |
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Shostakovich: String Quartets No. 1, 4, 6, 8, 9 & 11 Jerusalem Quartet [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / 2 CD - released 1/Feb/2013 ] BBC AWARD WINNER 2008 - Best Chamber recording - 'This is challenging, unpredictable Shostakovich which always convinces even when the approach is new. The Jerusalem Quartet's tonal range is daunting too.' (BBC) |
HUGO WOLF
Wolf: Prometheus / Orchestral Songs Juliane Banse (soprano) & Dietrich Henschel (baritone) / Rundfunkchor Berlin & Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Kent Nagano [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 10/Jul/2014 ] "Wolf's own orchestrations, in these splendid performances, are startling. They transform his songs into quasi-Wagnerian music dramas." (Five Stars BBC Music) |
GIOVANNI GIROLAMO KAPSBERGER
Lute Works Paul O'Dette (lute) [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 25/Mar/2008 ] "This is superb music, melodious, […] wonderfully apt for the instrument. O'Dette, for my money the world's finest lutenist, does the music full justice, and the sound is first-rate. You'll want this one." - FANFARE |
FRESCOBALDI / GRATIANI / ROSSI / BERNABEIa‚
Canta La Maddalena Maria Cristina Kiehr (soprano) / Concerto Soave, Concerto Soave [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 29/Sep/2008 ] "Kiehr's supple and expressive voice in music that needs this kind of committed advocacy. Kiehr has chosen works which skilfully blend dramatic scena with contemplative radiance, and with her significantly sensitive accompanists," (Gramophone) |
MONTEVERDI
Vespro della Beata Vergine [Vespers] La Chapelle Royale, Collegium Vocale Gent / Philippe Herreweghe [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / 2 CD - released 1/Jun/2010 ] In autumn of 1610 Monteverdi dedicated a luxuriant collection of religious music to Pope Paul V, of which the Vespers of the Blessed Virgin is by far the most prodigious work. A spectacular synthesis of Franco-Flemish polyphony and Italian innovations. |