In his extensive liner notes, Jacobs develops a theory that the B Minor Symphony did not remain “unfinished”, but was deliberately left unfinished, because Schubert shaped its two movements in analogy to Mein Traum (My Dream),  an autobiographical narration in two parts, written in 1822, simultaneous to the creation of the symphony.

While the first half of Mein Traum tells about his mother’s decease and his problematic relationship to his father, the second part enters a magical, Romantic realm, and eventually brings a reconciliation with his father. On this recording, the two parts of the narration precede the two movements of the Unfinished symphony, and are recited by Tobias Moretti. Jacobs argues that, after the dream-inspired Unfinished, the Great C Major Symphony, with its solemn character and sublime dimensions, served as a liberation for Schubert. Presenting these contrasting works forms a fitting apotheosis to a cycle that has been designed from the onset as a series of symphonic pairs.

B’Rock Orchestra
Tobias Moretti, Narrator
Rene Jacobs, Conductor

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After having recorded La Fanciulla del West (The Maiden of the West), conductor Lawrence Foster now expands his Puccini discography on Pentatone with Madama Butterfly. Together with the Coro & Orquestra Gulbenkian, as well as Elisabeth Kulman (Suzuki), Stefano Secco (Pinkerton), Lester Lynch (Sharpless) and Melody Moore (Cio-Cio-San) in the title role.

Despite its disastrous premiere, Madama Butterfly has become one of Puccini’s most successful and popular operas. While the Japanese ambience often captures the attention, the original dramatic conception and exceptional symphonic qualities of the work are often overlooked. Lawrence Foster’s interpretation brings out the symphonic character of the opera, while Melody Moore’s charismatic interpretation of the title role fully realizes the work’s tragic and dramatic potential.

Vocalists
Melody Moore, Soprano – Madama Butterfly (Cio-Cio-San)
Stefano Secco, Tenor – Pinkerton (Lieutenant in the US Navy)
Elisabeth Kulman, Mezzo-Soprano – Suzuki (Cio-Cio-San’s Servant)
Lester Lynch, Baritone – Sharpless (US Consul at Nagasaki)
Alexander Kaimbacher, Tenor – Goro (Marriage Broker)
Kevin Short, Bass-Baritone – Lo Zio Bonzo (Cio-Cio-San’s Uncle)
Amitai Pati, Tenor – Il Principe Yamadori
Liesbeth Devos, Soprano – Kate Pinkerton
Florian Köfler, Bass – Il Commissario Imperiale
Jorge Leiria, Tenor – L’Ufficiale del registro (The Notary)
Tiago Batista, Bass – Lo Zio Yakusidé (Cio-Cio-San’s Uncle)
Cecília Rodrigues, Mezzo-Soprano – La Madre (Cio-Cio-San’s Mother)
Filipa Passos, Soprano – La Zia (Cio-Cio-San’s Aunt)
Sara Marques, Soprano – La Cugina (Cio-Cio-San’s Cousin)

Coro Gulbenkian
Chorus Master: Jorge Matta

Orquestra Gulbenkian
Concertmaster: Maaria Leino
Assistant Conductor: Clelia Cafiero

Conducted by Lawrence Foster

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Challenge Classics is proud to present a new account of Bach’s Goldberg Variations by the critically acclaimed young pianist Hannes Minnaar. It is his 8th DSD release at NativeDSD Music.  His rendition of Goldbergs sums up all the features of a ‘contemporary’ interpretation at the highest degree:

• Transparent, detailed, and crystal clear phrasing: each and all notes are discernible.
• A supreme – but not artificial nor mannered – control and care of tone and sound: touch, color and timbre are all fruit of a clearly deep insight and work.
• A smooth flow of the discourse: a solid overall concept of the work structure and a plain, simple (never emphasized) ‘singing’ of the melodic line. (Even when he takes a very slow tempo – as in the famous Variation no. 25, about 30% slower than usual – he always sustains the melody, which means it is not the tempo that makes the melody living, but the capacity to make it flow, to ‘connect’ sounds and silences).
• These Goldbergs are not told as a narrative: it is not a dramatic tale, but the architectural structure is well visible. It is not a story. It is a three-dimensional visual work of art.
• Northern Star productions gives Minnaar the sound that perfectly matches his concept of the work. The rest is made by the unique Chris Maene Straight Strung Concert Grand CM005 piano generously supplied by Piano’s Maene.

This is a ‘Goldberg’ for the 21st Century.

Hannes Minnaar – Piano

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One of Rachmaninoff’s most popular pieces, the Second Symphony is an indulgently melancholic and sentimental work. A magic box of the late-Romantic orchestra. Dramatic sections played by the full orchestra contrast heart-breaking swells that only this composer could have written.

The LSO has a long history with the Second Symphony, recording it many times with conductors such as André Previn, Gennady Rozhdestvensky and Valery Gergiev. For this recording, which was captured during the opening of the London Symphony Orchestra’s 2019-20 season at the Barbican Hall, the Orchestra’s Music Director Sir Simon Rattle conducted from memory, performing the uncut version of this symphonic treasure.

London Symphony Orchestra
Sir Simon Rattle, Conductor

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These live recordings were made at our home, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. It is only fitting that this recording, made in June 2019, is dedicated to two composers who contributed greatly to the tapestry of American music.

America’s vastness and diversity are on full display in these two works by Antonin Dvorak and Aaron Copland. It took two individuals from very different backgrounds to give us some of the foundational works on which the American sound has continued to be built over the decades.

When I listen to Copland’s Billy the Kid, I immediately envision the frontier of the American West. It is a source of constant fascination to me that the composer of this quintessential American sound was born in Brooklyn to a family with Russian origins. Inspired by American folk songs, African American spirituals, and Native American songs, Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World”, was composed during the composer’s years in New York and weaves these American sounds into his rich and lush orchestral language.

The cultural bridges built between Africa, Europe, and America allowed artists from these continents to nurture each other and develop different perspectives and rich artistic languages. These compositions are prime examples of those cultural connections and interactions.

We are pleased to have been able to record these live performances and we hope you will enjoy listening to them.

National Symphony Orchestra
Gianandrea Noseda, Music Director & Conductor

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The difference is that in the previous version (SACD148) the DSD recording has been made with three couples of valve microphones, all ancient and original Neumann U47, U48 and M49. This special edition is an Analog Recording that has been made with only two microphones Neumann U47, capturing more acoustics of the theatre.

Producer and Recording Engineer Giulio Cesare Ricci tells us: “In the original release I had two native masters made at the same time: one master is analog (with which I made the Vinyl) and the other master is digital DSD 64. While for this special edition, the native recording is analog made with the Ampex ATR 102  1/2 inch  76 cm/sec analog editing. The analog master was transferred direct-to-DSD 64.”

Both the original version as well as this special edition are available with a 25% discount when purchased together via this bundle.

Filarmonica Teatro Regio Torino
Gianandrea Noseda, Conductor

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Vivaldi penned more than 500 concertos. At least 214 of these are for solo violin and orchestra, but as Michael Talbot remarks, ‘scarcely a year passes without the announcement of some fresh discovery’. So, what was the ‘concerto’ to Vivaldi? What about it did he love so much to have composed so many? In the decade before Vivaldi composed Le Quattro Stagioni.

Despite what this recorded collection suggests, few of Vivaldi’s instrumental works have programmatic titles. On the whole, titles gesture towards a general mood. Il Riposo and L’amoroso are examples of this indication of Affekt – indeed, both are united in their key of gleaming E major. The case of Il Grosso Mogul is stranger. There seems to be no known link between Vivaldi and the Indian court of the Grand Mughal, Akbar. The extreme virtuosity required by the soloist in the outer movements, as well as the long, fully written-out cadenzas, suggest a theatrical function. Perhaps Vivaldi performed it as a ‘theatre concerto’ as part of an opera plot set in India. French royalty, however, did play a huge role in the reception of Le Quattro Stagioni.

Producer Jonathan Freeman-Attwood writes “Working with Rachel Podger and Brecon Baroque has been an object lesson in starting anew and identifying the ingredients which make ‘Le Quattro Stagioni’ great works. Virtuosity is non-negotiable here and Rachel has it in abundance. But it’s the color, poetry, vibrancy and evocative characterization of weather, human warmth, and fragility, captured by the dynamic flux of Rachel interlocking with her colleagues in Brecon Baroque, that deliver near-unimaginable qualities in this music.”

Rachel Podger, Violin
Brecon Baroque

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IsoMike is a unique 4 microphone recording technique invented by Ray Kimber of Kimber Kable fame. It provides a very natural sound field in Stereo and full 4 Channel Pure DSD 256 Surround Sound. We invite our listeners to pick up the latest in the IsoMike DSD recordings.

Robert Silverman tells us “Early in my career, at a social occasion I had been invited to as a guest, I was asked to sit down at the piano and play something. As I had not yet acquired the art of declining such requests graciously (or otherwise when unduly pressed), I acquiesced.

At the conclusion of the performance, my host mentioned that although he’d enjoyed my playing, he preferred “semi-classical music,” especially by that popular French composer whose name he had forgotten. “Michel Legrand?” I asked helpfully. “No, no, someone more famous.” “You don’t mean Chopin?” “Yes, that’s the one.” “I just played something by Chopin,” I responded.

Since he had a limited knowledge of music, his gaffe could be easily forgiven, even if mine could not. Still, the time has long passed since it was a truth universally acknowledged that aside from his ability to write beautiful melodies, Chopin possessed only elementary skill at composition, and certainly was not remotely in the league of the three Bs or many others.”

Robert Silverman – Piano 

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The painstaking process of composition often involved Ravel in a private struggle, as distinct from the subsequent orchestration for which he had such a natural and imaginative flair. In fact, the composer rejected his first, somewhat conservative finale of 1910 written in 3/4 meter, in favor of a much more unpredictable and exciting 5/4 conclusion completed some two years later.

Beyond its music, this is a ballet score conceived as part of a large-scale, multidimensional artwork for Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets russes. Despite some serious collaborative tensions, the work was first staged at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris on 8 June 1912. Ravel’s music, conducted by Pierre Monteux, was accompanied by intense, deeply colored Russian-inspired designs and costumes of Leon Bakst; innovative choreography by the ballet reformer Michel Fokine; and an extended scenario, originally authored by Fokine, but including at least some narrative input from Ravel. Vaslav Nijinsky and Tamara Karsavina danced the title roles.

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