Coro e Orchestra Ghislieri / Giulio Prandi NICCOLÒ JOMMELLI Requiem

REQUIEM

 

Les Talens Lyriques / Christophe Rousset N. JOMMELLI Armida Abbandonata

ARMIDA ABBANDONATA

Charlotte Schäfer / Neue Düsseldorfer Hofmusik / Michael Preiser SOL NASCENTE

The debut release of coloratura soprano, Charlotte Schäfer accompanied by the Düsseldorfer Hofmusik led by Michael Preiser in a collection that focuses on the bravura arias written in the period between the Baroque and early Classical eras. With many of these arias being released for the first time, Schäfer’s sublime performance invites us to consider the prescience of the young Mozart with “Sol Nascente” meaning rising sun written at the advent of the new Classical era.

Charlotte Schäfer / Concerto con Anima / Michael Preiser DOLCI AFFETTI

The second solo CD of the young soprano Charlotte Schäfer, together with Concerto con Anima under Michael Preiser, contains true gems of virtuoso coloratura art, which all use texts from the libretto Demofoonte by Pietro Metastasio. Her debut album (ARS38187 - Sol nascente - Italian Arias) received great reviews: "....the young ... soprano Charlotte Schäfer introduces herself with sophisticated coloratura...." Opernglas "She's technically accomplished with superb coloratura and a trill worth the name . " Musicweb International.

Among the composers of the works recorded here for the first time in the world are Johann Christian Bach, Pasquale Anfossi and Giuseppe Sarti.

Delphine Galou / Accademia Bizantina / Ottavio Dantone AGITATA

Delphine Galou is renowned and admired for her musicality and her appealing timbre. She has taken part in many productions of Baroque music and recordings of operas (notably by Vivaldi), but this is her first recital. It is a programme of sacred music, motets, cantatas and excerpts from oratorios, which in the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were influenced by the increasingly fashionable genre of opera. From the famous ‘Agitata infido flatu’ from Vivaldi’s oratorio Juditha triumphans, here counterpointed by an aria from another setting of the story of Judith composed by Jommelli, to Stradella’s Lamentations and Porpora’s magnificent motet ‘In procella sine stella’, Delphine Galou covers a wide range of spiritual emotions. She is accompanied by the excellent Accademia Bizantina under its director and harpsichordist Ottavio Dantone. A concerto by Gregori and a sinfonia by Caldara complete this release, which includes several world premiere recordings. 

Joyce DiDonato IN WAR & PEACE

The pendulum of human history has continuously swung between despair and hope, horror and bliss, chaos and tranquility. We are a restless bunch, prone to desperation, isolation and violence in some moments, and yet, mercifully, to optimism and generosity in others.

As a citizen of the world in 2016, at times I am overwhelmed by the temptation to spiral down into the turmoil and pessimism that seemingly invades all corners of our lives, pulling me into the dispiriting din of upheaval which can devastate the spirit. And yet, I’m a belligerent, proud, willing optimist. I resist.

And so I ask myself: Is it possible to find a sincere and lasting peace within such deafening chaos? And if so, how can I access it? Is there an alternative to simply surrendering to the inevitable noise and our base fears, instead choosing serenity, audaciously silencing those fears?

For centuries, creators of great art have been depicting atrocity and pandemonium alongside tranquility and harmony for centuries, boldly showing us both our brutal nature and our elevated humanity. Art unifies, transcends borders, connects the disconnected, eliminates status, soothes turmoil, threatens power and the status-quo, and gloriously exalts the spirit. Art is a valiant path to peace.

With the help of Handel and Purcell, among other masters, I respectfully invite you look at the interwoven worlds of external conflict and serenity, internal war and peace, and to contemplate where you wish to reside within yourself.

As I have tried to convey in this selection of music, the power to bravely tip the scales towards peace lies firmly within every single one of us. (Joyce DiDonato)

Pablo Heras-Casado / Concerto Köln EL MAESTRO FARINELLI

 Quickly becoming known as one of the most exciting conductors of his generation, Pablo Heras-Casado is set to make his album debut, El Maestro Farinelli, on the recently re-launched label, Archiv Produktion for Deutsche Grammophon. Available May 27, 2014, this new album marks Heras-Casado’s return to his core repertoire and musical heritage, performing instrumental and vocal music associated with Farinelli, the legendary 18th-century castrato singer who served as impresario and court musician to the kings of Spain.

With El Maestro Farinelli, Archiv Produktion offered Heras-Casado the opportunity to choose what music to conduct from the Farinelli period, focusing on neglected operas where many orchestral scores had been destroyed in a palace fire in the 19-century and ultimately those that survived had to be transcribed by hand. This album features a rare world premiere of eight recordings with some arias sung by noted countertenor Bejun Mehta as well as including the works of Baroque composers like Hasse, Porpora and Jomelli, which Farinelli presented during his time as concert master in Madrid and Aranjuez.

Enjoying a diverse conducting career thus far, Pablo Heras-Casado has encompassed the great symphonic and operatic repertoire, historically-informed performance, cutting-edge contemporary scores, and has already developed a special rapport with a number of soloists, orchestras and opera houses.