Chanson Mirages: The Art of French Song, with Roderick Williams and Roger Vignoles This disc offers an ideal entry point into the world of French song: it's almost impossible to magine being in safer hands
Baroque Legrenzi: Harmonia d'affetti devoti, Op. 3 This is a near-faultless release ... a real jewel in Naxos' catalogue
Telemann Telemann Cantatas for the Hanoverian Kings of England A fascinating way to present some magnificently written Telemann cantatas
Vocal Concert Review: Mark Padmore and Jonathan Biss triumph in Schumann SchumannLiederkreis, Op. 24 Sechs Gedichte und Requiem, Op. 90 (1850) Dichterliebe, Op. 48 (full 20-song version of 1840) Milton Court, London 29.11.2021 Mark Padmore and Jonathan Biss make for a powerful pairing, and clearly bring out the best ion each other. There was none of the inconsistency of
Christmas Strange Wonders: The Wexford Carols, Volume 2 A supremely beautiful Christmas disc; warming and different
Vocal Songs of Travel and Home A heartfelt, glorious disc of song, the programme imaginative, the performances radiant
Vocal Repost: I Am Hera: The delights of soprano Hera Hyesang Park This singer, more than most, achieves a level of purity of utterance that is to be cherished
Brahms Brahms Liebeslieder-Walzer, and more While the Liebeslieder functioned as a considerable financial success for Brahms, today they shine as jewels in Brahms' crown
Baroque Bach's Pergolesi Stabat Mater (!) This is a remarkable disc, thought-provoking, educational and brilliantly, flawlessly performed
Baroque Virtù e Amore: Music of Il secondo Barocco Virtue and love: two vital aspects of Baroque thought and emotion
Vocal Élégie: Anita Rachvelishvili on ravishing form on Sony I was pretty much knocked out the one and only time I believe I have heard Anita Rachvelishvili: as the gypsy Azucena in Verdi's Il trovatore at the Royal Opera Hosue, Covent Garden in 2016 [https://seenandheard-international.com/2016/12/farness-conducting-and-rachvelishvilis-azucena-make-this-revival-worthwhile/] . Here on Classical Explorer we also encountered
Early Music Byrd 1588: Psaumes, Sonets & Songs of sadness and pietie As the first complete recording of the 1588 collection, these discs obviously have huge musicological value; they hold immense treasures, too
German Baroque Buxtehude: Membra Jesu Nostri One of the most purely beautiful recordings to come my way in some time, this acts as a salutary reminder of the genius of Dietrich Buxtehude (c 1637-1707). This is Passion music par excelllence, supplemented by offerings by Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672) and Lüdert Dijkman (c 1645-1717). Buxtehude, organist at the
Schubert Schubert: Three Song Cycles A fine set of performances here from Christoph Prégardien, a singer who has impressed in Schubert at the Wigmore on more than occasion (with James Bailieu here [https://seenandheard-international.com/2016/04/a-stimulating-schubert-recital-by-julian-pregardien-and-james-baillieu/] and with Christoph Schnackertz here [https://seenandheard-international.com/2015/11/christoph-pregardien-champions-lesser-known-schubert-lieder/] ). It is tremendous to have the
Mahler Mahler's Song of Lamentation: Das Klagende Lied A valuable addition to Gielen's Mahler, and a valuable addiiton to to Das Klagende Lied's discography
Vocal Heart & Hereafter: The Songs of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor I enjoyed soprano Elizabeth Llewelyn's contributions to Chelsea Opera Group's Boito Mefitofele [https://seenandheard-international.com/2019/03/chelsea-opera-group-give-a-glorious-performance-of-boitos-mefistofele/] in 2019, in Vaughan Williams' A Sea Symphony [https://seenandheard-international.com/2017/10/brabbins-and-the-bbc-symphony-in-an-inspired-pairing-of-earth-and-sea/] at the Barbican in 2017 and - heart-stoppingly - as Magda in Puccini&
Graupner More Graupner! Cantatas (and an opera) Two beautifully complementary releases then, revealing different sides of this fascinating composer.
Vocal Isolation Songbook This is a remarkable project fronted by one of the foremost singers in front of the public at the moment, Helen Charlston. The isolation felt by many because of the CoVID lockdowns has been felt particularly keenly by musicians, that itinerant segment of the population who depend on audience contact
Early Music Rebirth: Sonya Yoncheva sings Stradella, Monteverdi, Strozzi and ... Abba! Born from the "global cataclysm" of CoVID, this disc offers both hope and joy
Monteverdi Il delirio della passione: Anna Lucia Richter sings Monteverdi This disc would be the ideal for an introduction to the music of Monteverdi. No fusty history lesson of a disc, it is a vibrant, muscologically-informed celebration of the Master
Vocal Im Abendrot: Matthias Goerne and Seong-Jin Cho (at sunset) An absolutely unmissable disc for lovers of the late-Romantic Lied
Vocal Chère Nuit: French Songs from Louise Alder and Joseph Middleton Louise Alder herself describes this programme as "wildly varied"; she has also said that she hopes that the album paints "pictures of a French evening, of mystery, intrigue, discovery, seduction, love, and blissful night"
Bach Bach from Philippe Herreweghe Magnificently recorded in Waalse Church, Amsterdam, this is unmissable ...
