It’s been a crazy busy time around here lately, we’ve had tons of new releases coming out, so we thought we would take a day to step back and do a recap on them!
April
VERDI ARIAS
Sondra Radvanovsky, soprano
Constantine Orbelian, conductor
Philharmonia of Russia
Academy of Choral Art, Moscow
DE 3404
“a true Verdian, with a big, juicy, vibrato-rich sound” London Times
“today’s most exciting Verdian spinto” Opera Canada
“the Leonora of our time” San Francisco Sentinel
Il Trovatore: “Tacea la notte” • “D’amor sull’ali rosee” • Un ballo in Maschera: “Ecco l’orrido campo… Ma dall’arido stelo divulsa” • Il Corsaro: “Non so le tetre immagini” • La Forza del destino: “Pace, pace, mio Dio!” • “La vergine degli Angeli” • Ernani: “Ernani, Ernani involami” • Aida: “O patria mia” • I vespri siciliani: “Arrigo! Ah, parli a un cor” • “Bolero”
Sondra Radvanovsky has been hailed as one of the great Verdi singers of the new generation, and this magnificent debut album from the American soprano demonstrates what all of the excitement is about. As George Loomis puts it, “At a time when genuine Verdi sopranos seem rarer than heldentenors, Sondra Radvanovsky is cause for joy. Her brightly lustrous voice of generous proportion can amply fill out Verdi’s arching phrases and is backed by an interpretive flair that brings the composer’s heroines to life.”
Sondra has been called “the ‘Leonora’ of our time” (San Francisco Sentinel), “today’s most exciting Verdian spinto” (Opera Canada), and “a true Verdian, with a big, juicy, vibrato-rich sound” (London Times). “The evening’s stand-out performance came from Sondra Radvanovsky, an impassioned, big-voiced Leonora,” wrote Edward Seckerson in London’s The Independent. “Firstly, it’s a real Verdi colour, plangent, open, with bags of reach. But she’s not all about big notes, this singer (though heaven knows she has them); her way with Verdi’s expressively
exacting hairpin dynamics was arresting and affecting in both her big arias.”
Sondra has sung in every major opera house in the world including Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Paris Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Vienna State Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, and numerous others. Her home is the Metropolitan Opera, where she has recently sung Stiffelio with Domingo conducting. She sings together with Dmitri Hvorostovsky in “Verdi Opera Scenes,” a Delos release slated for later in 2010.
May
Musical samples from Dmitri Hvorostovsky’s PUSHKIN ROMANCES, to be released next Tuesday!
PUSHKIN ROMANCES
Dmitri Hvorostovsky, baritone
Ivari Ilja, piano
DE 3392
Romances based on poems by Alexander Pushkin
Borodin, Cui, Glinka, Dargomyzhskiy, Medtner, Rachmaninoff, Rimsky-Korsakov, Sviridov, Tchaikovsky, Vlasov
Operatic superstar Dmitri Hvorostovsky has become the supreme interpreter of the Russian Romance, with its rich resource of music and poetry.
“The sheer beauty of Hvorostovsky’s voice approaches legendary status” San Francisco Examiner • “…some of the most beautiful and eloquent sounds that can currently be heard from any human throat… His voice is redolent of luxury: beautiful tone, pinpoint intonation, elegant, and impassioned delivery.” The New York Times
This album offers seventeen songs, or “romances,” all composed to texts from works of Alexander Pushkin, Russia’s greatest poet. The composers represented here have helped define the true meaning of the Russian Romance, and have created some of the world’s greatest song literature. Choosing only romances inspired by Pushkin texts, Hvorostovsky has upped the ante to make a musical statement no other singer has attempted.
GLINKA: I Recall a Wonderful Moment Ja pomnu chudnoe mgnovenie… • Declaration Priznanie • The Fire of Longing Burns in My Heart V krovi gorit ogon zhelania • The Night Zephyr Nochnoi Zefir • DARGOMYZHSKIY: The Youth and the Maiden Yunosha i deva • BORODIN: For the Shores of Thy Far Native Land Dla beregov otchizny dalnei • RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: The Clouds Begin to Scatter Redeet oblakov, Op. 42 No. 3 • On the Hills of Georgia Na kholmax Gruzii lezhit nochnaja mgla, Op. 3, No. 4 • CUI: The Statue at Tsarskoye Selo Carskosel’skaja statuja, Op. 57 No. 17 • I loved you Ya vas ljubil • MEDTNER: Gone Are my Heart’s Desires Ya perezhil svoi zhelania, Op. 3, No. 2 • Winter Evening (The Snowstorm Covers the Sky with Darkness) Zimnii vecher (Buria Mglou nebo kroet), Op. 13, No. 1 • To a Dreamer Mechtatelu • VLASOV: To the Fountain of Bakhchisarai Palace Fontanu Bakhchisarajsogo dvortsa • TCHAIKOVSKY: Nightingale Solovei, Op. 60, No. 4 • RACHMANINOV: Don’t Sing To Me, Fair Maiden Ne poi, krasavitsa, pri mne, Op. 4 No. 4 • SVIRIDOV: The Crimson Forest Sheds its Attire Roniayet les bagrianiy svoi ubor
June
We are very pleased today to announce one of our new releases – New Century Flute Concertos featuring Raffaele Trevisani!
NEW CENTURY FLUTE CONCERTOS
Raffaele Trevisani, flute and piccolo
Piet Koornhof, violin
Roberto Duarte, conductor
Constantine Orbelian, conductor
Moscow Chamber Orchestra
DE 3399
Hendrik Hofmeyr: Double Concerto for Flute, Violin and Strings; Alberto Colla: Quasi una Romanza, Concerto for Flute and Strings; Carlo Galante: I Sospiri di Ariel, Concerto for Flute and Strings; Ernani Aguiar: Concertino for Piccolo and Strings
Italian flute virtuoso Raffaele Trevisani celebrates the music of the 21st Century in this delightful program of new concertos for flute and piccolo. The concertos were written especially for Trevisani and/or dedicated to him; all four works are fresh and inviting. The program is truly a “Raffi and friends from around the world” creation, with American conductor Orbelian, Brazilian conductor Duarte, South African violinist Koornhof, and music by Italian, Brazilian and South African composers.
Trevisani is recognized as one of the outstanding flutists of his generation, and has been praised consistently for his style, musicality and beautiful tone quality. “I do not hesitate to say that he belongs to the best of the flutists of the day,” remarked Sir James Galway. “Trevisani’s interpretation has, besides the sheen of its sparkling virtuosity, a quality of sound, a fineness of expression, elegance and lightness of phrasing.A musical freshness that makes it truly significant.” (Amadeus magazine.)
“Raffi” Trevisani has an impressive array of recordings on Delos, including Italian Flute Concertos (DE 3332), C.P.E. Bach Flute Concertos (DE 3312), and Mercadante Flute Concertos (DE 3372), all with Constantine Orbelian and the Moscow Chamber Orchestra. Bach Trio Sonatas with Piet Koornhof, violin (DE 3391), The Virtuoso Flute (DE 3340), and Raffi’s own arrangements of Mozart Violin Sonatas for Flute and Piano (DE 3367) are all with Paola Girardi, piano.
IN LIGHT OR DARKNESS
Stephen Buzard
Recording Premiere, Buzard Pipe Organ, Op. 37
Second Presbyterian Church, Bloomington IL
DE 3406
Mendelssohn: Sonata IV; Schubert-Buzard: “Du bist die Ruh”; Paulus: “Blithely breezing along”; Vierne: Symphonie III, Op. 28: Adagio • Final; Howells: Psalm-Prelude Set. II No. 2; Reubke: Sonata on the 94th Psalm
If you want to be an outstanding young organ virtuoso, choose an organ builder as your father and an organist/choirmaster as your mother. Grow up absorbing their musical passion and knowledge and developing an intimate familiarity with the noble instrument. Build on that background and stay connected with it, while further refining your art and making musical explorations on your own. And so it is with young Stephen Buzard, who presents the Recording Premiere of the Buzard Pipe Organ, Op. 37.
This is a stunning program, designed to allow the Op. 37 to be heard in its wide range of colors. Stephen’s brilliance as a performer, with a deep understanding of the music and the instrument, is unmistakable. But a surprise standout gem that lingers in the memory is Stephen’s own transcription of “Du Bist die Ruh.” In its eloquent simplicity, this well-loved art song sounds as if the composer might have meant for it to be played just this way, in a quiet church on just such a beautiful organ. (“You are the quietness / The mild peace / You are longing / And what stills it.”)
Stephen is the winner of the 2009 Joan Lippincott Competition for Excellence in Organ Performance. In his final year atWestminster Choir College, studying organ performance with Ken Cowan, he serves as Organ Scholar at Trinity Episcopal Church, Princeton, as well as Director of Music for the Episcopal Church at Princeton University. He has been appointed Senior Organ Scholar atWells Cathedral in England for 2010-2011.
This instrument of 43 Stops and 56 Ranks of pipes is the 37th new organ built by Buzard Pipe Organ
Builders of Champaign, Illinois. The Church’s downtown Sanctuary was completed in 2005, and the new organ arrived in June of 2008, being completed by the first of August.
July (Yesterday)
Shostakovich “The Lady and the Hooligan” • Ballet Suite II
Delos New Release
SHOSTAKOVICH FILM SERIES, Vol. 4
Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)
The Lady and the Hooligan (1962)
(Ballet in one act)
Introduction • Street • The Hooligan • The Lady • School • Prayer • Tavern • Visions • Scene • Promenade in Park • (Allegro) • (Adagio) • Fight • Finale
Ballet Suite No. 2 (1951)
Waltz • Adagio • Polka • Sentimental Romance • Spring Waltz • Finale (Galop)
Minsk Symphony Orchestra
Walter Mnatsakanov, conductor
DRD 2004 (DDD)
In the 1990s, Constantine Orbelian’s Russian Disc label recorded many unique and highly prized programs of Russian repertoire, a number of which will be re-released on Delos. The captivating Shostakovich Film Series is first on our list, with two CDs released earlier this year and now this choreographic program.
The Lady and the Hooligan, Volume 4 in the Shostakovich Film Series, is a “choreographic novel” in seven episodes. The 41-minute score is an ingenious tapestry of descriptive music drawn from a number of Shostakovich works. Arranged by Levon Atovmyan, “The Lady and the Hooligan” vividly conveys the characters and their dramatic story, based on a screenplay by Vladimir Mayakovsky.
The more familiar Ballet Suite No. 2 is lively and lyrical, playful and ironic, in typical Shostakovich style.
Already released on the Shostakovich Film Series are Suites from the Film Scores The Young Guard and Zoya (DRD 2001), and Music from the Film Alone, (DRD 2002).