Ending Scene

Ambitious reed quintet Splinter Reeds presents a bracing program of new works written for the group by composers Sky Macklay, Matthew Shlomowitz, Caro Haxo, Eric Wubbels, Theresa Wong, and Yannis Kyriakides. All of the works display an envelope pushing impulse that stretches the boundaries of this traditional instrumental format, carving out new repertoire and provoking new aesthetic perspectives.

In 2007, the 50th anniversary of Sibelius’s death, BIS begins the release of a 13-volume edition of all the music that the great master ever created – from the symphonies and tone poems to chamber works and songs. As well as the published works, the edition includes rare original versions and world première recordings of works from his youth – material which to a large extent is unique to BIS. The edition – a grand total of some 65 discs – contains previously released as well as new material, in volumes of 4-6 discs sorted by genre.

The Polish-Jewish composer Mieczyslaw Weinberg (1919-1996), who lost his family due to National Socialism, fled to Russia and was again later subjected to Stalinist persecution, was one of the unjustly forgotten composers of the 20th century until recently. He left behind a considerable oeuvre, and with an impressive renaissance during recent years, including an acclaimed production of 'The Passenger' at ENO, he is now considered one of the most important composers of the Soviet Union alongside Shostakovich and Prokofiev.'The Idiot', based on the novel of the same title by Dostoyevsky, is Weinberg's final opera, composed during the mid-1980s. The plot: the young Prince Myshkin returns to St Petersburg, penniless after many years spent in a Swiss clinic.

Sir Simon Rattle leads an all-star cast in this highly anticipated new recording of Debussy’s evocative opera Pelléas et Mélisande. It was captured in January 2016 during performances of an innovative collaboration between Rattle and Peter Sellars, two of the boldest creative minds in music and theatre today. Supported by the London Symphony Chorus, prepared by renowned choral director Simon Halsey, it is a moving statement of intent for Rattle’s tenure as LSO Music Director.

The Boston Early Music Festival has recorded George Frideric Handel’s very first opera, Almira, Queen of Castile, with a superlatively sumptuous ensemble. For its previous recordings of Baroque operas this successful ensemble has won prizes such as the Grammy, the German Record Critics Annual Prize, and the Echo Klassik. The Hungarian soprano Emõke Baráth sings the role of Almira with a choice ensemble of singers, all of whom have performed in the world’s most renowned concert halls and opera houses. Handel’s Almira is based on a freely invented plot featuring fine entertainment in the form of love and marriage schemes among the nobility, infidelity and mistaken identities, and a happy ending brought about by a court servant’s negotiations. This work was presented at the Hamburg Opera House in 1705 about twenty times and with great success.