Grand Master Repertoire

In his second album of French song from the 19th and 20th centuries – following the ground-breaking Opium, released in 2009 – countertenor Philippe Jaroussky explores settings of poems by Paul Verlaine (1844-96). One of France’s most revered fin-de-siècle poets and a pioneer of the decadent and symbolist movements, Verlaine famously declared his philosophy in the first line of Art poétique in 1874: ‘De la musique avant toute chose’ – ‘music before all else.’ In his poetry, the sound and the shape of each line carries meaning and expression, adding resonance to the words, which often evoke a twilit world of ambiguous emotions.

Cristo Barrios and Andrew West write of their new release Deep Light: “We were inspired to gather together this collection of chamber works for reasons beyond the obvious prestige of the individual composers and the importance of their works. We wanted to present the listener with a satisfying musical journey, as much through the formal variety as the expressive content of the pieces, full of contrasts that are to be found among different movements of the same piece, as well as among the five works on the recording.

« Cinq chanteuses lyriques, un quatuor à cordes, nous racontant, dans des réductions de dix minutes, six des plus grandes œuvres et univers musicaux du répertoire lyrique tout en gardant une qualité musicale irréprochable, le projet est ambitieux, surprenant, alléchant », précise la metteuse-en-scène Manon Savary ; « Force est de constater que l’exercice est réalisable, que les œuvres, réduites à leur essence, prennent un nouveau sens, une nouvelle vie, une nouvelle jeunesse.

On his second release for Sony Classical, Erwin Schrott transfers many of his stage triumphs to an album of arias. Although it is a must to include one of his showpiece arias from Mozart’s Don Giovanni on the recording, for the most part Schrott has devoted this album to classics from the French and Italian bass-baritone repertoire, complementing them with compositions by Verdi and Massenet that are not often heard.

Austrian clarinettist Andreas Ottensamer has joined forces with Chinese pianist Yuja Wang to record an album of works by composers of the Romantic era. Blue Hour, set for release on March 8 by Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Music Canada, the country’s leading music company, features some of the jewels of the repertoire including Brahms’s Intermezzo in A major, Mendelssohn’s Songs without Words – arranged for clarinet and piano by Ottensamer – and Weber’s virtuosic Grand Duo concertant. The album reveals Ottensamer to be not just a sensitive and responsive chamber partner, but also a brilliant soloist, as he gives a dazzling performance of Weber’s First Clarinet Concerto, recorded with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Mariss Jansons.

Firmly established as one of the world's greatest violinists, Renaud Capucon's career both on the stage and as a recording artist has spanned a wide gamut of concerto repertoire, chamber music and recitals. He has a reputation for impeccable performances and fine interpretations of classics and lesser-known repertoire, from his most recent albums with critically-acclaimed readings of the Bach Violin Concertos and the Vasks Violin Concerto, and a recital disc with Khatia Buniatishvili, to the Beethoven / Korngold and Brahms/Berg concertos, Renaud has become known for the breadth of his repertoire, his world-class chamber music partners, and the quality of is playing.

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The flutist Sabine Dreier was born in Frankfurt am Main. After studies in Frankfurt (Prof. Klaus Pohlers) and Mannheim (Prof. Joachim Starke), she graduated with a top grade in orchestral music.

"From Afar" is a new album full of beautiful arrangements recorded on two pianos with the repertoire mirrored on both grand piano and upright piano.

Jules Massenet's Don Quichotte has never quite established itself in the repertoire, not because of any deficit in the music, but because it's not immediately evident exactly what it is dramatically; is it a comedy or tragedy or some more subtle blend of the two? The last option seems to reflect the usual approach to it, which makes it a hard sell for audiences. Valery Gergiev clearly envisions it a comedy, though one with a poignant ending, and the certainty of his vision make this an exceptionally compelling and coherent presentation of the opera.