In June, PENTATONE releases five enthralling additions to their catalogue: Haydn’s The Creation with Houston Symphony, conducted by Andrés Orozco-Estrada; Mendelssohn Symphonies No.2 with NDR Radiophilharmonie conducted by Andrew Manze; Mason Bates’ The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs with The Santa Fe Opera, conducted by Michael Christie; Tippet Rise OPUS 2017; and Mozart & Mysliveček – Flute Concertos performed by Ana de la Vega and the English Chamber Orchestra.
HAYDN SUPREME MASTERPIECE
Andrés Orozco – Estrada, Nicole Heaston, Peter Rose, Toby Spence , Houston Symphony , Houston Symphony Chorus
Haydn’s stupendous, joyous and uplifting oratorio Die Schöpfung (The Creation) is thrillingly brought to life in this recording with Andrés Orozco-Estrada conducting the Houston Symphony, with the Houston Symphony Chorus and the acclaimed operatic soloists Nicole Heaston, Toby Spence and Peter Rose.
With its startling dramatic gestures, bold orchestral colours and sublimely beautiful word painting, Haydn’s astonishing depiction of the Genesis creation story remains his supreme masterpiece and one of the best-loved works in the entire choral repertoire. In a vivid series of tableaux, from the creation of light to Adam and Eve’s love duet, Haydn brings to life the birds, beasts and angels which all rejoice in soaring, life-affirming music.
CAST
Nicole Heaston Gabriel
Toby Spence Uriel
Peter Rose Raphael
Houston Symphony Chorus
Betsy Cook Weber Director
Houston Symphony
Conducted by Andrés Orozco-EstraddaThis album will be released as 2 Super Audio -CDs and in digital formats for streaming and high resolution downloads. (Article number: PTC 5186614)
A MILESTONE IN THE HISTORY OF SYMPHONIC FORM
Andrew Manze, Anna Lucia Richter, Esther Dierckes, Robin Tritschler , NDR Radiophilharmonie ,WDR Rundfunkchor Köln NDR Chor
Mendelssohn’s Second Symphony “Lobgesang [Hymn of Praise]” is highly original from a conceptual point of view, with its combination of three instrumental movements, followed by a cantata with three soloists and chorus. The piece is a milestone in the history of the symphonic form, stretching the seams of the symphony genre even further than Beethoven had dared with his “Choral” Ninth. In his Lobgesang, Mendelssohn achieved nothing less than the artistic destruction of the conceptual opposition of vocal and instrumental music. Here they enter into a relationship of constructive, mutual support in the service of music. Moreover, the Biblical lyrics express Mendelssohn’s deeply-felt religiosity.
This album completes PENTATONE’s Mendelssohn Symphonies series with the NDR Radiophilharmonie and conductor Andrew Manze. After winning the Jahrespreis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik 2017 for their recording of Symphonies 1 & 3 and the positive reception of Symphonies 4 & 5, expectations are high for this final piece of the puzzle. On this album, the NDR Radiophilharmonie and Andrew Manze join forces with the NDR Chor and WDR Rundfunkchor, as well as with an excellent cast of soloists: sopranos Anna Lucia Richter and Esther Dierkes and tenor Robin Tritschler.
This album will be released as 1 Super Audio -CD and in digital formats for streaming and high resolution downloads. (Article number: PTC 5186639)
AN OPERA ON ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL MEN IN MODERN TIMES
The Santa Fe Opera
In their astounding new opera The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, composer Mason Bates and librettist Mark Campbell explore the spiritual evolution of one of the most influential men of modern times as he creates a revolutionary new world of technological empowerment, then discovers a larger world within himself.
Like Steve Jobs, composer Mason Bates is an innovator whose creativity breaks through boundaries, combining traditional orchestration with electronics in ways that have made him one of the most sought-after and widely programmed composers in the United States. In The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, Bates and Campbell give us an alternative and intimate perspective of a public life, examining the people and experiences that shaped Steve Jobs: his father, his Buddhist practice, his rise and fall as an executive, and finally his marriage to the woman who showed him the power of human connection.CAST
Kelly Markgraf Paul Jobs
Edward Parks Steve Jobs
Sasha Cooke Laureen Powell Jobs
Wei Wu Kōbun Chino Otogawa
Mariya Kagaskaya Teacher
Jonah Sorenson Young Steve Jobs (silent)
Garrett Sorenson Steve Wozniak
Jessica E. Jones Chrisann Brennan
The Santa Fe Opera
Conducted by Michael ChristieThis album will be released as 2 Audio -CDs and in digital formats for streaming and downloads. (Article number: PTC 5186690)
DAYDREAMS IN A WHIMSICAL, IMAGINARY WORLD
Matt Haimovitz, Anne-Marie McDermott, Yevgeny Sudbin, Jeffrey Kahane, Andrea Lam, Jessica Sindell, Caroline Goulding, David Fung, Vicky Chow, Doug Perkins
Tippet Rise OPUS 2017 is the second compilation album to emerge from the summer music season at Montana’s Tippet Rise Arts Center, which features performance spaces of acoustic perfection amidst a sculpture-laden terrain of awe-inspiring beauty, nestled against a backdrop of the Beartooth Mountains near Yellowstone National Park. From the PENTATONE Oxingale Series, Tippet Rise OPUS 2017 inhabits the sphere of Daydreams, a sculpture by Patrick Dougherty where natural saplings organically emerge out of an eroding schoolhouse.
In this whimsical, imaginary world, composers open a visionary portal to the past and the future. In the jazz-infused FIRST CLUB DATE, a world premiere by Aaron Jay Kernis and a Tippet Rise commission, cellist Matt Haimovitz and pianist Andrea Lam illuminate the musical playground of a boy on the cusp of manhood. The new work is dedicated to Haimovitz and the composer’s cellist-son Jonah, with double-entendre movement titles like “Puppy Love” and “Matt’s Monkish Machinations.” Violinist Caroline Goulding and pianist David Fung embody the youthful spirit of George Enescu’s Impressions from Childhood, while a pastoral mood reigns in Eugène Bozza’s Image for solo flute, performed by Jessica Sindell. An epic expansiveness saturates Red Arc / Blue Veil by John Luther Adams, featuring electronics and a wide array of sounds from pianist Vicky Chow and percussionist Doug Perkins. Opening the album is Jeffrey Kahane’s hopeful America the Beautiful, performed on piano by the composer himself, while works by Chopin and Bach, performed by pianists Yevgeny Sudbin and Anne-Marie McDermott, anchor the program with their sheer beauty and virtuosity. This album will be released as 1 Audio -CD and in digital formats for streaming and downloads. (Article number: PTC 5186736)
MOZART’S “CLASSIC” FLUTE CONCERTOS AND MYSLIVEČEK’S HIDDEN TREASURE
Ana de la Vega , English Chamber Orchestra
With sensuous melodies and elegant virtuosity, Mozart’s Flute Concertos in G major (K. 313) and D major (K. 314) are the most cherished pieces composed for the instrument. Here they are brought together with the recently rediscovered Flute Concerto in D major by Josef Mysliveček, Mozart’s esteemed Bohemian contemporary. Released together with the Mozart Concertos, this rare, exciting work is finally on the market again.
The soloist is none other than the actual person who rediscovered Mysliveček’s hidden treasure: flautist Ana de la Vega, who, as a successor of the great French school of Flute playing, possesses that captivating full tone coupled with exquisite legerity.
On this PENTATONE release, she teams up with the English Chamber Orchestra, one of the most celebrated Mozart orchestras in the world.
TRACK LISTING
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Flute Concerto No.2 in D major, K.314
1 Allegro aperto
2 Adagio ma non troppo
3 Rondo. Allegretto
Flute Concerto No.1 in G major, K.313
4 Allegro maestoso
5 Adagio ma non troppo
6 Rondo. Tempo di Menuetto
Josef Mysliveček (1737-1781)
Flute Concerto in D major
7 Allegro moderato
8 Andante mezza voce
9 Allegro molto
This album will be released as 1 Audio -CD and in digital formats for streaming and downloads. (Article number: PTC 5186723)
photo by Andy Baker
