Complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas – Wilhelm Kempff

RRC9010 (9CD) [Bar code 5055031390106] UK Dealer Price – £11.50

Regis presents classic recordings of the complete Beethoven sonatas at an exceptional price. Wilhelm Kempff’s mono set is often regarded as superior to his later stereo set and appears here, newly transferred and organised sequentially, in a beautifully packaged 9 CD wallet box. UK suggested retail price £20.00.

“Wilhelm Kempff was the most inspirational of Beethoven pianists. Those who have cherished his earlier stereo cycle for its magical spontaneity will find Kempff’s qualities even more intensely conveyed in this mono set, recorded between 1951 and 1956.’’ Gramophone

Romantic Piano Concertos – Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 Op. 23/Schumann Piano Concerto Op. 54 performed by Van Cliburn

RRC1391 [Bar code 5055031313914] UK Dealer Price – £2.70

Van Cliburn’s extraordinary rise to fame in the late fifties was in no small part due to his performance of the Tchaikovsky concerto featured on this disc. This Regis release is a valuable document of the birth of a pianistic legend. The Schumann coupling shows a more introspective side to his musicianship. Available at super budget price.

“Van Cliburn’s recorded performance of the concerto is a very good one. He certainly brings enormous power to the many sections of the music which respond readily to it, yet is happily content to keep the power in reserve elsewhere.” Gramophone of Tchaikovsky

Richter plays Schubert & Beethoven

RRC1390 [Bar code 5055031313907] UK Dealer Price – £2.70

Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 16 D.845; Schubert: Moments Musicaux D. 780 No. 1 in C major; Schubert: Impromptus D. 899 (selection); Beethoven: Bagatelles Op. 33 (selection); Beethoven: Bagatelles Op. 119 (selection); Beethoven: Bagatelles Op. 126 (selection)

Wonderful performances of Schubert and Beethoven by one of the most highly regarded pianists of the 20th century. The Schubert miniatures were recorded at the legendary Sofia concert of 1958 and the sonata and bagatelles are studio recordings. Available at super budget price.

“This performance of the Op. 42 A minor sonata can give no disappointment to anyone, however high their expectations of Richter are fixed: for it is surpassingly beautiful, unfailingly poetic, and filled with warmth and human feeling. Perfect execution, with wonderfully graded tone, even runs and flawless control is allied to superfine musical intelligence and affection for Schubert’s music.’’ Gramophone

Brendel plays Beethoven

RRC1389 [Bar code 5055031313891] UK Dealer Price – £2.70

Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor Op. 37; 15 Variations and a Fugue in E flat major, Op. 35 Eroica; Variations on Rule Britannia Wo079; 7 Variations on God Save the King Wo078; 7 Variations on the Quartet Kind, willst du ruhig schlafen from Winter’s Das unterbrochene Opferfest, WoO 75

Brendel’s Beethovian credentials are displayed in this Regis release. The third piano concerto is coupled with four of his most popular sets of variations, including the Eroica, God Save the King and Rule Britannia. Accompaniment is given by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and Heinz Wallberg.

‘Brendel plays with a mixture of heart and head that is most satisfying, to which he adds countless touches of pianism that delight… Brendel does nothing to startle; what he does do is far more important, he constantly throws light on the music by an interpretation that is clearly born of much thought …. and a deep understanding.’’ Gramophone of Third Piano Concerto.

Puccini – The Great Operas

RRC9011 [Bar code 5055031390113] 13 CD UK Dealer Price – £12.00

La Boheme; Tosca; Madam Butterfly; La Fanciulla del West;  Il Tabarro; Suor Angelica; Gianni Schicci; Turandot

Regis presents a 13 CD wallet box of Puccini’s greatest operas. The performances are of legendary status featuring such artists as Maria Callas, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Tito Gobbi, Victoria de los Angeles, Giuseppe di Stefano and Jussi Bjorling. The set is beautifully packaged in a slimline wallet box and is available at a truly unbeatable price. A perfect introduction to the operas of Puccini.

The Best of Tony Hancock

FRC6202  [Bar code 5055031362028] UK Dealer Price – £4.40 (2CD)

CD 1: The Wild Man of the Woods/A Sunday Afternoon at Home/The East Cheam Drama Festival; CD 2: The Publicity Photograph/The Secret Life of Anthony Hancock/The Blood Donor/The Radio Ham

Regis presents 2 CDs of classic radio and television sketches by one of the twentieth century’s funniest men. Accompanied by a stellar cast (Sidney James, Hattie Jacques, Bill Kerr, Kenneth Williams), Tony Hancock entertains for over 150 minutes. Available at super budget price.

Regis Records New Release Information - Spring 2012 (475.6 KiB)

DDA25098 – Hans Gál – Complete Piano Duos performed by Goldstone & Clemmow

Gál, whose large output included operas, can­tatas, symphonies and concertos, was born near Vienna, of Hungarian Jewish extraction. He gained a scholarship to study with Eusebius Mandyczewski (with whom he later co-edited the complete works of Brahms) and enjoyed notable early recog­nition as a composer, culminating in the Austrian State Prize for Composition in 1915. This release is timely as there has been renewed interest in the music of this marvelous composer. Performed by top British piano duo, Goldstone & Clemmow, this disc makes a valuable addition to their extensive discography.

DDV24154 -  British Music for Piano Duo performed by Goldstone & Clemmow

Edward Elgar: Serenade in E minor Op. 20 (Composer’s version for piano duet); Frank Bury: Prelude and Fugue in E flat major – for two pianos; Edgar Bainton: Miniature Suite – for piano duet; Gustav Holst: Elegy (In Memoriam William Morris) from Symphony in F (“The Cotswolds”) – the composer’s own version for two pianos; The Planets – the composer’s original version for two pianos.

This recording was previously released on Olympia but has been completely remastered for this edition, and is released on Divine Art “Diversions” at mid price. It was only available for a very short time originally and makes a welcome return and addition to the Goldstone & Clemmow discography.

MSV28530 – Ed Hughes “Dark Formations” performed by The New Music Players, New Music Vocal Ensemble and Richard Casey (pno)

Quartet; Chamber Concerto; Dark Formations; Strike! ; Sextet² Light Cuts Through Dark Skies; Orchids; A Buried Flame

This 2CD set features a number of compositions from Ed Hughes (who has studied composition with the likes of Alexander Goehr and Michael Finnissy). Performed by the New Music Players – an ensemble founded by Ed Hughes in 1990, it features some of the UK’s finest musicians.

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As usual, just let me know which samples you would like and I’ll mail on a first come, first served basis. Interviews can be arranged with key artists quite easily and quickly if you are interested. I look forward to hearing from you shortly. Review copies are available now. US/Canada journalists should request samples via the Divine Art office in Vermont – patti@brandonmusic.net

24154 British Piano Duos Press Release
24154 British Piano Duos Press Release.pdf

Date:	2 May 2012

72.1 KiB
16 Downloads
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25098 Hans Gal Complete Piano Duos
25098 Hans Gal Complete Piano Duos.pdf

Date:	2 May 2012

86.1 KiB
18 Downloads
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28530 Dark Formations - Music by Ed Hughes - Press Release
28530 Dark Formations - Music by Ed Hughes - Press Release.pdf

Date:	2 May 2012

76.5 KiB
18 Downloads
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A concert to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Carey Blyton’s birth is to be held on Saturday, 19th May 2012 in London, featuring:

• Alison Smart, soprano (member of the BBC Singers)
• Katharine Durran, piano

Carey Blyton, nephew of the children’s author Enid Blyton, was a composer, writer and teacher who is best remembered today as the creator of Bananas in Pyjamas. As a serious composer his output encompasses over 100 superbly crafted works. Primarily a miniaturist, his music ranges from a one-act opera through orchestral and chamber music to choral music and song. He also wrote much music for film and television, including for early episodes of Doctor Who.

The forthcoming concert features a programme of songs and piano solos, interspersed with readings. Although it will concentrate on Carey Blyton’s music, it will also feature works by his friends and pupils, and will include world premiere performances of three items:

• Sir Arnold Bax: Welcome, Somer (1914)
• George Butterworth: In the Highlands (arr. for voice and piano)
• Peter Thompson: Dawn (composed in memory of Carey Blyton)

Date & Venue: Saturday, 19th May 2012 at 7:00 pm

The Warehouse

13 Theed Street

London SE1 8ST

(near Waterloo station)

Tickets

Tickets cost £12 (postage free), and entry is by souvenir programme.

Tickets are available exclusively from Fand Music Press, and may be ordered online from the following page:

http://www.fandmusic.com/?product=C20120519

For alternative ordering methods please phone 01730 267341, email contact@fandmusic.com or write to Fand at Glenelg, 10 Avon Close, Petersfield, Hampshire GU31 4LG.

Programme summary

Carey Blyton

Lachrymae – In Memoriam John Dowland

Two Pensive Songs

Three Impressions

Prayers from the Ark (Selection)

Lyrics from the East

Dirge for St Patrick’s Night

Park Lane Stroll

A Ghost from the Past

Indigo Blues

The Flea

Readings from Dr Shinfiddler’s Musical Zoo

George Butterworth

In the Highlands          – World premiere performance

Sir Arnold Bax                     

Welcome, Somer        – World premiere performance

Peter Thompson                  

Dawn                           – World premiere performance

E. J. Moeran

Six Songs of Seamus O’Sullivan (Selection)

Peter Warlock

The Singer

Sleep

Pretty Ring Time

Mockery

The Contented Lover

John Mitchell

The Half-moon Westers Low

Derek Foster

Two Folk Tunes

Frank Bayford

Songs for Children’s Dreams

Press Tickets

These can be ordered via john@musicandmediaconsulting.com

Related CD

A compilation of Carey Blyton pieces was released by Upbeat Records in 2009 and a copy of the press release is attached.

Carey Blyton - In Camera - Press Release (85.2 KiB)

Dominic Piers Smith lives in London where he is a Formula 1 designer for Mercedes and world champion Michael Schumacher.

Second prize went to Doctor Kensucke Ota from Japan, who works in semi-conductor physics at Toshiba, while third prize went to Rickert Choi, a Canadian of Chinese origin.  Eugène Litvinenko, an economic sciences student from Russia came 4^th and Amber Glynn, a derivatives manager on the Australian stock exchange came 5^th.

The winner of the 23^rd Concours, Dominic Piers Smith, received 3,000 Euros in prize money sponsored by Flora Stafford, and is invited to participate in the Flaneries Musicales de Reims on 6^th July and Pontlevoy Festival on 3^rd August 2012. He is also scheduled to play Ravel’s concerto in G with the Orchestre Symphonique de la Garde Républicaine next October.

Dominic’s CD, made after he won the Yamaha International Amateur Competition  is released on MMC Records. A copy of the original press information is attached.

MMC102 (Power of Dreaming) PRESS RELEASE (51.6 KiB)

NEW RELEASE INFORMATION FOR PRESS/MEDIA

Artist(s):        Wihan Quartet

Composer:    Franz Schubert

Repertoire:   String Quartets

No 13 in A minor “Rosamunde

No.14 in D minor “Death & the Maiden”

Catalogue No: NI6189 [0710357618925]

Discs:                    CD1 Standard Case

UK PPD (Trade Price): £8.70

UK Release Date: 7^th May 2012

Both of these quartets (D804 and D810) were composed in 1824 and evidence shows that Schubert was very aware of his poor state of health – which eventually brought about his demise just four years later – and a sense of reflection is apparent in both pieces. These works are now considered to be cornerstones of the quartet repertoire, and add to the impressive body of recordings built up by the Wihan Quartet. Their discs of Beethoven and Dvorak have all been enthusiastically received by critics all over the world.

Artist Information

LEOŠ CEPICKÝ& JAN SCHULMEISTER – violins JIRÍ ŽIGMUND – viola • ALEŠ KASPRÍK – cello

The Wihan Quartet, formed in 1985, are heirs to the great Czech musical tradition. The Quartet’s outstanding reputation for the interpretation of its native Czech heritage and of the many classical, romantic and modern masterpieces of the string quartet repertoire is widely acknowledged. They have developed an impressive international career, which includes visits to major festivals in Europe and the Far East. They visit the United States and Japan regularly and have had highly acclaimed tours of Australia and New Zealand. They are frequent visitors to the UK and can often be heard on BBC Radio 3 as well as in concert at many venues throughout the country.

The Wihan are Quartet in Residence at Trinity College of Music, London, and for several years have taught many of the UK’s gifted young Quartets at Pro Corda in Suffolk. The Quartet are great supporters of the work of the CAVATINA  Chamber Music Trust, giving inspirational concerts and master classes to young people in many parts of the country.

Further information can be found at www.wihanquartet.co.uk

For more details, and to request a review sample and/or an interview request, please contact John Cronin at Music & Media Consulting Limited.

NI6189 Wihan Quartet - Schubert Quartets - Press Release (66.4 KiB)

English Recorder Concertos

Catalogue Number: 6.220606 • UPC 747313160662 • UK Distribution via Select

Dealer Price: £8.69             Release Date May 7^th 2012

Tracklisting

Richard Harvey (b1953): Concerto Incantato (2009)

Sir Malcolm Arnold (1921-2006): Concerto for Recorder and Orchestra Op. 133 (1988)

Gordon Jacob (1895-1984): Suite for Recorder and Strings (1957)

• World Premiere Recording of Richard Harvey’s “Concerto Incantato”
• The only available recording of Malcolm Arnold’s late concerto
• Featuring The City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong conducted by Jean Thorel
• Recorded in state-of-the-art Super Audio Sound

Repertoire Information

The recorder has been part of Western music for more than seven hundred years, during which time it has enjoyed a particularly special relationship with the composers and musicians of England. The present recording showcases the music of three generations of English composers who have embraced the recorder, making significant contributions to the repertoire in the process. Gordon Jacob, the eldest, composed numerous works for the recorder from the 1950s up until his last year.

Sir Malcolm Arnold was to follow Jacob’s example contributing his Concerto for Recorder, originally written for and premiered by Michala Petri. Arnold’s amphibious existence as a composer for both film and the concert hall is echoed in the career of our youngest contributor, the BAFTA award-winning composer and recorder player Richard Harvey.

The result is pure musical enchantment! Jacob’s delightful Suite has been a mainstay for recorder players (and an audience favourite) since its premiere, while Arnold’s rarely performed concerto is a late masterwork truly deserving a wider audience makes a most welcome return to the catalogue. The program is capped off by Harvey’s magical Concerto Incantato (composed especially for Michala) – a true concert piece for today’s generation.

“The highlight of the evening came… with the world premiere of Richard Harvey’s Concerto Incantato, a work written specifically for this concert and for Michala Petri and five (or perhaps it was six?) of her recorders… Harvey’s work brings together a broad range of musical influences…oozing walls of warm string harmony and a distinct story-telling quality – a highly consumable work commandingly performed.” - Mark Tjhung, Time Out Hong Kong

Artist Information

Born in Copenhagen 7th of July 1958, Michala Petri began playing the recorder at the age of three and was first heard on Danish Radio when she was five. Her concert debut took place at the Tivoli Concert Hall in 1969, the year she began her studies with Professor Ferdinand Conrad at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hannover. Since then she has toured extensively throughout the world, performing with musicians such as Pinchas Zukerman, James Galway, Joshua Bell, Maurice André, Keith Jarrett, Gidon Kremer and Claudio Abbado and as soloist with many of the world’s major chamber and symphony orchestras. In addition to maintaining a vigorous performing schedule, Michala Petri has produced a large and eclectic catalogue of award winning recordings, including two Deutsche Schallplattenpreis winning discs of Vivaldi Concerti, with Vladimir Spivakov and the Moscow Virtuosi (1997), and Kreisler Inspirations with Lars Hannibal (2002), the Grammy® nominated Movements, two discs of Bach and Handel Sonatas with Keith Jarrett and the critically acclaimed Los Angeles Street Concerto: Michala Petri plays Thomas Koppel, which received the Danish Music Award as Best Classical Album in 2006.

In 1992 she formed a duo with Danish guitarist and lute player Lars Hannibal, with whom she tours all over the world. In 2006 the two musicians launched the record label OUR Recordings. The new label was established with the purpose of providing the artists with an independent platform for their continuing artistic explorations, free from stylistic or commercial constraints. With more than a dozen releases to date, the OUR Recordings catalogue has embraced World Music (Siesta and Spirits), the standard repertoire (Virtuoso Baroque; Mozart Flute Quartets; Melodies; Giuliani works for Violin and Guitar and Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnole), classical rarities (Café Vienna), contemporary concertos, including the Grammy® nominated Movements and the on-going East meets West series (Dialogue and Chinese Recorder Concertos). Her last release “The Nightingale” – featuring Nordic Music for Choir and Recorder has been widely acclaimed.

The City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong (CCOHK) holds a unique position as one of the most active chamber orchestras in the Asian region. Comprising an international group of professional musicians living in Hong Kong and Asia, the CCOHK gives an annual subscription series of concerts with locally and internationally renowned artists. The orchestra’s programming spans a wide repertoire, from Baroque to contemporary Chinese compositions and newly-commissioned works.

On tour, the CCOHK has made its mark in China and at the Thirteenth Mostra Biennale di Liuteria nel Mezzogiorno Festival in Italy. In Hong Kong itself, the CCOHK has performed for Le French May, the Hong Kong International Arts Carnival, the Second Hong Kong International Piano Competition and RTHK Radio 4’s annual Christmas in the Park concerts, televised by RTHK.

Since its formation in 1999 by oboist and Artistic Director Leanne Nicholls, the CCOHK has performed with many great artists including Michala

English Recorder Concertos (Michala Petri) - Press Release - May 2012
English Recorder Concertos (Michala Petri) - Press Release - May 2012.pdf

Category:	Press Releases
Date:	26 March 2012

121.8 KiB
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Frenchman Jean Thorel, chief conductor of the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong since 2008, has given over four hundred world premieres. In 1989, he won the Vocation Foundation Prize for outstanding work with the Stringendo Orchestral Ensemble in Paris, where he has been permanent conductor since 1984. Jean Thorel conducts a wide range of music, from ballet to chamber and orchestral programmes.

He has appeared as a guest conductor throughout Europe with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, the Danish Chamber Players, Musica Vitae, Musiques Nouvelles, the EQ Ensemble in Ireland, the Copenhagen Royal Ballet, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, the Stockholm Lans Symfoniker and the Nice Philharmonic Orchestra.

A passionate promoter of new and rare music, Thorel is a regular conductor at major contemporary music festivals and has recorded over twenty CDs. His recording of works by Louis Saguer with the Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble was joint winner of the 2002 Académie du Disque Lyrique Orphée d’Or, alongside Pierre Boulez’s interpretation of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde. Thorel was also the first French conductor invited to record with the Russian National Orchestra. His teachers included Jean-Jacques Werner, Léon Barzin, Antal Dorati and André Girard.

Further Information

“English Recorder Concertos” will be fully serviced to press and advertising will include the main classical music magazines. Further advertising is planned in due course. For a review copy and any further information, please contact John Cronin at Music & Media Consulting.

Full details of all discs issued to date can be viewed at www.ourrecordings.com

Half Monk – Half Rascal

Vocal Music by Francis Poulenc

Danish National Vocal Ensemble conducted by Stephen Layton

Catalogue Number: 8.226906 • UPC 0636943690628 • UK Distribution via Select

Dealer Price: £8.69             Release Date March 26^th 2012

Tracklisting

Sept Chansons (La blanche neige; A peine défigurée; Par une nuit nouvelle; Tous les droit; Belle et ressemblante; Marie; Luire); Quatre petites priers de Saint François d’Assise (Salut; Tout puissant ; Seigneur, je vous en prie; O mes très chèrs frères); Ave verum corpus;  Un soir de neige (De grandes cuillers de neige; La bonne neige; Bois meurtri; La nuit, le froid, la solitude); Laudes de Saint Antoine de Padoue (O Jesu; O proles; Laus Regi; Si quaeris); Chansons françaises (Margoton va t’à l’iau; La belle se sied; Pilons l’orge; Clic, Clac, dansez sabots; C’est la petit’ fill’ du prince; La belle si nous étions; Ah! Mon beau laboureur; Les tisserands); Chanson à boire

Product & Repertoire Information

OUR Recordings is proud to announce the release of this recording of marvellous music by Francis Poulenc, which is standard repertoire for all professional choirs. For this disc Stephen Layton and the Danish National Vocal Ensemble put together a program representing both Poulenc`s secular and sacred choral music.

Poulenc was a man of contradictions. The traditionalists called him a modernist, the modernists called him old-fashioned. The contradictions were most glaring – a declared homosexual and devout Catholic in the first half of the twentieth century, very courageous indeed!

He wrote modern music but couldn’t help creating melodies. That was to be both his good fortune and his misfortune. He understood how to write for both instruments and voices, and his music is today regarded as belonging to the highest echelons of 20^th Century composition – not just in France but all over the world. He draws upon influences of Haydn and Mozart with the addition of a little Stravinsky, a little folk music, a little jazz, and a good deal of Parisian café music.  He wrote no symphonies or piano sonatas – though he was a talented pianist – and created his own interesting instrumental ensembles and combinations. He wrote some of the best loved and most performed wind music of the 20^th century. Generally though, he is regarded as being at his very best in his profoundly original operas, in piano pieces and of course in his vocal music.

Artist Information

Conductor Stephen Layton was born 1966, the son of a church organist. As a child, he was a chorister at Winchester Cathedral, and received scholarships to Eton College and later King’s College, Cambridge as an organ scholar. In 1986, while still a student, Layton founded the mixed-voice choir Polyphony and in 1993 he was appointed the musical director of the Holst Singers.

Layton’s subsequent appointments include principal guest conductor of the Danish National Choir (1999), chief conductor of the Netherlands Chamber Choir (2002), Fellow and Director of Music of Trinity College, Cambridge (2006) and Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the City of London Sinfonia (2010).

Layton guest conducts widely and has worked with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Academy of Ancient Music, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Irish Chamber Orchestra and the Australian Chamber Orchestra. A champion of new music, Layton has premiered new repertoire by many composers, including Arvo Pärt, Thomas Ades, James Macmillan, John Tavener, Colin Matthews, Morten Lauridsen and Ugis Praulins.

Stephen Layton’s eclectic discography encompasses a vast range of repertoire, composers and genres, and has received numerous awards, including Gramophone Award and the Diapason d’Or in France for best choral disc, two Grammy Nominations and the Spanish CD Compact Award.

In January 2007 the choral landscape in Denmark was radically changed when DR (Danmarks Radio) unveiled an ambitious project: the launch of the newly established Danish National Vocal Ensemble. The new ensemble consists of a core membership of 18 singers, however when the music so requires, they are joined by their colleagues in the Danish National Choir/DR.

The Danish National Vocal Ensemble is fast establishing themselves as one of the world’s most innovative choral groups, offering creative, thematic programming. The unique philosophy of having a flexible membership has opened up a wide range of repertoire and performing possibilities, focusing increasingly on the masterworks of the Baroque and contemporary works by Danish and Nordic composers.

The choir has sung opera at the Royal Opera as well as sacred music from the Baroque with Concerto Copenhagen, and has toured Europe performing with several continental orchestras, including the NDR Orchestra in Hamburg, the Malmö Symphony Orchestra and the Bergen Philharmonic. While their primary base of operation is Copenhagen, the choir has toured extensively throughout Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Germany and Poland, as well as giving concerts in London and St. Petersburg. Prior to their recent restructuring, the Danish National Vocal Ensemble performed under the direction of Stephen Layton from 1999- 2011 and as of May 2011, Olof Boman has assumed leadership as the ensemble’s principle conductor.

Further Information

“Half Monk, Half Rascal” will be fully serviced to press and advertising will include the main classical music magazines. Further advertising is planned in due course. For a review copy and any further information, please contact John Cronin at Music & Media Consulting.

This CD “half Monk – Half Rascal”  follows the release of the highly praised disc entitled “The Nightingale – New Nordic Music for Recorder and Choir” (released in late2011) with Michala Petri and Danish National Vocal Ensemble, also conducted by Stephen Layton. One further CD is planned for late 2012/early 2013.

The Nightingale – New Nordic Music for Recorder and Choir

Catalogue Number: 6.220605 • UPC 747313160563 • UK Distribution via Select

Dealer Price: £8.69                            Release Date November 28^th 2011

Half Monk; Half Rascal - Press Release - March 2012 (131.0 KiB)

Sviatoslav Richter – Beethoven Piano Sonatas

RRC1384 [Bar code 5055031313846]

UK Dealer Price – £2.70

Piano Sonata No.8 in C minor, Op. 13 Pathetique; Piano Sonata No.17 in D minor, Op. 31 No. 2 The Tempest; Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 Appassionata

Regis presents three of Beethoven’s most popular piano sonatas played by the incomparable Sviatoslav Richter, available at super budget price.

‘The Appassionata performance seems to me to be supremely satisfying; for sheer boldness of interpretation and brilliance of piano playing it makes one gasp.’ Gramophone

Beethoven Complete Music for Cello & Piano – Pierre Fournier & Friedrich Gulda

RRC2092 [Bar code 5055031320929]

UK Dealer Price – £5.25

Truly phenomenal performances by two formidable Beethoven interpreters at the top of their game. Fournier’s aristocratic cello playing is beautifully matched by Gulda’s improvisatory approach to the

piano line. 2CDs at super budget price.

‘The combination of French clarity and elegance and Viennese intelligence and humanity in these artists results in interpretations which avoid all self-conscious earnestness and hieratic pose (the bane of all

Beethoven performance) but achieve maturity, freshness and subtlety. Rarely have two artists formed a more sensitive team.’ Gramophone

Shostakovich Cello Concerto & Violin Concerto

Mstislav Rostropovich (cello) Philadelphia Orchestra Eugene Ormandy (conductor); David Oistrakh (violin) Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra Evgeny Mravinsky (conductor)

RRC1385 [Bar code 5055031313853]

UK Dealer Price – £2.70

Cello Concerto No. 1 in E flat major, Op. 107/Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 99

David Oistrakh and Mstislav Rostropovich perform concertos by Shostakovich with distinguished accompaniment given by the Leningrad Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestras respectively. Both performances are benchmark recordings against which all newcomers are judged. Available at super budget price.

‘It would be impossible to over-praise Rostropovich’s performance of the solo part, which combines phenomenal technique with the complete musical understanding one expects of a soloist who has had the advantage of working with the composer. What is more, Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra accompany him magnificently.’ Gramophone of Cello Concerto

Mozart Piano Concertos – Alfred Brendel and Walter Klein (pianos)Vienna State Opera Orchestra, Paul Angerer (conductor)

RRC1388 [Bar code 5055031313884]

UK Dealer Price – £2.70

Piano Concerto No. 17 K453; Piano Concerto No. 10 in E flat major for Two Pianos K365; Sonata in D major for two pianos, K.448

Brendel’s Mozart credentials are very much in evidence in these performances. The 17th concerto was highly acclaimed when it first appeared on the Vox label in the 1960s and it is arguable that his collaboration with Walter Klein in recording the concerto and sonata for two pianos has never been surpassed.

‘What is at once astonishing and delightful about these performances is that the constant technical problem of ensemble between the two pianos is never allowed to take precedence over the business of music-making. Some of the rival versions of the concerto may in fact keep even more impeccably together, but none presents us with such consistently beautiful—and meaningful— phrasing.’ Gramophone of Concerto for Two Pianos

Joan Sutherland – A Portrait

RRC3013 [Bar code 5055031330133]

UK Dealer Price – £5.25             3 CDs for the price of 2

CD1: Sutherland Sings Handel: CD2: Sutherland sings Verdi and Bellini: CD3: The Art of the Prima Donna

Regis presents a tribute to the incomparable soprano Joan Sutherland. Her artistry is showcased in three CDs of varied repertoire. The first displays her Handelian credentials, the second features the arias of

Verdi and Bellini which established her reputation and the third presents the principal tracks from her incredibly successful solo albums, The Art of the Prima Donna Vols.1 & 2.

‘In her own time there was a tendency to take Sutherland for granted, so consistent were her high standards of technique, musicianship and, yes, acting. Her total command of the stage was always formidable.’ Gramophone

Gershwin Orchestral Works

RRC1386

[Bar code 5055031313860]

UK Dealer Price – £2.70

Rhapsody in Blue/Piano Concerto in F Eugene List (piano)/Eastman Rochester Symphony Orchestra/Howard Hanson (conductor)

An American in Paris Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra/Antal Dorati (conductor)

Idiomatic performances of three of Gershwin’s most popular orchestral works presented at super budget price.

‘Eugene List hammers out the piano part with tremendous skill and conviction, at times handling its bravura moments with very great brilliance indeed.’ Gramophone of Concerto

Shostakovich Symphony No.11

Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra/Yevgeny Mravinsky (conductor)

RRC1387 [Bar code 5055031313877]

UK Dealer Price – £2.70

Symphony No. 11 in G minor, Op. 103 ‘The Year 1905’

The sheer insight Mravinsky brings to Shostakovich’s music is ever present in this recording of the composer’s flag waving symphony. Available at super budget price.

*New CD Release Information from Regis Records - February 2012 (862.0 KiB)

Artist(s)

Composer:                   Haydn

Title:                            Haydn à l’anglaise

Catalogue No:              NI6174 [0710357617423]

Discs:                          1CD Standard Case

UK PPD:                      £8.70

UK Release Date:         26^th March 2012

Caf€ Mozart Press Release (74.5 KiB)

Tracklisting

Ballad (Duet): The fleeting Hours; Ballad: Morning; Song: Love in Return; Canzonetta: Sailor’s Song; Rondo [Haigh]; Song: Too late, Mother; Song: An old Story; Song: Contentment; Song: The manly Heart; Ballad: Youth and Beauty; Song: The Comforts of Inconstancy; Variations [Haigh]; Ballad: Werter’s Sonnet; Song: The Knotting Song; Ballad: Peace and Content; Canzonetta: My Mother bids me bind my Hair; Rondo [Haigh]; Song: Molly Carr; Ballad: Evening; Song: Life is a Dream

Repertoire Information

This highly intriguing CD shows Haydn in a truly unique manner. Featuring Haydn’s songs as edited by William Shield, ‘Ballads’ adapted from his instrumental music by Samuel Arnold and Rondos on his Canzonettas by Thomas Haigh.

Of the twenty tracks, no fewer than eighteen are world premieres. The CD comprises 9 songs, 6 “ballads”, 2 Canzonettas and 3 keyboard solos by Haydn’s pupil Thomas Haigh ‘of Manchester’, based on music by Haydn, to whom they are in part dedicated. All the vocal items are sung in English, mostly to the texts that had been published in the 1780s prior to Haydn’s arrival in 1791.

In 1781 Haydn published his first collection of songs: XII Lieder für das Clavier…1ster Theil. The respected composer William Shield “adapted” these to English words under the title: Twelve Ballads, Composed by the celebrated Haydn of Vienna, the original accompaniments “for the Harpsichord or Piano Forte” remaining virtually unchanged. This English edition appeared in 1786. Another highly regarded composer, Dr Samuel Arnold, issued a collection of Twelve English Ballads in 1787, “the Music the undoubted Composition of HAYDN, The Words selected and adapted to his Works by Dr Arnold”

Two of the texts, for reasons given in the 24 page booklet, are new translations by Derek McCulloch. Two others are sung to the original texts, before they had been set by Haydn to German translations. Neither Haydn nor the English publishers will have been aware of the provenance of those two texts.

Those songs that describe themselves as “ballads” will have come as something of a surprise to Haydn, if he ever heard them. Indeed they were originally not songs at all, but are instrumental music “adapted to English words”, in fact poetry by the leading figures in 18^th century England.

Two of Haydn’s most popular English ‘canzonettas’ of the mid-1790s, The Sailor’s Song and My Mother bids me bind my Hair, lead seamlessly into adaptations for solo piano or harpsichord by Thomas Haigh, played on a square piano of c1798. All the instruments used are period instruments.

Performers

The star-studded cast of Caf€ Mozart comprises some of the most prominent names in the field of early music, both nationally and internationally, Emma Kirkby (soprano), Rogers Covey-Crump (tenor), Jenny Thomas (flute), Ian Gammie (guitar), Alastair Ross (square piano) and Derek McCulloch (proprietor). Caf€ Mozart was founded by Derek McCulloch in 1985 to explore the repertoire of the late 18th century for performances with period instruments. The group performs up and down UK in venues of all shapes and sizes, and also in Austria and Germany. The main focus of Caf€ Mozart’s work is that of “Haydn in England” and his association with other English composers in the 1790s. CDs include Goethe & the Guitar, with an award from the British Academy, Hail Windsor, Crown’d with lofty Towers: music written in or for the royal town of Windsor in the 18th century, and Haydn & The Earl of Abingdon for Naxos. Engagements have included a concert tour of Haydn’s Burgenland in Austria and the International Early Music Festival in the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich.

Emma Kirkby’s specialism, singing with historical instruments and vocal ensembles, has taken her all over the world, in concerts and recordings. She has contributed to a new awareness of singing styles and repertoire beyond the mainstream of large halls and opera houses, and of the rewards to be found in ensemble, rhetoric and stillness. Emma was made a Dame in 2007, and awarded the Queen’s Medal for Music in 2011. The Haydn project, reuniting her with colleagues of many years’ standing, has been a pure delight.

Rogers Covey-Crump is a doyen among early music singers, be it as a superb Evangelist in Bach’s great Passions or with the world-famous Hilliard Ensemble. He is used to singing to capacity audiences in major venues throughout the world, including to 2000 people in a packed St Paul’s Cathedral, where the Hilliards were performing with the Norwegian-Polish saxophonist Jan Garbarek. His discography on the Internet comprises some 210 recordings, just a few of them with Caf€ Mozart.

Jenny Thomas is interested in all sorts of flutes. She has recorded for radio and TV in UK, Austria, Germany and Hungary and played in many period orchestras, including the Yorkshire Baroque Soloists, Marches Baroque, Brandenburg Baroque Soloists, and the Corelli, Grenser and Sweelinck Ensembles. She has made numerous recordings of 18th century music, both with Caf€ Mozart and with her own Windsor Box&Fir Co, including CDs of music from Jane Austen’s music collection

Ian Gammie has played and recorded throughout the world, notably with the English Consort of Viols, but also with a whole host of ensembles, including the Deller Consort, the Cambridge Baroque Camerata and the Sweelinck Ensemble, primarily as a bass viol player. In addition, he is a widely known performer on the lute and early and modern guitar forms, as well as being an authority on such diverse figures as the guitar-loving Samuel Pepys and the Irish poet/balladeer Thomas Moore.

Alastair Ross started his musical career as Organ Scholar in New College, Oxford in the 1960s. In the intervening years he has established himself as one of the country’s foremost continuo players and as a solo harpsichordist with a particular affection for JS Bach. As well as researching repertoire and playing for the Concerto delle Donne (three sopranos and keyboard), he frequently plays with Harry Christophers’ Orchestra of The Sixteen on their annual UK Choral Pilgrimage, and in 2011 was their soloist in a performance of Handel’s organ concerto Op 4/4 at the famous ‘Proms’ in the Royal Albert Hall, London.

Derek McCulloch studied singing in Stuttgart in the 1960s, and was at that time Germany’s only countertenor. Shortly after his return he was appointed alto lay-clerk at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, and appeared regularly on sound radio, television and recordings as soloist with such conductors as Roger Norrington and Helmuth Rilling, including in the Flanders Festival and the Aldeburgh Festival. He wrote his doctoral thesis (1990) on Aristocratic Composers in the 18th Century and continues to explore neglected repertoires of the late 18th century, especially ‘minor’ composers in England and the German-speaking area.

Marketing and Promotion

Caf€ Mozart will be performing selections from “Haydn à l’anglaise” on Friday 30^th March 2012 from 5pm to 7pm at the Divinity School, Bodleian Library, Oxford to accompany a Proscholium exhibition of early Haydn editions and manuscripts, preceded by a lecture by Dr. Derek McCulloch. Admission is free but tickets must be booked in advance via The Administrator, Friends of the Bodleian (01865-277234 or fob@bodleian.ox.ac.uk ).

A further performance will take place on Thursday May 3^rd at 1pm in the Concert Hall at Manchester University.

“Haydn à l’anglaise” will be fully serviced to press and advertising will include the main classical music magazines. Further advertising is planned in due course. For a review copy and to enquire about interview opportunities, please contact John Cronin at Music & Media Consulting.