Peter Lea-Cox is an English composer who while concentrating on vocal (usually sacred) music, employs a huge range of styles in order to best express the words being set – from the dissonance of Winter Prelude to the simple folk-like melody of ‘Let the Season Lift your Spirit’. Above all is Peter’s tremendous sensitivity to the texts and the word-painting and coloration he employs. This album presents a set of six songs on texts by Gerard Manley Hopkins, a set of Anthems for solo voice – for several of the ecclesiastical seasons – and a collection of other songs.
Label: Divine Art
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Handel: Suites for Harpsichord, Vol. 2
Acknowledged without reservation as the greatest composer working in England in the 18th century, Georg Frideric Handel is revered worldwide as a master composer. His Harpsichord Suites are among the finest instrumental works of the period, we are privileged to present exquisite performances by Gilbert Rowland, one of Europe’s foremost harpsichordists.
Volumes One and Three are also available.
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Sounds of the Chionistra
The Chionistra is the beautiful Mount Olympus in Cyprus where the crocuses grow (not the one in Greece where the ancient gods ruled) … and close to home for Greek Cypriot composer Cilia Petridou, who though she moved to England in 1965, was deeply affected by the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974 and the still unresolved partition of the island. CD1 (songs) and CD2 (Chamber works) reflect this tragedy and the loss of the city of Famagusta, contrasted with the happy memories of an idyllic childhood, in deeply felt, Romantically styled works beautifully performed – all first recordings.
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Haydn: Complete Notturni & Scherzandi
Among the chamber orchestral works of Joseph Haydn, these are relatively little known – his eight Nocturnes and the six Scherzandi are lovely unassuming but well balanced pieces ideal for both concert hall and salon.
This release has been sponsored and supported by the Haydn Society of Great Britain whose President, Denis McCaldin, is also the conductor here.
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Ronald Stevenson Piano Music
Ronald Stevenson is one of the most original minds in the world of the composition of music. – So said Yehudi Menuhin. This magnum opus set is a magnificent culmination of several years of planning and a great acheivement by Murray McLachlan. Stevenson’s most remarkable work, Le Festin d’Alkan, is given a superb performance as are his incredibly varied transcriptions and fantasies on Bach, Ysaÿe and Chopin (and others) and a number of his other original works.
Stevenson’s other tour-de-force, the 80-minute Passacaglia on DSCH, is played by Murray McLachlan on DDA25013.
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Guido: The Four Seasons
Vivaldi’s Four Seasons is perhaps the “classical” work best known to the general public; until very recently this work by Giovanni Antonio Guido was almost forgotten. It is a splendid work and some scholars now think it was the first to be written and may well have been known by Vivaldi and inspired him to write his own version. In any case, this is a superb baroque work and beautifully performed by The Band of Instruments under their director Roger Hamilton.
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Russian Piano Music, Vol. 10 – Weinberg II
Mieczyslaw Weinberg (aka Moisey Vainberg) was in fact born and raised in Poland, but the vast majority of his compositional career was in the Soviet Union and he remained there for the rest of his life, in Moscow. He therefore comes well within the definition of ‘Russian’ for the purpose of this series and was certainly treated as such by the authorities. This and the preceding album (DDA 25105) which includes the first three sonatas, were originally released on the now defunct Olympia label but had a relativley short life and restricted distribution, and are still the only full recordings of these very fine works. This is music which though modern is written to comply with Soviet requirements and is thus also very approachable and melodic without ever being trite or unoriginal.
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Stephen Beville in Karlsruhe
After studies at the Royal Academy and the Royal Northern College of Music, British pianist Stephen Beville won a scholarship to study at the Staadt Hochschule in Karlsruhe, Germany. During his time there he gave several acclaimed concerts and made studio recordings, a selection of which make up this, his commercial recording debut. Described as ‘one of the most talented young musicians to emerge from the UK’ by Frankfurter Neue Press, his musicianship and deep consideration of his music are well demonstrated. In this 2 CD set the performances of the Beethoven Op. 111 and Schumann’s C major Fantasie are taken from live concerts.
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David Jennings – Music for Piano
This is the first album devoted to the wonderfully expressive piano music of David Jennings, all written between 1985 and 2010. This English composer, born in 1972, has a voice which is not afraid to challenge but always within a very traditional soundscape producing modern music ideally representing the growing English new romantic and lyrical tradition. Pianist James Willshire performs in his fine recording debut for Divine Art.
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Russian Piano Music, Vol. 9 – Weinberg I
Mieczyslaw Weinberg (aka Moisey Vainberg) was in fact born and raised in Poland, but the vast majority of his compositional career was in the Soviet Union and he remained there for the rest of his life, in Minsk (now the capital of independent Belarus). He therefore comes well within the definition of ‘Russian’ for the purpose of this series and was certainly treated as such by the authorities. This and the succeeding album (DDA 25107) which includes the remaining three sonatas, were originally released on the now defunct Olympia label but had a relatively short life and restricted distribution, and are still the only full recordings of these very fine works. This is music which though modern is written to comply with Soviet requirements and is thus also very approachable and melodic without ever being trite or unoriginal.
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Antony Hopkins – A Portrait
Antony Hopkins is a phenomenon – a fact which escapes much of the public and even press who still confuse him with the actor (Anthony). Composer, pianist, conductor, broadcaster, lecturer, author … a true man of music. A live wire at the age of 91, (as we write in May 2012), his genius has suffered from fickle fashion, his ‘serious’ music being lyrical and tuneful though certainly deep and complex; his lighter music now seen as ‘period’ – and just ripe for rediscovery. This double album contains much fine music including eight pieces written by top British composers as tributes to Antony. For all interested in the evolution of 20th century music this album will be invaluable, and it’s also made with wit and humour, to suit the character of Hopkins himself.
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Magical Places
Locations can be magical in many ways – musically they can be exotic, inspired by a holiday taken by the composer, expressions of a culture or of nature; here, special places range from England (Britten’s Aldeburgh) to Siberia to North Africa. These evocative symphonic poems for piano duet all express some fascination with locale which have excited a composer and brought about these exquisite and Romantic pieces.