Studio Masters

Georg Friedrich Handel – Messiah, HWV 56 – Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, B’Rock, Peter Dijkstra (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/48 kHz | Time – 02:15:30 minutes | 1,38 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Master, Official Digital Download – Source: Q0buz | Digital Booklet | © BR Klassik
Recorded: München, Herkulessaal, 21.-27.11.2014

As a steady favourite with audiences, Handel’s most famous oratorio “Messiah” has met regularly with rapturous receptions ever since its premiere back in 1742! This three-part masterpiece portrays the life of the “anointed one” (the literal meaning of the Hebrew word ‘Messiah’), from the Annunciation and his birth to his death on the cross and revelation, and contains a considerable number of baroque super-hits – including the world-famous ‘Hallelujah Chorus.’

What makes the present complete recording into something really special is, above all, the successful interpretation with its excellent line-up of performers: Julia Doyle, Lawrence Zazzo, Steve Davislim and Neal Davies, the Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks (recently called “a new center for historically informed performance practice”) under the overall direction of Peter Dijkstra, accompanied by B’Rock, the Belgian Baroque Orchestra Ghent.

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George Frideric Handel – Concerti grossi op. 6 HWV 319-330 – Combattimento Consort Amsterdam, Jan Willem de Vriend (2012)
Digital eXtreme Definition FLAC Stereo (tracks) 24-bit/352,8 kHz | Time – 02:34:22 minutes | 10,86 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Master, Official Digital Download – Source: spiritofturtle.com | Digital Booklet | © Challenge Records
Recorded: Muziekcentrum Enschede, NL, 29 November – 1 December 2010 & 4-8 July 2011

The creative riches of structure and the broad diversity of styles that Handel exhibits in the 61 (!) movements of his 12 Grand Concertos, time and again coloured by a surprising palette of musical expression, is unique, and has led to his opus VI being generally considered alongside Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos as one of the great monuments of Baroque instrumental music.

Because George Frideric Handel meticulously dated the manuscripts of his concertos, we know that they were completed in September and October of 1739, as shown in the list below. HWV refers to the thematicsystematic catalogue of Handel’s work, the Händel-Werke-Verzeichnis, and Walsh to the first edition, of 1740. The often very close dates of completion give rise to astonishment at how quickly Handel composed the respective concertos. In some cases, however, the proximity of the dates is misleading because Handel borrowed from his own (and others’) work. In today’s terminology, we might speak of “recycling” – a practice Johann Sebastian Bach also employed throughout his life.

This borrowing was applied with varying degrees of exactitude. In some cases, the music is identical: the first movement (a tempo giusto) of Concerto No. 1 to the third movement of the Sinfonia from the Occasional Oratorio, HWV 62; the fourth (Allegro) and fifth (Menuet) movements of Concerto No. 9 to the second and third parts of the Overture for the opera Imeneo, HWV 41, composed a year earlier. Elsewhere, it varies from showing only slight changes (such as the second movement of Concerto No. 5 and the second part of the overture of the Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day, HWV 76) to being radically altered, such as the sixth movement (Menuet) of Concerto No. 5 and the third part of the previously named overture. Other times there is not much similarity except for the beginning of a given theme, after which the pieces simply go their own way: the second movement (a tempo giusto) of Concerto No. 6 equals the chorus “They Are Brought Down” from the Chandos Anthem, no. 10, HWV 255. But the typical, chromatically descending beginning (incidentally, marvellously suited for fugal treatment), remaining with this thematic material, could already be heard in the much earlier arioso “Alla Salma in fedel” from the solo cantata La Lucrezia: Oh Numi eterni, HWV 145.

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Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Chamber Orchestra of Europe – Schumann: The Symphonies (2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Digital Booklet | 2.04 GB
Genre: Classical | Official Digital Download – Source: Qobuz

For these revelatory performances – captured live at acclaimed concerts in Paris – he conducts the superb Chamber Orchestra of Europe, one of the world’s preeminent chamber orchestras. Taking a fresh perspective on familiar music, Yannick Nézet-Séguin challenges the conventional view on the composer’s symphonies.

“Of all the major symphonies, I’d say that Schumann’s are best performed by a slightly smaller ensemble… With a lean string section – not only in size, but also in its quality of playing – the music just works.”

The Canadian Maestro sees Schumann’s music as rooted in the bipolar nature of the composer’s troubled psyche, emphasising dramatic shifts of temperament – not only between movements but even within a single phrase

“He’s one of those composers whose personality is completely expressed in their music…those fluctuations between the melancholy and something very inward-looking are combined with a very manic kind of energy that wants to conquer the world. That’s what is so special about Schumann.”

This new cycle includes the second, revised version of Schumann’s second symphony, published as his Symphony No.4. “I try to respect whenever a composer makes a revision because he feels the need to, rather than because of any outside pressure. I’m personally convinced that the symphony’s message, and this feeling of one big movement, is better conveyed by the later version.”

This set is Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s first recording of a complete symphony cycle.

Composer: Robert Schumann
Conductor: Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Orchestra/Ensemble: Chamber Orchestra of Europe (more…)

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Arthur Sullivan & Jean Sibelius – Shakespeare’s Tempest (2008)
(Kansas City Symphony, conducted by Michael Stern)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 68:44 minutes | 1,19 GB | Genre: Classical
Official Digital Download – Source: HDTracks.com | Digital Booklet | © Reference Recordings

Under the dynamic direction of Music Director Michael Stern, The Kansas City Symphony covers itself in glory with incidental music for The Tempest by Sir Arthur Sullivan and Jean Sibelius. This is the first high-resolution digital recording of the Sullivan (of Gilbert & Sullivan fame), and a masterful performance of the colorful Sibelius suites, including the seldom-heard Prelude, which depicts the Shakespearean tempest in all its fury… (more…)

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