PKF – Prague Philharmonia, Jakub Hrůša – Dvořák: Symphonic Variations & Slavonic Rhapsodies (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:00:34 minutes | 1,04 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © PentaTone
For the third of his three-album series for PENTATONE, the young rising star Jakub Hrůša conducts the PKF-Prague Philharmonia in an all Dvořák programme of appealing orchestral works comprising the evergreen favourite Symphonic Variations op. 78 coupled with the lesser known Slavonic Rhapsodies op. 45.
Already established as a tireless promoter of Czech music, Jakub Hrůša was the inaugural winner in 2015 of the Sir Charles Mackerras Prize for his advocacy of Janáček’s works, going on to receive ecstatic reviews in 2016 for Glyndebourne Opera’s production of The Cunning Little Vixen. One reviewer enthused that Hrůša “clearly has this music in his bones and blood … he asks for (and gets) an urgent, raw and abrasive quality, expressive of nothing less than the life force itself.” (The Telegraph, 13 June 2016).
Read more
PKF – Prague Philharmonia, Jakub Hrůša – Dvořák: Overtures (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:03:20 minutes | 1,10 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © PentaTone
For a large part, thanks to the effort of Johannes Brahms, who introduced him to his publisher Simrock, Czech composer Antonín Dvořák developed into a composer with an international reputation. Don’t we all know his Slavonic Dances, his Symphonies or his chamber music, such as the Dumky Trio or the American string quartet? This album reveals some of the more hidden treasures of Dvořák’s repertoire, namely his overtures, of which he wrote no less than thirteen. In the booklet to the album they are described as follows:
All five overtures on this recording are richly and vividly scored, employing palettes of instruments broader on average than those found in Dvořák’s mature symphonies and sometimes calling for special effects. For their orchestral colour but also their rich expression of poetic content, as well as their purely musical invention and structural mastery, these overtures constitute gems of special brilliance in the treasury of Dvořák’s compositional bequest.
The PKF – Prague Philharmonia recorded this album in January 2015 at the Forum Karlin in Prague under the baton of their 2009-2015 Music Director and Chief Conductor Jakub Hrůša.
Read more
Johannes Moser, PKF-Prague Philharmonia, Jakub Hrusa – Dvorak & Lalo – Cello Concertos (2015)
DSF Stereo DSD64/2.82MHz | Time – 01:05:34 minutes | 2,58 GB | Genre: Classical
Source: ISO SACD | © Pentatone Music B.V. | Booklet, Front Cover
German-Canadian international soloist Johannes Moser recently signed an exclusive recording contract with PENTATONE. He regularly performs with the world’s leading orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, London Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw, NHK Symphony, Philadelphia and Cleveland Orchestras as well as the leading conductors of our time including Mariss Jansons, Valery Gergiev, Zubin Mehta and Gustavo Dudamel. He has received many accolades for his recordings including two ECHO Klassik awards as well as the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik.
For his debut album with PENTATONE Johannes chose to record the pinnacle of the repertoire for cello and orchestra, the concerto by Antonín Dvořák. In this monumental work Dvořák explores the entire spectrum of human emotion, very much inspired by his own experiences, ranging from exhilarating bursts of life in New York City to the devastating tragedy of his unfulfilled love.
In preparation for the recording, made with the PKF – Prague Philharmonia, Johannes Moser and conductor Jakub Hrůša had Dvořák’s own manuscript at hand in order to come closer to the composer’s intention rather than relying on unquestioned traditions and acquired habits, while paying tribute to the concerto’s nickname, “Dvořák’s 10th Symphony”.
Moser completes his debut album with the Cello Concerto by Édouard Lalo. It is a work of great verve which fully embodies Spanish flair combined with romantic spirit.
Besides being staples of the Romantic cello repertoire the two works have a lot in common. Johannes Moser says about the two concerti: “The unifying motif between these two Cello Concertos is a sense of yearning: From America, Dvořák yearned for his homeland and an unfulfilled love, whereas Lalo yearned for the typically Spanish flair and the Mediterranean temperament”.
![Benjamin Bernheim, PKF Prague Philharmonia, Emmanuel Villaume - Benjamin Bernheim (2019) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz] Download](https://i0.wp.com/imghd.xyz/images/2022/08/30/oowjp2qujhura_600.jpg?resize=500%2C500&ssl=1)
Benjamin Bernheim, PKF Prague Philharmonia, Emmanuel Villaume – Benjamin Bernheim (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:03:15 minutes | 1,23 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Deutsche Grammophon (DG)
For several years, the young Franco-Swiss tenor has been gaining a name as a heartthrob on all the great stages of the world. Perhaps thanks to his French origins, he has the perfect diction of a Georges Thill and the vocal power of a Roberto Alagna, with whom he is often compared. On the Helvetian side, Benjamin Bernheim has the class of an Ernst Haefliger or an Éric Tappy, not to mention their modesty and simplicity of style. As part of an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon, he has produced this very successful début album, which presents the roles that he is currently performing in Covent Garden, Zurich, Milan, Vienna, Chicago and Paris. Having won critical acclaim for the quality of his performances, in 2018 Benjamin Bernheim gave French audiences the original 1859 version of Faust by Gounod, at a concert at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, with Christophe Rousset conducting. He bided his time, making no abrupt moves and working on his roles as part of the troupe at the Zürich Opera, preparing his characters patiently, with the fine psychological sense of an actor. The beauty of his natural timbre is married to his perfect diction on this first recital, which alternates between French song (Massenet, Gounod, Godard, Berlioz), Italian opera (Donizetti, Verdi, Puccini) and the Russian repertoire (Lenski’s famous aria in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin). This recording was made with the Prague PKF Orchestra, with Emmanuel Villaume conducting – in the generous acoustics of the Smetana Hall – over two sessions in 2017 and 2018. – François Hudry
(more…)