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20. December 2011
Beginning … and end ‘My end is my beginning, and my beginning my end’ – with those words the four members of New York Polyphony end a programme which explores the themes of grief, loss and mortality. Apart from the closing paraphrase by Jackson Hill (b.1942) on Guillaume de Machaut’s famous 14th-century rondeau Ma fin est mon commencement, the music included on endBeginning (BIS-SACD-1949) was composed by masters of the Franco-Flemish school of polyphony active in the first half of the 16th century. Formed in 2006, New York Polyphony is establishing a reputation as an exceptionally fine vocal chamber ensemble. In October 2011, the four members visited the 14th-century church of Länna in Sweden, and its superb acoustics, ideally suited for this kind of repertoire. During the recording a video was made with clips from the sessions, as well as interviews with the performers.
The disc is planned for release in early spring 2012 – for national release dates, please contact the BIS distributor in your country. The recording is already available for downloading on eClassical.com.
20. December 2011
An EMMA for Isola Three orchestral works by Finnish composer Sebastian Fagerlund (b.1972) form the programme of this disc: Isola, Partita and the Clarinet Concerto. In these performances by the clarinettist Christoffer Sundqvist and Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra under Dima Slobodeniouk, Fagerlund’s music has been highly acclaimed in the international music press, as demonstrated by the review in BBC Music Magazine: ‘the strong sense of momentum, the feeling for how musical currents shift and blend as well as power forward, plus the unmistakable (and often impassioned) nature imagery, suggest a composer who can side with his great countryman Sibelius...’ The French website ResMusica greeted Fagerlund as the ‘new leading light of Finnish music’, and his countrymen in the EMMA jury now praise his works ‘for their powerful orchestrations, tone colours and catching rhythms’, finding in them influences of impressionism, Stravinsky and Sibelius, which however never overshadows ‘a strong, personal voice’. The jury also acknowledges the important contribution made by the performers.
The EMMA Award for Best classical recording was presented on 1st December at a ceremony in Espoo, Finland, organized by the Finnish branch of IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry).
For further information about the EMMA Award, click here
For further information about Isola (BIS-SACD-1707), click here
17. November 2011
Twice Rewarded Of the twelve discs featured at the award ceremony held at the Maison de Radio France in Paris on the 17th of November, two were BIS titles: Vadim Gluzman’s recording of Bruch’s first violin concerto, with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Andrew Litton, and a Sibelius recording of Tapiola and the two suites from the Tempest with Okko Kamu conducting the Lahti Symphony Orchestra. The Diapason d’or de l’année are the annual awards presented by the French magazine Diapason in collaboration with the radio channel France Musique , and the jury which selects the winning discs is made up of the critics and broadcasters of the two. When reviewed in the magazine earlier this year, the Bruch disc was provided with a caution: ‘Attention: exceptional talent’, and Vadim Gluzman was credited for ‘breathing new life into a certain golden age of the violin… through his lustrous violin sound, his unapologetic panache, his straightforward subtlety…’
In the case of the Sibelius recording, the conductor Okko Kamu was greeted as ‘one of the greatest of Sibelius conductors’, a description which was borne out by ‘this Tapiola of an elemental force, this Tempest of startling moods’.
Read more about the 2011 Diapason d’Or de l’Année awards here
For information about Vadim Gluzman’s Bruch recording, BIS-SACD-1852, click here
For information about Okko Kamu’s Sibelius recording, BIS-SACD-1945, click here
16. November 2011
No Mere Trifles Ronald Brautigam’s cycle of Beethoven’s solo piano music has received consistent praise from the reviewers, who find that the performances, on copies of fortepianos from Beethoven’s own time, offer an opportunity to hear this well-known music in a new light. Following the 32 numbered sonatas and the early sonatas and sonatinas, the cycle enters its second stage - and the acclaim continues! The recently-released ‘Volume 10: The Complete Bagatelles’ has been included on the prestigious ‘Bestenliste’ of the German Record Critics' Award Association with the following citation from the jury:
‘Here Beethoven was able to give free rein to his sense of humour, his flashes of inspiration, and it is precisely this fundamental trait of these experiments – which range from the sensitive to the sarcastic – which Brautigam brings out with excitement and energy, and with a masterly instinct for the wealth of colour, the wide range of touch and the astounding sonic potentials of the two fortepianos from 1805 and 1820. The result is that his ‘historic’ Beethoven sounds more modern, more subversive and at the same time more tender than that of most Steinway pianists.’
Consisting of up to 145 music critics, writers, musicologists and editors in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the German Record Critics' Award Association publishes its ‘Bestenliste’ four times a year. These lists include the very finest of all the CDs and DVDs released during the preceding three months, divided up in 29 categories which range from orchestral recordings to contemporary jazz and crossover.
‘The Complete Bagatelles’ [BIS-SACD-1882] will be followed in early 2012 by the release of the first of four discs with piano variations.
For further information about the Bestenliste, click here
For information about Ronald Brautigam’s Beethoven piano cycle, click here
4. October 2011
’Two superb works…’ Released in April 2010, the BIS recording of James MacMillan’s Sun-Dogs and Visitatio Sepulchri (BIS-SACD-1719) has received a warm welcome world-wide, with reviewers remarking both on the impact of the music and the examplary performances. ‘A fine coupling of two superb works, a credit to performers and to the BIS recording engineers, who offer sound both clear and atmospheric’ was for instance how the disc was summed up in a review in Gramophone. The disc is now among the three titles shortlisted in the choral category of the 2011 Gramophone Awards, with the winner being announced at a ceremony held on October 6 at Dorchester Hotel in London.
The two virtuosic works are examples of James MacMillan’s mastery in the field of choral music, the first composed for choir a cappella and the second with orchestral accompaniment. Conducted by Celso Antunes (in Sun-Dogs) and the composer (in Visitatio), the Netherlands Radio Choir once again gives proof of why it belongs to the most highly respected choral ensembles today.
— — — — — — — — —
The prestigious Gramophone Awards comprises 15 different categories, and among the six nominations for the Orchestral Award was another high profile BIS release: the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra’s recording of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and Petrushka, conducted by Andrew Litton (BIS-SACD-1474), a disc which has made its mark in a crowded discography.
For information about BIS-SACD-1719
(MacMillan), click here
For information about BIS-SACD-1474 (Stravinsky,click here
8. September 2011
Polyphonic excellence Male classical vocal quartet New York Polyphony, who received international acclaim with the CDs I sing the birth (2007) and Tudor City (2010), has signed an exclusive recording contract with BIS Records. Slated for Spring 2012 release, their first album on BIS will feature rare and never-before recorded works from the Flemish Renaissance by composers Thomas Crecquillon, Antoine Brumel and Jacob Clemens non Papa.
Founded in 2006, New York Polyphony has emerged as one of the preeminent vocal chamber ensembles in the fields of early and new music. Praised for a “rich, natural sound that’s larger and more complex than the sum of its parts” (National Public Radio), the four men scored a hit with their current CD Tudor City, spending three weeks in the Top 10 of Billboard magazine's classical album chart.
In February of this year, New York Polyphony signed a worldwide general management contract with Opus 3 Artists. The ensemble maintains an active performing schedule and has participated in major concert series and festivals throughout the U.S. and Europe, including the Miller Theatre Early Music Series at Columbia University, Dallas Chamber Music Series, Ireland’s Pipeworks and Ardee Baroque Festivals, and the Vestfold Festspillene in Tønsberg, Norway. Future engagements include the premiere of Gregory Brown's Missa Charles Darwin, a secular Mass setting based on Darwin's On The Origin Of Species; a residency at Dartmouth College November 2011 and an appearance at the Festival de Música de Morelia, Mexico.
On the Home Stretch With the penultimate volume being released in April, the Sibelius Edition on BIS is nearing completion. But already before that happy day, an international jury has named it 'a landmark in the composer's discography, giving it a Special Achievement Award, as part of the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA). The winners of the ICM Awards are selected by a jury made up of professional music critics of some of the most important magazines, online services and radio stations in Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Russia, Luxembourg, France, Spain and Finland. The winners will receive their trophies at an award ceremony held in Tampere, Finland on April 6. The event includes a gala concert during which Folke Gräsbeck, a driving force behind the BIS Sibelius Edition, will play Sibelius' Piano Quintet in a newly realized transcription, together with the strings of the Tampere Philharmonic. The concert will be broadcast by the Finnish Radio, Germany's MDR Figaro, Saarländischer Rundfunk, Luxembourg's Radio 100,7, the Russian Orpheus Radio and other partners of the European Broadcast Union.
For further information about the International Classical Music Awards, please visit the ICMA website www.icma-info.com
For further information about the Sibelius Edition, please click here
BIS discs nominated to the 2011 International Classical Music Awards:
BIS-CD-1615
Handel: Neun deutsche Arien; Gloria
Emma Kirkby, London Baroque
BIS-CD-1715
The Queen's Music - Italian vocal duets and trios
Emma Kirkby, Susanne Rydén, Peter Harvey; M. Yamahiro Brinkmann, cello, L.U. Mortensen, harps.
CHORAL BIS-SACD-1841
J. S. Bach: Motets
Bach Collegium Japan, Masaaki Suzuki
SOLO INSTRUMENT BIS-CD-1534
Weiss: Lute Music
Jakob Lindberg, lute
CHAMBER MUSIC BIS-SACD-1540
Britten: String Quartets
Emperor Quartet
CONCERTOS BIS-SACD-1662
Barber: Violin Concerto, Op. 14; Bernstein: Serenade; Bloch, E: Baal Shem
Vadim Gluzman, violin; São Paulo SO / J. Neschling
BIS-SACD-1693
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No 4
Ronald Brautigam, piano; Norrköping SO / Parrott
BIS-SACD-1820
Prokofiev: Piano concertos Nos 2 & 4
Freddy Kempf, piano; Bergen Philharmonic Orch. / A.Litton.
SYMPHONIC MUSIC BIS-SACD-1584
F. Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Symphonies Nos 1 & 4
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra / A. Litton
BIS-CD-1590
Pettersson: Concerto for String Orchestra No. 3
Nordic Chamber Orchestra / C. Lindberg
BIS-SACD-1656
Schubert: Symphonies Nos 8 and 9
Swedish Chamber Orchestra / Tomas Dausgaard
BIS-SACD-1660
Villa-Lobos: Floresta do Amazonas.
A.Korondi, mezzo-soprano; São Paulo Symphony Orch. & Chorus / J. Neschling
BIS-CD-1677
Eino Tamberg: Joanna Tentata; Danses symphoniques; Concerto grosso
Residentie Orkest den Haag / N.Järvi.
CONTEMPORARY BIS-SACD-1777
Dutilleux: Tout un monde lontain, Lutoslawski: Cello Concerto
C. Poltéra, cello; ORF Wien / J. van Steen
14. April 2011
Brilliant Illumination Bach Collegium Japan's recording of Bach's complete motets was nominated to the prestigious BBC Music Magazine Awards by a jury of the magazine's reviewers with the following remark: 'Suzuki and his choir brilliantly illuminate this most virtuosic of Bach's choral works.' Clearly the general public agreed with the jury, as the voting which took place on the magazine's website earlier in the year resulted in a BBC Music Magazine Award in the choral category, as revealed at an Awards ceremony held in London on the 12th of April. Unable to attend in person Masaaki Suzuki, director of Bach Collegium Japan, sent an acceptance video which was shown during the ceremony, and which also can be seen here.
The highly acclaimed disc was released in January 2010 and has received international recognition, including a Diapason d'Or de l'Année from the French magazine Diapason and the German Record Critics' Annual Award as well as a recommendation in Gramophone and top marks from numerous international music magazines and web sites.
For further information about Bach’s Motets,
BIS-SACD-1841, please click here
For a video clip made during the recording of this disc, please click here
For a complete listing of recordings by the Bach Collegium Japan on BIS, click here
For a complete listing of recordings by Masaaki Suzuki on BIS, click here
For a complete listing of Bach Cantatas (released as of today), click here
24. January 2011
Vote for BCJ Bach Collegium Japan’s highly acclaimed recording of
J.S. Bach’s Motets has already received some of the finest distinctions a disc can get, including a Diapason d’Or de l’Année from the French magazine Diapason and the German Record Critics’ Annual Award as well as a recommendation in Gramophone and top marks from numerous international music magazines and web sites. The jury of BBC Music Magazine reviewers which selected the disc as one of three nominees in the Choral category explained its choice as follows: ’Suzuki and his choir brilliantly illuminate this most virtuosic of Bach’s choral works.’ The magazine now invites the public to make the final decisions regarding the winner of this and five other categories, providing an opportunity to listen to selected complete tracks from some of the finest discs released during 2010. So click here: http://www.classical-music.com/awards2011 to enjoy the music, cast your vote – and enter into the BBC Music Magazine’s prize draw to win a high-end hi-fi, plus a copy of each of the 18 nominated discs. And do it now – the voting ends 1 March 2011.
For further information about Bach’s Motets, BIS-SACD-1841, please click here
For a video clip made during the recording of this disc, please click here
For a complete listing of recordings by the Bach Collegium Japan on BIS, click here
For a complete listing of recordings by Masaaki Suzuki on BIS, click here
For a complete listing of Bach Cantatas (released as of today), click here
News 2010
17. November 2010
’Une énergie toute lumineuse’ In 2003, Volume 22 in the Bach Cantata series of Masaaki Suzuki and the Bach Collegium Japan was singled out as one of the finest discs of the year by the French magazine Diapason, and five years later the team’s recording of the composer’s Mass in B minor was awarded the same honour. In 2010, the turn has again come to the Bach specialists from Japan, whose recording of the Motets was hailed in the April issue of Diapason as a new reading of the works ‘transforming them, through supremely fine-drawn lines and a perfectly radiant energy, into glorious stained glass windows.’ The critics of Diapason and broadcasters of the French radio channel France Musique have now chosen to award the disc a Diapason d’Or de l’Année 2010, as the best disc of choral music of the year. The award was made public at a ceremony held at the Maison de Radio France in Paris on the 16th of November, and transmitted live on France Musique.
For further information about Bach’s Motets, BIS-SACD-1841, please click here
For a video clip made during the recording of this disc, please click here
For a complete listing of recordings by the Bach Collegium Japan on BIS, click here
For a complete listing of recordings by Masaaki Suzuki on BIS, click here
For a complete listing of Bach Cantatas (released as of today), click here
24. September 2010
In Great Company During the Fifth International Sibelius Conference, held in Oxford on 17th–20th September 2010, long-time BIS collaborator Andrew Barnett was presented with the prestigious Sibelius medal of the Sibelius Society of Finland. Andrew Barnett is the author of a biography of the composer, published in 2007 by Yale University Press, and is also project advisor for the monumental SIBELIUS EDITION currently being released by BIS. Since 1965 the Finnish Sibelius Society has been awarding the medal to individuals and organisations for their outstanding achievements as performers or supporters of Sibelius' music, as well as to researchers. Recent recipients include the singers Soile Isokoski and Jorma Hynninen, as well as the conductors Osmo Vänskä, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Esa-Pekka Salonen.
For further information about the Sibelius medal, click here
For further information about Andrew Barnett’s Sibelius biography, click here
For further information about the BIS SIBELIUS EDITION, click here
01. September 2010
’Ultra-virtuosic Vocal Architecture’ The prestigious German Record Critics’ Annual Award (‘Jahrespreis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik’) has recently been presented to Masaaki Suzuki and Bach Collegium Japan for the team’s recording of the motets by J.S. Bach. In the citation for the award, the jury of German reviewers speaks of Bach’s ‘ultra-virtuosic vocal architecture’ in the motets, and of the ‘overwhelming result’ as Masaaki Suzuki and his Bach Collegium Japan take on these works: ‘This recording combines musicological insight with sensual delight and strikingly perceptive readings of the texts.’ The award was presented to Masaaki Suzuki on the 22 of August at a concert in the Church of St Nicolai in Cuxhaven-Altenbruch, where members of the Bach Collegium Japan were performing as part of the 21st Musikfest Bremen.
For further information about Bach’s Motets, BIS-SACD-1841, please click here
For a video clip made during the recording of this disc, please click here
Read more about the German Record Critics' Annual Award here
30. August 2010
’Dazzling’ Released in January 2010, Freddy Kempf’s recording of Prokofiev’s Piano Concertos Nos 2 and 3 has received wide acclaim, and was selected as a Gramophone Editor’s Choice in the magazine’s May issue. While noting ’BIS's impressively translucent sound engineering’, the Gramophone reviewers described the performance by Kempf and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra as ‘a thoughtful reading ... and one in which the orchestra under the excellent Andrew Litton play a full part’, going on to call it ‘finely honed, suitably mercurial and certain to impress ... a dazzling successor to the pianist's earlier Prokofiev recital’ (BIS-CD-1260, released in 2003).
The disc has now been named one of three finalists in the ‘Concerto’ category of the 2010 edition of the prestigious Gramophone Awards. The winners will be revealed on 1st of October at a ceremony held in London.
For further information about Freddy Kempf, please click here
For a list of other releases by the Bergen PO and Andrew Litton, please click here
15. June 2010
Wedding Bells Are Ringing As befits a royal wedding, several days of celebrations will precede the ceremony in the 13th-century Stockholm Cathedral on Saturday. In a similar way, the 1744 marriage between Crown Prince Adolf Fredrik of Sweden and Lovisa Ulrika of Prussia was celebrated at the palace of Drottningholm with a number of balls, banquets and ceremonies. Music was an all-important feature, and among the works performed was Johan Helmich Roman’s Drottningholm Music – written for the occasion, and considered a milestone in the music history of Sweden. 276 years later, a new recording packaged in a tastefully designed wrapping, forms BIS’ contribution to the Royal Wedding of Crown Princess Victoria and Mr Daniel Westling. Performed by the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra under the acclaimed baroque violinist and conductor Andrew Manze, Roman’s suite is as festive and charming as ever. This will be apparent through listening to the two movements we have elected to offer for a limited period as our wedding gift to all visitors to our website.
For more information about this title, please click here
21. May 2010
BIS goes to Rotterdam The DVD of Gergiev conducting Brahms’ German Requiem is the prelude to a four-disc collaboration between the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and BIS. To be recorded over the coming three years are works by Richard Strauss and Maurice Ravel among others, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Gergiev’s successor in Rotterdam and one of the fastest-rising stars on the international classical music scene. The first recording took place already in March this year: an all-Berlioz programme consisting of Symphonie fantastique and La mort de Cléopâtre. Soloist in the latter work is the Italian soprano Anna Caterina Antonacci, making one of her rare appearances on disc. The second album to be recorded will include Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben, a recording that takes place in de Doelen concert hall in Rotterdam in June. Both discs are planned for release during the 2010/2011 season.
For more information about Valery Gergiev’s DVD of A German Requiem, click here
For more information about the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, visit the orchestra’s website www.rpho.nl
16. April 2010
A Hymn of Praise Choosing from the more than 1.500 recordings reviewed in the BBC Music Magazine in the course of 2009, a jury of eight distinguished music critics awarded its prize for technical excellence to BIS’ recording of Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 2, ‘Lobgesang’ (‘Hymn of Praise’) with the Bergen Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra, conducted by Andrew Litton (BIS-SACD-1704).
The award, which confirms BIS’ status as a leader in the field of sound recording, was presented at a ceremony in London on the 13th April by Andrew McGregor of BBC Radio 3 CD Review. Praising the musical interpretation of Mendelssohn’s ‘Symphony-Cantata’, McGregor described the recording itself as follows: ‘Turn it up a bit and you’ll feel the living room walls melt away, and you’re there in the Grieg Hall’s acoustic experiencing a realistic concert hall balance and a proper live sense of occasion.’
Present at the award ceremony were conductor Andrew Litton, label director Robert von Bahr, and Hans Kipfer and Ingo Petry, recording producer and sound engineer behind the winning disc. The Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Andrew Litton have already recorded the complete Mendelssohn symphonies on BIS, while coming projects include Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and Petrushka, due for release in 2011.
For more information about Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Andrew Litton on BIS, click here
For information about the 2010 BBC Music Magazine Awards, including video material from the award ceremony, visit the website of the BBC Music Magazine
29. March 2010
Going to the movies For his new film Shutter Island, Martin Scorsese has chosen to use existing music by composers such as György Ligeti, Alfred Schnittke and Krzysztof Penderecki. Based on the novel by Dennis Lehane, the film features music from Ligeti's Two Etudes for Organ and Schnittke's Hymn for cello and double bass. In the case of both works it is recordings from BIS Records that are being used on the soundtrack, adding to the ominous, sinister world that Scorsese creates on the screen. The recordings in question were selected from a disc of organ music by Ligeti and Schoenberg made by Hans-Ola Ericsson, and from an album of cello works by Schnittke featuring Torleif Thedéen, supported by double-bass player Entcho Radoukanov.
For information about the BIS recordings featured in Shutter Island, click on the links below:
Organ music by Schoenberg and Ligeti, BIS-CD-509
Cello Concerto No.1 etc - Alfred Schnittke, BIS-CD-507
27. January 2010
‘A superbly articulated performance ... enriched by a magnificent orchestral accompaniment.’ At this year’s MIDEM, the international gathering of the music industry in Cannes, Ronald Brautigam accepted an award for his recording of Beethoven’s Second Piano Concerto, BIS-SACD-1792. The MIDEM Classical Awards are bestowed by a jury consisting of representatives for the international music press and media, who selected Ronald Brautigam’s recording as the best concerto disc of 2009. Part of a cycle of Beethoven’s complete works for piano and orchestra, the disc also features a rarely heard early work by the composer, the Piano Concerto WoO4, for which Brautigam himself has made the reconstruction of the orchestral score. Brautigam’s partners in this project, which will be concluded in 2010 by the release of Piano Concerto No.5 and the Choral Fantasy, are the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra and conductor Andrew Parrott.
For further details on Ronald Brautigam’s Beethoven recording, and his other releases on BIS, click here
27. November 2009
‘Artistic Project of 2009’ The prestigious distinction Diapason d’Or de l’Année is awarded by a jury comprising critics from the leading French magazine Diapason and broadcasters from France Musique, the public radio station devoted to music. The architect of the 3-disc Choros cycle on BIS, conductor John Neschling, received the award, which was presented to him during a ceremony transmitted live on France Musique. The 14 works that make up Heitor Villa-Lobos’ great cycle range from solo pieces for guitar and piano to large-scale orchestral frescoes, some of which also involve choir or soloists. The highly acclaimed series was recorded in collaboration with the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra (OSESP), which was also represented at the award ceremony in Paris. The same orchestra also plays a key role on three previously released discs of Villa-Lobos’ 9 Bachianas Brasileiras, and these two cycles, described on web site ClassicsToday.com as ‘the finest recordings of these works currently available’ have been combined in a recent box set, BIS-CD-1830/32.
For details regarding the box set of Bachianas and Choros, click here
24. November 2009
Interpreter Prize
goes to Martin Fröst A wizard on his instrument, charismatic and fearless both in established and newly-composed repertoire, he grapples with renewing the form of his concerts thus perpetually surprising his audiences.
Now, the Royal Swedish Academy of Music has awarded its Interpreter Prize to virtuoso clarinetist Martin Fröst citing: "As soloist and chamber musician, explorer and presenter of new and traditional repertoire he has the world at his feet. Constantly exploring new aspects of musical creativity, he has inspired a succession of composers to write for him works that have proved exciting and important additions to the clarinet repertoire."
The award of 100.000 Swedish Crowns will be presented on 30th November by His Majesty King Carl Gustav at a ceremonial gathering of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. The day before, on 29th November, one can hear Martin Fröst performing together with Svante Henrysson and Roland Pöntinen at the Assembly Room of the Royal Musical Academy in the recital series "Academy Sundays". The concert itself will consist exclusively of encores!
The Interpreter Prize was established in 2007 and is awarded annually to a truly innovative artist or ensemble of the highest musical calibre.
For a Martin Fröst's complete dicography on BIS, click here
23. November 2009
A great singer departs Described as 'one of the most perceptive and admired sopranos of the postwar era', Elisabeth Söderström passed away in Stockholm on November 22nd, aged 82. Her début took place at the Drottningholm Palace Theatre in 1947, and during the following three decades she was a key member of the ensemble of the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm, while maintaining an international career with regular appearances at Glyndebourne and Covent Garden, at the Salzburg Festival and the Metropolitan. Besides being a superb actress, Elisabeth Söderström was also an inspired recitalist, and famously collaborated with Vladimir Ashkenazy. A highly intelligent musician, she combined great versatility with a strong sense of humour, as demonstrated by her two recordings for BIS: on 'Örhängen' ('Evergreens') she performed a programme of popular Swedish songs, and with her close friend the mezzo soprano Kerstin Meyer she devised a recital which closes with Puccini's famous duet for two cats - a role which the acclaimed interpreter of Mélisande and Jenůfa enjoyed to the full.
For details about recordings with Elisabeth Söderström on BIS, click here
16. November 2009
Twice Rewarded Choosing his ten personal favourites among the discs reviewed in Gramphone’s November issue, James Inverne, the editor of the magazine, selects two recent BIS releases. The discs in question could hardly be more different: Mahler’s monumental Ninth Symphony conducted by Alan Gilbert (BIS-SACD-1710), and ‘Stabat Mater’, a trio of Baroque vocal works with counter-tenor Daniel Taylor and soprano Emma Kirkby (BIS-SACD-1546). In his own, brief comments to his choice, Inverne characterizes Alan Gilbert’s Mahler interpretation as ‘a superb, devastating reading’. The full-length review describes the disc as probably ‘the finest recording the work has received’ on a technical level, going on to state that the achievement of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra is ‘still more extraordinary than that of the engineers.’ As for ‘Stabat Mater’, James Inverne calls it ‘an absolutely gorgeous, contemplative disc’, singling out the performance of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater in the less well-known version by J.S. Bach for special praise.
Beethoven Cycle Twice Lauded The boxed set of the Vänskä/Minnesota Beethoven cycle unites the five single discs – in their original Hybrid SACD format – released between 2004 and 2008 to great acclaim. Already the first instalment was greeted as 'the modern Beethoven recording par excellence' by the reviewer in Financial Times, while his colleague in Gramophone on the occasion of the final disc wrote 'Here concludes one of the finest available Beethoven symphony cycles.'
Released in September, this ‘recycled’ cycle seems already predestined for similar critical success, at least to judge from the first reviews: the two websites ClassicsToday.com and ClassicsTodayFrance.com together named it their October ‘Disc of the Month’, the reviewer on the first site calling it ‘unquestionably one the great Beethoven cycles’ and his counterpart on the second describing it as ‘the great Beethoven cycle of the 2000s, just as Harnoncourt’s was that of the 1980s and Barenboim’s that of the 1990s.’
For details about this box (BIS-SACD-1825/26) click here
Nordic Composers’ Prize In August 2009 Robert von Bahr became the first recipient of the prestigious new Nordic Composers’ Prize. The prize will henceforth be awarded annually by the Council of Nordic Composers to “a person or an organization whose activities have benefited the musical environment in the Nordic countries and thus had a positive effect on the situation of composers in the Nordic countries”.
The citation reads:
“The Nordic Composers’ Prize for 2009 is awarded to record-producer Robert von Bahr who, with extraordinary passion and knowledge has worked untiringly to make classical music of the highest quality available to a wide public, and who has created a highly impressive catalogue on the part of his own BIS Records in which many Nordic composers have had the joy of being able to publish fine recordings of their works”.
21. January 2009
Doing it by halves In early January Sudbin and the Minnesota Orchestra successfully completed the recording of the first half of a disc planned for release in 2010. The programme will consist of Beethoven’s Fourth and Fifth Piano Concertos, and it opens a complete series of the concertos, as a natural continuation of the orchestra’s highly acclaimed symphony cycle. During the January recording period Osmo Vänskä and Minnesota Orchestra also recorded Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony (the "Romantic"), in the recent critical edition by Benjamin Korstvedt which advocates the final, 1888 version of the work.
For more information about Yevgeny Sudbin, clickhere
For more information about Minnesota Orchestran, clickhere
Founded in 2006, New York Polyphony has emerged as one of the preeminent vocal chamber ensembles in the fields of early and new music. Praised for a “rich, natural sound that’s larger and more complex than the sum of its parts” (National Public Radio), the four men scored a hit with their current CD Tudor City, spending three weeks in the Top 10 of Billboard magazine's classical album chart.
Twice Rewarded
