Audio News for August 2, 2016

by | Aug 2, 2016 | Audio News

Yamaha Adds 4K Blu-ray Players With Stereo SACD – The BD-S681 offers 3D playback, 4K upconversion, Wi-Fi networking, and compatibility with hi-res audio formats (in stereo). It retails for $329.95. The Aventage BD-A1060 adds a 192K/32-bit DAC, a high-purity power supply and independent circuit boards to reduce signal noise. Both players reduce disc vibration by 30%, and Wi-Fi Direct allows streaming of music from a mobile device to the player for viewing on a TV. The USB port on both decodes DSD streams up to 5.6 MHz, FLAC and ALAC music files. The A1060 is $549.95.

The Gramophone Classical Music Awards Shortlist – The list is not short at all; recordings were selected in each of several categories by their panel of critics. Here is most of it for what it’s worth:

Baroque Instrumental:
Bach in Montecassino’ – Luca Guglielmi (Vivat)
JS Bach Organ Works – Masaaki Suzuki (BIS)
WF Bach Harpsichord Concertos – Il Convito / Maude Gratton (Mirare)
Biber Rosary Sonatas – Rachel Podger et al (Channel Classics)
Lawes The Royal Consort – Phantasm (Linn)
Vivaldi Four Seasons etc.- Adrian Chandler / La Serenissima (Avie)

Baroque Vocal:
JS Bach Magnificat in E flat etc. – Dunedin Consort/ John Butt (Linn)
JS Bach Mass in B Minor – Concerto Copenhagen (CPO)
JS Bach Mass in B minor – Monteverdi Choir; EBS / Sir John Eliot Gardiner (SDG)
Handel Partenope – Il Pomo d’oro / Riccardo Minasi (Erato)
Monteverdi Madrigali, Vol. 1 – Cremona Les Arts Florissants / Paul Agnew (Les Arts Florissants)
‘Concert Royal de La Nuit’ – Ensemble Correspondences/ Sébastian Daucé (Harmonia mundi)

Chamber:
Beethoven Cello Sonatas – Xavier Phillips; François-Frédéric Guy (Evidence Classics)
Berg Lyric Suite; Wellesz Sonnets – Renée Fleming; Emerson Quartet (Decca)
Brahms Quartets Nos 1 & 3 Artemis Quartet (Erato)
Bruckner String Quintet; String Quartet – Fitzwilliam Quartet; James Boyd (Linn)
Schubert String Quintet etc. – Quatuor Ebène; Gautier Capuçon (Erato)
Tippett String Quartets – Heath Quartet (Wigmore Hall Live)

Choral:
Beethoven Missa solemnis – Soloists, BRSO & Choir / Bernard Haitink (BR-Klassik)
Bliss Morning Heroes etc. – BBC SO & Chorus / Sir Andrew Davis (Chandos)
Howells Collegium Regale etc Trinity College Choir, Cambridge / Stephen Layton (Hyperion)
Schoenberg Gurrelieder – Gürzenich-Orchester Köln / Markus Stenz (Hyperion)
Amuse-Bouche’ – I FagiolinI / Robert Hollingworth (Decca)
‘Poetry in Music’ – The Sixteen / Harry Christophers (Coro)

Concerto:

Bartók Violin Concerto No 1; Brahms Violin Concerto – Janine Jansen; LSO, Santa Cecilia Orch / Sir Antonio Pappano (Decca)
Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3 – Maria João Pires; Orchestra of the 18th Century / Frans Brüggen (NIFC)
Britten. Korngold Violin Concertos – Vilde Frang; Frankfurt RSO/ James Gaffigan (Warner Classics)
Dvořák Violin Concerto; Romance; Suk Fantasy – Christian Tetzlaff; Helsinki PO / John Storgårds (Ondine)
Martinů Rhapsody Concerto etc Maxim Rysanov; BBC Symphony Orchestra / Jiři Belohlávek (BIS)
Rachmaninov Variations Daniil Trifonov, Philadelphia / Yannick Nezet-Séguin (DGG)

Contemporary:

Abrahamsen let me tell you – Barbara Hannigan; BRSO / Andris Nelsons (Winter & Winter)
Anderson In Liebliche Bläue, Alleluia etc. – LPO/ Vladimir Jurowski (LPO)
Birtwistle Angel Fighter etc Soloists, London Sinfonietta / David Atherton (NMC)
Maxwell Davies. Panufnik Symphony No. 10 – LSO /Sir Antonio Pappano (LSO Live SACD)
Murail Le Partage des eaux, Contes cruels etc. – BBC SO, Netherlands Radio PO / Pierre-André Valade (Aeon)
Silvestrov To thee we sing – Latvian Radio Choir / Sigvards Kļava (Ondine)

Early Music:

Compère Magnificat, motets & chansons – Orlando Consort (Hyperion)
Isaac Missa Misericordias Domini etc. – Cantica Symphonia / Giuseppe Maletto (Glossa)
Jacquet of Mantua Missa Surge Petre & Motets – Brabant Ensemble/ Stephen Rice (Hyperion)
Lantins Secular Works – Le Miroir de Musique (Ricercar)
Taverner Western Wind Taverner Choir & Players / Andrew Parrott (Avie)
‘Scattered Ashes’ Magnificat / Philip Cave (Linn)

Instrumental:

Bach. Beethoven. Rzewski Variations – Igor Levit (Sony Classical)
Brahms Solo Piano, Vol. 3 – Jonathan Plowright (BIS)
Grieg Lyric Pieces – Stephen Hough (Hyperion)
Ravel Complete Works for Solo Piano – Bertrand Chamayou (Erato)
Scarlatti Sonatas- Yevgeny Sudbin (BIS)
Ysaÿe Sonatas – Alina Ibragimova (Hyperion)

Opera:

Donizetti Les martyrs – Sir Mark Elder (Opera Rara)
Leoncavallo Pagliacci Mascagni Cavalleria rusticana – Christian Thielemann (Sony Classical)
Tchaikovsky The Queen of Spades – Mariss Jansons (BR Klassik)
Verdi Aida – Sir Antonio Pappano (Warner Classics)
Wagner Das Rheingold – Sir Simon Rattle (BR-Klassik)
Zandonai Francesca da Rimini – Fabrice Bollon (CPO)

Orchestral:

Casella Orch Works, Vol 4 – BBC PO/ Gianandrea Noseda (Chandos)
Dutilleux Métaboles. Symphony No 2 etc. – Seattle SO / Ludovic Morlot (Seattle Symphony Media)
Elgar Symphony No 1 – Staatskapelle Berlin/ Daniel Barenboim (Decca)
Schubert Symphony No 9 – Orchestra Mozart / Claudio Abbado (DG)
Shostakovich Symphony No 10 – Boston SO/ Andris Nelsons (DG)
Vaughan Williams Sea Symphony – Hallé/ Sir Mark Elder (Hallé)

Recital:

‘Arie Napoletane’ Max Emanuel Cencic; Il Pomo D’Oro / Maxim Emelyanyachev (Decca)
‘Scene!’ – Christiane Karg, Arcangelo / Jonathan Cohen (Berlin Classics)
Cavalli Heroines of the Venetian Baroque – Mariana Flores, Cappella Mediterranea / Leonardo Garcia Alarcon (Ricercar)
Mozart & the Weber Sisters – Sabine Devieilhe; Pygmalion / Raphäel Pichon (Erato)
‘Paris, mon amour!’ – Sonya Yoncheva; Orquestra de la communicat Valenciana / Fréderic Chaslin (Sony Classical)
Puccini Album – Jonas Kaufmann; Santa Cecilia Orch / Sir Antonio Pappano (Sony Classical)

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