NEW RELEASES // 1st Semester 2016

Album Release: January 2016
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/album/id1068254386
Extracts taken from « Shostakovich: The Complete String Quartets » – Out on 2016-01-08
Extraits issus de « Shostakovich: The Complete String Quartets » – Sortie le 2016-01-08

Production: Alpha

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SHOSTAKOVICH: String Quartet No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 110: II. Allegro molto - Quatuor Danel

Album release: January 2016

Rameau: Dardanus (Live Recording at l'Opéra Royal du Château de Versailles)
Ensemble Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/album/id719752971
Extracts taken from « Rameau: Dardanus (Live Recording at l'Opéra Royal du Château de Versailles) » – Out on 2013-10-21
Extraits issus de « Rameau: Dardanus (Live Recording at l'Opéra Royal du Château de Versailles) » – Sortie le 2013-10-21

Production: Alpha

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RAMEAU: Dardanus, Acte III Scène 1:  Prélude "Ô jour affreux!" - Ensemble Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon

CD Release: February 2016
PARIS JOYEUX & TRISTE,
PIANO DUETS BY STRAVINSKY AND SATIE
ALEXEI LUBIMOV, SLAVA POPRUGIN
PIANO PLEYEL 1920, PIANO GAVEAU 1906, PIANO BECHSTEIN

EN // In Paris Joyeux & Triste, Alexei Lubimov and Slava Poprugin alternate pieces by Igor Stravinsky and Erik Satie, two composers who became friends in the early years of the twentieth century despite their very different musical personalities. Stravinsky made his own two-piano arrangement of the ‘Dumbarton Oaks’ Concerto, while Satie’s Socrate and Cinéma are heard here in arrangements by John Cage and Darius Milhaud respectively.
Pieces for two pianos, for piano four hands and for prepared piano combine on this disc which mingles music and theatre – for it is the theatrical element that unites the two composers. As Diaghilev said to Cocteau: ‘Astonish me!’ With this programme, these instruments and his extremely diverse musical experiences, Lubimov continues to make that his credo today.

FR // Dans Paris Joyeux & Triste, Alexei Lubimov et Slava Poprugin alternent pièces d’Igor Stravinsky et d’Erik Satie, deux compositeurs qui furent amis au début du 20ème siècle malgré des personnalités musicales fort différentes. Stravinsky signe lui-même les arrangements pour pianos des deux Concertos, tandis que Socrate et Cinéma de Satie sont ici arrangés par John Cage et Darius Milhaud. Pièces à deux pianos, pour piano à quatre mains et pour piano préparé s’articulent dans ce disque qui mêle musique et théâtre. C’est en effet la théâtralité qui réunit les deux compositeurs. Comme le disait Diaghilev à Cocteau « étonnez-moi ! ». Avec ce programme, ces instruments et ses expériences musicales si diverses, c’est dans cette lignée que Lubimov s’inscrit aujourd’hui.

STRAVINSKY - Concerto in E-Flat Major "Dumbarton Oaks": I. Tempo giusto

SATIE - Cinema: Entr'acte symphonique From the Ballet "Relâche" (Transcription for Piano Four Hands)

In this track: QUENTIN: Concerto à quarte parties, oe. XII, Largo / GUILLEMAIN: 3e Sonate en Quatuor Livre I, Allegro.

NEVERMIND (NEW SIGNING) - Album release: March 2016
CONVERSATIONS
JEAN-BAPTISTE QUENTIN (1690-1742),
LOUIS-GABRIEL GUILLEMAIN (1705-1770)
SONATAS FOR FLUTE, VIOLIN AND CONTINUO

NEVERMIND is made up of four young musicians and friends whose passion for early music and for the influence of jazz and traditional music stimulated them to form an ensemble whose virtuosity is equalled only by their youthful impetuosity and their love of fine music . . . For its first disc, Nevermind tackles the treasures of the Baroque in the shape of two totally neglected French composers.

Tracklist of the album:
JEAN-BAPTISTE QUENTIN (1690 - vers 1750)

CONCERTO À QUATRE PARTIES, OEUVRE XII
1 LARGO

QUATUOR, SONATA III, OEUVRE XV
2 I. ALLEGRO
3 II. ADAGIO
4 III. PREMIÈRE ET SECONDE ARIA
5 IV. PRESTO

LOUIS-GABRIEL GUILLEMAIN (1705-1770)

SONATA III, PREMIER LIVRE DE SONATES EN QUATUORS
6 I. ALLEGRO MODERATO
7 II. LARGHETTO
8 III. ARIA
9 IV. ALLEGRO

JEAN-BAPTISTE QUENTIN

SONATA IV À QUATRE PARTIES, OEUVRE VIII
10 I. LARGO
11 II. ALLEGRO
12 III. GAVOTTA, TENDREMENT
13 IV. ALLEGRO 

LOUIS-GABRIEL GUILLEMAIN

SONATA IV, SECOND LIVRE DE SONATES EN QUATUORS
14 I. ALLEGRO
15 II. ARIA GRATIOSO
16 III. PRESTO

JEAN-BAPTISTE QUENTIN

SONATA V EN TRIO, OEUVRE X
17 I. ADAGIO
18 II. ALLEGRO
19 III. PREMIÈRE ET SECONDE ARIA
20 IV. VIVEMENT

NEVERMIND // CONVERSATION - Album Teaser

GRIEG - WOLF - STRAUSS - GRØNDAHL
LIEDER & SONGS - Album release: February 2016
MARI ERIKSMOEN
ALPHONSE CEMIN

Production: Alpha

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WOLF - Goethe Lieder: 26. Die Spröde

Album Release: March 2016

Since 2015, Krzysztof Urbański has been principal guest conductor of the NDR Symphony Orchestra in Hamburg, one of the leading German orchestras. They are currently preparing together the inauguration in January 2017 of Hamburg’s new concert hall, the Elbphilharmonie, a major musical event in Germany with which Alpha Classics will be associated. Krzysztof Urbański is also music director of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and principal guest conductor of the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. A resolutely international career for a young conductor who recently earned praise from the Chicago Tribune for ‘his keen musical instincts and vigorous way of translating his ideas into orchestral sound that has both shape and meaning’.
For this first recording, he was keen to celebrate a great composer, one of the most eminent of the twentieth century and a Pole like himself, who, like Stravinsky, Bartók, Berg, Prokofiev and Shostakovich, gloried in the sound material of the orchestra and displayed boundless imagination. Though less well known than his illustrious colleagues for the moment, Lutosławski amply deserves to meet a wider public, for his music can speak as directly to connoisseurs as to simple music-lovers. We hope that this programme will help to further his reputation.

Tracklist of the album:
CONCERTO FOR ORCHESTRA
1 I. INTRADA
2 II. CAPRICCIO NOTTURNO E ARIOSO
3 III. PASSACAGLIA, TOCCATA E CORALE

LITTLE SUITE (MAŁA SUITA)
4 I. FUJARKA (PICCOLO)
5 II. HURRA POLKA
6 III. PIOSENKA (SONG)
7 IV. TANIEC (DANCE)

8 SYMPHONY NO.4

LUTOSLAWSKI // Concerto for Orchestra - I. Intrada by Krzysztof Urbański & NDR Symphony Orchestra

Album release: February 2016

Anna Vinnitskaya’s discography to date has been Franco- Russian. Here she tackles Brahms, whom she has frequently played in concert, notably this summer at the Festival of La Roque d’Anthéron. Here is what ResMusica had to say about that recital: ‘True to her reputation, the Russian pianist genuinely illuminated the scene, impressing us with the control and depth of her artistry . . . Each piece obeyed a flawless architectural rigour, focusing on melodic line and diversity of tone. Right from the first bars of Bach’s Chaconne transcribed by Brahms for the left hand, she produced a sound so full and nuanced as to make us forget that we were listening to just one hand. . . . There is always a great temptation to slide into Romantic emphasis, but the Russian artist achieved emotion with sobriety, using very little pedal. In the Klavierstücke of Brahms, this ability to penetrate the score down to its slightest inflections resulted in a version at the opposite pole from what one so often hears. Only the great Brahms interpreters possess the gift of not overloading a text already sufficiently dense in sentiments.’ This recording was made some weeks later, at the famous, indeed legendary concert hall of Neumarkt near Nuremberg.

Tracklist of the album:
1 CHACONNE FOR LEFT HAND
AFTER JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH’S PARTITA FOR VIOLIN SOLO NO. 2 IN D MINOR, BWV 1004, TRANSCRIBED FOR PIANO BY JOHANNES BRAHMS

KLAVIERSTÜCKE, OP.76
2 I. CAPRICCIO IN F SHARP MINOR 3’25
3 II. CAPRICCIO IN B MINOR 3’13
4 III. INTERMEZZO IN A FLAT MAJOR 2’06
5 IV. INTERMEZZO IN B FLAT MAJOR 1’56
6 V. CAPRICCIO IN C SHARP MINOR 2’52
7 VI. INTERMEZZO IN A MAJOR 3’41
8 VII. INTERMEZZO IN A MINOR 3’14
9 VIII. CAPRICCIO IN C MAJOR 3’20

TWO RHAPSODIES, OP.79
10 RHAPSODY NO.1 IN B MINOR 8’05
11 RHAPSODY NO.2 IN G MINOR

BRAHMS // 5 Studies for Piano: Chaconne by J. S. Bach in D Minor by Anna Vinnitskaya

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
VIOLIN SONATAS NOS 9 «KREUTZER », 4 & 2
Lorenzo Gatto (violin), Julien Libeer (piano)

Buy the album here:  http://bit.ly/1WLjTtV
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/album/id1114293478

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BEETHOVEN // Violin Sonata No. 9 in A Major, Op. 47 "Kreutzer": III. Finale (Presto)

ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK
TRIO NO.3 IN F MINOR, OP. 65 TRIO NO.4 IN E MINOR, OP. 90 ‘DUMKY’
Busch Trio (Omri Epstein, Mathieu van Bellen, Ori Epstein)

Buy the album here: http://bit.ly/234trQN
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/album/id1114176384

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DVOŘÁK // Piano Trio No. 3 in F Minor, Op. 65: II. Allegretto grazioso

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
BACH : SONATAS, BWV 525 & 527-530

Jan Van Hoecke, Jovanka Marville

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/album/id1119638881
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BACH // Sonata No. 5 in C Major, BWV 529: II. Largo (Transcription for Recorder and Harpischord)

Alpha has been a noted reference in the world of classical music since its inception twelve years ago. Today, the label is broadening its horizons, welcoming outstanding new artists and opening its doors to an array of innovative projects.

Vocal repertoire becomes a major focus of the new ALPHA: Véronique Gens has just recorded a recital of French songs with Susan Manoff as part of an ongoing collaboration with the label. The baritone Georg Nigl also joins Alpha. He will collaborate with Andreas Staier on a Bach album. The new generation is represented by Gaëlle Arquez and the soprano Mari Eriksmoen. She will record a programme of songs by Grieg, Strauss and Wolf in April in the framework of the partnership between ALPHA and the Academy of the Aix-en-Provence Festival.

Outstanding instrumental soloists have also signed with ALPHA: the pianist Anna Vinnitskaya presents the Shostakovich concertos with Kremerata Baltica. Others will be announced soon.

Collaborations with major orchestras are being finalised, but we can announce multi-year projects with Hervé Niquet and with Le Concert Spirituel (Vivaldi Gloria & Magnificat for double choir to be released this fall). Equally noteworthy are the Beethoven symphonies recorded by Martin Haselböck and the Wiener Akademie in the halls where they were first performed.

ALPHA is also expanding its chronological scope, since the label is launching a series with the Ensemble Intercontemporain and Matthias Pintscher and will release a program by Peter Eötvös. For the twentieth century, Arthur Honegger’s Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher has just appeared, with an incredibly intense narrator, the actress Marion Cotillard.

As part of the new series ALPHA OPERA, a DVD collection has been created in conjunction with major institutions such as the THEATRE ROYAL DE LA MONNAIE in Brussels and the Opéra Royal du Château de Versailles, featuring top ensembles including Les Talens Lyriques under Christophe Rousset and Le Concert Spirituel under Hervé Niquet (Don Quichotte chez la Duchesse by Boismortier, directed by Corinne et Gilles BENIZIO, aka SHIRLEY & DINO).

ALPHA remains faithful to the artists who have made its history and its reputation. Vincent Dumestre and Le Poème Harmonique will present a disc of Airs de Cour in the autumn. Bruno Cocset has recorded a second volume of works by Barrière, and Olivier Fortin, Alexis Kossenko, Lucille Boulanger, Arnaud de Pasquale, Céline Frisch and Café ZIMMERMANN will also offer new releases. The ambitious Haydn 2032 project continues under the direction of Giovanni Antonini, while the ‘Château de Versailles’ collection presents recordings of Campra and Leclair by Olivier Schneebeli and Sébastien d’Hérin respectively.

In order to strenghten the label on the international scene, ALPHA will bring together all its house artists with those who recorded for ZIG-ZAG TERRITOIRES. This merger will make for greater coherence among the 600 recordings in the existing catalogues (especially in the field of early music, the strong point of both labels) and the new releases. By the end of 2015 ALPHA will thus offer a chance to renew acquaintance with such major artists as the Belcea Quartet, Doulce Mémoire and Denis Raisin Dadre, Nelson Goerner in Chopin, Tedi Papavrami in Bartók, Amandine Beyer, Mario Ceccato, and Alexei Lubimov and many others. Another highlight of the year is the seventieth birthday of Jos Van Immerseel: with Anima Eterna Brugge, he will present a magnificent Schubertiade as well as a symphonic programme with Janácek and Dvoràk.

Since December 1st 2014, the label is directed by Didier Martin.