La Rocca - Mass of the Americas - SUPER-AUDIO CD [Super Audio CD (SACD)]

The relationship between Hans Werner Henze and Oliver Knussen was one of great mutual respect. The German composer admired the British conductor and composer for electrifying performances of Henze's own and other composers' works. Knussen was an untiring and enthusiastic champion of his friend Henze's music. The recordings collected here display Knussen's deep understanding of Henze's music. Knussen conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra in sensitive and meticulous performances of compositions ranging from the composer's middle period to his last completed work. Los Caprichos transforms the bitterness and sarcasm in Francisco Goya's famous series of etchings into a tender and melancholy InchFantasia per orchestraInch that makes only sparing use of contemporary stylistic devices. The large orchestral work Heliogabalus Imperator - a programmatic depiction of the life and death of the notorious Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus - also provides evidence of Henze's self-assured and idiosyncratic interpretation of modern music idioms. The Englische Liebeslieder for solo violoncello and orchestra express a wide range of emotional states, which are brought to life by cellist Anssi Karttunen.

Allegri / Ivanoff - Miserere [SUPER-AUDIO CD] Hybrid SACD date 11/11/2014

The prologue is a unique feature of early baroque opera an opening scene where an allegorical figure enters the stage to prepare the audience for the musical drama to come. Thus Prologue is the musical introduction of Italian star soprano Francesca Aspromonte and her exclusive, long term engagement with Pentatone, promising great joy as well as drama in the years to come. Prologue is a highly original album consisting of several prologues from early-baroque operas by Monteverdi, Caccini, Cavalli, Landi, Rossi, Cesti, Stradella and Scarlatti. Strung together, they form a representation in a single act, a theatre full of small, complete dramas the opera before the opera. Francesca Aspromonte is quickly establishing herself as a shining star in the Baroque firmament. She has curated this album together with musical director Enrico Onofri, who leads il pomo d'oro, one of the most important and successful period ensembles of today.