Deutsche Grammophon & Decca Classics Announce Spring Releases

Deutsche Grammophon & Decca Classics, U.S. is proud to present a host of all-new recordings for Spring 2011. Featuring some of the premiere artists of our time, the recordings embrace opera, orchestral, chamber, concerto and solo recordings in a variety of repertoire. Highlights include the first releases in DG and Decca's new relationship with Daniel Barenboim, the beginnings of the labels' Liszt celebrations as well as the continuing Mahler celebration, and a delightful DVD from the Metropolitan Opera. Releases are listed chronologically for ease.

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Light & Gold
Eric Whitacre
April 5, 2011

Famed American choral composer and conductor Eric Whitacre releases his first Decca recording which is also the first recording he has conducted and been intimately involved with every step of the process. Well-known around the world for his sumptuous choral settings (he has sold well over 1 million copies of sheet music) Eric leads this all-new recording of his best-loved works. Coinciding with the full launch of the album will be the exciting reveal of Eric's "Virtual Choir 2.0". The first Virtual Choir was a quiet labor of love for Eric and his fans and it resulted in a surprise YouTube hit. For VC2.0, Eric encouraged even more fans to participate with the result including 2,052 individual videos collected from 58 countries. Recently, Eric gave a TED Talk about this process whereby videos are recorded individually and in private and then synched and brought together into one finished performance of the work "Sleep" which is featured on the new album.

For more information on Eric, please visit www.ericwhitacre.com
For more information on Virtual Choir 2.0, please visit www.ericwhitacre.com/the-virtual-choir

Gra?yna Bacewicz: Piano Sonata No. 2; Quintets Nos. 1 & 2
Krystian Zimerman, piano
Kaja Danczowska / Agata Szymczewska / Ryszard Groblewski / Rafal Kwiatkowski
April 5, 2011
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Pianist Krystian Zimerman returned to the recording studio in 2009 after a five-year absence to celebrate the 100th birthday of the foremost female Polish composer of the 20th century, Gra?yna Bacewicz. This album features two hugely imaginative piano quintets and the forceful Second Piano Sonata that Zimerman performed at the Salzburg Festival in 2008 to rhapsodic reviews. Die Presse wrote: "One is ... unlikely to experience anywhere else Polish music of such power and charm and, at the same time, such refinement ... In the "Maestoso" first movement, Zimerman demonstrated his incredible flexibility, impetuous passages merging directly into supple tenderness without any loss of tension." This album is only Zimerman's third chamber music recording for the Yellow Label - rare music played with rare genius to revelatory effect.

Jonas Kaufmann: Verismo
Antonio Pappano; Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
April 19, 2011
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For his third opera aria recital on Decca, Kaufmann returns to the Italian roles that have excited audiences around the world and garnered widespread praise with selections from Andrea Chénier, Pagliacci, Adriana Lecouvreur, Mefistofele, La Gioconda and more. This recording comes to the US as Kaufmann arrives for the Metropolitan Opera's new production of Die Walküre.

On April 14, 2010, Jonas Kaufmann became the first German tenor to sing Cavaradossi at the Metropolitan Opera in 103 years. He shaped Puccini's music with exceptional elegance, balancing the character's essential revolutionary fervor with a heart-stopping tenderness. Critics and audiences ecstatically responded to his portrayal: "Mr. Kaufmann received frenzied bravos from the audience. His russet-colored voice has body and charisma. You could sense amazement throughout the house at his thrilling top notes during Cavaradossi's defiant cries of "Vittoria!" Yet his plaintive pianissimo phrases were equally impressive. That the youthful, curly-haired Mr. Kaufmann is also heartthrob-handsome did not hurt." (New York Times) For this all-new album, Kaufmann brings the same intensity and throbbing vocalism to this emotional and heart-wrenching music.

Puccini: Tosca
Emily Magee / Jonas Kaufmann / Thomas Hampson
Paolo Carignani; Chorus and Orchestra of the Zurich Opera House
April 19, 2011

Coinciding with the release of Kaufmann's latest album is a DVD featuring him in Puccini's Tosca. Kaufmann has proven himself a highly compelling stage actor as well as exceptionally gifted singer, and to behold him on stage is one of the best ways to enjoy his performances. Kaufmann stars in three best-selling DVDs already available on Decca (Carmen, Lohengrin and Werther) and this Tosca will likely enjoy similar success. Filmed at the Zurich Opera House, this Robert Carsen staging of Puccini's opera features Kaufmann as Cavaradossi, Emily Magee as Tosca and Thomas Hampson as Scarpia with Paolo Carignani conducting the Chorus and Orchestra of the Zurich Opera House.

Stabat Mater: A Tribute to Pergolesi
Anna Netrebko / Marianna Pizzolato
Antonio Pappano; Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
April 26, 2011
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Opera superstar Anna Netrebko, who has recorded a number of highly successful albums for Deutsche Grammophon, now turns her attention to sacred music for the first time on the Yellow Label with works by the Italian composer Giovanni Pergolesi including his famous Stabat Mater. For a singer who has been so closely identified with the heroines of Bellini, Donizetti, Puccini and Verdi the choice of Baroque music could seem audacious. Netrebko eschews the pallor that can sometimes diminish the impact of Baroque sacred music and instead brings an historically informed but modern approach. Her passionate and full-bodied performance brings Pergolesi's music to life in a manner that is rarely heard as of late.

Pergolesi's Stabat Mater is not a showcase for soprano alone and here Netrebko is joined by the mezzo-soprano Marianna Pizzolato. Pizzolato made her opera debut in the 2002/2003 season singing the title role of Rossini's Tancredi and has since gone on to specialize in Baroque and 18th-century operas. Her large, deep voice nicely complements Netrebko's and the two bring out the magic in Pergolesi's intertwining duet writing.

Mozart Piano Concertos no. 20 & 27
Mitsuko Uchida, piano & conductor
The Cleveland Orchestra
May 3, 2011

Mitsuko Uchida, who recently won a Grammy® for her recording of Mozart's Piano Concertos nos. 23 & 24, returns with an all-new album of Mozart concertos as performed with the Cleveland Orchestra. Sure to be as impressive as the previous album, the flawless partnership of Uchida ("No pianist conveys the rapture of Mozart quite like Mitsuko Uchida does." - The Independent, London) and Cleveland is once again heard in two of Mozart's masterpieces. No. 20 in D minor is one of the most admired of the composer's works and was beloved by such composers as Beethoven, Brahms, C. Schumann and Busoni. The concerto no. 27 is the last piano concerto that Mozart wrote and one of his most intimate and refined works. When Uchida and Cleveland come together to perform Mozart's works, it is surely a special occasion which results in an extraordinary recording.

Julia Fischer: Poème
Yakov Kreizberg; Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo
May 3, 2011
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Violinist Julia Fischer follows her extraordinary Grammy®-nominated recording of the Paganini Caprices with this contrasting album of a lyrical and poetic set of impressionistic works for violin and orchestra. Comprising four substantial pieces, this unique program is headed by Suk's virtuosic Fantasy, a mini-concerto that is now justifiably finding its way into the concert repertoire. It is accompanied by two well-known tone poems - the elegant Poème by Chausson and the English pastoral The Lark Ascending by Vaughan Williams. The album is completed by Respighi's Poema autunnale (of which there is only a small handful of recordings in the catalog), making the program truly multinational.

Julia is joined in this recording by her long-time collaborator Yakov Kreizberg and his Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo. The two previously made a number of highly acclaimed recordings together and this is their first Decca collaboration. In response to Kreizberg's recent passing, Julia commented: "In loving memory of Yakov Kreizberg, my closest friend, colleague and supporter for so many years. No words can begin to express how grateful I am and how privileged I feel for having known him. His memory shall live forever in my heart."

Daniel Barenboim
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Daniel Barenboim recently signed a contract with both Deutsche Grammophon and Decca and the first two releases of this collaboration will be available in May featuring Barenboim as a pianist in the works of Chopin.

The Warsaw Recital
May 3, 2011

The Chopin Concertos
Andris Nelsons; Staatskapelle Berlin
May 3, 2011

The first release is an all-Chopin solo recital recorded live in Warsaw. The program includes deeply-felt performances of Waltzes, a Polonaise, a Fantasia, a Nocturne and the B flat minor Sonata. The second release features Barenboim as soloist in both Chopin piano concertos. For these performances, recorded live at the Ruhr Piano Festival in July 2010, Barenboim is joined by conductor Andris Nelsons and the Staatskapelle Berlin, where Barenboim is the Chief Conductor for Life. These two releases will be followed by a Decca release of orchestral music later in the year.

Liszt: Harmonies du Soir
Nelson Freire
May 17, 2011

In celebration of the Liszt year 2011 (the 200th anniversary of the pianist-composer's birth), multi-award winning pianist Nelson Freire has personally selected the repertoire for his latest recording. The very personal selection includes Liszt showpieces such as the Harmonies du soir (from 12 Études d'exécution transcendante), the Hungarian Rhapsodies, the 6 Consolations, excerpts from Années de pèlerinage and more. Brazilian pianist Nelson Freire who The New York Times heralded as "an extraordinary pianist", continues to garner both awards and critical acclaim for his recordings and concert appearances. His most recent album of Chopin Nocturnes received a Diapason d'or of the Year award in France and a Grammy® nomination.

André Previn: Brief Encounter
Elizabeth Futral / Nathan Gunn / Kim Josephson
Patrick Summers; Houston Grand Opera
May 24, 2011

The lengthy list of André Previn's talents includes composition. Brief Encounter, his second opera, is a compassionate, exquisitely touching study of emotional infidelity. This release was recorded live at the opera's exceptionally brilliant world premiere in 2009 in Houston, TX. Based on the screenplay by Noël Coward that became a memorable film, Brief Encounter stars Elizabeth Futral and Nathan Gunn as lovers whose innate morality makes their rapturous gratitude for one another excruciating since they are already wed to others. Kim Josephson is moving as Laura's bewildered husband and Patrick Summers conducts with his customary intelligence. The Wall Street Journal wrote: "Mr. Previn's lush, tonal score supplies a new dimension to this tale, giving a voice to the yearnings of Laura, the ordinary woman who is suddenly catapulted into extraordinary feelings".

Of the premiere performance the Los Angeles Times wrote: "In Brief Encounter, he [Previn] hooks you with a melody, turns it on its side and moves on, measure after measure feeling like a brief but significant encounter. The opera will last."

Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde
Fritz Wunderlich / Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Josef Krips; Wiener Symphoniker
May 24, 2011

2011 is also a Mahler anniversary year as it is the 100th anniversary of the composer's death (May 18th). In celebration, Deutsche Grammophon has uncovered a treasure from the archive: this live recording of a sold-out concert from the Vienna Festival given at the Musikverein on June 14, 1964. With incomparable soloists at the height of their individual powers, this was an unforgettable performance. Now being released for the first time, this recording comes from a unique source in the Krips family archive - a copy of the original ORF (Austrian Radio) tape for which the original tape can no longer be found. Faithfully restored, this recording presents a marvel of singing and orchestral playing.

Donizetti: Don Pasquale
Anna Netrebko / Matthew Polenzani / Mariusz Kwiecien / John Del Carlo
James Levine; The Metropolitan Opera
May 31, 2011

One of the hottest tickets of the 2010-11 season at the Metropolitan Opera was Anna Netrebko's performance in Donizetti's sparkling comedy, Don Pasquale. "Ms. Netrebko offered a vivid portrait of Norina, her fluid voice lustrous as she navigated the bel canto hurdles in a performance that was both physically energetic and vocally rich. She oozed seductive charm as she languished on her balcony, singing of love, and she turned demure - her voice taking on a suitably meek cast - as "Sofronia," the Don's new wife. Her transition to vixen was complete as she flounced down the stairs in hot-pink tights, tiara and velvet gown, flustering the hapless Don by her sudden metamorphosis from timid to tyrannical." (The New York Times) Netrebko was joined by an exceptional cast and all gave comic performances that also tugged at the heart when needed. Presented as part of the Met's highly successful Live in HD series of simulcasts, this performance is now available on DVD.

The Art of Martha Argerich
June 7, 2011

On June 5, 2011, enigmatic Argentine pianist Martha Argerich will turn 70. Though it's hard to believe, Argerich has been recording for Deutsche Grammophon for 50 years and has made some of the great recordings on the label (or indeed, any label) that have been fully documented in "The Martha Argerich Collection" series of releases (Solo, Concerto and Chamber recordings). For this milestone birthday, DG releases this deluxe, hardcover release which includes three generously filled CDs (nearly 240 minutes) that portray the incredible virtuosity, style and range of this incomparable artist. In addition to this highlights (Ravel's Ondine from Gaspard de la nuit, movements from Ravel and Prokofiev concertos, Chopin Scherzi, chamber music with Rostropovich, Kremer and Maisky, etc) DG has included two bonus tracks: a Mozart Adagio, from the last piano sonata, K. 576, played exquisitely by the 18-year-old Argerich on January 23, 1960; and the Rondo finale to Beethoven's op. 10 no. 3 Sonata, executed with inimitable flair and whimsical charm by the 19-year Argerich on September 8, 1960.

The 120-page full color booklet includes a complete discography (with original covers), a new essay by Martha Argerich's French biographer Olivier Bellamy and many rare photos from the Argerich family photo albums. This limited edition is the premiere celebration of Argerich's long and unmatched career.

Tchaikovsky & Schoenberg
Daniel Barenboim; West-Eastern Divan Orchestra
June 7, 2011

This release continues the DG & Decca collaboration with Barenboim and presents him as a conductor rather than pianist. In 1999, Daniel Barenboim founded the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra (WEDO) with the late literary critic, Edward Said. On this first of many projects to partner Barenboim with WEDO (all on Decca) are two blockbusters: Tchaikovsky's Pathétique (Symphony no. 6) and Schoenberg's Variations for Orchestra. WEDO performs this challenging repertoire to high international standards. The Independent opened its rave review of a Barenboim-WEDO London evening by saying, "Simply sensational! WEDO scored a bull's-eye".

Nico Muhly: Seeing is Believing
Nicholas Collon; Aurora Orchestra
June 7, 2011

Decca's third album of music by Nico Muhly is a collection of his orchestral works including the concerto for electric violin, Seeing is Believing, with soloist Thomas Gould. Nico composed the work specifically for Gould and the Aurora Orchestra, a young British chamber orchestra devoted to contemporary music. In addition to the 25-minute concerto, Nico adds some of his original compositions (Motion, By All Means and Step Team) as well as arrangements of works by the Tudor composers Gibbons and Byrd. This decidedly unique approach to music (a young American and his impressions of considerably older English music) has enthralled and delighted audiences and critics on both sides of the Atlantic. Nico's first two critically-acclaimed Decca releases (A Good Understanding and I Drink the Air Before Me) demonstrate the young composer's diversity of styles and provide a contrast to the present release.

 

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