New releases April 2022

Every month new CDs & DVDs are released and in this overview, which is far from complete, we will give an overview of the CDs and DVDs that are scheduled for the coming month. The texts in this article have been supplied by the record companies and labels themselves. We have taken these over and translated them where necessary.

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Challenge Classics, CC 72888, 1 CD, O-Card, 0608917288827, classical
Release date: 08-04-2022 Available for purchase via this link

This recording was made during a lockdown, in which all of our lives had to be reduced to a minimum in almost every area. The opportunity to renew the intense preoccupation with this wonderful music in preparation for the recording was an enormous privilege, as it gave Linus an escape into a spiritual freedom that helped me enormously on a personal level at that moment.

Not only Roth's teachers and the interpretations of great violinists have had an enormous influence on how he plays Bach, but also his preoccupation with the original text and with what is known as 'historically informed performance practice', in particular the experience of playing with the type of curved Baroque bow that was used in Bach's time.

Release: 01-04-2022 Available for purchase via this link

With this project Johan Hoogewijs colours at the piano. Each piece he plays is coloured differently, depending on the inspiration of that moment. Improvisation (or instant composing as a jazz musician might call it) is essential to the performance and content of these compositions. Each piece has a basic structure that is coloured differently each time, depending on the flow of the moment. Hoogewijs searches for the soul of each piece, preferably his own soul, sometimes its romance. Nothing is black and white, not even the keys. He searches for what happens between the notes. That can meander in all directions, with dynamics, whereby he doesn't necessarily search for the purity of sounds or minimalism, but for the different layers of the music.

Challenge Classics, CC 72888, 1 CD, O-Card, 0608917288827, classical
Release date: 08-04-2022 Available for purchase via this link

Lucia Swarts: Already as a young child I was taught to be extra alert when women did not have the same opportunities as men. Many women did not have the same opportunities as men to compose and share their musical ideas publicly and to live a public life as a composer, with some being limited in their freedom by poor health or because family or society had other plans for them.

Throughout the centuries, female composers have experienced considerable difficulties, often with fewer opportunities, support and education, even when they belonged to the higher social classes. They were not in a position to enjoy worldwide fame, but several of them have accomplished much. Strong women, in other words.

For this CD I have selected from the work of five special women. Five women with eventful lives who deserve a platform because of their musical qualities. Two Germans – Fanny Mendelssohn and Clara Wieck – both trained in the classical-romantic school, and two French women, Melanie Bonis and Lili Boulanger; Melanie, also a classical-romantic composer in style and Lili, impressionistic and exotic.

Finally the Dutch composer Henriette Bosmans, whose parents influenced her in German Romanticism, but whose own interests eagerly wandered towards French impressionists in a continuous search for her own independent composition method.

Signum Classics, SIGCD 819, 1 CD, Jewelcase, 0635212081921, classical,
Release date: 15-04-2022 – Available for purchase via this link

In August 2020, Signum Classics began releasing Cantus' COVID-19 Sessions. Recorded on March 17, 19, and 20 at the Westminster Presbyterian
Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the COVID-19 Sessions came together quickly as society began to shut down amid the growing outbreak in the
United States.

The tracks were first released on YouTube and Facebook in the spring of 2020 and received millions of views, leading to a series of digital singles.

The pieces are now available together for the first time and span a wide range of emotion, from joy to sorrow and wonder to pain. The choir adds: "We hope that the performances themselves have been influenced by the emotional state in which they were recorded – reinforced in different ways at different times."

The Lost Recordings, TLR 2203040, 2 CD, Digipack, 0196587027421, classical,
Release date: 29-04-2022 Available for purchase via this link

Henryk Szeryng: "Johann Sebastian Bach's work is a bible. Bach is the ultimate goal; this is where everything begins and everything ends. His music brings you closer to your own spirit," What could express the violinist's relationship with Bach more eloquently, developed from a young age? Szeryng maintained an intimate bond with Bach throughout his life. Szeryng's skillful fingerwork brings out the full brilliance of the Partitas' clarity and joy. His energy, his attacks, his remarkably precise bow movements and his generous tone bear witness once again to the depth and intensity of his lifelong attachment to Bach.

In the countless twists and turns of this Sonata for violin and piano, in which Franck breathes new life into the genre, Henryk Szeryng has accomplished a miracle. With his natural, dynamic interpretation, the warmth of his emotionally infused tone and the ringing clarity of his articulation and intonations, he does perfect justice to a work that constantly balances between sensual melodies and formal experiments.

Henryk Szeryng masters the most demanding technical difficulties while conveying the most subtle effects of Ravel's writing. His generous tone and pure phrasing, which some have compared to "the pure essence of rose", are exemplary in this highlight of the repertoire. Ravel, fascinated by the flights of tzigane music, has left us one of his most captivating works.
Szeryng's performance makes his intimacy with Beethoven clear. The energy of his interpretation of the sonata nevertheless captures the finest details of the drama of the works.

Perfect Noise, PN 2202, 1 CD, Jewelcase, 0719279933970, classical,

Release date: 22-04-2022 Available for purchase via this link

Venice 1600 – At the time when opera as we know it today emerged, a liberal, secular musical culture also came into being. The polyphonic strictness of earlier times gave way to expressive solo voices and breathtakingly virtuosic instrumental music. Composers could build careers outside the constraints of the church. Young musicians, painters and Bohemians conquered the salons of the rich elites. Barbara Strozzi, composer and celebrated singer, became one of the leading voices of her generation. As a true child of Venice, the lagoon city became a supportive home for her art. Her works reflect the adventurous spirit of a musical world heading toward a new era. In their musical journey, mezzo-soprano Laila Salome Fischer and jazz saxophonist Magnus Mehl revive the Venetian spirit of awakening and discovery. Assisted by the rousing baroque ensemble Il Giratempo, Magnus Mehl translates ancient melodies and rhythms into his own unique musical language.

We obtain this list from various sources; the editorial office is not responsible for any errors.