RIAS Kammerchor Berlin. (Photo: Thomas Koy, Matthias Heyde)
Ying Fang and Emily D’Angelo, two bright young opera stars, join Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the RIAS Chamber Choir, and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe in new recordings of Mozart’s signature choral works. L’Orfeo Wind Ensemble also adds to the pantheon of classical music recordings with their third volume of works for winds by Telemann.
In other genres, violinist Paul Huang and the London Philharmonic Orchestra present two American concertos from the mid-twentieth century; the Wisconsin Chamber Music Orchestra releases their third installment of albums dedicated to contemporary composers; and Sir Stephen Hough combs through classic and pops arrangements for an album of his favorite encore pieces.
Conducted by Andrew Sewell, Endeavor is the third installment in the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra’s Musical Landscapes in Color project featuring works by diverse, living composers. The program includes Regina Harris Baiocchi’s Muse for Orchestra, the world premiere of Madison local Autumn Maria Reed’s Mental Health Suite, Eric Gould’s An American City, Omar Thomas’s Of Our New Day Begun, and Xavier Foley’s Soul Bass concerto, with the composer himself joining the ensemble as a soloist.
These new recordings of the Requiem and the Mass in C minor featuring Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the RIAS Chamber Choir, and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe boast two of the brightest young stars of opera. Soprano Ying Fang, considered to be one of her generations great Mozartians, takes the Soprano I solos of the “Great” Mass in C minor, originally premiered by Constanze Mozart, née Constanze Weber. Mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo sings the contralto solos of the Requiem and the Soprano II solos in the “Great” Mass. D’Angelo won a Gramophone Award while still in her mid-twenties in 2022 for her debut solo album centered on vocal works by female composers and is an alumna of Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute Program for Singers. Tenor Stanislas de Barbeyrac and baritone Michael Volle round out the starry cast for this album recorded live last year at the Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden.
Violinist Paul Huang and the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Jun Märkl present two American concertos from the mid-twentieth century: Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35 and Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto, Op. 14. In an interview for the album, Huang shares, “These concertos offer two complementary visions of American musical identity. Korngold brought with him the lush Romantic idiom of Old Europe and transformed it within the new world of Hollywood, creating a uniquely American fusion of cinematic sweep and classical craft. Barber, by contrast, was born into the fabric of American musical life: his concerto channels a distinctly homegrown voice – lyrical, direct, and emotionally forthright – that resonates with the openness and individuality often associated with American art. Together, these works trace the cultural story of a nation shaped both by the brilliance of immigrants who reimagined their traditions on new soil and by composers whose music expresses the country’s own evolving sensibility.”
Led by oboist and recorder player Carin van Heerden, L’Orfeo Wind Ensemble’s third volume of works for winds by Telemann surveys the composer’s Harmoniemusik – the genre for wind ensembles entrusted with military, hunting, and table music. The program features three overture suites for two oboes and two corni da caccia — one of which includes the addition of bassoon; a pair of trio sonatas for two oboes and continuo; ands a march for two horns, three oboes, bassoon, and percussion. The album’s insightful liner notes by German musicologist Wolfgang Hirschmann details the provenance of each work, in some cases, tying the composition to its specific historical occasion.
Featuring 26 tracks, including ten arrangements by Sir Stephen Hough, Piano Postcards opens with Hough’s The Mary Poppins Suite, originally commissioned for Lang Lang and featured on his 2022 album The Disney Book. Incorporating “Chim Chim Cher-ee,” “Feed the Birds,” and “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” the suite blends beloved Disney melodies with virtuosic invention. Hough also contributes arrangements from Disney’s Frozen, Mulan, and Coco, including world premiere recordings of “Reflection” and “Remember Me.” At the heart of the album is Hough’s personal collection of encore pieces, spanning composers including Sergei Rachmaninoff, Jean Sibelius, Robert Schumann, Enrique Granados, and three works by Cécile Chaminade, alongside favorites such as Handel’s Minuet in G minor, Fritz Kreisler’s Liebesleid, and Flight of the Bumblebee.
