Welcome to Hyperion Records, an independent British classical label devoted to presenting high-quality recordings of music of all styles and from all periods from the twelfth century to the twenty-first.
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And here are the most recent new releases from Hyperion …
The composer herself may have written disarmingly of being 'surprised, honored and fearful' on being approached to write a new work for the Takács Quartet, but Flow by Nokuthula Ngwenyama is a triumph. The work's multiple sources of inspiration—dizzyingly spanning the worlds of sub-atomic physics and interstellar cosmology, Sanskrit mantras and the murmurations of starlings—cohere in a compact, muscular twenty-minute string quartet of great beauty, recognizably part of that tradition of quartet writing of which the Takács players are such distinguished exponents. Though as a professional violist as well as a gifted composer, active as soloist, recitalist and chamber musician, it comes as no surprise that Ngwenyama writes so well for the medium. Available to download and stream (and as a limited-edition CDR), this is a notable addition to the Takács' recorded repertoire.
The Frans Brüggen Project is an unusual new album from ace recorder player Lucie Horsch and Decca Classics. While the programme itself is one replete with Baroque delights—from Bach, Haydn and Handel to Telemann and Corelli—perhaps the greater interest here lies in the sounds and personalities of the recorders themselves, for these are the period instruments—fifteen of them in all, dating from the turn of the seventeenth century—lovingly collected and curated by the late, great Frans Brüggen. The accompanying booklet has colour photographs of them all (plus details of some of the slings and arrows to be encountered when playing such fragile instruments), while the musicians lucky enough to have joined Lucie for the occasion include Rachel Podger on the violin, Tom Foster (harpsichord) and the period orchestra co-founded by Brüggen himself, the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century.
Music for clarinet & piano by Clara and Robert Schumann is a nicely balanced recital album from Julian Bliss, James Baillieu at the piano. Never known to miss a marketing opportunity, several of the works here more commonly associated with violin or oboe were also published by the Schumanns in clarinet versions, and it's a tradition here extended to more works with new arrangements by Bliss himself. Also on Signum Classics this month we have a debut recording from the Oxford Bach Soloists: under the direction of Tom Hammond-Davies, Bach Cantatas Nos 4, 55 & 82 features soloists Nick Pritchard (tenor) and Yu-Wei Hu (flute).
New from LSO Live we have a vivacious recording of the Violin Concertos by Miklós Rózsa & Béla Bartók, two works sharing more than a pinch of Hungarian folk influence. The soloist here is LSO principal Roman Simović, the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Simon Rattle (in the Rózsa) and Kevin John Edusei (the Bartók).
Two new orchestral albums from Signum this month: Visions of St Anne & other works by Roderick Elms is a worthy showcase for this most approachable of contemporary composers—with Barry Wordsworth conducting a spirited BBC Concert Orchestra—while The Song of Songs & The Poet in Exile by Walter Arlen (1920-2023) explores the little-known compositions of a figure better known for his work as a music journalist and educator. Kenneth Woods conducts the English Symphony Orchestra, with soloists Anna Huntley and Thomas Mole heading up the BBC Women's Chorus of Wales.
Christmas is very much a family time, and rarely more so than with two festive releases from Signum Classics. First up, a veritable army of Bevans have put together Christmas with The Bevan Family Consort, their innovative programme including several premieres (not least among them a previously unrecorded Mass-setting by Palestrina). And with Joanna Forbes L'Estrange's Winter light we have contributions from the family as composers, librettists, performers (gamely joined by London Voices and conductor Ben Parry), and even sound engineer—and a sequence which takes in some greatly appealing new works at the more 'secular' end of the spectrum …
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