Presto Editor's Choices,
Presto Editor's Choices - January 2024
Personal favourites from January's crop of new releases include a white-hot world premiere recording of Louise Bertin's Goethe-inspired opera Fausto (which predates her friend Berlioz's treatment of the legend by fifteen years) from Christophe Rousset & Les Talens Lyriques, a dizzying spin around the dance-floor with young British pianist Martin James Bartlett, an open-hearted celebration of Tosti from Mexican tenor Javier Camarena and Ángel Rodríguez, and a peerless Schubert Lieder recital from Harriet Burns and Ian Tindale.
Louise Bertin: Fausto
Karine Deshayes (Fausto), Karina Gauvin (Margarita), Ante Jerkunica (Mefistofele), Nico Darmanin (Valentino), Marie Gautrot (Catarina); Les Talens Lyriques, Flemish Radio Choir, Christophe Rousset
Already a contender for one of my Recordings of the Year, this rip-roaring account of Bertin's 1831 opera is a real white-knuckle ride, with Rousset conjuring some truly spine-chilling colours in the great witch's sabbath which closes Act One and a fiercely committed cast giving their all to some seriously demanding vocal writing. Gauvin rises to the challenges of Marguerite's final-act agonies with blazing conviction and Maltese tenor Nico Darminin is hugely impressive in the ungratefully-written role of Valentino, whilst Jerkunica has a riot with the Rossinian patter of Mefistofele's catalogue-aria - one of several black comedy interludes which punctuate the Grand Guignol atmosphere to great effect. Let's have a fully-staged production soon, please.
Available Formats: 2 CDs + Book, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Burns was fresh out of music-college when Graham Johnson enlisted her for Vol. 8 of his Brahms Lieder project on Hyperion in 2019, and her clean, bright soprano has taken on a thrilling power and amplitude in the intervening years: she'd surely make a fantastic showing in the lighter Strauss and Wagner roles one day should she be so inclined. She and Tindale find so much light and shade on this lovely all-Schubert programme, which includes plenty of relative rarities: the twelve-minute Viola (where Tindale summons fortepiano-esque colours in the long introduction) is a stand-out, as is the hymnlike Lambertine and the Racine-influenced Hippolits Lied (usually the province of male singers).
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Bartlett might claim to have two left feet, but the spirit of Terpsichore resonates loud and clear throughout this thoroughly captivating programme of dance-inspired works by Rameau, Couperin, Ravel, Hahn and Debussy: the ebb and flow of each piece is beautifully judged, with just the right balance between rigour and flexibility, and he and label-mate Alexandre Tharaud seem completely in sync for the two waltzes from Hahn's Le ruban dénoué. And the closing account of Ravel's La valse is a knock-out, leaning heavily into the darker side of the work - a danse macabre indeed.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
Surprises abound at every turn on this typically madcap programme from PatKop and friends, who bring their customary energy and virtuosity to Paul Schoenfield's klezmer-inflected Clarinet Trio from 1990, Poulenc's Clarinet Sonata and Bartók's Contrasts (interlaced with selections from Poulenc's incidental music for Jean Anouilh's play L'invitation au château). The overall impression is of an absinthe-fuelled lock-in at a Parisian café, particularly when the gloves really come off for a riotous account of Serban Nichifor's Klezmer Dance - complete with whoops, hollers and general organised mayhem.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
A French song recital from Piau is always a treat, and this beguiling recital of mélodies by Berlioz, Koechlin, Ravel, Debussy and the very young Britten is a more than worthy successor to her award-winning Si J’ai Aimé (2019); I don't think I've ever heard more sensuous and unsettling accounts of Duparc's L'Invitation au voyage and Berlioz's Spectre de la rose, and there's an equally uncanny glitter to Koechlin's bewitching Aux temps des fées. The orchestral playing is superb, too, matching Piau's warmth, nuance and transparency to the hilt.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Mel Bonis's 1923 Violin Sonata is the highlight of this beautifully-planned recital of works composed between 1916 and 1926: sharing a little je ne sais quoi with Franck's ever-popular sonata from fifty years earlier, it boasts a gorgeous slow movement based on a Greek folk-melody which showcases Urioste's piercingly sweet tone to perfection, and the pair spar delightfully with one another in the puckish scherzo and toccata-style finale. Reynaldo Hahn's sonata from three years later is another work which deserves a wider audience, and Urioste's ability to shape and sculpt long cantabile lines once again pays dividends in the closing Modéré, très à l'aise.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The Mexican tenor's sweet, flexible voice and open-hearted temperament are ideal (no pun intended) for this collection of songs by Francesco Paolo Tosti, which includes lesser-known French and English songs as well as favourites such as Ideale, Luna d'estate, and A vucchella (this latter given with a heady eroticism which I've never heard from this singer before). The gentle charm of Aprile suits Camarena's small-but-perfectly-formed tenor especially well, but there's no want of swagger and grit in the more extroverted numbers like Marechiare and Chitarrata abruzzese - where Rodríguez imitates lusty guitar-strumming with gusto.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
Freeman-Attwood's warm, supple tone and easy agility are a constant delight on this quirky programme of suites and sonatas based on material from Handel's solo concertos and concerti grossi, interspersed with transcriptions of arias and duets from opera and oratorio: 'Where'er You Walk' from Semele and 'Ritorna, caro e dolce mio tesoro' from Rodelinda are done with poise and plangency, and there's a lovely cameo appearance from his son Tom in a suitably sparkling account of 'Brilla nell' alma' from Alessandro.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
Katherine Cooper - Head of Editorial
