The Concert Op. 21, a masterly work on the borderline between chamber music and orchestra, is carried by Pierre Fouchenneret’s magnetic violin and David Violi’s colorful piano. I Giardini also deliver a previously unpublished version of Poème Op. 25, reworked for violin, piano and string quartet.

The album closes with Pauline Buet’s equally sensitive retelling of Chausson and Barbara’s Temps des/du lilas, using cello in the former and singing voice in the latter. Barbara’s song and Chausson’s melody stand as a simple, timeless tribute to the magic of past moments and the fragility of human existence.

Le temps des lilas is I Giardini’s first full-length album for Pentatone, following an already rich discography: Nuits (awarded the prestigious Diapason d’Or), Bleu, Shaw and Fauré, an EP released with Pentatone in 2024.

Pierre Fouchenneret
I Giardini
Pauline Buet
David Violi
Shuichi Okada
Camille Fonteneau
Violaine Despeyroux

The post Les Temps des Lilas (The Time of Lilacs) appeared first on NativeDSD Music.

The album features the ensemble performing music composed by Christopher Cerrone. This is a decade-long journey through sound, collaboration, and innovation. From the first sketches of Goldbeater’s Skin in 2015 to the final touches on Ode To Joy in 2023, these works reflect Cerrone’s deep connection and friendship with Sandbox Percussion.

Opening with Don’t Look Down (2020), a work born during the pandemic, the album blends traditional percussion with found objects and prepared piano. A Natural History of Vacant Lots (2017) explores space and sound, positioning ambient and beautiful colors against a haunting electronic backdrop. The centerpiece, Goldbeater’s Skin (2016), pairs percussion with the human voice in a stunning setting of GC Waldrep’s poetry.

The album closes with Ode to Joy (2023), a bittersweet celebration of New York City, filled with whistles, harmonicas, and stomping rhythms. Every unique sound on this album was meticulously crafted, shaped by Cerrone’s longtime collaborator and producer Mike Tierney.

In summary, Don’t Look Down is a bold exploration of the endless possibilities of percussion, this album is a testament to the evolving power of music and collaboration.

Sandbox Percussion
Jonathan Allen
Victor Caccese
Ian Rosenbaum
Terry Sweeney

Guest Musicians
Conor Hanick, Piano (“Don’t Look Down”)
Elspeth Davis, Mezzo-Soprano (“Goldbeater’s Skin”)

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A mesmerizing sonic trip, Dreamcatcher reflects the unique artistic persona of McVinnie, whose mastery of core organ repertoire extends to an extensive body of work written for him by leading contemporary classical composers, as well as collaborations in the world of electronic and experimental music. The album features works by Nico Muhly, Meredith Monk, Laurie Spiegel, John Adams, inti figgis-vizeuta, Gabriella Smith, Glies Swayne, Bryce Dessner & Marcos Balter.

The album’s title is taken from Marcos Balter’s work of the same name, written in response to the child separation crisis at the US-Mexico border in 2018 — “dreamers” being the name given to children separated from their families by the Trump administration’s immigration policy.

This album also presents the first ever recording of Giles Swayne’s Riff-raff made on the St Albans organ for which the work was written in 1983 — McVinnie’s rendition embodying a perfect synergy between the piece’s minimalist roots and the modernist tonal philosophy of this instrument.

Through his boundless approach to music making, innovative programming and captivating musicianship, James McVinnie has carved out a unique career as an organist and keyboard player.

“This album is very close to my heart and has been a long time in the making. It represents both my current interests in new, mainly American music, and also a kind of document of my friendships and associations with composers of many of the works on the album. Over the past few years I have reconnected with the piano playing, having primarily worked as an organist in the first part of my career. This album presents me at both instruments.” – James McVinnie

James McVinnie, Organ & Piano

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Goodbye, Mr. Chips is a Double Album in Stereo and 5.1 Channel Surround Sound DSD that is Gordon Getty’s fourth opera. This is a new studio recording featuring Nathan Granner, Melody Moore, Lester Lynch, and Kevin Short, as well as the San Francisco Boys Chorus and Barbary Coast Orchestra, under the baton of Dennis Doubin.

Based on the popular 1934 novella Goodbye, Mr. Chips and other stories by James Hilton, the opera tells the heart-warming story of a teacher at Brookfield, an all- boys English boarding school to which “Chips” dedicates most of his adult life. The opera chronicles Chips’ story of love, loss and learning over his decades-long tenure at Brookfield. Along the way, we’re reminded of the difference one good teacher can make as we watch Chips and his children, “thousands of them, and all boys,” enrich each other’s lives.

Writing both the music and libretto of his opera, Getty has shaped Hilton’s cherished story into a memory play, in which the protagonist looks back on important episodes of his life. The score encapsulates the intimacy of the plot and the nuances of its characters. Just like Chips, Getty treats each personality with a profound understanding of – and love for – the human spirit, with all its strengths and flaws. For Getty, after decade of fascination with the character and story of Mr. Chips, the completion of this opera is the realization of a long-held dream.

Gordon Getty is a PENTATONE artist with a vast discography. Goodbye, Mr. Chips is his fourth opera recording on the label, after Plump Jack (2012), Usher House (2013) and The Canterville Ghost (2015). Melody Moore, Nathan Granner, Lester Lynch and Kevin Short have been featured on many PENTATONE recordings. Conductor Dennis Doubin and the San Francisco Boys Chorus make their label debut.

Barbary Coast Orchestra
San Francisco Boys Chorus
Dennis Doubin, Conductor

Cast (in order of appearance)
Merrivale – Lester Lynch, baritone
Chips – Nathan Granner, tenor
Kathie – Melody Moore, soprano
Faulkner – Michael Jankosky, tenor
West – Bruce Rameker, baritone
Ralston – Kevin Short, bass-baritone
Rivers – Kevin Short, bass-baritone
Grayson – Kevin Korth, baritone
Maynard – Samuel Faustine, tenor
Linford – Melody Moore, soprano

The post Goodbye, Mr. Chips [Double Album] appeared first on NativeDSD Music.

This congenial relationship between cello and piano is further enhanced by Weilerstein and Barnatan, whose musical partnership (in addition to their thriving solo careers) has been a stable factor over the years.

Alisa Weilerstein, Cello
Inon Barnatan, Piano

The post Brahms: Cello Sonatas appeared first on NativeDSD Music.

Dvořák wrote his Slavonic Rhapsodies just before the Slavonic Dances that catapulted him to world fame, and they share their colorful orchestration and appealing folk dance melodies – even if the Rhapsodies have more expansive, ambitious forms.

The Legends are at least as ingenious, with a smaller orchestra giving the pieces a more intimate, introspective quality. These lesser-known gems are now presented in a glorious idiomatic interpretation by the Czech Philharmonic, arguably the world’s best orchestra for this repertoire.

Czech Philharmonic
Tomas Netopil, Conductor

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I Giardini is a collective of inspired and committed artists united around a common sensibility, an unusually strong unity of purpose, and a shared joy in onstage performance. They were nominated for the 2021 Victoires de la musique Classique Award.

Gabriel Faure has always used his music to embellish existing poems, so here we have chosen to replace the texts with the voice of the cello, which is said to be so close to the human voice. – I Giardini.

Giving priority to the musical excellence, the Group’s two co-founders and artistic directors, cellist Pauline Buet and pianist David Violi have made a space for freedom and for the exploration of a unique romantic world, inspired by the past, from Fauré and Bonis to Chausson, Poulenc and Schumann, but also rooted in the present through their collaboration with leading international women composers, such as the American Caroline Shaw and Anglo-French Josephine Stephenson.

Pauline Buet, Cello 
David Violi, Piano 
I Giardini

The post Faure: Apres un reve & Les berceux (After A Dream & Lullabies) [DSD EP] [Digital Only Release, Not Available on CD or SACD) appeared first on NativeDSD Music.

Bass-baritone Adam Plachetka frequents the world’s most prestigious opera houses, and is a Met regular, equally at home in dramatic and comic repertoire.  He says “I hope you will enjoy listening to this album as much as we enjoyed recording it. And I also hope, that next to the relatively well-known works of Dvořák and Smetana, the compositions by Fibich and Suk will get the spotlight they surely deserve.” 

Adam Plachetka, Bass-Baritone
David Švec, Piano

The post Evening Songs appeared first on NativeDSD Music.

Baritone Lester Lynch presents Full Circle: Reflections on My Journey, a highly personal collection of songs from Schubert, Brahms, and Mussorgsky. The album  is a musical voyage through the echoes of resilience - a beacon of hope amidst suffering and despair. These melodies are a reminder of how music can transform adversity into beauty and unite us all in a symphony of laughter and love.

Recognized globally for his charismatic voice and bold interpretations, baritone Lester Lynch has garnered high praise from BBC Music Magazine, commenting that “Lester Lynch’s dramatically and vocally engaged Porgy is extremely moving.”

Lester Lynch, Baritone
Kevin Korth, Piano

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Musical Ode to Sublime Nature

Vladimir Jurowski and the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester continue their journey through the heights of German late-Romantic repertoire with a recording of Richard Strauss’s Eine Alpensinfonie. The Alpine Symphony was inspired by the composer’s experiences during a mountain trail, and is an audience favorite thanks to its picturesque, idyllic charm and powerfully evocative score.

To Jurowski, the attraction of this piece lies not so much in the picturesque, but rather in Strauss’s Nietzschean embrace of living in the now and the transformative power of being in complete harmony with sublime nature. In that respect, this album shares a kinship with Jurowski’s previous recording of Strauss’s Also Sprach Zarathustra also available at NativeDSD.

Vladimir Jurowski, Conductor
Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester

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