For his second Sibelius symphony album with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, conductor Nicholas Collon is joined by renowned violinist Christian Tetzlaff. Their previous album featuring Lutosławski’s Partita for Violin and Orchestra (ODE 1444-2) was well received: ‘Tetzlaff plays with fire and a lyrical sense of line … A recording to cherish.’ (American Record Guide) Collon’s first Sibelius album, which included the composer’s Seventh Symphony, was a Gramophone magazine’s Choice of orchestral albums. In this new programme, Sibelius’ masterful Fifth Symphony is joined by two delicate works for violin and orchestra. The two Serious Melodies were written during World War One and belong to the composer’s most openly spiritual works, while Sibelius’ music for Strindberg’s play Swanwhite is a forgotten gem.

A fundamental characteristic of Manuel Ponce’s music is the range of styles and techniques he used throughout his career, as demonstrated on this programme. The expressive Romanza de amor is a sublime example of his Romantic phase, while his huge contribution to Mexican nationalist music is represented in the folk music that appears in Rapsodia mexicana I and II. Moods of melancholy and nostalgia are evident in the Mazurkas as well as more modernist works such as the Intermezzo (No. 3). This is the fourth of eight volumes on the Grand Piano label devoted to Ponce’s complete piano music, slowly but surely forming a supremely collectable edition of rarely heard but highly attractive repertoire. Although well known for his guitar music, Ponce’s piano works appear only sporadically on recordings. The soloist for the series is Álvaro Cendoya, who consulted the composer’s manuscripts and first editions in the archives kept in the Music Library of the National School of Music of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

This release commemorates the bicentenary of the death of Antonio Salieri (1750–1825) who was an influential composer of opera and, later in life, a teacher to luminaries such as Beethoven, Schubert and Liszt. His two keyboard concertos were composed during his early years in Vienna and reflect both the influence of Haydn and the galant style of Johann Christian Bach. The Keyboard Concerto in B flat major is broader and more elaborate, but also lighter in mood, when compared with the stormy first movement of the Keyboard Concerto in C major. Heard here in its world premiere recording, the Keyboard Sonata in C major presents as a suite of short independent pieces, while the short March in D major has only recently been discovered in a Berlin archive.

Gluck’s Orphée et Euridice is a masterpiece of the operatic canon, inspired by one of the most mysterious and cruel stories in Greek mythology. The gods allow Orpheus to descend into the underworld to revive his beloved wife Eurydice, but on condition that he must not look at her while returning. This new staging from the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino re-imagines the myth as a story for our times. It explores each character anew, highlighting the music and text as a more sophisticated psychological thriller than previously imagined, creating a moving and transformative narrative with which we can all identify. With stage direction by Pierre Audi and musical direction by acclaimed conductor Daniele Gatti, the performance features an outstanding cast of singers led by Juan Francisco Gatell, Anna Prohaska and Sara Blanch.

Also available on Blu-ray Video (DYN-58073)

Gilbert & Sullivan’s penultimate opera, Utopia, Limited, was written immediately after The Gondoliers. It’s performed here by Scottish Opera, with an updated libretto by director Stuart Maunder and a revised musical version by Head of Music Derek Clark. Satirising the conceits of the mighty British Empire, its politics, monarchy and press, Utopia, Limited is as incisive now as it ever was. Full of sparkling wit, it’s also packed with show-stopping patter, brilliant choruses and music that is at times of almost Verdian beauty. This audio recording is taken from Scottish Opera’s new co-production with D’Oyly Carte Opera and State Opera South Australia. The album also includes the suite from Sullivan’s incidental music to the drama King Arthur.