CHALLENGE CLASSICS
LATEST RELEASES
Christoph Prégardien & Michael Gees Between Life and Death: Songs & Arias
CC72324 HYBRID SACD2 CHALLENGE £21.55
The selection of songs and arias on this double SACD set reflect on the fundamental question of life and death and cover a period of almost two centuries, the composers featured ranging from Bach through to Tchaikovsky. They are performed by one of the great lyric tenors of our age Christophe Prégardien, accompanied by the pianist Michael Gees. The common theme in the music of this recording is the most fundamental of all, existence itself, life and death.
Rudolf Koelman, Netherlands Symphony Orchestra & Jan Willem de Vriend
Niccolò Paganini: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 2
CC72343 SACD CHALLENGE £16.90
On this hybrid SACD the highly regarded Dutch soloist Rudolf Koeman plays Paganini’s first two Violin Concertos with the etherlands Symphony Orchestra and conductor Jan Willem de Vriend. In order to reflect the virtuosic and operatic style of the concertos, the disc also includes an overture by Rossini entitled “Matilda di Shabran”.
Ars Antiqua Austria & Gunar Letzbor Karl Kohaut – Haydn’s Lute Player
CC72323 CD CHALLENGE £13.00
The Viennese musician Karl Kohaut was not only a great lutenist and string player who performed with Haydn and the young Mozart, but also a composer in his own right. The pieces on this new CD, which were written during the time of transition between the baroque and classical periods, are here performed by a group which specialises in music from this age, Ars Antiqua Austria.
Lagos Ensemble Kagel: String Quartet No. 4, Keuris: String Quartet No. 1
TR75531 HYBRID SACD CHALLENGE £16.90
String Quartets by two important musical figures of the late 20th century are here given outstanding interpretations by the Lagos Ensemble. The two composers featured on this new hybrid SACD, Mauricio Kagel (1931– 2008), and Tristan Keuris (1946–1996), both wrote highly varied works of particularly high quality. In their string quartets they use extremes of rhythm,timbre and register, with complete control of emotional and technical elements. Despite these modernist techniques, the music is often tonal and approachable.
RECENT RELEASES
CC72341 Linus Roth & José Gallardo Schumann: Sonatas for Violin and CD £13.00
Piano Op. 105 & 121
This CD is devoted to music for violin and piano by Robert Schumann, and includes the first two sonatas, opus 105 in A Minor and opus 121 in D Minor, alongside four song arrangements, “In der Fremde”, “Aus den hebräischen Gesängen”, “Widmung”, and “Abendlied”. The performers are the German violinist Lionel Roth, a protégé of Anne-Sophie Mutter, and the Argentinian pianist José Gallardo.
CC72321 A Imagem da Melancolia Recorder Consort
The Bad Tempered Consort - 17th Century CD £13.00
Most of the music featured on this collection of 17th century polyphony is anonymous, although some of the pieces are attributed to Pedro de San Lorenzo, Pedro de Araújo, Manuel Rodrigues Coelho, and António Carreira. It is performed by the recorder group “A Imagem da Melancolia” on instruments that are faithful reproductions of several museum pieces.
CC72334 Ralph Rousseau Gambomania: Music for Viola da Gamba CD £13.00
This CD provides a representative survey of the evolution of music for the bass viol from its beginning. The programme is framed and punctuated by works by two main figures of viol-playing, Tobias Hume (c.1569-1645) andMarin Marais (1656-1728). Also included are pieces by Johannes Schenck, Louis de Caix d’Hervelois, and Karl Friedrich Abel (1723-1787). The music is performed by the acclaimed virtuoso Ralph Rousseau Meulenbroeks.
CC72337 Ton Koopman, Amsterdam Baroque Orch /Choir JS Bach: Cantatas - CD2 £7.00
24 Highlights from the Complete Edition
Between 1999 and 2004 conductor, musicologist, organist and harpsichordist, Ton Koopman recorded the complete cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir, which he founded in 1979. This 2-CD volume contains a selection of highlights from the award winning 22-volume series of the Complete Cantatas. Soloists featured are sopranos Sandrine Piau, Elisabeth von Magnus, Johannette Zomer, Lisa Larsson, and Anne Grimm; altos Bogna Bartosz and Annette Markert; tenors Christoph Prégardien and Paul Agnew; and bass Klauss Mertens.
CC72199 Lars Wouters van den Oudenweijer & Hans Eijsackers
Reger: Clarinet Sonatas - op. 49 Nos 1 & 2, Op.107 CD £13.00
Prize-winning Dutch clarinettist Lars Wouters van den Oudenweijer performs the two Sonatas, opus 49 and the Sonata No 3, opus 107 by Max Reger, accompanied by pianist Hans Eijsackers. Reger’s music was written as a direct result of the composer hearing Brahms’ famous clarinet sonatas, and the result was a trio of thoughtful and challenging pieces of real quality whose neglect nowadays is surprising.
FL72413 Abbie de Quant & Elizabeth van Malde "Music In Motion" -
Prokofiev , Gubaidulina etc. CD £10.30
Renowned flautist Abbie de Quant and pianist Elizabeth van Malde have put together an attractive collection of pieces for flute and piano that in different ways convey a strong sense of movement. This may be due to dance and folk music influences as in Prokofiev’s Sonata No 2, the Sonata by Taktakishvili and Sounds of the Forest and Allegro Rustico by Gubaildulina, or, as in the case of Dutch composers Rob du Bois’s Bewegingen and Robert Zuidam’s Four Movements, a more abstract approach to motion inherent in the music itself. Rachmaninov’s Vocalise rounds off the album in flowing, lyrical style.
Ton Koopman Buxtehude: Opera Omnia X, Organ Works 5 CC72249 CD2 £21.55
This 2-CD set is the tenth in Ton Koopman’s outstanding series of the complete works of Dieterich Buxtehude and the fifth and final volume of the organ works. It presents a selection which contain the remainder of Buxtehude’s free and chorale-based compositions, alongside the complete organ works of his star pupil, Nicolaus Bruhns. The organist is, of course, one of the world’s leading authorities on the Buxtehude’s music.
Matangi Quartet / Edith van Moergastel Mendelssohn: String Quart.No.1 CC72308 CD £13.00
String Quint.No. 1
The highly regarded Matangi Quartet was founded in 1999 by four young musicians from the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague and the Rotterdam Conservatory. On this, its fourth recording for Challenge Classics, they perform two of Mendelssohn’s string works, the Quintet No.1 in A, opus 18 in which they are joined by the viola player Edith van Moergastel, and the String Quartet No.1 in E flat, opus 12.
Jos van der Kooy Mendelssohn: 6 Organ Sonatas CC72315 CD £13.00
Felix Mendelssohn’s six organ sonatas – in which he made use of Lutheran chorales, also employed in the compositions by Bach – were published in London, Leipzig and Milan in 1845, and represent a milestone in organ literature. They are performed by the prominent Dutch soloist Jos van der Kooy on the organ at Grote of St.Bavokerk, Haarlem in Holland, an instrument that for many years was the largest in the world.
Aurelia Saxophone Quartet French Saxophones - Debussy/Ravel etc. CC72331 CD2 £13.00
At the beginning of the 1990s the Aurelia Saxophone Quartet made two highly successful CDs of French music for the Etcetera label, which are now being made available as a ‘2 for 1’ set on Challenge Classics. The first disc features daring arrangements of three important early 20th century string quartets – those by Ravel, Debussy and Ravel – whilst the second is of music composed specifically for saxophones by Schmitt, Françaix, Pierné, Bozza, Desenclos and Rivier.
KOOPMAN / AMSTERDAM BAROQUE J S Bach: The Musical Offering CC72309 CD £13.00
The award winning combination of musical director and harpsichordist Ton Koopman and members of the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra here perform an arrangement of one of J. S. Bach’s seminal works, the piece known as “The Musical Offering”, BWV1079. In line with the practise of Bach’s time where this type of piece would probably been performed on violins, (or instruments in the same register as the violin like the flute), harpsichord and either viola da gamba or cello on the continuo, this version is performed by a small number of instruments.
WOUTER VERSCHUREN / KATHRYN COK Krufft: Bassoon Sonatas CC72313 CD £13.00
Nikolaus von Krufft is a composer from the period of Beethoven and Schubert whose music has rarely been heard since that time. He was particularly known as a writer of lieder, but the two works for bassoon and fortepiano performed here on period instruments by two highly regarded members of Ton Koopman’s Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Wouter Verschuren and Kathryn Kok, are full of innovative features.
YORAM ISH-HURWITZ Albeniz: Iberia. Volume 1 - Books 1 & 2 TR75529 HSACD £13.00
The series of piano pieces entitled “Iberia” were written during the last two years of Isaac Albeniz’s life when the Spanish composer was gravely ill, and they are a remarkable and accurate sketch of Spain around the turn of the century. The soloist on this new CD of Books 1 and 2 is Yoram Ish-Hurwitz. In 1993 he was the first Dutch born pianist to graduate from New York’s famous Juillard School of Music, where he studied with György Sándor. He has since performed at all the great concert halls around the world, and has made many acclaimed appearances at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.
KOOPMAN / AMSTERDAM BAROQUE J S Bach: Whitsun Cantatas CC72290 CD £10.30
Selected from the award-winning cycle of recordings of the complete cantatas of J. S. Bach by Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir, this CD features four of the nine cantatas that were performed at Whitsun, BWV 172, 68, 174, & 175. The soloists are sopranos Barbara Schlick and Deborah York, altos Kai Wessel and Bogna Bartosz, tenor Christoph Pregardien, and bass Klaus Mertens.
KOOPMAN/AMSTERDAM BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHOIR
J S Bach: New Year's Day Cantatas CC72296 CD £10.30
Selected from the award-winning cycle of recordings of the complete cantatas of J. S. Bach by Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir, this CD features four of the five cantatas that were performed at services on New Year’s Day, BWV 171, 41, 28 & 16. The soloists are sopranos Sandrine Piau, Deborah York and Sybilla Rumens, altos Annette Markert and Bogna Bartosz, tenors Christoph Pregardien, Jörg Dürmüller and Paul Agnew, and bass Klaus Mertens.
La Petite Bande / Sigiswald Kuijken
J S Bach: Mass in B Minor BWV 232 CC72316 HSACD2 £23.00
Although J S Bach’s Mass in B Minor is effectively a conglomeration of different sections which were probably written at various periods in the 1730’s and 40’s, many consider it to be a summation of the great man’s skill as a composer of sacred choral music. This new double SACD hybrid recording by La Petite Bande and conductor Sigiswald Kuijken, is performed in a setting for single voices, a version that many believe Bach himself would have used.
KOOPMAN/AMSTERDAM BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHOIR
J S Bach: Town Council Election Cantatas CC72287 CD £10.30
Selected from the award-winning cycle of recordings of the complete cantatas of J. S. Bach by Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir, this CD features three of the six surviving works hat were regularly performed at the annual church services celebrating the inauguration of the newly elected town council, BWVs 119, 120, and 69. The soloists are sopranos Caroline Stam, Ruth Ziesak, and Sandrine Piau, altos Elisabeth von Magnus, Michael Chance, and Bogna Bartosz, tenors Paul Agnew and James Gilchrist, and bass Klauss Mertens.
TON KOOPMAN - organ Buxtehude: Organ Works IV - Opera Omnia IX
CD CC72248 £13.00
This is the ninth release in a series of recordings which is presenting the complete works of Dieterich Buxtehude, and the fourth volume devoted to his organ works. The cycle is being produced by one of the world’s foremost experts in early music performance, the Dutch keyboard player and musical director Ton Koopman.
ALTENBERG TRIO WIEN Malawski / Meyer: Piano Trios
CD CC72310 £13.00
On this new recording Altenberg Trio Wien, one of the few full-time piano trios in the world of chamber music, perform two rarely-heard Polish works. The composers are the early 20th century figure Artur Malawski and the more contemporary Krzysztof Meyer. Both pieces are full of rhythmic energy and steeped in the musical traditions of their native land.
QUINK VOCAL ENSEMBLE A Un Nino Ilorando - Christmas with Quink
CD CC72306 £13.00
Historically accurate yet vivid, intimate and easy to listen to, this appealing collection of Christmas carols and songs from the Renaissance to
modern times, and from all global regions, is sung - in more or less chronological sequence - by the renowned a cappella Dutch vocal quintet Quink.
CHRISTOPH PREGARDIEN Schubert: Schwanengesang, etc.
HSACD CC72302 £16.90
The renowned lyric tenor Christoph Prégardien’s recent recording of Schubert’s “Schöne Müllerin”, (CC72292) was an “Editors Choice” in the August issue of Gramophone. On his latest SACD release he teams up with the pianist Andreas Staier in a wonderfully fresh account of another of Schubert’s great song cycles, “Schwanengesang”.
LA PETITE BANDE / KUIJKEN Monteverdi: Vespro della Beata Virgine
2HSACD CC72311 £21.55
Monteverdi’s glorious vespers of 1610 are here given a new lease of life by La Petite Bande and its director Sigiswald Kuijken, a combination that has been at the forefront of early music performance ever since its formation in the 1970’s. This new recording refers back to the piece’s very first edition where the vocal and instrumental parts are scaled down and the music consequently has a more subtle quality.
TON KOOPMAN Buxtehude: Organ Works 3 - Opera Omnia VIII
CD CC72247 £13.00
This is the eighth release in a series of recordings which is presenting the complete works of Dieterich Buxtehude, and the third volume devoted to his organ works. The cycle is being produced by one of the world’s foremost experts in early music performance, the Dutch keyboard player and musical director Ton Koopman.
ENSEMBLE SYNTAGMA/DANILEVSKI Stylems - Italian Music From The 'Trecento'
CD CC72195 £13.00
Ensemble Syntagma continue their series of recordings devoted to rarely performed early music with Italian Music From The ‘Trecento’ by various 14th century composers – notably Egidius Da Francia, Don Paolo Da Firenze and Bartolino Da Padova – who were either members of monastic or other religious orders.
KOOPMAN/AMSTERDAM BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHOIR
Funeral Cantatas - BWV 131 & 198 CD CC72286 £8.60
Selected from the award-winning cycle of recordings of the complete cantatas of J. S. Bach by Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir, this CD features two of the so-called “Funeral” Cantatas, BWV 131 & 198. Soloists include Paul Agnew, Klaus Mertens and Lisa Larsson.
KOOPMAN/AMSTERDAM BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHOIR
Dialogue Cantatas - BWV 49, 60, 140, & 59 CD CC72288 £8.60
This group of four cantatas, BWV 49, 60, 140, & 49, selected from the award-winning cycle of recordings of the complete cantatas of J. S. Bach by Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam baroque Orchestra and Choir, represent the so-called “Dialogue” cantatas.
KOOPMAN/AMSTERDAM BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHOIR
Cantatas "Actus Tragicus" - BWV 106 & 21 CD CC72289 £8.60
Selected from the award-winning cycle of recordings of the complete cantatas of J. S. Bach by Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir, this CD features two works, BWV 106 & 21, that bear the title “Actus Tragicus”. Soloists include Barbara Schlick and Guy de Mey.
KOOPMAN/AMSTERDAM BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHOIR
Buxtehude: Opera Omnia VII - Arias, Concertos and Cantatas
2CD CC72246 £18.75
In 2007 Ton Koopman completed a universally acclaimed set of recordings covering the complete cantatas of J. S. Bach, the last volume of which, (CC72222), recently received a BBC Music Magazine Award. With this latest release of Vocal Works, (Volume 3), he has now finished his series of recording of the works of Dieterich Buxtehude. As with the two previous volumes he directs the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir and several highly regarded soloists, amongst which are the soprano Johannette Zomer, the alto Bogna Bartosz, the tenor Jörg Dürmüller, and the bass Klaus Mertens. The 2CD set features arias, concertos and cantatas, including two substantial works, “Eins bitte ich vom Herrn“, BuxWV 24, and “Herzlich lieb hab ich dich, o Herr“, BuxWV 41
KOOPMAN/AMSTERDAM BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHOIR
J.S. Bach: "Coffee" & "Peasant" Cantatas CD CC72280 £10.35
Selected from the award-winning cycle of recordings of the complete cantatas of J. S. Bach by Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir, this CD features two of the composer’s most popular secular choral works, the “Coffee” Cantata”, BWV211 and the “Peasant” Cantata BWV212.
KOOPMAN/AMSTERDAM BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHOIR
J.S. Bach: Cantatas for Marian Feasts CD CC72281 £10.35
The cantatas BWV 1, BWV 125 & BWV161 featured in this selection were written for the three Marian Feasts and not only reveal Bach’s talent for orchestration, but also his great skill at elaboration. The music is taken from the award-winning cycle of recordings by Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra
and Choir.
KOOPMAN/AMSTERDAM BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHOIR
J.S. Bach: Solo Cantatas for Alto & Tenor CD CC72282 £10.35
J.S. Bach wrote several cantatas that feature a particular solo voice. The selection on this CD, which has been taken from the award-winning cycle by Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir features an alto soloist, (BWV170, BWV169, BWV54 & BWV200), and a tenor, (BWV55).
KOOPMAN/AMSTERDAM BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHOIR
J.S. Bach: Solo Cantatas for Bass CD CC72283 £10.35
The cantatas BWV82, BWV56, BWV158 & BWV203 that are included in this selection from Ton Kooman’s award-winning series of Bach recordings, feature a single bass voice alongside the choral ensemble. In this case the soloist is Klauss Mertens.
KOOPMAN / AMSTERDAM BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHOIR
J.S. Bach: "Wedding" Cantatas CD CC72284 £10.35
This CD gathers together four so-called “Wedding” cantatas, BWV195, BWV196, BWV197, & BWV202 that were originally issued as part of the award-winning series of the complete cantatas by Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir.
KOOPMAN/AMSTERDAM BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHOIR
J.S. Bach: Ascension Cantatas CD CC72285 £10.35
This selection of cantatas that has been taken from the award-winning series of recordings by Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir, features four works, BWV11, BWV43, BWV128, & BWV37 that were especially written for one of the most important days in the ecclesiastical calendar, Ascension Day.
PO Box 40 - Ashford _ Kent - TN23 4AQ
Phone: 01233 334884
Music Connection is a division of
Proper Note Limited
TO ORDER - Click here