August’s New Album Releases 2024
4/9/2024
August's New Album Releases 2024
Dalia Stasevska celebrates her debut solo album Dalia’s Mixtape which addresses the future of recorded music — the way it sounds, the way we listen to it and the way we access it. “The symphony orchestra is one of the greatest instruments ever created. As music keeps evolving, so does the orchestra, and something has happened in the last decade or so — doors have been opened. Composers from wider and more diverse backgrounds than ever before are bringing new ideas and influences to the orchestra,” says Dalia Stasevska.
The 10 tracks of Dalia’s Mixtape are performed by BBC Symphony Orchestra and present some of the freshest sounds in contemporary music, personally selected by Stasevska. The works, released individually between March and August by Platoon, are available on all streaming platforms.
Dalia Stasevska is also featured on Thomas de Hartmann Rediscovered, a recording of the glowing and cinematic Violin and Cello Concertos of Ukrainian composer Thomas de Hartmann. Using an international all-star cast, the recording not only aims to re-establish de Hartmann’s work, but also to bring musicians together in times of war. The Violin Concerto was recorded in Warsaw with Joshua Bell as soloist and Stasevska conducting the INSO-Lviv Symphony Orchestra, managing to temporarily leave their besieged country.
Pekka Kuusisto along with cellist Anastasia Kobekina, pianist Katia Labèque, harpist Lavinia Meijer, violist Nadia Sirota, percussionist Colin Currie and Bryce Dessner himself on acoustic guitar is featured in Dessner’s debut Sony Classical album Solos - a collection featuring a series of unaccompanied instrumental works written by the composer over the past few years. Dessner, who is also a founding member of Grammy Award-winning rock band The National has selected works from both his classical and soundtrack worlds, which showcase not only his compositional flair but also the immense talent of his acclaimed collaborators.
Also released on Sony Classical is Shorthand – an album compiling the Grammy-nominated composer Anna Clyne’s compositions recorded by orchestral collective The Knights, led by Eric Jacobsen, and bringing together internationally acclaimed artists: violinist Pekka Kuusisto and Colin Jacobsen, mandolinist Avi Avital and cellist Yo-Yo Ma. The album presents works spanning more than a decade — musical conversations between the soloists and the ensemble, as well as within the ensemble itself. Kuusisto is featured in the composer’s double violin concerto Prince of Clouds – a piece “contemplating the presence of musical lineage — a family-tree of sorts that passes from generation to generation. This transfer of knowledge and inspiration between generations is a beautiful gift,” says Anna Clyne.
Paavo Järvi released Schoenberg & Fauré: Pelléas et Mélisande on Alpha Classics, celebrating the anniversaries of Fauré and Schoenberg in 2024, he offers his reading of their settings of Pelléas et Mélisande with hr-Sinfonieorchester, whose Music Director he was for almost ten years.
Polyarts composer Carlos Simon’s Four Symphonic Works – the first full-length album of his orchestral compositions – is released on August 23, 2024.
The album is a celebration of Carlos’ position as Composer-in-Residence at the Kennedy Center, featuring the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Music Director Gianandrea Noseda.
Each piece was recorded live in concert and initially released digitally, one at a time, throughout the season. The final release, a collection of all four works, is available on CD and via streaming and all download services, released on the National Symphony Orchestra label and distributed by LSO Live.
In the anniversary year marking the 200th birthday of Anton Bruckner, Pablo Heras-Casado and Anima Eterna Brugge launch their first album together for Harmonia Mundi. With the recording of Symphony No.4, Heras-Casado and the period-instrument ensemble Anima Eterna showcase their joint work on Bruckner’s symphonies, which began in 2022. It is part of the series‘The New Romanticism’ and further recordings will follow.
It is only in recent years that works by Wagner, Bruckner, or those from the early 20th century have been brought to light by period-instrument ensembles. Heras-Casado and Anima Eterna now present their interpretation of Bruckner – without heaviness, without pathos. The sound experience created by the historical instruments differs significantly from the style familiar to listeners.
Eldbjørg Hemsing joins Esa-Pekka Salonen and Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra on a new album to mark the 70th birthday of Swedish contemporary composer Anders Hillborg. Together with soprano Hannah Holgersson, they have recorded some of Hillborg’s most renowned compositions: Liquid Marble, Kväll and the Violin Concerto No. 2.
Hillborg’s Violin Concerto No.2 is a very energetic, but also meditative piece: ethereal sounds are interrupted by insistent calls from the orchestra and the soloist. The music is often dreamy, but also contains powerful, rhythmically driven sections. The work Kväll for violin and soprano contains elements of folk music.
Eldbjørg Hemsing talks about the work and the fascination for Anders Hillborg’s music: “I got to know Anders Hillborg’s sound world a few years ago and found it simply fascinating, beautiful and exciting! Playing his second violin concerto is exhilarating: from the most ethereal moments you’ve ever heard to memorable, catchy rhythmic sections, this concerto takes you on an unforgettable journey. It’s an escape that captivates everyone from start to finish. As a violinist, the concerto rewards me with renewed excitement and a sense of fun every time I play it. It was a highlight of my career to record it with the incomparable Esa-Pekka Salonen and the outstanding Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra.”
Klaus Mäkelä releases Dmitri Shostakovich on Decca Classics with Oslo Philharmonic, recording Shostakovich’s Symphonies No.4, 5 and 6. This is his second album with the Oslo Philharmonic, following on from Sibelius, a complete cycle of Jean Sibelius’ symphonies, released in 2022.
