We reveal who’s recording what and where...
South-west England-based music charity Sound World has stepped up to help struggling local musicians by commissioning 12 new short works by composers such as Sally Beamish, Nico Muhly and Howard Skempton. The pieces have been recorded for a forthcoming album, Reflections, available to download soon.
Composer Nigel Hess has completed a personal collection of his works called The Way of Light. The album features artists including the BBC Singers, BBC Concert Orchestra, St Catherine’s College, Cambridge Girls’ Choir and pianist Nicholas Mccarthy, to name but a few. Orchid Classics will release it on 5 February.
Back in December Cordelia Williams recorded a new album of piano works at Southampton’s Turner Sims Hall. Called Night Light, it features poetry alongside a diverse programme of music by Thomas Tomkins, Liszt, Scriabin, Schumann and Bill Evans. SOMM Recordings is set to release the album in the summer.
Musicologist-pianist Samantha Ege has taken to the keyboard in the PATS Studio at the University of Surrey to make a landmark recording of solo piano works by Florence Price. It features the first full recording of Price’s virtuosic Fantasie Nègre alongside other premiere recordings. These include Price’s three Untitled Sketches and a set of Snapshots. The album will be launched by the LORELT label in the spring.
There are more premiere recordings on a forthcoming release by Hideko Udagawa. The Japanese violinist has paired up with pianist Petr Limonov for sessions at
St Silas Church, Camden Town, where they have recorded a Russian programme. At the heart of the disc, released in April by Northern Flowers, are lesser-known pieces by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov and Arensky.