New Release Saturdays on Evening Music

While industry insiders complain that classical recordings are going the way of the dinosaur, other indications suggest that classical music is alive and humming, more popular than ever. Among the positive signs is the flood of new recordings on the market this fall, many by young artists who are breathing new life into old warhorses and reviving long-neglected works. Each Saturday through December, Evening Music will spotlight new and noteworthy releases, from chamber music to opera.
On Saturday, November 23 at 8PM, a pair of new discs will be featured, by Hilary Hahn, and Ian Bostridge and Dorothea Röschmann.

Mendelssohn and Shostakovich violin concertos
Hilary Hahn, violin
Oslo Philharmonic / Hugh Wolff, conductor
Sony Classical
At age 22, Hahn has developed from an arresting teenage prodigy into a formidable mature artist, and unlike many of her ilk, she has emerged as a balanced and unmannered musician. Her latest Sony release, pairing the Mendelssohn and Shostakovich violin concertos, is straightforward and without fuss or exagerrated effects, every note clear and well-placed. We'll hear her noble yet affectionate performance of the Mendelssohn with the Oslo Philharmonic under Hugh Wolff. This is Hahn's final recording for Sony (she is leaving to join Deutsche Grammophon) and it arrives just as she prepares to make her long-awaited Carnegie Hall debut on November 26.

The Songs of Robert Schumann, Volume Seven
Myrten, Op 25; Four Duets, Op. 34; Four Duets, Op. 78
Dorothea Röschmann, soprano and Ian Bostridge, tenor
Graham Johnson, piano
Hyperion 33107
Also on the November 23 Evening Music is the seventh volume of Hyperion's ongoing Schumann song series (pictured). This CD brings together two of today's finest singers to share Schumann's famous Myrten cycle, which contains such immortal favorites as "Widmung" and "Du bist wie eine Blume" (both sung by Ian Bostridge) and "Der Nussbaum" (sung by Dorothea Röschmann). Both singers are joined by pianist Graham Johnson, who also provides the set's exhaustive program notes in the 120-page illustrated booklet. Though Bostridge is an exclusive artist of EMI Classics, his special appearance here provides a winning addition to this series.