Enjoy new music with our classical music chart for this week. Our weekly selections are based on sales numbers and simply what albums we love and think you NEED to hear.
For the complete top 20, tune into Classical Chartz with the New Classical FM’s Mark Wigmore every Saturday from 3-5 p.m.
Josh Groban’s Gems refuses to give up the top spot on the Classical Chartz for yet another week. Just below, though, there’s a shuffle as Jean-Michel Blais & Lara Somogyi (Desert) and Yunchan Lim (Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3) exchange places to land at No. 3 and No. 2 respectively.
The fastest riser in the Classical Chartz Top Ten is French guitarist Raphaël Feuillâtre and Spanish Serenades, which makes the leap from No. 9 last week to end up at No. 4.
There are two newcomers to the Top Ten this week: Sondheim by Opus 2, and J.S. Bach Mass in B Minor by Pygmalion & Raphaël Pichon.
Opus Two is William Terwilliger, violin, and Andrew Cooperstock, piano. After winning the United States Information Agency’s Artistic Ambassador Auditions in 1993, the duo has gone on to carve an international performing career, playing on stages across North and South America, Asia, Australia, and Europe.
The album consists of highlights form Sondheim’s much lauded Broadway shows in new arrangements.
The arrangements were created by Eric Stern, who worked closely with Sondheim before his death. “I was one of the many lucky ones who got to work with Sondheim and experience close hand his genius, collaborative nature, and inherent kindness,” he says in the liner notes to the album.
Stern’s work with Sondheim was extensive, and included the 1984 revival of Pacific Overtures, co-music directing the first production of Into the Woods, conducting productions of Follies, and conducting Merrily We Roll Along at the Kennedy Center, among others.
He writes, “My last conversation with him was about the Little Night Music suite which you’ll find on this album. We are all extremely grateful for his enthusiastic endorsement of the arrangement and performance, muted only by our sorrow that the rest were written after his passing.”
Raphaël Pichon conducts the Baroque ensemble Pygmalion, and it’s their fifth recording of iconic Bach works. The ensemble consists of 30 singers, plus soloists and musicians performing on period instruments. The soloists n the recording are: Julie Roset (soprano), Beth Taylor (mezzo-soprano). Lucile Richardot (alto), Emiliano Gonzalez Toro (tenor), and Christian Immler (bass).
Bach’s Mass in B minor, BWV 232, is a monumental work, and considered among his finest choral pieces. Haydn and Beethoven were known to have studied the score, and Liszt attended what many consider the first complete premiere in 1859, more than 100 years after the composer’s death.
As he often did, Bach recycled some of his earlier works in the Mass, including the Kyrie and Gloria (also known as the “Missa”), which he had written as part of his application for the post of court composer at Dresden.
Are you looking to promote an event? Have a news tip? Need to know the best events happening this weekend? Send us a note.
#LUDWIGVAN
Get the daily arts news straight to your inbox.
Sign up for the Ludwig Van Toronto e-Blast! — local classical music and opera news straight to your inbox HERE.
