ATMA News and New Releases: January 2008

ATMA rings in the New Year with two superb new recordings.

Wind chill
SCHUBERT - WINTERREISE
chamber version

Christoph Prˆ©gardien - tenor
Joseph Petric - accordion
Pentaˆ®dre - wind ensemble
Daniˆ®le Bourget - piccolo, flute, alto flute
Martin Carpentier - clarinet, bass clarinet
Norman Forget - oboe d'amore
Louis-Philippe Marsolais - horn, baroque horn
Matthieu Lussier - bassoon

Winterreise as you've never heard it before!

ATMA launches the New Year with a unique recording that offers a fresh take on Schubert's superb song cycle, Winterreise, originally scored for voice and piano. This new version by oboeist Normand Forget features one the world's foremost lyric tenors Christoph Prˆ©gardien in an arrangement for voice, accordion (Joseph Petric) and wind ensemble (Pentaˆ®dre). While remaining faithful to the original text, Forget's arrangement breathes new life into Schubert's melodies and evokes all the colours of the original piano score.

Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828): Winterreise - Cycle of 24 lieder on poems by Wilhelm Mˆºller

ATMA ACD2 2546

Forget's version of Winterreise will be performed by Pentaˆ®dre, Joseph Petric and baritone Philip Addis at the Almonte Town Hall in Almonte, Ontario on February 9, 2008. Visit www.pentaedre.com for details.

Pax Romana

ROMA TRIUMPHANS
Polychoral music in the churches of Rome and the Vatican

Studio de musique ancienne de Montrˆ©al

Christopher Jackson, Artistic Director

Sylvain Bergeron - theorbo
Karen Kadevarek - cello
Rˆ©jean Poirer - positive organ


Roma Triumphans is the newest recording by Christopher Jackson's Roma Triumphans includes music for two or more choirs by Italian and Spanish Renaissance composers. Some of these works called for as many as ten choirs, with singers placed on platforms in the nave of St. Peter's Basilica - an aural parallel to the building's splendid architecture!

Luca Marenzio (1553-1599); Tomˆ°s Luis de Victoria (1548-1611); G.P. da Palestrina
(1525?-1594); Orazio Benevoli (1605-1672); Giovanni Giorgi (?-1762);
Vincenzo Ugolini (1570-1638)eorg Frideric HANDEL (1685-1759).
Studio de musique ancienne de Montrˆ©al (SMAM), and brings to life the glory of Rome's polychoral tradition. Recorded in hybrid SACD format and featuring music composed for the Vatican and several other Roman churches,
ATMA SACD2 2507

Christopher Jackson leads the SMAM in several concerts performed in churches in and around Montrˆ©al from March 13-28, 2008. The program features music included on the Roma Triumphans recording. Visit www.smam-montreal.com for details.

Looking ahead in 2008...

Several ATMA recordings were short-listed for Best of 2007 lists by major music critics across Canada and beyond. In 2008, look for more new releases by brilliant artists performing inspiring repertoire. Herewith, a sneak preview of what's in store over the coming months. Visit www.atmaclassique.com for updates.

Soprano Suzie LeBlanc headlines a stellar cast of singers including Allyson McHardy, Nathalie Paulin and Matthew White in Antonio Caldara's 1715 oratorio, La Conversione di Clodoveo, Re di Francia.

Conductor Yannick Nˆ©zet-Sˆ©guin - who adds the title of Principal Guest Conductor of the London Philharmonic to his list of prestigious international posts, which includes Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra - returns with a recording of Bruckner's monumental Symphony No. 9 with the Orchestre Mˆ©tropolitain du Grand Montrˆ©al, the second CD in ATMA's Bruckner cycle. Volume II of harpsichordist Alexander Weimann's recordings of the complete keyboard works by Alessandro Scarlatti will be released this year, as will lutenist Sylvain Bergeron's first solo disc.

Dream-team Nathan Berg and Julius Drake make their ATMA debut with a much-anticipated program of German lieder recorded last spring in London's Henry Wood Hall. Canadian mezzo-soprano and Jessye Norman protˆ©gˆ© Susan Platts returns with a recording of German romantic repertoire by Clara Schumann, Robert Schumann and Brahms. Virginia Parker prize-winning pianist David Jalbert makes his ATMA debut with a stunning recording of music by Shostakovich.

Contributing to ATMA's rich roster of vocal ensembles is The Nederlands Kamerchor (Netherlands Chamber Choir), a professional vocal ensemble that concentrates on a wide range of a cappella repertoire. Watch for the choir's debut ATMA recording featuring music by Alessandro Scarlatti. Award-winning vocal chamber ensemble Les Voix Baroques was founded by Canadian countertenor Matthew White, and returns with a recording of settings of the Song of Songs by various composers ranging from Palestrina to Willan.