Leonore Piano Trio, Orchestra Nova, George Vass – Watkins: Chamber Music and Works for String Orchestra (2024) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Leonore Piano Trio, Orchestra Nova, George Vass – Watkins: Chamber Music and Works for String Orchestra (2024)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 01:11:25 minutes | 2,50 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Resonus Classics

Widely recognised as the leading Welsh composer of his generation, Huw Watkins is an increasingly prolific writer of works for chamber ensembles, alongside his distinguished career as a pianist. Composed between 2009 and 2022, the five works featured on this disc take the listener on a fascinating journey through Watkins’s recent musical evolution. The acclaimed Leonore Piano Trio begin with the earliest of these works – the 2009 Piano Trio No. 1 – whilst conductor George Vass’s Orchestra Nova brings us the Little Symphony for strings and exquisite Concertino for violin and strings, performed here by trio violinist Benjamin Nabarro.

The trio is joined by violist Rachel Roberts for Watkins’ luminous Piano Quartet, while the programme concludes with the 2022 Piano Trio No. 2 – written for the fortieth anniversary of the Presteigne Festival and premiered there by the Leonore Piano Trio.

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Simon Callaghan, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Stephen Bell & George Vass – British Piano Concertos, Vol. 2 (2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Simon Callaghan, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Stephen Bell & George Vass – British Piano Concertos, Vol. 2 (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:12:31 minutes | 1,20 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Lyrita

Lyrita releases British Piano Concertos Volume 2 with Simon Callaghan and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales (SRCD.416) on 1 September 2023, with three world première recordings of works by John Addison, Gordon Jacob and Edmund Rubbra. The album is conducted by Stephen Bell and George Vass.

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George Vass, Rebecca Afonwy-Jones, Nova Music Opera Ensemble – Joseph Phibbs: Juliana (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

George Vass, Rebecca Afonwy-Jones, Nova Music Opera Ensemble - Joseph Phibbs: Juliana (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz] Download

George Vass, Rebecca Afonwy-Jones, Nova Music Opera Ensemble – Joseph Phibbs: Juliana (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:18:41 minutes | 1,35 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Resonus Classics

Based on August Strindberg’s celebrated 1888 play Miss Julie, chamber opera Juliana (2018) unites composer Joseph Phibbs and librettist Laurie Slade in a modern tale about the power of money, immigration politics, drugs and the blurring of sexual boundaries. In confronting these issues head-on, the power of aristocracy is replaced by that of plutocracy.
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Fenella Humphreys, George Vass & The BBC National Orchestra of Wales – Sibelius: Violin Concerto & Humoresques (2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Fenella Humphreys, George Vass & The BBC National Orchestra of Wales – Sibelius: Violin Concerto & Humoresques (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:03:32 minutes | 1,07 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Resonus Classics

Already hailed as his country’s foremost composer, Sibelius completed what was to be his only concerto in early 1904, and its spellbinding and instantly recognisable opening can surely be counted amongst the most iconic of any. A virtuosic violinist himself, Sibelius beautifully evokes Finland’s natural landscape and ancient folklore, which continues through Sibelius’s 1917 work for violin and orchestra – the Six Humoresques – demanding a considerable level of technique. Violinist Fenella Humphreys joins with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and conductor George Vass to present these formidable works with a world premiere recording of a new work for violin and orchestra by the American composer Nors S. Josephson – Celestial Voyage.

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