Saito Kinen Orchestra, John Williams, Stéphane Denève – John Williams in Tokyo (Live at Suntory Hall, Tokyo / 2023) (2024)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:02:03 minutes | 1,08 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Universal Music LLC
30 years after his last visit to Japan, John Williams returned to Tokyo for a special concert, making his debut with the world-famous Saito Kinen Orchestra in renditions of his own music and reuniting with his longtime friend, Seiji Ozawa (1935–2024). Captured live on record at Suntory Hall last year, John Williams In Tokyo is set to be released on 3 May and follows his acclaimed concert albums, The Berlin Concert and John Williams in Vienna. The album includes 11 pieces conducted by John Williams and a bonus track, ‘Tributes! (for Seiji)’ composed by John Williams for Seiji Ozawa, conducted by Stéphane Denève.
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James Ehnes, St. Louis Symphony & Stéphane Denève – Bernstein: Serenade – Williams: Violin Concerto No. 1 (2024)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:01:28 minutes | 1,09 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © PENTATONE
The St. Louis Symphony and their music director Stéphane Denève present a wonderful program featuring two of the most accomplished American composers in history: Leonard Bernstein with his Serenade and John Williams with his Concerto for violin and orchestra, both performed by star James Ehnes, one of the most exceptional North American violinists. John Williams himself was present at the recording of his violin concerto, working together with the St. Louis Symphony, Denève, and Ehnes. Both works evolve around love: Bernstein’s Serenade was inspired by musings on love from Plato’s Symposium while Williams’s work was arguably inspired and eventually dedicated to his suddenly deceased wife. By combining these two concert pieces, this album puts the symphonic work of Bernstein and Williams at the center, two composers who weren’t afraid of crossing the boundaries between film music and “serious” classical genres at a time when these worlds were generally kept far apart. Especially in Williams’ concerto, there are still hints of his work as a film composer; the slow movement brings to mind a scene of emotional gravity.
Widely considered one of the world’s finest orchestras, the SLSO maintains its commitment to artistic excellence, educational impact, and community connections. The St. Louis Symphony, Stéphane Denève, and James Ehnes all make their Pentatone debut.
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Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Stephane Deneve – Connesson: Cosmic Trilogy, The Shining One (2010)
SACD Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 / 5.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 52:13 minutes | 2,5 GB
Genre: Classical | Publisher (label): Chandos – CHSA 5076
CONNESSON – ORCHESTRAL WORKS (Disc of the Month)
Recognised as one of the youngest and most gifted contemporary composers, Guillaume Connessan brings together an imaginatively diffuse range of influences, from the riches of the musical traditions of his native France to John Adams, Steve Reich and the funk of James Brown. During the composition of the works making up the Cosmic Trilogy Connesson also drew inspiration from such sources as the paintings of Kandinsky and the physics of Stephen Hawking. After first discovering Connesson’s music in 2001, conductor Stéphane Denève remarked on its amazing orchestration.. ‘the quality of writing for large orchestration the level of a Ravel or Stravinsky’. During his tenure at the Royal Scottish National Orchestra Denève has regularly championed Connesson’s works and two parts of the Cosmic Trilogy were commissioned by the RSNO and dedicated to Denève. The symphonic dance “Aleph” was actually a wedding gift.
Recognised as one of the youngest and most gifted contemporary composers, Guillaume Connesson brings together an imaginatively diffuse range of influences, from the riches of the musical traditions of his native France to John Adams, Steve Reich and the funk of James Brown. During the composition of the works making up the Cosmic Trilogy Connesson also drew inspiration from such sources as the paintings of Kandinsky and the physics of Stephen Hawking.
After first discovering Connesson’s music in 2001, Stéphane Denève remarked on its ‘amazing orchestration… the quality of writing for large orchestra on the level of a Ravel or Stravinsky!’ During his tenure at the Royal Scottish National Orchestra Denève has regularly championed Connesson’s works and two parts of the Cosmic Trilogy, ‘Aleph’ and ‘Une lueur dans l’âge sombre’, were commissioned by the RSNO. These are dedicated to Denève; in fact, the symphonic dance ‘Aleph’ was a marriage gift.
The Cosmic Trilogy evokes three moments in the history of the universe: the Big Bang in ‘Aleph’, the appearance of light and the stars in ‘Une lueur dans l’âge sombre’, and finally the explosion and death of a star in ‘Supernova’.
Connesson’s works have been quickly appreciated by music lovers and performers for the exciting vitality they imbue, and the easy-going tonal strains that permeate them. The Guardian described the work as ‘bright-toned and imaginatively scored… crowd-pleasing, colourful music’. Chandos is delighted to present the first recording of the complete trilogy.
Guillaume Connesson studied piano, history of music, choir analysis and direction at the Conservatoire National de Région de Boulogne-Billancourt, as well as orchestration at the Conservatoire National de Paris. He is currently professor of orchestration at the Conservatoire National de Région d’Aubervilliers.
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Stéphane Denève – Honegger : Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:19:16 minutes | 1,31 GB | Genre: Sacred Oratorios
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher is one of the most inventive oratorios ever composed, constantly flitting between styles and colours. It follows the historic French heroine in the hours leading up to her execution. Indeed, the run-up to her death sentence is reconstructed as if in a crime novel. Paul Claudel’s lively libretto contrasts Jeanne with an assorted lot of strange and wonderful characters. More than enough reason for Honegger to open up a colourful paintbox: the work features a succession of choral passages infused with spirituality, cubist-like blocks of sound and even bits of material reminiscent of the music hall. This is grist to conductor Stéphane Denève’s mill, who is a leading authority on French music and a regular guest with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; together with two choirs and a variety of soloists and actors, he realized a compelling and moving Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher.
Read moreStéphane Denève – Guillaume Connesson: Lost Horizon (2019) [Official Digital Download 24bit/88,2kHz]
Stéphane Denève – Guillaume Connesson: Lost Horizon (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 01:26:24 minutes | 1,41 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Deutsche Grammophon (DG)
After Lucifer (2014) and Pour sortir au jour (2016), the French composer Guillaume Connesson returns to Deutsche Grammophon with “Lost Horizon”, a new double-album directed by Stéphane Denève at the head of the Brussels Philharmonic. Already awarded the Victoire de la Musique Classique in the Composer category in 2015, Guillaume Connesson received last February his second award as Composer of the Year 2019 for “Les Horizons perdus”, Concerto for Violin created in September 2018 that we find within this double album. These two CDs show two facets of the composer’s art and offer two trips. One outside, with the fantastic and festive “Cities of Lovecraft” and the saxophone Concerto A Kind of Trane performed by Timothy McAllister. A work that recalls the memory of the jazzman John Coltrane, real incarnation of the solo instrument as he imagines it. The other is a journey inside oneself illustrated by the Violin Concerto Les Horizons Perdus. Performed by Renaud Capuçon, this score refers to James Hilton’s novel “Lost Horizon” (1933), adapted for film by Frank Capra. “The Tomb of Regrets” is a slow movement in which Guillaume Connesson was tempted by a very linear, almost choral writing to explore intimate feelings, those of time passing, buried regrets and impossible returns . Created in a short period between 2015 (A Kind of Trane) and 2018 (Les Horizons Perdus), these four scores show the many facets of a composer who draws his inspiration from the sources of scholarly art as much as popular, without borders or taboos.
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Stéphane Denève – Guillaume Connesson – Pour sortir au jour (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 52:07 minutes | 493 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Deutsche Grammophon (DG)
Each of these three pieces for orchestra pays tribute to a country and culture particularly dear to me. The Germany that is full of the drama and joy in Flammenschrift finds a response with the light of Italy in E Chiaro nella valle il fiume appare, before the colourfully festive Russia in Maslenitsa.
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Stephane Deneve & Brussels Philharmonic – Prokofiev: Romantic Suites (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 01:08:08 minutes | 1,06 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Universal Music Division Decca Records France
The Brussels Philharmonic and music director Stéphane Denève will appear on Deutsche Grammophon. Brussels Philharmonic is the first symphony orchestra in Belgium to work with this record label. For its second recording with the more than 100-year-old Deutsche Grammophon, the orchestra opted for the ballet music of Sergei Prokofiev. Denève’s touch is clearly noticeable: he created a new musical dramaturgy, choosing from the existing suites, giving rise to new and exciting combinations.
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