RECENT RELEASES

Welcome to the Meridian Records website.

MERIDIAN RECORDS are the original experts in ‘natural sound recordings’. Thirty years ago, at a dinner party, our founders presented their vision for an independent classical label that would reproduce the concert-hall experience as closely as possible. Everyone said it would never work. Thirty two years on we hold a clutch of industry awards, including the honour of being the first independent label to win a GRAMOPHONE award, and we continue to astound listeners and artists with our stylish and captivating recordings using our revered ‘natural sound’ technique.
See Our ‘Natural Sound’ Philosophy for more.

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CDE 84568
Beethoven - Quintet in E flat major, op. 16
for piano, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon

Poulenc - Sextet for piano, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and horn

Strauss* - Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche op 28
Arranged by David Carp
for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon and piano
Ben-Ari* - Sextet for piano and woodwind quintet

The New Israel Woodwind Quintet

Dudu Carmel - oboe; Yevgeny Yehudin - clarinet
Mauricio Paez - bassoon; Chezy Nir - horn
Itamar Golan - piano; Ohad Ben-Ari - Piano *

 

“One of the remarkable phenomena that have emerged in music life in Israel...”  - Hanoch Ron, music critic of Yediot Aharonot

 

The Quintet was founded in 1993. Its members have been performing as soloists with renowned orchestras in Israel and abroad, including the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. They have been scholarship recipients by the America-Israel Cultural Foundation and were awarded many prizes in local and international music competitions.

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CDE 84538 Piano Colours - Piano Music by Jonathan FeBland.
Following on from his highly acclaimed Brahms “Hungarian Dances” CD, Meridian Records are thrilled to release the next musical chapter in Pianist Louis Demetrius Alvanis recording career, of world premiere solo piano pieces by the profound English composer, artist and poet Jonathan FeBland.

As the title suggests this is a disc full of colourful and delightfully honest music, which is a wonderful introduction into the charismatic and eclectic world of Jonathan FeBland. This album can almost be split into two halves: the first, including examples of FeBland's light Classical or educational style, is aimed to be playable by intermediate to advanced level students, as well as being entertaining for both performers and audiences alike. Whilst the second leans heavily towards the jazz side of things, encapsulating moments of personal reminiscence, which will definitely find a home on commercial classical radio, alongside instances of uplifting Boogie-Woogie with 8 and 12-bar Blues progressions

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CDE 84572 The Brazilian Cello

Following Tânia Lisboa’s extensive Villa-Lobos collection, described in the Gramophone as “achieving a real and touching eloquence”, Meridian Records are delighted to announce her latest CD: The Brazilian Cello in which she is brilliantly partnered by the pianist Cristina Capparelli.

This Meridian recording features a thoughtful collection of Brazilian cello music by some of the most outstanding and respected composers from Brazil, including Alberto Nepomuceno, Francisco Mignone, João Octaviano, Luiz Henrique Levy, Henrique Oswald, Sérgio de Vasconcellos-Corrêa and Camargo Guarnieri.

“Cellist Lisboa made for Villa-Lobos: This kind of music suited Lisboa just fine. Her approach to Villa-Lobos was direct, sensitive and thoughtful, and her playing always seemed spontaneous, as if she had just found an old cello lying on the stage and decided to play it. In her hands, Villa-Lobo’s demanding Sonata N.2 seemed like an extended song without words, and her execution of a virtuoso trill and slide in the ‘Bachianas Brasileiras’ N. 2 sounded unobtrusive and lost in sensual melody” ...The Washington Post - USA.

 

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CDE 84570 Granville Bantock - Songs of the Isles
Elysian Singers
 

One of London's liveliest and most adventurous choirs.
"Amongst chamber choirs, they're one of the best."
- Sir John Tavener

 

If the work of Granville Bantock is to be appreciated at its true value, it must not be forgotten that he was one of the earliest pioneers of contemporary British music.
 The Elysian Singers of London, under musical director Sam Laughton, is one of the UK's leading chamber choirs. Known for their adventurous programming and imaginative repertoire, they give concerts in and around London, and have recorded a number of enthusiastically received CDs.
The Elysian Singers pride themselves on reaching consistently high performance standards, and their entry requirements are rigorous, however they maintain a friendly and relaxed atmosphere and embrace singers from all backgrounds.

This release shows off the choir at its very best.

 

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CDE 84564 The Russian Double Bass
We are delighted to announce this exciting release of The Russian Double Bass, the third of Leon Bosch’s recordings on the Meridian label, alongside pianist Sung-Suk Kang.
The double bass as a solo melodic instrument has enjoyed a rich heritage in Russia and the USSR, however the true depth and breadth of quality of its players has been obscured in modern times by Russia’s political isolation from Western Europe and the USA. Nonetheless, on this recording Leon Bosch returns to un-earth some compositional gems by some of the true greats including Shostakovich and Rachmaninoff. It is no coincidence that this album of Russian solo double bass music reveals an impressive vocal element. Within Bosch’s selection many are song influenced - there are Chanson, Melodie, Vocalise and also two arias transcribed for double bass - one by Shostakovich and a poignant transcription of Susanin’s Aria by Glinka. Bosch plays throughout with spirit, passion, and flair, creating a recording that simply must be heard by anyone wishing to discover a new and exciting repertoire for the double bass.
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CDE 84565
Northern Lights
English Cello Sonatas  1920 - 1950
Includes premiere recordings *
Emma Ferrand - Cello
Jeremy Young - Piano

“Northern Lights” has a story to tell - in particular through the discovery of Edgar Bainton‘s cello sonata - the story that emerged as to its conception through friendship in extraordinary circumstances. All the works are linked through their composer’s’ strong connection with Manchester, the hub of musical life in the NW at this period, and also through the life and career of Carl Fuchs, principal cellist of the Halle orchestra and of the Brodsky Quartet. The other Premiere is by Cyril Scott - a new name for cellists - his Ballade, which draws on his fascination for the “exotic “.

The John Ireland and Rawsthorne sonatas are both important works from this period.

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CDE 84578/9-2 Joseph Haydn
Keyboard Sonatas - Julia Cload - Piano

“What Julia Cload has in abundance is an ability to grasp the overall form of Haydn's by no means easy music. Also her sense of rubato is quite special”.   Robbins Landon.

This recording is the 4th in the series of her complete Haydn sonatas for Meridian Records, and will coincide with her series of Haydn recitals at St.James Piccadilly in October 2009 in this Haydn Centenary year.

Of all the pianists considered here, however, the greatest 'find' ,for me is also the least known. Julia Cload is a musician-pianist who manages to shed new light on familiar works without recourse to idiosyncrasy or extremes of any kind. Her very personal vision of Haydn refreshes because it seems to have developed directly from inside the music, unaffected by received tradition. Alexander Letvin - Piano Magazine
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CDE 84571 Las Puertas Del Tiempo
“I was tempted to think of González in one breath with Bartók: his music has the same strength, along with the familiarity to fascinate the ear unfamiliar with the soil in which music is rooted,” wrote Wes Blomster, the music critic of the Boulder, Colorado, Daily Camera.   Not that the sound worlds of Bartók and González are all that similar, but both composers draw deeply on the folk and dance music of their native regions to provide the sonic foundations for their art.  In the case of Luis Jorge González, the dance music of his native Argentina and of other South American countries instills in his music a grace, vitality, variety, and intensity that is at once unique and universal.  The listener will hear sounds that are both familiar and unfamiliar; rhythms that are both expected and exotic; harmonies that are rooted in tonality but that also explore new and unusual tonal combinations.  González is a composer of great technical sophistication, but also one who is able to communicate with a full range of listeners from the neophyte to the connoisseur.
 

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Meridian Records  P.O. Box 317, Eltham, London. SE94SF  phone +44 (0)208 857 3213   email: mail@meridian-records.co.uk
For online reviews of Classical Music recordings, we recommend MusicWeb International