Joseph Middleton

Mary Bevan, Nicky Spence, Joseph Middleton – A Most Marvellous Party: Noel Coward and Friends (2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · December 4, 2023 · Comments off

Mary Bevan, Nicky Spence, Joseph Middleton – A Most Marvellous Party: Noel Coward and Friends (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:17:24 minutes | 1,32 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Signum Records

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Noel Coward,celebrated musicians and regular Signum artists Mary Bevan, Nicky Spence and Joseph Middleton join forces for this album of works by Noel Cowardand his contemporaries.Featuring songs such as ‘Parisian Pierrot’ and ‘The Man I Love’, the album comprises of a collection ofsolos, duets and instrumental songs by composerssuch as Ned Rorem, Liza Lehmann, William Walton and Benjamin Britten.

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Joseph Middleton, Sarah Connolly – Mahler Songs (2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · September 11, 2023 · Comments off

Mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly and pianist Joseph Middleton have produced a CD with three of Mahler’s best known song cycles; the Rückert-Lieder, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen and the Kindertotenlieder. It’s a very fine recording. Both performers are, of course, expert recitalists and they take quite an individual way with these well known pieces. In general they are quite slow (less so in the Rückert songs than the other two sets) but very clearly articulated. The phrasing, by both singer and pianist, is very deliberate and sometimes quite individual. This is most pronounced in the Rückert songs. It’s an interesting approach which I enjoyed.

The recording is fine. It was made in St. George’s Bristol in April 2021 and it’s well balanced, clear and natural. It will be available as a physical CD and in digital formats ranging from MP3 to 192kHz/24bit FLAC. I listened to the hi-res version. The booklet has plenty of useful information and full texts and English translations.

So, an interesting and enjoyable, if rather individual, record from two serious Mahlerians. Definitely worth a listen.

The release date is July 28th 2023 and the catalogue number is Signum SIGCD741.

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Carolyn Sampson, Roderick Williams, Joseph Middleton – Sounds and Sweet Airs – A Shakespeare Songbook (2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · August 26, 2023 · Comments off

The 37 songs in this recital, written by 27 composers – male, female, English, French, Swiss, German, Romantic, modern and contemporary – bear witness to the richness of Shakespeare’s works to which this recital is dedicated.

Organised in the form of a play in five acts, including prologue and epilogue, the songs, which include several duets, are in turn cheerful and sad, light and profound, classical and jazzy – thus allowing, in Carolyn Sampson’s words, ‘a breadth of responses to these great texts’. Alongside well-known melodies, such as those by Schubert, there are musical adaptations by different composers of the same texts, as well as a contemporary reflection for the two voices by Hannah Kendall exploring the question of gender fluidity and identity through the elusive character of Rosalind from As You Like It.

After many acclaimed releases on BIS, including Album für die Frau, a collection of songs by Clara and Robert Schumann, A Soprano’s Schubertiade and Elysium, two Schubert recitals, as well as a number of themed recitals, some of which were named ‘Recording of the Month’ by MusicWeb International and ‘CD-Tipp’ by BR Klassik, Carolyn Sampson and Joseph Middleton are joined here by renowned British baritone Roderick Williams.

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Ruby Hughes & Joseph Middleton – Songs for New Life and Love (2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · August 24, 2023 · Comments off

After appearing on a quartet of very different BIS releases, ranging from early baroque arias to orchestral songs by Alban Berg and Mahler’s “Resurrection Symphony”, the British soprano Ruby Hughes has devised a song recital, together with her regular Lieder partner Joseph Middleton. The process began in 2018 when the two gave the world premi`ere of Helen Grime’s Bright Travellers, a set of five poems charting the interior and exterior worlds of pregnancy and motherhood. Ruby Hughes soon set about planning a programme which would converge with Grime’s music and the themes of new life and of love in all its aspects.

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Nicky Spence, Mary Bevan, Fleur Barron, William Thomas, Dylan Perez, Joseph Middleton – Brahms: Liebeslieder, Op. 52 & 65 (2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · July 25, 2023 · Comments off

Nicky Spence, Mary Bevan, Fleur Barron, William Thomas, Dylan Perez, Joseph Middleton – Brahms: Liebeslieder, Op. 52 & 65 (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:07:01 minutes | 1,05 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Resonus Classics

Johannes Brahms’ Liebeslieder-Walzer (1869, 1875), Op. 52 and Op. 65, are a cheerful, short, witty set of songs full of anger, joy and rejection. These part-songs are accompanied by one piano, with four hands and any number of voices can perform any selection. These enchanting works are performed as part of Barbara Hannigan’s Momentum project, which teams up new talent with more established performers. Here, tenor Nicky Spence, soprano Mary Bevan and pianist Joseph Middleton are joined by three rising stars (mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron, bass William Thomas and pianist Dylan Perez) in these love songs said to have been motivated by Brahms’s unrequited love for Clara Schumann.

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Mary Bevan & Joseph Middleton – Voyages (2017) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · June 25, 2023 · Comments off

Soprano Mary Bevan and pianist Jopseph Middleton perform a programme exploring the genius of Baudelaire and Goethe, and how texts by them unlocked very specific musical landscapes in settings by Debussy, Duparc, Chausson, de Bréville, Séverac, Fauré and Schubert.Praised by Opera for her “dramatic wit and vocal control” in stand out performances on opera and concert platforms, Mary Bevan is a winner of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Young Artist award and UK Critics’ Circle Award for Exceptional Young Talent in music. Pianist Joseph Middleton specialises in the art of song accompaniment and chamber music and has been highly acclaimed within this field. Described in the BBC Music Magazine as “one of the brightest stars in the world of song and Lieder”, he has also been labeled “the cream of the new generation” by The Times and “a perfect accompanist” by Opera Now

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Mary Bevan & Joseph Middleton – The Divine Muse (2020) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · June 25, 2023 · Comments off

After the success of their debut disc, ‘Voyages’, Mary Bevan and Joseph Middleton present their second recital disc exploring Lieder in German and Italian by Schubert, Haydn and Wolf. The programme is woven around songs inspired by the ‘muses’ of the day, both mythological and divine.

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Iestyn Davies, Joseph Middleton – Divine Music – An English Songbook (2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · May 27, 2023 · Comments off

“Inspirations and imaginings, evolving, changing English usage, landscapes, friendships and passings lie behind this album… Loosely, the songs we’ve selected embrace multiple interpre- tations and nuances of ‘divine’. As well as, I could argue, that sentiment of English song and English speaking composers embodying the [Blake/Parry] ‘Jerusalem-Builded-Here’ trope. The world I came from (singing in choir stalls), along with how countertenors are perceived generally, has been hard to escape. So here perhaps I’m taking on the challenge. As well as an opportunity to include songs written for me that for some while I’ve been needing to put down on disc.” (Iestyn Davies) ‘Divine Music’ marks Iestyn Davies’ third recital album on Signum Classics. The ‘Four Songs’ (Purcell/ Adès), Spoons Aria (Adès), Four Traditional Songs and Old Bones (Muhly) are world premiere recordings. Muhly’s Four Traditional Songs were also written dedicated to Iestyn Davies.

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Louise Alder, Joseph Middleton – Richard Strauss: Through Life & Love (2017) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · May 15, 2023 · Comments off

Hailed as one of the brightest lyric-sopranos of the younger generation, a radiant pe rformer and a born actress Louise has been held in high critical acclaim during he r early career, and has recently been declared Young Singer of the Year at the 2017 International Opera Awards. She is also no stranger to Lieder, and has worked wi th pianist Joseph Middleton previously at the Leeds Lieder Festival. Joseph is considered a specialist in the art of song accompaniment, and has be en described as one of the brightest stars in the world of song and Lieder by BBC Music Magazine, the cream of the new generation by The Times and a perfect accompanist by Opera Now. Through Life and Love sees Louise and Joseph perform some of the most beautiful Lieder in the repertoire, including Strauss Die Nacht, Standchen and Rote Rosen. Louise will be representing England at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition this year, and this will be her debut recital recording.

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Louise Alder & Joseph Middleton – Chère nuit: French Songs (2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · May 15, 2023 · Comments off

The acclaimed British soprano Louise Alder returns for her second recital on Chandos, joined once again by star pianist Joseph Middleton. Enthusiastic praise was widespread for her Chandos début, “Lines Written during a Sleepless Night: The Russian Connection”, which earned significant accolades in the USA and continental Europe in addition to the UK. For this recording the pair explore a rich and varied selection of French songs from the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Louse Alder writes: “I have always held French song very dear to my heart and when we settled on this wildly varied programme, I quickly grew excited at the prospect of exploring the art form in virtually all its styles. From Ravel to Yvain, I hope we paint pictures of a French evening, of mystery, intrigue, discovery, seduction, love, and blissful night”.

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James Newby, Joseph Middleton – I Wonder as I Wander (2020) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · April 9, 2023 · Comments off

James Newby, Joseph Middleton - I Wonder as I Wander (2020) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz] Download

When deciding on the repertoire for his début recital, James Newby’s first choice fell on An die ferne Geliebte, songs that he had been performing ever since the beginning of his career. But Beethoven’s song cycle – and perhaps even more so the quasi-operatic Adelaide – also sets a tone for the entire programme, that of longing and of wanting to be elsewhere, near the distant beloved. These are emotions that Schubert, perhaps more than any other composer, has plumbed in depth, and Newby went on to select five of his songs that in various ways depict the restlessness and loneliness of the eternal wanderer.
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Louise Alder, Joseph Middleton – Lines Written During a Sleeplesss Night: The Russian Connection (2020) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · March 31, 2023 · Comments off

Louise Alder, Joseph Middleton - Lines Written During a Sleeplesss Night: The Russian Connection (2020) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz] Download

Louise Alder, Joseph Middleton – Lines Written During a Sleeplesss Night: The Russian Connection (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:13:34 minutes | 1,16 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Chandos

The soprano Louise Alder has been described as ‘the brightest lyric soprano of the younger generation’ (The Arts Desk), ‘a born actress’ (Opera), and as having ‘a voice of sparkling beauty’ (Gramophone).
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12 Ensemble, Mary Bevan, Joseph Middleton – Visions Illuminées (2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · March 17, 2023 · Comments off

Mary Bevan was born in Somerset into a large musical family (her slightly elder sister Sophie is also an internationally-acclaimed soprano), and read Anglo-Saxon, Celtic and Norse at Trinity College Cambridge before taking up a place at the Royal Academy of Music. Shortly after graduation she became a Harewood Young Artist at English National Opera, where her roles included Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro, Yum-Yum in The Mikado, Papagena in The Magic Flute and Rebecca in Nico Muhly’s Two Boys. Engagements elsewhere include the title-role in Mark Antony Turnage’s Coraline at Covent Garden, Merab in Barrie Kosky’s landmark staging of Handel’s Saul at the Adelaide Festival, and Dalinda in Handel’s Ariodante with The English Concert.

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Kitty Whately, Joseph Middleton – Befreit – A Soul Surrendered (2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · March 16, 2023 · Comments off

Mezzo-soprano Kitty Whately trained at Chetham’s School of Music, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and the International Opera School of the Royal College of Music. Having won both the Kathleen Ferrier Award and Royal Overseas League Award in the same year, she attended the prestigious Academy of the Verbier Festival. She writes of this project: ‘It has been my great pleasure to record with Joseph once again. We have long shared a mutual passion for early-twentieth-century-romantic Lieder and talked of making a disc including songs by Mahler and Strauss. The opportunity to discover and research lesser-known composers from their era has been thrilling and fascinating. As the world endured the pandemic, we all experienced fear and danger and loss in a way that most of our generation never did before, on such a global scale. Joseph and I felt drawn to reflect on grief, mortality, and bereavement.’ The two lesser-known composers featured in the recording are Johanna Müller-Hermann (who studied with several of the most prominent teachers in Vienna – Josef Labor, Guido Adler, Alexander Zemlinsky, Josef Bohuslav Foerster, Franz Schmidt) and Margarete Schweikert, who’s upbringing and life in Karlsruhe and studies with Joseph Haas in Stuttgart could hardly provide a greater contrast – clearly audible in their music.

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Iestyn Davies, Joseph Middleton – Schubert: Die schöne Müllerin (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · March 13, 2023 · Comments off

Iestyn Davies, Joseph Middleton - Schubert: Die schöne Müllerin (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz] Download

Renowned performers Iestyn Davies and Joseph Middleton perform Schubert’s tragic song-cycle Die schöne Müllerin (The Beautiful Maid of the Mill).

Adapting poetry by Wilhelm Müller, the genesis of D. 795 marks the beginning of the end of Schubert’s life; he discovered that he had contracted syphilis sometime in late 1822 or early 1823, and it was in 1823 that he composed this tale of a poet-singer who dies in the aftermath of erotic experience. Released under the own label of St John’s College, Cambridge, this recording acts as a celebration of Iestyn Davies’s formative period at the college; beginning there as a 7-year-old probationer in 1987, he progressed to become Head Chorister, before ultimately returning to study as a choral scholar. Alongside full texts and translations, the booklet includes a background on the work by noted Lied expert Susan Youens, as well as reflections on Iestyn’s time at St John’s from the College’s past and present Directors of Music – Christopher Robinson and Andrew Nethsingha.
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