A darkly powerful presentation

Platée Mathias Vidal, Zachary Wilder (tenor), Marie Lys (soprano) et al; La Chapelle Harmonique/ Valentin Tournet Versailles CVS153 137:47 mins (2CD) Imagine a Monty Python sendup of tragédie lyrique

Works by RR Bennett, Holst, Tavener, Cecilia McDowall, Francis Pott, Caroline Shaw et al Tenebrae/Nigel Short Signum Classics SIGCD880 80:45 mins Nigel Short’s experience as a King’s Singer has rubbed

shouting forever into the receiver Anne Denholm (harp), Louise McMonagle (cello), Jonathan Morton (violin) et al NMC NMC D285 61:56 mins Tackling social themes and reckoning with history is part of wh

Kafka Fragments Susan Narucki (soprano), Curtis Macomber (violin) Avie AV2760 54:30 mins In the July issue we praised pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard’s inspired performance of György Kurtág’s Játékok mi

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Tense, carnal, lyrical: a new opera by Rebecca Saunders