MONTEVERDI CHOIR AND ORCHESTRAS ANNOUNCES TWO NEW RELEASES ON ITS OWN RECORD LABEL, SDG.

MONTEVERDI CHOIR AND ORCHESTRAS ANNOUNCES TWO NEW RELEASES ON ITS OWN RECORD LABEL, SDG

Monteverdi Choir with Jonathan Sells at The Old Royal Naval College Greenwich c. Paul Marc Mitchell

BRUCKNER & GESUALDO CONDUCTED BY JONATHAN SELLS TO BE RELEASED APRIL 2025

CHARPENTIER: BAROQUE CHRISTMAS, CONDUCTED BY CHRISTOPHE ROUSSET TO BE RELEASED SEPTEMBER 2025

Soli Deo Gloria (SDG), the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestras’ own award-winning record label, was launched in 2005 to release recordings of the MCO and promote its work, and now has a catalogue of over 50 titles. After a break of five years, SDG is announcing two new recordings for release in 2025.

The first release, recorded live in concert in October, marks the Monteverdi Choir’s 60^th birthday and the 200^th anniversary of Bruckner’s birth with an album that combines his celebrated a cappella motets with the sacred motets of Carlo Gesualdo (1566 – 1613).

Performed recently by the Monteverdi Choir in Ely, Oxford and the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich under conductor Jonathan Sells, the album brings alive the tormented passion of both composers’ music.

The second release marks the debut of renowned French conductor Christophe Rousset with the Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists. The album ‘Baroque Christmas’ featuring the music of Charpentier includes the Messe de Minuit with its beguiling blend of sacred music and French folk carols. The Choir will be joined by four outstanding rising-star soloists: Hilary Cronin, Rebecca Leggett, Florian Sievers, and Florian Störtz.

The album will be recorded next month when these forces come together to tour Europe, including London’s St-Martin-in-the-Fields, Milan’s La Scala opera house, Frankfurt’s Alte Oper and Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie.

Monteverdi Choir and Orchestras recently announced a new partnership with Trinity Laban, one of the world’s leading conservatoires known for its focus on collaboration and leadership across its artforms. The new strategic partnership with the MCO will allow the conservatoire to develop its historical performance activities. The MCO and its musicians will enrich the undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum with new educational initiatives, masterclasses, and immersive side-by-side schemes for young musicians.

The MCO’s next performance is on 22 November at St-Martin-in-the-Fields when members of the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique are joined by tenor Andrew Staples in a programme celebrating the 200^th anniversary of Schubert’s Octet, a masterpiece rich with references to his own songs, which will be performed alongside his settings of Goethe and Schiller, exploring themes of love, loss and peace. These Lieder will be heard as never before: with the piano parts arranged for the same period instruments of the Octet.