Welcome to 2026 and New in Music: January 9th. There are more new releases than usual for the first full week of the year, so let’s get right to it.
My top pick for New in Music This Week: January 9th is
MUSICALS: RAGTIME THE MUSICAL – OBCR – Concord Theatrical Recordings
There is a wonderful sense of discovery when a new musical’s cast recording gets released. It’s the first time you’re hearing the songs, appreciating the performances and getting a idea of what the show sounds like. That was certainly the case with the 1998 release of Ragtime’s OBCR.
Nearly 28 years later what stands out about this incredible new OBCR of the currently running production of Ragtime is that the power of the music, lyrics and story have only magnified over time.
Certainly, current events make Ragtime more timely than ever. But there’s more to this recording than just topicality. Take for example the performances.
I should note, I have not yet seen this production of Ragtime, but this cast album reveals some terrific performances. They include Brandon Uranowitz as Tateh, Nichelle Lewis as Sara and Caissie Levy as Mother.
But the towering centerpiece of this recording is Joshua Henry’s performance as Coalhouse Walker Jr. The fire, the power of conviction and the emotionality he brings to the role comes leaping straight off this recording. There is no doubt he makes them hear him.
Till we reach that day that Ragtime will feel like a relic of a time gone by, this recording is a moving reminder of how much further we must go.
Here are the other fine recordings that are New In Music This Week: January 9th:
CLASSICAL MUSIC: OCTETS – Quatuor Ébène/Belcea Quartet – Erato
George Bernard Shaw famously said, “youth is wasted on the young.” You wouldn’t know it from the enthusiasm with which Felix Mendelssohn at George Enescu approached their string octets.
The album opens with Mendelssohn’s Octet in E flat MWV R20 (Op. 20) written when the young composer was just 16 years old. He would certainly go on to write more mature works, but there’s absolute joy to be found in this early work for four violins, two viols and two cellos.
Enescu was just two years old, 18, when he composed his Octet in C, Op. 7. Like Mendelssohn’s work, it is a traditional four-movement work and opens brightly and boldly. While its energy might be a bit more muted than Mendelssohn’s, it still shares that sense that the world was his for the taking.
Marie Chilemme, Pierre Colombet, Gabriel Le Magadure and Yuya Okamoto of Quator Ébène and Corina Belcea, Krzysztof Chorzelski, Suyeon Kang and Antoine Lederlin of Belcea Quartet play both works with all the enthusiasm to reflect these young men’s pursuit of their art.
CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL: THE SOLASTALGIA SUITE – Kris Davis and the Lutoslawski Quartet – Pyroclastic Records
Pianist/composer Kris Davis has composed an immensely moving new work for piano and string quartet. The theme is the ever-increasing environmental crisis that is now being woefully ignored by too many leaders.
Her concern is evident in the opening seconds of Interlude, a frenetic piece that opens the suite and lets us know that time is swiftly moving and action is needed immediately. Over the course of the seven additional movements, Davis makes it abundantly clear that there are many places around the world where the sense of urgency is at its peak. They include Towards No Earthly Pole, Ghost Reefs, Pressure & Yield leading to the final track Degrees of Separation that reminds us of the unpredictability of our planet and the uncertainty of its future without action.
This is music as advocacy in the best possible way. Davis and the Lutoslawski Quartet perform this music with all the urgency and concern its topic requires.
This might make for an odd pairing with Ragtime, but the two share a concern for where we are headed.
OPERA: BMP SONGBOOK Volumes One and Two – Various Artists – Bright Shiny Things
BMP stands for Beth Morrison Projects. If you read our interview with Beth Morrison, arguably the fiercest advocate of new opera works for the past two decades, you know that this year BMP is celebrating its 20th anniversary.
These two recordings document those 20 years with music from many of the operas BMP has produced including Adoration by Mary Kouyoumdjian; Anatomy Theater by David Lang; Angel’s Bone by Du Yun; Black Lodge by David T. Little; Breaking the Waves by Missy Mazzoli; Hildegard by Sarah Kirkland Snider; The Old Man and the Sea by Paola Prestini; Place by Ted Hearne; Principles of Uncertainty by Nico Muhly and Trade by Emma O’Halloran. (I’ve only listed the composers due to space restrictions – no offense to the incredible librettists who collaborated on all the operas presented here.)
These two releases are a gift for those of us who have seen many of the operas. They also serve as a great introduction to these new works and in doing so, gives an insight into how influential Beth Morrison Projects has been.
In another twenty years, I hope we’ll get another songbook series with all that will be accomplished by 2046.
OPERA: LA VILLE MORTE – Nadia Boulanger/Catapult Opera/Talea Ensemble/Neal Goren – PENTATONE
Many classical music fans know the name Nadia Boulanger. It is likely they know her primarily as one of the most influential music teachers of the last century. Less known is her work as a composer.
Take this opera based on Gabriele D’Annunzio’s play of the same name. The title translates to The Dead City.
Before getting to the story, this is a reconstructed version of the opera. Boulanger’s orchestration was lost during World War I. Catapult Opera, in looking for an opera composed by a woman, was given the published piano-vocal score. Conductor Neal Goren commissioned a new orchestration by composers Stephan Cwik and Joseph Stillwell. One of Boulanger’s mentees, David Conte, oversaw the work.
We should all be grateful they’ve put this work into La ville morte because it reveals a sophisticated and mature work that stands up to many of the operas of the period. Boulanger’s writing is crystal clear and not in the least afraid of being melodic.
La ville morte takes place in the late 19th century in Mycenae, Greece. There are four characters: the blind Anne (Laurie Rubin) whose husband, Alexandre (Jorell Williams), does not love her anymore. Instead, he’s turned his attention to one of Anne’s friends, Hébé (Melissa Harvey) That makes her brother, Leonard (Joshua Dennis), very jealous as he has his own, albeit incestuous, feelings for his sister. These relationships are all explored with tragedy just a short distance away given the intense desires of our four characters.
These fine four singers, Goren and the Talea Ensemble have given glorious life to Boulanger’s opera a much-needed introduction to our modern world.This world premiere recording is a must-hear for fans of early 20th century opera.
THEATER SONGS: IN SEARCH OF YOUKALI: SONGS OF KURT WEILL – Katie Bray/Murray Grainger/Marianne Schofield/William Vann – Chandos Records
Any collection of the songs of Kurt Weill is bound to include some of his best-known songs. Bray’s album is no exception with Barbarasong from The Threepenny Opera, Surabaya Johnny from Happy End, September Song from Knickerbocker Holiday and Speak Low from One Touch of Venus all performed beautifully here by mezzo-soprano Bray.
What I loved most about this album was the inclusion of rarely heard works from Marie Galante, Huckleberry Finn, Lunchtime Follies, The Torn Dress and the work that gives this album its name, Youkali.
Bray argues in the liner notes that “Youkali is Weill’s Somewhere over the rainbow.” She goes on to say that say that Youkali has always been the center of her performances of Weill’s song because of his “search for a place to belong and to be free.” I’m getting a sense that there is a throughline through much of this week’s new recordings.
Bray is joined by Grainger on accordion, Schofield on double-bass and Vann on piano. I hope she will tour with these fine musicians this year in support of this album.
VINYL REISSUES:
HANK – Hank Mobley – Blue Note Tone Poet Vinyl Reissue
This 1957 releases finds tenor saxophonist composer Mobley leading a sextet in two original songs and three covers.
Side one has both of Mobley’s originals: Fit for a Hanker and Hi Groove, Low Feedback. Side two has Cole Porter’s You’d Be So Easy to Love, Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne’s Time After Time and Bud Powell’s Dance of the Infidels.
Joining Mobley were Donald Byrd on trumpet; John Henkins on alto sax; Philly Joe Jones on drums; Bobby Timons on piano and Wilbur Ware on bass.
An excellent record for fans of late 50s jazz.
NATURAL ESSENCE – Tyrone Washington – Blue Note Tone Poet Vinyl Reissue
Tenor saxophonist/composer Washington was just 23 when he recorded Natural Essence, an album featuring six original compositions.
He was joined on this 1968 release by Kenny Barron on piano; Joe Chambers on drums; Woody Shaw on trumpet; James Spaulding on alto sax and flute and Reggie Workman on bass.
You can hear the influence of Coltrane on Washington’s playing on this album. Interestingly, after such a well-received first album, Washington only recorded four albums as a leader. He opted to pursue a life centered around his faith rather than his music.
One listen to Natural Essence will reveal just how much that decision left us wondering, what would have done moving forward?
That’s all for New in Music This Week: January 9th.
Enjoy your weekend and enjoy the music!
Main Photo: Part of the album art for La Ville Morte (Courtesy PENTATONE)