automobile STRAUSS, R.: Symphonic Poems (Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra, Weigle) (6-CD Box Set) (OC033) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sun, 01 Mar 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
automobile MATHIAS, W.: Choral Music - A May Magnificat / Learsongs / Riddles (St. John's Voices, The Gentlemen of St. John's, G. Walker) (8.574162) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT William Mathias wrote some of the most imaginative, communicative and joyful choral music of the mid-to late 20th century. These qualities are perhaps most clearly represented in his substantial catalogue of works for choir and, in particular, his settings of sacred texts, notably the invigorating A Babe is Born and the hauntingly beautiful Ave verum corpus, one of his last compositions. This selection also includes the both serious and entertaining sequence of Riddles and the rapt, ecstatic A May Magnificat. More Mathias choral music can be heard on 8.573523. Full Article
automobile MAGNARD, A.: Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2 (Freiburg Philharmonic, Bollon) (8.574083) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT The tragic death of Albéric Magnard, killed defending his home against German troops in 1914, brought a premature end to the composer’s life but not before he had completed four powerfully expressive symphonies (the Third and Fourth are on 8.574082). Symphony No. 1, with its strangely beautiful chorale, was first performed in 1893 but was then not heard again for a century. Symphony No. 2 caused a scandal at its premiere due to its length and complexity, but in its revised version offers radiant serenity and a dazzling confidence that reveals Magnard’s true compositional voice. Full Article
automobile LISZT, F.: Later Piano Music (Historical Hungarian Portraits) (Jandó) (Liszt Complete Piano Music, Vol. 54) (8.574059) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
automobile GLASS, P.: Violin Concerto No. 2, `American Four Seasons` / Violin Sonata (Plawner, Vila, Bern Chamber Orchestra, P. Bach) (8.559865) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT Philip Glass has become an iconic figure in American music. His works are often inspired by collaborations with other leading musicians, and the proposal of an “American Four Seasons” by the violinist Robert McDuffie to reflect Vivaldi’s famous masterpiece resulted in a concerto which evokes the Baroque spirit of early 18th-century violin tradition. With the Concerto’s range of moods, listeners are invited to decide for themselves which season the music evokes. The Violin Sonata sees Glass’s melodic and harmonic language haunted by the ghosts of Brahms, Fauré and Franck, “the meditativeness of this piece bringing a unique energy” for award-winning violinist Piotr Plawner. Full Article
automobile FARIA GOMES, P.: Chamber Works (Thurlow, Santos, N. Johnson, M. Fernandes, Picado) (8.579029) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT This selection of chamber music by leading Portuguese composer Pedro Faria Gomes was written between 2007 and 2018. The works encompass themes of memory, change and waiting, with the concept of time being a central preoccupation. Though he has drawn on music from his country’s folk traditions—in Memória and in the Sonata—it is always with new harmonic insights and subtlety, creating undeniably invigorating additions to contemporary chamber music repertoire. Full Article
automobile CIMAROSA, D.: Overtures, Vol. 6 (Czech Chamber Philharmonic, Pardubice, Patrick Gallois) (8.574046) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT Domenico Cimarosa’s operas were remarkably successful, being staged and re-staged in opera houses all over Europe. Success in his home town of Naples led to court appointments and royal commissions, including his best-known work Il matrimonio segreto (‘The Secret Marriage’) composed for Austrian emperor Leopold II. Other hits include L’impegno superato (‘The Broken Engagement’), an instant success and soon to become one of the most frequently performed of Cimarosa’s comic works, and Penelope that was produced as far away as London in 1817. The Cantata per Ferdinando IV was, however, written as an act of repentance, Cimarosa having made the mistake of backing the failed republican government in 1799. Full Article
automobile CASTÉRÈDE, J.: Flute Works (Complete), Vol. 2 - Ombres et clartés / Sonate en forme de Suite / Musique / Wind Quintet (du Toit, Doreen Lee) (8.573950) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT Jacques Castérède was one of many composers who refused to abandon tonality and traditional forms amid the stormy avant-garde of the 20th century. The Quintette for winds was written in 1953, the same year that Castérède won the Prix de Rome, and touches of Gershwin appear among its witty colours. Neo-Classical restraint in the Sonate en forme de Suite contrasts with the grittier and more modernist Musique for flute, harp and string trio, and La Belle Époque takes us on a whistle-stop tour of Classical repertoire, parodying famous tunes by Haydn and Mozart. Full Article
automobile BEETHOVEN, L. van: König Stephan / Leonore Prohaska (excerpts) (The Key Ensemble, Chorus Cathedralis Aboensis, Turku Philharmonic, Segerstam) (8.574042) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT Aside from his only opera Fidelio, Beethoven’s general link with the theatre in Vienna came about largely with incidental music or songs to be inserted into the works of other composers—insertion arias. König Stephan was written to celebrate the politically significant opening of a new theatre in Pest, its triumphant mood honouring the ruling Austrian Emperor. Standard-bearer of female heroism Leonore Prohaska is commemorated with a Soldier’s Chorus and a Romance with harp accompaniment. In Friedrich von Matthisson’s poem Opferlied (‘Sacrificial Song’), a young man prays to Zeus to bestow upon him beauty and goodness in youth and old age. Two of Beethoven’s four settings are heard on this wide-ranging programme. Full Article
automobile BEETHOVEN, L. van: Fugues and Rarities for String Quartet (Fine Arts Quartet) (8.574051) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT The string quartets of Beethoven are among the greatest works of their kind, but he composed other works for quartet which have been neglected. This album is dedicated to these intriguing rarities. Alongside the wild and monumental Grosse Fuge, in many ways the culmination of Beethoven’s achievements in the string quartet genre, this recording further displays his mastery of counterpoint by bringing to light brilliant yet forgotten original versions of his quartets Op. 18, No. 1 and Op. 131, plus six virtually unknown miniatures, including his Preludes and Fugues. Full Article
automobile BEETHOVEN, L. van: Celebrate Beethoven - Symphonies and Orchestral Music (9.30209) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
automobile Wind Concertos - BOTTI, S. / TURNER, J.L. / GRYC, S.M. (Heavy Weather) (Koffman, Mendoker, M. Goldberg, Hartt Wind Ensemble, Adsit) (8.574087) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sat, 01 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT The Hartt School Wind Ensemble presents recent concertante works by three contemporary American composers—demonstrating once more the versatility of the ensemble, heard here in conjunction with soloists. Susan Botti’s sull’ala is inspired by flight, expressed in rhythm, harmony and texture, while Jess Langston Turner describes powerful meteorological phenomena in Heavy Weather. In Guignol, Stephen Michael Gryc conjures witty banter and frenetic action from his puppet hero. Full Article
automobile Vocal Recital: Sternberg, Deborah - SIMPSON, A.E. / KITCHEN, E. / THIBAUDEAU, G. (Birds of Love and Prey) (8.579064) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sat, 01 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT Soprano Deborah Sternberg brings together three song cycles themed on birds, each with its own unique flavour and expressive vocabulary. Andrew Earle Simpson’s eloquent skills as a composer and pianist are united in Birds of Love and Prey, in which both antique and modern textual sources contrast songbirds and predators in a variety of ways. Eric Kitchen uses transcriptions of actual birdsong in The Olney Avian Verse of William Cowper, while Gabriel Thibaudeau’s Cycle Avicellus portrays birds within landscapes using a language of modern impressionism. Full Article
automobile SKORYK, M.: Violin Concertos (Complete), Vol. 1 - Nos. 1-4 (Bielow, Ukraine National Symphony, Sirenko) (8.574088) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sat, 01 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT Myroslav Skoryk, a postgraduate student of Dmitry Kabalevsky, is one of Ukraine’s leading composers and teachers. His works range from opera and ballet, a symphonic transcription of Paganini’s 24 Caprices, and his cycle of nine Violin Concertos written over a 45-year span. They draw on elements of Carpathian folklore and are saturated in expressive dialogues, lyricism and elegy while also exuding powerful intensity. Skoryk’s sensual writing is frequently contrasted with syncopated motifs, cadenzas, fugal episodes and march rhythms. This is the first of two volumes. Full Article
automobile SKALKOTTAS, N.: Sinfonietta / Classical Symphony / 4 Images / Ancient Greek March (The Neoclassical Skalkottas) (Athens State Orchestra, Tsialis) (8.574154) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sat, 01 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT Despite his tragically short life, Nikos Skalkottas has now become recognised as one of the most important Greek composers of the 20th century. The modernist style of his earlier period is balanced by the four important mature neoclassical works presented here. Both the Sinfonietta and the Classical Symphony are expressions of the deep regard Skalkottas had for traditional forms blended with his unique musical language. Skalkottas was a violinist with the Athens State Orchestra, who are honouring his memory with this and future recordings of his works. Full Article
automobile PERFECT PIANO - Best Loved Classical Piano Music (8.578180) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sat, 01 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT The piano is one of the most universal and popular of all instruments, from the grand pianos found in prestigious concert venues to battered uprights providing entertainment in pubs and bars. Early keyboard masters such as J.S. Bach laid the foundations for composers and performers to expand the piano’s expressive range, exemplifi ed in the emotive depths of Beethoven’s sonatas against the lightness of his famous musical gift Für Elise. From the tender romance of Schumann and the power and poignancy of Chopin, to the virtuosity of Liszt, the impressionistic magic of Debussy and the enigmatic beauty of Satie, the piano offers a true abundance of musical riches. Full Article
automobile Opera Scenes and Orchestral Songs (Soprano) - RAVEL, M. / BARBER, S. / BIZET, G. / SZYMANOWSKI, K. / PUCCINI, G. (Femmes Fatales) (Nasibli) (8.579066) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sat, 01 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT Composers of every era have drawn on the strengths, sorrows and joys of women for operas and vocal works, inspiring some of their most powerful music. From the heartbreaking tragedy of Samuel Barber’s Andromache’s Farewell to the magical storytelling of Shéhérazade and the Fairy-Tale Princess, acclaimed soprano Seljan Nasibli takes us on a timeless journey through female musical ancestors whose courage is as relevant in today’s society as it has ever been. Full Article
automobile MORLACCHI, F.: Tebaldo e Isolina [Opera] (1825 Dresden version) (Polverelli, Pastrana, Giustiniani, Baglietto, Vlad, Virtuosi Brunensis, Fogliani) (8.660471-72) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sat, 01 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT Francesco Morlacchi was a native of Perugia, but early success led him to become music director of the Dresden Opera where he remained for the rest of his life despite having an opportunity to succeed Rossini in Naples in 1822. He did make tours to Italy however, and Tebaldo e Isolina received its triumphant premiere in Venice, becoming the most successful of all his operas. Morlacchi’s gifts as a lyricist and for characterisation are heard here at their best, with showpiece arias and duets in a version of the Romeo and Juliet story that ends in happiness and the victory of reason over vengeance. Full Article
automobile MAYR, J.S.: Mass in E-Flat Major (Szczepańska, Krödel, M. Schäfer, Ochoa, Simon Mayr Choir, Concerto de Bassus, Hauk) (8.574057) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sat, 01 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT Mayr’s great Mass in E flat major is a late work, largely composed in 1843. It conforms to the prevailing Italian messa concertata tradition with its clear divisions into distinct vocal numbers, as opposed to the symphonic Mass which held sway north of the Alps. In this reconstruction and musical revival, Mayr’s imposing, tonally consonant and expressive setting can be heard in all its grandeur and eloquence. With its striking vocal solos and choruses, and characteristically songlike instrumental roles, Mayr contributed a late pinnacle in the long history of this form of the Mass. Full Article
automobile MALIPIERO, G.F.: Symphony No. 6 / Ritrovari / Serenata mattutina / 5 Studi (Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Iorio) (8.574173) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sat, 01 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT The unconventional structure of Gian Francesco Malipiero’s music takes us on a journey through unexpected, sometimes incredibly beautiful vistas. The Sixth Symphony is a rich and songful celebration of string sonorities and moods, while the heroic Ritrovari and evocative Serenata mattutina display Malipiero’s expertise in writing for unusual chamber ensembles. The Cinque studi, heard here in their premiere recording, demonstrate an astonishing range of contrasting moods—a kaleidoscopic sonic tour with no more than a small orchestra, which juxtaposes orchestral strings with a wind group of a single flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoon and two horns, and a percussion group of cymbal, bass drum, tambourine, celesta and piano. Full Article
automobile Lute Duo Music (Two Lutes with Grace - Plectrum Lute Duos of the Late 15th Century) (Lewon, Kieffer) (8.573854) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sat, 01 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT The plectrum lute duo was one of the most popular ensembles for professional instrumentalists in late 15th-century Western Europe. This recording presents for the first time the bulk of a surviving repertoire that can arguably be considered for the lute duo, performed on two equal plectrum lutes or with a combination of lute and gittern—a smaller member of the lute family. The album, inspired by the Ferrarese virtuoso Pietrobono dal Chitarino (c. 1417–1497), acclaimed in his lifetime as ‘the foremost lutenist in the world’, includes the earliest printed lute duos by Francesco Spinacino and Joan Ambrosio Dalza and the two-voice instrumental works by Johannes Tinctoris. The often highly ornamented instrumental duos are mostly reworkings of songs, some of which are given here in a performance with the singer Grace Newcombe to provide the context for the lute arrangements that follow. Full Article
automobile HANDSOME HARPSICHORD - Best Loved Classical Harpsichord Music (8.578184) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sat, 01 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT While the keyboards of the piano and harpsichord are similar, their playing techniques are quite different. The strings of the harpsichord are plucked with a quill rather than struck with a hammer, so every nuance of phrasing is down to the subtle touch of the player. There is something special about hearing music on the instrument for which it was originally written, and this programme treats us to dances from England with Byrd and Purcell, Baroque masterpieces by Bach and Handel, and elaborate and descriptive French works by Couperin and Rameau, whose Les Sauvages was inspired by Native American chieftains who danced for king Louis XV. Full Article
automobile Guitar Recital: Park, Ji Hyung - ALBÉNIZ, I. / BROUWER, L. / CASTELNUOVO-TEDESCO, M. / SCARLATTI, D. / TAKEMITSU, Toru / THIELEMANS, T. (8.574140) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sat, 01 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT Ji Hyung Park has won numerous prestigious competitions, with the 7th Changsha International Guitar Competition in 2018 his most recent triumph. The diverse selection of music performed in this programme features three virtuoso sonatas by Scarlatti, the world premiere recording of Leo Brouwer’s evocation of ancient Greek culture Las Cíclades arcaicas, Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Sonata ‘Omaggio a Boccherini’ in its original, pre-Segovia manuscript form, Takemitsu’s final work In the Woods and rare selections from Albéniz’s masterpiece Iberia. The programme ends with a colourful arrangement of Toots Thielemans’ gorgeous Bluesette. Full Article
automobile GÓRECKI, H.M.: String Quartets (Complete), Vol. 2 - No. 3 / Sonata for 2 Violins (Tippett Quartet) (8.574110) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sat, 01 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT The Sonata for Two Violins is one of Henryk Górecki’s earliest acknowledged works—its contrasts, instrumental rivalries and sophisticated technique a worthy rounding-off of his formative period. The Third String Quartet with its evocative subtitle ‘…songs are sung’ represents a culmination of Górecki’s preoccupations with elaborate and emotive melodic shapes and closely intertwined harmonies, its final minutes recalling the beauty and poignancy of the composer’s Third Symphony (Naxos 8.550822). The First and Second String Quartets can be heard on Naxos 8.573919, ‘a recording deserving of the very highest recommendation’ (Gramophone). Full Article
automobile FARRENC, L.: Symphony No. 1 / Overtures Nos. 1-2 / Grand Variations on a theme by Count Gallenberg (J. Muller, Solistes Européens, Luxembourg, König) (8.574094) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sat, 01 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT Louise Farrenc was renowned in her lifetime as a pianist, composer and teacher, but it is only recently that her compositions have emerged from many years of neglect. Symphony No. 1 in C minor—cast in the German tradition—is an exceptionally accomplished work, finely orchestrated, lyrical and fiery, and a substantial contribution to the canon. The Grand Variations on a Theme by Count Gallenberg is a showcase for virtuosic elegance, and the two overtures demonstrate real theatrical drama—Overture No. 2 was admired by no less a figure than Hector Berlioz. Full Article
automobile BEETHOVEN, L. van: Ruinen von Athen (Die) (The Ruins of Athens) (Chorus Cathedralis Aboensis, Turku Philharmonic, Segerstam) (8.574076) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sat, 01 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT Die Ruinen von Athen (‘The Ruins of Athens’) was composed to celebrate the opening of the new German theatre in Pest in 1812. Designed to accompany the play of that name by August von Kotzebue, its incidental music is substantial enough to form a kind of one-act Singspiel and is full of attractive arias, duets and choruses and includes the famous Turkish March. Though the work’s theme was rooted in Greek mythology, in reality it was explicitly political in nature, celebrating Pest as ‘the new Athens’. This is the first ever recording of the work with full narration. Full Article
automobile BEETHOVEN, L. van: Piano Pieces and Fragments (Gallo) (8.574131) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sat, 01 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT Including premiere recordings, this programme provides us with a privileged opportunity to engage with 36 of Ludwig van Beethoven’s rarely heard sketches, variations and briefest of compositions, even the earliest of which have much to teach us about the emergence of his unique voice and style. The range of Beethoven’s musical experimentation reveals a lasting interest in counterpoint, as well as practical pages such as cadenzas for a Mozart concerto, an incomplete sonata and a second version of the famous bagatelle Für Elise. A significant supplement to his greatest works, these miniatures bring the full arc of Beethoven’s singular genius into ever clearer focus. Full Article
automobile BEETHOVEN, L. van: Celebrate Beethoven - Music from His Middle Compositional Period (9.30206) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sat, 01 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
automobile AWESOME ORGAN - Best Loved Classical Organ Music (8.578179) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sat, 01 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT Mozart referred to the organ as ‘the king of instruments’, and with the breathtaking sound produced by huge cathedral organs glistening with thousands of pipes it is easy to hear why. This introduction takes us from one of the most famous pieces ever written for the organ, Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor, to Widor’s wedding favourite Toccata from the Symphony No. 5, taking in masterpieces from the distinctive German and French schools of organ composing along the way. This album also features genial and spectacular music by Handel and Pachelbel and the ‘devastating tornado’ of Jehan Alain’s Litanies. Full Article
automobile ZÁDOR, E.: Sinfonia Technica / Music for Clarinet and Strings / Trombone Concerto (Sólyomi, Fejér, Budapest Symphony Orchestra MÁV, Smolij) (8.574108) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sun, 01 Mar 2020 00:00:00 GMT The music of Eugene Zádor is both warmly expressive and colourful. The composer took great delight in writing for overlooked solo instruments, as his Trombone Concerto, garnished with elements of Hungarian folklore, clearly shows. The easy-going, gypsy-influenced Music for Clarinet and Strings is a beautifully proportioned quasi-concerto. The Sinfonia Technica, composed much earlier when he was living in Vienna, and something of a one-off, is an enchanting and exuberantly orchestrated example of ‘industrial music’. Full Article
automobile Wind Band Music - MASLANKA, D. / PERRINE, A. / WALCZYK, K. (Freedom from Fear) (University of Kansas Wind Ensemble, Popiel) (8.574169) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sun, 01 Mar 2020 00:00:00 GMT Contemporary American music for wind band continues to offer a rich combination of colour and variety. David Maslanka was one of the most prolific and admired of all wind band composers, and in Liberation he utilises plainchant in a moving exploration of death, the afterlife and the continuance of hope. Inspired by Walt Whitman, Aaron Perrine’s In the Open Air, In the Silent Lines creates a rich sense of space, while Kevin Walczyk’s moving Symphony No. 5: Freedom from Fear – Images from the Shoreline is unified by its themes of adoption, segregation and immigration. Full Article
automobile WEINBERG, M.: Clarinet Music - Clarinet Concerto / Clarinet Sonata / Chamber Symphony No. 4 (Oberaigner, Schöch, Michail Jurowski) (8.574192) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sun, 01 Mar 2020 00:00:00 GMT Mieczysław Weinberg was familiar with the clarinet from his youth, given its prominent place in klezmer bands and theatre ensembles, and he wrote three works specifically for the instrument. In the Clarinet Concerto he draws a wide range of textures from the accompanying strings, over which the soloist explores the clarinet’s extremes of register in virtuosic fashion. Despite having been written when Weinberg was still in his mid-twenties, the Clarinet Sonata is a mature work with Romantic and folkloric elements. His last completed work was the Chamber Symphony No. 4, an impassioned piece with a wrenching chorale theme and role for obbligato clarinet. Full Article
automobile STRAUSS II, J.: Blindekuh [Operetta] (R. Davidson, Kunkle, Bortolotti, Sofia Philharmonic Chorus and Orchestra, Salvi) (8.660434-35) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sun, 01 Mar 2020 00:00:00 GMT Blindekuh (‘Blind Man’s Buff’) was Johann Strauss II’s sixth operetta and his least known. Neglected for well over a century, it was revived by Dario Salvi and the forces on this album in January 2019. The work’s initial lack of success is hard to explain but it may have been caused by a confusing libretto—the music itself is vibrant and captivating with waltzes, polkas, mazurkas, marches and bel canto arias. Performed in a concert version without dialogue, and in accordance with performing traditions, this production restores the work to the status of one of Strauss’s most melodically seductive works. Full Article
automobile SCHUMANN, R.: Arrangements for Piano Duet, Vol. 5 (Eckerle Piano Duo) - Symphonies Nos. 1 and 4 (8.572881) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sun, 01 Mar 2020 00:00:00 GMT The insatiable demand for sheet music for domestic use in the 19th century meant that popular works were widely disseminated in piano duet form. Robert Schumann’s own arrangements of the ‘Spring’ Symphony (in collaboration with his wife Clara Schumann) and the Fourth Symphony balance playability and fidelity to the original with tremendous skill. Clara considered the Fourth Symphony to be ‘another work from the innermost depths of Robert’s soul’, a symphony that has become one of the most quintessential of the Romantic era. Full Article
automobile SCARLATTI, D.: Keyboard Sonatas (Complete), Vol. 23 (Monteiro) (8.574075) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sun, 01 Mar 2020 00:00:00 GMT Domenico Scarlatti’s distinguished career included a royal post in Rome where he competed against Handel, the latter being declared the better organist and Scarlatti the better harpsichordist. Written for his pupil the Infanta Maria Bárbara, Scarlatti’s legacy of hundreds of single-movement keyboard sonatas forms a valuable resource for performers today. This collection includes a wealth of Spanish dances with virtuoso leaps, unusual modulations, flourishes and ornamentation, as well as Scarlatti’s irrepressible verve and energy. Full Article
automobile JOLIVET, A.: Flute Works (Complete), Vol. 2 (Boulègue, Tulliez, L. Warnier, Gimeno) (8.574079) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sun, 01 Mar 2020 00:00:00 GMT In this second volume of André Jolivet’s complete works for flute (Volume 1 is on 8.573885), Kobe International Flute Competition winner Hélène Boulègue explores further examples of some of the most individual and important of all 20th-century works for the instrument. The Flute Concerto No. 1 exemplifies Jolivet’s genius for liquid melodic lines and frenetic bravura. The intricately scored Suite en concert for flute and four percussionists is one of the most fascinating in the repertoire, whilst the Sonatine is both trance-like and rhapsodic. Full Article
automobile GOULD, M.: Symphonettes Nos. 2-4 / Spirituals for Orchestra (Vienna Radio Symphony, Fagen) (8.559869) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sun, 01 Mar 2020 00:00:00 GMT Morton Gould was an American musical phenomenon, equally at home in classical, crossover and film genres, and the recipient of both GRAMMY and Pulitzer awards during his long and distinguished career. The Symphonettes represent Gould’s best crossover work—the Symphonette No. 4 deriving its character from Latin-American dance forms to make it one of his most popular compositions. The first movement of Symphonette No. 3 has been described as “a collection of dance band licks, full of bent notes and syncopations” and the central Pavanne of Symphonette No. 2 with its bluesy trumpet motif is one of Gould’s biggest hits. Spirituals for Orchestra utilizes the strings as a choir, with antiphonal responses in the rest of the orchestra. Full Article
automobile Flute Sonatas (20th Century) - Lupachev, Denis - HINDEMITH, P. / NAGOVITSIN, V.L. / DENISOV, E. / PROKOFIEV, S. (Lupachev, Laul) (8.579069) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sun, 01 Mar 2020 00:00:00 GMT Written over the course of a quarter-century, these four flute works reflect the individual approaches to the flute sonata taken by their composers. Hindemith’s aim was to offer new music of buoyancy and brio, tempered by elegiac moments. Prokofiev’s famous sonata has Classical formal elegance, while the sonatas of Denisov and Nagovitsyn are single movement works that explore the flute’s extreme registers, as well as its dynamic contrasts and virtuosic capacities. Full Article
automobile EŠENVALDS, Ē.: Choral Music (Translations) (Portland State Chamber Choir, Sperry) (8.574124) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sun, 01 Mar 2020 00:00:00 GMT The multi-award-winning Latvian composer Ēriks Ešenvalds’ 21st-century choral sound is both exquisite and angular, and in this album he explores ideas of ‘translation’, legend and the divine. With his expanded tonality and employment of shimmering singing handbells in Translation, and the angelic use of the viola and cello in In paradisum he creates music of ravishing refinement. In Legend of the Walled-In Woman Ešenvalds transcribes and employs an authentic Albanian folk song. Full Article
automobile DANIELPOUR, R.: Passion of Yeshua (The) [Oratorio] (UCLA Chamber Singers, Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus and Orchestra, Falletta) (8.559885-86) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sun, 01 Mar 2020 00:00:00 GMT Richard Danielpour’s dramatic oratorio The Passion of Yeshua—a work which has evolved over the last 25 years—is an intensely personal telling of the final hours of Christ on Earth. It incorporates texts from the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Gospels inspiring extraordinarily beautiful music that stresses the need for human compassion and forgiveness. Danielpour returns to the scale and majesty of Bach in this oratorio, creating choruses that are intense and powerful, and giving both Mary the mother of Jesus and Mary Magdalene a central place in a work of glowing spirituality. Conductor JoAnn Falletta considers The Passion of Yeshua to be “a classic for all time.” Full Article
automobile Cello and Piano Recital: Smith, Brinton Averil / Chen, Evelyn (Exiles in Paradise - Émigré Composers in Hollywood) (8.579055) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sun, 01 Mar 2020 00:00:00 GMT Political crises and rising antisemitism in Europe during the first half of the 20th century prompted many leading musicians to immigrate to America. An influx of refugees formed a flourishing artistic community centred within a few square miles near Hollywood and this exceptional gathering of composers transformed America’s musical landscape. This survey explores their diverse output through music for cello and piano, including arrangements by the composers and their fellow expatriate performers never before heard on the cello. Full Article
automobile BROUWER, L.: Guitar Music, Vol. 5 - Danzas Rituales y Festivas, Vol. 2 / Guitar Sonatas Nos. 3, 4, 5 (P.M. González) (8.574016) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sun, 01 Mar 2020 00:00:00 GMT Leo Brouwer is universally acclaimed as an innovative composer, and this fifth volume of his complete guitar works contains some of his longest and most ambitious pieces. Danzas Rituales y Festivas Vol. 2 covers the gamut of virtuosic techniques and includes a movement dedicated to Pedro Mateo González, while Brouwer considers the Sonata del Pensador to be ‘one of my most valuable pieces’. Rich in Cuban rhythms, introspection and astonishing virtuosity, Brouwer’s work is the result of a lifetime of musical exploration alongside a passion for music of the past. Full Article
automobile BRETÓN, T.: String Quartets Nos. 1 and 3 (Bretón String Quartet) (8.573037) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sun, 01 Mar 2020 00:00:00 GMT Tomás Bretón’s distinguished career as an opera composer and leading figure in Madrid’s musical life at the turn of the 20th century has tended to overshadow the significant contribution he made to Spanish chamber music. He remained true to the historic roots of the string quartet genre—his First String Quartet being a tribute to the Viennese tradition in its Classical poise. The Third String Quartet exudes Mendelssohnian inspiration in its first movement with overtly Spanish idioms, the Allegro no mucho third movement also having been turned into a version for piano trio as the Scherzo andalou. This is the first of two albums of the complete string quartets. Full Article
automobile BEETHOVEN, L. van: Celebrate Beethoven - Concertos (9.30210) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sun, 01 Mar 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
automobile BEETHOVEN, L. van: Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph II / Cantata on the Accession of Leopold II (Chorus Cathedralis Aboensis, Segerstam) (8.574077) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sun, 01 Mar 2020 00:00:00 GMT By the time of Emperor Joseph II’s death in 1790 Beethoven was a member of the court musical establishment in Bonn. To mark the occasion, Beethoven was commissioned to write two cantatas, one to mourn Joseph’s death and the other to celebrate the accession to the throne of Emperor Leopold II. Although Beethoven was only 19 years old at the time, both works show the embryonic marks of his greatness: intense expression and control of structure in one, and an almost operatic panache in the other. Neither piece was performed during Beethoven’s lifetime. Full Article
automobile BEETHOVEN REIMAGINED (G. Prokofiev, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Segal) (8.574020) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sun, 01 Mar 2020 00:00:00 GMT 2020 is the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, and this album presents three works that reshape the composer’s awe-inspiring music for the 21st century. The Sonata for Orchestra considers how the Violin Sonata No. 7 would sound had it been written for orchestra, while A Fidelio Symphony transforms vocal lines into symphonic textures to take us through the entire arc of the composer’s sole opera. Based on the famous Ode to Joy of Beethoven’s final symphony, BEETHOVEN9 Symphonic Remix uses loops, grooves and musical transformations to create a contemporary tribute to Beethoven’s universal message. Full Article
automobile WIDOR, C.-M.: Organ Symphonies (Complete), Vol. 2 - Nos. 3 and 4 (Rübsam) (8.574195) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMT Charles-Marie Widor was a hugely influential and venerated musician in his day, and his innovative organ symphonies are both a pinnacle of the repertoire and a testament to his creative and technical mastery of the instrument. These spectacular works are in the grand Romantic manner, but Widor was keenly aware of his musical ancestry, referring to music of the past such as Bach’s St Matthew Passion in the opening of the Third Symphony. The Scherzo of the Fourth Symphony is one of Widor’s finest symphonic movements, exploring the organ’s sonic beauties. The original E major Scherzo from the Symphony No. 2, which Widor subsequently replaced with a Salve Regina (see Volume 1: 8.574161), can be heard on Track 6. Full Article
automobile WEILAND, D.: String Quartets Nos. 4 and 5 (Melbourne Quartet) (8.574028) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMT British composer Douglas Weiland has long been acclaimed as one of contemporary music’s most outstanding composers for the string quartet medium, and his evolving cycle has won much admiration. Composed between 2011 and 2012 the Fourth and Fifth Quartets show him at the height of his artistic powers, where he seeks connections across time, and shows a Classical commitment to form, invention and melodic beauty. His conceptions can be Schubertian in scale and scope, while also displaying the influence of Haydn and Bartók. Full Article
automobile TURNER, K.: Horn Works (Complete), Vol. 1 (K. Mascher-Turner, K. Turner, F. Lloyd, Bloomer) (8.579050) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMT Kerry Turner made his mark on the global music community through his association with the illustrious American Horn Quartet. Turner’s compositional goal is to communicate to the listener a vivid picture through his highly melodic musical language. Many sources provided the inspiration for the works on this album, ranging from the spiritual, to the literary, and even Turner’s powerful response to the music of J.S. Bach. Full Article
