ed Asian Shares Mixed After Chinese Data By www.rttnews.com Published On :: Thu, 07 May 2020 08:37:53 GMT Asian stocks pared early losses to end mixed on Thursday after data showed Chinese exports unexpectedly rose in April, aided by stronger shipments to South East Asia. The surprise helped investors shrug off dismal economic data from the U.S. and renewed U.S.-China tensions. Full Article
ed Rebound Predicted For South Korea Stock Market By www.rttnews.com Published On :: Thu, 07 May 2020 22:59:40 GMT The South Korea stock market has finished lower in two of three trading days since the end of the three-day winning streak in which it had collected almost 60 points or 3.1 percent. The KOSPI remains just beneath the 1,930-point plateau although it may bounce higher again on Friday. Full Article
ed Little Movement Expected For Taiwan Shares By www.rttnews.com Published On :: Wed, 06 May 2020 23:31:39 GMT The Taiwan stock market has finished higher in two straight sessions, gathering more than 50 points or 0.5 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange remains just beneath the 10,775-point plateau and it's expected to remain in that neighborhood again on Thursday. Full Article
ed Amended: Finland Industrial Production Rises For Second Month By www.rttnews.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 06:40:41 GMT Finland's industrial production rose for the second straight month in March, figures from Statistics Finland showed on Friday. Full Article
ed U.S. Employment Plunges Less Than Expected In April By www.rttnews.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 12:42:24 GMT Reflecting the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and efforts to contain it, the Labor Department released a report on Friday showing a record nosedive in employment in the U.S. in the month of April. Full Article
ed U.S. Employment Nosedives By Record 20.5 Million Jobs In April By www.rttnews.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 13:34:57 GMT Reflecting the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and efforts to contain it, the Labor Department released a report on Friday showing a record nosedive in employment in the U.S. in the month of April. The report said non-farm payroll employment plummeted by 20.5 million jobs in April after tumbling by a revised 870,000 jobs in March. Full Article
ed U.S. Wholesale Inventories Slump Slightly Less Than Expected In March By www.rttnews.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 14:32:25 GMT A report released by the Commerce Department on Friday showed wholesale inventories in the U.S. decreased by slightly less than expected in the month of March. The Commerce Department said wholesale inventories slumped by 0.8 percent in March after falling by 0.7 percent in February. Economists had expected inventories to tumble by 1.0 percent. Full Article
ed U.S. Labor Productivity Slumps 2.5% In Q1, Much Less Than Expected By www.rttnews.com Published On :: Thu, 07 May 2020 13:38:58 GMT A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed U.S. labor productivity pulled back by much less than expected in the first quarter. The Labor Department said labor productivity slumped by 2.5 percent in the first quarter after jumping by 1.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2019. Economists had expected productivity to plunge by 5.5 percent. Full Article
ed ECB Policymakers Say 'More Determined' To Support Eurozone By www.rttnews.com Published On :: Thu, 07 May 2020 15:30:21 GMT European Central Bank Vice-President Luis de Guindos and Governing Council member Gabriel Makhlouf said separately on Thursday that the central bank was more determined to support the euro area economy during crisis periods and the bank stands ready to adjust all tools at its disposal, just days after the top German court ruled that the bank's government debt purchases were in violation of its mandate. Full Article
ed U.S. Consumer Credit Unexpectedly Slumps $12.1 Billion In March By www.rttnews.com Published On :: Thu, 07 May 2020 19:12:27 GMT Reflecting a steep drop in revolving credit, the Federal Reserve released a report on Thursday showing an unexpected decrease in U.S. consumer credit in the month of March. Full Article
ed Are you interested in biotechnology news ? By www.rttnews.com Published On :: Sat, 09 May 2020 18:15:05 GMT Read the latest on pharma/biotech news, Clinical Trial Results, FDA Calendar, Top Gainers, Recalls, Food Alert and more on RTTNews Biotechnology. Full Article
ed 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
ed 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
ed 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
ed 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
ed 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
ed 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
ed 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
ed 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
ed 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
ed SHACKLETON, E.: South (Unabridged) (NA0401) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Mon, 28 Oct 2019 00:00:00 GMT On 8 August 1914, five days after the outbreak of World War One, the Endurance, a wooden-hulled, coal-fired icebreaker, set sail for the South Pole, in a bid to complete the first-ever trans-Antarctic expedition, which would cross the continent from the Weddell Sea to Scott’s base at Cape Evans, via the Pole. However, despite the best planning, the ship succumbs to the ice floes of the Weddell Sea, and is subjected to months of uncontrollable drifting before its crew makes a scramble for Elephant Island, where they battle constant cold and starvation. Faced with the most fearsome terrain and extreme conditions, it is up to Ernest Shackleton, commander of the Endurance, to lead his men back to safety and save them from the horrors of the ice. Full Article
ed HARDY, T.: Two on a Tower (Unabridged) (NA0400) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Mon, 28 Oct 2019 00:00:00 GMT Deep in the grounds of Welland House lies an ancient memorial tower, surrounded by a prehistoric wilderness that isolates it from the rest of the land. When one day Viviette Constantine, the wife of the estate’s owner, investigates the tower, she there discovers Swithin St Cleeve, a young astronomer who introduces her to the majesty and wonders of the night sky. Instantly drawn to Swithin, and with her husband abroad, Viviette offers him use of the tower and becomes a kind of apprentice to him, and then, eventually, a lover. Guarded by the tower’s safe seclusion, the two star-crossed lovers ‘sweep the heavens’ and create their own private world, away from the judgement of society… Will they keep their secret, and escape the forces set to drive them apart? Full Article
ed COLLINS, W.: Haunted Hotel (The) (Unabridged) (NA0403) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Mon, 28 Oct 2019 00:00:00 GMT When Lord Montbarry dies suddenly in his Venice palace, and his courier goes missing, suspicion is instantly thrown on his new wife, the beautiful Countess Narona, who has collected his life insurance and fled to America. Montbarry’s former fiancé Agnes, still harbouring feelings for him, and Henry Westwick, Montbarry’s younger brother, decide to investigate this tragedy and head for the palace, now a hotel. Not long after their arrival they experience strange and unsettling occurrences, and the circumstances of Montbarry’s death begin to unravel… Full Article
ed BRONTE, C.: Professor (The) (Unabridged) (NA0402) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Mon, 28 Oct 2019 00:00:00 GMT Unpublished at the time of her death, The Professor is the first novel written by Charlotte Brontë, and the seed of her later books, Jane Eyre and Villette. The narrator of the tale, William Crimsworth, tells a story of courage and ambition among jealousy and envy: orphaned from a young age, William rejects life in the clergy, and then as a tradesman, to the chagrin of his cruel uncles and elder brother. Instead he pursues a career in education and ends up in Brussels, where he meets student/teacher Francis Evans Henri, a half-English Swiss orphan, with whom he falls in love. However, their union is prevented by the jealousy of headmistress Mademoiselle Reuter, who has accidentally fallen in love with William herself… Full Article
ed ST. TERESA OF AVILA: Interior Castle (The) (Unabridged) (NA0405) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 29 Nov 2019 00:00:00 GMT In The Interior Castle, Carmelite nun, mystic and patron saint of Spain Teresa of Ávila uses the metaphor of a giant crystal castle to explain her theory of the soul and the various stages it passes through as it progresses towards God. Beginning in the outer rooms, where demons are fought and vices are purged, the soul must reach the inner chambers, where it will enter betrothal and intimate union with God. Prayer is central to the journey, as the soul is guided by its practice and each phase represents a different category of devotion. Originally written as counsel for the sisters in her convent, The Interior Castle is a poignant and poetic reflection on prayer, humility and self-knowledge, and the path towards a deeper communion with God. Full Article
ed O'BRIEN, F.: At Swim-Two-Birds (Unabridged) (NA0476) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Tue, 05 Nov 2019 00:00:00 GMT More preoccupied with drinking, sleeping and writing, an unnamed student neglects his studies and invents three separate openings for a novel. The first introduces the Pooka MacPhellimey, ‘a member of the devil class’, the second involves Mr John Furriskey, a character belonging to another of the student’s creations (writer Dermot Trellis), while the final opening features legendary Irish heroes Finn Mac Cool and Mad King Sweeny. Soon, Trellis’s creations rebel against him, doing as they like while he sleeps, and the characters from each story begin wandering in and out of each other’s tales. Published in 1939, At Swim-Two-Birds is a madcap exploration of Irish literature and mythology, and the unending possibilities of fiction. Full Article
ed JAMES, H.: Roderick Hudson (Unabridged) (NA0404) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 29 Nov 2019 00:00:00 GMT Roderick Hudson and Rowland Mallet are like two sides of the same coin: while the whimsical and egotistical Roderick recklessly follows his passions in the name of art, altruistic Rowland lives with restraint and measure. The two are bound together almost immediately when Rowland is shown a striking bronze statuette in his cousin’s garden, which moves him to meet and support its creator, Roderick. They abandon their provincial New England lives for Rome, where the young sculptor perfects his craft and flourishes among Italy’s great masters, while Rowland lives vicariously through Roderick, patiently hoping that the artist’s fiancée, Mary Garland, might one day share his feelings. Full Article
ed ZOLA, E.: Masterpiece (The) (Unabridged) (NA0417) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 31 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT Perhaps the most autobiographical of Zola’s Rougon-Macquart cycle of novels, The Masterpiece is a hard, bleak and raw portrait of unrecognised artistic genius. Claude Lantier, brother to Nana and son of Gervaise, is a struggling painter who dreams of conquering Paris’s art scene with his revolutionary ‘open air’ style of painting. Discouraged and mocked, Claude retreats to the countryside with a young woman from Clermont, with whom he has fallen in love, before returning to Paris, where he continues to experience rejection at every turn. Zola’s depiction of a frustrated artist is said to have drawn heavily on the real-life experiences of Édouard Manet and Paul Cézanne, the latter of whom broke off his friendship with the author upon reading the novel. Full Article
ed XENOPHON: Persian Expedition (The) (Unabridged) (NA0414) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 31 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT In The Persian Expedition (also known as The March of the Ten Thousand and Anabasis), Xenophon, a disciple of Socrates, relates his experiences of fighting with the Greek mercenary army ‘The Ten Thousand’ in Persia, and how he led them back to the safety of the Black Sea coast. Seeking to depose his brother Artaxerxes and take his place upon the Persian throne, Cyrus the Younger leads the 10,000 mercenaries on a dangerous campaign deep into the heart of Persia. There Cyrus is killed and his generals overthrown, leaving a young Xenophon to lead the army on its treacherous journey home. Snowy mountains, wide rivers, violent blizzards and hostile tribes obstruct their way, testing Xenophon’s leadership and his soldiers’ perseverance to the extreme. Full Article
ed SMITH, A.: Wealth of Nations (The) (Unabridged) (NA0407) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 31 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT It was Adam Smith (1723–1790) who first established economics as a separate branch of knowledge, and many would say his work has never been surpassed. The Wealth of Nations, which appeared in 1776, is the definitive text for all who believe that economic decisions are best left to markets, not governments. At the heart of Smith’s doctrine is an optimistic view of the effects of self-interest. Though each individual seeks only personal gain, the collective result is increased prosperity, which benefits society as a whole. Full Article
ed MULLEY, C.: Woman Who Saved The Children (The) (Unabridged) (NA0477) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Thu, 16 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT This is an unconventional biography of an unconventional woman. Eglantyne Jebb moved from drawing rooms to war zones, often defying expectation and at times breaking the law. Although not fond of individual children, she founded Save the Children and originated the revolutionary concept of children’s human rights. Clare Mulley brings to life the brilliant, charismatic, passionate and compassionate woman, whose work has saved millions of lives and permanently changed the way the world treats children. Save the Children ambassador Joely Richardson narrates this extraordinary story. Full Article
ed MUIR, J.: Yosemite (The) (Unabridged) (NA0410) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 31 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT For two years Scots-born John Muir lived in a small cabin along the Yosemite creek, observing the valley’s natural beauty and reading Emerson under the stars. The experience forged a lifelong affinity with the site, which would result in its establishment as a national park in 1890. Originally written as a guidebook to the park, The Yosemite describes every aspect of wildlife and landscape that one might encounter there. In exuberant and reverent language, Muir presents its scaling peaks, winding rivers and thunderous creeks, and gives observations on nearly every plant, animal, and geological feature. With childlike awe he rides in avalanches, rushes to witness floods, and climbs rocks under waterfalls. The Yosemite is Muir’s ode to nature and the magnificence of the outdoors. Full Article
ed LENNOX, C.: Female Quixote (The) (Unabridged) (NA0406) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Thu, 16 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT Young, wealthy Arabella is obsessed with French romances: brought up by a reclusive widowed father in an isolated castle, she has educated herself through their pages, and been led to believe that their dramas and absurdities are reality. She blindly adheres to their example and interprets her everyday life through their lens, thinking that life consists of uncontrollable passions and murderous violence, and that any man would die for her. Thus she embarks on a series of hilarious misadventures, insistent on the reality of her imaginary world, like Don Quixote before her. Full Article
ed LEBLANC, M.: Arsène Lupin, Gentleman Burglar (Unabridged) (NA0411) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 31 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT The first of Maurice Leblanc’s collections about his devilish, debonair rogue, Arsène Lupin, Gentleman-Burglar presents eight dazzling short stories that display some of Lupin’s greatest thefts and escapes. Lupin robs from within prison, leaves its walls with ease, steals priceless diamonds from the rich and outwits the greatest detective of all: Sherlock Holmes. Witty, cunning and taunting, Lupin is a genius on the wrong side of the law, although his noble code of ethics and Robin-Hood-like ways often see him use his talents for good. Full Article
ed JAMES, H.: Beast in the Jungle (The) (Unabridged) (NA0416) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 31 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT Bachelor John Marcher is haunted by the premonition that something terrible lies in store for him, like a ‘beast in the jungle’ lying in wait. So he spends his life in idleness, unable to carry out his dreams or desires, while his friend May Bartram, curious to see how this spectacular fate will manifest, helps watch out for the arrival of the beast. The two develop a strong platonic relationship, stoked by this mystery, and gradually the best years of their life roll by, unfulfilled—lost to John’s dread and fear of the unknown. Written soon after The Wings of the Dove, The Beast in the Jungle is a haunting story of crippling obsession and a life unlived. Full Article
ed FONTANE, T.: Effi Briest (Unabridged) (NA0412) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 31 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT Often compared to Madame Bovary and Anna Karenina, Theodor Fontane’s Effi Briest tells the poignant story of a passionate and spontaneous young woman who becomes trapped in a dull and restrictive upper-class existence. Married at the tender age of 17 to Geert von Innstetten, an ambitious nobleman and civil servant nearly 20 years her senior, unworldly Effi is whisked away to the quiet town of Kessin, on the Baltic coast of Prussia, where she is left to raise a daughter alone while her husband travels for work. Effi’s loneliness drives her into the arms of Major Crampas, a cunning womaniser who tempts her into adultery and lets her live out her passions. The affair is soon ended, and almost forgotten, until fate and negligence resurrect it, with devastating results. Full Article
ed COLLINS, W.: Armadale (Unabridged) (NA0409) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 31 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT Two young men linked by a familial murder mystery, a beautiful yet wicked governess who spins a web of deceit, and five individuals named Allan Armadale: Wilkie Collins’s follow-up to The Woman in White and No Name is an innovative take on mistaken identity, the nature of evil and the dark underbelly of Victorian England. The story concerns two distant cousins, both named Allan Armadale, and the impact of a family tragedy, which makes one of them a target of the murderous Lydia Gwilt, a vicious and malevolent charmer determined to get her hands on the Armadale fortune. Will the real Allan Armadale be revealed, and will he survive the plot against his life? Full Article
ed DOSTOYEVSKY, F.M.: House of the Dead (The) (Unabridged) (NA0408) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 07 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT Completed six years after Dostoyevsky’s own term as a convict, The House of the Dead is a semi-autobiographical account of life in a Siberian prison camp, and the physical and mental effects it has on those who are sentenced to inhabit it. Alexandr Petrovitch Goryanchikov, a gentleman of the noble class, has been condemned to ten years of hard labour for murdering his wife. He is little prepared for the cruel conditions and punishing temperatures, and struggles to integrate with the other prisoners, who claw for their sanity. Fettered, hungry and isolated, Alexandr Petrovitch must find faith and hope if he is to make his way out alive, and resurrect himself from the ‘dead house’. Full Article
ed BURKE, E.: Philosophical Enquiry into the Sublime and Beautiful (A) (Unabridged) (NA0413) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 20 Mar 2020 00:00:00 GMT In A Philosophical Enquiry… Edmund Burke sets out to define the nature of beauty and sublimity, and establish an objective criterion for discussing aesthetics. His definition of beauty as rooted in pleasure and sexuality, and the sublime in pain and survival, aligned him with the empiricists John Locke and David Hume, as he replaced the metaphysics of Plato’s aesthetics with a psychological and physiological perspective. According to Burke, the sublime and the beautiful are experiences that can be explained by biological and sensual factors; thus he proceeds to explain how smooth lines, sweet tastes and middle frequencies of sound can be considered beautiful, and the terror created by high mountains and dark forests can be sublime. These revolutionary ideas ushered in the age of Romanticism, and the Gothic genre of novels, with their delight in horror and fright, and continue to influence aesthetic theories today. Full Article
ed WHARTON, E.: Ethan Frome (Unabridged) (NA0421) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Wed, 29 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMT Set deep in the remote countryside of Massachusetts, New England, in a world of small-town prejudice, pettiness and rural poverty, the story of Ethan Frome explores the crippling marriage of a young man to an older woman and his love for her vibrant young cousin, Mattie, who lives as a dependent in the Frome household. His feelings lead to a day of explosive emotions with tragic consequences. Published in 1911, two years before Wharton divorced her husband, the novel integrates the raw experiences of the author’s own life to create a powerful tale of the tragic destruction of innocent love, in a stark, compressed and unified form. Over time, the book has gained the reputation of being Edith Wharton’s best work. Full Article
ed PIZAN, C. de: Book of the City of Ladies (The) (Unabridged) (NA0456) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Wed, 29 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMT Shocked and distressed by a male writer’s vilification of women, Christine de Pizan has a powerful dreamlike vision in which she is visited by three personified Virtues: Reason, Rectitude and Justice. They tell her she has been chosen to write a book which will be like a city, housing virtuous women and protecting them from feminist attack. Heroines past and present form the foundations of this city—biblical and mythical heroines, ruling queens, Christian saints, and inventors are among them. Partly myth, partly fact, The Book of the City of Ladies is an extraordinary, pioneering and impassioned defence of women that set out to shatter medieval misogynist clichés, and serve to instil self-worth in its female readers of the time. Full Article
ed In the Studio with Kenneth Fuchs and the United States Coast Guard Band (Jan 18, 2020) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sat, 18 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT Kenneth Fuchs, the GRAMMY Award-winning American composer, is no stranger to followers of our burgeoning American Classics Series, in which he is represented by six fine releases, including the GRAMMY-winning album with “Spiritualist” piano concerto from last year’s award ceremony. His next recording, a programme of music for wind band, will be available in August 2020. As part of the preparations for that release, Kenneth has been working on a couple of video pre ...more Full Article
ed Piano Recital: Gulda, Friedrich - BEETHOVEN, L. van / BACH, J.S. / SCHUBERT, F. / COUPERIN, F. (The Stuttgart Solo Recitals) (1966-1979) (SWR19081CD) By Published On :: May 2020 International Piano, May 2020 View PDF Full Article
ed BACH, J.S.: Well-Tempered Clavier (The), Book 2, BWV 870-893 (A. Schiff) (NTSC) (2.110654) By Published On :: May 2020 Review by Jed Distler Gramophone, May 2020 Full Article
ed BACH, J.S.: Well-Tempered Clavier (The), Book 2, BWV 870-893 (A. Schiff) (Blu-ray, HD) (NBD0105V) By Published On :: May 2020 Review by Jed Distler Gramophone, May 2020 Full Article
ed BACH, J.S.: Well-Tempered Clavier (The), Book 1, BWV 846-869 (A. Schiff) (NTSC) (2.110653) By Published On :: May 2020 Review by Jed Distler Gramophone, May 2020 Gramophone, May 2020 Full Article
ed BACH, J.S.: Well-Tempered Clavier (The), Book 1, BWV 846-869 (A. Schiff) (Blu-ray, HD) (NBD0104V) By Published On :: May 2020 Review by Jed Distler Gramophone, May 2020 Gramophone, May 2020 Full Article
ed BACH, J.S.: Well-Tempered Clavier (The), Book 1, BWV 846-869 (A. Schiff) (NTSC) (2.110653) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
ed BACH, J.S.: Well-Tempered Clavier (The), Book 1, BWV 846-869 (A. Schiff) (Blu-ray, HD) (NBD0104V) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
ed MARTHALER, C. / ENGEL, T. / VIEBROCK, A.: Universe, Incomplete (after C. Ives) / The Unanswered Ives (Documentary, 2018) (NTSC) (ACC-20434) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sat, 01 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article