0 BEETHOVEN, L. van: Celebrate Beethoven - Concertos (9.30210) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sun, 01 Mar 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
0 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
0 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
0 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
0 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
0 SPUCK, C.: Nutcracker and Mouse King [Ballet] (after P.I. Tchaikovsky) (Zürich Ballet, 2018) (NTSC) (ACC-20449) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sun, 01 Sep 2019 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
0 SPUCK, C.: Nutcracker and Mouse King [Ballet] (after P.I. Tchaikovsky) (Zürich Ballet, 2018) (Blu-ray, Full-HD) (ACC-10449) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sun, 01 Sep 2019 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
0 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
0 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
0 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
0 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
0 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
0 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
0 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
0 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
0 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
0 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
0 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
0 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
0 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
0 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
0 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
0 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
0 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
0 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
0 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
0 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
0 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
0 From the Naxos Blog: Playing the fool (Apr 03, 2020) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 03 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMT April Fool’s Day occurs each year on 1 April and although the day has been marked for many centuries in different cultures, its exact origin is difficult to pin down. One speculation links it to the move by France in 1582 to move from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar, effectively moving the start of the year to 1 January from the last week in March through to 1 April. People who were slow off the mark as regards this development, and continued to mark the transit ...more Full Article
0 Podcast: The resurrection of a requiem. Randall Thompson’s choral masterpiece. (Apr 10, 2020) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 10 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMT THOMPSON, R.: Requiem Philadelphia Singers, David Hayes 8.559789 Join Raymond Bisha in a podcast of artistic discovery as he unveils yet another American classic—Randall Thompson’s Requiem. Reckoned by many to be his most ambitious work, the composer himself considered it to be his masterpiece, yet it has languished for decades on the periphery of the choral performance repertoire. This world première recording fr ...more Full Article
0 From the Naxos Blog: Drum roll for a teacher’s role (Apr 17, 2020) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 17 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMT Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco I was on a plane a few months ago during which the choice of in-flight viewing didn’t immediately excite, but my eye was caught by a film about Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895-1968). Naxos and its affiliated labels have released numerous recordings of the composer’s works which, to be honest, I find much more engaging than I did the film. In fact, we chose a clip from his Cello Concerto Op. 72 as the intro and outr ...more Full Article
0 Podcast: Ludwig van Beethoven. Music from his late compositional period. (Apr 24, 2020) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 24 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMT BEETHOVEN, L. van: Celebrate Beethoven – Music from His Late Compositional Period (c.1815–1827) 9.30207 Raymond Bisha introduces the latest release in the Naxos Beethoven anniversary digital album series. Ranging from a solo piano to the huge resources required for his final symphony, the programme comprises ten works that define the last ten years of Beethoven’s creative life, exemplifying his ever more technically c ...more Full Article
0 From the Naxos Blog: Swiss roles (Feb 07, 2020) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 07 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT Naxos has travelled far since its founding in 1987 as a budget label with a compelling business model, a chairman of great foresight and a DNA oozing innovation. It has developed into a web of avenues that link art music with music lovers. The Naxos label is now just one of the constituents of the Naxos Music Group; a host of other independent labels have joined the group over the years, benefitting from the Naxos global infrastructure, but each retaining its i ...more Full Article
0 Podcast: The symphonies of Ludwig van Beethoven (Feb 13, 2020) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Thu, 13 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT BEETHOVEN, L. van: Celebrate Beethoven – Symphonies and Orchestral 9.30209 Raymond Bisha presents an overview of Beethoven’s nine symphonies as a companion resource to the first of Naxos’ monthly digital albums presenting the music of Beethoven in this 250th anniversary year of his birth. January’s compilation album (9.30209) spotlights the symphonic journey and stylistic progression from Beethoven&rs ...more Full Article
0 Podcast: Black History Month. Some musical notes. (Feb 14, 2020) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 14 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT The guest host of this podcast is Ashley Jackson. She is an accomplished musician, who has studied the music of both Margaret Bonds and Florence Price, who composed and worked during the civil rights movement in the United States. In this podcast, Dr Jackson gives us both an historical and a personal perspective on how the struggles of these composers, and those of her grandmother, helped make possible what she does today. Harpist Ashley Jack ...more Full Article
0 From the Naxos Blog: Reicha’s rich reach (Feb 21, 2020) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 21 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT You have to pity those composers who got air-brushed out of the limelight during their time for no other reason than they were contemporaries of the acknowledged masters, and so had to live under the long shadows of composers such as Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and so on. Or, at least, it seems to us that they were unduly neglected. It’s nearer the truth to say that societies of their day did afford them recognition, but the passing of time has not been so acco ...more Full Article
0 Podcast: Ludwig van Beethoven. Works from his middle years. (Feb 28, 2020) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 28 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT Celebrate Beethoven – Music from His Middle Compositional Period 9.30206 Raymond Bisha presents an overview of works written by Beethoven during his middle years period. It’s a companion resource to the latest release in Naxos’ monthly digital album series featuring the music of Beethoven in this 250th anniversary year of his birth. February’s compilation album (9.30206) presents a programme of wo ...more Full Article
0 Sounds Interesting. A witty ditty (Jan 03, 2020) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 03 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT This podcast from the Naxos Sounds Interesting series highlights some humorous lines from the pens of the past masters. The presenter is Richard Kennedy. Listen to the podcast Listen to more podcasts on the Naxos Blog ...more Full Article
0 Podcast: Write It – Reflections on Sanctuary Road (Jan 10, 2020) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 10 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT MORAVEC, P.: Sanctuary Road Laquita Mitchell, Raehann Bryce-Davis, Joshua Blue, Malcolm J. Merriweather, Dashon Burton, Oratorio Society of New York, Kent Tritle 8.559884 WQXR radio host Terrance McKnight introduces the world premiere recording of an oratorio by composer Paul Moravec and librettist Mark Campbell. It’s a deeply moving tribute to the men and women of the Underground Railroad and to one heroic man in ...more Full Article
0 Podcast: Nino Rota’s works for solo piano. A magical melting pot. (Jan 17, 2020) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 17 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT ROTA, N.: Piano Solo Works (Complete), Vol. 1 Eleanor Hodgkinson GP827 Raymond Bisha introduces this new release from the Grand Piano label. It’s the opening volume in what is to be the first complete series of recordings of Nino Rota’s works for solo piano, performed by Eleanor Hodgkinson. Nino Rota embraced neo-Classical, neo-Romantic and even neo-Baroque affiliations. His music prized melodic directness ...more Full Article
0 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
0 From the Naxos Blog: I can zing a rainbow (Jan 24, 2020) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 24 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT I never tire of listening to the voice of Peggy Lee (1920-2002), the American jazz and popular music singer who was also a songwriter, composer and actress. And with an active career that spanned some six decades, it seems I’m not the only one in her fan club. Her unique vocal timbre was apposite to one of her hits, Sing a Rainbow. I wondered if the Naxos catalogue could similarly zing a rainbow and turn up an interesting collage of pieces reflecting the individual c ...more Full Article
0 Sounds Interesting. A Magnificent Seven (Mar 06, 2020) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 06 Mar 2020 00:00:00 GMT This podcast from the Naxos Sounds Interesting series spotlights the contributions of seven composers who made significant, but neglected contributions to the heritage of American symphonic music. The presenter is Richard Kennedy. Listen to the podcast Listen to more podcasts on the Naxos Blog ...more Full Article
0 Podcast: Richard Danielpour’s oratorio The Passion of Yeshua (Mar 13, 2020) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 13 Mar 2020 00:00:00 GMT DANIELPOUR, R.: Passion of Yeshua (The) [Oratorio] UCLA Chamber Singers, Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus and Orchestra, JoAnn Falletta 8.559885-86 Raymond Bisha introduces Richard Danielpour’s oratorio The Passion of Yeshua, a 105-minute work for large chorus, six soloists and orchestra that takes the listener back to Jesus’ final day on earth, removing as much as possible the accretions of history since that moment in ...more Full Article
0 From the Naxos Blog: Six Sounds of Shakespeare (Mar 20, 2020) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 20 Mar 2020 00:00:00 GMT Source: Hogarth Shakespeare March 21 marks the European Day of Early Music. By way of a slightly contorted response to the occasion, I thought we might take a look at William Shakespeare’s influence on composers, not through the contemporary contributions they made to performances of his plays (he lived from 1564 to 1616), but by taking stock of how The Bard has inspired and permeated the output of generations of composers since his day. ...more Full Article
0 Podcast: Ludwig van Beethoven–the concertos (Mar 27, 2020) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 27 Mar 2020 00:00:00 GMT BEETHOVEN, L. van: Celebrate Beethoven - Concertos 9.30210 Beethoven’s concertos enjoy the spotlight in this podcast from Raymond Bisha. It serves as a companion resource to the latest digital album in our series marking the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth. The technical and musical demands Beethoven makes of his concerto soloists shine centre-stage in this compilation of wonderful performances of movements from his ...more Full Article
0 From the Naxos Blog: Is there a doctor in the mouse? (May 01, 2020) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT Source: The Flemish American As I write this blog, I’m in a lock-down situation in London arising from the Covid-19 epidemic. What was planned as a quick 7-day visit to the capital has turned into a longer-term relationship, since my home base of Thailand has pulled up the drawbridge against returning travellers such as myself. I’m staying in a hotel near London’s Paddington Station, and my permitted daily emergence to do a spot of ...more Full Article
0 Naxos among ICMA 2020 winners – wins Recording of the Year Award (May 02, 2020) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sat, 02 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT Naxos was among the winners of this year’s International Classical Music Awards (ICMA), announced on 30 April. Ondine, one of Naxos’ affiliated labels, was also the recipient of an award. Of the nineteen citations in the audio and video categories, Naxos received two awards, both of which went to its box set of Beethoven’s complete symphonies, featuring the Danish Chamber Orchestra under Adam Fischer. The collection won the Symphonic Music category and was also na ...more Full Article
0 Podcast: A 20th-century troubadour. A 21st-century tribute. (May 08, 2020) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT DAUGHERTY, M.: This Land Sings: Inspired by the Life and Times of Woody Guthrie Annika Socolofsky, John Daugherty, Dogs of Desire, David Alan Miller 8.559889 Raymond Bisha introduces Michael Daugherty’s This Land Sings: Inspired by the Life and Times of Woody Guthrie. The work celebrates The Dust Bowl Troubadour’s folk songs of love, wandering and social justice through Daugherty’s own original songs and instrumental ...more Full Article
0 SUK, J.: Asrael (Bavarian Radio Symphony, Hruša) (900188) By Published On :: May 2020 Review by Richard Whitehouse Gramophone, May 2020 Full Article
