pr 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
pr Austria Wholesale Prices Decline Most Since September 2009 By www.rttnews.com Published On :: Thu, 07 May 2020 13:12:51 GMT Austria's wholesale prices fell at the fastest pace in over ten-and-a-half years in April, data from Statistics Austria showed on Thursday. Full Article
pr 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
pr 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
pr 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
pr 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
pr 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
pr 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
pr 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
pr 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
pr 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
pr 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
pr 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
pr STRAVINSKY, I.: Rake's Progress (The) [Opera] (Equilibrium Young Artists, 2018) / HANNIGAN, Barbara: Taking Risks (Documentary, 2018) (NTSC) (ACC-20420) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
pr Vocal Recital (Soprano): Ramos, Melba - TURINA, J. / GRANADOS, E. / MOMPOU, F. / OBRADORS, F. / GARCÍA ABRIL, A. (C3008) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sun, 01 Sep 2019 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
pr ZEMLINSKY, A. von: Traumgörge (Der) [Opera] (Protschka, P. Coburn, J. Martin, H. Welker, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, G. Albrecht) (C5395) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
pr Vocal and Piano Recital: Miedl, Christian / Springer, Jendrik - PFITZNER, H. / SIRODEAU, C. / LOEWE, C. / RIHM, W. / LISZT, F. (Songs of the Night) (C3009) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sun, 01 Mar 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
pr Violin Recital: Wohn, Dawn - ESMAIL, R. / ZWILICH, E.T. / KAPRÁLOVÁ, V. / KANG, Jung Sun / PRICE, F. / BOULANGER, L. / BEACH, A. (Perspectives) (DE3547) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 Nov 2019 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
pr ROBINSON, M.: Improvisations on The Fourteen Stations of the Cross Based on Themes by N. Rorem (M. Robinson) (DE3549) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
pr Opera Arias (Soprano): Bayrakdarian, Isabel - HASSE, J.A. / VIVALDI, A. / GLUCK, C.W. (The Other Cleopatra - Queen of Armenia) (DE3591) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sun, 01 Mar 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
pr PROKOFIEV, S.: Romeo and Juliet [Ballet] (Zürich Ballet, 2019) (NTSC) (ACC-20484) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
pr PROKOFIEV, S.: Romeo and Juliet [Ballet] (Zürich Ballet, 2019) (Blu-ray, Full-HD) (ACC-10484) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
pr PROKOFIEV, S.: Romeo and Juliet [Ballet] (Ural Opera Ballet, 2019) (NTSC) (BAC180) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
pr PROKOFIEV, S.: Romeo and Juliet [Ballet] (Ural Opera Ballet, 2019) (Blu-ray, Full-HD) (BAC580) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
pr MOON, F. / PRICE, D.: Mother (The) [Ballet] (Bird and Carrot, 2019) (NTSC) (OA1321D) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
pr MOON, F. / PRICE, D.: Mother (The) [Ballet] (Bird and Carrot, 2019) (Blu-ray, HD) (OABD7280D) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
pr DEBUSSY, C.: 12 Études / Préludes, Book 1 / Images / Suite bergamasque (Idil Biret Solo Edition, Vol. 10-11) (8.571401-02) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sun, 01 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMT “For well versed insiders of music, Idil Biret is since years a trusted, respected and beloved artist. Her Skrjabin, Bartók and Prokofiev interpretations are exemplary classical benchmarks. The discipline of her powerful grasp and approach of the music has led, especially for works of our century, to a stylistic congruence between the written score and the interpretation, which is way outside of the unusual norms of conventions with so called “Star raving and rantings”, which, in the case of Idil Biret, makes us all aware of an outstanding artistic potency of the highest standards of excellence!” – DIE WELT, Germany 1979 “Idil Biret takes the opening movement of Debussy’s Children’s Corner very briskly and impetuously, but the performance then settles down and is sensitive and well characterized, especially the closing Golliwog’s Cakewalk. Good recording and recommendable couplings, too.” – PENGUIN GUIDE, England 2009 “There is no question whatever that Biret’s reading of the Ravel Gaspard de la nuit takes its place among the most delicately wrought Ravel interpretations by any of the many great pianists renowned for their performances of French piano music.” – SOHO WEEKLY NEWS, USA 1977 “For years, Debussy’s Études, which are dedicated to ‘the memory of Frederic Chopin’, had been distanced from the programs of pianists, seen as dry, abstract, annoying pieces. However, apart from their importance in piano learning, these études are actually concise, emotional colorful masterpieces that are products of imagination.” – Ilhan Mimaroğlu (from an article on Debussy), Turkey 1961 Full Article
pr FRANCK, C.: Djinn (Les) / Symphonic Variations / Prélude, choral et fugue / Prélude, aria et final(Biret Concerto Edition, Vol. 9) (8.571403) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
pr Vocal Recital (Soprano): Zubel, Agata - RAVEL, M. / BARBER, S. / CRUMB, G. / SZYMANOWSKI, K. / OBRADORS, F. (Apparition) (CDAccordACD263) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
pr MONIUSZKO, S.: Choral Music (inaczej śpiewany) (Choirs of the Choral Academy Project - Singing Poland, NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra, Frankow-Zelazny) (CDAccordACD265) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sun, 01 Mar 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
pr BEMBO, A.: Produzioni armoniche (Armonia Delle Sfere) (TC640280) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 Nov 2019 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
pr AGNESI, M.T.: 12 Arias for Soprano, Strings and Continuo (E. De Simone, Ensemble Il Mosaico) (TC720101) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
pr VITALI, G.B.: Partite sopra diverse Sonate / Sonate, Op. 13 (Italico Splendore) (TC632204) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
pr NEUMEIER, J.: Beethoven Project [Ballet] (Hamburg Ballet, 2019) (NTSC) (753608) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sat, 01 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
pr NEUMEIER, J.: Beethoven Project [Ballet] (Hamburg Ballet, 2019) (Blu-ray, HD) (753704) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sat, 01 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
pr BACH, J.S.: Cello Suites Nos. 1-6 (The Bach Project) (Yo-Yo Ma) (NTSC) (754408) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
pr BACH, J.S.: Cello Suites Nos. 1-6 (The Bach Project) (Yo-Yo Ma) (Blu-ray, HD) (754504) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
pr Impressions of China - Winning Works from the 2018 Huang Zi International Chinese Piano Composition Competition (G. Luisi) (8.579070) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMT All of the works in this programme were prize winners in the hotly contested 2018 Huang Zi International Chinese Piano Composition Competition, an event marking the 80th anniversary of the death of this influential composer and educator. Themes explored include the charm and unpredictability of China’s landscape, alongside elements of Chinese musical and theatrical aesthetics. Joint First Prize winners were Emile Naoumoff, whose Celestial Parade describes the composer’s wonderful experiences while in Shanghai, and Zhiliang Zhang, whose Qiao Ling Liu Dan portrays six widely differing ‘Dan’ or female characters in Sichuanese opera. Full Article
pr CHOPIN, F.: Scherzos Nos. 1-4 / Impromptus Nos. 1-3 / Fantasy-Impromptu / Allegro de concert (Mao Fujita) (8.574052) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMT Chopin turned the Scherzo into a new form of piano composition: an independent virtuoso work which he laced with drama, Polish folk song, tranquillity and nuance. With their rhythmic lilt and filigree ornamentation the Impromptus are infused with Romantic freedom, while the Allegro de concert, Op. 46 was originally conceived as a movement for a projected piano concerto but was instead revised for solo piano. Full Article
pr Cello, Soprano and Piano Recital: Ruh, Janina / Kusnezow, Boris - POULENC, F. / DEBUSSY, C. / FRANCK, C. (Dialogues) (SWR19030CD) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
pr BALADA, L.: Clarinet Works - Caprichos Nos. 6 and 7 / Double Concerto (Ivanov, Rominski, Polaczyk, Eryılmaz, Larson) (8.579056) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMT Barcelona native Leonardo Balada’s creative style has been labelled ‘Dalí’s surrealism in music’—an aspect of his work explored in this programme through the technique of ‘sound transformation’ in which abstract musical materials become familiar melody. Fusing traditional and contemporary elements, Caprichos Nos. 6 and 7 engage intimately with Spanish culture and history, while the virtuoso Double Concerto, heard here in an arrangement for flute, clarinet and piano, blends well-known Mexican folk tunes with the composer’s distinctive avant-garde style. Full Article
pr VIVALDI, A.: Four Seasons (The) / VERDI, G.: I vespri siciliani: Le quattro stagioni (R.M. Minasi, La Scintilla Orchestra) (PHR0112) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
pr SCRIABIN, A. / PASTERNAK, B.: Piano Works (Samson-Primachenko) (UP0213) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
pr SAURET, É.: 24 Études Caprices, Vol. 4 - Nos. 20-24 (Rashidova) (8.574159) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT The final volume of the 24 Études-Caprices by the internationally renowned virtuoso Émile Sauret, crowns one of the most impressive but seldom performed bodies of solo violin writing in the entire canon. In the last five Études, once again played by Nazrin Rashidova on Sauret’s own Stradivarius violin, the full range of his art can be heard, from double- and triple-stopping, to registral leaps, chordal and staccato techniques and exercises for absolute control of the bow. Of Volume 3 (8.573975) The Strad wrote: ‘Rashidova plays superbly’. Full Article
pr PROKOFIEV, S.: Symphonies Nos. 3 and 6 (German Radio Saarbrücken-Kaiserslautern Philharmonic, Inkinen) (SWR19086CD) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
pr PROKOFIEV, S.: Songs and Romances (Gritskova, Prinz) (8.574030) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT Sergey Prokofiev is acknowledged as one of the 20th century’s greatest composers, and his enduring popularity today rests on a rich legacy of orchestral and chamber works. Less well-known are his songs, which display a lyrical component that suited his liking for clear and simple forms. This can be heard particularly in Five Poems of Anna Akhmatova, but all of these pieces show Prokofiev to be a worthy successor of the great 19th-century tradition of art songs. Margarita Gritskova’s voice was described by Opera News as ‘a spectacular instrument’ in her recording of Russian Songs on Naxos 8.573908. Full Article
pr PRADO, J.A.R. de A: Piano Concerto No. 1 / Aurora / Concerto Fribourgeois (Rubinsky, Minas Gerais Philharmonic, Mechetti) (8.574225) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT At the time of his death in 2010, Almeida Prado was one of Brazil’s most internationally admired composers, one who created music of unique sonority and colour, rooted in his native country. In Aurora (‘Dawn’) he employs his newly developed ‘transtonality’ to radiant effect, while the Concerto Fribourgeois features a collage technique. In his Piano Concerto No. 1 Almeida Prado explores a cogent structure in which the soloist opens up, rips apart or transforms the theme and variations, in a work that is both grandiose and luminous. Full Article
pr Piano Recital: Choni, Dmytro - DEBUSSY, C. / GINASTERA, A. / LIGETI, G. / PROKOFIEV, S. (8.574136) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT The Ukrainian pianist Dmytro Choni, winner of the 2018 Paloma O’Shea Santander International Piano Competition, has selected a programme that spans the 20th century. The first book of Debussy’s Images offers poetic evocation and virtuoso caprice, whereas Prokofiev’s Piano Sonata No. 6, completed in 1940, is the first of his ‘War Sonatas’, characteristically contrasting rhythmic vitality with rich lyricism. Ginastera, too, supplies vivid intensity in his Piano Sonata No. 1 suggesting the sound of the guitar, while Ligeti’s Étude is a Debussyian evocation of a rainbow. Full Article
pr HANDEL, G.F. / GLUCK, C.W.: Opera Arias for Soprano (Care Pupille) (Mariño, Halle Handel Festival Orchestra, Hofstetter) (C998201) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
pr Flute Music - CASTALDI, P. / COSMI, G. / DAVISMOON, S. / FANTICINI, F. / MORRICONE, E. / PROCK, S. / TACCANI, G.C. (Flute XXI) (Fabbriciani) (TC980090) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
