ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
ri Japan Household Spending Data Due On Friday By www.rttnews.com Published On :: Thu, 07 May 2020 21:59:41 GMT Japan will on Friday see March data for average household spending, highlighting a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. Spending is predicted to sink 6.7 percent on year after easing 0.3 percent in February. Full Article
ri WAGNER, R.: Organ Transcriptions (H. Albrecht) (OC1874) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Tue, 01 Oct 2019 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
ri Harp Recital: Bianchi, Cristina - SCARLATTI, D. / TAILLEFERRE, G. / BACH, C.P.E. / BALTIN, A.A. (Scarlatti and More) (OC1715) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 Nov 2019 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
ri EÖTVÖS, P.: Tri sestry (Three Sisters) [Opera] (Chenez, David DQ Lee, Egorov, Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra, D.R. Davies, N. Petersen) (OC986) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 Nov 2019 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
ri MASCAGNI, P.: Cavalleria rusticana / LEONCAVALLO, R.: Pagliacci [Operas] (Di Toro, Iversen, Graz Opera Chorus, Graz Philharmonic, Lyniv) (OC987) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sat, 01 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
ri WEBER, C.M. von: Freischütz (Der) [Opera] (Cornet, Muirhead, Banješević, Trinsinger, Aalto Theatre Opera Chorus, Essen Philharmonic, Netopil) (OC988) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sun, 01 Mar 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
ri 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
