or European Economics Preview: German Foreign Trade Data Due By www.rttnews.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 04:31:35 GMT Foreign trade data from Germany is due on Friday, headlining a light day for the European economic news. At 2.00 am ET, Destatis is scheduled to issue Germany's external trade figures for March. Exports are forecast to fall 5 percent on month, in contrast to an increase of 1.3 percent in February. Imports are expected to drop 4 percent. Full Article
or Australia's GDP To Decline Most On Record: RBA By www.rttnews.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 05:09:53 GMT The Australian economy is set to log its biggest contraction in the history due to the coronavirus, or Covid-19, pandemic, the Reserve Bank of Australia said Friday. In its quarterly statement on monetary policy, the central bank said gross domestic product is expected to contract around 10 percent over the first half of 2020, mostly concentrated in the June quarter. Full Article
or German Exports Fall At Fastest Pace On Record By www.rttnews.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 06:30:34 GMT German exports declined the most on record in March as foreign demand was dampened by coronavirus, or Covid-19, pandemic, official data showed Friday. Full Article
or 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
or German Exports Log Record Fall Amid Covid-19 Pandemic By www.rttnews.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 11:39:24 GMT German exports declined at a record pace in March as widespread lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus, or Covid-19, across major economies hurt the demand, official data showed Friday. Exports fell by seasonally adjusted 11.8 percent month-on-month, in contrast to February's 1.2 percent rise, Destatis reported. This was the strongest decline since the beginning of the time series in August Full Article
or Norway Industrial Production Rises Faster By www.rttnews.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 11:44:06 GMT Norway's industrial production grew at a faster pace in March, figures from Statistics Norway showed on Friday. Full Article
or Portugal Trade Deficit Narrows In March By www.rttnews.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 11:51:02 GMT Portugal's foreign trade narrowed in March from a year ago amid declines in both exports and imports, figures from Statistics Portugal showed on Friday. Full Article
or Greece Consumer Prices Fall For First Time In 6 Months By www.rttnews.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 12:13:29 GMT Greece's consumer prices fell for the first time in six months in April, data from the Hellenic Statistical Authority showed on Friday. Full Article
or 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
or 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
or 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
or 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
or Czech CB Lowers Rate For Third Time, Unveils More Stimulus By www.rttnews.com Published On :: Thu, 07 May 2020 16:04:40 GMT The Czech Republic's central bank cut its key interest rate in May for a third policy session in a row and unveiled additional measures to provide more liquidity to the financial market after the coronavirus, or Covid-19, pandemic hurt economy severely. Full Article
or WAGNER, R.: Organ Transcriptions (H. Albrecht) (OC1874) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Tue, 01 Oct 2019 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
or 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
or 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
or GLANERT, D.: Oceane [Opera] (Bengtsson, Schukoff, Pohl, Deutsche Oper Berlin Chorus and Orchestra, Runnicles) (OC985) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
or 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
or 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
or STRAUSS, R.: Symphonic Poems (Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra, Weigle) (6-CD Box Set) (OC033) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sun, 01 Mar 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
or 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
or 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
or 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
or 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
or CASTÉRÈDE, J.: Flute Works (Complete), Vol. 2 - Ombres et clartés / Sonate en forme de Suite / Musique / Wind Quintet (du Toit, Doreen Lee) (8.573950) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT Jacques Castérède was one of many composers who refused to abandon tonality and traditional forms amid the stormy avant-garde of the 20th century. The Quintette for winds was written in 1953, the same year that Castérède won the Prix de Rome, and touches of Gershwin appear among its witty colours. Neo-Classical restraint in the Sonate en forme de Suite contrasts with the grittier and more modernist Musique for flute, harp and string trio, and La Belle Époque takes us on a whistle-stop tour of Classical repertoire, parodying famous tunes by Haydn and Mozart. Full Article
or 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
or 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
or BEETHOVEN, L. van: Celebrate Beethoven - Symphonies and Orchestral Music (9.30209) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
or 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
or SKORYK, M.: Violin Concertos (Complete), Vol. 1 - Nos. 1-4 (Bielow, Ukraine National Symphony, Sirenko) (8.574088) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sat, 01 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT Myroslav Skoryk, a postgraduate student of Dmitry Kabalevsky, is one of Ukraine’s leading composers and teachers. His works range from opera and ballet, a symphonic transcription of Paganini’s 24 Caprices, and his cycle of nine Violin Concertos written over a 45-year span. They draw on elements of Carpathian folklore and are saturated in expressive dialogues, lyricism and elegy while also exuding powerful intensity. Skoryk’s sensual writing is frequently contrasted with syncopated motifs, cadenzas, fugal episodes and march rhythms. This is the first of two volumes. Full Article
or SKALKOTTAS, N.: Sinfonietta / Classical Symphony / 4 Images / Ancient Greek March (The Neoclassical Skalkottas) (Athens State Orchestra, Tsialis) (8.574154) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sat, 01 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT Despite his tragically short life, Nikos Skalkottas has now become recognised as one of the most important Greek composers of the 20th century. The modernist style of his earlier period is balanced by the four important mature neoclassical works presented here. Both the Sinfonietta and the Classical Symphony are expressions of the deep regard Skalkottas had for traditional forms blended with his unique musical language. Skalkottas was a violinist with the Athens State Orchestra, who are honouring his memory with this and future recordings of his works. Full Article
or 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
or MORLACCHI, F.: Tebaldo e Isolina [Opera] (1825 Dresden version) (Polverelli, Pastrana, Giustiniani, Baglietto, Vlad, Virtuosi Brunensis, Fogliani) (8.660471-72) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sat, 01 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT Francesco Morlacchi was a native of Perugia, but early success led him to become music director of the Dresden Opera where he remained for the rest of his life despite having an opportunity to succeed Rossini in Naples in 1822. He did make tours to Italy however, and Tebaldo e Isolina received its triumphant premiere in Venice, becoming the most successful of all his operas. Morlacchi’s gifts as a lyricist and for characterisation are heard here at their best, with showpiece arias and duets in a version of the Romeo and Juliet story that ends in happiness and the victory of reason over vengeance. Full Article
or MAYR, J.S.: Mass in E-Flat Major (Szczepańska, Krödel, M. Schäfer, Ochoa, Simon Mayr Choir, Concerto de Bassus, Hauk) (8.574057) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sat, 01 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT Mayr’s great Mass in E flat major is a late work, largely composed in 1843. It conforms to the prevailing Italian messa concertata tradition with its clear divisions into distinct vocal numbers, as opposed to the symphonic Mass which held sway north of the Alps. In this reconstruction and musical revival, Mayr’s imposing, tonally consonant and expressive setting can be heard in all its grandeur and eloquence. With its striking vocal solos and choruses, and characteristically songlike instrumental roles, Mayr contributed a late pinnacle in the long history of this form of the Mass. Full Article
or 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
or 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
or 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
or 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
or 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
or 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
or 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
or STRAUSS II, J.: Blindekuh [Operetta] (R. Davidson, Kunkle, Bortolotti, Sofia Philharmonic Chorus and Orchestra, Salvi) (8.660434-35) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sun, 01 Mar 2020 00:00:00 GMT Blindekuh (‘Blind Man’s Buff’) was Johann Strauss II’s sixth operetta and his least known. Neglected for well over a century, it was revived by Dario Salvi and the forces on this album in January 2019. The work’s initial lack of success is hard to explain but it may have been caused by a confusing libretto—the music itself is vibrant and captivating with waltzes, polkas, mazurkas, marches and bel canto arias. Performed in a concert version without dialogue, and in accordance with performing traditions, this production restores the work to the status of one of Strauss’s most melodically seductive works. Full Article
or SCHUMANN, R.: Arrangements for Piano Duet, Vol. 5 (Eckerle Piano Duo) - Symphonies Nos. 1 and 4 (8.572881) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sun, 01 Mar 2020 00:00:00 GMT The insatiable demand for sheet music for domestic use in the 19th century meant that popular works were widely disseminated in piano duet form. Robert Schumann’s own arrangements of the ‘Spring’ Symphony (in collaboration with his wife Clara Schumann) and the Fourth Symphony balance playability and fidelity to the original with tremendous skill. Clara considered the Fourth Symphony to be ‘another work from the innermost depths of Robert’s soul’, a symphony that has become one of the most quintessential of the Romantic era. Full Article
or JOLIVET, A.: Flute Works (Complete), Vol. 2 (Boulègue, Tulliez, L. Warnier, Gimeno) (8.574079) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sun, 01 Mar 2020 00:00:00 GMT In this second volume of André Jolivet’s complete works for flute (Volume 1 is on 8.573885), Kobe International Flute Competition winner Hélène Boulègue explores further examples of some of the most individual and important of all 20th-century works for the instrument. The Flute Concerto No. 1 exemplifies Jolivet’s genius for liquid melodic lines and frenetic bravura. The intricately scored Suite en concert for flute and four percussionists is one of the most fascinating in the repertoire, whilst the Sonatine is both trance-like and rhapsodic. Full Article
or 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
or EŠENVALDS, Ē.: Choral Music (Translations) (Portland State Chamber Choir, Sperry) (8.574124) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sun, 01 Mar 2020 00:00:00 GMT The multi-award-winning Latvian composer Ēriks Ešenvalds’ 21st-century choral sound is both exquisite and angular, and in this album he explores ideas of ‘translation’, legend and the divine. With his expanded tonality and employment of shimmering singing handbells in Translation, and the angelic use of the viola and cello in In paradisum he creates music of ravishing refinement. In Legend of the Walled-In Woman Ešenvalds transcribes and employs an authentic Albanian folk song. Full Article
or 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
or 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
or 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
or WIDOR, C.-M.: Organ Symphonies (Complete), Vol. 2 - Nos. 3 and 4 (Rübsam) (8.574195) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMT Charles-Marie Widor was a hugely influential and venerated musician in his day, and his innovative organ symphonies are both a pinnacle of the repertoire and a testament to his creative and technical mastery of the instrument. These spectacular works are in the grand Romantic manner, but Widor was keenly aware of his musical ancestry, referring to music of the past such as Bach’s St Matthew Passion in the opening of the Third Symphony. The Scherzo of the Fourth Symphony is one of Widor’s finest symphonic movements, exploring the organ’s sonic beauties. The original E major Scherzo from the Symphony No. 2, which Widor subsequently replaced with a Salve Regina (see Volume 1: 8.574161), can be heard on Track 6. Full Article
