v Violin Recital: Arnoldi, Roberto - ANZAGHI, D. / ARNOLDI, N. / GARBARINO, G. / SPINOSA, R. / VACCHI, F. (New Music for Solo Violin) (TC940003) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
v VERDI, G.: Due Foscari (I) [Opera] (Coro del Teatro Regio di Parma, Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini, Orchestra Giovanile della Via Emilia, Arrivabeni) (CDS7865.02) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
v VERDI, G.: Attila [Opera] (I. D'Arcangelo, Monastyrska, S. La Colla, G. Petean, Bavarian Radio Chorus, Munich Radio Orchestra, Repušić) (900330) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
v TCHAIKOVSKY, P.I.: Sacred Choral Works - Vesper Service / Hymn in honour of SS Cyril and Methodius (Latvian Radio Choir, Kļava) (ODE1352-2) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
v SKORYK, M.: Violin Concertos (Complete), Vol. 2 - Nos. 5-9 (Bielow, Ukraine National Symphony, Sirenko) (8.574089) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT Myroslav Skoryk is one of Ukraine’s leading composers and teachers, with a portfolio of works that include opera, a symphonic transcription of Paganini’s Caprices, and a cycle of nine violin concertos written over a 45-year span (Volume 1 is on 8.574088). Concerto No. 5 utilises jazz elements and a vivid fugato, while Concerto No. 6 explores the use of sensual moods and provocative dance rhythms. Syncopation and lyricism suffuse Concerto No. 7, while No. 9 is both touching and dramatic. Concerto No. 8 offers a representation of events in Chopin’s life through quotations, in combination with Skoryk’s own distinctive musical voice. Full Article
v SINIGAGLIA, L.: String Quartet Works (Complete), Vol. 1 - String Quartet, Op. 27 / Brahms Variations / Hora Mystica (Archos Quartet) (8.574183) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT The renowned Italian composer and mountaineer Leone Sinigaglia wrote a fascinating series of pieces for string quartet that reflect his powers of characterisation and elegance. Flowing melodies can be heard throughout, not least in the Concert-Étude, Op. 5, while the more substantial Variations on a Theme of Brahms, Op. 22 display his technical skill and expressive variety, whether reflective, sombre or exuberant. His String Quartet in D major, Op. 27 exemplifies his dual inheritance: a commanding central European facility, combined with a natural Italian lyricism. Full Article
v SIERRA, R.: Cantares / Loíza / Triple Concierto (Trío Arbós, Cornell University Chorus and Glee Club, Xalapa Symphony, Marcelletti) (8.559876) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT Roberto Sierra’s refined compositional voice is subtly combined with contemporary musical techniques and his Puerto Rican heritage in the three works recorded here. Cantares, commissioned by the Cornell University Chorus and Glee Club to celebrate the university’s sesquicentennial anniversary, evokes ancient Peruvian, Aztec and Afro Caribbean voices lost in time. The virtuoso Triple Concierto transforms the popular Caribbean rhythms of salsa, bolero and merengue into complex contemporary expressions, while the polyrhythmic layers of Loíza conjure a Puerto Rican town known for its strong African traditions. Full Article
v SCHARWENKA, P.: Piano Trio, Op. 121 / Duo for Violin and Viola / Viola Sonata / 4 Concert Pieces (Breuninger, Berthaud, Triendl) (C5391) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
v 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
v 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
v 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
v 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
v Piano Music (French) - BOULEZ, P. / DEBUSSY, C. / MESSIAEN, O. / RAVEL, M. (Rare French Piano Music) (van Raat) (8.573894) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT This album of French piano rarities features seldom-heard and recently discovered works by composers who had an influence on Pierre Boulez, as well as the premiere recording of Boulez’s Prélude, Toccata et Scherzo. This large-scale early work looks back on virtuosic Romantic music, while at the same time exploring the new compositional styles that Boulez would subsequently embrace. Among the rarities is a posthumously discovered piano study by Debussy, a reconstructed birdsong work by Messiaen, and a tiny masterpiece by Ravel found in a notebook. Full Article
v Opéra-Comique Overtures - BOIELDIEU, F.-A. / DELIBES, L. / GOUNOD, C.-F. / HALÉVY, F. / HÉROLD, F. / LECOCQ, C. (Vienna Radio Symphony, M. Halász) (8.574122) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT Opéra-comique emerged in the 19th century as an intermediary between grand opera and burlesque operetta. This album charts its progression as a distinct genre, tracing the origins from Boieldieu and Méhul early in the century via the classic vitality of masters such as Hérold and Maillart into the operetta style of Offenbach and Lecocq. With innovative features, colourful orchestration, drama, wit and atmospheric writing, the operas proved very popular and these overtures encapsulate their immense vivacity and charm. Full Article
v MAYR, J.S.: Due duchesse (Le) [Opera] (M. Schäfer, T.M. Herbert, Bavarian State Opera Chorus, Simon Mayr Choir, Concerto de Bassus, Hauk) (8.660422-23) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT As one of the leading operatic composers of his generation, Johann Simon Mayr nurtured a fascination with the chivalric stories of medieval England. Le due duchesse, an opera semiseria with buffa elements, is set during the reign of the 10th-century King Edgar. Huntsmen’s and Knights’ choruses and troubadour-like songs give great vivacity to a score that is both lyrical and dramatic. Mayr’s compound of Viennese Classicism and Italianate melodic beauty, allied to his ambitious writing and a skilful libretto, produced an important and influential opera couched in his own unmistakable idiom. Full Article
v LISZT, F.: Wanderer Fantasy / SCHUBERT, F.: Piano Sonata No. 13 / BRAHMS, J.: Handel Variations (C. Park, Eschenbach) (C5412) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
v HAUG, H.: Guitar Concertino / Wind Quintet / Guitar Quintet (Minder, Basel Philharmonic Quintet, Il Piccola Orchestra, Zemtsov) (8.551426) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
v HARSÁNYI, T.: Piano Works (Complete), Vol. 2 (Koukl) (GP807) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT The Hungarian-born composer Tibor Harsányi is now recognised as an important personality in ‘L’École de Paris’. He had a lifelong interest in modern dance, represented here by the Petite suite and Trois Pièces de danse, and he also embraced jazz, which was part of the Parisian atmosphere of the inter-war period, and other influences, while keeping the Central European rhythms and tonalities of his Hungarian origins. The Trois Pièces lyriques is a rare example of Harsányi expressing torment during the turbulent years of the Second World War. Full Article
v 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
v GROVEN, E.: Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2 (Kristiansand Symphony, Szilvay) (8.573871) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT Many interwar Norwegian composers tried to create a new national music by combining elements of authentic folk music with new techniques. Eivind Groven was considered one of the most innovative composers in this quest, integrating the structure of folk dances from his rural upbringing into familiar formal principles. Both symphonies make use of techniques of so-called ‘progressive transformation’, which led fellow composer Arne Nordheim to declare: ‘While others made instrumentations of folk tunes, Groven created sounds, for example in his [two] symphonies which, in my opinion, are quite unique.’ Full Article
v FRANCK, C.: Psyché (version for choir and orchestra) / Le Chasseur maudit / Les Éolides (RCS Voices, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Tingaud) (8.573955) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT César Franck was a childhood prodigy who gained later renown as an organist and teacher. His compositions received scant attention until the success of Le Chasseur maudit, a symphonic morality tale that vividly portrays the ‘accursed huntsman’ from his defiance of the Sabbath to a dramatic chase and a horrific fate. Les Éolides is infused with Wagnerian colours and depicts the mythological Aeolids as they reawaken nature with their song. Franck’s lushly orchestrated final symphonic poem Psyché expresses the power of love in dreams and a passionate union. Full Article
v 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
v DOPPLER, F. and K.: Flute Music (Complete), Vol. 10 (Arimany) (C5304) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
v CHINA Folk Music of China, Vol. 6: Folk Songs of China's Tajik and Russian Minorities (NXW76093-2) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT This album features folk songs from the Tajik and Russian ethnic minority groups living in the western and northwestern areas of Xinjiang, China. These folk songs have an earthy beauty that is theirs alone. Many of the Tajik songs featured here are accompanied by the Rewap—an ancient stringed instrument made from mulberry trunks. The sound is similar to that of an acoustic guitar, but the tone is brighter and more elastic. Many of the Russian songs feature the Bayan (a type of accordion) and the Balalaika. Full Article
v Cello Quartet Recital: Kolophonistinnen (Die) - BRAMBÖCK, F. / STRAUSS I, J. / STRAUSS II, J. / SHOSTAKOVICH, D. / TANSMAN, A. (Heldinnenleben) (Gramola99218) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
v BURHANS, C.: Evensong [Bonus Tracks Version] (Burhans) (CA-21094A) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Mon, 04 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
v BOULEZ, P.: Incises (revised version, 2001) (van Raat) (9.70294) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT This digital single complements Naxos 8.573894, an album of French piano rarities also performed by Ralph van Raat. Full Article
v BERSA, B.: Piano Works (Complete), Vol. 2 (Filipec) (GP832) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT As with the first volume in this series (GP767), Blagoje Bersa’s piano works are organised according to their character and tonality rather than chronologically. They include elements of transcription drawing on Mozart and Beethoven but also characterful barcarolles that evoke Italian music, a taut and witty Bizarre Serenade, a simple but affecting Mélancolie, and an invitation to a Viennese ballroom in the Valzer, Op. 3. Full Article
v BELEVI, K.: Guitar Duos - Cyprian Rhapsodies Nos. 1-4 / Suite Chypre / Turkish Suite (Duo Tandem) (8.574081) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT Kemal Belevi’s music is steeped in the colours and atmosphere of the eastern Mediterranean, and his aim is ‘to create beautiful music’ based on melodies and rhythms that have been absorbed from the folk music of Greece, Turkey and the Middle East. Belevi’s own arrangements of works such as the evocative Suite Chypre and the richly varied Cyprian Rhapsodies have significantly extended the repertoire for two guitars. The Duo Tandem are drawn towards this composer’s skilful modernity and his celebration of traditional heritage reimagined within the sound world of the classical guitar. Full Article
v BEETHOVEN, L. van: Symphonies / Concertos / Overtures (Cologne Radio Symphony, South West German Radio Symphony, Baden-Baden, Rosbaud) (SWR19089CD) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
v BEETHOVEN, L. van: Piano Concertos (Complete) (Mustonen, Tapiola Sinfonietta) (ODE1359-2T) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
v BEETHOVEN, L. van: Folk Songs (Bohnet, D. Johannsen, Klimbacher, Herzer, Christelbauer, B. Bartos) (8.574174) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT George Thomson of Edinburgh, a notable promoter of Scottish music, encouraged settings of his nation’s folk songs. In particular, he found a rich source of arrangements in Vienna, where he commissioned first Haydn and then Beethoven to set a large sequence of poems, including those of Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott. Thomson envisaged simple works, agreeable to amateurs, but Beethoven found it impossible to compose within such limitations and his settings, which include Irish and Welsh songs, with the accompaniment of strings and piano, have proved perennially popular. Full Article
v BEETHOVEN, L. van: Celebrate Beethoven – Keyboard Music (9.30211) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
v BEETHOVEN, L. van: Best of Beethoven (Biret) (8.504055) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT “Love of Beethoven’s works threads through Idil Biret’s life like a red ribbon. Her studio recordings and live concerts show this in an unequivocal language… Next to all the Piano Concertos and the Choral Fantasy she has also performed on stage and recorded (on 19 CDs) all the Piano Sonatas and Symphony Transcriptions becoming perhaps the only artist to reach this level of completeness… This knowledge of Beethoven one hears in every nuance in Idil Biret’s playing.” – Carsten Dürer (editor) Piano News (Germany) 2021 “Idil Biret not only recorded all nine of the Beethoven symphonies in less than a year but, in a superhuman feat which astounded all those who know about music she also publicly performed all of them in four recitals at the Montpellier Festival in France. To learn and also memorise scores of such length and difficulty in such a short time is a mind-boggling achievement.” – Peter Cossé Fono Forum (Germany) 1986 “Idil Biret, who arriving in Paris at the age of seven astonished Alfred Cortot, Wilhelm Kempff and Marc Pincherle, remains a remarkable pianist who combines brilliant technical skill with the subdued touch, the interior voices, or her mentor Cortot… At her Paris recital, Beethoven’s Sonata Op. 106 Hammerklavier brought us the fighter, armed from top to toe, like a valiant Clorinde, combining the most beautiful of styles with a fabulous virtuosity.” – Le Monde (France) 1981 Full Article
v ABEL, M.: Intuition's Dance / 4 Poems of Marina Tsvetaeva / The Elastic Hours / Clarinet Trio (The Cave of Wondrous Voice) (Shifrin, Sherry, Plitmann) (DE3570) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
v ART OF OHAD NAHARIN (THE), Vol. 2 - Sadeh21 [Ballet] (Batsheva Dance Company, 2018) (NTSC) (BAC172) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Tue, 01 Oct 2019 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
v ART OF OHAD NAHARIN (THE), Vol. 2 - Sadeh21 [Ballet] (Batsheva Dance Company, 2018) (Blu-ray, Full-HD) (BAC472) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Tue, 01 Oct 2019 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
v TCHAIKOVSKY, P.I.: Eugene Onegin [Opera] (Bolshoi Opera, 2008) (NTSC) (BAC246) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 Nov 2019 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
v TCHAIKOVSKY, P.I.: Eugene Onegin [Opera] (Bolshoi Opera, 2008) (Blu-ray, Full-HD) (BAC446) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Fri, 01 Nov 2019 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
v TCHAIKOVSKY, P.I.: Swan Lake [Ballet] (Kiev National Ballet, 2019) (NTSC) (BAC174) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sun, 01 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
v TCHAIKOVSKY, P.I.: Swan Lake [Ballet] (Kiev National Ballet, 2019) (Blu-ray, Full-HD) (BAC574) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sun, 01 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
v LAZAR, B. / CHEMLA, J. / HUBERT, F.: Traviata [Opera] (after A. Dumas (fils) and G. Verdi) (Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, 2017) (NTSC) (BAC156) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
v LAZAR, B. / CHEMLA, J. / HUBERT, F.: Traviata [Opera] (after A. Dumas (fils) and G. Verdi) (Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, 2017) (Blu-ray, Full-HD) (BAC456) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
v GALERIE DORÉE - The 300th Anniversary Concert (Devos, Le Concert de la Loge, Chauvin) (NTSC) (BAC171) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
v GALERIE DORÉE - The 300th Anniversary Concert (Devos, Le Concert de la Loge, Chauvin) (Blu-ray, Full-HD) (BAC571) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
v JANÁČEK, L.: From the House of the Dead [Opera] (Bavarian State Opera, 2018) (NTSC) (BAC173) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sat, 01 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
v JANÁČEK, L.: From the House of the Dead [Opera] (Bavarian State Opera, 2018) (Blu-ray, Full-HD) (BAC573) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Sat, 01 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
v VERDI, G.: Falstaff [Opera] (Teatro Real, 2019) (NTSC) (BAC177) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
v VERDI, G.: Falstaff [Opera] (Teatro Real, 2019) (Blu-ray, Full-HD) (BAC477) By www.naxos.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
v Young Knives - Sheep Tick By www.music-news.com Published On :: Wed, 25 Mar 2020 00:39:00 Z Further wails of the unexpected Full Article
