Musique pour tous

22/12/2023

This album presents the complete works Ligeti composed for string quartet between 1950 and 1968. The two numbered string quartets are predated by a lyrical early Andante and Allegretto, the folk-music inflections of which pre-echo the hints of Bartók in the first quartet, Métamorphoses nocturnes. The calculated anarchy, dynamic extremes and sublime atmospheres of the Second Quartet present Ligeti at his most distinctive. These spectacular works are performed here by the Verona Quartet, firmly established as one of the most distinguished ensembles on the chamber music scene today. Available on Amazon.ca https://amzn.to/3va5EYM

21/12/2023

Unlike many modern composers of his day, Bruno Maderna did not renounce the memory nor the traditions of the past, seeing contemporary music as having the same expressive and linguistic goals as old music but organised in a different way. The works in this recording represent the important role melody had in Maderna’s aesthetic, the lyrical significance of Widmung and Aulodia per Lothar seeing their recurrence in later pieces. Serenata No. 2 recalls the spirit of Webern, Serenata per un satellite is like a musical game, and the multi-stylistic Venetian Journal is a merciless social, human and musical satire.

Available on Amazon.ca https://amzn.to/482fgTO

20/12/2023

For its final concert of the 2021–22 season and Osmo Vänskä’s last as artistic director, the Minnesota Orchestra chose to present Mahler’s mammoth Eighth Symphony, which calls for one of the largest complement of performers in the history of music, a symbol of the communitarian spirit of collective cultural, social and religious-philosophical endeavour in what has been referred to as a ‘Mass for the Masses’. Mahler’s Eighth Symphony, unlike his others, reveals no contrary despairing voice. It is instead a monumentally affirmative expression of human spiritual achievement achieved through the union of two seemingly incompatible texts: the Latin hymn Veni Creator Spiritus and the conclusion of the second part of Goethe’s Faust. Its première in Munich in September 1910 gave rise to the greatest triumph of Mahler’s career, and a rollcall of European royalty and the artistic élite attended the final public rehearsal and the performances. The Minnesota Orchestra and Osmo Vänskä are here joined by Carolyn Sampson, Jacquelyn Wagner, Sasha Cooke, Jess Dandy, Barry Banks, Julian Orlishausen, Christian Immler as well as the Minnesota Chorale, the National Lutheran Choir, the Minnesota Boychoir and the Angelica Cantanti Youth Choir.

Available at Amazon.ca https://amzn.to/48nZL8D

19/12/2023

Premiered in 1951, ‘Amahl and the Night Visitors’ was the first opera specifically composed for television, though Gian Carlo Menotti admitted that he had conceived it for the stage. The magical story tells of Amahl, a disabled boy who befriends the Three Kings when they stop at his house on their journey to see the newborn Jesus. Amahl decides to give his crutch to Jesus, at which point his leg is miraculously healed. Long a Christmas favourite, this new Viennese production, sung in German, boldly re-examines the story finding its key elements to be fantasy, empathy and the enduring power of love.

Available now at Amazon.com https://amzn.to/48g49qk

18/12/2023

José Antônio de Almeida Prado was one of the most prolific and creative Brazilian composers of the second half of the 20th century, finding inspiration in everything from the birdsong and forests of his native country to a contemplation of the galaxies. The evocative Le Livre magique de Xangô is considered a foundational work in Almeida Prado’s final, eclectic postmodern phase, during which folk music also re-emerged in works such as Das Cirandas. The lively Solo Violin Sonata and lyrical Capriccio both explore the violin’s full expressive potential, while The Four Seasons tests the skill of younger players.

Pre order on Amazon.com https://amzn.to/41ySdha

15/12/2023

The Ukrainian mezzo-soprano Zoryana Kushpler Mezzo Soprano was a member of the Vienna State Opera ensemble from 2007 to 2020 and regularly performs as an opera and lieder singer on major international stages and at festivals. Kushpler pays particular attention to music from and around her home country. Less than six months after the start of Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine, she gathered the Luhansk Symphony Orchestra, which had fled its homeland in its entirety, in Lviv/Lemberg to record opera arias by Ukrainian composers and arrangements of Ukrainian folk songs for this CD production in collaboration with conductor Ivan Ostapovych. The resulting album "Ukrainian InterMezzo" offers an insight into the work of the most important Ukrainian composers such as Mykola Lysenko, Julij Mejtus, Borys Ljatoschynskyj, Oles Tschyshko, Viktor Matyuk, Anatoliy Kos-Anatolsky or Oleh Kiwa, which is characterized by the special local colour and themes such as love, longing and homeland. You can stream here: https://naxos.lnk.to/Gramola99302Na

14/12/2023

On this recording, the Salzburg violinist Thomas Albertus Irnberger performs violin concertos by Joseph Haydn with the Munich Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra dacapo under the direction of Franz Schottky. According to musicological research, the authorship and precise background to the composition of many of Haydn's instrumental concertos is still often unclear, as they were primarily intended to give the individually outstanding members of the princely Esterházy court orchestra the opportunity to perform as soloists and were therefore treated rather neglected by Haydn in his own personal catalog of works. Haydn's authorship of the concertos for violin and orchestra in C major, Hob. VIIa:1 and G major, Hob. VIIa:4 recorded here, however, is considered certain. The Concerto for Violin, Harpsichord and String Orchestra in F major Hob. XVIII:6 is a rarity as a double concerto and is performed by Barbara Moser on a historical fortepiano.
You can listen now here: https://bit.ly/3uSTSlc

13/12/2023

The adopted daughter of the poet and playwright Giulio Strozzi, himself the illegitimate son of the Venice banker Roberto Strozzi of Florentine origin, Barbara Strozzi was born in Venice and was a pupil of Cavalli. Talented as a singer and composer, she performed regularly at Strozzi’s house for the Accademia degli Unisoni, one of the learned societies of the time, in the meetings of which music played an important part. You can stream here: https://naxos.lnk.to/900938Na

12/12/2023

Maderna’s instrumental compositions include three oboe concertos, Quadrivium for four percussionists and four orchestral groups, works of conventional instrumentation, and electronic music. He wrote music for films and for television, and his Hyperion, described as a lirica in forma di spettaculo (‘a lyric in dramatic form’), in its various versions, gave rise to a concert work. Available now here: https://naxos.lnk.to/CDS8008Na

11/12/2023

The Italian composer Cavalli was possibly the most important composer of Italian opera in the third quarter of the 17th century. Recent revivals of his work in the theatre have served to bring his name before a more general public. He became a choirboy at St Mark’s in Venice in 1616 and enjoyed a subsequent close working relationship with Monteverdi, maestro di musica of the basilica. He wrote music for the theatre and the church. Available now on Amazon.com https://amzn.to/3RDIAdq

08/12/2023

Angel Stanislav Wang, winner of the 63rd Jaén Prize International Piano Competition in 2022, presents his Naxos debut recital with a selection of works he performed during the competition. Liszt’s Piano Sonata in B minor is an undisputed masterpiece of the Romantic era, while Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet in G minor is one of the most intense and eloquent chamber works of the 20th century. Spanish music is always present at Jaén and is represented here by a selection from Granados’s Goyescas, and by Laura Vega’s competition commission Poema a un amor eterno – a work of intense emotion, calling upon the pianist to be more of a poet or rhapsodist than a virtuoso.
Available now here: https://naxos.lnk.to/8574569NA

07/12/2023

Giovanni Sgambati led the revival of Italian orchestral music during the late 19th century. He was a favourite student of Liszt, admired by Wagner, and a pivotal figure in the emancipation of his country’s music from the dominance of bel canto opera. The Piano Concerto in G minor is a stirring and inventive work signalling a new beginning for Italian piano music on the international stage. It offers a synthesis of the possibilities of the genre, evoking Liszt, Brahms and Tchaikovsky, as Sgambati constantly transforms his thematic material to heroic effect. Sinfonia festiva is a short, confidently written work inspired by the dance-like character of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony.

Available now here: https://naxos.lnk.to/8573272NA

06/12/2023

Billy Arcila, raised in Medellín, Colombia, has lived in the United States for over 40 years, where he teaches and performs as one of California’s foremost guitarists. This album, the first to be made of Arcila’s music, contains works ranging across his entire compositional life, from his first published work to the most recent. Interspersed with the music of other admired composers which exploit nationalist elements, such as the bambuco and pasillo rhythms, Arcila’s autobiographical guitar music embraces the nostalgic, the verdant and the vibrant.

Available now here: https://naxos.lnk.to/8574488NA

30/11/2023

This is the first recording of a new edition of the Mozart Requiem prepared by Michael Ostrzyga (Barenreiter). The performance features an international line-up of soloists from France, Germany, Switzerland and the UK. The inclusion of Mozart’s Ave verum corpus and the Exsultate, jubilate represents excellent value. ICA Classics
Available now on Amazon.ca https://amzn.to/3R3DYvW

29/11/2023

Leoš Janácek and the generation younger Béla Bartók and Igor Stravinsky were major 20th-century composers markedly influenced by folk music, bringing it to bear in their own creations. Janácek and Bartók also keenly devoted to folklore as theoreticians and collected folk songs around the villages. Stravinsky, for his part, was mesmerised by folk rituals. A case in point is Les noces, which in four choreographed scenes depicts Russian wedding customs. Available now on Amazon.ca https://amzn.to/40UBapv

28/11/2023

Marianela Nuñez and Vadim Muntagirov star as Cinderella and The Prince in Frederick Ashton’s timeless reworking of Charles Perrault’s famous rags-to-riches story, showcasing the choreographer’s deft musicality and the beauty of Prokofiev’s transcendent score. A creative team steeped in the magic of theatre, film, dance and opera brings new atmosphere to Cinderella’s ethereal world of fairy godmothers and pumpkin carriages, handsome princes and finding true love. Available now here: https://naxos.lnk.to/OA1378DNa

27/11/2023

The next instalment in this popular series now focuses on the life and music of Mendelssohn. This insightful biography explores the breadth of his achievements, the complexities of his privileged upbringing, and the reasons for the fluctuating nature of his reputation. Written by Davinia Caddy, narrated by Leighton Pugh, and featuring many musical excerpts include the Violin Concerto, String Octet and Elijah, as well as his choral works, symphonies, sonatas and songs.

Available on Amazon.ca https://amzn.to/3RbApoL

24/11/2023

Stellar violinist Laurence Kayaleh Violinist returns with her latest album of unjustly neglected repertoire – the violin sonatas of Polish composers Zygmunt Noskowski and Wladyslaw Zelenski. Both composers were leading exponents of Polish nationalism in the period from the last quarter of the 19th century. Kayaleh is accompanied by pianist Bernadene Blaha. You can order on Archambault https://bit.ly/3MWcfvH

23/11/2023

"Gravé avec le Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester de Berlin juste avant Noël 2022, ce CD est un hommage des Tetzlaff à leur ami Lars Vogt, décédé le 5 septembre 2022. Les Tetzlaff, qui, avec Vogt, formaient un trio admirable, apparaissent ici comme investis d’une mission. Leur approche, haletante mais toujours humaine, tranche avec les nombreuses versions du Double concerto où des solistes viennent se pavaner et faire étalage de leur beau son. Une ardeur si bienvenue est évidemment parfaitement relayée par la direction de Paavo Järvi (il remplace Robin Ticciati, initiateur du projet), dont on connaît les mordantes interprétations de Beethoven, de Brahms et de Schumann. Le moment le plus surprenant de cette nouvelle version est l’andante, si chantant qu’il en devient presque fiévreux. La surprise du disque est l’adjonction du 22e Concerto pour violon de Viotti, oeuvre disparue du répertoire et dont l’interprétation d’Arthur Grumiaux en 1970 était entrée dans la légende. Plus de 50 ans après, revoilà ce petit bijou illuminé par Christian Tetzlaff" Christophe Huss pour Le Devoir 👉 https://bit.ly/49MNwnw Ondine

23/11/2023

The Valencia Baryton Project return with their second instalment of Haydn’s fascinating trios for baryton, viola and cello. The baryton is a bowed, stringed instrument similar to the viol but with extra plucked strings that enable the performers to accompany themselves. Volume 1 (8.574188) was widely acclaimed for the ensemble’s well attuned performances and also for showcasing this virtually unknown repertoire from Haydn’s vast output.

Available now on Amazon.ca https://amzn.to/40RQG5o

21/11/2023

This album of rarely heard piano music by Mendelssohn displays the composer’s wide emotional range and features two youthful sonatas, composed when he was just eleven years old. Pianist Christopher Williams has previously recorded acclaimed albums of music by Semyon Barmotin for Grand Piano (GP799, 865, 866)and makes his Naxos label debut with this album.

This Friday here: https://naxos.lnk.to/8574509Na

20/11/2023

Tom Winpenny conducts this album of choral works by Elizabeth Poston (1905–1987) – an English composer renowned for her great sensitivity of word setting, a profound appreciation of ancient folk-song traditions, and timeless melodic charm. Performed by the Cathedral Girls Choir and Lay Clerks from St Albans Cathedral, located in her native Hertfordshire – this is the first album to be dedicated entirely to Poston’s work. Includes many world premiere recordings.

This Friday here: https://naxos.lnk.to/8574576Na

16/11/2023

Sebastian Weigle conducts this acclaimed Oper Frankfurt production of Rimsky-Korsakov’s operatic rarity Christmas Eve. This CD version is taken from the same live performances as the DVD/Blu-ray, released in November 2022 (2.110738 and NBD0154V). Rimsky-Korsakov blends Christian and pagan elements, Ukrainian folk songs and carols, and atmospheric orchestral interludes in this vivacious and fantastical village romance. Available now here: https://naxos.lnk.to/866054344Na

15/11/2023

Edino Krieger (1928–2022) was a leading figure in Brazilian music as both composer and arts director who influenced a generation of his compatriots during his long life. Neil Thomson conducts the Goiás Philharmonic Orchestra in an album of works from Krieger’s final creative phase, considered his peak of artistic maturity. Fanfarra e Sequências is a world premiere recording. Available now here: https://naxos.lnk.to/8574408Na Naxos

14/11/2023

Peter Graham is one of the leading brass band composers of his generation and this album is yet another celebration of his long association with the Black D**e Band. Includes five world premiere recordings, plus The Triumph of Time – a virtuoso showpiece for band, and one of Graham’s signature compositions. Available now here:
https://naxos.lnk.to/8574563Na Naxos

13/11/2023

Previously released on The Gift of Music label. David Hill is widely respected as a choral conductor. This album features music for Advent, Christmas and Epiphany for mixed voice choirs, blending the old (O come, o come, Emmanuel; Coventry Carol) and the new (Eric Whitacre’s Lux aurumque), in a superb celebration of the festive season..
Available now here: https://naxos.lnk.to/8574575Na Naxos

10/11/2023

“Which album is that song on?” is a question I often get asked after a concert at signings. Since our set lists invariably include a mixture of old and new repertoire, the answer is sometimes, “it’s not on any album.” This album is therefore a collection of those songs. It’s a response to all those people who have said over the years, somewhat disappointed, “you haven’t recorded If You Go Away?” and so on. This is also the first time I’ve recorded a song twice on the same album. If You Go Away entered my repertoire in 2018 when Jim wrote an orchestral arrangement for a concert in Paris. I was also singing Jacques Brel’s original, Ne me quitte pas, from time to time. But whatever the language, someone would ask why I hadn’t sung it in the other. Some singers have responded by interpolating both languages into the same version. Since both sets of lyrics are beautiful on their own terms and are equally deserving of inclusion, I chose to record them both. So, whilst not exactly a requests album, Summer Me, Winter Me is a response to that informal and unscientific sounding, a representative selection of some of these “requests”. With love, SK. Available now at Archambault https://bit.ly/3QRrWXr
Stacey Kent naïve

09/11/2023

"After releasing my album Portrait: Philip Glass in 2008, I wanted to take a deeper dive into the vast œuvre of this composer, an icon of our era and one whose work has and will long continue to have impact. For many years now his fascinating and captivating music has been nourishing me intellectually and musically. Glass being one of the most prolific of composers, there was no shortage of works to include on this my 48th album. My selection approach remains the same; I choose those works I find significant and compelling. Like Glass’ work as a whole, the content of this album is very diverse: music for theatre and for cinema, for chamber and for symphony orchestra, and recent works as well as some written almost 50 years ago! Thank you for giving me carte blanche to revisit these works with my ensemble." (Angèle Dubeau). Available also on Amazon.ca https://amzn.to/3u4kAHl Analekta

08/11/2023

The Doric String Quartet is firmly established as one of the leading quartets of its generation, receiving enthusiastic responses from audiences and critics around the globe. Celebrating their 25th anniversary, the Quartet here embarks on a significant new recording project – the complete string quartets by Beethoven. This first volume combines works from Beethoven’s early, middle, and late period.
Available on Amazon.com https://amzn.to/465wPk0

07/11/2023

October 29, 1923 was a date steeped in history. In the middle of a year of political and economic crises, the age of public radio in Germany was ushered in with the first broadcast of the "Berliner Funkstunde" (Berlin Radio Hour) from the attic of an office building on Potsdamer Platz. - Radio offered entirely new possibilities for the production and reception of music.

Available at Amazon.ca https://amzn.to/47mFeRf

06/11/2023

Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos was also an accomplished guitarist and cellist, and his wonderful music for the latter instrument takes full advantage of the lyrical and dramatic capabilities of the instrument. In this podcast, Raymond Bisha explores a new recording of his two Cello Concertos, together with his Fantasia for Cello and Orchestra, that features solo cellist Antonio Meneses and the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra conducted by Isaac Karabtchevsky.

Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos was also an accomplished guitarist and cellist, and his wonderful music for the latter instrument takes full advantage of the lyrical and dramatic capabilities…

06/11/2023

It was never even an unofficial club of composers like the Russian “Mighty Handful” or the French “Les Six”. And yet, there are striking commonalities among a group of Soviet composers all born in the 1930s. They were hailed from ethnic minorities in the Russia-dominated Soviet Union and they defied the cultural-political directives which eventually led them to find a post-ideological musical language – guided by a personal faith – that enchants listeners to this day with its unique beauty. Giya Kancheli, born in Tbilisi in 1935, is one of them. A fellow composer called him “an ascetic with the temperament of a maximalist – a restrained Vesuvius.” The works on this disc – for and with the piano – display exactly that side of his: To be able to make time seemingly stand still… while continuing to dance.
Available now on Amazon.ca https://amzn.to/3suQJqV

03/11/2023

« Après mon album Portrait: Philip Glass, sorti en 2008, j’ai eu le goût de replonger dans l’œuvre colossale de ce compositeur iconique de notre époque. Son œuvre a et aura encore longtemps un impact sur la vie musicale. La musique de Glass m’a toujours fascinée. Elle m’envoûte et, depuis bien des années, me nourrit et m’a fait grandir intellectuellement et musicalement. Compositeur des plus prolifique, le choix d’œuvres ne manquait pas. Avec la même approche, vous trouverez ici, dans ce 48e album, des œuvres significatives qui m’ont interpellée. Une grande diversité, à l’image de son œuvre : Des musiques pour le théâtre, le cinéma, orchestre de chambre ou symphonique. Des œuvres plus anciennes et d’autres plus récentes, étalées sur près de 50 ans! Merci de m’avoir donné ""carte blanche"" pour ces œuvres que j’ai revisitées pour mon ensemble. » Angèle Dubeau

Nouveauté Analekta en vente chez Archambault https://bit.ly/3QFTjng

27/10/2023

Zoltán Kodály’s orchestral output is relatively small but brimming with Hungarian spirit. JoAnn Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic (BPO) present one of the composer’s most popular works, the Háry János Suite, alongside Summer Evening and the Symphony in C major. Falletta and the BPO’s acclaimed previous Kodály album is on 8.573838. Available at L'Atelier Grigorian https://bit.ly/48FTnup

24/10/2023

Hélène Grimaud headlines a spectacular evening with the illustrious Camerata Salzburg, directed from the front desk by concertmaster Giovanni Guzzo, at the famed Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. She selected pieces that are all in minor keys yet composed during intensely creative periods in both Mozart’s and Schumann’s careers. Mozart did not write many works in minor tonalities but Grimaud chose it, because it “provides a glimpse behind the mask of jollity that surrounds many of his famous works.“ As an encore: a work by another composer to have accompanied Grimaud through much of her career, Valentin Silvestrov. “Hélène Grimaud and the Salzburg Camerata hypnotise the audience in Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie on this unforgettable evening with piano concertos of the early romantic era of Mozart and Schumann that are unique in terms of sound.“ (https://bit.ly/3QsL4el)
Pre order on Amazon.ca https://amzn.to/3QoLGS5

23/10/2023

This podcast features Raymond Bisha in conversation with conductor Kenneth Kiesler about the rediscovery, rescue and reconstruction of two operas by James P. Johnson (1894–1955). Renowned as an influential jazz pianist but with a lower profile as a composer of opera, it was Johnson’s express hope that two of his short stage works, written in the late 1930s, would one day form a double-bill. Which they did, but not until 2006, after a long swathe of tender loving care.

This podcast features Raymond Bisha in conversation with conductor Kenneth Kiesler about the rediscovery, rescue and reconstruction of two operas by James P. Johnson (1894–1955). Renowned as …

23/10/2023

Following her acclaimed début recital, Marina Staneva - Pianist returns with a programme of works by the Spanish-Catalan composer Federico Mompou. The programme opens with Paisajes (Landscapes), written in 1942, 1947, and 1960. The first two pieces are dedicated to the Catalan pianist Carmen Bravo, whom Mompou met after his return from Paris to Barcelona in 1942, and subsequently married. Mompou’s Variations on a Theme of Chopin were started in 1938, but completed in 1957 upon a commission from the Royal Ballet in London for a successor to The House of Birds (a 1955 ballet which used piano pieces by Mompou orchestrated by John Lanchbery). The Chopin ballet was never produced, but the piano variations remain. The twelve Cançons i danses (Songs and Dances) were composed between 1921 and 1962, and the form for each is broadly similar: a slow ‘cançó’ (song) followed by a more animated ‘dansa’ (dance), but the pattern sometimes varies, and these pieces are anything but formulaic. Mompou intended to provide ‘a contrast between lyricism and rhythm, to avoid one collection of songs and another of dances’. Available on Amazon.ca https://amzn.to/3QkDwKE

20/10/2023

The baritone Matthias Goerne, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Mikko Franck launch a trilogy of Shostakovich’s works for baritone and orchestra with a recording of Symphony No.14. Available at Amazon.ca https://amzn.to/45FCGfG

19/10/2023

Vivian Fung has long been a friend and admired composer of the Jasper String Quartet. The Quartet first performed one of her works in 2019, and we were immediately captivated by the visceral energy and impeccable craft of her writing. Vivian’s String Quartets Nos. 1–4 span 18 years of her career and reflect a remarkable journey of absorbing, integrating, and synthesizing a unique spectrum of influences into her compositional voice. Pre-order now on Amazon.ca https://amzn.to/3Qgisop
Sono Luminus

18/10/2023

Ravel composed his Piano Trio M67 just before enlisting voluntarily in the First World War. Inspired by the Basque country and its zortziko dance, the Trio ends with a sombre, almost anguished fourth movement. A mood inspired by the impending war? In his Piano Trio No.2, op.67, Shostakovich too is affected by the horrors of war and the death of a close friend. For the first time in the Russian composer’s output, we hear a Jewish theme, a danse macabre echoing the terrible events of the time. Another point in common between the two works is that both include a passacaglia. For the Busch Trio, it was self-evident that these two heart-rending works should be brought together on the same album. Available on Amazon.ca https://amzn.to/3FhJN3g