Naxos of Canada

12/12/2024

Cristian Carrara, born and educated in the Friuli region of north-east Italy, has earned critical admiration as one of the most creative composers of his generation. Clarity and directness inform much of his music, as does a sense of mystery, examples of which can be heard on this album. These recent works were composed during 2016–21 and focus on dialogues between a solo instrument and the orchestra. All are strongly narrative in character but, as The Devil’s Bridge shows, they are also informed by rhythmic vivacity and a rich variety of instrumental colour. Stream or buy now here: https://naxos.lnk.to/8579167Na

11/12/2024

Barry Douglas’s acclaimed survey of Schubert’s piano sonatas continues with this programme pairing the Sonata in E flat major, D 568 with the Sonata in G major, D 894. Published posthumously, the E flat major Sonata is a revision and completion of the D flat major Sonata, D 567. The original was written in June 1817, the revision soon afterwards. This sonata stands out in the canon for its light-hearted, easy-going character in contrast to the more serious nature of the other sonatas. The G major Sonata, the last to be published in Schubert’s lifetime, was completed in 1826. The work holds a special place for many pianists, including Imogen Cooper, Sviatoslav Richter, and Paul Lewis; the latter two have declared it their favourite, whilst Robert Schumann described it as ‘the most perfect in form and conception’ of any of Schubert’s sonatas. Douglas completes his programme with two Liszt transcriptions of Schubert songs: ‘Gretchen am Spinnrade’ and ‘Wohin?’ (from Die schöne Müllerin). Now on Amazon.ca https://amzn.to/3OJqnc9

10/12/2024

This volume of modern premières of works by Johann Friedrich Fasch (1688–1758) was recorded in concert, the programme opening the 2023 International Fasch Festival, in Zerbst, the city in which he was Capellmeister to the princely court. Tempesta di Mare has had an ongoing love affair with the orchestral music of Fasch that goes back to 2007, when the band received images of manuscript part books for several as-yet unpublished orchestral works held at the Dresden Library. They have been investigating, discovering, and performing works by Fasch every season since then, and recording those that have not already been recorded – this album is the fourth volume of such discoveries. One of the things that fascinate Tempesta di Mare about the music of Fasch, which goes beyond the craftsmanship, expressivity, inventiveness, and wit, is his very distinctive voice. Plenty of other central European composers of his time were content if their music could sound like that of Vivaldi, Corelli, or Telemann. Those influences remain clearly present in his music, but Fasch does not sound like any of them – nor, for that matter, like Bach, Handel, or any other of his contemporaries familiar to us. Chandos Records Stream or buy here: https://naxos.lnk.to/CHAN0829Na

09/12/2024

Heinrich Marschner’s role as Germany’s leading Romantic operatic composer in the generation between Weber and Wagner has tended to draw attention away from his accomplished chamber compositions. Marschner had a high regard for the piano trio genre, composing seven throughout his career, which won the admiration of his friends Robert and Clara Schumann. The Trio No. 1 in A minor is profusely lyrical and not without surprises and contrasts. Written three decades later, the Trio No. 7 in F major is a work of his maturity – assured, dramatic, and energetic. Stream or buy here: https://naxos.lnk.to/8574612NE

06/12/2024

Sergey Prokofiev’s spectacular music for Ivan the Terrible is arguably one of his finest film scores. This classic recording of the oratorio arranged by Abram Stasevich, conducted by Leonard Slatkin, is filled with Prokofiev’s irrepressible energy and eloquent melodic power. Ivan, the first ‘Tsar of all the Russias,’ is portrayed in the film not as the bloodthirsty tyrant his nickname suggests, but as a sorrowful and lonely man, betrayed by his friends, deprived of love, and determined at all costs to preserve a unified Russia under constant attack from abroad and treasonous intrigues at home.
Stream or buy here: https://naxos.lnk.to/VOXNX3045CDNa

05/12/2024

Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart was the youngest of six children born to Wolfgang Amadeus and his wife Constanze. Franz Xaver’s style was early Romantic, with compositions that were highly regarded by his contemporaries Schubert and Schumann. The Polonaise mélancolique was an ideal medium for Franz Xaver’s expressive melodies, and with some pieces anticipating Chopin, the Op. 17 collection forms a satisfying and substantial cycle. All of these works helped to establish Franz Xaver Mozart throughout Europe as a formidable concert pianist and composer. Grand Piano Records Listen or buy here: https://grandpiano.lnk.to/GP941Na

04/12/2024

Edward MacDowell was the most highly regarded American composer of his generation, and the first to acquire a truly international reputation. Born in New York, he briefly studied piano as a teenager at the Paris Conservatoire, but quickly left to explore what he regarded as the more congenial musical environment in Germany. He studied piano and composition in Stuttgart, Wiesbaden, and then Frankfurt. After graduating in 1880, he remained in Germany for four years, before returning home, first to Boston, for eight years, and then finally to New York where he became Columbia University’s first Professor of Music. The various romantic influences that shaped the style of the First Concerto include the music of Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Schumann, and Grieg, whilst the technical demands on the soloist reveal MacDowell’s prowess as a pianist. MacDowell’s enthusiasm for the symphonic poem is reflected here by the inclusion of Lancelot und Elaine and Lamia. The former was inspired by the Arthurian legend as told by Tennyson in his Idylls of the King. The work is extremely narrative, and employs Wagnerian Leitmotifs to depict each of the characters. Lamia, written some two years later and based on the poem by John Keats, was neither published nor performed in the composer’s lifetime. MacDowell had planned another symphonic poem, based on the French mediaeval tale La Chanson de Roland, but the work was never completed, and the two fragments included here are all that remain. Woodland Sketches, a set of ten piano miniatures, were inspired by the idyllic environment of the MacDowells’ farm, in New Hampshire. The first of these – ‘To a Wild Rose’ – is by far the composer’s most famous piece, and made MacDowell a household name in both America and Europe. This Friday on Amazon.ca https://amzn.to/3Zk5FED Chandos Records Xiayin Wang BBC Philharmonic

03/12/2024

Having sustained an injury to his left hand, Artur Malawski had to abandon his career as a virtuoso violinist and went on to become a successful teacher and composer in his native Poland. The Symphonic Études of 1947 brought him international recognition with its unorthodox design and powerful expression. The Overture shares something of his younger contemporary Lutoslawski’s resourcefulness, while the Toccata shows a similar adventurousness of spirit. The manuscript of Mountaineers’ Triptych has not survived complete – it is heard here in a realisation by Kazimierz Wilkomirski. Stream or buy here: https://naxos.lnk.to/8579159Na

02/12/2024

When young Japanese geisha Cio-Cio-San marries American naval officer Pinkerton, she believes she is entering a marriage for life. Forsaking her religion and community, she dreams of a future with her new husband, only to learn that for Pinkerton, their marriage is merely an illusion—one with tragic consequences. With its exquisite score, Giacomo Puccini’s poignant 1904 opera is as beautiful as it is shattering. Drawing inspiration from 19th-century European images of Japan, Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier’s production stars Asmik Grigorian, with Kevin John Edusei conducting. Now on Amazon.ca https://amzn.to/3ZdvMwX Opus Arte

29/11/2024

The three world premiere choral recordings on this album represent the enduring commitment of Musica Viva NY’s artistic director, Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez, to perform new works by living composers. Richard Einhorn’s The Luminous Ground is a deeply reflective and spiritually engaging work, while Gilda Lyons’ brilliantly written Momotombo is inspired by the spectacular volcanic landscape of Nicaragua. Joseph Turrin’s Crimson Roses Once Again Be Fair is a moving cantata that marks the centenary of the First World War Armistice in November of 1918 – the piece is dedicated to those who bravely fought and died, forever enshrined in history. Stream or buy here: https://naxos.lnk.to/8559944NE

28/11/2024

Deutsche Oper Berlin’s production of Massenet’s four-act version of Hérodiade features an outstanding cast, including the Australian soprano Nicole Car and Canadian baritone Étienne Dupuis. This live recording from June 2023 is conducted by Deutsche Oper Berlin’s principal guest conductor, Enrique Mazzola. Stream or buy here: https://naxos.lnk.to/866054041Na Naxos

27/11/2024

Two works by American composer Walter Arlen, who escaped Vienna when Hi**er invaded and moved to Chicago, where he worked as a journalist and composer. He died in Santa Monica at the age of 103 in 2022. The album features mezzo-soprano Anna Huntley, tenor Gwilym Bowen, baritone Thomas Mole, the English Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Women’s Chorus of Wales, and is conducted by Kenneth Woods.
Now on Amazon.ca https://amzn.to/4fIdifd Signum Records

26/11/2024

The six piano sonatas by Brazilian composer Claudio Santoro document the evolution of his creative and formal development, from twelve-tone technique to Brazilian nationalism. The sonatas are performed by the composer’s son, Alessandro Santoro.
Stream or by here: https://naxos.lnk.to/8574486Na

25/11/2024

Good things always come in threes. There was once the Concerto in Italian Style, BWV 971, reconfigured according to the by-then modern disposition advocated in Italy at the beginning of the 18th century (anthology Concerti italiani, 2004, OP30301). More recently, the Goldberg Variations, reimagined for a small string ensemble, crowned a fabulous apotheosis in the land of the variation (Variations on Variations, OP30575). Here are now three completely original orchestral suites by Bach, a new fool’s game organized by a tongue-in-cheek Rinaldo Alessandrini, once again surrounded by his dear friends from the Concerto Italiano. Now on Amazon.ca https://amzn.to/3CtZ9nk

23/11/2024

rnaud Marzorati and his singers, ‘Les Lunaisiens’, are unrivalled specialists in the popular French songs of the past centuries. Here they tackle two great monuments of 19th-century France: the writer Honoré de Balzac and songwriter Pierre-Jean de Béranger, a poet and composer highly famed in his day for his genius in depicting society in all its social diversity, from the poorest to the very richest. During this period, Balzac was also making his sharply drawn portrayals of more than 5,000 characters in the course of his great opus of around 90 novels bearing the overall title of The Human Comedy. Here, the ‘Lunaisiens’ have recorded musical settings of a wide selection of witty and often satirical verse, reflecting all the Parisian themes that obsessed Balzac: social climbing, money and greed, corruption, love, and betrayal. With the participation of Lucile Richardot and Cyrille Dubois, Arnaud Marzorati and his ensemble give an enthusiastic account of Balzac’s extraordinary human menagerie. As Marzorati concludes: “The Human Comedy was greatly inspired by song.” Now on Amazon.ca https://amzn.to/3ZbUbo0

22/11/2024

Raymond Bisha introduces a new album featuring Beethoven’s final three cello sonatas that are full of unexpected shifts of harmony and mood, virtuoso flourishes and experimental surprises, all of which defy convention. The cellist is Gabriel Schwabe, one of the leading cellists of his generation and a laureate of several national and international competitions; the exceptionally sympathetic pianist is Nicholas Rimmer. The first of their two volumes of Beethoven’s complete cello sonatas (8.574529) was released in September: “I was totally engrossed by the duo’s warm, keenly articulated playing.” (Gramophone)

Catalogue No.: 8.574530
Listen to the podcast here:

Raymond Bisha introduces Beethoven's final three cello sonatas played by Gabriel Schwabe and Nicholas Rimmer

22/11/2024

When the music of Nikolai Kapustin was discovered by a wider audience in the West, it was positively shocking: Who was this Soviet (!) composer whose music sounded more like an Oscar Peterson improvisation than anything else—but who wrote detailed scores, black with notes?! As we discover more and more of his music, and as we again hear on the present recording, Kapustin developed his style subtly and steadily. He went with the times. As the music that influenced him changed, so did Kapustin’s. The development of Big Band Jazz can be traced in his work. In that sense, Kapustin never settled on one style (within the parameters of his unique fusion of jazz and classical, granted) but remained flexible about the musical material and the way he related it to the orchestra. Now on Amazon.ca https://amzn.to/3ObMV5p

21/11/2024

Embark on a captivating musical journey with Roby Lakatos as he delves into the soul-stirring rhythms of Tango. Teaming up with the renowned Gang Tango, the King of Gypsy violinists invites you to explore the rich traditions of Tango from across the globe. From timeless classics like Oblivion and La Cumparsita to undiscovered jewels such as Rookgordijnen and Vale Mousiki, this album is a veritable treasure chest for lovers of passionate music-making. Now on Amazon.com https://amzn.to/4fJeU8k