New On Naxos

The World’s Leading Classical Music Label
May 2015

Dear UK Subscriber,

Click here to view our monthly New on Naxos brochure, featuring details of every new release of the month.


Download the complete digital version of the 2015 Catalogue here.
THIS MONTH’S UK HIGHLIGHTS:
8.573452
8.572697

8.660369-71

8.573407



THIS MONTH’S UK HIGHLIGHTS:
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8.573452 / NBD0047
Sergey PROKOFIEV (1891–1953)
Symphony No. 3
Scythian Suite • Autumn – Symphonic Sketch
São Paulo Symphony Orchestra
Marin Alsop

Listen to Track 5: Autumn – Symphonic Sketch,
Op. 8 (1910, rev. 1915, 1934)

This fourth volume in Marin Alsop’s acclaimed Prokofiev symphonic cycle features two of his most viscerally exciting works. Using material salvaged from his opera The Fiery Angel, the Third Symphony was hailed by Serge Koussevitzky at its 1929 première as ‘the best symphony since Tchaikovsky’s Sixth’. Originally commissioned as a ballet by Sergey Dyagilev but rejected as un-danceable, the Scythian Suite has become a popular orchestral showpiece, while Prokofiev retained a lifelong fondness for his dark-hued early symphonic sketch Autumn.

Judging by the response to the previous volumes of this fruitful partnership with Marin Alsop and the excellent São Paulo Symphony Orchestra this new release will have no problems in becoming a market leader. The First and Second Symphonies disc (8.573353) was an Allmusic.com ‘Editor’s Choice’ for its “first-rate performance”, and the Fifth Symphony was described as “an outstanding achievement” by BBC Music Magazine, which also regarded the Fourth Symphony (8.573186) as “compelling”. The Blu-ray releases have also been widely acclaimed, with NBD0031 made Audiophile Audition ‘Best Disc of the Year’ in 2012, and prompting BBC Music Magazine to write, “this exceptional account of Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony is partnered by a revelatory performance of The Year 1941, while the recording bursts out of the speakers.”

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THIS MONTH’S UK HIGHLIGHTS:
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8.572697
Krzysztof PENDERECKI (b. 1933)
Magnificat
Kadisz
Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir
Antoni Wit

Listen to Track 2: Magnificat - II. Fuga.
Quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae...

The two works on this recording are separated by 35 years, during which time Penderecki made a decisive break with the post-war European avant-garde. In the Magnificat, chilling instrumental clusters, spectral sounds and impassioned rhetoric unite with tonality and counterpoint to deliver a work of monumental emotional power. Written to mark the 65th anniversary of the end of the Jewish ghetto in Łódź, Kadisz is among the most distinctive of Penderecki’s later choral works in the stark contrasts between drama and sombre reflection of its individual sections.

Our magnificent catalogue of new recordings by Krzysztof Penderecki conducted by Antoni Wit guarantees massive interest in every new release, his versions of the symphonies (box set 8.505231) considered “the standard by which all others will be judged” by ClassicsToday.com. We have had success programming Penderecki’s earlier avantgarde ‘classics’ with his more romantic later works, such as the Credo and Cantata (8.572032) given ‘top recommendation’ status by ClassicsToday.com. The central placement of the tremendous Magnificat makes it an essential part of Penderecki’s oeuvre, our potent new performance easily able to replace the only complete alternative on CD, the EMI analogue recording by Polish Radio from 1972.

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THIS MONTH’S UK HIGHLIGHTS:
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8.660369-71
Gioachino ROSSINI (1792–1868)
La gazza ladra
Luisa Islam-Ali-Zade, Mezzo-soprano
María José Moreno, Soprano
Marianna Rewerski, Alto
Kenneth Tarver • Stefan Cifolelli • Pablo Cameselle, Tenors
Giulio Mastrototaro • Bruno Praticò • Lorenzo Regazzo
Maurizio Lo Piccolo • Damian Whiteley, Basses
Classica Chamber Choir, Brno • Pavel Koňárek, Chorus-master
Virtuosi Brunensis
Alberto Zedda

Listen to CD2 Track 3: Act I: Isacco chiamaste

La gazza ladra (The Thieving Magpie) marked a culmination of the convergence of serious and comic elements in Rossini’s work. The result is an ideal hybrid: a tragic opera with a happy ending that rises to the status of true opera seria. With its outstanding dramatic and musical qualities it remains one of Rossini’s greatest and most successful operas, a constant presence in the repertoire since its triumphant 1817 première in Milan. This performance is conducted by Alberto Zedda, who made his conducting début in 1956, produced the first critical edition of La gazza ladra, and is widely acknowledged as one of the world’s foremost authorities on the operas of Rossini.

Though La gazza ladra (The Thieving Magpie) is famous for its overture, the whole opera is rather surprisingly not currently represented on many recordings. The unique selling point of our release is the vastly experienced conductor Alberto Zedda, who made his debut in 1956, and who has worked extensively in Berlin, New York and London. Vitally he produced the first critical editions of many Rossini operas, including this one.

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THIS MONTH’S UK HIGHLIGHTS:
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8.573407 • 4 CDs
Edward GERMAN (1862–1936)
Works for Violin and Piano
Souvenir • Song Without Words • Bolero
Pastorale • Cradle Song • Pavane • Album Leaf
Chanson d’Amour • Berceuse • Intermezzo • Nocturne
Saltarelle • Molto Perpetuo • Bourrée • The Sprite’s Dance

Andrew Long, Violin • Ian Buckle, Piano
†WORLD PREMIÈRE RECORDING

Listen to Track 4: Chanson d’Amour (1882)

PAlthough orchestral music and operettas such as Tom Jones (Naxos 8.660270-71) were Edward German’s main focus as composer, he wrote a dozen or so works specifically for violin and piano, most of them during his time at the Royal Academy of Music, where he was recognised as a gifted violinist, and the years immediately following. Many of these pieces were written for his own use, including his earliest known compositions. From the beguiling charm of salon pieces such as the Chanson d’Amour to the haunting Souvenir, these works are exquisitely crafted miniatures, several of which have remained unheard for over a century.

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