New On Naxos

8.573331 / NBD0045
SAINT-SAËNS
Symphony No. 3 ‘Organ’*
Danse macabre • Cyprès et Lauriers*
Vincent Warnier, Organ
Orchestre National de Lyon*
Leonard Slatkin*

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Listen to Symphony No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 78, "Organ Symphony"
II. Maestoso - Allegro - Piu allegro - Molto allegro - Pesante

Saint-Saëns and the King of Instruments provide the focus of this disc, which features the monumental 1878 Cavaillé-Coll organ, formerly sited in the Trocadéro in Paris, but now restored and relocated in Lyon. This recording celebrates that restoration in grand style, featuring Saint-Saëns' Symphony No. 3, one of the most famous and brilliant in the symphonic repertoire, plus a formidable transcription of Danse macabre for solo organ. Cyprès et lauriers for orchestra and organ, a rarity on disc, used the very same Cavaillé-Coll instrument at its French première.

8.572358
Peter MAXWELL DAVIES (b.1934)
Caroline Mathilde – Ballet Suites
Chat Moss • Ojai Festival Overture
BBC Philharmonic • The Composer

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Listen to Caroline Mathilde, Act 1 Concert Suite
Track 1: A Public Squire

Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’ ballet Caroline Mathilde premièred in 1991 and has been highly acclaimed ever since. Its story concerns the tragic marriage of Caroline to Christian VII of Denmark and is cast in a musical language that embraces expressionism, drama, parody, and overt lyricism. These are ex-Collins releases recorded in the 1990s, though originally differently coupled. This disc, in fact, is the last of the Collins reissues. The ballet Caroline Mathilde is a modern classic, presented in two concert suites, very lyrical and standing in the great tradition of ballet scores from the nineteenth-century onwards.

8.573388
STANFORD
Piano Trio No. 2
Piano Quartet No. 1*
David Adams, Viola* • Gould Piano Trio

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Listen to Track 1: Piano Trio No. 2 in G Minor,
Op. 73 – I: Allegro Moderato

Stanford was a major force in the renaissance of British music at the close of the 19th century and a precursor to Elgar. He is already represented in the Naxos catalogue by four volumes of his complete symphonies, and our coverage of his excellent chamber music goes from strength to strength. This third volume, containing the First Piano Quartet and the Second Piano Trio, will no doubt add to the accolades received for the previous volumes. The Gould Trio’s world première recording of his Third Piano Trio (8.570416) was a Gramophone ‘Editor’s Choice’ and acclaimed as “absolutely first-class”, while the First Piano Trio and Second Piano Quartet (8.572452) with David Adams was a MusicWeb International ‘Recording of the Year’.

8.571361
BRITISH MUSIC FOR CELLO AND PIANO
Raphael Wallfisch, Cello • Raphael Terroni, Piano

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Listen to Cello Sonata in C major,
Op. 70: I. Andante espressivo

This survey of British cello music focuses on three composers whose critical fortunes have never quite matched their undoubted musical gifts. William Wordsworth always displayed independence of mind and considerable melodic invention, and his cello works reflect a kinship with the music of Bartók and, later, Shostakovich. The short-lived William Busch is represented by his Suite, both a passionate oration and a brilliant dance. Much earlier in the twentieth century the prolific Josef Holbrooke composed a Fantasie-Sonata that is irresistibly lively and virtuosic.