NEW RELEASES NEWSLETTER
April 2011

Spectacular New Naxos Blu-ray Audio Disc
MAHLER Symphony No 8
Soloists • Warsaw Boys’ Choir
Warsaw Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra • Antoni Wit, conductor

Naxos Orchestral Blu-ray Audio NBD0009
With its enormous vocal, choral and orchestral forces, Mahler’s Eighth Symphony, later to be dubbed ‘Symphony of a Thousand’, is one of the largest and longest symphonies in the active repertoire. Part One, inspired by the Whitsuntide Vesper hymn Veni creator spiritus, is an invocation to the Creator Spirit. Part Two, a setting of the closing scene from Goethe’s Faust, depicts Faust’s redemption through wisdom and love. “Try to imagine the whole universe beginning to ring and resound”, was how Mahler himself described the impact of the closing pages of the Symphony.

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Part One: Veni, Creator Spiritus


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Klaus Heymann created Naxos Records as a way to pursue his passion for music and share it with others around the world. Despite the demands of running a large company, he still guides repertoire choices and oversees many details of the label personally. Below are Klaus’ thoughts on selected Naxos releases for April, 2011.

8.572704 SIBELIUS Symphony No 2, Karelia Suite

This is the third volume of our ongoing Sibelius symphony project with the New Zealand Symphony conducted by Pietari Inkinen. The second is the most popular of the seven symphonies and is coupled here with the composer’s equally popular Karelia Suite. I think Pietari has brought a fresh approach to the symphonies well worth investigating.

    Also available:
    8.572305 SIBELIUS Symphonies Nos 1 & 3
    8.572227 SIBELIUS Symphonies Nos 4 & 5
8.572275 SARASATE Music for Violin and Orchestra Vol 3

The first two volumes of this project were met with unanimous critical praise and this third volume is at the same high level. You will enjoy the composer’s fantasies on themes from Mozart’s Magic Flute and Gounod’s Faust as well as several rarely heard Spanish gems. Recommended to all lovers of great fiddling.

    Also available:
    8.572191 SARASATE Music for Violin and Orchestra Vol 1
    8.572216 SARASATE Music for Violin and Orchestra Vol 2
8.572487 KARŁOWICZ ‘Rebirth’ Symphony, Bianca da Molena

This is the third volume of our project to record the complete orchestral works of the “Polish Richard Strauss”. The disc features the only recording of the Symphonic Prologue. Great romantic orchestral music performed by the composer’s national orchestra, the Warsaw Philharmonic under our Antoni Wit.

    Also available:
    8.570452 KARŁOWICZ Symphonic Poems, Vol 1
    8.570295 KARŁOWICZ Symphonic Poems, Vol 2
    8.572274 KARŁOWICZ Serenade / Violin Concerto
8.572454 SAINT-SAËNS String Quartets Nos 1 & 2

These are two very attractive quartets which deserve to be better known. They are performed by our Fine Arts Quartet whose previous recordings for Naxos have met with the highest critical acclaim. Recommended to all chamber music fans.

8.570489 Florent SCHMITT Piano Quintet, À tour d’anches

Schmitt was a contemporary of Debussy and Ravel – he was born eight years after Debussy and five years before Ravel and outlived both. The Piano Quintet is perhaps the composer’s greatest achievement and can stand comparison with the piano quintets by the greatest composers. It is reminiscent of Debussy with a touch of Wagner and Richard Strauss added. Not to be missed!


Among the extraordinary range of this month’s Naxos new releases are these fifteen outstanding albums. Click on each cover image for more about each album.

Spectacular New Naxos Blu-ray Video Disc


BERLIOZ Benvenuto Cellini (Blu-ray Disc Version)
Burkhard Fritz (Benvenuto Cellini) • Maija Kovalevska (Teresa)
Laurent Naouri (Fieramosca) • Brindley Sherratt (Giacomo Balducci)
Mikhail Petrenko (Pope Clemens VII) • Kate Aldrich (Ascanio)
Vienna State Opera Chorus • Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Valery Gergiev, conductor
Philipp Stölzl, stage director & stage designer

Naxos Opera Blu-ray Video NBD0006
‘A mix of futurism à la Metropolis, fantasy à la Batman and quotes from Piranesi’s Carceri, juxtaposed in the form of photo montages, enhanced with … robots, a helicopter, a shark and the winged vehicle of a pop star Pope’, was how the Neue Zürcher Zeitung described this astonishing Salzburg Festival production of Berlioz’s Benvenuto Cellini. The high-calibre cast, headed by Burkhard Fritz as the temperamental Renaissance artist and the 26-year-old Latvian soprano Maija Kovalevska as Teresa, the woman with whom he tries to elope, is conducted by Valery Gergiev who ‘pulled out all the stops. He whips the Vienna Philharmonic into a delirium similar to that which possibly took hold of the composer’. (Der Standard) This is French grand opera at its fast-paced and spectacularly-staged best.



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Naxos distributes several outstanding CD labels in many countries. Click on the distributed label names below to view their catalogues on naxos.com. Here are some recent and forthcoming releases to whet your appetite (click on the covers for more information about each album):


Naxos distributes several outstanding DVD labels in many countries. Click on the distributed label names below to view their catalogues on naxos.com. Here are some recent and forthcoming releases to whet your appetite (click on the covers for more information about each album):

See what we’re featuring this month in various countries around the world. Click on the country for more information:


Australia
 
France
 
New Zealand
Canada
 
Germany
 
Norway
China
 
Hong Kong
 
Sweden
Denmark
 
Japan
 
UK
Finland
 
Korea
 
USA





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