Naxos’s New Releases this month include three lovely 2-CD sets: ADAGIO—The Ultimate Collection, OPERA WITHOUT WORDS—The Most Famous Overtures, Preludes, and Interludes in Opera, and CHRISTMAS CHILL—The Ultimate Collection. More information…

There’s also a wonderful range of other new titles with great music to suit people of all ages and tastes. Some highlights are illustrated below.

John Tavener’s beautiful new choral work Ex Maria Virgine, Gian Carlo Menotti’s ever-popular opera Amahl and the Night Visitors and the Christmas music of Leroy Anderson also deserve a place under your tree:

ANDERSON: Sleigh Ride and Other Holiday Favourites
(Available in North America only)
ANDERSON: Orchestral Music, Vol 2
ANDERSON: Orchestral Music, Vol 3
ANDERSON: Orchestral Music, Vol 4
ANDERSON: Orchestral Music, Vol 5

Some releases may not be available on CD in all countries: please ask your local retailer. For a complete list of new releases, please click here.

Please take a few moments to explore www.naxos.com - you'll find a world of music at your fingertips! Why not take out a Gift Subscription to Naxos.com for a friend? It’s a musical gift that they’ll appreciate all year long.

You can also share your love of great music by forwarding this email to a friend.

Thank you for supporting Naxos this year. We wish you and your loved ones a happy and safe festive season, and look forward to bringing you more marvellous music throughout 2009!

8.570296 Weber: Overtures
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra • Antoni Wit

Overtures from his ever-popular Der Freischütz, Euryanthe and Oberon, and other undeservedly lesser-known operatic works, alongside concert pieces, all of which amply display Weber’s vivid and refined dramatic imagination.

8.570486 Haydn: Organ and Harpsichord Concertos
Harald Hoeren, organ • Ketil Haugsand, harpsichord • Cologne Chamber Orchestra • Helmut Müller-Brühl

Joseph Haydn’s concertos for keyboard instruments contain some of his most personable and enjoyable music. Their lively fast movements framing lyrical Andantes, Adagios and Largos, never fail to delight with their unaffected virtuosity and galant charm.

8.570838 Schubert: Lieder Vol 29
Ferdinand von Bothmer, tenor • Ulrich Eisenlohr, piano

Thanks to Bärenreiter’s New Schubert Edition, which uses primary sources, the performers have been able to benefit from the most recent research of the editorial team. This disc includes Schubert’s longest Lied, Adelwold und Emma, a remarkable 608-bar mini-melodrama.

8.570788 Bruckner: String Quintet/String Quartet
Fine Arts Quartet • Ralph Evans and Efrim Boico, violins • Yuri Gandelsman, viola • Wolfgang Laufer, cello • Gil Sharon, 2nd viola

Bruckner’s String Quintet is a deftly written Romantic work, symphonic in scale but intimate in character. Rediscovered only decades after his death, the String Quartet brings into play his love of Bach and Schubert while pointing towards his own later symphonic style.

8.572076 Breton: Orchestral Works
Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid • Miguel Roa

Tomás Bretón built an enviable reputation on his theatrical works, the evocative Preludes to four of which are included on this disc. His popular Andalusian Scenes evokes all the sunshine and colour of southern Spain, while En la Alhambra celebrates the fabulous Moorish palace.

8.570504 Villa-Lobos: Piano Music Vol 8
Sonia Rubinsky, piano

This eighth and final volume of Villa-Lobos’ complete solo piano music features Albums 10 and 11 from his Guia Prático, and other works in which the world of childhood is lovingly evoked with extraordinary originality and brilliant virtuosity.

8.570027 Mozart: The Magic Flute and Clemenza di Tito for wind ensemble
Saxonian Wind Academy

The beautifully crafted Harmoniemusik arrangements of arias and choruses from Mozart’s two last operatic masterpieces, Die Zauberflöte and La Clemenza di Tito, made by the composer’s contemporaries, Joseph Heidenreich and Joseph Triebensee, are superb examples of the genre.

8.570492-93 Roman: Flute Sonatas
Verena Fischer, transverse flute • Klaus-Dieter Brandt, baroque cello • Léon Berben, harpsichord

Swedish composer Johan Helmich Roman’s rich output includes these twelve charming and highly accomplished Flute Sonatas, the first such published in Sweden, whose galant character combines the baroque and emerging pre-classical styles.

8.571253 Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos 1 & 2
Idil Biret, piano • Bilkent Symphony Orchestra • Antoni Wit

“[Idil Biret] keeps the big line and yet is thankfully sparing in her use of fortissimos. The piano tone is sumptuous. Biret’s gentle and almost sensuous sonorities are really captivating. One is reminded that her mentor has been Wilhelm Kempff.” (Gramophone)