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December 12th-18th, 2005
NAXOS, ANALEKTA CHRISTMAS MUSIC IN THE NEWS
NAXOS, OPUS ARTE ON HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDES
NAXOS AND NAÏVE MAKE BEST OF 2005 LISTS
NEW NASHVILLE SYMPHONY REVIEWS (NAXOS)
DVDS: OPUS ARTE, ARTHAUS IN DALLAS MORNING NEWS
NAXOS, ANALEKTA CHRISTMAS MUSIC IN THE NEWS
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NOËL BAROQUE (A BAROQUE CHRISTMAS)
Masques
AN29908 (UPC 774204990824)
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From an article by Marc
Shulgold, Rocky Mountain News
Thursday, November 24th, 2005
Lutoslawski: Twenty Polish
Christmas Carols (Naxos). Collected and arranged in 1946, these lovely tunes
are given tastefully spare settings for soprano, chorus and orchestra, performed
here by Polish forces. Definitive readings in a nice package, though texts and
translations can only be obtained online.
A Christmas Choral Spectacular
(Naxos). Peter Breiner leads the Bournemouth Symphony and Chorus in a pleasing
mix of familiar and unfamiliar tunes, delivered in mostly understated fashion
- though there are moments of excess (this is, after all, a "spectacular").
Abide With Me (Naxos).
Here is a thoroughly English (Anglican, to be specific) celebration of the season.
The Choir of St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle brings energy to 22 favorite
hymns by British composers, sung in unison with organ or brass accompaniment
From “Classical Recordings
Get in the Holiday Spirit” by Anastasia Tsioulcas
Billboard/Reuters, Friday, November 25th, 2005
With the holiday season
fast approaching, flurries of classical Christmas releases are hitting stores.
Some feature tried-and-true artists and repertoire; others add new spices to
the wintertime blend.
. . . Another choice pick
is Naxos' recording of Witold Lutoslawski's "Twenty Polish Christmas Carols,"
with soprano Olga Pasichnyk, conductor Antoni Wit, the Polish Radio Chorus,
Krakow and the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra.
For more multicultural
Christmastime pleasures, check out . . . "Baroque Christmas (Noel Baroque),"
featuring the young, Montreal-based ensemble Masques conducted by Olivier Fortin
in a program of music by Scarlatti, Charpentier, Delalande, Gaetano Maria Schiassi
and Antonio de Salazar as well as traditional Irish and French Noel tunes (Analekta,
November 8).
From “Winter Crop of Christmas
Music Blooms Forth” by David Stable
The Oregonian (Portland, OR), Sunday, December 18th, 2005
"A Christmas Choral
Spectacular" (Naxos) For the traditionalist, familiar carols for big chorus
and orchestra (the zippy Bournemouth Symphony and Chorus). The arrangements
don't skimp, with pulsing strings and thrilling brass for "Ding Dong! Merrily
on High," "Deck the Halls" and "O Come, All Ye Faithful,"
among others.
From “Sounds of the Season”
by Gerry Grzyb
Appleton (Wisconsin) Post Crescent, Thursday, December 15th, 2005
While we’re talking cheap,
do you remember the big chorus-and-orchestra sound of 50 years ago? The arrangements
on “A Christmas Choral Spectacular” by Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
conductor Peter Breiner are entirely fresh and interesting, yet in the same
expansive spirit, on the budget Naxos label.
From “Sounds of the Season:
the Year’s Best Holiday Music” by Jason Victor Serinus
Bay Area Reporter (San Francisco), Thursday, December 15th, 2005
Lutoslawski: Twenty Polish
Christmas Carols (Naxos) One of our great 20th-century masters, composer Witold
Lutoslawski's 1946 collection of 19th-century Polish texts and melodies abounds
in beautiful, unfamiliar carols. The sweet voices of the Polish Radio Chorus,
Kracow and the Polish National Radio Symphony under Antoni Wit create a heartfelt,
often joyous melodic celebration. Exceptional soprano and alto soloists, a fine
recording, and the very early Lacrimosa and far more modern Five Songs of 1957
deliver extra rewards.
Masques: Noel Baroque (Analekta)
Many of the healthy-looking young members of Masques, a Montreal-based early
music ensemble, regularly perform in the finest early music ensembles on both
sides of the Atlantic. Their lovely program of Charpentier's Noels on instruments
from the groups, Scarlatti's Bethlehem Cantata for soprano, Schiassi's Concerto
for strings and continuo in D Major, and Delalande's Christmas Symphony is graced
by the fetching soprano of Northern California native Catherine Webster. I'm
not sure why Ireland's traditional "Christmas Day is come!" was stuck
between music by baroque masters, but Webster's fetching sweetness invites smiles.
“Classical Holiday CDs”
by Sarah Bryan Miller
St. Louis Post Dispatch, Sunday, December 18th, 2005
The Canadian ensemble Masques
offers "Baroque Christmas" (Analekta AN 2 9908), a largely instrumental
collection of jolly pieces by Charpentier, Scarlatti and that old standby "Traditional,"
whose lovely "Noel nouvelet," as sung by soprano Catherine Webster,
is a highlight. So is Antonio de Salazar's delightfully named "Villancico
Tarara tarara qui yo soy Antonyino," which ends the disc with a sprightly
tune. One weakness: We are given no clue as to the texts beyond the titles.
Review of Masques’ Noël
Baroque by Scott Paulin
All Music Guide/BarnesandNoble.com
A delightful excursion
into Christmas music of the 17th and early 18th centuries, Noël Baroque
will be many listeners' first introduction to Masques, a young and talented
early music ensemble based in Montreal. If the title leads you to expect a French-focused
program, you'll be surprised to find music from Italy, Ireland, Spain, and Portugal
as well, all of it elegantly performed and setting a refined but festive mood.
Just over half the disc is strictly instrumental, including the charming noëls
by Marc-Antoine Charpentier and Michel Richard Delalande, based on popular carols
of the period. These often evoke a pastoral mood, as does a concerto for strings
by Gaetano Maria Schiassi. Soprano soloist Catherine Webster adds her attractive
and versatile voice (in four different languages) to the remainder of the program,
among which the most substantial work comes from the best-known composer here,
Alessandro Scarlatti. In his Cantata pastorale, the shepherds are urged
to celebrate the birth of Jesus, and a present-day listener can't help but notice
the coincidental resemblance to "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" that
often occurs in the string accompaniment. Here, Webster's voice is that of the
angel addressing the shepherds; she switches roles for the album's final selection,
Antonio de Salazar's villancico "Tarara tarara qui yo soy Antóniyo,"
where she sings the part of a young shepherd inviting his listeners to visit
the manger. Anyone who hears this CD will find it hard to resist her beckoning
tones -- and will want to follow the further adventures of the Masques ensemble
as well.
“Holiday Tunes: Classic
Sound of Christmas” by Clarke Bustard
Richmond (Virginia) Times-Dispatch, Sunday, December 8th, 2005
"Noel Baroque"
(Analekta 9908) is a set of seasonal instrumental and vocal work by Marc-Antoine
Charpentier, Alessandro Scarlatti and others, plus French and Irish folk tunes,
stylishly performed by the Montreal-based Masques ensemble with soprano Catherine
Webster.
"Singphonic Christmas:
Christmas Songs From Europe" (cpo 777 067) features Singphoniker, German
male-vocal sextet that may remind listeners of the American ensemble Chanticleer,
in a mostly a cappella set of carols.
NAXOS, OPUS ARTE ON HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDES
“Is This the Year You Get
a Classical Gift?” by Melinda Bargreen
Seattle Times, Sunday, December 18th, 2005
There's only a mini shopping
season left between now and Christmas, so here are some mini reviews of CDs
that will make good last-minute classical gifts.
Local legends
William Bolcom, "Songs
of Innocence and Experience" (Naxos): This vast work, based on Blake
poetry with an enormous cast of performers, is probably the lifetime achievement
of Northwest native William Bolcom — and it's already nominated for three Grammys.
Don't miss this one.
. . .
Schuman Symphonies 7
and 10, Seattle Symphony (Naxos): Seattle's home team shines in this second
disc in a series of American composer William Schuman's symphonic output, with
Schwarz conducting.
Leonard Bernstein: Kaddish,
Symphony No. 3 and "Chichester Psalms," Gerard Schwarz and the Royal
Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (Naxos): Schwarz's "other" orchestra
proves remarkably adept at Americana, in the form of two of Bernstein's greatest
classical works.
“In a Spin? Great Hanukkah
Gift Ideas” by Kimberly Marlowe Hartnett
Seattle Times, Monday, December 19th, 2005
Look into the terrific
series-in-progress being compiled by the Milken Archive of American Jewish
Music and recorded on the Naxos American Classics label. Archive founder
Lowell Milken is chronicling the American-Jewish musical experience from the
sacred to the sound stage. The "Hanukka Celebration" CD (Remember,
we warned you about the spelling!) is among the offerings, all packaged with
very well-written historical notes. To see a full list, go to www.naxos.com,
click on Collections/Sets, then "Milken Archive." The site will refer
you to other sources (including Amazon.com) for purchasing or downloading music.
Prices vary.
From ”Strangely Wonderful
Sounds to Take Them by Surprise” by David Patrick Stearns
Philadelphia Inquirer, Sunday, December 18th, 2005
The world has a misguided
notion that Christmas presents ought to be safe choices, nothing that will rock
anybody's boat or evict them from their comfort zone. Why is that? Chances are,
people aren't going to love or even like their gifts no matter how safe they
are. The nature of a gift implies the unexpected, the unneeded, and something
the recipient may not know about. Why not make it strange and wonderful?
. . .
Rameau: Les Indes Galantes.
Paris Opera. (Opus Arte, two DVDs.) Rameau's wildest and most exotic opera-ballet
is mounted by the Paris Opera with equal parts Cirque du Soleil and Broadway's
Lion King in a super-colorful, seriously bizarre staging supervised by Andrei
Serban. The French baroque dream team includes tenor Paul Agnew, soprano Patricia
Petibon, and Les Arts Florissants under William Christie.
Amadeus Quartet: The
Cologne Years. (Andante, two CDs.) Though the Amadeus Quartet performed
into the 1980s, it peaked in the '50s, as heard in these arrestingly leonine
performances of Beethoven's String Quartet No. 16 Op. 135, Schubert's String
Quartet in D minor ("Death and the Maiden"), and others, recorded
for German radio but released for the first time.
Puccini: Madama Butterfly.
Netherlands Opera, Edo de Waart conducting. (Opus Arte, two DVDs.) Staged
by Robert Wilson with statuesque, meticulously composed deliberation, this production
is as cool as the music is hot - with inexplicably complementary results. The
cast, with Cheryl Barker as Butterfly, is excellent.
NAXOS AND NAÏVE MAKE BEST OF 2005 LISTS
Contemporary Classics:
New Sounds Too Good to Ignore” by Richard Scheinin
San Jose Mercury News, Sunday, December 18th, 2005
The classical music world
is a living, breathing place, full of living composers we too rarely read about
or listen to. Ignore them at your own peril; the music is arriving from all
quarters of the planet, absorbing all manner of new influences, and evolving
in exciting and remarkable ways. Here are some recommended new recordings by
21st-century composers, listed alphabetically.
. . .
Peter Maxwell Davies:
``Naxos Quartets Nos. 3 and 4.'' Maggini Quartet (Naxos; $6.98): Like royal
patrons of yore, the Naxos label is commissioning the famous British composer
to write 10 string quartets, and the results are provocative. The music seems
to grow from mysterious sources; it is pregnant, growing, bubbling, darkly melodic
and rhythmically bracing.
“Fresh Takes on Masterworks”
by Richard Scheinin
San Jose Mercury News,
Sunday, December 18th, 2005
Recordings in the classical
music field are burgeoning, despite reports that say otherwise. These discs
-- half from independent, boutique or musician-run labels -- span four centuries
of music by composers past (they're listed in alphabetical order). There is
an audience for these awesome sounds, so often described as ``marginalized''
in our popular culture.
. . .
Mozart: ``Piano Concertos
Nos. 12, 21, 23.'' Fazil Say (Naive): Mozart's soul shines through these direct
and elegant performances by the pianist with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, conducted
by Howard Griffiths.
Schoenberg: ``Accentus.''
Laurence Equilbey, Jonathan Nott (Naive): You say Schoenberg is unlistenable?
Listen here. This music is rapturous. Equilbey conducts the Chamber Choir Accentus
and Ensemble Intercontemporain for the choral pieces, which make up the bulk
of this wondrous CD. Rising star Nott takes over the ensemble for a performance
of Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony, Opus 9, that should turn non-believers into
proselytizers.
“Surprises and Delicacies
in a Year of Exciting Classical CD's” by The New York Times
The New York Times, Friday,
December 16th, 2005
Dowland: Lute Works
Hopkinson Smith, lutenist (Naïve)
A perpetual sad sack with
a substantial list of grievances but also a supremely lyrical gift, Dowland
pioneered the art of writing angst-inspired music three centuries before Mahler
made it his trademark. Mr. Smith offers several choice essays in melancholia
("Semper Dowland, Semper Dolens," for example) but also touches on
Dowland's virtuosic side with beautifully ornamented readings of his livelier
dances. -- Allan Kozinn
NEW NASHVILLE SYMPHONY REVIEWS (NAXOS)
Review from All Music Guide
/ BarnesandNoble.com
James Manheim
All too often, box sets
with the complete this or the collected that represent a by-the-pound mentality
that's ultimately destructive to classical music, a substitute for intelligent
program selection that entertains and instructs. The nine "Bachianas Brasileiras"
of Heitor Villa-Lobos, however, may be the exception. Often excerpted (the two-movement
No. 5, for voice and eight cellos is the most famous, with its Yma Sumac-like
opening vocalise), they give the listener something more to think about when
played from start to finish -- they reveal the variety of which Villa-Lobos
was capable even when working within the triple set of constraints he established
for himself. . . . The Nashville Symphony under Kenneth Schermerhorn . . . are
comfortable within the modest orchestral dimensions of these pieces, and Schermerhorn
avoids the overwrought quality they are sometimes given. . . . the set will
appeal to the growing body of listeners interested in orchestral music of the
Americas.
Review by David Hurwitz
ClassicsToday.com
Morton Gould was a very
capable composer whose light music has overshadowed his more serious compositions.
Despite the potential for humor latent in the title, the Jekyll and Hyde Variations
are sober indeed, but they also live up to their billing in that they consist
of an alternating, increasingly schizoid series of transformations of the quirky
opening theme. Although hardly as melodically ingratiating as Fall River Legend,
the piece is consistently absorbing and wonderfully well-scored, and really
beautifully played by the Nashville Symphony under the late Kenneth Schermerhorn.
Fall River Legend, here presented in its complete version (including the opening
accusation against Lizzie Borden read by James F. Neal), is one of Gould's most
popular pieces, and the full-length work is well worth hearing. The more familiar
numbers from the suite, such as Cotillion and Church Social, have as much infectious
lilt in this performance as in any other version, and Gould sustains the high
quality of the musical invention throughout the ballet's 50-plus minutes. Warm,
rich recorded sound completes an extremely appealing release that American music
fans will not want to miss.
DVDS: ARTHAUS IN DALLAS MORNING NEWS
Review by Scott Cantrell
Dallas Morning News, Thursday, December 15th, 2005
Grade: A-
BACH PILGRIMAGE: Recorded
in a smallish church in Weimar, Germany, this was one of a whole series of Bach
cantata performances John Eliot Gardiner presented in Germany during 2000, the
250th anniversary of the composer's death. The second disc includes a documentary,
with visits to churches Bach knew.
SETTING THE MOOD: The "Christmas
Oratorio" is actually a set of six cantatas, each for a different day during
the Christmas season, and each has its own sound world. Trumpets and drums set
a celebratory tone for the first cantata; pairs of rustic oboes d'amore and
oboes da caccia evoke the shepherds in the second.
INVIGORATING: These are
lively performances in the modern/historically informed manner; appropriately,
the music never feels far from the dance. The period-instruments chamber orchestra
plays fabulously, even the valveless trumpets and horns apparently posing no
challenges. The 20-voice choir is superb, too. Occasionally, though – as in
the opening chorus of cantata five and the tenor aria in cantata four – Mr.
Gardiner pushes tempos into breathlessness.
SOLOISTS: Christoph Genz
is a dream Evangelist, his tenor sweetly liquescent, his delivery vivid; too
bad Mr. Gardiner so harries him in "Ich will nur dir zu Ehren leben."
Baritone Dietrich Henschel sings handsomely when he doesn't overdo the bluster.
Claron McFadden is a fetching soprano soloist; mezzo Bernarda Fink is OK, but
the beat in her voice can be a little obtrusive.
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