Naxos Music Group - November 2016

Label of the Month: Ondine

Reijo Kiilunen and
Hannu Lintu

The roots of Ondine date back to 1985 when founder Reijo Kiilunen released the very first Ondine album under the auspices of Finland’s renowned Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival. The label’s mission was to produce one live album at the Festival each season. The fourth album, however, featured Einojuhani Rautavaara's opera Thomas (ODE 704-2), attracting major international attention and opening the ground for overseas distribution. Kiilunen, who was running the Festival’s concert agency and had begun the recording activity part-time, soon decided to devote himself fully to the development of this new business, producing and editing the first 50 releases himself. Since 2009 the company has been a part of the Naxos Music Group.

Today Ondine’s extensive catalogue includes nearly 600 recordings of artists and ensembles such as conductor and pianist Christoph Eschenbach, conductors Vladimir Ashkenazy, Vasily Petrenko, Mikhail Pletnev, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Hannu Lintu, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Sakari Oramo, Leif Segerstam and John Storgårds, orchestras such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, London Sinfonietta, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Russian National Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic and Tampere Philharmonic, sopranos Soile Isokoski and Karita Mattila, baritones Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Gerald Finley, violinist Christian Tetzlaff, cellist Truls Mørk and pianists Lars Vogt and Olli Mustonen.

The label has also had a long and fruitful association with Finnish composers Einojuhani Rautavaara, Magnus Lindberg and Kaija Saariaho, having recorded the premières of many of their works and garnering many awards along the way.

www.ondine.net

Pianist Lars Vogt
talks about Ondine

Pianist Lars Vogt talks about Ondine

“I’ve been working closely with the Ondine label for some years now, at first in chamber music projects with Christian Tetzlaff and also in trio repertoire including Tanja Tetzlaff as well, then more and more prominently also in solo repertoire, namely my beloved Goldberg Variations and Schubert piano pieces. The next big project now includes my work as a conductor as well as that as a pianist; we are recording all the 5 Beethoven Piano Concertos and the Triple Concerto (again with Christian and Tanja Tetzlaff) with “my” orchestra, the Royal Northern Sinfonia in Gateshead/Newcastle, for me without any doubt one of the best chamber orchestras in Europe. Diving into such a project with what has been my core repertoire for many years with my favorite orchestra in one of the best concert halls of the UK, Sage Gateshead, is making a dream come true.

The collaboration with Ondine, specifically with its remarkable artistic and organisational head Reijo Kiilunen, has been – and I’m not exaggerating this in the slightest – nothing but pure joy. Never have I experienced a record label and its executives so deeply and passionately caring about the products it releases. Never have I felt such a love for detail in the process of making a new CD, from the photos with the wonderful photographer Giorgia Bertazzi to sleeve notes that really reflect the deeper thoughts on the pieces and the interpretations, thus as a result becoming a real product of art and really doing justice to the deep and meaningful content of the music and all the thoughts and labor of love that I as musician have put into it. For the first time in my life I feel that the label that I work with really reflects ideally my visions as a musician and helps me communicate them with the world. I am immensely grateful for this collaboration, friendship and trust. May it long continue to flourish!”

– Lars Vogt

Lars Vogt’s recent recordings on Ondine

SCHUBERT, F.: 4 Impromptus, D. 899 / 6 Deutsche Tänze, D. 820 / 6 Moments musicaux, D. 780

ODE1285-2

Pizzicato
★★★★

BACH, J.S.: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988

ODE1273-2

BRAHMS, J.: Violin Sonatas Nos. 1-3 / Violin Sonata, "F-A-E": III. Scherzo

ODE1284-2

ODE1271-2D

The Guardian
★★★★★

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Helge Evju’s Piano Concerto on
Grieg’s Fragments – North American premiere

Helge Evju’s Piano Concerto on Grieg’s Fragments – North American premiere

Last year, Grand Piano released pianist Carl Petersson’s world première recording of Helge Evju’s Piano Concerto in B minor based on fragments by Edvard Grieg. Grieg never finished his second piano concerto, which was finally reconstructed and completed by Evju. The CD was critically acclaimed, with American Record Guide describing the B minor concerto as “a cunningly shrewd work, very entertaining, and well worth the attention of pianophiles.” Gramophone also praised the album, stating “[the B minor concerto] makes the disc appealing…played with commanding virtuosity by Petersson.”

Carl Petersson gave the U.S. première of Evju’s B minor concerto on 19 November, with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of renowned conductor JoAnn Falletta.

“The re-imagined Grieg came next. The crowd loved it. Evju did an admirable job of weaving the fragments together, adding a few ideas of his own and also drawing inspiration from other Grieg works. He is clearly a fine orchestrator and created a full, resonant Romantic sound. Petersson played from memory, showing his commitment to this piece. He danced his way through the elaborate piano part with a captivating grace…the concerto is an impressive achievement, and a joy to listen to. For anyone attending the Nov. 12 concert, my advice would be: don’t sweat the details, just sit back and enjoy.’

– The Buffalo News

“The Buffalo Philharmonic and I had the wonderful privilege of performing the USA premier of Helge Evju's beautiful "re-imagining" of Edvard Grieg's second piano concerto with pianist Carl Petersson. Grieg did not complete this concerto, but Maestro Evju was able to take his precious sketches and build upon them to create this beautiful work. Filled with poetry, lyricism and grandeur, the work summoned the spirit of Grieg into the concert hall, and absolutely enchanted our audience.”

– JoAnn Falletta

“It certainly was something special to perform with the great JoAnn Falletta and her Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. Without any doubt the concert was magical... This was not only confirmed by the press and critics but especially the audience that gave us all a standing ovation - twice. The more I perform this piano concerto I find more and more hidden depths and I hope to be able to perform this hidden gem by Evju many more times.”

– Carl Petersson

Crayola & Dvořák

Naxos Music Library Upgrades
Audio Quality for Three of
Its Streaming Services

Naxos Music Library Upgrades Audio Quality for Three of Its Streaming Services

Starting November 1, the Naxos Music Library (NML) is streaming almost all of the nearly 2 million tracks at 128 Kbps and 320 Kbps, giving it the highest audio quality available in the educational streaming market. Naxos Music Library Jazz and the recently launched Naxos Music Library World will also begin streaming at these rates later in the same month.

The NML suite of music services will be applying this high audio quality to all recordings on all three services at no additional charge to the users.

Launched in 2004 by classical music industry pioneer Klaus Heymann, the NML services have always been at the forefront of streaming technology as it applies to the educational market. “Giving schools, universities, public libraries, orchestras, opera companies, and other arts institutions access to all of the world’s best classical, jazz, and world music recordings has been our priority for the last 12 years,” commented Heymann. “We continue to invest in our educational services by bringing new technologies at no additional cost to our users. Higher sound quality will allow students, music professionals and music lovers alike to listen, learn from, and critique the performances of the greatest artists of our time.”

www.naxosmusiclibrary.com • www.naxosmusiclibrary.com/jazz • www.naxosmusiclibrary.com/world

This month’s video trailer:
Mad rush from Nicholas Horvath’s Glassworlds 5

Specials from

James Whitbourn’s Carolae –
Ancient roots. Modern makeover.

Christmas with
Septura

Christmas with Septura

UK’s leading brass ensemble SEPTURA presents its fifth recording on Naxos, Christmas with Septura (8.573719), featuring works by J.S. Bach, Handel, Rachmaninov and Warlock, among others. Septura has been admired in their recordings for “noble performances” (Gramophone on 8.573314), and their “overwhelming sense of sincerity present in both the skillfully crafted new arrangements…and the execution of performance” (Brass Band World on 8.573526).

Watch Video Trailers:

TCHAIKOVSKY Crown of Roses

DARKE In the Bleak Midwinter

J.S. BACH Christmas Suite

Featured Playlist:
Brain Fuel –
Classical Music
for Study

Artist of
The Month

Tzimon Barto

Tzimon Barto, Piano

Tzimon Barto is committed to combining music and poetry, both as a pianist and in his writing. This is also apparent in his musical interpretations: he takes an exceedingly personal and unconventional approach, captivating audiences with his zeal, exquisite sense of tonal color, subtle nuances and a superb technique. His playing is characterized by a colorful, surpassingly varied range of expressive elements, from feather-light melodic lines to expressive chord progressions.

As one of the foremost American pianists, Tzimon Barto performs on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean and in Asia. His international breakthrough occurred in the mid-1980s when he performed at the Wiener Musikverein and the Salzburger Festpiele at the invitation of Herbert von Karajan. Tzimon Barto has since played with every major international orchestra and is regularly invited to many festivals.

Tzimon Barto’s most recent releases under the Capriccio label include:

C5268

“It’s hard not to be seduced by Barto’s ample sonority and prodigious color palette.”
– ClassicsToday.com

BACH, J.S.: Goldberg Variations (ed. Busoni)

C5243

“Barto crashes right into the first Aria with such vigor, you’d think he’s checking the instrument for sawdust. And so he goes on, following his nose for beauty and effect.”
– Forbes.com
(The 10 Best Classical
Recordings of 2015)

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