Label of the Month: Altissimo!
Since its inception in 1991, Altissimo! Recordings has been dedicated to the continuing production and distribution of the vast array of music from the wonderful musicians of the United States military bands, orchestras, ensembles and choruses. The Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines and the Navy are all richly represented here. Prior to the founding of Altissimo!, these phenomenal recordings were not available to the general public. Altissimo! has the greatest admiration and respect for the hundreds of men and women in uniform that comprise these unparalleled musical groups, and it is to these creative artists in the military that these exceptional recordings are dedicated.
www.naxos.com/labels/altissimo-cd.htm • www.militarymusic.com
2017 GRAMMY® Awards Nominations Announced
Hosted by popstar Meghan Trainor, The Recording Academy announced on December 6, 2016 the nominees for the 59th GRAMMY® Awards which will take place on February 12, 2017 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Several titles from Naxos and Ondine were nominated in various categories:
Shadow of Sirius – BRYANT, S. • PUCKETT, J.
MACKEEY, J.
Gedigian • University of Texas Wind Ensemble
Jerry F. Junkin
STEINBERG, M.:
Passion Week
The Clarion Choir • Steven Fox
DAUGHERTY, M.:
Tales of Hemingway
Bailey • Jacobs
Nashville Symphony Orchestra
Giancarlo Guerrero
DVOŘÁK, A.:
Violin Concerto • Romance
SUK, J.:
Fantasy
Tetzlaff • Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra
John Storgårds
Our distributed labels also garnered GRAMMY® nominations this year, including Opus Arte (Best Opera Recording for Kró Roger), Dacapo (Best Orchestral Performance for Christopher Rouse's Odna Zhizn), Sono Luminus (Best Chamber Music / Small Group Performance for Spektral Quartet’s Serious Business) and Cedille (Best Chamber Music / Small Group Performance for Third Coast Percussion’s Steve Reich recording and the Lincoln Trio’s Trios from Our Homelands).
8.226110 [CD]
DSL-92198 [CD]
CDR90000-161 [CD]
CDR90000-165 [CD]
Naxos Music Library World
Featured Digital Platform: Naxos Music Library World
Naxos Music Library World was launched in September 2015, and offers a wide range of world music presenting more than 150 countries and over 500 cultural groups. The Service offers close to 7,000 albums from such renowned labels as Smithsonian Folkways, ARC, Celestial Harmonies, Warner, Sony, Naxos World, plus 200 other independent labels.
Henning Kraggerud’s ‘December’ Lyrics-Writing Competition
Aside from being one of today’s top violinists, Henning Kraggerud is also known as a composer. His recording of Mozart’s Violin Concertos Nos. 3, 4 and 5 (Naxos 8.573513) includes his own cadenzas, which were praised by Fanfare as “intelligently conceived and harmoniously integrated with Mozart’s own material.” Last month, Henning announced a lyric-writing competition on his Facebook page for his work December, which is a part of his Music Calendar 1992.
“I have always loved Christmas songs, not for religious reasons, but for what they do for the human spirit. They can lift the souls of many in unison (and harmony). I think there are too few songs that serve this purpose, which is not tied up in religion at this time of the year. So, I am asking for a brand new song text. It could be to celebrate the end of the year; perhaps gratitude for the life we have; hopes for the New Year; or about humanity and life itself; it’s for anyone who believes in the human spirit’s capability for love. I want this contest to be open to anyone irrespective of religion, so long as the text can lift your mood. Also, if you have no religion but believe in the good in most people and can see the beauty of this life we have to be shared here on Earth together.
I believe every human is born with the need or desire for something to lift the soul. Poems, novels, music, dance, paintings, drawings, fairy-tales, stories; perhaps all arts serve this purpose. If you have great hope in humanity and want to use this song to share your thoughts with the world, this might be the competition for you.
I always tell my children, and believe myself, that the vast majority of people are truly good inside, that we are born good people, and that this capability for love is a natural thing for us all. Whether or not you have a religion is not important in this context, as long as you have faith in the human spirit’s capability for love.”
– Henning Kraggerud
The winning entry will receive an exciting prize from Henning, plus it will be performed by the very popular Norwegian boy soprano Aksel Rykkvin.
Amazon Original Series: Mozart in the Jungle
Amazon’s hit series ‘Mozart in the Jungle’ returns in its third season, featuring music not only from Naxos, but also Naxos-owned labels Dynamic and Amadis. Whether you’re going to binge-watch the entire season, or slowly savour every single episode, tune in to see if you can spot these tracks!
Episode 1
GOUNOD: Le Filles de Cadix (Naxos 8.557827)
Episode 2
GOUNOD: Je veux vivre (Naxos 8.557827)
PURCELL: Dido and Aeneas (Naxos 8.553108)
Episode 3
DVOŘÁK: String Quartet No. 12 (Naxos 8.553371)
SIBELIUS: Symphony No. 2 (Naxos 8.554387)
BIZET: Carmen Suite No. 1 (Amadis 7073)
Episode 5
ROSSINI: Bianca e Falliero (Dynamic CDS501)
Episode 6
BEETHOVEN: Fidelio (Naxos 8.557892)
Episode 7
MESSIAEN: Quartet for End of Time (Naxos 8.554824)
Loved the soundtrack to seasons 1 and 2? Many of the titles are from our own labels! Visit Amazon for more details.
Check out other notable Naxos placements on www.naxoslicensing.com.
Guitarist Celil Refik Kaya interviewed on Classical Guitar Alive !
Turkish guitarist Celil Refik Kaya, prizewinner of international competitions including First Prize at the 2012 JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Competition, has been interviewed by renowned guitarist Tony Morris on his long-running program Classical Guitar Alive!. In the interview they discussed Celil Refik Kaya’s debut album on Naxos, a recording of Jorge Morel’s guitar music (8.573514), including the popular Danza brasilera and some new works such as the Prelude and Fugue, dedicated to Refik Kaya.
Listen to the broadcast here.
The Guardian’s Top 10 CDs
of 2016
Die Walküre is one of The Guardian’s Top 10 CDs of 2016
Naxos’ founding chairman Klaus Heymann talks with Hong Kong Philharmonic’s Music Director Jaap van Zweden and Chief Executive Michael Macleod about part two of their Ring Cycle project – Die Walküre.
Michael Macleod
The recording (8.660394-97/NBD0051), featuring top vocal soloists Heidi Melton, Stuart Skelton, Matthias Goerne, Michelle DeYoung, and Petra Lang has received favourable reviews from top publications:
“Wagner’s Die Walküre continues Naxos’s Ring cycle under Jaap van Zweden and is even better than the preceding Das Rheingold” – Opera Now ★★★★
“This atmospheric Walküre…is evidence of Van Zweden’s success in dramatically raising standards at Hong Kong” – The Times (London) ★★★★
“The word I’d have to use for this performance—if I were allowed only one—would be, ‘beautiful’.”
– ClassicsToday.com
“Van Zweden’s sense of pacing and drama never falters … and some of the climaxes he engineers are thrillingly vivid” – The Guardian ★★★★
“This is an impressive and likeable achievement.” – Gramophone
Overtures by
Cimarosa
Neapolitan Niceties: Overtures by Cimarosa
Domenico Cimarosa was one of the last great exponents of the ‘Neapolitan School’ and one of the most famous and successful composers before the arrival of Rossini on the European opera scene. His works were produced and re-staged at innumerable performances in opera houses all over Europe. This programme represents the extraordinary range of Cimarosa’s career, from Le trame deluse (The Foiled Schemes) and La villana riconosciuta (The Country Girl Revealed), which were among his greatest hits, to overtures from cantatas such as Atene edificata (The Founding of Athens) and the ‘dramatic composition’ for Cardinal de Bernis, written on the occasion of the birth of the Dauphin, the firstborn son of Louis XVI.
Holidays Around
The World
Featured Playlist: Holidays Around The World
Discover beautiful carols and classical holiday pieces from around the world with our Holidays Around The World playlist!
Franz Hauk, Conductor
Born in Neuburg an der Donau in 1955, Franz Hauk studied church and school music, with piano and organ, at the Munich Musikhochschule and in Salzburg. In 1988 he took his doctorate with a thesis on church music in Munich at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Since 1982 he has served as organist at Ingolstadt Minster, and since 1995 also as choirmaster. He has given concerts in Europe and the United States and made a number of recordings. Since October 2002 he has taught in the historical performance and church music department of the Munich Music and Theatre Hochschule, while winning a reputation for his research and the performances he has directed. He founded the Simon Mayr Choir in 2003, and in 2013 was awarded the German Order of Merit.
This year Naxos has released four albums featuring Franz Hauk, exemplifying his scholastic expertise with the music of Simon Mayr and Gaetano Donizetti. The latest is a recording of Messa di Glora and Credo in D (8.573605), with the bulk of the music chosen from versions of Donizetti’s Mass settings with (re)orchestrations by Mayr.
Other recent recordings include:
![MAYR, J.S.: Saffo [Opera]](images/8.660367-68.jpg "MAYR, J.S.: Saffo [Opera]")
– Opera News
![MAYR, J.S.: Amor non soffre opposizione [Opera giocosa]](images/8.660361-62.jpg "MAYR, J.S.: Amor non soffre opposizione [Opera giocosa]")
– The Music Gala
– American Record Guide
For the full list of Franz Hauk’s complete recordings on Naxos, visit his artist page: https://www.naxos.com/person/Franz_Hauk/32460.htm