NEWS FROM THE NAXOS MUSIC GROUP

Born and raised in Buenos Aires into an Argentinian/Italian family, Ignacio Lusardi Monteverde started playing the guitar aged six. Inspired by his cultural surroundings, he played with his siblings as a family pastime, learning Argentinian folk songs and tango music. His passion for flamenco started when he was aged 9, following his discovery of the works of the Spanish flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia. His desire to pursue the flamenco genre eventually took him to London in 2013, where he became musically connected with Spain and the rest of the world.

Ignacio Lusardi Monteverde is now an acclaimed London-based flamenco guitarist, producer and recording engineer. He graduated as a choir master at Buenos Aires Conservatoire in 2013, and has since collaborated with a number of performers including Ahmed Mukhtar, Baluji Shrivastav OBE and Eduardo Niebla. He has featured in live appearances on BBC Radio 3, and at the London Festival of Baroque Music, the Indian National Theatre and the Iraq Babylon Great Theatre, amongst others. In 2019 he was awarded the LATIN UK AWARD for Musician of the Year, and in 2020 was assigned as a member of the Guild of Musicians & Singers. This same year he was awarded an honoris causa by the North & Midlands School of Music, at the level of Honorary Fellowship. This was for his outstanding contribution to world music, both as performer and audio engineer./p>

BBC Music Magazine has announced the shortlist for its 2021 Awards. The recording of Tchaikovsky's All-Night Vigil with the Latvian Radio Choir under Sigvards Klava received the nomination in the Choral category.

‘This recording offered beguiling insights into the sacred choral music of Tchaikovsky, overshadowed by his more familiar orchestral works. The Latvian Radio Choir brings radiant sophistication to the expressive All Night Vigil and a set of four even lesser-known pieces, inviting listeners to rethink what they know of Tchaikovsky’s music.’ – BBC Music Magazine

The Symphony in G heard on this album was discovered in the SWR archive in the course of research for the Gulda album released on SWRmusic. Up to that point, nobody knew that the work existed, since there are no indications that Gulda was commissioned to write it, nor of a specific occasion for which he might have composed the symphony. Consequently, here is the world premiere of a piece which, following its studio recording on 20 November 1970, has never been performed in public.

Gulda, a brilliant master of rhythm, uncompromising Bach interpreter and jazz musician, is heard at his best when performing Chopin, whose works appear in Gulda’s earliest concert programmes. His secret in playing Chopin with so much vitality lay in the inimitable mix of rhythmic strictness, cantabile tenderness and controlled outbursts.

All those who experienced Gulda live reported how he radiated a very special aura, one that was markedly stronger than that conveyed by his recordings. One got the distinct impression that he was performing the music for the very first time, coaxing the notes out of a musical cosmos and making them audible on the grand piano (or the clavichord). After a final chord, Gulda would often draw a curtain on his magical, pearly tones, dispatching them with a subtle movement of the hand. Such was the case with the two Beethoven sonatas presented here. The fact that Gulda cherished Beethoven’s Op. 110 sonata throughout his life is by no means surprising, since Beethoven really transcends all boundaries in this piece: heterogeneous elements fuse to form an integrated whole. It’s in this way that SWR’s five-volume Gulda edition ends, with music that knows no boundaries, reflecting Gulda’s essential crossing of frontiers, ruled by a desire to let all the stars of his musical cosmos shine.

‘...you won't be bored for a second... After four albums of "small pieces", the LGT Young Soloists, with these two great masterpieces by Beethoven, cross a milestone. We can only enthusiastically encourage these talented young musicians.’ –⁠ ⁠Crescendo (France)

Take the world with you wherever you go with mobile applications for Apple and Android devices.  Browse for music and albums with your thumbs, and even use the world map search feature.  Listen while you are studying, driving, or hosting themed parties.