NEWS FROM THE NAXOS MUSIC GROUP

Vivian Buczek is one of the most outstanding and engaging jazz singers of today who displays a remarkable feeling for the jazz idiom.

Vivian is a truly dynamic and emotional singer who gives her soul to rhythm and blues, comprehends the sincerity of story telling in slow ballads, and always puts her audience first.

Vivian established a singing career with a string of albums between 2000 and 2022;  A Woman’s Voice (2019) was critically acclaimed. Her output reflects her musical roots and life experiences, while celebrating some of the main sources of inspiration that have made a lasting impression on her over the years. She is a vocalist who truly knows and comprehends the tradition, and who proudly carries the torch of female jazz singers.

Darko Nikčević and Srdjan Bulatović, the internationally renowned guitar duo from Montenegro, are acclaimed for their virtuosity and for exciting performances that blend influences from the Mediterranean and the Middle East. This programme captures the spontaneous nature of their musical creativity and documents the strange period in which the world first stood still under the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on a shared Balkan heritage and using eloquently transparent melodies, these pieces express uncertainty and isolation as well as the deepest and most beautiful of emotions, from inner peace and contentment to a cheerful appreciation of life itself.

Germaine Tailleferre (1892–1983) is best known for being the only female member of the French group of composers known as Les Six, and her stylish combination of neo-Classicism with a ready wit and energy can be compared to Poulenc and Milhaud. From the captivating Romance written while still a student, to her sparkling music for the 1937 Paris International Exhibition, all of these pieces show Tailleferre as being very much at the heart of the contemporary French musical scene. This recording, described by the composer’s granddaughter as being ‘as though Tailleferre herself was perfoming these works’, is the first of three volumes presenting the complete piano music played by Nicolas Horvath.

The Guardian wrote that with this series ‘pianist Nicolas Horvath has embarked on an invaluable project, including several world premiere recordings. [His] versatility lends itself to the chameleon Tailleferre: she switches from neoclassical to radical, tonal to bitonal, rhythmic and familiar to irregular and dissonant. Horvath is a great advocate.’

A reclusive romance novelist on a book tour with her cover model gets swept up in a kidnapping attempt that lands them both in a cutthroat jungle adventure. The Lost City stars Academy Award© winner Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum and others.

Naxos is pleased to announce its commitment to Dolby Atmos, a fully-immersive audio format that provides a true surround sound listening experience, with sound positioned not just from side-to-side, but from top-to-bottom as well.

Apple Music is a primary proponent of this new audio technology, with many of their newest devices supporting Dolby Atmos audio playback.

The Naxos release of Marcel Poot’s Complete Symphonies received a 2022 Prix Caecilia medal for Best Historical Recording, awarded by L’Union de la Presse Musicale Belge.

Poot’s cycle of seven symphonies, the earliest of which show the influence of Ravel, Stravinsky and jazz, reveal a clear preference for Classical balance and a non-programmatic form. Predominantly tonal, the symphonies are notable for their rhythmic energy, colourful orchestration and lyricism.

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958) is one of Britain’s most illustrious composers, and this specially curated selection of works demonstrates the sheer breadth of his achievement. As a major 20th-century symphonist he is represented by four of his nine symphonies, all in critically acclaimed recordings (‘A clear top recommendation’ wrote Gramophone of A Sea Symphony). Popular orchestral works such as the celebrated Tallis Fantasia and The Lark Ascending are also included. Vaughan Williams’ chamber works are performed by the Maggini Quartet, his greatest contemporary champions; while the sublime Mass in G minor shows the composer’s high standing in the English choral tradition.

After a recording hiatus of two years, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra was very happy to return to the studio to record again for Naxos. In March of 2020 (just a day or two before life shut down due to the pandemic), the orchestra and I recorded a CD of the music of Florent Schmitt for Naxos – a CD that went on to win the Diapason d’Or Award in France. We loved playing the music of this great French composer and are really glad that his extraordinary music is becoming known and loved around the world due to Naxos’ commitment to lesser-known masterpieces.

In March of 2022, we tackled a large scale symphony by the mystical Russian composer Alexander Scriabin – a profound and pivotal work in his compositional life. His Second Symphony shows the composer’s strong post-romantic roots, and looks forward to the world of mysticism that became his ultimate musical home. The piece – in five movements – displays superb structure and propulsion, and combines soaring romanticism with the radiance and fragrance of impressionism. The symphony is less known than the companion piece on this disc – Scriabin’s masterpiece, his Poem of Ecstasy – but the symphony wonderfully illustrates his color, warmth and presence. Scriabin’s synesthesia – his rare ability to see specific colors when hearing musical pitches and keys – deeply informs the symphony, and the listener can actually imagine the visual colors represented by the composer’s astonishing tonal vocabulary.

The 35th World Expo, postponed from 2020 because of COVID-19, took place recently in Dubai. For the first time, each participating country had its own pavilion showcasing ideas, innovations and technologies. Naxos is proud to have supported the Brazilian Pavilion, that included a performance by the Goiás Philharmonic Orchestra. The event was recorded live and will be released as part of the critically acclaimed ‘Music of Brazil’ series.