Naxos Recommends – February 2025

This month’s highlights from the Naxos Music Group include Boris Giltburg’s new recording of Rachmaninov’s Piano Sonatas and The Isle of the Dead; the 4th instalment in Christoph Poppen’s ongoing cycle of Mozart’s Complete Masses; an audiovisual release of Richard Strauss’ lyric comedy Arabella staged by prize-winning director Tobias Kratzer; Francesco Cilluffo and the Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Lirico di Cagliari presenting Cilea’s rare drama lirico Gloria; and more.


Naxos 8.574601

Pianist Boris Giltburg has been a major Naxos recording artist for some ten years now, during which time he has proved himself a consummate interpreter of the music of Rachmaninov. Gramophone, for example, noted of his performances of Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 4 (8.574528) that ‘Throughout this superb disc, Giltburg is a joy to hear … these are among the finest accounts of these works.’ This latest programme will no doubt attract similar accolades. It features the dramatic power of Rachmaninov’s First Piano Sonata, the vividly passionate Second Piano Sonata in the composer’s 1931 revised version, and Georgy Kirkor’s 1957 transcription of The Isle of the Dead, which Boris himself has revised significantly.


Naxos 8.574637

Conductor Christoph Poppen continues his recordings of Mozart’s complete masses with this fourth volume that features three distinctive works from the composer’s early years: the Missa brevis in G major, the only example of a ‘Pastoral’ Mass by Mozart that also uses dance tunes from a contemporary ballet; the Mass in C major ‘Dominicus’, a work of operatic qualities that reveals a deepening awareness of contrapuntal writing; and the serene Missa brevis in F major, which was composed in 1774 and was inspired by Haydn’s teaching. This album will doubtless continue the success of previous releases in the series. Vol. 3, for example, was dubbed ‘A splendid Mozart choral album with music that will be new to all but the most hardcore of Mozart fans, with fine studio sound from Cologne.’ (AllMusic.com)


Naxos 2.110774 [DVD]

Richard Strauss’ opera Arabella has earned itself the reputation of being a light-hearted comedy of errors, but Tobias Kratzer’s multi-faceted 2023 production for Deutsche Oper Berlin also explores the disunity between its characters, spotlighting tensions that connect 19th-century Vienna to the present day. This refreshing approach earned it a nomination in the ‘Space’ category of the German Theatre DER FAUST awards. The production also continues Kratzer’s collaboration with conductor Sir Donald Runnicles which began in 2019 with their acclaimed production of Zemlinsky’s Der Zwerg (2.110657/NBD0108V). The uniformly strong cast of Arabella was duly acknowledged by the critics: ‘The magnificent Elena Tsallagova [as Zdenka] with her soulful, rich lyrical soprano ... Robert Watson plays Matteo with a burning, self-destructive passion ... Russell Brown takes on Mandryka with a completely different, darker intensity in feeling and singing … Sara Jakubiak … exactly embodied the character of Arabella with unerring acerbity in her singing and great impulsiveness in her acting.’ (Die Deutsche Bühne)

Also available on Blu-ray Video (NBD0182V)


Naxos 8.660568

Apart from his popular Adriana Lecouvreur and certain arias from L’arlesiana, Francesco Cilea’s operatic output has been unduly neglected, arguably more so than is the case for most of his early 20th-century Italian contemporaries. Premiered in 1907, Cilea’s opera Gloria subsequently enjoyed a handful of revivals, though none of the associated audio recordings can seriously compete with this new one, being either long deleted from the catalogues or of historical live performances with variable sound quality. Collectors of fine but seldom performed Italian opera will certainly be keen to acquire this new release. It’s the audio version of the video recording of the production released on the Dynamic label (DYN-38004/DYN-58004), which was much admired in the critical press: ‘[Conductor] Francesco Cilluffo … leads this attractively staged performance from the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, bringing Gloria to video for the first time … Anastasia Bartoli (Gloria) is a beautiful woman with an even and velvety soprano … There is much to appreciate here, and the [recording] will serve the demographic of opera fans who feel Adriana Lecouvreur is just not enough Cilea for their musical appetite.’ (American Record Guide)


Capriccio C5540

Remembered by ambitious amateur pianists for his Rustle of Spring, Christian Sinding was a more important figure in the music of his native Norway than this might suggest; there, in his time, he was second only to Grieg. Trained in Leipzig, he fell under the influence of Liszt and Wagner, producing a large quantity of music that, although it enjoyed contemporary popularity, remains forgotten in today's concert programmes. Revealing the inherent fervour of his four symphonies, this album enjoys sensitive and enthusiastic interpretations from the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra under Karl-Heinz Steffens, for whom Sinding has become a composer close to his heart.


Dynamic DYN-38057 [DVD]

This new production of Tosca from Maggio Musicale Fiorentino is set in the late 1920s. Puccini’s ‘Roman Opera’ sees a city bathed in majesty but also curdled by eroticism and sadism, where sartorial elegance and pathological violence co-exist. Taking visual clues from Bernardo Bertolucci’s cinematic masterpiece Il conformist, the cast is led by a passionate Vanessa Goikoetxea in the title role and features a magnetic Alexey Markov in the role of Scarpia. Daniele Gatti directs a performance praised for its ‘courageous and surprising’ impact. (La Nazione Firenze)

Also available on Blu-ray Video (DYN-58057)


Ondine ODE 1451-2D

This impressive new recording of Elgar’s oratorio The Dream of Gerontius features an outstanding line-up of soloists (mezzo-soprano Christine Rice, tenor John Findon, baritone Roderick Williams) and a chorus comprising singers from five choirs representing both Finland and the University of Cambridge. Elgar considered the work to be his magnum opus, describing it as ‘the best of me’, and this new release is certain to claim a place among the best recordings of the work. The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, nominated in 2023 for Gramophone’s Orchestra of the Year Award, is directed by their chief conductor Nicholas Collon.

Listen to an excerpt from Part I: Rouse thee, my fainting soul (Gerontius) - Be merciful, be gracious (Chorus)

Opus Arte OA1392D [DVD]

This Royal Shakespeare Company production of the Bard’s captivating comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream transports us to the most magical of settings, in which director Eleanor Rhode’s interpretation is both epic and intimate, and completely full of wonder. Mere mortals cross paths with a warring fairy King and Queen, chaos reigns in the natural world, the lines between reality and illusion start to blur, and no-one but the mischievous Puck knows what is true and what is magic. Sit back and savour the non-stop laughs in a performance hailed by The Guardian as a five-star ‘ravishing fusion of flamboyancy, surrealism and raucous fun.’




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