This release of Mieczysław Weinberg’s Cello Concerto extends our catalogue of his orchestral works that already includes his two Flute Concertos (8.573931), the Clarinet Concerto (8.574192) and the Violin Concertino (8.572631). Our recordings of Weinberg’s symphonies have undoubtedly contributed to an increasing awareness and popularity for this composer, whose fortunes sadly declined in his final decades. Both the Cello Concertino and Cello Concerto have been popular on albums in recent years but have appeared less frequently together, and with the substantial Fantasy for Cello and Orchestra the completeness of this release has its own special appeal. This is the Naxos debut of the excellent Tyumen Philharmonic Orchestra, led by its distinguished and multi-award-winning artistic director and chief conductor, Yuri Medianik. The solo cellist is Nikolay Shugaev, well known for his dynamic international performances and as ‘an eloquent soloist.’ (Gramophone on works by Malipiero, Ghedini, Casella, 8.574393)

9.70381 *

Mieczysław WEINBERG (1919–1996)
Polish Melodies

* Only available for download and streaming

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Developed in collaboration with the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, our Music of Brazil series is part of the Brasil em Concerto project, presenting around 100 orchestral, chamber, choral and vocal works from the 19th and 20th centuries recorded by the country’s top orchestras, ensembles and artists, and selected according to their historical importance for Brazilian music. We now reach Vol. 27 in the series and the third volume to feature the music of César Guerra-Peixe, which has until now been surprisingly rare in catalogues given the immediate appeal of many of his works. With world premiere recordings of both the First Symphony and the Nonet, this is yet another Naxos album that shows us what we have been missing through neglect of South American composers, and César Guerra-Peixe in particular, with even the modernist serial style of these earlier works filled with the kind of life-enhancing directness of expression that infuses all of his music.

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This is the audio version of a Dynamic label audiovisual release (DYN-38030/DYN-58030) featuring Donizetti’s Lucie de Lammermoor, the French adaptation of Donizetti’s hugely successful Lucia di Lammermoor. Compared with its Italian original, Lucie de Lammermoor is a rarity on stage and there are relatively few recordings of 'the other Lucia’ as it has become known. The outstanding cast on this release features Italian soprano Caterina Sala in the title role and was recorded live in 2023 during the Donizetti Opera Festival in Bergamo. Performing on period instruments, the Orchestra Gli Originali is directed by Pierre Dumoussaud, who made an impressive entrance onto the opera scene when he won the International Competition for Opera Conductors organised by the Opéra Royal de Wallonie in 2017, and the first Victoires de la musique classique awards when the ‘Conductor’ category was created in 2022.

Each album in the first part of our History of the Russian Piano Trio edition was dedicated to a particular period, with programmes featuring both well-known scores, rare editions and manuscripts of seldom heard works, all performed by the Brahms Trio. Following the release of the concluding fifth volume, Gramophone hailed the series as ‘a set to treasure’. Now The Brahms Trio returns with a second part devoted to the Silver Age and Russian Art Nouveau. Rachmaninov’s two Elegiac Trios are core elements of the piano trio repertoire and of pre-revolutionary Russian music. While there are other recordings that pair them together, collectors will surely wish to acquire The Brahms Trio’s interpretations, given the superlative quality of their previous Naxos releases, which have delivered ‘sublime performances throughout.’ (The Whole Note)

Tanya Ekanayaka already has four albums on the Grand Piano and Naxos World labels to her credit, with Fanfare giving an indication of her accomplished style following the release of The Planets and Humanity (GP879): ‘Ekanayaka has found musical expressions for moods that cannot be put into words and which reach back before the dawn of history. Warmly recommended.’ For her latest programme the composer/pianist/academic drew inspiration from sixteen pristine isles belonging to the territory of her homeland Sri Lanka. Eight of the sixteen tracks were composed between 2022 and 2024. The remainder were extemporised during the recording session, each incorporating a short, distinct musical motif that is to be retained as a core element during future extemporisations in live performance.

Charles Koechlin’s First Symphony has had to wait almost a century before receiving this, its first authoritative recording under conductor Ariane Matiakh, who spent more than a year painstakingly preparing the performance materials. Her recording of Koechlin’s Seven Stars’ Symphony (C5449) was critically acclaimed: ‘[Matiakh’s] lucid and profound knowledge of these scores allows her to expose every minute detail of this glittering array of sounds that are nothing short of spellbinding.’ (Classical Music Daily) With her recording of the First Symphony, we now have a welcome further foray into the largely unexplored symphonic world of a fascinating composer, a sort of French chameleon, who felt comfortable turning between Bachian counterpoint and the heights of French impressionism. The earlier symphonic poem Au loin and 3 Mélodies (orchestrated posthumously) complete this wonderful programme.

Gli uccellatori (The Bird Catchers) was first staged in Venice in 1759 and proved so successful that the dramma giocoso was widely performed over the next decade throughout Italy, Spain, Poland and Germany, before reaching Vienna in 1768. Its composer, the distinguished Bohemian Florian Leopold Gassmann, was both a teacher of Salieri and Gluck’s nominated successor as Court Kapellmeister in Vienna. The plot, based on a libretto by Carlo Goldoni, concerns amorous intrigues and the buffo antics of three bird catchers and two knowing maids. Gli uccellatori brims with abundant melody, a vibrant atmosphere, spirited wit and theatrical charm. This world premiere recording of the opera was made at the Festival Della Valle d’Itria, Martina Franca.

Lepo Sumera (1950–2000) was one of the most important figures in Estonian music following World War Two. He might also be considered one of the most important European symphonists during the last quarter of the 20th century, when he wrote his impressive series of six symphonies that embody imaginative orchestral colour and a skilful sense of structure. American composer John Adams was one of his great admirers, yet despite all this Sumera’s symphonies have been recorded only once before. Performed by the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra under their music director and chief conductor Olari Elts, this first in the series of recordings of all Sumera’s symphonies includes the first and last in glorious interpretations, recorded and engineered by the composer’s son. The fact that the orchestra gave the first performances of Sumera's First (1981), Second (1984), Third (1988) and Sixth (2000) Symphonies assures authoritative performances.