|
 |
Take pleasure in this month’s weekly features on Naxos.com
The American Classics series, one of Naxos’ major ongoing projects, featuring composers such as John Adams, Barber, Bernstein, Bolcom, Copland, Corigliano, Glass, and many more. Explore the American soundscape.
Enjoy our feature for Mother's Day – a fabulous selection of smooth classics and contemporary grooves. Make the event even extra-special for your mother or your wife by sending her the gift of music. Click here to find out how.
Celebrate Jewish American Heritage Month with the Milken Archive, the largest collection of American Jewish music ever assembled, performed by leading artists such as the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields and Sir Neville Marriner, Yoel Levi, Gerald Schwarz, Seattle Symphony Orchestra.
The house artist on showcase is Jenö Jandó, one of the most prolific artists in the history of classical music recording. Specially put together for you is a cream selection from this pianist’s vast catalogue of recordings for Naxos, ranging from solo, chamber to orchestral albums. Check out his latest release on Naxos, 8.570290 Brahms: Waltzes, Op. 39 and Rhapsodies, Op. 79. Mature sound, superior artistry, intelligent rendition – these are just of some of the dazzling Jandó qualities. Give yourself the ultimate listening treat.
Lastly, be sure to listen online to the latest releases by the world’s leading classical music label. |
| |
|
| |
|
Naxos celebrates 20 Years of Classical Music
 Since 1987, Naxos has redefined how classical music is presented and marketed. A label with innovative strategies of recording exciting new repertoire, Naxos provides a good balance of genres and styles of music in its releases every month. At the same time, the label remains firmly committed to working with artists of the highest calibre, including young talent and prizewinners of major international competitions. Naxos is also the unparalleled leader in the digital distribution of classical music, and offers a wide range of audio streaming services: www.naxos.com, www.naxosradio.com, www.naxosspokenwordlibrary.com, and www.naxosmusiclibrary.com
We invite you to join in the celebrations. Click here to view photos and articles from events around the world. Don’t forget to check out our 20th Anniversary national box sets - available for streaming to all Naxos.com subscribers.
|
|
|
|
8.557970 KALOMIRIS: Triptych, Symphony No. 3
Manolis Kalomiris is today considered the father of modern Greek composition. His output includes 3 symphonies, 5 operas and hundreds of songs. His brilliantly orchestrated Triptych was written following the death of one of his heroes, the great statesman Eleftherios Venizelos, and is an elegy to the ex-prime minister and a celebration of the liberation of Crete, the island of his birth. Symphony No. 3 sets excerpts of Palamas’ poems to music, and is one of the great landmarks of modern Greek music. This exciting new release kicks off the Naxos Greek Classics series.
Nikitas Tsakiroglou (narrator), Athens State Orchestra, Byron Fidetzis
|
Some releases may not be available on CD in all countries – please contact the
Naxos
distributor
in your territory. For a complete list of new releases available, click here
|
|
8.557834 Norwegian Piano Music
Egge’s breakthrough work, his Piano Sonata No. 1, was inspired by Draumkvædet (The Dream Ballad), a would-be medieval saga sung to traditional melodies. Egge’s Second Piano Concerto is similarly based around a traditional folk-tune, the haunting Solfager og Ormekongen (Sun-Fair and the Snake-King), also heard here in an arrangement by Grieg. Egge’s Halling Fantasy, Sverre Bergh’s Norwegian Dance No. 2 and Alf Hurum’s Miniature all draw on the tradition of folk-fiddling, and the disc ends with the première recording of Brudlaups-Klokkor (Wedding-Bells), a newly-discovered piece by Geirr Tveitt.
Håvard Gimse (piano), Trondheim Soloists, Øyvind Gimse |
|
|
|
|
8.557799 CORELLI: Violin Sonatas, Op. 5, Nos. 7-12
Corelli’s fame as both violinist and composer was widespread throughout 17th century Europe. His twelve Opus 5 Sonatas for violin and continuo are notable for their juxtaposition of slow movements of lyrical, elegant beauty akin to the human voice, and brilliant, technically demanding fast movements. Sonatas Nos. 1-6 are available on Naxos 8.557165.
François Fernandez (baroque violin), Glen Wilson (harpsichord) |
|
|
|
|
8.570020 SIBELIUS: Songs, Vol. 2
Although Sibelius wrote around a hundred songs over a period of more than thirty years, they have suffered comparative neglect alongside his larger-scale orchestral and choral music. Sibelius considered them to represent his “innermost self”. Volume One of this two-disc survey is available on Naxos 8.570019.
Hannu Jurmu (tenor), Jouni Somero (piano) |
|
|
|
|
8.570237 Three Centuries of Bagatelles
Bagatelle means ‘trifle’ in French. The genre was often used by composers to ‘disarm’ their listeners, surprising them with a brilliant or poetic character piece. This innovative recording by the gifted Russian-born American pianist Julia Zilberquit traces the development of the bagatelle from Couperin through to Bartók and beyond, revealing the remarkable character and drama in the genre.
Julia Zilberquit (piano) |
| Naxos Historical Recordings |
|
|
|
8.111257 J. STRAUSS II: Wiener Blut
One of the legendary series of operetta recordings produced by Walter Legge with the Philharmonia Orchestra in the early 1950s, this classic account of Wiener Blut features the ideal vocal partnership of soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and tenor Nicolai Gedda,
both at the height of their powers. The whole performance is masterfully led by Otto Ackermann, one of the greatest post-war conductors of the repertoire.
Not available in the United States due to possible copyright restrictions |
|
|
|
|
8.111237 SMETANA: Má Vlast (My Country)
A superb conductor of Smetana’s music, including the operas, Talich made three recordings of Má Vlast. This 1954 performance, taped in the fine acoustic of the Dvorák Hall of the Rudolfinum, is a magnificent realisation of Smetana’s musical intentions. Talich’s buoyant rhythm in the opening bars of Vltava, and the passionate phrasing he draws from the vibrant strings and the rustic woodwinds of the Czech Philharmonic, are just some of the outstanding features of this great recording.
Not available in the United States due to possible copyright restrictions |
|
|
|
|
8.110987 CASALS: Encores and Transcriptions, Vol. 5
This third and final disc of the complete 78rpm acoustic recordings of the famous cellist Pablo Casals cover the period 1916-1925. It includes a handful of original compositions, notably the popular Gavotte by the great Bohemian cellist David Popper, and Bruch’s Kol Nidrei.
Not available in the United States due to possible copyright restrictions |
|
|
|
|
8.111226 Strauss II: Paraphrases and Piano Transcriptions, Vol. 1
The undisputed master of Viennese dance forms, Johann Strauss II became the most popular musician of his generation. Concert pianists in the late 19th century and throughout the 20th century added to Strauss’s popularity by creating paraphrases and transcriptions of many of his works. The examples gathered together on this disc include solo piano performances, as well as duo-piano transcriptions and one recording on four pianos. A number of these historic recordings appear for the first time on compact disc.
Not available in the United States due to possible copyright restrictions
|
|
|
8.559180 CORIGLIANO: Music for String Quartet
John Corigliano won several Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize, and an Academy Award for his score for the film The Red Violin. His nostalgic Snapshot: Circa 1909 was inspired by the photograph of his uncle and father that is reproduced on the cover of this disc. Corigliano’s String Quartet, written for the farewell tour of the Cleveland Quartet, is both celebratory and wistful in tone, and won the composer two Grammy Awards. A Black November Turkey takes its title from a savage allegorical poem by Richard Wilbur, and was especially arranged for the Corigliano Quartet. The String Quartet No. 2 by Corigliano’s former pupil Jefferson Friedman won the ASCAP Leo Kaplan Award and the BMI Student Composer Award in 2000. |
|
|
|
|
8.559328 JOAN TOWER: Made in America
Made in America is a fantasy on the theme of the unofficial national anthem, America the
Beautiful, and its orchestration depicts the colour and landscape of the country. The rhythmically driven Tambor demonstrates Joan Tower’s self-proclaimed passion for percussion, and her Concerto for Orchestra features solo passages from individual instruments, requiring precision and virtuosity from soloists and ensemble alike. |
|
|
|
|
8.559277 SCOTT JOPLIN: Piano Rags, Vol. 2
Although Scott Joplin’s musical interests were considerably broader than what could be expressed in ragtime – he composed two operas (Treemonisha is considered by many to be his masterpiece), a ballet, and two orchestral works – he is best remembered today as the ‘King of the Ragtime Writers’, the master of freely syncopated and extraordinarily inventive piano rags. This recording includes the whirling, scintillating Stoptime Rag, the nostalgic Gladiolus Rag, and Joplin’s last ever work for piano, Reflection Rag. Volume One is available on Naxos 8.559114. |
|
|
|
|
8.669010-11 DAVID SCHIFF: Gimpel The Fool
Gimpel the Fool is a setting of the story by Polish-born American Yiddish writer Isaac Bashevis Singer (1904-1991). In the words of the composer, also of Polish descent, “it turned out to be world full of spirits and demons, as well as a world inseparable from Judaism”. The opera was given its first performance in November 1975 at Hebrew Union College in New York as a version for singers and piano. It was subsequently orchestrated and the full version is heard on this recording.
|
|
|
8.225329-31 SIEGFRIED WAGNER: Der Kobold (The Goblin)
Siegfried Wagner, the son of Richard Wagner and his second wife Cosima, composed seventeen operas in total, expertly written in a late romantic style derived from the influence of Humperdinck. Der Kobold (The Goblin), Siegfried Wagner’s third opera, demonstrates the composer’s preoccupation with the theme of infanticide, coupled with magic and evil conflicts, only resolved by the death of the heroine. |
|
|
| Subscription |
| Subscribe to Naxos today and enjoy quality music on demand |
 |
Access to over 5,000 CDs! |
|
More than 50 new CDs added every month! |
|
Access to all podcasts |
|
Receive monthly newsletter |
| |
| Newsletter Archive |
| Missed any of the new releases and other information we sent out in the past months? Visit our Newsletter Archive. |
|
| Tell your friends the latest about Naxos music. Forward this newsletter now! |
|
|
