BRUCE BROUGHTON
Broughton: And on the Sixth Day / String Theory / Concerto for Horn and Orchestra Olivier Stankiewicz (oboe) William VerMeulen (horn) / London Symphony Orchestra, Jonathan Bloxham [ Naxos American Classics / CD - due 21/Jun/2024 ] Although Bruce Broughton is best known for his many film and television scores, over the past five decades he has composed scores for a diverse array of projects from film and TV to concert music and even theme parks. His work has been recognized... |
MARGARET BROUWER
Brouwer: The Art of Sailing at Dawn / Rhapsody, Concerto for Orchestra / Symphony No. 1 "Lake Voices" ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Marin Alsop [ Naxos American Classics / CD - due 21/Jun/2024 ] Margaret Brouwer is a composer renowned for her music's lyricism, imagery and emotional power. The five premiere recordings on this album span 24 years. |
LUKAS FOSS
Foss: Ode / Renaissance Concerto / Three American Pieces / Symphony No. 1 in G major Amy Porter (flute) Nikki Chooi (violin) / Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, JoAnn Falletta [ Naxos American Classics / CD - due 24/May/2024 ] Berlin-born Lukas Foss studied music in Paris before settling in Philadelphia in 1937. Though he freely explored diverse compositional styles, three of the works in this recording fall into his early neo-Classical period and exemplify his dictum that... |
JOAQUIN TURINA
Turina: Works For Strings Concerto Málaga, Gil de Gálvez [ Naxos Spanish Classics / CD - released 19/Apr/2024 ] To commemorate the 75th anniversary year of Turina's death, this album presents some of the composer's most admired works heard in arrangements for strings that honour the colour, richness and vivacity of the originals. Two of his best-known works -... |
JOHANN SIMON MAYR
Mayr: Messa solenne in D minor Anna Feith, Bogna Bernagiewicz, Freya Apffelstaedt, Markus Schäfer, Fang Zhi, Niklas Mallmann / Simon Mayr Chorus, Concerto de Bassus, Franz Hauk [ Naxos / 2 CD - released 22/Mar/2024 ] Johann Simon Mayr's music stands on the cusp between the Classical and Romantic eras. The expressive lyrical qualities in his religious music reflects a career in which he composed nearly 70 operas. |
GIOVANNI SGAMBATI
Sgambati: Sinfonia festiva / Piano Concerto in G minor Massimiliano Damerini (piano) / Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma della RAI, Francesco La Vecchia [ Naxos / CD - released 8/Dec/2023 ] Giovanni Sgambati led the revival of Italian orchestral music during the late 19th century. He was a favourite student of Liszt, admired by Wagner, and a pivotal figure in the emancipation of his country's music from the dominance of bel canto opera.... |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 19 and 25 [transcription by Ignaz Lachner] Alon Goldstein (piano) / Fine Arts Quartet, with Lizzie Burns [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Dec/2023 ] Ignaz Lachner's ingenious transcriptions show a complete grasp of Mozart's idiom, incorporating much instrumental detail and reinventing the music's underlying dramatic scheme within a chamber context. |
ANDREAS BAKSA / UROS KREK / BORIS PAPANDOPULO / FRIGYES HIDAS
Piccolo Concertos Francesco Viola, (piccolo) / Nationaltheater-Orchester Mannheim, Salvatore Percacciolo [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Dec/2023 ] The idea of a piccolo concerto might have seemed far-fetched at the beginning of the 20th century, but numerous composers have now expanded its role as the highest instrument of the orchestra into a true solo voice. |
COPLAND / CRESTON / KAY / PISTON
Copland: The Tender Land Suite / Creston: Saxophone Concerto / etc Timothy McAllister (Alto Saxophone) / National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic, JoAnn Falletta [ Naxos American Classics / CD - released 24/Nov/2023 ] This recording brings together four extraordinary mid-20th-century composers who helped shape America's musical destiny. Aaron Copland's The Tender Land is a moving tribute to the American rancher and farmer. It forms a profound celebration of those... |
Sir WILLIAM WALTON / ROBERTO MOLINELLI
Walton: Cello Concerto (arr. viola) / Molinelli: Lady Walton's Garden '/ etc Anna Serova (viola) / Haydn Orchestra of Bolzano and Trento, Roberto Molinelli (conductor/electronics) [ Naxos / CD - released 10/Nov/2023 ] With his distinctive blend of incisive drama and lyrical expressiveness, Sir William Walton considered his cello to be the best of his three concertos for string instruments - heard here for the first time in a stunning transcription for viola. |
ANTONIO SACCHINI
Sacchini: L'abbandono delle ricchezze di S. Filippo Neri ('Saint Philip Neri's Renunciation of All Worldly Wealth') Yeree Suh, Ketevan Chuntishvili, Markus Schäfer, Daniel Ochoa (soloists) Giovanni Michelini (harpsichord and organ) / Concerto de Bassus, Franz Hauk [ Naxos / 2 CD - released 22/Sep/2023 ] Antonio Sacchini's renowned melodic gifts and facility as a composer were developed amid the flourishing Neapolitan school of opera but, outgrowing the Italian tradition, he later found inspiration working in London and Paris. |
EDUARDO GRAU
Grau: Concertos for Soloists and String Orchestra Jana Jarkovská (flute) Simon Reitmaier (clarinet) Ana María Valderrama (violin) David Fons (viola) Fabio Banegas (piano) / Anima Musicæ Chamber Orches [ Naxos / CD - released 8/Sep/2023 ] The music of Spanish-Argentine composer Eduardo Grau is imbued with Hispanic elements. His Concerto of 'Yuste' for Violin, Piano and Timpani was inspired by the Spanish monastery of its title and is notable for its rhythmic drive, lyricism and... |
PAUL CHIHARA
Chihara: Concerto-Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra Quynh Nguyen (piano) Rieko Aizawa (piano) / London Symphony Orchestra, Stephen Barlow [ Naxos American Classics / CD - released 8/Sep/2023 ] Recipient of numerous notable awards and commissions, Paul Chihara is renowned for his film and television scores as well as for an extensive catalogue of orchestral, choral and chamber works. Composed for and in close collaboration with... |
JENNIFER HIGDON
Higdon: Duo Duel / Concerto for Orchestra Matthew Strauss, Svet Stoyanov (percussion) / Houston Symphony, Robert Spano [ Naxos American Classics / CD - released 18/Aug/2023 ] Pulitzer Prize- and three-time GRAMMY award-winning composer, Jennifer Higdon, continues to write what the Chicago Sun-Times describes as music "both modern and timeless". |
CLAUDIO SANTORO
Santoro: Cello Concerto / Symphony No. 8 / Três Abstrações Marina Martins (cello) Denise de Freitas (mezzo-soprano) / Goias Philharmonic Orchestra, Neil Thomson [ Naxos The Music of Brazil / CD - released 7/Jul/2023 ] The 1960s proved to be a significant decade in Claudio Santoro's ever-eventful life. The charged atmosphere of the Cello Concerto can be attributed to his experiences in East Berlin at the moment construction started on the Berlin Wall. Despite its... |
JOSEPH BOULOGNE SAINT-GEORGES
Saint-Georges: Violin Concertos Op. 2 & Op. 7 Fumika Mohri (violin) / Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice, Michael Halász [ Naxos / CD - released 9/Jun/2023 ] A brilliant swordsman, athlete, violin virtuoso and composer, Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges might well lay claim to being the most talented figure in an age of remarkable individuals. The string quartet was still in its infancy in France... |
JOHN CORIGLIANO
Corigliano: Complete Solo Piano Music Philip Edward Fisher, Piano (piano) / Albany Symphony, David Alan Miller [ Naxos American Classics / CD - released 12/May/2023 ] John Corigliano's music has been commissioned, performed, and recorded by some of the most prominent orchestras, soloists, and chamber musicians in the world. He is the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize, five GRAMMY Awards, the Grawemeyer Award for... |
JONATHAN LESHNOFF
Leshnoff: Elegy / Violin Concerto No. 2 / Of Thee I Sing Noah Bendix-Balgley (violin) / Canterbury Voices / Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Alexander Mickelthwate [ Naxos / CD - released 21/Apr/2023 ] This is Naxos's fifth album devoted to the music of leading American composer, Jonathan Leshnoff. He was GRAMMY-nominated for his album Violins of Hope (Naxos 8.559809) and is among the most frequently performed of living composers. The themes of... |
SERGEI RACHMANINOV
Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 4 / Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Boris Giltburg (piano) / Brussels Philharmonic, Vassily Sinaisky [ Naxos / CD - released 14/Apr/2023 ] Rachmaninov's First Piano Concerto was composed while he was a student at the Moscow Conservatoire, then fully reworked before he left Russia in 1917 and again in 1919. It is hard to explain why it never achieved a higher level of popularity. |
DANNY ELFMAN / ADOLPHUS HAILSTORK
Elfman: Violin Concerto "Eleven Eleven" / Hailstork: Piano Concerto No. 1 Saandy Cameron (violin) Stewart Goodyear (piano) / Buffalo Philharmonic orchestra, JoAnn Falletta [ Naxos American Classics / CD - released 10/Mar/2023 ] This recording presents brand new concertos from two vibrant and contrasting American composers. Adolphus Hailstork's First Piano Concerto draws on his African American heritage to create a work brimming with energy and high spirits. |