New on Naxos | September 2016

NEW ON The World’s Leading ClassicalNAXOS Music Label

SEPTEMBER 2016 © Kirill Bashkirov

Eldar Nebolsin

This Month’s Other Highlights

8.573462 Playing Time 57:45 7 47313 34627 1 © Nikolai Kuznetsov Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky

Pyotr Il’yich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840–1893) Key Features ● Tchaikovsky’s name needs no introduction, but both his Second Piano Concerto No. 2 Piano Concerto and the Concert Fantasy remain under- Concert Fantasia performed and relatively under-recorded, certainly in comparison Eldar Nebolsin, Piano to the massively popular First Piano Concerto. We have visited New Zealand Symphony Orchestra this repertoire before, most recently in 2007 as a completion Michael Stern of Konstantin Scherbakov’s acclaimed cycle of Tchaikovsky’s complete works for piano and orchestra (8.557824), but the Tchaikovsky has long maintained his position as among the most sizzling combination of Eldar Nebolsin and the New Zealand popular of all composers, his unequalled gift for melody and colourful Symphony Orchestra has proven irresistible. orchestration given added depth through a rich Russian soulfulness. ● Eldar Nebolsin’s recording of Liszt’s piano concertos (8.570517) The Second Piano Concerto has always lived under the shadow of was ranked “among the finest” by Gramophone, and acclaim for the famous First but, played here in the composer’s original version, his recordings of Chopin’s two piano concertos both on CD and is full of life-enhancing character and emotion. Both this and the Blu-ray has been widespread. Concert Fantasia also contain beautiful chamber-music sections allowing unique interaction between soloist and orchestra. ● Conductor Michael Stern is much in demand internationally, having also made acclaimed recordings for Naxos such as Jonathan Leshnoff’s First Symphony (8.559670) – “an hour of fully enjoyable listening” (Fanfare). The New Zealand © Todd Rosenberg Symphony Orchestra’s extensive catalogue of recordings for Naxos includes acclaimed releases from Copland “masterpieces in superbly idiomatic performances” (Gramophone on 8.559106); to Zemlinsky “another belter from the NZSO” (Sinfini Music on 8.570240).

Supplementary Promotional Materials ● Key Release Kit ● Artist Profile – Eldar Nebolsin ● Facebook cover and post © Matt Grace New Zealand Symphony Orchestra Eldar Nebolsin enjoys a busy international career as a soloist, recitalist and chamber music player, appearing with conductors, Companion Titles – Eldar Nebolsin, Piano orchestras and colleagues of international distinction. During the 2009–2010 season he enjoyed the honour of being Artist in Residence for Musis Sacrum in Arnhem following his successful début with the Gelders Orkest and Nikolay Alexeev in 2008. In 2005 he was unanimously awarded the Sviatoslav Richter Prize in the First International Piano Competition in Moscow, where he was also honoured with the special award for The Best Classical Concerto Performance. 2.110284 8.572817 8.572303 8.570517

2 NEW ON NAXOS | SEPTEMBER 2016

Includes World Première Recordings

8.573265 Playing Time 50:11 7 47313 32657 0 © May Zircus

Pablo González

Supplementary Promotional Materials (1867–1916) Enrique GRANADOS ● Key Release Kit Orchestral Works, Vol. 3 ● Facebook cover and post Liliana – Lyric Poem† (arr. Casals) Suite oriental† • Elisenda* The conductor Pablo González studied at the Guildhall School Dani Espasa, Piano* of Music and Drama in London and went on to become winner of Barcelona Symphony Orchestra the Donatella Flick Competition and the Cadaqués International Pablo González Conducting Competition. He has held the positions of Associate Conductor with both the London Symphony Orchestra and † WORLD PREMIÈRE RECORDING Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, as well as Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestra of the City of Granada. From 2010 to In the last of this three volume series devoted to Granados’s orchestral 2015 he was Music Director of Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona music, two very different compositional strands are explored. i Nacional de Catalunya. His recording of Schumann’s works for The early Suite oriental reveals his sense of vivid orchestral violin and orchestra with Lena Neudauer and the Deutsche Radio colour and melodic imagination, couched in the exotic language Philharmonie won the International Classical Music Award. of the time. Written in a more pared-down style, the one-act ‘lyric poem’ Liliana, a collaboration with the writer Apel·les Mestres, is a four-movement suite in which Granados conjures up a vivid, mythical world. Elisenda is another impressionistic score, both emotive and ethereal, here performed in its arrangement for piano and chamber orchestra.

Key Features ● This is the third and final volume of the series. Volume 2 is on 8.573264, volume 1 on 8.573263. Of volume 1 Gramophone wrote: “Under Pablo González, the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra play with style and evident affection… The recording sounds natural, with a wide dynamic range.” © May Zircus Barcelona Symphony Orchestra ● Liliana was lost for decades, eventually turning up in 1989 in a Paris archive; there is however no complete orchestral manuscript Companion Titles – Enrique Granados, Composer – so what is performed on this disc is the four-movement suite that Pablo Casals arranged and conducted in 1921. ● Elisenda was written for soprano voice and small instrumental ensemble but has been arranged for a number of different ensembles. ● The companion multi-volume Granados solo piano music series on Naxos, performed by Douglas Riva, could be promoted alongside this orchestral series. 8.573263 8.573264 8.555956 8.557142

3 NEW ON NAXOS | SEPTEMBER 2016

8.573522 Playing Time 80:03 7 47313 35227 2

Vincent d’INDY (1851–1931) Symphony No. 2 Souvenirs • Istar • Fervaal Royal Scottish National Orchestra Jean-Luc Tingaud Jean-Luc Tingaud

Vincent d’Indy is one of the most important yet neglected figures in Jean-Luc Tingaud was born in 1969 and studied with Manuel French musical history. Though he was celebrated as a teacher, his Rosenthal, himself a pupil of Maurice Ravel. His concert engagements eclectic yet inventive orchestral music has taken longer to secure include the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, English Chamber him fame. The Symphony No. 2 in B flat major has a powerful Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Orchestra of Opera North, Orchestra architectural design within which tensions between tradition and Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini, Orchestra of the Teatro Carlo Felice, innovation are played out, and through which the composer draws Genoa, Orchestra of the Teatro Massimo, Palermo, the Warsaw and on folk motifs and his religious faith alike. The powerful, grief-laden Kraków Philharmonic Orchestras, Orchestre National des Pays de symphonic poem Souvenirs was dedicated to the memory of his la Loire, Orchestre National de Lyon, and the Orchestre National de late wife whilst Istar is a majestic series of variations. The Prelude Lorraine. His recordings include Sapho (Wexford), Werther (Martina to Fervaal, his first opera, reveals atmospheric Wagnerian writing. Franca), La voix humaine (Compiègne), and Le siège de Corinthe (Bad Wildbad), and most recently for Naxos music by Paul Dukas Key Features and Georges Bizet. ● Of 8.573296 BBC Music Magazine wrote: “It is clearly a labour of love for conductor Jean-Luc Tingaud. He has not only polished the playing of the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra to a beguiling level of Gallic sparkle, but also consulted manuscript sources for all three works. The result, especially in the ballet La Péri, is a performance of sumptuous beauty allied to fine control.” ● Of 8.573344 Gramophone wrote: “Vividly realistic sound is the icing on the cake of another irresistible bargain from this stylish partnership. More please, Naxos!” ● Vincent d’Indy is famous as the teacher of Satie, Roussel, Milhaud and even Cole Porter. Fellow French composer Gabriel Fauré called him the “Samson of Music”, one of the great unheralded © Tom Finnie © Tom figures in French music as it made its transition into the twentieth Royal Scottish National Orchestra century. ● Conductor Jean-Luc Tingaud is a specialist in French music; he Companion Titles – French Orchestral Music has already conducted an all-Dukas disc for Naxos (8.573296), an all-Bizet one (8.573344).

Supplementary Promotional Materials ● Key Release Kit ● Video trailer ● Facebook cover and post 8.573296 8.573344 8.570245 8.557287

4 NEW ON NAXOS | SEPTEMBER 2016

8.660398 Playing Time 58:08 7 30099 03987 1 © Fernando Aceves Michael Nyman

(b. 1944) Dean Williamson has a versatile career in standard and contemporary Michael NYMAN repertoire, and is earning worldwide acclaim for his perceptive and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat commanding conducting. He currently serves as Music Director of Libretto by Oliver Sacks, Christopher Rawlence Nashville Opera where select conducting credits include Hydrogen and Michael Morris Jukebox, Florencia en el Amazonas, The Difficulty of Crossing a Matthew Treviño, Dr. P (Bass) Field, and Michael Nyman’s The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Rebecca Sjöwall, Mrs. P (Soprano) Hat. The production of Le Comte Ory he conducted at Des Moines Ryan MacPherson, Neurologist (Tenor) Metro Opera was nominated for an Emmy Award. Nashville Opera John Hoomes, Stage Director Dean Williamson, Music Director

Michael Nyman’s one-act chamber opera The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat takes as its subject Dr P, a man suffering from visual agnosia, or ‘mental blindness’, and is adapted from the neurological study in the book of the same name by Oliver Sacks. For Nyman, Dr P ‘requires music as a lifeline, cue, clue, cure’, living as he does in a world lacking visual meaning. It is through his musical gifts that Dr P reclaims meaning from chaos, Nyman’s tautly conceived masterpiece providing a perfect medium through which the moving drama can be explored. © Reed Hummell Key Features Nashville Opera Orchestra ● This is one of the most often performed and admired modern (Front L-R): Matthew Treviño, Rebecca Sjöwall, Ryan MacPherson (Back): Nashville Opera Orchestra and Dean Williamson chamber operas in the repertoire. ● The performers on this disc gave several performances of the opera in November 2013. This is the “original cast” recording Companion Titles – Opera Classics Series from those performances. ● Michael Nyman is one of the most popular of contemporary composers, and supposedly coined the word “minimalist”.

Supplementary Promotional Materials ● Key Release Kit ● Facebook cover and post 8.660306-07 8.660354 8.669032-33 8.660349-51

5 NEW ON NAXOS | SEPTEMBER 2016

8.559806 Playing Time 72:29 6 36943 98062 0

Aaron COPLAND (1900–1990)

Appalachian Spring (Complete Ballet) © Niko Rodamel Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Leonard Slatkin Detroit Symphony Orchestra Leonard Slatkin

Aaron Copland wrote his rarely-heard ballet Hear Ye! Hear Ye! for Leonard Slatkin is Music Director of the Detroit Symphony Ruth Page, the dancer and choreographer who was to become Orchestra (DSO) and the Orchestre National de Lyon (ONL). the Grande Dame of American ballet. Its scenario is a murder He also maintains a rigorous schedule of guest conducting throughout in a nightclub and the ensuing trial in a Chicago courtroom. the world and is active as a composer, author, and educator. Slatkin’s Copland infused the score with the spirit of his jazz-influenced more than a hundred recordings have received seven GRAMMY® pieces, controversially distorting part of the National Anthem, awards and 64 nominations. His Naxos recordings include works and infiltrating music from some of his earlier works. In complete by Saint-Saëns, Ravel, and Berlioz (with the ONL) and music by contrast, Appalachian Spring is his most famous work, a true Copland, Rachmaninov, Borzova, McTee, and John Williams (with American masterpiece founded on transfigured dance tunes and the DSO). song melodies. This is volume two of the Complete Ballet series. Volume One is on 8.559758.

Key Features ● This is volume 2 of the Copland Complete Ballets series. Volume 1 is on 8.559758 of which BBC Music Magazine wrote: “The performance is fresh and breezy…this is an enjoyable programme” and MusicWeb International wrote: “My top-choice Rodeo, including the composer’s own.” ● GRAMMY® Award-winning conductor Leonard Slatkin’s recording of Copland’s Lincoln Portrait (8.559373-74) received “the kind of performance that brought tears to my eyes” (Audiophile Audition) © Cybelle Codish ● Hear Ye! Hear Ye! is very rare on disc. The only other available Detroit Symphony Orchestra recording is by the London Sinfonietta under Oliver Knussen on Decca which has been reissued in various couplings – but the actual recording is getting on for nearly 25 years old. Companion Titles – Leonard Slatkin & the DSO ● Copland’s most internationally celebrated work, Appalachian Spring, makes for a big sales plus, especially when conducted by Slatkin.

Supplementary Promotional Materials ● Artist Profile – Leonard Slatkin ● Facebook cover and post 8.559758 8.559765 8.573234 8.573051

6 NEW ON NAXOS | SEPTEMBER 2016

World Première Recordings

8.559798 Playing Time 77:43 6 36943 97982 2 © Nashville Symphony

Giancarlo Guerrero

Giancarlo Guerrero is Music Director of the Nashville Symphony Michael DAUGHERTY (b. 1954) and Principal Guest Conductor of Cleveland Orchestra Miami. His Tales of Hemingway1 recordings with the Nashville Symphony won GRAMMY® Awards in American Gothic 2011 and 2012, including Best Orchestral Performance. A fervent Once Upon a Castle2 advocate of contemporary music and composers, he has championed Zuill Bailey, Cello1 works by several of America’s foremost composers, including Joan Paul Jacobs, Organ2 Tower, John Adams, John Corigliano, Osvaldo Golijov, Jennifer Nashville Symphony Orchestra Higdon, Michael Daugherty, Roberto Sierra and Richard Danielpour. Giancarlo Guerrero Key Features GRAMMY® Award-winning composer Michael Daugherty creates ● Each new release of Daugherty’s music is eagerly anticipated, colorful musical portraits in this recording, featuring larger-than-life and this stunning recording joins acclaimed titles such as the personalities drawn from 20th-century American culture. Tales of “high-octane road trip” (Gramophone) of Route 66 (8.559613), Hemingway is a dramatic cello concerto, evoking the turbulent life, the GRAMMY® Award-winning Metropolis Symphony (8.559635), adventures, and literature of author Ernest Hemingway. American described as “an iconic example of the Andy Warhol school of Gothic is a dynamic concerto for orchestra, reflecting on the creative modern American composition, in which pop-inspired material world of Iowa artist Grant Wood. Once Upon a Castle is a virtuosic rubs shoulders with classical forms… terrifically entertaining” sinfonia concertante for organ and orchestra, inspired by the rich by ClassicsToday.com, and Mount Rushmore (8.559749), also history of the Hearst Castle, built high upon the California Pacific with organist Paul Jacobs, and with American Record Guide coast by billionaire Randolph Hearst, the subject of Orson Welles’ film remarking that “Daugherty becomes more impressive with every Citizen Kane. Under the baton of Music Director Giancarlo Guerrero, release. Don’t miss this…” the GRAMMY® Award-winning Nashville Symphony is joined by Zuill ® ● Zuill Bailey’s playing at the première of Tales Bailey, one of the leading cellists of his generation, and GRAMMY of Hemingway in April 2015 was admired by the Award-winning organist Paul Jacobs. Nashville Scene for its “sensuous tone and technical finesse” in a program that also included the “dazzling © Lisa Marie Mazzuco virtuosity” of American Gothic. This source also acclaimed Once Upon a Castle in concert in November 2015, “One couldn’t have hoped for a better performance. The soloist, Paul Jacobs, chair of the organ department at the Juilliard School, played with precision and high drama. Guerrero and the NSO provided tight, colourful accompaniment. The performance won an extended ovation, and the composer, who was in the audience, basked in the warm glow of applause.” © Michael Daugherty

Companion Titles – Giancarlo Guerrero & the Nashville Symphony

Nashville Symphony Orchestra Music Director Giancarlo Guerrero conducts the Nashville Symphony, with organ soloist Paul Jacobs, in the world première of Michael Daugherty’s Once Upon a Castle for organ and orchestra at Schermerhorn Symphony Center, Nashville, Tennessee, November 6, 2015. 8.559635 8.559740 8.559738 8.559678

7 NEW ON NAXOS | SEPTEMBER 2016 © Sim Canetty-Clarke

The Bach Choir

8.573512 Playing Time Sir Charles Villiers STANFORD (1852–1924) 70:17 Choral Music 7 47313 35127 5 Stabat Mater1 Song to the Soul • The Resurrection2 Elizabeth Cragg, Soprano1 Catherine Hopper, Mezzo-Soprano1 Directed by David Hill, The Bach Choir is Robert Murray, Tenor1,2 recognised as one of the world’s leading David Soar, Bass1 choruses, building upon a tradition that The Bach Choir combines musical excellence with creativity Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and innovation. Described by the London David Hill Evening Standard as “probably the finest independent choir in the world”, the choir Choral music was central to Charles Villiers Stanford’s life as a values its independence, choosing to work composer. Balancing solemnity with rapturous affirmation, The with the very best orchestras and soloists. Resurrection was his first major choral work, written while he was With a strong commitment to new music, studying under Carl Reinecke in Leipzig and anticipating Mahler’s use The Bach Choir has commissioned

of Klopstock’s eponymous poem in his ‘Resurrection’ Symphony. The © John Wood works from some of the world’s leading dramatic, at times almost operatic and Wagnerian Stabat Mater is a David Hill composers, including Sir John Tavener, cantata with two purely orchestral movements suggestive of a large- Bob Chilcott and Jonathan Dove. scale symphony, while Song to the Soul contains some of Stanford’s most exhilarating utterances, though it was never performed in his lifetime.

Key Features ● Our releases of the music of Charles Villiers Stanford have helped raise his profile in recent years, gaining momentum with significant recordings of his symphonies and chamber works, as well as choral releases such as the Requiem (8.555201-02); “a powerfully conceived and moving work” (The Penguin Guide), and the Anthems and Services (8.555794); “a key issue from the Naxos choral series” (Gramophone). ● David Hill is widely respected as both a choral and an orchestral conductor, becoming The Bach Choir’s ninth Musical Director in 1998. Hill’s previous recordings with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra include a “perfectly judged” Dies natalis by Gerald Finzi (The Guardian on Naxos 8.570417), while © Chris Zuidyk his Vaughan Williams Sancta Civitas (Naxos 8.572424) was Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra described as “thrilling…a great case for a neglected work” (Classic FM). Companion Titles – David Hill & The Bach Choir ● This recording has a very strong team of soloists. Elizabeth Cragg was singled out for praise in her contribution to Rutter’s Magnificat (8.572653) by the American Record Guide: “The ‘Esurientes’, which might be the loveliest Rutter interlude of all, is sung gorgeously by soprano Elizabeth Cragg.” Mezzo-soprano Catherine Hopper has been described as “sweet of voice‚ with beautifully direct diction and a radiant blend” by the Independent on Sunday, and both Robert Murray and David Soar are much 8.572861-62 8.573176 8.572317 8.572424 in demand on the international opera stage.

8 NEW ON NAXOS | SEPTEMBER 2016 © Guerin Blask

8.573538 Playing Time 64:39 7 47313 35387 3

JoAnn Falletta

(1882–1971) JoAnn Falletta serves as Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Igor STRAVINSKY and Virginia Symphony and is the Principal Guest Conductor of the The Soldier’s Tale – Suite1 Brevard Music Center of North Carolina. She has guest conducted Octet2 • Les Noces3 over a hundred orchestras in North America, and many of the most Tianwa Yang, Violin1 prominent orchestras in Europe, Asia, South America and Africa. Rebecca Nash, Soprano3 • Robynne Redmon, Mezzo-Soprano3 A champion of American music, she has presented over five hundred Robert Breault, Tenor3 • Denis Sedov, Bass3 works by American composers including 110 world premières. Her ® André-Michel Schub, Lydia Artymiw, Josu de Solaun, Anna Petrova, Pianos3 Naxos recordings include the double GRAMMY Award-winning ® Virginia Symphony Chorus2 • Robert Shoup, Chorusmaster3 disc of works by John Corigliano and GRAMMY nominated discs of Les Noces Percussion Ensemble3 works by Tyberg, Dohnányi, Fuchs, Schubert, Respighi, Gershwin, Virginia Arts Festival Chamber Players1, 2 Hailstork and Holst. JoAnn Falletta

The three works on this recording were composed at a crucial juncture in Stravinsky’s musical life. The Soldier’s Tale, a small- scale theatrical work for instrumental septet, narrator and two speakers completed in 1918 [Naxos 8.573537]. It is performed here in the suite premièred in 1920. The Octet marked a new element in Stravinsky’s writing, inaugurating a turn to neo- classicism, whilst Les noces (The Wedding) is a ballet cantata

impelled by dramatic motor rhythms, and once again saturated © Friedrun Reinhold in his Russian background. Scored for pitched and unpitched Rebecca Nash Tianwa Yang percussion, vocal soloists, and mixed chorus, it is a pivotal work in Stravinsky’s development.

Key Features ● Conductor JoAnn Falletta has been called “one of the finest conductors of her generation” by The New York Times. ● The full The Soldier’s Tale, with narration, has already been recorded by the same forces as on this disc and released recently on 8.573537. This new disc contains the Suite and so is not a duplication.

● Naxos already has a version of Les Noces, conducted by Robert © David Beloff Craft on 8.557449 coupled with Oedipus Rex and released in Virginia Arts Festival Chamber Players 2004. The Octet is also part of the Robert Craft Collection on 8.557507. Companion Titles – Igor Stravinsky, Composer ● All three works are deeply imbued with Russian spirit – Les Noces is certainly his most overtly Russian score.

Supplementary Promotional Materials ● eCard ● Facebook cover and post 8.573537 8.557499 8.553181 8.557506

9 NEW ON NAXOS | SEPTEMBER 2016

László LAJTHA (1892–1963) Orchestral Works, Vol. 1 Symphony No. 1 Suite pour orchestre • In memoriam Pécs Symphony Orchestra Nicolás Pasquet

László Lajtha remains Hungary’s foremost symphonist and one of the country’s greatest composers of the first half of the twentieth century. Written when he was 44, the vigorous and optimistic Symphony No. 1, Op. 24 reveals a strong affinity with Latin and French models and with indigenous Hungarian folk-music. By 1941, when In memoriam was composed, the mood had darkened and this work is a shocking yet eloquent protest against the brutality of war. The delicious four movement Suite pour orchestre was compiled by the composer from his ballet Lysistrata.

Key Features • Originally released on Marco Polo 8.223670, part of a series of Lajtha’s orchestral works, recorded in May 1996.

• László Lajtha was an important composer who was dismissed from his positions and denied a passport by repressive Hungarian regime during 1948-62. He wrote nine symphonies and can be seen, a bit simplistically 8.573643 Playing Time: perhaps, as a kind of Hungarian Roy Harris or Vaughan Williams. 61:58 • 7 47313 36437 4 In Memoriam is hardly known but a passionate anti-War statement – it can be seen in the context of Martinů’s slightly later 1943 Memorial to Lidice. Companion Titles – Hungarian Orchestral Music NEW • The Pécs Symphony Orchestra is an important Hungarian regional orchestra. Uruguayan conductor Nicolás Pasquet was chief conductor of the orchestra between 1993 and 1996.

Nicolás Pasquet 8.573529 8.573491 8.573307 8.572285

Hermann GOETZ (1840–1876) Piano Concertos Nos. 1* and 2* Spring Overture Davide Cabassi, Piano* Magdeburg Philharmonic Orchestra Kimbo Ishii

Hermann Goetz’s lifespan was no longer than Mozart’s, and though much admired by contemporaries, as a tragic genius his music became almost forgotten, and the domain of but a few connoisseurs such as Gustav Mahler. Goetz’s style remained closer to Schumann and Mendelssohn, preferring lyricism and clarity to the more radical approaches of Liszt and Wagner. The virtuoso First Piano Concerto was a student work, its lovely central adagio sharing a use of colourful wind parts with the freshly optimistic Second Piano Concerto composed six years later.

Key Features • Hermann Goetz’s music was virtually forgotten until recent years, with interest being revived through recordings such as those on the CPO label and Hyperion’s ‘Romantic Piano Concerto’ series. As with many neglected composers, once encountered they can become true friends, with one Amazon.com reviewer writing that “Hermann Goetz was a genuine discovery then and remains one today. His music is not brilliantly assertive, but it is impeccably written and boasts lovely melodies and superb orchestration that by its deft transparency invites comparisons with Mendelssohn and Berwald.”

8.573327 Playing Time: • Soloist Davide Cabassi was a 2005 Van Cliburn Piano Competition 69:57 finalist, having made his orchestral debut at the age of thirteen with 7 47313 33277 9 the RAI Radio Symphony Orchestra in Milan. His debut CD for Sony-BMG records in 2006, Dancing with the Orchestra, featured Companion Titles – Romantic Piano Concertos Series works by Bartók, De Falla, Ravel, and Stravinsky, winning the

NEW Italian Critics Award for "best debut recording of the season." © Michele Maccarone

• Award-winning conductor Kimbo Ishii is currently continuing his fifth season with Theater Magdeburg as General Music Director, and is highly active both in opera productions and on the concert stage. He and Davide Cabassi have been performing concertos together since 2007, discovering the Goetz 8.573262 8.553701 8.554020 8.557552 concertos in 2013 and falling in love with them at first sight.

Companion Titles – Romantic Piano Concertos Series 8.573307 [NEW ribbon] / 8.553701 / 8.554020 / 8.557552 10 NEW ON NAXOS | SEPTEMBER 2016

Gerald FINZI (1901–1956) A Finzi Anthology Various Artists

More than any other composer, Gerald Finzi (1901–1956) has come to embody the lyrical pastoralism so associated with English twentieth-century music. This anthology includes eight critically acclaimed recordings of Finzi’s works. The themes of fragility and transient existence are expressed in three early song anthologies with words by Thomas Hardy, Finzi’s favourite poet. Intimations of Immortality is a deeply touching lament for the passing of the freshness of childhood, while the tender Dies Natalis is a setting of texts by the 17th century poet Thomas Traherne. Lo, the Full, Final Sacrifice takes the listener through a feast of moods and textures and ends with one of the most sublime Amens in all choral music. Finzi’s enchanting Clarinet Concerto was completed in 1949 in response to a commission from the Three Choirs Festival and the Cello Concerto, with its elegiac slow movement, was composed when Finzi learned that he was suffering from an incurable illness and is one of his finest works.

Supplementary Promotional Materials • Key Release Kit • Facebook cover and post

Companion Titles – 20th-Century British Composers

8.508017 Playing Time: 8 CD box set 8 hrs 22 mins 7 47313 80173 2 8.505077 8.501007 8.505225 8.505239

Georges ONSLOW (1784–1853) String Quintets, Vol. 1 No. 20 in D minor† • No. 26 in C minor Elan Quintet – Benjamin Scherer Quesada, Violin I Lelia Iancovici, Violin II • Julia Chu-Ying Hu, Violin Dmitri Tsirin, Cello • Matthew Baker, Double Bass

†WORLD PREMIÈRE RECORDING

An English aristocrat with a mixed heritage, Georges Onslow was highly regarded for his musical talents during his lifetime, being praised by Berlioz and Schumann and becoming known as the ‘French Beethoven’. Onslow composed 34 string quintets at a time when the string quartet was dominant, and his discovery of the double bass to replace the second cello was transformative. Challenging notions of stringed instruments as being merely lyrical in character, these quintets are striking for their contrasts of warm expressiveness and great dramatic intensity. They are true hidden gems to rival the great composers of chamber music in this era.

Key Features • Having dipped our toes into Georges Onslow’s music with three Cello Sonatas (Naxos 8.572830) described as “substantial works as demanding technically to the performer as they are immediately attractive to the ear of the listener” by ClassicsToday.com and “elegantly crafted Sonatas [that] combine some 8.573600 Playing Time: of the thematic rigour of Beethoven with the ornate virtuosity of Weber” by 65:06 BBC Music Magazine, we are now embarking on the extremely fertile field of Onslow’s 34 String Quintets. 7 47313 36007 9 • The quintets of Georges Onslow have seldom been Companion Titles – Romantic Chamber Music recorded, and with this album the Elan Quintet has begun a path of discovery of these unknown masterpieces. In this and subsequent recordings Elan Quintet will present Onslow’s quintet music in their

versions with double bass, his preferred instrumentation. © Alex Baker

• An ensemble consisting of world-class musicians who are all members of the opera orchestra of the Palau de les Arts, the Elan Quintet’s combination of 8.572830 8.555966 8.570488 8.572221 string quartet with double bass has opened up a richness of tone and distinct soundscape that they have dedicated to exploring and celebrating works by composers such as Dvořák and Arensky, and rediscovering forgotten masterpieces such as those of Onslow and Bridge.

11 NEW ON NAXOS | SEPTEMBER 2016

Malcolm WILLIAMSON (1931–2003) Organ Music Peace Pieces • Little Carols of the Saints Elegy – JFK • Mass of a Medieval Saint Tom Winpenny, Organ

One of Australia’s greatest composers, Malcolm Williamson settled in Britain and rose to the position of Master of the Queen’s Music in 1975. He was championed by a number of prominent musical figures and wrote in almost every genre. A skilled keyboard player and a Catholic convert, he wrote for the organ throughout his life and these works reveal his deep immersion in religious music, initially inspired by Messiaen. His instinct for dramatic bravura and colourful registrations can be heard in Résurgence du Feu (Pâques 1959) whilst the beautiful poetic miniatures Little Carols of the Saints reveal deeply human qualities, elements developed more substantially in Mass of a Medieval Saint. Elegy – JFK is fittingly sombre.

Key Features • This is a British Music Society recording and will be attractive to those who collect twentieth-century British music and also to those who admire solo organ compositions.

• The music is played on the Walker organ of St John the Evangelist in Islington, London – the same organ Williamson Playing Time: 8.571375-76 played when he held the post of Organist at the church in the 2 CDs 1:39:22 late 1970s and early 1980s. 7 47313 13757 2 • Organist Tom Winpenny has recorded the other published © Simon Tottman Companion Titles – Organ Encyclopedia Series organ works by Williamson – including the Symphony for Organ – on Toccata Classics TOCC0246.

8.572687 8.573332 8.573471 8.501601

Johann Jacob FROBERGER (1616–1667) 23 Suites for Harpsichord Tombeau • Lamentation Glen Wilson, Harpsichord

Froberger was the most famous keyboard virtuoso of the mid-seventeenth century. This recording of his elegant, colourful and intricately expressive dance music in the French lutestyle, arranged here in chronological order, is the first to employ all available sources in a new edition by Glen Wilson. An online essay accessible at www.naxos.com/notes/573493.htm explores in depth his views of the many problems of performance practice, and explains the famous programmatic pieces, which shed light on events in Froberger’s life, including a near-drowning of a travelling companion in the Rhine.

Key Features • This release joins a distinguished and ever-growing collection of fine recordings by Glen Wilson. Recent among these include Antonio de Cabezon’s complete Tientos and Variations (8.572475-76), “a great achievement not least because of Glen Wilson’s research and reconstruction efforts. His engaging

interpretations allow the music to blossom” (MusicWeb Schneidereit © Volker International), and the première recording of Andrea Antico’s 16th century Frottole Intabulate (8.572983). These rarities have a more specialist feel when compared to Froberger’s Suites which have long been popular among harpsichordists, though have tended to appear as single-disc selections 8.573493-94 Playing Time: rather than Wilson’s more comprehensive approach. 2 CDs 127:21 7 47313 34937 1 • This recording also compliments a previous Naxos release of Froberger’s Toccatas and Partitas (8.557472-73) performed on the harpsichord by Companion Titles – Glen Wilson, Harpsichord Sergio Vartolo.

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12 NEW ON NAXOS | SEPTEMBER 2016

Maurice RAVEL (1875–1937) Claude DEBUSSY (1862–1918) Music for Two Guitars ChromaDuo – Tracy Anne Smith & Rob MacDonald, Guitars

This album is the first to present an entire programme of works by Debussy and Ravel, the greatest exponents of Impressionism in music, transcribed for two guitars. The arrangements bring new life to the rich canvas of sonorities and complex harmonies in these popular works. The reflective atmosphere in Debussy’s famous Clair de lune and special upper-harmonic effects in La plus que lente contrast with the ’merry romp’ of the Golliwog’s Cakewalk and Ravel’s nod to Schubert in the Valses nobles et sentimentales.

Key Features • While this first recording has proven a hit in the guitar world, including a recommendation in Enrique Robichaud’s book The Guitar’s TOP 100, this new program of popular Impressionist works will introduce the ChromaDuo to even wider audiences. As far as we know this is the first album to present an entire program of music by Debussy and Ravel on guitars.

• The ChromaDuo’s debut recording for Naxos, Hidden Waters (8.572757) was an adventurous program of 8.573286 Playing Time: original works by contemporary composers. This was 60:47 acclaimed by Fidelity (Germany) as “extremely subtle and sophisticated, the communication nothing less than © John Armato 7 47313 32867 3 perfect. Sound lovers will also appreciate the well-balanced reverberation of Companion Titles – Guitar Duos the recording location”, the same church acoustic used for this new program of French music. The American Record Guide further remarked “The Chroma Duo… is simply exquisite. Their sounds are perfectly balanced, yet individual, and each has a ravishing tone with lots of range. Ensemble is perfection, even in the freest passages; and their interpretations of these pieces are convincing, even compelling. This is some of the most purely 8.572757 8.573473 8.573440 8.570779 beautiful playing I’ve heard in a while.”

DIGITAL EXCLUSIVE Nicolò PAGANINI (1782–1840) 24 Caprices, Op. 1 Edson Scheid, Baroque Violin

Paganini reserved his compositions for his own personal use as the world's greatest and most hypnotic violin virtuoso and therefore published relatively little. He made an exception for his Op. 1, the Twenty Four Caprices for solo violin, published in Milan in 1820 but probably written around 1805. They are an astounding compendium of his technique as a performer and continue to challenge soloists and exhilarate audiences with myriad techniques including novel bowing variations, double stops, instrumental imitations, extended use of octaves, and flamboyant alternation of bowed notes and pizzicato. On this disc Edson Scheid performs the set on a period violin with all-gut strings and a classical bow.

Key Features • Performed on gut strings – one of the very few recordings to do this – on a period violin with classical bow (a 1739 Testore fiddle, with no chinrest, no shoulder rest, baroque bridge and tailpiece). This performance explores historical period practice in relation to works almost always played on a modern set-up instrument.

• Brazilian violinist Edson Scheid, two-time winner of the Historical Performance Concerto Competition at the Juilliard School, has been praised for his “polished playing” by leading violin journal 9.70264 Playing Time: The Strad.

1:20:02 Daubek © Tatiana 7 30099 72641 2 • He has performed the complete set or selections from the Caprices worldwide Companion Titles – 19th-Century Violinist Composers to acclaim – in London, New York, Weimar, Salzburg and many other cities.

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13 REISSUES OF MARCO POLO CHINESE CLASSICS POPULAR CHINESE PIANO PIECES NEW ON NAXOS | SEPTEMBER 2016

REISSUES OF MARCO POLO CHINESE CLASSICS POPULAR CHINESE PIANO PIECES

Koo Kwok Kuen was born in Shanghai and studied at the prestigious Shanghai Conservatory from 1956 until 1965 under Ma Sisun and Fan Jisen. From 1968 until 1977 he was principal piano soloist with the Zhejiang Philharmonic Orchestra, giving performances not only in Zhejiang Province but throughout China. As principal soloist he frequently performed for important visitors from abroad. He obtained the Master of Music degree in 1985 from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Koo was considered one of China’s most versatile pianists whose repertoire includes not only Chinese compositions but also the most important works of Western Classic and Romantic composers. His previous recordings for Hong Kong Records are “Scenes from China” and “Dances from China”, albums featuring celebrated Chinese piano solo pieces. His performances had been reviewed by newspaper Wen-Hui Bao as possessing “the impression of Chinese calligraphy and watercolor paintings,” and described by Mack McCray, a noted pianist, as “wonderful, exciting, moody, powerful.” He had been invited as a guest conductor for Palo Alto Philharmonic and the Winchester Orchestra of San Jose.

Scenes from China Dances from China Music of Wang Lisan Music of Wang Lisan Koo Kwok Kuen, Piano Koo Kwok Kuen, Piano

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14 NEW ON NAXOS | SEPTEMBER 2016

Lee Bing Sings Ancient and Popular Hong Kong TV & Movie Themes Modern Chinese Poems Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra Lee Bing, Mezzo-Soprano Varujan Kojian Gabriel Kwok, Piano

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The Central Broadcasting Folk Orchestra Plays Popular Western Classics The Central Broadcasting Folk Orchestra Peng Xiuwen

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15 NEW ON NAXOS | SEPTEMBER 2016

NEW RELEASES FROM NAXOS AUDIOBOOKS

The Great Poets – WALT WHITMAN Selections Read by Garrick Hagon 9 781843 799764 Seer, prophet, visionary, preacher, Walt Whitman stands out as one of poetry’s towering anomalies: in celebrating the trees, water, sky and air, the bear, the eagle, the buffalo and the lion, Whitman expressed a uniquely democratic vision that engulfs not only the American continent but the entire universe. His passionate vehemence, his faith in the common man, and his unflinching pursuit of the truth gave form to an arsenal of ideas, inspiring and motivating generations of writers to come.

Companion Titles – The Great Poets Series

NA147212 NA186012 NA185612 NA149012 NA0233 • 1 CD Playing Time: 1.25 Hours

The Age of Innocence By Edith Wharton Unabridged 9 781843 799788 Read by Laurel Lefkow

“The real loneliness is living among all these kind people who only ask one to pretend!” Awarded the 1921 Pulitzer Prize (the first to be presented to a woman), Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence is a powerful depiction of love and desire in New York’s glamorous Gilded Age. When Newland Archer, happily engaged to May Welland, meets his fiancée’s cousin Ellen, his entire future is cast into doubt: strong-willed, witty, and entirely unpretentious, Ellen is unlike any woman he has ever met. He is torn between his infatuation for her and his duty to marry May. In subtle and elegant language, Wharton delivers a critical look at the social mores of the time.

Companion Titles – Famous American Authors

NA0234 • 9-CD set Playing Time: 11 Hours NA0238 NAX36012 NA436312 NAX35812

The Further Adventures of Zorro By Johnston McCulley Unabridged Read by Bill Homewood 9 781781 980170

The swashbuckling sequel to The Mark of Zorro (The Curse of Capistrano), The Further Adventures of Zorro sees the daring hero out for revenge once more. After Captain Ramon kidnaps the beautiful Lolita Pulido, Zorro takes to the seas and battles pirates in a bid to win her back. Swordfights, death traps and disastrously tight corners await him. But it is never much more than a challenge as the gallant caballero laughs in the face of danger – nothing can faze him. Villainous villains, heroic heroes and damsels in distress are all brought to life in full sonic splendour.

Companion Titles – Bill Homewood, Narrator

NA0253 • 5-CD set NA0252 NA0241 NA0201 NA0029 Playing Time: 6 Hours