New on Naxos | July 2014

NEWThe World’s ON Leading ClassicalNAXOS Music Label JULY 2014 © Steve Sherman This Month’s Other Highlights

8.572763 Playing Time: 58:37

7 47313 27637 0

Paul HINDEMITH (1895–1963) Nobilissima Visione (Complete Ballet) Five Pieces for String Orchestra, Op. 44, No. 4 Seattle Symphony Orchestra • Gerard Schwarz

A series of powerful, largely radical works in the early 1920s saw Hindemith established as Germany’s leading young composer. In 1936 he was asked by choreographer and dancer Léonide Massine to collaborate on a ballet project and Hindemith proposed scenes from the life of St Francis of Assisi. The resulting ballet, Nobilissima Visione (The Noblest Vision), is a work of lyricism, elegy and majesty. This is the first recording of the complete ballet score, not the three-movement concert suite that Hindemith later extracted. The Five Pieces for String Orchestra is an earlier, spirited work dating from 1927. Gerard Schwarz © Ben Vanhouten

Sales Points: Most recordings of Hindemith’s attractive, moving, and majestic score for the ballet Nobilissima Visione (The Noblest Vision), are of the three-movement concert suite he extracted from it for performance and which lasts only about 20-minutes. This is invariably coupled with The Four Temperaments (as by DePriest on Delos), or the Symphony in E flat (Tortelier/EMI), or with Mathis der Maler, as on Naxos’ own 1995 disc [8.553078] with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Franz Paul Decker. The ballet is seldom encountered on disc, and never with the earlier 1927 Suite for Strings, an attractive, short work which Hindemith wrote primarily as a teaching aid.

Internationally recognised for his moving performances, innovative programming and extensive catalogue of recordings, American conductor Gerard Schwarz serves as music director of the All-Star © Ben Vanhouten Orchestra, music director of the Eastern Music Festival in North Seattle Symphony Orchestra Carolina and Jack Benaroya conductor laureate of the Seattle Symphony. His considerable discography of nearly 350 releases Companion Titles showcases his collaborations with some of the world’s greatest orchestras including Philadelphia Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, London Symphony, Orchestre National de France, and Seattle Symphony among others. In his nearly five decades as a respected classical musician and conductor, Schwarz has received hundreds of honours and accolades including Emmy Awards, Grammy® nominations, ASCAP Awards, and the Ditson Conductor’s Award. 8.572748 8.572749 8.572770 8.557812

2 NEW ON NAXOS | JULY 2014

Hector BERLIOZ (1803–1869) Harold en Italie* • Rêverie and Caprice** • Le carnaval romain Benvenuto Cellini Overture Lisa Berthaud, Viola* • Giovanni Radivo, Violin** Orchestre National de Lyon • Leonard Slatkin

Drawing on the adventures of Byron’s Childe Harold and the composer’s own Italian experiences as a Prix de Rome winner, Harold en Italie was intended for the great violinist Paganini who, having initially rejected the work, later repented, giving it his highest praise. The brilliant concert overtures Benvenuto Cellini and Le carnaval romain are among Berlioz’s most popular works. Quickly taken up by several celebrated violinists of the time, the elegant Rêverie et Caprice is his only work for solo violin and orchestra. Leonard Slatkin’s Lyon recording of Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique (8.572886) has been acclaimed as “quite simply one of the best on disc” by MusicWeb International.

Sales Points: Leonard Slatkin and the Orchestre National de Lyon have already booked a remarkable success with their Grammy nominated recording of Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique (8.572886), which was also a MusicWeb International ‘Recording of the Month’ and described as “quite simply one of the best performances of the Symphonic fantastique on disc”. It was also dubbed “the most amazing performance 8.573297 Playing Time: 70:31 and recording of the work I’ve ever heard” by Fanfare. With this kind of response and its young soloist Lise Berthaud unanimously praised as an outstanding rising figure on the music scene you can expect this new 7 47313 32977 9 Harold en Italie to be another of this year’s hottest sellers. Simultaneously available on Blu-ray Internationally renowned conductor Leonard Slatkin is currently music director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and of the Orchestre National de Lyon and principal guest conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. He is also the author of a new book entitled Conducting Business. His more than 100 recordings have brought seven GRAMMY® Awards and 64 GRAMMY® Award nominations. He has received many other honours, including the 2003 National Medal of Arts, France’s Chevalier of the Legion of Honour and the League of American Orchestras’ Gold Baton for service to American music.

NBD0042 Playing Time: 70:30

7 30099 00426 8 Companion Titles © David Duchon-Doris 8.572886 NBD0029 8.572887 8.572888 Orchestre National de Lyon 3 NEW ON NAXOS | JULY 2014

Louis SPOHR (1784-1859) String Quartets Vol. 17 Quartet No.10 in A major, Op. 30* Variations in D minor, Op. 6 Quartet No. 18 in B minor, Op. 61, Quatuor brillant No. 3* Moscow Philharmonic Concertino String Quartet

*WORLD PREMIÈRE RECORDINGS

The composition of string quartets ran as a continuous thread throughout Louis Spohr’s life, and he used the Quartet No. 10 in A major as his ‘parade horse’, playing it frequently in the Viennese salons to show off his skills both as a violinist and composer to audiences accustomed to Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. Its first violin part matches the bravura display of the Quatuor brillant No. 3, written as Spohr planned to resume life as a touring virtuoso after resigning from his post in charge of the Frankfurt Opera. The Variations, Op. 6 see the soloist covering a wide range of ideas derived from a theme said to be by Haydn. This is the final volume in the Marco Polo complete Spohr String Quartets edition. 8.225352 Playing Time: 67:01 Sales Points: This final volume of our unique collection of the 6 36943 53522 6 entire String Quartets by Louis Spohr is once again in the skilled hands of the Moscow Philharmonic Concertino String Quartet, Companion Titles whose “tuning, intonation, technique, ensemble, sensitivity, and depth of expression result in total musicality” according to the American Record Guide (Vol. 13, 8.225315). As with so many of the other volumes in this comprehensive edition, this release includes two major world première recordings, including that of the Quartet in A major which the composer himself identified as 8.223251 8.223252 8.223253 8.223254 one of his main calling-cards as a performer and composer.

8.223255 8.223256 8.223257 8.223258

8.223259 8.225306 8.225307 8.225316

Moscow Philharmonic Concertino String Quartet

8.225315 8.225982 8.225981 8.225983

4 NEW ON NAXOS | JULY 2014

Zdenĕk FIBICH (1850–1900) Orchestral Works, Vol. 3 Symphonic Poems Othello • Záboj, Slavoj and Ludĕk • Toman and the Wood Nymph The Tempest • Spring Czech National Symphony Orchestra • Marek Štilec

Less well known than his compatriots Dvořák and Smetana, Zdenĕk Fibich was however one of the greatest Czech composers of his day. These symphonic poems span the best part of his career, starting with Othello, which emphasizes the intertwined fates of Shakespeare’s main characters. More nationalist in character, Záboj, Slavoj and Luděk impressed Smetana while he was working on Má vlast, while Toman and the Wood Nymph is an evocative and tragic tale of supernatural romantic yearnings. The Tempest encapsulates Shakespeare’s story of storm, shipwreck and reconciliation, and the ‘symphonic picture’ Spring depicts the season in all its variety.

Sales Points • This third volume of orchestral works by Zdenĕk Fibich arrives boosted by a positive critical response to its predecessors. This includes comment on the “skilful conducting and first rate recording [which] make this disc a real treat” (MuziekWeb International on Vol. 1, 8.572985), and Vol. 2 (8.573157) which has been given four stars by Audiophile Edition. These fresh recordings with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra maintain the distinctive Fibich sound and Marek Štilec character, while surpassing now somewhat dated alternatives from the Supraphon label. 8.573197 Playing Time: 72:27 Companion Titles 7 47313 31977 0

8.572985 8.573157

Jacques LOUSSIER (b. 1934) Concerto No. 1 for Violin and Percussion* Concerto No. 2 for Violin and Tabla* Adam Kostecki, Violin • Piotr Iwicki, Percussion Polish Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra • Adam Kostecki *WORLD PREMIÈRE RECORDING

Ignacy Jan PADEREWSKI (1860 – 1941) Sonata in A minor for Violin and Piano, Op. 13 Adam Kostecki, Violin • Gunther Hauer, Piano

Jacques Loussier achieved immense worldwide popular success combining the music of J.S. Bach and jazz improvisation with his Play Bach Trio. Loussier’s focus has since turned more towards composing, his predilection for fusing jazz and classical elements expressed at its most economical in these two Violin Concertos. Eloquent expressiveness and colourful use of percussion characterise the First Concerto, while the Indian influence in the Second Concerto emerges through violin improvisation and rhythmic counterpoint from the tabla. Like Loussier, Paderewski was a piano virtuoso who turned to composition in later life, the Violin Sonata being one of his finest earlier works.

Sales Points • The name Jacques Loussier hardly needs any introduction, but even with his famously jazzy forays into the music of Bach and beyond not many will associate his name with ‘serious’ or ‘classical’ composition. Loussier’s First Violin Concerto has appeared before, but in a 2CD compilation along with 8.573200 Playing Time: further trio recordings. This is the first time it has been brought together with the 65:14 Second Violin Concerto from 2006, and Jacques Loussier’s many fans worldwide will be eager to discover his most recent original work in a program of fine new 7 47313 32007 3 performances. Companion Titles

8.559302 8.559671 8.559637 8.570350

5 NEW ON NAXOS | JULY 2014

Gabriel FAURÉ (1845-1924) Piano Quartet No. 2 in G minor, Op. 45* Piano Trio (clarinet version) • Trois romances sans paroles Dolly Suite, Op. 56 • Piano Trio in D minor, Op. 120† Philip Dukes, Viola* • Richard Hosford, Clarinet† • Kungsbacka Piano Trio

Gabriel Fauré’s chamber works, long overshadowed by his popular Requiem (Naxos 8.550765), are regaining their rightful place. This new release from the Kungsbacka Piano Trio follows their recording of Fauré’s First Piano Quartet and other chamber works (8.573042), described by Gramophone as ‘a delectable way into Fauré’s chamber music’. The programme features the less frequently heard original version, with clarinet, of the Piano Trio, the Second Piano Quartet, which includes an evocation of the bells of Cadirac near the composer’s home, the Romances sans paroles, described by Marcel Proust as ‘intoxicating’ and one of Fauré’s most famous works, the Berceuse from the Dolly Suite.

Sales Points • The Kungsbacka Piano Trio has established a fine reputation over the years through their acclaimed Naxos recordings of Haydn and Mozart Piano Trios. Joined once again by viola player Philip Dukes, this new release follows their recording of Fauré’s First Piano Quartet and other chamber works (8.573042) which was admired The Kungsbacka Piano Trio for its “crystal clear and well balanced” sound quality by MusicWeb International, and saw Gramophone highlighting performances which have “warmth aplenty coupled with an ease with [the] technical demands and a 8.573223 Playing Time: wonderful conversational quality.” The program includes the less frequently heard original version of the Piano Trio. Renowned clarinetist joins 62:07 Richard Hosford the team, a performer whose contribution to our recording of the music of Ian 7 47313 32237 4 Venables (8.572514) was considered “exemplary’, the release given five stars by BBC Music Magazine.

Companion Titles

8.572585 8.573042 8.572063 8.555700

World Première Recordings Julius RÖNTGEN (1855-1932) The Late String Trios String Trio No. 13 in A major (1925) String Trio No. 14 in C minor (1928) String Trio No. 15 in C sharp minor (1929) String Trio No. 16 in C sharp minor (1930) Offenburg String Trio

For many decades one of the leading figures in Dutch musical life, Julius Röntgen came from a distinguished musical family and counted Brahms, Grieg, Grainger and Nielsen among his friends. In his later years he composed an important series of works in many genres, among them a sequence of String Trios written for Röntgen to play with his talented sons. The last four, composed between 1925 and 1930, are works of considerable warmth, verve and inventiveness, not least No. 15 in C sharp minor whose fourth movement, Finale automobilistico, was inspired by a Fiat 509A Torpedo car and a family incident-filled holiday in Germany, France, Switzerland and northern Italy.

Sales Points • Dutch composer Julius Röntgen is receiving increasing exposure on disc. There are now competing versions of his Cello Concertos, and his chamber music is getting more scrutiny. Some of the String Trios have been recorded but the last four are making their first-ever appearance in this release. This is domestic music-making of great skill and charm and is played here by a trio that 8.573384 Playing Time: has made excellently reviewed discs, the Offenburg String Trio. 73:07 Companion Titles 7 47313 33847 4

8.557895 8.572377 8.570785 8.570786

6 NEW ON NAXOS | JULY 2014

Joseph ACHRON (1886-1943) Music for Violin and Piano Hebrew Melody • Suite No. 1 • Stempenyu Suite Michael Ludwig, Violin • Alison d’Amato, Piano

Joseph Achron was a child prodigy as a violinist, and despite great success as a composer he considered himself a performer for most of his life. His most famous composition is the intense and dramatic Hebrew Melody, but the riches in this programme range from the deeply passionate early Prelude, the spirit of dance in Les Sylphides, the various moods of the Stimmungen and the theatrical Stempenyu, speculated to be the inspiration for Marc Chagall’s famous painting of a fiddler on the roof. Achron’s remarkable music fell into obscurity, butits recent revival includes a recording of his First Violin Concerto available on Naxos 8.559408.

Sales Points • Our première recording of Joseph Achron’s First Violin Concerto and other works (8.559408) was received with great critical acclaim, but after nearly ten years we felt it was high time to revisit this still neglected composer’s remarkable music. We couldn’t have asked for better advocates for these works. Michael Ludwig’s international career as a soloist, recording artists and chamber musician has taken him all over the world, with The Strad Magazine acclaiming his playing: stating that his “technique is of the effortless, envy-provoking variety. He exhibits sweet tone…displays easy grace and poise…” Alison D’Amato has been acclaimed for her “fluid and striking pianism” (Buffalo News). 8.573240 Playing Time: 69:34 Companion Titles 7 47313 32407 1

8.559408 8.559743 8.554460 8.572809

Ursula MAMLOK (b. 1923) String Quartet No. 1* • Polyphony No. 1 Confluences • 2000 Notes • From My Garden • Rhapsody Spectrum Concerts Berlin • Armida Quartet*

Ursula Mamlok lived for many years in New York before returning to Berlin, the city of her birth, in her eighties. Featuring a conspectus of her much admired chamber music, this recording is of the concert given in the city’s prestigious Philharmonie in celebration of her ninetieth birthday. Mamlok herself has said: ‘My main concern is that the music should convey the various emotions in it with clarity and conviction. It interests me to accomplish this with a minimum of material, transforming it in such multiple ways so as to give the impression of ever-new ideas that are like the flowers of a plant, all related yet each one different.’

Sales Points • Ursula Mamlok returned to Berlin, the city of her birth, where she is an esteemed composer, after many years in New York. The music in the disc was recorded at a special concert to mark her ninetieth birthday. Mamlok is largely works on relatively small forms and small canvases. Her music is poetically tough. A number of the pieces on this disc have received prior recordings. Bridge has a series devoted to her music – on volume 3 (9360, published 2011) there is Confluences whilst on an earlier volume Garrick Ohlsson plays 2000 Notes (9291, published 2009). Polyphony and From My Garden are on 9293, published 2010, Rhapsody and the String Quartet are on volume 4 (9361, published 2011). 8.559771 Playing Time: Our disc however gives a single-disc overview of her major chamber music 57:02 played at a special event.

6 36943 97712 5 Companion Titles

8.559763 8.559173 8.559696-97 8.559716

7 NEW ON NAXOS | JULY 2014

World Première Recording Saverio MERCADANTE (1795-1870) I Briganti Melodramma serio in Three Parts Libretto by Jacopo Crescini Bruno Praticò, Vittorio Prato, Bass • Maxim Mironov, Jesús Ayllón, Tenor Petya Ivanova, Soprano • Rosita Fiocco, Mezzo-soprano • Atanas Mladenov, Baritone Camerata Bach Choir, Poznań • Virtuosi Brunensis • Antonino Fogliani A highly regarded composer in his day and considered the equal of Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti, Saverio Mercadante pioneered the transformation of bel canto opera into real music drama. He wrote the operatic tragedy I Briganti (The Brigands) not only to prove himself to the Parisian public but as a direct challenge to Bellini’s I puritani, premièred the previous year. Mercadante’s individual style of canto fiorito and distinctive theatricality demonstrate that opera need not be a mere succession of virtuoso vocal arias, and it paved the way for Verdi’s later dramas. Prepared from a new critical edition, this production was described as ‘outstanding’ by The New York Times.

Sales Points • We have had some notable successes with Mercadante in recent releases such as Don Chisciotte alle nozze di Gamaccio (8.660312-13), also directed by Antonino Fogliani and with its performance described as “truly a delight” by American Record Guide. This production from the Rossini in Wildbad Festival 2012 was warmly received by critics, including the New York Times, which considered I briganti “impeccably crafted”, with Maxim Mironov “outstanding” in the central role of Ermano. This performance uses a new edition based on contemporary manuscripts. It represents the unique revival of a version of this 8.660343-44 Playing Time: work last heard in 1847, and enters the CD market entirely free of competition. 2 CDs 2:17:52 Companion Titles 7 30099 03437 1

8.660255-56 8.660312-13 8.660275-76 8.660295-96

Robert Livingston ALDRIDGE (b. 1954) Parables – An Interfaith Oratorio Libretto by Herschel Garfein University of Minnesota Opera Theatre • David Walsh, Director Univeristy of Minessota Symphony Orchestra • University of Minnesota Choruses • University Singers • Kathy Saltzman Romey

Robert Aldridge and Herschel Garfein are internationally renowned for their GRAMMY® award-winning opera Elmer Gantry (2007). Their follow-up collaboration, Parables (2010) is a cantata for soloists, a 200-voice choir and 80-piece orchestra. The attack on the World Trade Center in September 2001 haunts its writing but the use of passages from the Torah, New Testament and Koran seeks to bind the major faiths’ commonality, hopeful of healing and reconciliation. In this staged performance young dancers, costumes, and projection emphasize the music’s powerfully theatrical impact.

Sales Points • Though he has composed in a number of genres – his Clarinet Concerto is on Naxos 8.559667, coupled with Aaron Copland’s - it’s Robert Aldridge’s operatic music that has grabbed most international headlines. Elmer Gantry [8.669032] was released by Naxos in 2011 and it’s the work by which Aldridge is internationally best known. Parables is a cantata on the theme of reconciliation for large orchestral and choral forces. Its force on this DVD presentation is enhanced by the introduction of dancers, and the performance has real visual force – sets, lighting, costumes and projection – such as wouldn’t of course be available via a conventional CD recording.

TV Format • NTSC 16:9 Sound • PCM Stereo Region Coding • 0 (Worldwide)

Companion Titles

2.110358 Playing Time: 51:23

7 47313 53585 9 8.669032-33 8.559667

8 NEW ON NAXOS | JULY 2014

Aram KHACHATURIAN (1903-1978) Othello (Suite) Battle of Stalingrad (Suite) Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra • Adriano

Khachaturian’s involvement in film, which began in Armenia as early as 1934, was long-lived and highly distinctive. Until 1960, the date of his last film, he wrote principally for Mosfilm and his scores, not least in subsequent arrangements, earned him considerable renown. His own eight-part concert suite arrangement taken from the epic Battle of Stalingrad (1948–50), is a symphonic fresco of high tension, fully befitting its subject matter. The suite derived from the score for Othello reveals the full canvas of Khachaturian’s cinematic imagination, from glorious love music to darker scenes of despair.

Sales Points • This is ex-Marco Polo [8.223314]. Khachaturian was an excellent film composer though this aspect of his output is sometimes overlooked. The two works selected offer a contrast between the powerful Battle of Stalingrad and the greater opportunities for characterisation in Othello. Conductor Adriano is a practised and internationally-lauded exponent of film music on disc. The Stalingrad film music has been recorded in various forms, often for wind band – the LAWO label has just issued it coupled with Gliere, Rimsky and Shostakovich etc whilst in 2004 Chandos issued its recording coupled oddly with Rimsky’s Trombone Concerto. Musical Concepts has recently revived the old ASV recording issued in the 1990s. This new Naxos incarnation would sit well with the film music of Prokofiev and Shostakovich.

8.573389 Playing Time: Companion Titles 63:36

7 47313 33897 9

8.572718 8.570979 8.572226 8.557549

Greek Guitar Music Eva Fampas, Guitar

Kyriakos TZORTZINAKIS (1950-1989) Four Greek Images Minas BOGRIS (b. 1970) Waltz Nikos ATHANASSAKIS (b. 1972) Taygetus Mountain* Kostas HADJOPOULOS (b. 1955) Three Greek Sketches* Dimitris FAMPAS (1921-1996) Vals Three Greek Dances: Sousta Greek Suite Mikis THEODORAKIS (b. 1925) Mother and Virgin A Day in May You were good George MAVROEDES (b. 1967) The Journey* Seascape No. 2: Wreck in the living-room* Nickos HARIZANOS (b. 1969) Polychordon, Op. 86* Two Ballads and Dance, Op. 112*

*WORLD PREMIÈRE RECORDINGS

Influenced by Andrés Segovia, guitar music in Greece saw its heyday in the 1950s. Soloist Eva Fampas is the daughter of Dimitris Fampas, a leading figure who was taught by Segovia and helped create a globally admired school of playing which has nourished generations of musicians. This programme is representative of the new generation of Greek guitarist-composers, with national sounds and rhythms easily recognized in works such as Kyriakos Tzortzinakis’s vividly descriptive Four Greek Images, and the recent Taygetus, dedicated to Eva Fampas by its composer Nikos Athanassakis.

Sales Points • Part of our growing Greek Classic series, this program of 8.273322 Playing Time: guitar music goes straight to the heart of Greek musical creativity in both 64:06 composition and performance. Soundboard Magazine has described Eva Fampas’s playing as “masterful”, and sees her as “a fine artist with 7 47313 33227 4 a lifelong dedication to playing the guitar while presenting works which are substantial and interesting.” Her playing style descends from that of Segovia via her father Dimitris Fampas, and her continuation of his active stimulating of new music for the guitar bears fruit in this fine new recording.

Companion Titles

8.570789 8.572369 8.570957 8.572237

9 NEW ON NAXOS | JULY 2014

Gian Francesco MALIPIERO (1882-1973) Piano Works (1909-1921) Poemetti lunari • Preludi autunnali Cavalcate* • Tre danze antiche* • Risonanze Rira Lim, Piano

*WORLD PREMIÈRE RECORDING

The Italian composer Gian Francesco Malipiero, despite considering the piano his ‘strange enemy’, created a highly individual body of works for the instrument, exploring its most beautiful sonorities. These five contrasting early collections range from the deliberately archaic idiom of the Tre danze antiche to the quirky humour of the Cavalcate (‘Rides’ on a donkey, a camel and a fiery charger), via the resonating bell-sounds of Risonanze and the gentle autumnal melancholy of the Preludi autunnali. The powerful Poemetti lunari, a struggle between a world of radiant beauty and forces bent on its destruction, are regarded as Malipiero’s fi rst truly personal creation.

Sales Points • We have a strong Malipiero catalogue including his complete symphonies, and more recently the “compellingly rewarding” (MusicWeb International) Impressioni dal vero (8.572409). Once again we are able to include a world première recording amidst this fine program of Malipiero’s earlier piano works. Award winning and internationally celebrated Korean pianist 8.572517 Playing Time: Rira Lim has performed this composer widely over many years, including at 71:43 a concert in the Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall described as being given a 7 47313 25177 3 “standing ovation” by the New York Concert Review. Companion Titles

8.572409 8.570883 8.570878 8.570879

John CAGE (1912-1992) Works for Two Keyboards, Vol. 3 Winter Music • Two2 • Experiences No. 1 Pestova/Meyer Piano Duo

John Cage was one of the twentieth-century’s most radical thinkers who redefined his own contribution to musical history in the light of his ceaseless exploration. One aspect of this was the technique of ‘indeterminacy’, exemplified by Winter Music, a major work on the grandest of scales that can be freely interpreted as to time but which remains coloristic and resonant. Two 2 is one of Cage’s ‘Number Pieces’, and one of his most forward-looking works, a composition that considers the structure of listening itself and one that continues to influence a new generation of composers. This is the final disc in the series (volume 1 is on 8.559726, volume 2 on 8.559727).

Sales Points • This is third and final volume in the John Cage ‘Works for Two Keyboards’ series (volume 1 was on 8.559726 and volume two was on 8.559727), Cage was an innovator and explorer and his works for two pianos are some of his most influential. The competitor to this 3-CD series is MDG’s series devoted to Cage’s Two Piano works, played by Steffen Schleiermacher and Josef Christof; some of these releases date back to 2000 and some are on 2-CD sets.

Companion Titles

8.559728 Playing Time: 58:02

6 36943 97282 3

8.559726 8.559727

10 NEW ON NAXOS | JULY 2014

THE GUERRA MANUSCRIPT, Vol. 3 17th Century Secular Spanish Vocal Music Yetzabel Arias Fernández, Soprano • Ars Atlántica

This third volume of the first complete recording of the Guerra Manuscript, a recently discovered anthology of seventeenth-century Spanish secular songs, features tonos, works for solo voice and accompanying instruments, by some of the greatest Spanish composers of that time such as Juan Hidalgo and José Marín. These are framed by instrumental works by other composers of the period to set them in a richer context.

Sales Points • This is the third volume in the series, which from the first [8.570135] has received critical acclaim, not least because it is performed by some of the leading exponents of the art of seventeenth-century Spanish music. The manuscript, which was only rediscovered fairly recently, preserves secular music of the time by composers who range from the most esteemed to the anonymous. This volume is subtly different from the preceding two in its varied use of accompanying instrumentation.

Companion Titles

8.573312 Playing Time: 74:11

7 47313 33127 7 8.570135 8.572876

Peter WARLOCK (1894-1930) Choral Music The full heart • Corpus Christi • Bethlehem Down Rachel Haworth, Organ • The Carice Singers • George Parris

Although he remains best remembered for his solo songs, for the song cycle The Curlew, and for his evergreen suite Capriol, Peter Warlock’s choral works sit firmly in the great English lineage. The music ranges from Hymns to the Virgin to carols, many spiced with his own ‘melody of chords’ and his typically tangy harmonies. Some of Warlock’s most beautiful and sensitive settings are to be heard, not least Corpus Christi and Bethlehem Down, whilst there is also a very rare setting in Cornish (track 21), recorded for the first time in that language.

Sales Points • Peter Warlock is best known for his solo songs and some orchestral pieces, but he was a consistently fine but overlooked choral composer. Some of his most affecting and harmonically interesting music is to be found here. The music runs from Prayers to Carols and there is even a previously unrecorded version of a choral setting in the Cornish language. Several of these choral works are available on Chandos 9182, released in 2010, but coupled with the choral music of Warlock’s friend EJ Moeran. An All-Warlock choral disc was released by Rosonus Classics this year.

Companion Titles

8.573227 Playing Time: 72:09

7 47313 32277 0 8.570541 8.573014 8.573053 8.572739

11 NEW ON NAXOS | JULY 2014

New from Naxos Audiobooks

The Moonstone The Planets and The Solar System By Wilkie Collins By Jen Green Unabridged Unabridged Read by Ronald Pickup and cast Read by Ruth Sillers

NA0162 | 21 hours | 17 CD set NA0156 | 2.5 hours | 2 CD set

9 781843 797975 9 781843 797852

The Decline and Fall of the The Masqueraders Roman Empire,Volume IV By Georgette Heyer By Edward Gibbon Unabridged Unabridged Read by Ruth Sillers Read by David Timson NA0128 | 24 hours | 19 CD set NA0179 | 11 hours | 9 CD set

9 781843 797180 9 781843 798514