Le Triomphe de Bacchus, Six epigraphes antiques

Volume 5 of Naxos’s acclaimed series of Debussy’s orchestral music presents a potpourri of works that were either left incomplete by the composer or were orchestrated by others who greatly admired his music. His rarely-heard children’s ballet The Toy Box, dedicated to Debussy’s daughter Emma-Claude but not premiered until after the composer’s death, recalls the innocent world of his popular Children’s Corner suite. Based on Pierre Louÿ’s Chansons de Bilitis, Debussy’s Six épigraphes antiques evoke poetic scenes from the ancient world, as does the sole surviving portion of The Triumph of Bacchus.

Chant de mai, Scirocco, Le bapteme, Sur le balcon, La dame invisible, Nella, La folle de St Joseph, Komm du schones Fischermadchen, Die Rose die Lilie die Taube die Sonne

Best known for his spectacular operas (including Il Crociato in Egitto 8.660245-47 & Semiramide 8.660205-06) Giacomo Meyerbeer also contributed  to  the more  intimate world of French, German and Italian song with a  large number of finely-crafted examples. Often reflecting on the joys and pains of love or blooming with religious fervour, the 21 songs heard here are interpreted by Sivan Rotem, one of Israel’s outstanding singers, and Jonathan Zak, a graduate of the Juilliard School and full professor at the Buchman-Mehta Music School of Tel-Aviv University.

Goethe’s Faust exerted a powerful influence on Romantic composers, offering Robert Schumann a number of unforgettable scenes drawn mainly from the mystical second part of the epic poem which he incorporated into this immensely moving large-scale cantata. Opening with the first love scene between Gretchen and Faust and concluding with the climactic scene  of Faust’s redemption, Schumann created a sweeping panorama of dramatic episodes centering on the lovers’ ill-fated affair with Mephistopheles’ trickery ultimately overcome as legions of celestial beings bear Faust’s soul to heaven.

Flight of the Bumblebee

Described by the composer as a kaleidoscope of  fairy-tale  images and designs of oriental character, Rimsky-Korsakov’s beloved symphonic suite Scheherazade has delighted listeners for generations, the rapturous solo violin playing the part of the slave who narrates the wonderful tales of the Arabian Nights, including the adventures of Sinbad, Prince Kalender and the Festival of Baghdad. The suite or Musical Pictures from The Tale of the Tsar Saltan depict in orchestral garb episodes from this magical opera, from which the mischievous 'Flight of the Bumblebee' is also drawn. The Seattle Symphony is one of the world’s most recorded orchestras, with 12 Grammy nominations and two Emmy Awards.

In 1805,  towards  the end of his  immensely productive and successful career, Haydn signifcantly expanded  the youthful Missa brevissetting he had composed over fifty years earlier, enriching  the orchestration with flute, clarinets, bassoons, trumpets and timpani to give the version we here here. The other work on this disc, his Mass in B fat major of 1801 gained its nickname, ‘The Creation Mass’, from a short quotation taken from his most famous oratorio. Although this upset the Empress Maria Theresa, audiences to this day smile in recognition at this musical phrase which enlivens the work’s overarching mood of splendour.

In his famous novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald coined the phrase ‘the Jazz Age’ to describe the flamboyant era that emerged in America after World War I. George Gershwin’s immortal Rhapsody in Blue is heard here in its complete original version for jazz band as arranged by Ferde Grofé who also orchestrated the Concerto in Three Rhythms by Nadine Dana Suesse (dubbed by The New Yorker as ‘Girl Gershwin’). The second theme from her Jazz Nocturne became a popular hit when Bing Crosby crooned it under the title My Silent Love. Master banjoist Harry F. Reser’s exuberant Suite demands an extraordinary technique from the soloist. 'Fats' Waller was the pianist for the première of African-American composer James Price Johnson’s blues-infected Yamekraw.

Georges Bizet’s popular  L’Arlésienne Suites are seldom heard in the composer’s own piano transcriptions. Indeed, his delightful compositions and arrangements for this instrument remain to be discovered and enjoyed by many listeners. Himself an accomplished pianist, Bizet’s solo piano works range across many different genres and styles from the Chopinesque lyricism of the Nocturnes and Chansons  sans paroles to the virtuosic Caprices  and Chasse Fantastique and the highly dramatic Variations chromatiques. Julia Severus, who as a member of the Aurora Duo has released several acclaimed Naxos recordings, here makes her solo recording début for the label.

‘The three piano trios in this recording span seventeen years of my creative life (1991-2008),’ notes composer Roberto Sierra. ‘Each reflects a different creative impulse and the ideas that were in my mind at the time I wrote them. There are nevertheless common threads that link these works: a constant preoccupation with the intersection of a modern musical language and the vernacular that comes out of my ethnic background, and also timbral explorations often linked to instrumental virtuosity.’ Latin and jazz influences meet Romantic and modern developments in this expressive chamber music.

Thoroughly trained by his father Johann Sebastian, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach became renowned as a virtuoso harpsichordist and organist. His surviving organ music includes the seven choral preludes and ten fugues on this disc, which range from relatively simple settings to elaborate displays of counterpoint. Born in Rio de Janeiro and based in the USA, Julia Brown, who has recorded several acclaimed CDs of keyboard music by Buxtehude and Scheidemann for Naxos, has been praised as ‘a first-class artist and superb technician…an exceptionally sensitive stylist’ (Classics Today).

Hailed as among the most singular youthful compositions of their time, Igor Markevitch’s astonishingly vivid original works have been released to critical acclaim by Naxos. Markevitch outdoes Webern’s famous orchestration of the six-part Ricercare (8.557531)  by  arranging  J. S. Bach’s  entire Musical Offering for three orchestral groups and solo quartet, and creating a masterful, fully integrated symphonic interpretation which would remain a personal favourite among his many striking productions. ‘expressive performance…a very valuable addition to the series.’ -International Record Review

Cosmopolitan by nature,  independently minded and prolific, Florent Schmitt sought  inspiration  from many sources  for his highly original compositions. His Ombres, Op. 64 (Shadows) has been compared with Ravel’s Gaspard de la nuit, Mirages,Op.70 pays tribute to Debussy and Liszt, and The Tragedy of Salome, originally a ballet score in seven scenes and reduced by the composer to a shorter version for piano, was praised by Igor Stravinksy as ‘one of the greatest masterpieces in modern music’  and  here  receives  its world  première  recording. Vincent  Lardaret  is  a  prize-winner  in  several  international  piano competitions and performs in major concert halls and at renowned international festivals.

A  leading figure  in  the development of opera buffa, Baldassare Galuppi was also much admired as a keyboardist, though his many sonatas largely remain unpublished and unknown today. Usually comprising two or three contrasting movements, these graceful and charming sonatas juxtapose the melodious and the bravura, the melancholy and the ebullient, often recalling the music of Domenico Scarlatti or the young Mozart. Matteo Napoli enjoys a busy international career and plays on a number of highly praised Naxos recordings. Volume 2 will be issued on 8.572490.

Konzertstucke Op 20

Chamber music occupies the largest part of Camillo Schumann’s (1872 - 1946) extensive compositional output, his admiration of Brahms, Liszt and Rachmaninov evident at every turn. The cello sonatas and concert pieces on this disc also demonstrate Schumann’s own distinctive melodic gifts, his virtuosic writing for the piano and his emotional intensity. The fire and energy, mercurial instrumental interplay and arching lyricism of his music are masterfully handled by the internationally renowned cellist Maria Kleigel in partnership with pianist Francesco Piemontesi, who was recently selected as a BBC New Generation Artist.

Evocaciones, Homenaje a Segovia, Sonata del Portico, Tres Preludios Urbanos

The prolific and influential Spanish composer Antón García Abril’s music for solo guitar includes his impressionistic panorama of diverse Mediterranean moods, lively dance rhythms, introspective episodes and nocturnal harmonies, as well as his homage to the legendary guitarist Andrés Segovia. The Sonata del Pórtico pays musical tribute to Compostela cathedral’s famous sculptured ‘Porch of Glory’, while the Three Urban Preludes celebrate the great cites of Paris, Athens and Madrid with characteristic élan, rhapsody and vibrancy. First prize winner of Italy’s prestigious International Competition Michele Pittaluga and recipient of more than twenty international prizes, Franciso Bernier enjoys an international career.

Piano Sonatas Nos 1-3, Pastorale, Egloga, Huesped de las nieblas

Rodolfo Halffter’s music embraces almost every genre but he was primarily an instrumental composer. Born in Spain, and after the civil war resident in Mexico, Halffter became a leading fgure in his adopted country. His three piano sonatas rank among his most important works for that instrument, combining Scarlattian playfulness with Romantic and avant-garde techniques. The other works on  this disc,  in which flute or violin duet with piano, abound  in appealing Latin colour, poetic moods and refned, sometimes spirited, lyricism.

Parry, Stanford, Stainer, Holst, Walton, Finzi, Naylor

One  of  the most  popular  and  versatile  chamber  choirs  in  the UK,  the Vasari Singers  have  thrived  for  over  thirty  years, delighting audiences and critics with their passion, sensitivity and ethos of excellence. This disc celebrates some of the great anthems by 19th  and 20th-century British composers, including Parry’s beautiful ode Blest Pair of Sirens and Walton’s ambitious mini-cantata The Twelve. With texts from The Bible and by Aquinas, Milton and Auden, these masterful works remain a mainstay of church and cathedral choral repertoire.

Jonah-Man Jazz, Prodigal, Rooster Rag, Swingin' Samson, Captain Coram's Kids

Michael Hurd was a pioneer in composing brief, witty and, above all, performable choral music for children to enjoy. When Jonah-Man Jazz arrived in 1966, young singers and their teachers had modern-sounding music to make and share. Pastiche jazz, blues and rock ‘n’ roll rhythms, memorable tunes and entertaining lyrics proved a winning combination, as they also do in Swingin’ Samson, Rooster Rag, Prodigal and Captain Coram’s Kids. This recording is the first to be supported by the British Music Society Charitable Trust Michael Hurd Bequest, established to further the appreciation of the composer’s output.

The Maggini Quartet’s Naxos recording of Edmund Rubbra’s String Quartet No.2 (8.572286) was praised as ‘superbly integrated…undeniably a great success’ by Gramophone. His remaining three string quartets, heard here, mark Rubbra as a great, though still undervalued, English composer whose music boasts an inexhaustible sense of freshness, a richly hued emotional palette and an abiding sense of optimism.   The Maggini Quartet’s Naxos recordings of English string quartets by composers from Alwyn to Walton have gained numerous awards, critical plaudits and nominations from Gramophone and the Grammys.

After Handel's Vesper, Ramble On Cortona

The emotional content, lyricism and direct appeal of Gavin Bryar’s music are unique, refecting a contemporary composer’s absorption and  transformation of several centuries of musical  craftsmanship in order to refect his, and our, own epoch. Originally written for harpsichord, After Handel’s Vesper is a strong illustration of Bryars’s post-minimal interests in early music repertoire.  Ramble  on Cortona, derived from 13th-century music, makes expressive use of the piano’s resonant qualities, while in the highly-coloured, almost Impressionistic The Solway Canal,landscapes pass by as if in a dream.

Walton Two Pieces for Violin and Piano, Vaughan Williams Romance for Viola and Piano, Bax Legend for Viola and Piano, Bliss Intermezzo, Holland Suite in D for Viola and Piano, Bridge Four Pieces

The fortunes of the viola as a solo instrument enjoyed a remarkable upsurge during the first half of the 20th Century. Rebecca Clarke’s Viola Sonata ranks among her finest compositions while Frank Bridge’s Four Pieces convey his melodic charm and elegiac warmth. Theodore Holland’s appealing Suite exploits the viola’s tender tones and jaunty potential. Arthur Bliss’s Intermezzo, transcribed from his Piano Quartet  (8.555931) and William Walton’s Canzonetta and Scherzo, originally for violin, complement Arnold Bax’s haunting Legend and Vaughan Williams’s posthumously performed Romance. Matthew Jones has been hailed by The Strad magazine as ‘a worthy successor to Lionel Tertis’. A major prize-winner from the Royal College of Music, Michael Hampton performs on major stages around the world.

Often referred to but rarely read, The Communist Manifesto is one of the great documents of world history. Written by Marx and Engels and published in London in 1848 (in German originally) it presented a totally different view of social and political organisation, as revolutionary as Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. The Manifesto’s effect on world politics was incalculable, but though it might seem to have been discredited by the late 20th century, it remains an ideology which, in many ways, can be admired; it certainly benefits study. Short, accessible and extremely powerful in its argument, it should be read by everyone.

History or myth? The word of God or the words of men? What is the Bible? This history, especially written for this recording, describes clearly and concisely how the Bible came into being and what it contains. In the year that marks the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible, it also traces the immense influence that the Bible has had on world literature, thought and culture. Historian Peter Whitfield has also written the widely praised Darwin — In a Nutshell, The History of Poetry and The History of Science for Naxos AudioBooks.

Marking 100 years since Mervyn Peake’s birth, Naxos AudioBooks releases the first novel in the Gormenghast trilogy. Lord Sepulchrave is the 76th Earl of Groan and head of the Groan family who reside in the magnificent castle of Gormenghast. The birth of Titus Groan — the heir to Lord Sepulchrave — interrupts the complex daily rituals of the residence just as intelligent, manipulative Steerpike enters into Gormenghast society. Chronicling the first two years of Titus’ life, this novel follows the antics of the castle’s bizarre inhabitants and Steerpike’s scheming plots as he attempts to rise to power.

One of the great works of 19th-century England as well as one of the masterpieces of English fiction, this novel is set in the Midlands, 1830–32, in the fictitious town of Middlemarch. It is concerned with the blighted marriage of a young idealistic woman, but also presents a vivid portrait of England during the Georgian era. A film adaptation of the novel, directed by Sam Mendes and with screenplay by Andrew Davies, is due to be released in 2011.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had a great talent for creating memorable characters. The hero of The Adventures of Brigadier Gerard is one of his most ingenious inventions, brought to life, here, with wicked humour by Rupert Degas. Preposterously vain and yet endearing, Brigadier Gerard makes for a tremendously fun companion as he relives the adventures of his military career fighting in the Napoleonic campaigns. Crediting himself with unparalleled military prowess and irresistible powers of seduction, Gerard goes as far as to suggest that his absence from the Battle of Waterloo was the reason for Napoleon’s defeat! The Adventures of Brigadier Gerard includes the best-known and funniest Brigadier Gerard story, 'How The Brigadier Slew The Fox'.