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Our Naxos Special Products department is working on several Naxos projects for 2010 including box sets of the complete works of Chopin and the complete songs of Schubert.

Watch out for a 10 CD Pavarotti boxed set in February…..
reviews
Bach Sonatas and  Partitas for Solo Violin
February 20-21, The Australian
Bach Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin
Alina Ibragimova
HYPERION | CDA676912 | CD2 | 034571176918
5 stars
If you haven’t heard of Alina Ibragimova, then prepare to be stunned by this recording. The young Russian-born violinist was only 23 when this disc was recorded little more than a year ago, yet her playing is remarkably refined: a thrilling mix of exuberance and poise, delivered with breathtaking technical aplomb.

Ibragimova represents a generational change in performance training in that she studied baroque and classical period-instrument practice alongside romantic and contemporary styles. As a consequence, her Bach playing is fresh and imaginative, rhythmically vital and with a sense of improvisatory freedom. The slow opening movements of the three solo sonatas are unhurried and spacious, their melodic contours languidly shaped with a beautiful, pure tone that sings despite minimal vibrato. By contrast the fast movements are often taken at a dazzling pace, Ibragimova’s articulation stunningly clear and precise.

The prelude to the E major partita springs to life with energetic excitement yet with such sophisticated phrasing that it never sounds like just a continuous stream of semiquavers. The rhetorical nature of her playing is particularly evident in the famous chaconne that concludes the D minor partita. In one of the best-known violin works, Ibragimova creates a masterly performance with virtuosic flair. She often pushes interpretive boundaries and her playing can seem impetuous, but her musical instincts are reliable, the results fabulously convincing. –Mark Coughlan
Prokofiev  Romeo and Juliet
February 13-14, The Australian
Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet
Valery Gergiev, LSO
LSO LIVE | LSO0682 | SACD2 | 822231168225
5 stars
Rarely does a new recording supersede all before it, but that is the case with the London Symphony Orchestra's new performance of Prokofiev's ballet score, Romeo and Juliet. It uses a reconstruction of the first, 1935 version of the ballet prepared by Princeton scholar Simon Morrison, who discovered additional music the composer had written for its four acts. Comprising dances, variations and bridge passages, much had to be reconstructed from an autograph piano score. There's a lot more colour in each scene. A scurrying Morning Dance and lively Tarantella add great sparkle to the opening, and strumming mandolins make an extraordinary surprise in the second act. The epilogue, depicting Juliet's death, is much expanded, with deepened pathos as the main themes return for a final time.

Coupled with Morrison's reconstruction comes a freshly conceived, thoroughly magnificent live performance from the LSO with Valery Gergiev at the helm. Many tempos of the more familiar numbers are different. Some are blisteringly fast while others are considerably slower than usual. But Gergiev has reassessed the mood of each scene and delivers them with heightened pictorial intensity. Tybalt's funeral march initially sounds very slow, but it gains a huge monumental quality. The LSO plays with warm, tidy spaciousness and a lovely feeling for line. The grace of dance is present throughout. This is an indispensable release. –Graham Strahle
Great Operatic Arias
February Limelight
Great Operatic Arias
Cheryl Barker, London Philharmonic Orchestra
CHANDOS | CHAN3161 | CD | 095115316122
4 ½ stars
This recording was funded by the British Peter Moore Foundation, which has the aim of preserving and perpetuating opera in English – not English opera, but world opera in translation, by such composers as Verdi, Catalani and Tchaikovsky, all of whom feature on this disc. They are joined by Richard Strauss, Leoncavallo, Cilea and Boito, along with English-language composers Jake Heggie from America, and our own Malcolm Williamson.

We in Australia have a special affinity with Cheryl Barker, even though she finds her major career overseas. Cheryl, who is as beautiful on disc as she is on stage, is a consummate singing-actress completely adopting the persona of her character. The inherent truth she finds in that character infuses this recording...

...Cheryl Barker’s clear enunciation and radiant intelligence makes this disc a must-have. The only surprise is the lack of Puccini or Verdi arias. Perhaps there’s a perfect follow-up album there?


video of the month



The Ring of the 21st century, as you have never seen or imagined it!

Santiago Calatrava’s ultra-modern Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia, in Valencia, is the setting for what is believed to be the country’s first Spanish production of Wagner’s complete Ring tetralogy. This spellbinding, shape-shifting Ring is an astonishing achievement: futuristic yet timeless, with a wealth of breathtaking multi-media and choreographic effects. The La Fura theatre group’s mesmerising fusion of movement, sound, music, dance, acrobatics and technology enriches the musical performances of seasoned stars including led by conductor Zubin Mehta. This is the most visually stunning new production of The Ring ever to be released.

Wagner Die Walküre

C MAJOR | 700708 | DVD2 | 814337010072
Wagner Die Walküre
Soloists, Orchestra of the Valencia Community,
Zubin Mehta (conductor), La Fura dels Baus (direction)


Wagner Das Rheingold

C MAJOR |700508 | DVD2 | 814337010058
Wagner Das Rheingold
Soloists, Orchestra of the Valencia Community, Zubin Mehta (conductor), La Fura dels Baus (direction)



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podcasts
Podcast: Vivaldi! with Marie Nicole Lemieux

Canadian contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux burst onto the international scene with her performances of Vivaldi operas. This CD is the perfect introduction to those operas, and her glorious voice. Accompanied by Ensemble Matheus conducted by Jean-Christophe Spinosi, Marie-Nicole presents some of her favourite arias from Orlando Furioso, Griselda and La fida ninta.

Album details:

Vivaldi Arias
Marie-Nicole Lemieux (contralto), Sandrine Piau (soprano), Veronica Cangemi (soprano), Phillippe Jaroussky (countertenor) Topi Lehtipuu (tenor)
NAÏVE | V5212 | CD | 822186052129

Arias from Orlando furioso, Griselda, La Fida Ninfa, Credo in G Major

Vasily Petrenko talks to The Independent’s Edward Seckerson about the Shostakovich project at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

“The charismatic St. Petersburg-born Vasily Petrenko has really been turning things around at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra since he took over as Principal Conductor in 2005.

With both standards and audiences on the up he has embarked upon his first major recording project – to record all 15 Shostakovich Symphonies for the Naxos label.

Two releases (8572082, 8572167) are now available and in this exclusive podcast he talks to Edward Seckerson about the project in general and the symphonies in particular. The 11th “The Year 1905” makes extensive use of revolutionary songs and graphically portrays the bloody massacre of over 200 peaceful demonstrators outside the Winter Palace on the 9th January that year. This now notorious passage which pitches a wall of percussion (five players) against shrill demented unisons is one of the most powerful depictions of unprovoked violence in 20th century music.

Shostakovich Symphony No 11, The Year 1905
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vasily Petrenko (conductor)
NAXOS | 8572082 | CD | 747313208272

Shostakovich
Symphonies Nos 5, 9

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vasily Petrenko (conductor)
NAXOS | 8572167 | CD | 747313216772

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touring artists


Touring Australia July
– August 2010

Click here for more details


 
last updated January 2010

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