This marvelous selection reveals Mozart’s astonishing gift for laying bare the inner lives of the many beloved characters from his most famous operas (including Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro, Così fan tutte, and The Magic Flute), whether embroiled in farce or defying fate.

Puccini’s fascination with exotic locations, doomed heroines, high drama and tragic romance are brought to centre stage in this immensely moving selection from his greatest operas, including Madama Butterfly, La Bohème, Tosca, and Turandot.

This highly dramatic album includes the most famous arias and choruses from Verdi’s ever-popular operas, in which public splendor and private pathos, true love and tragedy, vie for supremacy at every turn.

Wagner’s epic music dramas revolutionised the operatic repertoire, drawing upon famous legends and history to create a completely new art form of unprecedented spectacle and intense psychological power.

Composed to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press and taking Beethoven’s mighty Ninth Symphony as his model, Felix Mendelssohn’s immense Symphony No. 2, sub-titled ‘Hymn of Praise’, enjoyed great success following its 1840 première in Leipzig. Using texts from the Lutheran Bible, he created a stirring symphonic cantata in which the whole world unites in a triumphant song to the Heavenly Father. Jun Märkl, whose Naxos recordings have gained high praise, leads an outstanding line-up of artists in this thrilling performance.

Russian Nationalist Sergey Mikhaylovich Lyapunov was strongly influenced by Mili Balakirev, leader of the ‘Mighty Handful’ of composers, to whom he dedicated his Glinka Prize-winning Piano Concerto No. 1. Lyapunov’s Piano Concerto No. 2 deserves a place among the great Romantic piano concertos, while the Rhapsody on Ukranian Themes bears the imprint of Liszt’s virtuosic pianistic style. The young, nimble-fingered Georgian pianist Shorena Tsintsabadze, a graduate of Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Conservatory, joins the Russian Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Dmitry Yablonsky, whose Naxos discography includes many acclaimed albums of Russian and Romantic repertoire.

The Missa brevis in F is Haydn’s earliest authenticated Mass and was written shortly before his departure from St Stephen’s in Vienna, where he had been recruited as a choirboy around 1740. Haydn himself, on rediscovering the work almost fifty years later, said he admired it for ‘the melody and a certain youthful fire’. In contrast, the Harmoniemesse, written for the nameday festivities of Prince Nicolaus II’s wife in 1802, was to be Haydn’s last major composition. Using a full Harmonie (wind band), the work’s expressive intensity belies the end of its composer’s career.

Famous for his gigantic Gothic Symphony, which is being performed in Brisbane in December (Naxos 855741819), English composer Havergal Brian’s 32 symphonies are now at last winning a hearing, after decades of neglect. This album pairs his fantasia-like Symphony No. 17 and defiantly affirmative Symphony No. 32 with two equally contrasting symphonic poems, the enigmatic In Memoriam and the exuberant Festal Dance. Adrian Leaper conducts Ireland’s leading orchestra in full-blooded performances of these enthralling examples of British symphonic writing. Brian’s Symphonies Nos. 11 & 15 are also available (8572014).

In this fifth and final volume of Gian Francesco Malipiero’s published symphonies, Sinfonia dello zodiaco vividly depicts the ever-changing moods of the four seasons in twelve movements that are analogous to the signs of the zodiac. The perky capriciousness of his brief Symphony No. 9 is interrupted by an unforgettable but enigmatic outburst by trumpets and percussion marked ‘AHIMÈ’ (Alas!) in the score. The Symphony No. 10, his musical tribute to an admired colleague, Hermann Scherchen, who died after conducting a performance of Malipiero’s L’Orfeide, is named after the ancient Greek goddess who cuts short the thread of life.

Igor Markevitch’s extraordinary precocity as a composer is startlingly revealed in this seventh volume of his complete orchestral music. The energy, invention and sheer expressive élan of his Piano Concerto, written at the tender age of sixteen, mark it as a work of amazing maturity. Markevitch salvaged music originally commissioned for the Ballets Russes for Cantata by using it to set a new text by Jean Cocteau. Icare is likewise the reworking of another abandoned Ballets Russes project, L’envol d’Icare, which can be heard on Naxos 8572153.

Alexandre Tansman was a true citizen of the world whose music is being rediscovered and enjoyed today. Despite their apparent spontaneity, his 24 Intermezzi are highly sophisticated and personal tributes to Bach, Brahms, Bartók, Chopin, Prokofiev, Stravinsky and Szymanowski which range from tranquil lyricism to tragic gravity. His inventive Petite Suite and Ravel-like Valse-Impromptu are no less delightful. Élaine Reyes is a laureate of numerous competitions who teaches at the Paris Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique and at the Brussels Conservatoire.

The extraordinary importance of Moisey Samuilovich Weinberg’s 24 Preludes for solo cello, written for Rostropovich, lies beyond their superficial resemblance to Bach’s Well-tempered Clavier or the piano preludes of Chopin or Weinberg’s colleague Shostakovich. Instead, it resides in Weinberg’s remarkable ability to write for solo cello with almost limitless imagination using myriad musical styles and varied techniques. These fascinating qualities are also to be found in his more expansively lyrical Sonata, a masterfully written outpouring of deep emotions. Latvian-born cellist Yosif Feigelson has enjoyed a solo career spanning over three decades and champions neglected cello repertoire.

Regrettably, much of the prolific output of Charles Tournemire remains unknown and unpublished, his association with the organ overshadowing his chamber music, operas, oratorios and songs. Most of the latter are relatively early works and only two of those on this album have been published. Each demonstrates the composer’s great melodic gift, love of mystical harmonies and keen ear for ‘atmosphere’. Michael R. Bundy is an outstanding exponent of French mélodie whose book Prophets without Honour complements his Naxos recordings of the songs of Tournemire, Widor (8572345) and Vierne (8572346).

The essence of Ferruccio Busoni’s music lies in its synthesis of his Italian and German ancestry, emotion and intellect, imagination and rigour. This seventh volume in Naxos’s highly-praised series brings together several virtuosic operatic transcriptions, paraphrases and fantasies, as well as demanding studies and two piano sonatinas. ‘Wolf Harden demonstrates yet again that he has an affinity for the composer and the prestidigitatory prowess to realize it’ (Fanfare on Vol. 4, 8570543) ‘Wolf Harden is a stupendous pianist who can deliver what Busoni demands and then some’ (American Record Guide on Vol. 2, 8555699).

The Berlin-based Japanese composer Toshio Hosokawa conceives of music as ‘a calligraphy of space and time’ and regards the flute as the instrument that can most deeply realise his musical ideas, the performer’s breath embodying the living power of sound enhanced by the equally expressive silence which surrounds it. The accomplished Icelandic flautist Kolbeinn Bjarnason, who has also studied shakuhachi music, conveys the essence of Hosokawa’s ‘musical calligraphy’, shaping sound and silence into deeply spiritual soundscapes for solo flute and within haunting instrumental textures.

This fourth and final volume in Naxos’s critically acclaimed series of Portuguese composer Luis de Freitas Branco’s orchestral music juxtaposes his magnificent Symphonic Poem in the form of variations on an Oriental Theme, Vathek, with his final symphony, an appealing masterpiece that combines Neo-classical stylishness with late Romantic richness. Álvaro Cassuto, Portugal’s finest living conductor and an authority on the classical music of his country, is an ideal interpreter of this eminently satisfying yet unaccountably neglected repertoire.

Adriano Del Sal is one of the most significant young guitarists of recent years, whose extraordinary musical talent, profound artistic sensibility and total technical control make his performances truly unforgettable and have earned him no fewer than a dozen first prizes at national and international competitions. For his Naxos recital album he performs a wide-ranging selection of music by much-loved Spanish and Italian composers which showcases his affinity for the Romantic guitar repertoire.

‘The string quartet has always seemed to me to be the pinnacle of musical expression,’ remarks David L. Post, an American composer who makes ‘this modest ensemble sing in seemingly impossible ways’ (Fanfare). Whether inspired by the artistry of celebrated Massachusetts photographer Abelardo Morell (String Quartet No. 4) or Josef Suk’s beloved Meditation on the Old Czech Chorale Saint Wenceslas, Post’s music is notable for its approachability, clarity and immediately rewarding humanity. Since its inception in 1986 the Hawthorne String Quartet has performed extensively throughout Europe, South America, Japan and the USA.

Celebrated as one of the most successful and gifted composers of his day, Saint-Saëns wrote music for woodwind instruments throughout his long career. This recording presents music from his early days as the bright young thing on the Parisian music scene to the last year of his life. Canada’s renowned National Arts Centre Wind Quintet joins Stéphane Lemelin, a laureate of the Robert Casadesus International Competition, to interpret these assured and beautiful works which combine virtuosity, gentle wit and thoroughly French charm.

Arthur Honegger is best known for his large-scale oratorios and orchestral works. This disc of violin sonatas, however, reveals his mastery of intimate forms and unique ability to combine Germanic traditions with early 20th-century innovations. These exquisitely crafted works, alternately passionate and sober, forceful and nostalgic, display Honegger’s lyrical and virtuosic writing for his own instrument. Laurence Kayaleh plays a 1742 Guarnerius violin whose rich singing tone can also be enjoyed on her and Paul Stewart’s acclaimed Naxos recordings of Medtner’s music for violin and piano (8570298 & 8570299).

Susan Kagen is an eloquent advocate and sympathetic interpreter of Ferdinand Ries’s piano sonatas and sonatinas, on which she is an acknowledged authority. While clearly indebted to his teacher Beethoven, Ries was nonetheless praised by Schumann for his ‘remarkable originality’ and eagerly explored the expressive potential of the piano, often anticipating the achievements of Chopin or Schubert. ‘[Ries is] a composer whose music deserves to be heard.’ (Fanfare) Volumes 1-3 are also available (8570796, 8570743 & 8572204).

The Rutgers Wind Ensemble here presents four engaging works rich with cross-cultural allusions by leading American composers. John Mackey’s aptly named Strange Humors merges African hand-drumming, an Orientalist musical style and the big band sound into a sultry brew. Michael Daugherty’s virtuosic Raise the Roof for timpani and wind ensemble pays homage to the Empire State Building, while the clarinet concerto Brooklyn Bridge takes panoramic views across New York City. James Syler’s The Hound of Heaven charts the spiritual journey of a desperate soul who seeks and finds the balm of God’s grace.

Anthony Hope’s sequel to The Prisoner of Zenda offers a dramatic and action-packed conclusion to the long-running feud over the Ruriturian throne. The cast of The Prisoner of Zenda returns: the villainous Rupert of Hentzau, the king’s look-alike Rudolf Rassendyl and the beautiful Queen Flavia are all entangled in the plots and counter plots that abound in this fast-paced tale of intrigue. A classic of the adventure genre, Rupert of Hentzau transports us back to an age of chivalry where sword fights, dashing feats of heroism and death-defying exploits are commonplace.

Rider Haggard’s novel about a supremely beautiful but vindictive African goddess by the name of She is one of the best-selling books of all time. This wonderful multi-layered novel is at once a disarming imaginative fantasy, a fast-paced adventure story and a fascinating examination of the themes of death, sexuality and power. Cambridge professor Horace Holly and his ward Leo undertake a journey to the underbelly of Africa and discover a lost kingdom inhabited by a savage clan. They narrowly escape death and Holly is taken to meet the supernatural Queen, ‘She who must be obeyed’ who turns out to be half human and half mirage – a scintillating contradiction in terms. Lethal and yet irresistible, a youthful beauty and yet thousands of years old, all-powerful and yet, ultimately, fragile – the phenomenon that is She has obtained iconic status in popular culture.

The sheer ambition and scale of Roman philosopher Lucretius’ epic poem On the Nature of Things distinguishes it as belonging in a class of its own. It is on the one hand a sublime and powerful poem, and on the other an encyclopaedia of the world from an Ancient Roman perspective. Lucretius has a theory about everything from the origins of the universe to the occurrence of natural phenomena such as thunder and lightning. Lucretius was a bold and radical and freethinker within his own time, who questioned the sense and rationale of living life in fear of death and of upsetting the gods. His theories make for captivating listening.

Well-used technical exercises enable cellists to master great cello works. Yet many pieces still contain their own peculiar stumbling blocks and there are many obstacles that can only be overcome with a certain expertise. In her book and DVD project Using Technique and Imagination to achieve Artistic Expression, Quintessence in 3 parts, the famous cellist Maria Kliegel opens up a new avenue that is intended to help advanced cellists over these obstacles. Through her concert performances as well as in the recording studio and as a teacher, she has gathered considerable experience of specific aspects and pitfalls of the cello technique. Using numerous examples from the cello repertoire, the book is a distillation of her experience, while the 2 DVDs provide a demonstration of the cello techniques described in the book. She also plays and analyses the ‘infamous’ passages from the Cello Concertos by Haydn (D) and Schumann and from Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations. Frequent sources of errors are exposed, tricks shown, and various tips on how to get more out of practicing are given along with helpful interpretative suggestions.

‘She is talented not only in interpreting but also in analysis of the technical cello elements’.
– Mstislav Rostropovich