NAXOS | 8559270 | CD | 636943927021
Ives Songs Vol 2
Various Performers
It's not widely known that songs comprised a significant part of Charles Ives' output: he wrote some 200 of them, and this new series from Naxos presents all those which he completed. There are examples for all voices - soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, baritone and bass - which are accompanied either by piano or organ. No fewer than 14 singers are featured on this fascinating new release. ALSO AVAILABLE: Vol 1 NAXOS 8559269

NAXOS | 8559354 | CD | 636943935422
Four American Quartets - Glass, Evans, Herrmann, Antheil
Fine Arts Quartet
This recording gathers four string quartets by widely divergent American composers who have made a distinctive contribution to this endlessly re-inventive genre. Ralph Evans is more familiar as a performer than composer. Finally completed in 1995, his First String Quartet is written with tuneful melodies, lively counterpoint and piquant harmonies. Philip Glass has completed five mature quartets, his Second Quartet deriving from a theatrical presentation of Samuel Beckett’s prose poem Company. The self-styled ‘bad boy of American music’, George Antheil, wrote three string quartets, the third of which is permeated by a folk-music ambience. Best remembered for his film scores, Bernard Herrmann had not released a concert work for 25 years when he wrote Echoes. Its title applies to the thematic connections unobtrusively linking the ten sections of this one-movement piece.

NAXOS | 8570067 | CD | 747313006779
Schubert Romantic Poets Vol 4
Florian Boesch (baritone), Burkhard Kehring, (piano)
The Naxos Deutsche Schubert-Lied-Edition continues. Schubert set the poetry of over 115 writers to music, selecting poems from classical Greece, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, from 18nth-century German authors, early Romantics, Biedermeier poets, and Heine. The Deutsche Schubert-Lied-Edition presents all Schubert’s Lieder, over 700 songs, grouped according to the poets who inspired him. Thanks to Baerenreiter’s Neue Schubert-Ausgabe (New Schubert Edition), Tubingen, which uses primary sources, the performers have been able to benefit from the most recent research of the editorial team. This disc is the fourth part of the Romantic Poets series. ALSO AVAILABLE: Vol 1 ( 8554797), Vol 2 (8557831) and Vol 3 (8557832).

NAXOS | 8570461 | CD | 747313046171
Ireland Piano Works Vol 3
John Lenehan (piano)
John Ireland’s piano music, some of the most appealing of the 20th Century, reflects the composer’s many interests: his love of literature, his interest in paganism and Celtic mysticism, as well as the bitter-sweet regret of the passing of love. This recording includes Ireland’s Piano Sonata, whose third movement is associated with Chanctonbury Ring on the Sussex South Downs, and the four Preludes, the third of which, The Holy Boy, written on Christmas Day 1913, is one of Ireland’s most popular and touching melodies.

NAXOS | 8570502 | CD | 747313050277
Sor Twelve Studies Op 6, Fantaisie Op 7, Six Divertimenti Op
Douze Etudes, Op 6, Fantaisie Op 7, Six Divertimenti Op 8, Introduction et Variations sur une Theme de Mozart Op 9
Goran Krivokapic (guitar)
Goran Krivokapi has won first prizes in 14 international guitar competitions and has been critically acclaimed for his 'great elegance and balance' (La Stampa), 'astounding virtuosic and interpretative artistic maturity' (Akustik Gitarre) and 'natural virtuosity, mature contemplation of music and high professionalism' (MobilArt). The Spanish-born guitarist and composer Fernando Sor was one of the great figures in the history of the instrument. His many brilliantly-crafted sets of studies contain some of the most popular works for guitar. The justly celebrated Twelve Studies Op 6, first published in England where the exiled Sor was both a fashionable teacher and a highly acclaimed performer, are notable for their fresh and distinctive ideas and skilful and varied harmony. Sor’s Introduction et Variations sur une Theme de Mozart, is a lively and virtuosic treatment of 'Das klinget so herrlich' from The Magic Flute.

NAXOS | 8570539 | CD | 747313053971
English Clarinet
Music by German, Bax, Roxburgh, Finzi, Hurlstone, Patterson, Lloyd Weber, Bliss
John Bradbury (clarinet), James Cryer (piano)
The clarinet is the most versatile of all wind instruments, able to express warmth, brilliance, passion and elegy. All facets of the clarinet are represented here, unified by the English school. Lloyd Webber's On Frensham Pond and his Air and Variations and Edward German's romance give us enchanting melodies; Hurlstone's Four Characteristic Pieces use drama and song; whereas Bliss writes a lamenting Pastorale. Bax and Finzi deliver masterworks, the Clarinet Sonata and Five Bagatelles Op 23, respectively, which now essential clarinet repertoire. Patterson and Roxburgh add fire and fantasy to this collection, with their Soliloquy Op 79 and Four Wordsworth Miniatures. John Bradbury is Principal Clarinet of BBC Philharmonic. James Cryer is an acclaimed British pianist and organist.

NAXOS | 8570570 | CD | 747313057078
Hungarian Music for Cello and Piano
Bartok First Rhapsody, Liszt Die Zelle in Nonnenwerth, Popper Mazurka Op 11 No 3, Serenade Op 54 No 2, Kodaly Adagio, Dohnanyi Ruralia Hungarica Op 32d, Sonata in B flat minor Op 8, Rosza Toccata capricciosa for solo cello Op 36
Mark Kosower (cello), Jee-Won Oh (piano)
This anthology of Hungarian music for cello and piano ranges widely from Liszt’s haunting The Nonnenwerth Cloisters and two salon pieces by the great 19th-century cello virtuoso Popper, to composers of the 20th century. Bartok’s First Rhapsody is an original folk-song arrangement intended to popularise the composer’s music as part of a lighter genre. Dohnanyi’s Sonata in B flat Op 8 for cello and piano is a formidable work in four movements written in the tradition of the great Romantic sonata. Rosza's Toccata capricciosa, a fantasy on Hungarian themes, is a virtuosic tour-de-force for solo cello.

NAXOS | 8570704 | CD | 747313070473
Alwyn Orchestral Music
Overture to a Masque (1940), Concerto Grosso No 1 (1943), Pastoral Fantasia (1939), Five Preludes (1927), Tragic Interlude (1936), Autumn Legend (1954), Suite of Scottish Dances (1946)
Philip Dukes (viola), Rachel Pankhurst (cor anglais), Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, David Lloyd-Jones (conductor)
William Alwyn composed some fifty works for the orchestra, including five symphonies, a sinfonietta, concertos for flute, oboe, violin, piano, harp, three concerti grossi, and many other descriptive shorter pieces. The seven works on this recording show Alwyn responding in his own individual way to the various challenges presented to him in writing for the orchestra, from the early Five Preludes, in which one can sense already his keen ear for orchestral colour, through to the self-assured scoring of his maturity in the evocative Autumn Legend.

NAXOS | 8570725 | CD | 747313072576
Music for Euphonium and Orchestra
Roggen Concerto in B flat Major, Mozart Bassoon Concerto K191 (arranged for euphonium; cadenzas by Dominique Roggen and Roland Froescher), Weber Concerto in F Major Op 75, Tchaikovsky Andante cantabile, Balissat Capriccio for euphonium and orchestra da ca
Roland Froscher (euphonium), Capella Istropolitana, Dominique Roggen (conductor)
Roland Froscher is a remarkable young musician who has already won several important awards and toured Europe, Canada and the USA. Hailed as a 'super talent' (Der Bund), he studied under Dominique Roggen whose Concerto he performs on this brilliant disc. The euphonium (whose name means 'beautiful sound') is said to have been invented in Weimar in 1843. In German and Russian military bands it came to replace the bassoon, suggesting that transcriptions of works for bassoon should make an interesting and useful addition to euphonium solo repertoire. This recording includes two original works for euphonium, and transcriptions of bassoon concertos by Mozart and Weber, with an effective transcription of Tchaikovsky’s Andante cantabile.

NAXOS | 8570736 | CD | 747313073672
Liszt Complete Piano Music Vol 29 - Symphonic Poems transcriptions
Les Preludes, Orpheus, Mazeppa, Die Ideale
Tami Kanazawa, Yuval Admony (pianos)
Tami Kanazawa and Yuval Admony are the first prizewinners of several international piano duo competitions. They have gained the highest critical praise around the globe for their 'heights of virtuosity and fantasy' (BNN Germany), 'Astonishing coordination and refined musical taste' (Jerusalem Post) and 'real artistic sentiment' (Odessa Reporter). Franz Liszt, who virtually invented the Romantic orchestral tone poem, also had a remarkable ability when transcribing for piano to capture the colourful tones of his orchestral originals. His highly expressive piano-duet transcriptions of four famous tone poems present, as it were, X-ray images that reveal the inner workings of his music to great effect.

NAXOS | 8570765 | CD | 747313076574
Freitas Branco Symphony No 1, Suite Allentejana Suite No 1
RTE National Symphony Orchestra, Alvaro Cassuto (conductor)
Luis de Freitas Branco was a pre-eminent figure in Portuguese music of the first half of the 20th Century. This first disc of a four-volume series of his orchestral works features the First Symphony, in which the influence of Cesar Franck, Brahms and French musical impressionism is assimilated into his own musical style. The Scherzo Fantastique is a short single movement work, brilliantly orchestrated yet extremely controlled in its use of the orchestral forces. The Suite Alentejana No 1 is based on the rich musical folklore of the Alentejo, a region of Portugal south of Lisbon where Freitas Branco spent many of his summers. This year the RTE National Symphony Orchestra celebrates its 60th anniversary.

NAXOS | 8570826 | CD | 747313082674
Dornel Six Suites en Trio
Musica Barocca
Little is known about the French composer Louis-Antoine Dornel, who occupied several posts in Paris as an organist and as maître de musique. The few works that survive from Dornel’s entire output testify to a seemingly talented and inventive composer eager to try the latest musical fashions. The Six Suittes en Trio (to use their idiosyncratic spelling) of 1709 consist of a number of dances all written in the same key and intended to be performed as a unit. The music is remarkably varied, from the majestic opening sections of the Ouvertures and the intensely expressive Preludes to the fast and light Rigodons. Musica Barocca comprises Lisete da Silva and Maria Martinez (voice flutes), Mauricio Buraglia (theorbo), Nicholas Stringfellow (viola da gamba) and Juan Estevez (harpsichord).

NAXOS | 8570878 | CD | 747313087877
Malipiero Sinfonia del Mare, Symphonies Nos 3, 4
Moscow Symphony Orchestra, Antonio de Almeida (conductor)
Gian Francesco Malipiero was one of the most original and inventive of the generation of Italian composers born around 1880. This first Naxos issue of the cycle of 11 numbered and 6 unnumbered symphonies features the early Sea Symphony and two of the very best, the Third and Fourth, written during World War II. Inspired by the tolling bells of St Mark’s Cathedral to signify the German invasion of Italy in 1943, the remarkable Symphony No 3 'delle campane' evokes, in the composer’s words, 'from the lagoons, Venice all vibrating with bells…[becoming] a huge musical instrument'. At the heart of Symphony No 4 'in memoriam' lies an eloquent slow movement, surely the most beautiful of any Malipiero symphony.

NAXOS | 8572039 | CD | 747313203970
Rendine Symphonies Nos 1, 2
Orquestra Nacional Classica d'Andorra, Marzio Conti (conductor)
Sergio Rendine ranks among the more important composers of our time, with commissions from leading musical institutions, including the Nobel Prize for Peace Presidency, and many awards, including the special critics prize of the Prix Italia. His Symphonies Nos 1 and 2 ‘Andorrana’ both owe their existence to the encouragement of conductor Marzio Conti who, as an admirer and frequent performer of the Italian composer’s music, persuaded him to broach this traditional orchestral form. The First Symphony was commissioned by the Orchestra Sinfonica di San Remo, while the Second Symphony was commissioned by the State Government of Andorra for ONCA, the National State Classical Orchestra, as a musical work representing the Principality’s natural environment, culture and traditions.

NAXOS | 857043133 | CD3 | 747313043170
Handel Semele
Elisabeth Scholl, Julla Schmidt, Ralf Popken, Junge Kantorei, Frankfurt Baroque Orchestra, Joachim Carlos Martini
Handel’s oratorio Semele was composed in 1743 and tells of a beautiful mortal (Semele), whose short but spectacular love affair with Jupiter, King of the Gods, comes to a terrifying end in consequence of both her own vanity and the scheming of Jupiter’s insanely jealous wife Juno. Written at the peak of Handel’s powers, it is crammed with his most sparkling and dramatic music: spectacular orchestral numbers and powerful choruses combine with heart-stopping arias, including the popular song Where're You Walk and the coloratura showpiece Myself I Shall Adore.

NAXOS | 857047071 | CD2 | 747313047079
Bach Music for Lute-Harpsichord
Suites in G minor BWV995, in E minor BWV996, in C minor BWV997, Prelude Fugue and Allegro in E flat major BWV998, Prelude in C minor BWV999, Fugue in G minor BWV1000, Suite in E major BWV 1006a, Sonata in D minor BWV 964, Sarabanda con partite BWV 990
Elizabeth Farr (lute-harpsichord)
JS Bach wrote music for the lute throughout his career. He had in his possession not only a lute but also two lute-harpsichords (Lautenwerke), gut-strung keyboard instruments allowing a fuller range of sound than the normal lute. For the present recording Elizabeth Farr plays a lute-harpsichord reconstructed by Keith Hill from Bach’s own specification for one of his two instruments. There are no known extant lute-harpsichords from the past, so making one is an especially individual proposition. A detailed description by Jacob Adlung in 1768 has been used as the starting point to build an instrument with a warm enveloping resonance that rings freely just like a lute.

NAXOS | 857209899 | CD2 | 747313209873
Best of London
CD1 Sullivan The Yeomen of the Guard Overture, Coates London Suite (London Everyday) No 1 Covent Garden & No 3 Knightsbridge, Wood London Cameos No 1 The City (Miniature Overture), No 2 St James's Park in Spring (Intermission), No 3 A State Ball at Buckin
Various Performers
Here's a rousing collection of music evoking Britain’s capital city in all its pomp and glory. CD 1 takes the listener on a nostalgic journey though British light music from Sullivan to Farnon, whilst CD 2 embraces traditional classical music from all eras.

NAXOS AUDIOBOOKS | 287512 | CD2 | 9789626348758
The School for Scandal
by Richard Brinsley Sheridan
read by Edith Evans, Cecil Parker, Harry Andrews and Cast
Here's one of the outstanding historic recordings from Naxos AudioBooks. Sheridan’s most famous play, The School for Scandal, has been called ‘the best existing English comedy of intrigue’. A favourite with audiences and critics alike since its premiere in 1777, this play is a classic English comedy of manners. Full of satirical wit, it subverts the Georgian social mores of its day with subtlety and charm. This historic recording features Edith Evans, Cecil Parker and Harry Andrews: some of the finest actors of their generation.

NAXOS AUDIOBOOKS | 287612 | CD2 | 9789626348765
The Playboy of the Western World
by John Millington Synge
read by Cyril Cusack, Siobhan McKenna and Cast
This is a classic recording. One of the best-known Irish playwrights, John Millington Synge premiered The Playboy of the Western World in 1907. It immediately provoked controversy, eventually resulting in the infamous ‘Playboy’ riots. It has been recorded and adapted many times, but this timeless recording stars the Irish actors who made it a classic, including Siobhan McKenna and Cyril Cusack.

NAXOS AUDIOBOOKS | 388212 | CD3 | 9789626348826
The Children of the New Forest
by Frederick Marryat
read by Glen McCready
The Children of the New Forest is Captain Marryat’s classic children’s adventure story. The four Beverley children find themselves orphaned when their father is killed by Cromwell’s army at the outset of the English Civil War. The book follows their experiences as they are forced to abandon their aristocratic title and go into hiding in the New Forest. Read superbly by Glen McCready, this new abridgement is aimed at 7-12 year olds. It is compelling listening for families, ideal holiday entertainment, and perfect for keeping children entertained on long car journeys!

NAXOS AUDIOBOOKS | 487812 | CD4 | 9789626348789
Rights of Man (abridged)
by Thomas Paine
read by David Rintoul
Written in 1791 as a response to Edmund Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France, Thomas Paine’s Rights of Man is a seminal work on human freedom and equality. Using the French Revolution and its ideals as an example, he demonstrates his belief that any government must put the inherent rights of its citizens above all else, especially politics. After its publication, Paine left England for France and was tried in his absence for libel against the crown. Authoritatively read by David Rintoul.

NAXOS AUDIOBOOKS | 687712 | CD6 | 9789626348772
Beyond Good and Evil
by Friedrich Nietzsche
read by Alex Jennings with Roy McMillan
Alex Jennings reads this new translation by Ian Johnston of one of Friedrich Nietzsche's pivotal texts. Continuing where Thus Spoke Zarathustra left off, Nietzsche’s controversial work Beyond Good and Evil is one of the most influential philosophical texts of the 19th Century and one of the most controversial works of ideology ever written. Attacking the notion of morality as nothing more than institutionalised weakness, Nietzsche criticises past philosophers for their unquestioning acceptance of moral precepts. Nietzsche tried to formulate what he called ‘the philosophy of the future’ and his influence, both for good and evil, particularly during the 20th Century, is inestimable. Companion to Naxos AudioBooks’ acclaimed Thus Spoke Zarathustra (432512), this is the only available recording on audiobook.

NAXOS AUDIOBOOKS | 691012 | CD6 | 9789626349106
The Lives of the Artists (abridged)
by Giogio Vasari
read by Neville Jason
An Italian Mannerist architect and painter, Giorgio Vasari was acquainted with many of the most famous artists of his day. He is best-known today for his biographies of artists including Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Titian and Giotto. This recording is read with clarity and authority by Neville Jason. Only audiobook version available.

NAXOS AUDIOBOOKS | 793212 | CD7 | 9789626349328
The Visible World
by Mark Slouka
read by Glen McCready
Mark Slouka's novel begins with a child of Czech immigrants, now living in New York, who has been brought up on the folklore of his parents’ homeland. As an adult he becomes aware that he has no knowledge of his parents during the Nazi occupation of Prague. He makes a journey back to Czechoslovakia, and it is only then that he discovers their part in the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, the notorious ‘butcher of Prague’, and begins to understand his mother Ivana's unhappiness. Intertwined with this gripping history is a passionate love story, the tragic consequences of which transcend both decades and continents. 'Slouka has been compared with Sebald, Ondaatje and Kundera - and not without reason.' (Sunday Telegraph) 'Exquisitely written... Slouka's rapturous intensity more than justifies comparisons with Ondaatje and Berger.' (The Independent)

NAXOS AUDIOBOOKS | 889912 | CD8 | 9789626348994
Little Dorrit (abridged)
by Charles Dickens
read by Anton Lesser
In Little Dorrit, Charles Dickens created one of his most penetrating satires on the weaknesses of government in the Victorian era. He chose Marshalsea debtors’ prison as the setting, where his own father had been imprisoned. The story revolves around a complex mystery involving conspiracy, debt and a disputed will that results in unexpected consequences for the main characters. Anton Lesser has received plaudits from critics for his recordings of Dickens for Naxos AudioBooks. This is the only audiobook recording available of Little Dorrit.