Strauss Symphonic Suites
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, JoAnn Falletta (conductor)
NAXOS | 8572041 | CD | 747313204175

Symphonic Fantasy from Die Frau ohne Schatten, Symphonic Fragment from Joseph's Legend, Symphonic Suite from Der Rosenkavalier

To give renewed life to two of his less well known scores, the fantasy opera Die Frau ohne Schatten and the biblical ballet Josephs-Legende, Richard Strauss created symphonic memoires which preserved both their storylines and musical highlights. Following the phenomenal success of his ‘comedy for music’ Der Rosenkavalier, Strauss prepared an orchestral suite based on the florid waltzes of his most famous opera. The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra under JoAnn Falletta has recorded several acclaimed discs for Naxos, including a double Grammy-winning CD of John Corigliano’s Mr Tambourine Man (8.559331).

Hubay Violin Concertos Nos 1-2
Chloe Hanslip, Bournemouth Symphony, Andrew Mogrelia (conductor)
NAXOS | 8572078 | CD | 747313207879

Lauded as ‘the most charismatic violinist the UK has produced in recent years’, Chloë Hanslip has delighted music lovers with her Naxos recordings of virtuosic 19th century music by Bazzini (8.570800) and Godard (8.570554), as well as the Violin Concerto by John Adams (8.559302). Hubay’s first two Violin Concertos not only make full use of the violin’s singing qualities, especially in the gorgeous slow movements, but require considerable virtuosity in performance. With their Hungarian folk-dance elements the Scènes de la Csárda are among Hubay’s most famous works.

Daugherty Metropolis Symphony, Deus ex Machina
Terrence Wilson (piano), Nashville Symphony, Giancarlo Guerrero (conductor)
NAXOS | 8559635 | CD | 636943963524

Inspired by the fiftieth anniversary of Superman’s first appearance in the comics, Metropolis Symphony has been performed by orchestras all over the world. Hailed by the London Times as a “Symphonie Fantastique for our times,” Metropolis Symphony is a musical response to the myth of Superman, expressing the energies, ambiguities, paradoxes, and wit of American popular culture. Deus ex Machina is a piano concerto inspired by trains of the future and past: Fast Forward re-creates the machine-like rhythms of modern trains admired by the Italian futurists; Train of Tears recalls Abraham Lincoln’s funeral train; Night Steam evokes O. Winston Link’s historic photographs of steam locomotives rumbling and whistling their way into extinction.

Balada The Death of Columbus
Garrison, Jenkins, Mueller, Okerlund, Martin, Lazich, Blackwell, Stater, Shackleton Williams, Members of the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic and Chorus, Page
NAXOS | 866019394 | CD2 | 730099019378

Composed as a sequel to Christopher Columbus, available on Naxos 8.660237-38, Leonardo Balada’s The Death of Columbus has been critically acclaimed as ‘uncommonly impressive and winning’. From its spectacular opening scene depicting the triumphant return of Columbus to Barcelona from his discovery of the New World, to the tormented delirium of the great explorer’s death-bed scene, The Death of Columbus is an intensely moving opera, filled with lyrical melodies and imaginative orchestration. This is a landmark addition to Naxos’s highly-praised series of Balada’s music.

Mendelssohn String Quartets Vol 2
New Zealand String Quartet
NAXOS | 8570002 | CD | 747313000272

The New Zealand String Quartet’s first Naxos recording of Mendelssohn’s string quartets (8.570001) was praised as ‘an auspicious start’ by Gramophone and ‘opulently recorded’ by Classic FM magazine. Its warmly affectionate accounts continue with this second of three volumes, including Mendelssohn’s posthumously published Capriccio and Fugue in E minor which display his polished mastery of counterpoint. The composer’s respect for Beethoven is evident in both the quartets on this disc, although in his marriage of Classical style and Romantic impulse, Mendelssohn’s vivacious brilliance and lyrical gifts are never overshadowed.

Haydn Masses Complete
Soloists, Trinity Choir, Rebel Baroque Orchestra, Jo Owen Burdick, Jane Glover
NAXOS | 8508009 | CD8 | 747313800933

St Nicholas Mass, Stabat Mater, Cecilia Mass, Nelson Mass, Paukenmesse, Missa Cellensis Mariazellermesse, Missa in Honorem Organ Mass, Heiligmesse, Missa Brevis, Harmoniemesse, Die Schopfung, Theresienmesse

Today Haydn is viewed mainly in the light of his string quartets and symphonies, yet his first and last compositions were Mass settings. They encompassed an extraordinary musical output, within which his Masses shine as uplifting and deeply satisfying sacred works. Whilst acknowledging the Viennese traditions of church music, these Masses are infused with the kind of inspiration and originality which make Haydn an undisputed master in so many genres. This collection by Trinity Choir includes all the complete and authenticated Masses by Haydn as well as his early Stabat Mater. 'A performance that goes straight to the top of the heap in terms of clarity, energy, musicality, and ensemble coordination' - Classics Today

Romantic Bliss
Capella Istropolitana, Silvia Capova, Budapest Schubert Ensemble, Various
NAXOS | 8578050 | CD | 747313805075

Faure Pelleas and Melisande, Chopin Berceuse in D Flat, Elgar Sospiri, Grieg Last Spring Op 34 No 2, Tchaikovsky Album For The Young 'Sweet Dreams', Dvorak Serenade for Strings in E Major Op 22 'larghetto'

Piano Bliss
Peter Nagy (piano)
NAXOS | 8578051 | CD | 747313805174

Elgar Salut d'Amour, Grieg Melancholie, Mendelssohn On Wings Of Song, Chopin Nocturne No 15 in F Minor Op 55 No 1, Tchaikovsky 6 Romances Op 6 No 6 'None but the Lonely', Rachmaninov Daisies Op 38, Vocalise Op 34

Violin Bliss
Takako Nishizaki, Ilya Kaler, Dong-Suk Kang, Janos Selmeczi, David Greed, (violins), Salzburg Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra, English Northern Philharmonia
NAXOS | 8578052 | CD | 747313805273

Kreisler Liebesleid, Mozart Cassation in G Major, Shostakovich Gadfly Suite Romance, Dvorak Romance in F Minor Op 11, Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending, Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E Minor Op 64 'Andante'

Classical Bliss
Kodaly Quartet, Jeno Jando, Jozsef Kiss (oboe), Milos Stevove (horn), Capella Istropolitana, Takako Nishizaki, Various
NAXOS | 8578053 | CD | 747313805372

Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven

Baroque Bliss
Capella Istropolitana, Takako Nishizaki, London Virtuosi, Accademia I Filarmonici, Raphael Wallfisch, Various
NAXOS | 8578054 | CD | 747313805471

Bach, Albinoni, Vivaldi, Handel, Telemann, Marcello

Gassmann Overtures
Eclipse Chamber Orchestra, Alimena
NAXOS | 8570421 | CD | 747313042173

If the career of the Bohemian composer Florian Leopold Gassmann (1729-1774) had not been cut cruelly short by his death resulting from a fall from a carriage, his name might be a good deal better known today for he was an accomplished composer of attractive, well-wrought operas that occupy an important place in the history of Venetian and Viennese 18th-century opera. This recording features a selection of Gassmann’s overtures, including those for three of his most popular operas, Il viaggiatore ridicolo (The Ridiculous Traveller), L’amore artigiano (Love in the Workplace) and La contessina (The Young Countess). Following the fast-slow-fast pattern typical of the mid-eighteenth century opera, these works are noteworthy for their bright cheerful themes, lovely lyrical writing and sensitive orchestration.

Taneyev Concert Suite
Ilya Kaler (violin), Russian Philharmonic Orchestra, Thomas Sanderling (conductor)
NAXOS | 8570527 | CD | 747313052776

John of Damascus Cantata

Inspired by a poem by Aleksey Tolstoy, Taneyev’s cantata John of Damascus was the first work that the self-critical Russian composer deemed worthy of an opus number, its sublime music drawing on an ancient sacred chant woven into rich passages of expressive counterpoint. A quarter of a century later, the virtuosic and scintillating Suite de concert, Taneyev’s first work for solo violin and orchestra, was also successfully premièred. Thomas Sanderling’s first disc in the Naxos Taneyev series (Symphonies Nos. 1 and 3 / 8.570336) was praised by The Guardian for its “strongly characterised performances”.

Schmidt Symphony No 2, Fuga Solemnis
Malmo Symphony Orchestra, Vassily Sinaisky, Anders Johnsson (organ)
NAXOS | 8570589 | CD | 747313058976

Following their recording of Franz Schmidt’s Symphony No. 1 and excerpts from his opera Notre Dame (8.570828), the Malmö Symphony Orchestra and Vassily Sinaisky here present Schmidt’s astonishing Second Symphony. The composer transformed his original conception of the work as a piano sonata based on a single theme into a kaleidoscopic essay for a large orchestra, rich with wind, brass and percussion instruments. The Fuga Solemnis for organ, brass and percussion is an enduring testament to Schmidt’s originality, inventiveness and mastery of counterpoint.

Meyer String Quartets Nos 5-6, 8
Wieniawski String Quartet
NAXOS | 8570776 | CD | 747313077670

The Wieniawski String Quartet makes its Naxos début with three important chamber compositions by its much-awarded compatriot Krzysztof Meyer, whose musical homeland is the chamber music of Viennese Classicism, enlivened with a dash of Bartok’s spicy musical accent. The composer describes his twelve string quartets as ‘sound-stories told with musical elements that the listener would care about, and not just a stream of acoustic stimuli’. High drama, playfulness, intense lyricism and narrative cohesion are the hallmarks of these splendid works.

Leclair Violin Sonatas Book 1 Nos 5-8
Adrian Butterfield (Baroque Violin), Alison McGillivray (viol da gamba), Laurence Cummings (harpsichord)
NAXOS | 8570889 | CD | 747313088973

Adrian Butterfield, Alison McGillivray and Laurence Cummings bring a wealth of expertise to their elegant interpretations of Leclair’s First Book of Violin Sonatas in which the French composer drew on Corelli’s path-breaking examples. While enlivening French chamber music with Italianate vivacity, Leclair also revels in the ornamentation, love of lyricism and touches of pastoral colour characteristic of his native land, while nodding here to the Scottish style of fiddling or there to the gentle sound of a shepherd’s bagpipe. Volume 1 (Sonatas Nos. 1-4) are available on Naxos 8.570888.

Spohr Double String Quartets Nos1-2
Forde Ensemble
NAXOS | 8570963 | CD | 747313096374

A champion of Haydn’s, Mozart’s and Beethoven’s chamber music, Louis Spohr also made a considerable contribution to this genre, composing 36 string quartets and four double quartets, these latter unique in the repertoire. Spohr harnessed the potential of eight string players, mainly deployed as two groups of four, to create attractive pieces rich in antiphonal interplay, brimming with engaging melodies and shimmering with a high polish. The first, from 1823, pays tribute to Spohr’s idol Mozart, while the second, from 1827, integrates the players into a more evenly balanced whole.

Liszt Complete Piano Music Vol 30
Gianluca Luisi (piano)
NAXOS | 8570984 | CD | 747313098477

Soirees Italiennes, 3 Paganini Etudes

Liszt made a large number of free arrangements, transcriptions and paraphrases of music by other composers, works that were a necessary part of his concert repertoire. His Soirées italiennes, Six amusements pour piano sur des motifs de Mercadante, dedicated to the Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria, née Royal Princess of Savoy, Carignano etc., Vice-Reine of the Realm of Lombardy-Venezia, written in 1838, are free piano arrangements of the work of the same name by Mercadante, his Serate italiane, a collection of eight ariettas and four duos for solo voices and piano, settings of verses by Jacopo Crescini, librettist of Mercadante’s opera I briganti, and Carlo Pepoli, librettist of Bellini’s I puritani. 'How inventively and powerfully he submerges the melodic blossoms of Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti and Mercadante in the billowing flow of his music so that they are clothed in ever new charms, now with the heavenly grace of Aphrodite, now with the teasing playfulness of sporting Naiads, now with the sublime gravity of the God that commands the sea!' – Carlo, Wiener Zeitschrift für Kunst, 7th December, 1839

Paisiello Piano Concertos Nos 1, 3, 5
Francesco Nicolosi (piano), Campania Chamber Orchestra, Luigi Piovano (conductor)
NAXOS | 8572065 | CD | 747313206575

With more than eighty operas to his credit, Paisiello rivaled Mozart for success in this competitive field, though his eight keyboard concertos fell short of Mozart’s output in numerical terms. They are, however, unfailingly delightful works whose charm and deftly balanced interplay between the solo instrument and orchestra are characteristic of Paisiello’s appealing style. Although the First Concerto was conceived for harpsichord and the Third and Fifth for fortepiano, each retains its transparent beauty when performed, as here, on a modern piano. The Second and Fourth Concertos are available on Naxos 8.557031.

Rueda Piano Music
Piano Sonatas Nos 1-2, 24, Interludes, Mephisto
Ananda Sukarlan (piano)
NAXOS | 8572075 | CD | 747313207572

With symphonies, string quartets, chamber concertos, an opera and a large amount of piano music to his name, Jesús Rueda is one of Spain’s foremost living composers. Drawing on intensive studies of Chopin, Liszt, Ravel and Prokofiev, his piano compositions run the gamut from dazzling pyrotechnical displays, as in Mephisto, modelled on Liszt’s famous first waltz, and the two Sonatas, the second of which is influenced by jazz and Balinese Kecak dance rhythms, to the ravishingly sensuous tonal palette of the 24 Interludes and the relatively simple yet attractive Inventions for children. This is music which is not only highly individual in its blending of ‘classical’ and contemporary elements but richly expressive and communicative.

Sinding Works for Violin and Piano Vol 1
Henning Kraggerud (violin), Christian Ihle Hadland (piano)
NAXOS | 8572254 | CD | 747313225477

Suite in an Old Style Op 10, Waltzes Op 59

Remembered today for his piano favourite The Rustle of Spring (Norwegian Classical Favourites 8.557017), Christian Sinding ranked second only to Grieg in his homeland and was honoured abroad, composing a wealth of immediately appealing and well-crafted Romantic music including the works for violin and piano on this disc. Playing a richly sonorous 1744 Guarneri del Gesù, violinist Henning Kraggerud (whose recording of violin concertos by Sibelius and Sinding on 8.557266 was acclaimed as ‘‘a masterly performance... warm and powerful, with a confident, wide vibrato and immaculate intonation’’ by Gramophone) joins Christian Ihle Hadland, one of Norway’s most exciting young piano talents.

Irina Kulikova Guitar Recital
Irina Kulikova (guitar)
NAXOS | 8572390 | CD | 747313239078

Ponce Guitar Sonata No 3, Sonatina Meridional, Tansman Variations on a Theme of Scriabin, Brouwer Variations on a Theme of Django Reinhardt, Jose Sonata

Winner of the 2008 Alessandria Competition and many other prestigious guitar competitions, and performing across Europe, in Russia and the USA, Irina Kulikova is a young rising star whose outstanding abilities have critics, leading guitarists and audiences taking notice. For her debut Naxos disc she presents a fascinating recital that embodies her belief that ‘There is no limit to the depths of music. There is no limit to the colours of a guitar. Open all senses and the whole of your person, and you’ll become one with music and audience’.

Verdi Macbeth
Altomare, Kudinov, Zhuravel, Pelizzari, Voleri, Coro Lirico Marchigiano V Bellini, Fondazione Orchestra Regionale delle Marche, Callegari
NAXOS | 866025960 | CD2 | 730099025973

Verdi was justifiably pleased with Macbeth, his tenth opera and his first on a Shakespearian subject – it would long remain his own favourite among his ‘early period’ operas. Eighteen years later, at the invitation of the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris, he substantially revised the score, and this is the version (sung in Italian) presented here. The talented young cast is headed by Giuseppe Altomare as Macbeth, one of Verdi’s most profoundly modern anti-heroes – a political animal driven to bloody regicide yet doomed by his very success – with Olha Zhuravel as his obsessively ambitious wife, driven to madness by her own guilt. “Daniele Callegari gives Verdi’s creation its full due, matching the differing styles of the later and earlier music to give a cohesive whole.” – Robert J Farr / MusicWeb International on Naxos 2.110258 (DVD)

The Coral Island (abridged)
R M Ballantyne (author), Wayne Forester (reader)
NAXOS AUDIOBOOKS | 394012 | CD3 | 9789626349403

The Coral Island (9789626349403) is the classic adventure story of three teenage boys stranded on a desert island after shipwreck. Seemingly idyllic island life soon comes to an end when pirates attack and a tribal war breaks out. The boys emerge wiser from their experiences, representing the flip side of the coin to the chaotic outcome of The Lord of the Flies.

Elidor (unabridged)
Alan Garner (author), Jonathan Keeble (reader)
NAXOS AUDIOBOOKS | 396912 | CD3 | 9789626349694

Elidor (9789626349694) by Alan Garner is heart-thudding adventure story for children. Roland and his friend are playing football in the derelict backstreets of Manchester when they discover the portal to a fantasy world. Dazzled and amazed, as the children step into the realm of Elidor, little do they know that it is riddled with troubles…

The History of English Poetry (unabridged)
Peter Whitfield (author), Derek Jacobi (reader)
NAXOS AUDIOBOOKS | 791512 | CD7 | 9789626349151

Poe The Raven, Donne The Flea, Milton Paradise Lost (extracts), Shakespeare The Tempest (extracts), Pope The Rape of the Lock, Shelley Ode to the West Wind, Tennyson In Memoriam, Rossetti Goblin Market, Hopkins Windhover, Betjeman Norfolk

The History of English Poetry (9789626349151) is a fascinating and authoritative guide to how our rich canon of poetry has evolved through the ages. It profiles all the prolific wordsmiths and major movements, and constructs an illuminating narrative, peppered with over 200 extracts. The legendary classical actor Derek Jacobi tells the story whilst Sean Barrett, Bertie Carvel and Anne-Marie Piazza recount the poetry extracts with majesty and feeling.

Wilde The Picture of Dorian Gray
Oscar Wilde (author), Greg Wise (reader)
NAXOS AUDIOBOOKS | 799112 | CD7 | 9789626349915

Dorian Gray, starring Colin Firth, comes to Australian cinemas soon, ensuring that there will be a surge of interest in this brilliant classic. The Picture of Dorian Gray (9789626349915). Dorian Gray tells the unnerving Faustian tale of a young man of luminous beauty, who pledges to preserve his attractive looks at any cost. Banished to the recesses of his house, a terrible portrait bears a record of a secret sinful life, tormenting Dorian to distraction. The popularity of Oscar Wilde’s only novel is astonishing and constantly provides inspiration for new revivals, films and adaptations.

Dickens Dombey and Son (abridged)
Charles Dickens (author), David Timson (reader)
NAXOS AUDIOBOOKS | 899012 | CD9 | 9789626349908

Dombey and Son (978962634908) joins Naxos's celebrated Dickens collection. Business-minded Dombey is obsessed with propagating an heir to ensure the future success of his firm, tyrannising over his wives and daughter in the process. Only when his business is threatened with ruin does his attitude start to change. This is a timely novel for our economically depressed times.

Italy, Switzerland A Musical Journey
Various
NAXOS DVD | 2110236 | DVD | 747313523658

Northern Italy has been ruled by various powers over the centuries. The Southern Tyrol, seen here, retains much of its Austrian past, with some regions predominantly German-speaking and others Italian. Scenes are shown of the Dolomites, the strangely shaped rock formations, a typical castle and mountain lakes. There are also views of the neighbouring Swiss-Italian canton of Ticino. Music for the tour is by Beethoven, with his Violin Concerto, written and first performed in Vienna, and one of his two Romances for solo violin and orchestra, independent pieces perhaps intended as slow movements for another concerto that was never completed.

France A Musical Journey Paris, Burgundy, Provence
Various
NAXOS DVD | 2110247 | DVD | 747313524754

This musical tour of France starts in Paris with scenes that reflect the modenisation of the city in the 19th century under Baron Haussmann. From Paris the tour passes to Burgundy, with its vineyards, to Provence, with its Fête des Gardiens in Arles and Roman aqueduct, thence to the Loire, with its great castles and country-houses. The tour ends with a visit to Brittany and Normandy, the northern coasts and the great monastery of Mont Saint-Michel. Music for the tour is taken from Fryderyk Chopin's two piano concertos. The son of a French émigré and a Polish mother, Chopin left his native Warsaw in 1830, settling in the following year in Paris, where he lived until his death in 1849. His piano concertos were written and first performed in Warsaw in 1830, and seemed a necessary part of his stock-in-trade for a planned career as a virtuoso. In the event Chopin found a more congenial role in Paris as a performer in private society salons and as a fashionable teacher.

Mascagni Amica
Anna Malavasi, David Sotgiu, Pierluigi Dilengite, Marcello Rosiello, Francesca di Giorgi, Orchestra Internazionale d'Italia, Slovak Chamber Choir, Manlio Benzi (conductor), Alessio Pizzech (director)
NAXOS DVD | 2110262 | DVD | 747313526253

Pietro Masgagni explored many different musical styles, from the verismo of his everpopular Cavalleria rusticana to the sentimental lyricism of Lodoletta. Amica was composed at breakneck speed, reaching completion only a month before its Monte Carlo première in 1905 conducted by the composer, and combined a return to ‘realism’ with a more sophisticated style of writing. Its extravagant scenic and vocal demands contributed to the opera’s neglect until recent times. Set in the Savoy mountains around 1900, Amica is a ‘dramatic poem in two acts’ involving two brothers, Giorgio and Rinaldo, whose love for the same woman, Amica, culminates in tragedy. While today numbering among his least performed works, Amica was initially a triumph, praised for its ‘passionate accent’ and ‘impulsive sincerity’ by a contemporary critic, and deemed ‘most worthy of re-evaluation’ according to the composer’s biographer Roger Flury.