News from the Naxos Music Group
Label of the Month: Altissimo!
With the U.S. Independence Day just around the corner, our Label of the Month is Altissimo! Recordings, your ultimate source of America’s greatest military music. This month we feature the Patriotic Music Collection, which includes the most popular American patriotic tunes played by the country’s top bands and ensembles – perfect for your Fourth of July celebrations!
Since its inception in 1991, Altissimo! Recordings has been dedicated to the continuing production and distribution of the vast array of music from the wonderful musicians of the United States military bands, orchestras, ensembles and choruses. The Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines and the Navy are all richly represented here. Prior to the founding of Altissimo!, these phenomenal recordings were not available to the general public. Altissimo! has the greatest admiration and respect for the hundreds of men and women in uniform that comprise these unparalleled musical groups, and it is to these creative artists in the military that these exceptional recordings are dedicated.
Leopold Stokowski inducted in the 2017 Gramophone Hall of Fame
Renowned conductor and arranger Leopold Stokowski, most known for his work in Disney’s 1940 animated feature Fantasia, was one of the inductees in this year’s Gramophone Hall of Fame. Other inductees include tenor Jonas Kaufmann, sopranos Kirsten Flagstad and Victoria de los Ángeles, violinists Kyung Wha Chung, Gidon Kremer, Arthur Grimaux, Nathan Milstein and Fritz Kreisler, and conductor Fritz Reiner. In 2013 Naxos founder and chairman Klaus Heymann was also inducted in the Hall of Fame.
Last year Naxos released a special collection of Stokowski’s most popular arrangements for orchestra, including J.S. Bach’s Toccata and Fugue, Mussorgsky’s A Night on the Bare Mountain and Purcell’s Dido’s Lament, performed by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and conductor José Serebrier, who was once his associate:
“Stokowski’s arrangements added technicolour to music that was often pretty colourful already. The results – almost endearing in their unashamed excesses – are conveyed with some aplomb.” – BBC Music Magazine
“Musically satisfying choice, with superior recorded sound and some beautiful playing.” – Gramophone
“Conductor José Serebrier has a unique perspective on the famous transcriptions of the legendary Leopold Stokowski” – KDFC Radio
“Serebrier plays them just about as well as Stokowski did. Fine engineering rounds off a collection that makes a logical choice if you’re looking for a single disc ‘best of Stokowski’ sampler.” – ClassicsToday.com
OTHER STOKOWSKI RECORDINGS BY BOURNEMOUTH SYMPHONY AND JOSÉ SEREBRIER
You can see the complete list Gramophone Hall of Fame inductees here.
All new app for Naxos Spoken Word Library!
Thousands of hours of audiobook entertainment in the palm of your hand and more content added monthly! The all-new NSWL App has a new homepage that greets you with featured collections, award-winning selections plus new titles, providing you quick access to your list of entertainment. Moreover, a history of played audiobooks is now stored, and can be accessed via the new Recently Played page.
New features include:
- Better bookmark organisation.
- Resume play from last played track.
- Recent search history and search suggestions.
- Listening offline.
- Access and stream all your bookmarks.
- Create and delete bookmarks from within the app.
- Ability to edit username and password from within the app.
- Contact NSWL support from within the app.
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New Fine Arts Quartet recording of Ignaz Lachner’s transcriptions of Mozart Piano Concertos
The Fine Arts Quartet, joined by pianist Alon Goldstein and string bassist Alexander Bickard, gathered together last month in New York City at the Academy of Arts and Letters to record Ignaz Lachner’s transcriptions of Mozart’s Piano Concertos Nos. 23 and 24 for piano and string quintet. Produced and engineered by GRAMMY® Award winner Steven Epstein, this disc is the follow-up album to their recording of Lachner’s transcriptions of Piano Concertos Nos. 20 and 21 by Mozart, and is scheduled for release in 2018.
In the first instalment in the series, BBC Music Magazine gave the recording four stars and praised the “Finely shaded contributions from the strings”.
Founded in 1946 in Chicago, the Fine Arts Quartet celebrates their 71st anniversary this year, and remains one the most highly respected chamber ensembles in the world. Current members in the Quartet include violinists Ralph Evans and Efim Bolco, violist Juan-Miguel Hernandez, and cellist Robert Cohen. http://fineartsquartet.com/
OTHER RECORDINGS FROM THE FINE ARTS QUARTET
– Fanfare
– BBC Music Magazine ★★★★★
– Gramophone
– Winnipeg Free Press ★★★★
Harriet Krijgh and Magda Amara Musikverein Recital
Cellist Harriet Krijgh and pianist Magda Amara gave a recital at Vienna’s Musikverein on June 7, performing Schumann’s Three Romances, Op. 94, and sonatas for cello and piano by Chopin and Rachmaninov.
Krijgh and Amara have two recordings under the Capriccio label:
– American Record Guide
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– Gramophone
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Nørgård takes flight
Passengers aboard Colombian airline Avianca are in for a musical treat, and can listen to the world première recording of Per Nørgård’s first Piano Sonata, written when he was just 17 years old.
The piece is one of several works by Nørgård, whose piano works appear alongside those of fellow Danish composers Lars Bisgaard and Finn Lykkebo in this album of contemporary Danish piano music on the Grand Piano label. Swedish pianist Carl Petersson’s recording of these pieces earned six stars from Piano News magazine, which described the CD as “an exciting and brilliantly played recording with a programme that leaves us curious to hear more of such music from Denmark.”
Per Nørgård’s Piano Sonata
Finn Lykkebo’s Tableaux
Lars Bisgaard’s Stadier, Op. 1
Check out other notable placements on www.naxoslicensing.com.
‘A Beethoven Feast’ with the Royal Northern Sinfonia and Lars Vogt
On June 10 the Royal Northern Sinfonia (RNS) and their current Music Director, pianist Lars Vogt, presented ‘A Beethoven Feast’ featuring the same programme as at the 1808 première of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4. On that occasion, the concerto was performed alongside Beethoven's Symphonies Nos. 5 and 6, plus the Choral Fantasy, Op. 80. The concert capped RNS’ project of performing all of Beethoven’s five piano concertos with Vogt in the 2016-17 season.
In May Ondine released the first volume of their new Beethoven Piano Concertos cycle with Vogt and the RNS, performing Concertos Nos. 1 and 5:
“When Lars Vogt’s recordings of Beethoven’s First and Second Piano Concertos with Simon Rattle and the CBSO were released in 1997, I thought them among the finest accounts of the works I had encountered. Happily, the newer performance, which Vogt directs from the keyboard, is every bit as good.”
– Gramophone
“Fresh, spontaneous, free of pathos, yet very soulful performances for which Lars Vogt has thoughtfully developed his very own ideas. The pianist-conductor and the orchestra form one harmonious unit.” – Pizzicato
“Conducting the Royal Northern Sinfonia from the keyboard, Vogt shows the brilliance and the beauty of these two majestic works of the classic piano concerto literature.” – Classic FM
Around the world with Naxos ‘Musical Journeys’ series
It’s summer! Travel to famous locations around the globe and follow the great composers’ footsteps from your armchair. The Naxos Musical Journeys series offers sight-seeing expeditions accompanied by classical music skillfully chosen and synchronised with the footage, making each journey a pleasure for the eyes and ears.
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A Verdi Trilogy from Dynamic
Dynamic presents three Verdi operas recorded at three major Italian opera festivals – Otello at the Sferisterio Opera Festival; Don Carlo at the Festival Verdi Parma; and Il Trovatore at the Macerata Opera Festival. These captivating performances feature acclaimed opera artists, including soprano Anna Pirozzi, tenor Stuart Neill, bass Michele Pertusi, and conductors Riccardo Frizza and Daniel Oren, with directors Paco Azorín, Cesare Lievi and Francisco Negrin.
![VERDI, G.: Otello [Opera]](images/DYN-37767_DYN-57767.gif "VERDI, G.: Otello [Opera]")
![VERDI, G.: Don Carlo [Opera]](images/CDS7776-03_DYN-37776_DYN-57776.gif "VERDI, G.: Don Carlo [Opera]")
![VERDI, G.: Trovatore (Il) [Opera]](images/CDS7769-02_DYN-37769_DYN-57769.gif "VERDI, G.: Trovatore (Il) [Opera]")
DYN-37769 [DVD]
DYN-57769 [Blu-ray]
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The Bad Boy of Music – George Antheil’s A Jazz Symphony, Piano Concerto No. 1
George Antheil’s works for the concert hall have mostly fallen into obscurity, so this release will play an important role in informing and entertaining any listeners willing to step out of the box to experience a selection of jazz-influenced orchestral pieces by this so-called Bad Boy of Music (the enfant terrible label was earned following a riot during his Paris piano recital debut in 1923). The Jazz Symphony premiered in 1927 and is heard here in its original version. It calls for large orchestral resources to colour its melee of dance tunes and disorienting changes of metre. The Piano Concerto No. 1 (1922) may have stylistic allusions to other composers, not least Stravinsky, but it’s an imaginative work with lively repartee between soloist and orchestra.
Karl-Heinz Steffens
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Frank Dupree
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Watch | Frank Dupree and Karl-Heinz Steffens talk about the recording
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OTHER RELEASES FROM CAPRICCIO’S ModernTimes COLLECTION
Featured Playlists – Classical Music for your summer activities
June is one of the most active months of the year! There's plenty to be getting on with, while the sun rouses itself in preparation for the high heat of summer. From music for the wedding season, to summer’s big blockbuster films and classical guitar music to accompany a dinner al fresco, Naxos has a wide variety of classical music to provide the soundtrack for all your daily events and adventures. Tune in now, and save these great playlists to your library for year-round enjoyment.
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Artist of the Month – The United States Air Force Band
The United States Air Force Band is the Air Force’s premier musical organisation. Using music to bridge language, cultural, societal and socio-economic differences, the Band’s performances advance international relationships and inspire positive and long-lasting impressions of the U.S. Air Force and the United States of America.
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