News from the Naxos Music Group
January 2018
Label of the Month – Dynamic
A leading Italian opera and classical music label
Dynamic’s General Manager
Established in 1978 and celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, Dynamic is an independent record label with offices in Villa Quartara, located on the quiet Righi hill overlooking Genoa.
Its production schedule embraces the entire field of classical music, but focuses chiefly on the immense heritage of Italian and European music of the 18th and 19th centuries, especially opera and works for violin. Dynamic also specialises in world première recordings, and works that stand outside the traditional repertoire.
Known all over the world as the first record label to have reappraised Nicolò Paganini, Dynamic has extended its range of interest over the last few years to the field of opera through highly fruitful partnerships with Italian festivals and opera houses; in doing so, it has produced recordings of lesser-known titles by Verdi, Donizetti, Pacini, Massenet, Meyerbeer and Tchaikovsky. Outstanding productions in this field include recordings of operas staged at the famous La Fenice theatre in Venice, at the Valle d’Itria Festival in Martina Franca, and at the Teatro Lirico in Cagliari. Its catalogue boasts over 700 titles, with some 30 new titles being added every year.
Many artists of international standing have recorded on the Dynamic label: Massimo Quarta, Salvatore Accardo, Felix Ayo, Stefan Milenkovich, Ruggiero Ricci, Bruno Canino, Rocco Filippini, Ovidiu Badila, Mirella Freni, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Placido Domingo, Renato Bruson, William Matteuzzi, Iano Tamar, Patrizia Ciofi, Annick Massis, Veronique Gens, Dimitra Theodossiou, Joseph Calleja, Georges Prêtre, Renato Palumbo, José Cura, Leo Nucci, Marcello Viotti and Franco Mezzena.
Dynamic is today's leading Italian record label for classical music and has also become one of the foremost European producers of operatic DVDs.
RECENT AND UPCOMING RELEASES
![GIORDANO, U.: Fedora [Opera]](images/CDS7772-DYN37772-DYN57772.gif "GIORDANO, U.: Fedora [Opera]")
![MEYERBEER, G.: Margherita d'Anjou [Opera]](https://www.naxos.com/sharedfiles/images/cds/others/CDS7802.02.gif "MEYERBEER, G.: Margherita d'Anjou [Opera]")
Paganini has a special significance for Dynamic as the composer of the its very first recording, which was issued on vinyl. To mark the label’s 40th anniversary, a special, limited edition, 40-CD Paganini boxed set will be released this summer. Follow Dynamic’s Facebook for the latest news!
RECOMMENDED RECORDINGS OF WORKS BY PAGANINI
Boris Giltburg’s album selected as Gramophone's Top 10 piano concertos and Rachmaninov recordings
The latest Rachmaninov recording performed by Boris Giltburg has been selected as one of the ‘Top 10 Piano Concertos’ and ‘Top 10 Rachmaninov recordings’ by Gramophone. Make sure to add this album to your music library! Another new Rachmaninov album by Boris Giltburg will be released in May 2018, featuring Piano Concerto No. 3 and Variations on a theme by Corelli.
“One imagines that Giltburg must be thoroughly conversant with Rachmaninov’s recorded legacy but his readings are far from simulacra. Rather than imitating Rachmaninov, Giltburg seems to imbibe the composer’s spirit. Doing so, he provides the best testimony I know that Rachmaninov’s 116-year-old signature concerto still has a long, healthy life ahead of it...”
– Gramophone. Read complete review on Gramophone
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Boris Giltburg also performed Rachmaninov's complete 24 Preludes at the Tokyo Spring Festival. Here’s an excerpt of his performance. Enjoy!
In addition, Gramophone selected Gabriel Schwabe's new album of Saint-Saens' works for cello and orchestra as one of the top new classical albums this month.
For more details, visit this website.
Bernstein's centenary celebration - Marin Alsop's complete Bernstein recordings on Naxos
Leonard Bernstein was without question the greatest musician America ever produced. As an inspirational teacher and renowned conductor he was the nation’s musical ambassador to the world, and his work as a composer bridged gaps and broke down barriers, reaching audiences way beyond the normal boundaries of classical music. This celebration of Bernstein’s centenary brings together all the acclaimed Naxos recordings of his music conducted by his protégée Marin Alsop. Additionally, there are new and world premiere recordings, and an insightful documentary DVD in which colleagues and family sum up this boundlessly brilliant and charismatic musical giant of the 20th century.
“Leonard Bernstein was my hero as a child and my mentor as an adult. Like the man himself, his music transcends barriers and breaks boundaries, reminding us of music’s incredible power to speak directly to our souls. Fun, glorious, intense, outrageous, comforting, confrontational, profound … This is the Leonard Bernstein I knew and loved.” – Marin Alsop
What’s in the boxed set
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NEW RECORDINGS include:
Mambo from West Side Story • Slava! A Political Overture • Suite for Orchestra from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue •
CBS Music* • Times Square Ballet from On the Town •
A Bernstein Birthday Bouquet* • Ouverture to Candide • Fancy Free • Anniversaries for Orchestra* •
Overture to Wonderful Town
* World Premiere Recording
This fascinating documentary shows why Bernstein was one of the most influential classical musicians of the last century. The film includes interviews with Leonard Bernstein’s children as well as colleagues and artistic collaborators such as Gustavo Dudamel, Stephen Sondheim, Kent Nagano, Marin Alsop, and many others.
Naxos Music Group among ICMA 2018 winners
Two Naxos Music Group labels were among the recipients of this year’s International Classical Music Awards (ICMA), announced on January 18. These are the preeminent awards for classical music on an international level, with a jury consisting of professional music critics of some of the most important magazines, online services and radio stations. The jurors selected their favourites from 357 nominated audio and video releases.
The award in the Symphonic Music category went to Capriccio's recording of Bohuslav Martinů's symphonies (C5320), performed by the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Cornelius Meister.
The Assorted Programmes section saw Ondine taking the award with a Sibelius programme performed by mezzo-soprano Anne-Sofie von Otter and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Hannu Lintu (ODE1289-5).
Accentus, one of Naxos' distributed labels, won the Best Collection award (ACC-80322) for their edition of the complete Beethoven symphonies, with soloists, choirs and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig conducted by Herbert Blomsted.
- Puccini’s complete songs for soprano and piano, performed by Krassimira Stoyanova with accompanist Maria Prinz (8.573501) [Vocal Recital]
- Rossini’s Adelaide di Borgogna (8.660401-02) [Opera]
- Tomás Cotik’s fresh adaptations of Piazzolla’s richest and most exciting compositions (8.573789) [Chamber Music]
- Romain Descharmes’ performance of Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 3 (8.573477) [Concertos]
- Leonard Slatkin’s recording of Copland’s iconic Symphony No. 3 with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (8.559844) [Symphonic Music]
- The National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic's recording of Randall Thompson’s Second Symphony, Samuel Adams’ Drift and Providence and Samuel Barber’s First Symphony. (8.559822) [Symphonic Music]
- Kiev Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra’s programme of works by Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov, conducted by Dmitry Yablonsky and featuring pianist Iryna Starodub. (8.573598) [Contemporary]
- Boris Giltburg’s performance of Shostakovich’s two piano concertos and his own arrangement for piano of Shostakovich’s powerful String Quartet No. 8. (8.573666) [Assorted Programmes]
- Recording of two works by Lou Harrison, featuring violinist Tim Fain, plus Double Music which Harrison co-composed with his friend John Cage. (8.559825) [Assorted Programmes]
![ROSSINI, G.: Adelaide di Borgogna [Opera]](https://www.naxos.com/sharedfiles/images/cds/others/8.660401-02.gif "ROSSINI, G.: Adelaide di Borgogna [Opera]")
Naxos' affiliated labels together received a further 17 nominations. Click here to find more details.
Jury President Remy Franck said: “Running now for eight years, ICMA has become a huge annual celebration and a widely respected benchmark of musical excellence…”
The winners will receive their ICMA trophies on 6 April during the annual awards ceremony in Katowice, Poland, at the magnificent concert hall of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra. The gala concert will be conducted by Alexander Liebreich.
Valery Gergiev and the Munich Philharmonic at the BBC Proms
Valery Gergiev, fresh from his appointment as chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra in 2015, took his new ensemble to the BBC Proms for a concert of utmost drama and vivid musicianship. On this recording of that occasion, the brilliant young Uzbek pianist Behzod Abduraimov performs Rachmaninov’s thrillingly virtuosic Piano Concerto No. 3, while the Russian stage and film actor Alexei Petrenko recites the text in Galina Ustvolskaya’s resonant and profound Symphony No. 3 ‘Jesus Messiah, Save Us!’. The programme also features a hypnotic performance of Ravel's Boléro, an alternately tender, florid and witty Rosenkavalier Suite, and the rousing Hungarian March by Berlioz.
MORE NAXOS AUDIO VISUAL COLLECTION
![AMAR, A.: Pixel [Contemporary Dance]](images/2.110386-NBD0060.gif "AMAR, A.: Pixel [Contemporary Dance]")
![AMAR, A.: Pixel [Contemporary Dance]](images/2.110385-NBD0059.gif "AMAR, A.: Pixel [Contemporary Dance]")
![AMAR, A.: Pixel [Contemporary Dance]](images/2.110271-NBD0006.gif "AMAR, A.: Pixel [Contemporary Dance]")
Netflix’s documentary – Jim & Andy
The Naxos team is proud to be part of the new Netflix documentary Jim and Andy, which gives a behind-the-scenes look at the time Jim Carrey spent portraying comedian Andy Kauffman on the set of Man on the Moon. Jim Carrey's uncanny portrayal earned him a Golden Globe for Best Actor in 2000. Keep an ear out for Handel’s Hallelujah and Jingle Bells and check out the trailer below.
For more information about the latest projects from Naxos Licensing, visit www.naxoslicensing.com.
Gottfried von Einem’s 100th Anniversary
Orfeo is releasing two new albums to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Gottfried von Einem, on January 24th. The releases include new recordings of his works, and a retrospective of von Einem’s output featuring some of today's finest performers, including Ildikó Raimondi, Iveta Apkalna, Gábor Boldoczki and Franz Welser-Möst. A further album features Einem’s opera Der Besuch der Alten Dame (The Visit of the Old Lady), recorded live at the Vienna State Opera in 1971.
Born in Bern in 1918, Gottfried von Einem began his composition studies in 1941 with Boris Blacher; their teacher-pupil relationship developed into a long friendship. Einem made his international breakthrough as a composer with the 1947 premiere of his opera Dantons Tod (Danton’s Death) at the Salzburg Festival. The composer increasingly gained global prominence as his works were premiered at venues in Europe, North America and Japan.
His output of 111 numbered works covers all musical genres. Initially a composer of large-scale works, much of his later repertoire comprises chamber music and works for solo instruments.
MORE ORFEO RECORDINGS FEATURING WORKS BY VON EINEM
![EINEM, G. von: Dantons Tod [Opera]](https://www.naxos.com/sharedfiles/images/cds/others/C102842H.gif "EINEM, G. von: Dantons Tod [Opera]")
Visit Orfeo's website to view the full back catalogue list of von Einem
Jaap van Zweden’s Grand Finale of Wagner’s Ring Cycle
The final opera of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen – Götterdämmerung – with Jaap van Zweden conducting the Hong Kong Philharmonic, came to a stunning end with two tenthusiastically-received performances on January 18th and 21st. Van Zweden and the Hong Kong Phil, joined by a cast of world-renowned Wagnerian singers including Gun-Brit Barkmin, Daniel Brenna, Eric Halfvarson, Amanda Majeski, Michelle DeYoung, ShenYang, Peter Kálmán, as well as the outstanding Bamberg Symphony Chorus, State Choir Latvija and Hong Kong Philharmonic Chorus, received a standing ovation and roaring applause at the end of each concert, proof of the audience’s enjoyment and appreciation.
Like the earlier Ring operas, which have been huge successes with audiences and critics alike, Götterdämmerung was recorded live for release on Naxos. Keep an eye out for the release later this year in November!
Initial Concert Reviews for Götterdämmerung
“…a phenomenal success… As Wagner’s story completed a full circle with the restoration of the ring to the Rhinemaidens, Jaap van Zweden blazed a trail for the Hong Kong Philharmonic to join the international big league.”
– Bachtrack
“German soprano Gun-Brit Barkmin… delivered a dignified, fierce Brünnhilde you wouldn’t want to mess with.”
– Limelight Magazine
“…a muscular effort…”
– South China Morning Post
Previous Releases in the Naxos Ring Cycle
![WAGNER, R.: Rheingold (Das) [Opera]](https://www.naxos.com/ECard/NMG/201711/images/8.660374-75-NBD0049.png "WAGNER, R.: Rheingold (Das) [Opera]")
“Van Zweden conducts with an easy sweep that would carry one along in the opera house, drawing some splendid sound from the orchestra”
– BBC Music Magazine
“Adroit and versatile performance of baritone Matthias Goerne, with Peter Sidhom’s colorful Alberich a close second. The other positions are ably-filled, noticeably the Fricka of Michelle DeYoung”
– Audiophile Audition ★★★★
“The most remarkable element of the performances was the high standard of the orchestral playing, astonishing for a band that had never tackled Wagner’s dramas in sound before.”
– The Sunday Times
“The orchestra plays wonderfully for the most part; textures are translucent; brass ring out; lower strings offer danger and sadness. The word I’d have to use for this performance would be, “beautiful”.
– ClassicsToday.com
![WAGNER, R.: Siegfried [Opera]](https://www.naxos.com/ECard/NMG/201711/images/8660413-16-NBD0069A.png "WAGNER, R.: Siegfried [Opera]")
“There’s never a shortage of lustre or refinement—the flood of tone at the opening of the third-act duet between Brünnhilde and Siegfried is thrilling evidence of that—while Van Zweden’s mastery of the huge dramatic arcs in all three acts of Siegfried never falters.”
– The Guardian ★★★★
“Naxos’s engineers continue to gain a mastery of Wagner’s orchestra/cast balance in the city’s Cultural Centre Concert Hall. They are matched by van Zweden and his players’ developing familiarity with Wagner’s sound world.”
–Gramophone
Featured Digital Platform: Naxos Web Radio
Naxos Web Radio is a premier streaming service from Naxos, offering over 80 channels of quality music in pre-programmed playlists. The channels cover a range of genres, from Classical Music to Jazz/Blues, from World/Folk to New Age. Its categories run the gamut from Early Music to 21st- Century Classics, American Classics to Chinese Classics, Film/TV Music to Wedding Music, and much more – all streamed directly to you 24 hours a day, commercial-free.
Each channel offers a specific style/category of music streamed in 48 kbps (AAC) audio quality. This is updated frequently with the current day's programme shown in the respective Channel Guide, including details of each track played and the album it appears in, enabling listeners to explore further the music they have heard.
Click here for a 15 minute preview to browse and listen.
An intimate sound – viola sonatas by Onslow, Mendelssohn, Kalliwoda
Hiyoli Togawa is a Japanese-Australian violist who won the 48th International Viola Competition in Markneukirchen in 2013 and was awarded the 2nd prize of the International Johannes Brahms Competition in 2014.
The three works featured on her new album illustrate the instrument’s wide representation in chamber music of the 19th century. Concluding with a striking series of free variations, Mendelssohn’s Viola Sonata in C minor is notable for its combination of dignified melancholy, exuberance and lightness of texture. Prague-born Johann Wenzel Kalliwoda’s Six Nocturnes, Op. 186 exemplify the beautifully crafted poetic and lyrical features for which he was so admired, while George Onslow’s Viola Sonata, arranged from the cello original, is exceptionally elegant and virtuosic.
Hiyoli talks about her affinity for the viola, her collaboration with pianist Lilit Grigoryan and more about this recording in the video interview (in German with English subtitles).
Music to start the New Year
It's been a few weeks since the new year, but still early enough for those resolutions to stick! Here's a selection of playlists to help you welcome 2018 and make it the best year yet! We've carefully curated these collections to accompany you as you encounter all that the month of January brings to your daily life. Whether it's embracing a new (perhaps cold and snowy) season, pushing through your new-year-resolution workout, or making an effort to be especially aware and present in life's moments and in your thoughts and feelings, this music can be a source of inspiration and encouragement. Remember to follow these playlists and add them to your library, so you can listen and enjoy throughout the year. And good luck with those New Year Resolutions!
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Artist of the Month – Federico Maria Sardelli
Born in 1963, Federico Maria Sardelli is an Italian conductor, historicist composer, musicologist, flautist, comics illustrator and satirist. In 1987 he founded the baroque orchestra Modo Antiquo. The orchestra made its debut with the first performance in modern times of Jean-Baptiste Lully's Ballet des Saisons.
He is the main conductor of the Accademia Barocca di Santa Cecilia (Rome) and guest conductor of the Orchestra Filarmonica di Torino, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Staatskapelle Halle, Kammerakademie Potsdam and Moscow State Chamber Orchestra, among others.
Sardelli has recorded more than forty albums as soloist and conductor, including Vivaldi’s Il Farnace, Donizetti’s Olivo e Pasquale and Cavalli's Il Giasone for the Dynamic label.
A notable protagonist of the renaissance of interest in Vivaldi, he performed, recorded and edited a large number of Vivaldi works, often in world premiere performances (Arsilda regina di Ponto, Orlando Furioso, Tito Manlio, Motezuma, L'Atenaide, il Farnace, etc.). He has twice been nominated for a Grammy Award (in 1997 and 2000) and in 2009 the Government of Tuscany awarded Sardelli the Gonfalone d'Argento, the highest medal of honour of the Regione Toscana.
In addition to his musical activities, Sardelli is also a painter, engraver and satirical writer.
Stay tuned for the new album with Sardelli, featuring Vivaldi's violin concertos “La Stravaganza”, which will be released in June.
RECORDINGS FEATURING FEDERICO MARIA SARDELLI
![CAVALLI, F.: Giasone (Il) [Opera]](images/CDS663-DYN33663-DYN55663.gif "CAVALLI, F.: Giasone (Il) [Opera]")
![VIVALDI, A.: Farnace [Opera]](images/CDS7670-DYN37670-DYN57670.gif "VIVALDI, A.: Farnace [Opera]")
![DONIZETTI, G.: Olivo e Pasquale [Opera]](images/CDS7758.02-DYN37758-DYN57758.gif "DONIZETTI, G.: Olivo e Pasquale [Opera]")
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