NEWS FROM THE NAXOS MUSIC GROUP
May 2022
OehmsClassics Celebrates 20th Anniversary
OehmsClassics, the independent German record label, was founded in 2002 by Dieter Oehms. Part of the Naxos Music Group since 2018, the label focuses on productions from opera houses such as the Frankfurt Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin and Aalto Theater Essen. Among the label’s extensive roster of well-known artists are Stanisław Skrowaczewski, Dmitrij Kitajenko, Simone Young, Sebastian Weigle, Ivor Bolton, Markus Stenz and Bertrand de Billy. Identifying promising young artists and helping them develop their careers was at the core of the label’s philosophy when it was launched.
Today, OehmsClassics is one of the world’s most renowned classical record labels that boasts a catalogue of some 800 entries, including numerous debutants, rarities and important work cycles by great composers. It has received many citations in international awards, including the ECHO Klassik Awards, Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik and International Classical Music Awards.
Entre deux mondes (‘Between Two Worlds’) is a journey through different spheres and a breaking away from borders. In order to reach a truly diverse perspective on the possible meanings of this subject, the featured composers are distinctly contrasted – both male and female, from the Romantic period to the present day, and in a variety of languages. This is Klaudia Tandl and Gisela Jöbstl’s debut album.
The Polyphonia Ensemble Berlin, which was founded by musicians from the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, presents French chamber music from around 1900 on this recording. The featured composers – Théodore Dubois, Vincent d’Indy and André Caplet – may have been overshadowed by their better-known contemporaries, but they nevertheless played major and original roles in the development of music in France, bequeathing us an appreciable quantity of remarkable works. At the same time, they represent three generations in the development of music at the dawn of the 20th century.
– Pizzicato ★★★★
– Lark Reviews
– Opera Now
– Pizzicato
– Pizzicato ★★★★★
– Classical Music Daily
– www.klassik.com ★★★★
– Infodad.com ★★★★
Artist of the Month – Simone Young
Simone Young is considered one of the most important conductors of our time. After completing her musical studies in her native Sydney, she began her career on the podium in Germany. This launched her international career, which has taken her to all important opera houses and symphony orchestras around the world.
This year Young will begin her tenure as the new chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony, having previously led the Bergen Philharmonic (1998–2002), Opera Australia (2001–03) and the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra (2005–15).
Her work is also preserved on numerous recordings. In addition to complete recordings of Hindemith’s Mathis der Maler and Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen with the Hamburg State Opera, the OehmsClassics label has released Young’s recordings of the complete Bruckner symphonies in their original versions, with the Hamburg Philharmonic, as well as the complete symphonies of Brahms, Mahler’s Sixth and Seventh Symphonies, and Franz Schmidt’s The Book with the Seven Seals.
Along with her honorary doctorates from the Universities of Sydney and Melbourne, Young received the Brahms Prize of Schleswig-Holstein and the Goethe Medal, among other awards and accolades. She was also appointed “Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres” in France, a Member of the Order of Australia, and a Professor at the Academy of Music and Theatre in Hamburg.
– Fanfare
![HINDEMITH, P.: Mathis der Maler [Opera]](https://www.naxos.com/sharedfiles/images/cds/hires/OC908.jpg "HINDEMITH, P.: Mathis der Maler [Opera]")
– Fanfare
– American Record Guide
– AllMusic.com
![WAGNER, R.: Rheingold (Das) [Opera]](https://www.naxos.com/sharedfiles/images/cds/hires/OC925.jpg "WAGNER, R.: Rheingold (Das) [Opera]")
![WAGNER, R.: Walküre (Die) [Opera]](https://www.naxos.com/sharedfiles/images/cds/hires/OC926.jpg "WAGNER, R.: Walküre (Die) [Opera]")
![WAGNER, R.: Siegfried [Opera]](https://www.naxos.com/sharedfiles/images/cds/hires/OC927.jpg "WAGNER, R.: Siegfried [Opera]")
![WAGNER, R.: Götterdämmerung [Opera]](https://www.naxos.com/sharedfiles/images/cds/hires/OC928.jpg "WAGNER, R.: Götterdämmerung [Opera]")
– ClassicsToday.com
John Philip Sousa Complete Music for Wind Band
John Philip Sousa (1854–1932) personified turn-of-the-century America, the comparative innocence and brash energy of a still new nation. His ever-touring band represented America across the globe and brought music to hundreds of American towns.
Sousa’s compositions spread his fame further. His marches The Stars and Stripes Forever!, The Washington Post and Semper Fidelis, which was adopted by the US Marine Corps, are universally acknowledged as the best of the genre. He was an exceptionally inventive composer of over 200 works, including symphonic poems, suites, operas and operettas.
The final volume in the Complete Music for Wind Band series explores some of the lesser-known corners of Sousa’s output. These include fantasies and humoresques that use renowned classical works and fashionable melodies of their day. Also featured are the rarely heard processional hymn with choir We March, We March to Victory and The Fancy of the Town, which offers up a world tour of traditional and popular songs.
Keith Brion has published many editions for wind band, including the music of Charles Ives, Percy Grainger and D.W. Reeves, and is the author of numerous articles. He is the author of a series of Sousa publications and curator of the Sousa collection at the Library of Congress.
‘Keith Brion has made a career of championing the music of John Philip Sousa… Through study of films and recordings, he imitates Sousa’s conducting style and handles the music the way Sousa did.’
– American Record Guide on Vol. 1
‘Brion’s conducting seems impeccable. He imbues each work with vitality, excitement, and full-throated military flair.’
– Classical Candor on Vol. 11
‘Keith Brion’s conducting is vigorously animated, drawing some superb playing from his Birmingham ensemble. Also, the clear and beautifully balanced recording is an added bonus to the enjoyment.’
– Classical Music Daily on Vol. 21
Click here to view the full list of Sousa titles on Naxos
Sir András Schiff receives Leipzig Bach Medal
Congratulations to pianist Sir András Schiff on receiving the prestigious Bach Medal from the City of Leipzig!
Schiff is heralded as one of today’s finest Bach interpreters. His performances have become an annual highlight at the BBC Proms and he regularly performs at the Verbier, Salzburg and Baden-Baden Festivals as well as at London’s Wigmore Hall. His performances of complete cycles of works by Beethoven, Haydn, Schubert and Bartók constitute an important part of his work.
His BBC Proms performances of the complete The Well-Tempered Clavier in 2017 (Book 1) and 2018 (Book 2) were released on Naxos Audiovisual:
‘His technical and musical mastery consistently aims high and digs deep, seeming to bypass the piano and penetrating each Prelude and Fugue on its own terms … these two discs constitute The Well-Tempered Clavier’s reference video version, a winning combination of the BBC’s high production values and Schiff on peak form at full capacity in music that he profoundly cares about.’
– Gramophone
‘Schiff’s playing exhibits an elegance and lightness of touch, marvelous complements to his pristine articulation and brilliant delineation of Bach’s multi-voiced writing. It’s also an appropriate sound world for music conceived for 18th-century keyboard instruments.’
– Fanfare
The award will be presented by the Mayor of Leipzig, Burkhard Jung, and the director of the Bach Archive, Prof. Peter Wollny, on 16 June during the 2022 Leipzig Bachfest following a recital at the Leipzig Gewandhaus.
Opera Lafayette’s 2022 season rediscovers ‘The Era of Marie Antoinette’
Opera Lafayette is an American period instrument ensemble that specialises in French repertoire, rediscovers masterpieces, and creates a recorded legacy of its work. Founded in 1995 in Washington, DC by conductor and artistic director Ryan Brown, Opera Lafayette has earned critical acclaim and a loyal following for its performances and recordings with international singers renowned for their interpretations of baroque and classical operas.
Their 2022 season presents three unique programmes, rediscovering ‘The Era of Marie Antoinette’:
Concert Spirituel aux Caraïbes
With music composed by Gossec, Dalayrac, Pergolesi and more
9 Jun 2022
Museo del Barrio, New York
Gretry’s Sylvain
A fully-staged production of this 1770 work, set in the new world
2–3 Jun 2022
Kennedy Center, Washington DC
7 Jun 2022
Museo del Barrio, New York
The Musical Salon of Marie Antoinette
Featuring works by Gluck, Saint-Georges, Hinner and more
8 Jun 2022
Museo del Barrio, New York
The French pre-revolutionary period of the 1770s and 80s had resonance in the Americas. Musician and scholar Pedro Memelsdorff turns a critical eye on the meaning of French music in the colonisation of the Caribbean; artistic director Ryan Brown and film-maker Tania Hernandez Velasco find historical precedents for their staging of Grétry’s Silvain in the 19th-century American Southwest; and harpist Sandrine Chatron recreates a facet of Marie Antoinette’s own life as a musician and patron of musicians, including two composers whose lives were intertwined with the French colonies. At the centre of each of these programmes are three women, the first historical – Minette, the mixed-race soprano and star of the opera in Port-au-Prince; the second fictional – Hélène, the wife, mother and daughter-in-law in Silvain; and Marie Antoinette herself.
View the full list of performances by visiting www.operalafayette.org.
![BEETHOVEN, L. van: Leonore (1805 version) [Opera] (Opera Lafayette, 2020) (NTSC)](https://www.naxos.com/sharedfiles/images/cds/hires/2.110674.jpg "BEETHOVEN, L. van: Leonore (1805 version) [Opera] (Opera Lafayette, 2020) (NTSC)")
– BBC Music Magazine ★★★★
![GAVEAUX, P.: Léonore, ou L'amour conjugal [Opera] (Opera Lafayette, 2017) (NTSC)](https://www.naxos.com/sharedfiles/images/cds/hires/2.110591.jpg "GAVEAUX, P.: Léonore, ou L'amour conjugal [Opera] (Opera Lafayette, 2017) (NTSC)")
– The New York Times
![RAMEAU, J.-P.: Fêtes de l'Hymen et de l'Amour, ou Les dieux d'Egypte (Les) [Opera] (Opera Lafayette, 2014) (NTSC)](https://www.naxos.com/sharedfiles/images/cds/hires/2.110393.jpg "RAMEAU, J.-P.: Fêtes de l'Hymen et de l'Amour, ou Les dieux d'Egypte (Les) [Opera] (Opera Lafayette, 2014) (NTSC)")
– Opera News
![DAVID, F.: Lalla Roukh [Opéra-comique]](https://www.naxos.com/sharedfiles/images/cds/hires/8.660338-39.jpg "DAVID, F.: Lalla Roukh [Opéra-comique]")
– ConcertoNet.com ★★★★
![GRÉTRY, A.-E.-M.: Épreuve villageoise (L') (The Village Trial) [Opéra bouffon]](https://www.naxos.com/sharedfiles/images/cds/hires/8.660377.jpg "GRÉTRY, A.-E.-M.: Épreuve villageoise (L') (The Village Trial) [Opéra bouffon]")
– American Record Guide
![MONSIGNY, P.-A.: Roi et le fermier (Le) (The King and the Farmer) [Comic Opera]](https://www.naxos.com/sharedfiles/images/cds/hires/8.660322.jpg "MONSIGNY, P.-A.: Roi et le fermier (Le) (The King and the Farmer) [Comic Opera]")
– San Francisco Classical Voice
![PHILIDOR, F.-A. D.: Femmes Vengées (Les) [Opéra-comique]](https://www.naxos.com/sharedfiles/images/cds/hires/8.660353.jpg "PHILIDOR, F.-A. D.: Femmes Vengées (Les) [Opéra-comique]")
– Early Music America
![PHILIDOR, F.-A. D.: Sancho Panca dans son isle [Opera-bouffon]](https://www.naxos.com/sharedfiles/images/cds/hires/8.660274.jpg "PHILIDOR, F.-A. D.: Sancho Panca dans son isle [Opera-bouffon]")
– American Record Guide
Marin Alsop to bring Vienna RSO to the BBC Proms
Now in her third season as Chief Conductor of the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Marin Alsop is set to bring the orchestra to this year’s BBC Proms!
The programme will include Bartók’s blood-curdling ballet suite The Miraculous Mandarin and Dvořák’s magnificent Seventh Symphony, as well as the Third Piano Concerto by Prokofiev featuring renowned soloist Benjamin Grosvenor. The concert’s highlight is the UK premiere of Heliosis, written by young composer Hannah Eisendle for Alsop and the Vienna RSO.
Visit www.bbc.co.uk/proms for more information.
– Crescendo
– Pizzicato ★★★★★
Bellini’s hit opera I Capuleti e i Montecchi returns to Venice
Vincenzo Bellini’s first great operatic success I Capuleti e i Montecchi is based on an Italian version of Romeo and Juliet in which the feuding clans seek reconciliation through the wedding of Giulietta and Tebaldo. Giulietta’s lover, Romeo, begs her to elope with him, but fate has other plans for the couple. Topped with the ‘gleaming sound, free and easy high notes, agile coloratura runs and lyrical grace’ (The New York Times) of soprano Jessica Pratt, this acclaimed production takes place in the historical and beautifully atmospheric Teatro La Fenice, the same venue in which I Capuleti e i Montecchi had its triumphant premiere in 1830.
![BELLINI, V.: Capuleti e i Montecchi (I) [Opera] (La Fenice, 2015) (NTSC)](https://www.naxos.com/sharedfiles/images/cds/hires/2.110730.jpg "BELLINI, V.: Capuleti e i Montecchi (I) [Opera] (La Fenice, 2015) (NTSC)")
‘Jessica Pratt is quite simply phenomenal … Sonia Ganassi gives an impressive performance.’
– Opera Journal
‘Jessica Pratt – already appreciated by the Venetian public in previous seasons – has outlined a Juliet at once languid and passionate, as well as naive and determined, showing off a beautiful legato, in addition to the ability to master her vocal means with highly suggestive expressive results.’
– GBOpera Magazine
‘We are in full bel canto mode and the name of Jessica Pratt confirms the priority position that this soprano assumes in this repertoire.’
– Il Trillo Parlante
| Giulietta | Jessica Pratt |
| Romeo | Sonia Ganassi |
| Capellio | Rubén Amoretti |
| Tebaldo | Shalva Mukeria |
| Lorenzo | Luca Dall’Amico |
| Conductor | Omer Meir Wellber |
| Stage Director | Arnaud Bernard |
| Set Designer | Alessandro Camera |
| Costume Designer | Carla Ricotti |
| Lighting Designer | Fabio Barettin |
More full-length videos? NaxosVideoLibrary.com brings you an extensive streaming video library of classical music performances, opera, ballet, live concerts and documentaries. Watch the world’s greatest opera houses, ballet companies, orchestras and artists perform on demand!
This Is Us – the final chapter, via Tchaikovsky
The final episode of the award-winning, hit TV series This Is Us airs tonight on NBC at 9pm ET. It stars an ensemble cast led by Milo Ventimiglia, Mandy Moore and Emmy-winner Sterling K. Brown that follows the lives and families of two parents and their three children in several different timelines.
Earlier in the season, the series also featured extracts from the Naxos release of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, performed by the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Michael Halász (8.553271).
Need to license some music for a project and don’t know where to start? Visit Naxos Licensing to find out how!
Capriccio’s Bruckner Fourth is BBC Radio 3’s ‘Record of the Week’
The latest instalment in Capriccio’s The Complete Versions Edition of Bruckner symphonies, recorded by the Bruckner Orchestra Linz under Markus Poschner, was BBC Radio 3’s ‘Record of the Week’ for 1–7 May 2022.
Since its successful first performance by the Vienna Philharmonic under Hans Richter on 20 February 1881, the Fourth Symphony has been one of Anton Bruckner’s most beloved works. The success of the Fourth did not come easily to the composer as he revised the entire symphony twice and its finale three times. This recording features the second and most often performed version in a new edition by Benjamin Korstvedt, published as part of the New Anton Bruckner Collected Works Edition. It also includes Korstvedt’s edition of the ‘Volksfest’ (Country Fair) Finale that Bruckner composed in 1878 and replaced in 1880.
Listen to the programme here (segment at 2:21:41).
– BBC Music Magazine ★★★★
– Fanfare
– ClassicsToday.com
Stéphane Denève’s complete Ravel recordings on SWR Classic
Stéphane Denève, triple winner of the Diapason d’Or of the Year, produced many outstanding recordings as chief conductor of the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra from 2011 until 2016, when the orchestra merged with its sister ensemble from Baden-Baden and Freiburg to form the SWR Symphony Orchestra. Among them are Ravel’s complete orchestral works.
These are now reissued as a 5-CD boxed set including the ballet Daphnis et Chloé, Ravel’s longest work, written for Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, and the operas L’Heure espagnole and L’Enfant et les sortilèges. Although the two operas cannot be strictly considered orchestral works, they are essential to understanding the œuvre of a composer who had a great predilection for fantasy worlds and the exotic. As a student Ravel composed the Ouverture de Shéhérazade and, several years later, three poems for voice and orchestra on the same topic – both works form part of this set.
Throughout his entire career, from Une barque sur l’océan to Ma mère L’Oye, Ravel created magical soundscapes in a highly original manner and with great stylistic freedom. A big inspiration for him was both American operetta and jazz and fairy tales. The formal structure of his works has the clarity of crystal and the elegance of mathematics.
The SWR Radio Symphony Orchestra, Stuttgart and the cast of young singers selected by Denève give thrilling interpretations.
– BBC Music Magazine
– MusicWeb International
– Gramophone
– Opera Today
– American Record Guide
48 Strings – Cello collective starring Andreas Brantelid
The four cellist-composers in this programme share a common background: they came from musical families, played as soloists in outstanding orchestras, taught many students, and wrote music for the instrument that continues to challenge players of our own time with its virtuosity and intensity. In his 12 Caprices Alfredo Piatti fused dazzling technical demands with operatic drama, whilst David Popper’s Suite remains an admired piece for two cellists. Wilhelm Fitzenhagen’s Concert Waltzes for four cellos makes prolonged use of the upper register, and in contrast Julius Klengel’s Hymnus is a sonorously beautiful elegy for twelve cellists.
A visual album of Andreas Brantelid perfoming Piatti’s 12 Caprices will also be available for streaming on Apple Music starting 27 May 2022.
Naxos Music Group artists at the 2022 ICMA Gala
This year’s International Classical Music Awards Gala was presented at the Philharmonie Luxembourg, featuring performances by some of the winners with the Luxembourg Philharmonic and Orchestre Royal de l’Opéra de Versailles.
Pianist Frank Dupree received the award in the Assorted Programs category for his Capriccio recording of Kapustin’s Piano Concerto No. 4. ‘Kapustin was posthumously christened a ‘Russian in Gershwin’s clothing’. Whoever listens to the recording by Frank Dupree…is immediately convinced: this is no exaggeration,’ wrote the awards jury. Dupree also performed the final movement of the concerto.
After two previous nominations pianist Lars Vogt won his first ICMA in the Solo Instrumental category, performing Janáček’s piano music on Ondine. Naxos Deutschland’s press officer Salvatore Picheriddu received the award on his behalf.
Special Achievement Award recipient Michael Korstick played the opening movement of Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto. His OehmsClassics recordings of the complete Beethoven sonatas earned him the nickname ‘Mr Beethoven’, and he received further acclaim for his SWR Classic releases of music by Debussy and Koechlin.
Conductor Ádám Fischer, recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award, conducted most of the performances with the Luxembourg Philharmonic.
Playlists for May
Looking for new music? Our selection of curated playlists has you covered with music to complement the season, moment, or activity! Unwind with Relaxing and Dreaming and discover the greatest piano music ever written with Piano Sounds from Naxos. Check out unCLASSIFIED’s Happy Vibes playlist – a collection of upbeat classical music to help you channel your optimism and cheer. Explore the latest exciting recordings from Grand Piano’s New Release Sampler and elevate your ordinary daily drive and regular commute with the Driving Mode playlist from Naxos Moods. Happy Listening!
Boris Giltburg completes his Beethoven Piano Concertos cycle
This month pianist Boris Giltburg, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Vasily Petrenko record Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto, completing their critically acclaimed cycle of the Complete Beethoven Piano Concertos on Naxos!
– The Sunday Times, London
– International Piano
Arabella String Quartet revives the Six Concertante Quartets by Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges
A brilliant swordsman, athlete, violin virtuoso and composer, Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges might well lay claim to being the most talented figure in an age of remarkable individuals. The string quartet was still in its infancy in France in the 1770s, but while these pieces are small in scale they are exceptionally rewarding. Saint-Georges appreciated the intimate nature of this genre, avoiding overt soloistic virtuosity and exploring chamber music timbres, amply demonstrating his rich lyrical gifts and a natural ability to delight performers and audiences alike.
The members of the Arabella String Quartet hail from around the globe, first meeting at Yale University in 2011. The quartet’s debut album, In the Moment (Naxos 8.579013), is an innovative programme that explores time, place and mood through a series of short pieces. It was named Album of the Week by Classic FM, and critically acclaimed in The Strad.
– MusicWeb International
– The Strad
– Gramophone
– The Flip Side
Sheet music for Saint-Georges’ works, including the Six Concertante Quartets, are available on Artaria Editions.
Naxos’ 35th Anniversary special on Qobuz – 50% off!
Since 1987, Naxos, the world’s leading classical music label, is known for having one of the largest and fastest-growing catalogues of unduplicated repertoire with state-of-the-art sound and consumer-friendly prices. Available until 5 June, and to celebrate the label’s 35th anniversary, audiophile-oriented Qobuz is offering all Naxos digital downloads, in both CD and Hi-Res audio quality, at 50% off! Visit the Qobuz store to discover thousands of albums and explore a hugely diverse collection. The promotion includes brand new releases, too.
to claim the offer
I Capuleti e i Montecchi returns to Venice
The sound of sparklers.
Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges
‘Record of the Week’
The sound of sparklers.
