NEWS FROM THE NAXOS MUSIC GROUP
October 2022
Label of the Month – Opus Arte
The Opus Arte catalogue has included recordings of productions from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden since the label’s inception, making it one of the closest and longest-standing relationships it has enjoyed. So much so that in 2007 the ROH acquired Opus Arte, establishing it as its in-house audiovisual label. In 2018, Opus Arte joined the Naxos Music Group, with the label continuing to work with the ROH and maintain its base of operations at the Royal Opera House in London.
Opus Arte now boasts a catalogue of over 800 programmes, including recordings in 4K, 3D and Dolby ATMOS, and was one of the first labels to release high definition content on Blu-ray. Apart from the Royal Opera, it maintains associations with many of the world’s finest arts organisations, including Glyndebourne, Dutch National Opera & Ballet, Teatro Real, Bayreuth, Shakespeare’s Globe and the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Theatre performance has always been a core part of the label’s identity, distributing productions by two of the world’s pre-eminent Shakespearean companies: the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) and Shakespeare’s Globe. As theatres return to normal after the devastating impact of Covid-19, many more great opera and ballet performances are being added to the Opus Arte catalogue, not least the completion of the RSC’s landmark project to record the entire Shakespeare canon.
In a deserted city, a young boy stumbles into a theatre. He wanders through the auditorium, where rows of velvet chairs, draping curtains and chandeliers seem to lie in lonely wait for audiences to return. The theatre may be empty, but the show will go on...
Starring characters from our most popular festive ballets, the worlds of the Snow Queen and the Sugar Plum Fairy collide when the theatre bursts into life. In this spectacular, hour-long film, you’ll be treated to an extraordinary show filled with acrobats, snowflakes, clowns, princes and – of course – beautiful ballerinas.
![JANÁČEK, L.: Jenůfa [Opera] (Royal Opera House, 2021) (NTSC)](https://www.naxos.com/sharedfiles/images/cds/hires/OA1351D.jpg "JANÁČEK, L.: Jenůfa [Opera] (Royal Opera House, 2021) (NTSC)")
Award-winning director Claus Guth’s acclaimed production of Jenůfa is a striking representation of an oppressed society ‘infused with heart-warming humanity.’ (Evening Standard ★★★★★) Two courageous women struggle for fulfilment against the backdrop of a claustrophobic rural community. With music inspired by the traditional folk melodies of his native Moravia, Janáček’s score movingly captures Jenůfa’s progression from hope to despair to eventual radiant happiness, while her stepmother, the Kostelnička, is one of opera’s most complex maternal figures. Hungarian conductor Henrik Nánási conducts Asmik Grigorian in her much-anticipated Royal Opera House debut in the title role, alongside Karita Mattila as the Kostelnička and a star cast.
![MONTEVERDI, C.: Incoronazione di Poppea (L') [Opera] (La Fenice, 2017) (NTSC)](https://www.naxos.com/sharedfiles/images/cds/hires/OA1346D.jpg "MONTEVERDI, C.: Incoronazione di Poppea (L') [Opera] (La Fenice, 2017) (NTSC)")
![MONTEVERDI, C.: Orfeo (L') [Opera] (La Fenice, 2017) (NTSC)](https://www.naxos.com/sharedfiles/images/cds/hires/OA1347D.jpg "MONTEVERDI, C.: Orfeo (L') [Opera] (La Fenice, 2017) (NTSC)")
![MONTEVERDI, C.: Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria (Il) [Opera] (La Fenice, 2017) (NTSC)](images/OA1348D.jpg "MONTEVERDI, C.: Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria (Il) [Opera] (La Fenice, 2017) (NTSC)")
In 2017 an international cast of soloists together with members of the Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists under the baton of Sir John Eliot Gardiner performed the surviving trilogy of Monteverdi’s great operas in semi-staged performances directed by Elsa Rooke. In these performances the orchestra, composed of Monteverdi’s exotic and beautifully crafted period instruments, takes centre-stage and thus forms a central part in the story-telling process.
Experience a staple of the Oxford calendar in this set of works inspired by the May Morning tradition, with music spanning from the traditional to contemporary. Starting with The College Clock welcoming in the sunrise, this special recording displays The Magdalen College Choir in radiant form, shining in the glorious acoustics of the Church of St. John the Evangelist, Oxford.
Artist of the Month – Lauren Cuthbertson
English dancer Lauren Cuthbertson is a principal of The Royal Ballet. She studied at The Royal Ballet School as a junior associate and at White Lodge and the Upper School, joining the company in 2002. She was promoted to soloist in 2003, first soloist in 2006 and principal in 2008.
Awards include Young British Dancer of the Year (2001), the 2004 Critics’ Circle National Dance Award for Outstanding Female Performance (Classical) and silver medal at the Varna International Ballet Competition in 2006, where she represented Great Britain. She is an active patron of National Youth Ballet and London Children’s Ballet.
Cuthbertson’s repertory with the company includes leading roles in classical ballets – Juliet, Manon, Anastasia; roles in many other works by Kenneth MacMillan; and leading roles in works by choreographers including Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, David Bintley, Alastair Marriott, Wayne McGregor, Jerome Robbins, Liam Scarlett, Glen Tetley and Christopher Wheeldon. Her role creations include La Glace (Les Saisons), Alice (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland), Hermione (The Winter’s Tale) and The Cellist, additional to her roles in Symphonic Variations, Tryst, Qualia, Chroma, Infra, Acis and Galatea (The Royal Opera), Live Fire Exercise, The Human Seasons, Tetractys and Multiverse.
![FEENEY, P.: Cellist (The) / ASHTON, F.: The Two Pigeons [Ballets] (Royal Ballet, 2016-2020) (NTSC)](https://www.naxos.com/sharedfiles/images/cds/hires/OA1363D.jpg "FEENEY, P.: Cellist (The) / ASHTON, F.: The Two Pigeons [Ballets] (Royal Ballet, 2016-2020) (NTSC)")
This special disc brings together two compelling works showing the dramatic range of Lauren Cuthbertson and The Royal Ballet. Internationally acclaimed choreographer Cathy Marston, previously associate artist of The Royal Opera House and director of Bern Ballett, created The Cellist for The Royal Ballet in 2020. The inspiration for her first work for the Royal Opera House Main Stage is the momentous life and career of cellist Jacqueline du Pré – from her discovery of the cello and her celebrity as one of its most extraordinary players, to her pain, frustration and struggle with multiple sclerosis. In The Two Pigeons, Lauren Cuthbertson and Vadim Muntagirov lead a charismatic cast in Ashton’s poignant and heart-warming reflection on love, based on an old French folk tale and first performed on Valentine’s Day 1961.
![ART OF LAUREN CUTHBERTSON (THE) - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland / Romeo and Juliet / The Nutcracker [Ballets] (4-DVD Box Set) (NTSC)](https://www.naxos.com/sharedfiles/images/cds/hires/OA1360BD.jpg "ART OF LAUREN CUTHBERTSON (THE) - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland / Romeo and Juliet / The Nutcracker [Ballets] (4-DVD Box Set) (NTSC)")
A stunning set showcasing the artistry of Lauren Cuthbertson through five beautiful ballets. Since joining The Royal Ballet in 2002, Lauren Cuthbertson has become a much-loved member of the company and this special boxed set showcases why, combining five outstanding performances by one of the world’s leading ballerinas. This collection includes two iconic roles she created for The Royal Ballet: the fun-filled, eponymous Alice (‘the part she was born to play,’ The Daily Telegraph) in Christopher Wheeldon’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland; and Jacqueline du Pré in the biographical work The Cellist by Cathy Marston. The latter is paired with Ashton’s delightful The Two Pigeons in a new collection created especially for this box. Finally, two all-time classics feature Lauren as the Sugar-Plum Fairy in Peter Wright’s magical production of The Nutcracker, and then as a heart-breaking Juliet in MacMillan’s signature work, Romeo & Juliet.
JoAnn Falletta leads Lukas Foss’ centennial celebration at Carnegie Hall
For many years Lukas Foss (1922–2009) held a leading position in American music. After a period of neoclassicism he went on to explore the possibilities of serialism, leading to experiments in indeterminacy and the aleatoric, with a third period, from about 1975, of minimalism and the exploration of electronic possibilities.
Conductor JoAnn Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra (where Foss held the post of music director from 1963 to 1970) recently marked the centenary of the composer’s birth with a performance at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York. The programme included the First Symphony, Renaissance Concerto and Three American Pieces, featuring soloists Nikki Chooi (violin) and Amy Porter (flute) with The Choir of Trinity Wall Street.
Sequenza21.com called the event a ‘fitting tribute to this under-recognized American composer,’ with New York Classical Review adding, ‘in the end, one felt nothing but gratitude to Falletta and her orchestra for two hours of quality time with this singular figure, the witty and tireless purveyor of the musical sounds of his era.’ Falletta and her Buffalo forces will also record the programme for a future Naxos release.
– The Penguin Guide
– AllMusic.com
– ClassicsToday.com
– American Record Guide
Valentin Silvestrov at 85
– Valentin Silvestrov
Valentin Silvestrov was born on 30 September 1937 in Kiev. He came to music relatively late, at the age of fifteen, and was initially self-taught.
Both in his earlier avant-garde period and after his stylistic volte-face of 1970, Silvestrov has preserved his independence of outlook. In recent decades he has dispensed with the conventional compositional devices of the avant-garde and discovered a style comparable to western ‘post-modernism’. The name he has given to this style is ‘metamusic’, a shortened form of ‘metaphorical music’.
During the political unrest in Ukraine, Silvestrov fought for his country with ‘musical means’, composing numerous works such as Majdan Hymns and Prayer for Ukraine.
– Fanfare
– Gramophone
– WTJU
– La Folia
– Spiegel Online
– Gramophone
Scottish Ballet presents Gene Kelly’s love letter to ballet, Starstruck
Inspired by Gene Kelly’s iconic work in Hollywood, Starstruck, winner of the 2022 Best Dance Film Award at the National Dance Awards, brings an immersive, theatrical experience, in which audiences around the world can escape with us to the glamour and grace of Paris, 1960.
In collaboration with Kelly’s widow, Patricia Ward Kelly, Scottish Ballet’s CEO/artistic director Christopher Hampson and designer Lez Brotherston (The Snow Queen, The Secret Theatre) have lovingly revived the original ballet and added a delightful new twist. You’ll be transported to a world where jazz meets ballet, and the stars align. Combining live performance capture with cinematic filming techniques and additional elements not seen in the stage production, Starstruck is directed for screen by Oscar Sansom (Dive) and produced in partnership with Forest of Black (The Secret Theatre).
Gene Kelly’s pioneering choreography and much-loved style influenced a generation of directors and dance-makers in Hollywood, Broadway and beyond, and we honour his creative legacy with this playful new film. Set to Gershwin’s effortlessly cool Concerto in F and extracts from Chopin, Starstruck is exactly the evening of entertainment you’ve been looking for.
![MONTEVERDI, C.: Orfeo (L') [Opera] (Opéra Comique, 2021) (NTSC)](https://www.naxos.com/sharedfiles/images/cds/hires/OA1364D.jpg "MONTEVERDI, C.: Orfeo (L') [Opera] (Opéra Comique, 2021) (NTSC)")
| The Star Ballerina / Aphrodite | Sophie Martin |
| Choreoghrapher / Zeus | Christopher Harrison |
| Pianist / Eros | Bruno Micchiardi |
| Sweetheart Woman / Girl with Ponytail | Roseanna Leney |
| Stagehand | Nicholas Shoesmith |
| Conductor | Jean-Claude Picard |
| Original Choreography and Direction for Pas De Dieux | Gene Kelly |
| Additional Choreography and Staging | Christopher Hampson |
| Design and Additional Staging | Lez Brotherston |
| Artistic Collaborator | Patricia Ward Kelly |
| Lighting Designer | Lawrie Mclennan |
| Director | Oscar Sansom |
| Production Partner | Forest of Black |
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!
Celebrating the 150th anniversary of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ birth
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958) is one of Britain’s most illustrious composers, and this specially curated selection of works demonstrates the sheer breadth of his achievement. As a major 20th-century symphonist he is represented by four of his nine symphonies, all in critically acclaimed recordings (‘A clear top recommendation’ wrote Gramophone of A Sea Symphony). Popular orchestral works such as the celebrated Tallis Fantasia and The Lark Ascending are also included. Vaughan Williams’ chamber works are performed by the Maggini Quartet, his greatest contemporary champions; while the sublime Mass in G minor shows the composer’s high standing in the English choral tradition.
‘There isn’t a dud performance in sight! A Vaughan Williams Anthology, released to celebrate 150 years since the musician’s birth, is a masterpiece’
– Daily Mail ★★★★
Featuring Vaughan Williams’ masterly and intensely personal Five Mystical Songs, this album reflects on the sources of inspiration of some of his sacred choral works, alongside gems of 19th- and early 20th-century English church music. Often setting the poetry of the King James Bible, the finely spun melodies and sensitivity to word-rhythm of composers from S. S. Wesley to Herbert Howells result in a uniquely British form of expression.
– Film Music: The Neglected Art
– Audiophile Audition ★★★★
– The Penguin Guide
– ClassicsToday.com
– Fanfare
– American Record Guide
Happy birthday Kaija Saariaho!
Composer Kaija Saariaho (b. 1952) celebrated her 70th birthday on 14 October 2022.
Kaija Saariaho is known as one of the most celebrated living composers. In 2019, BBC Music Magazine made a survey ranking ‘50 Greatest Composers of All Time’. Kaija Saariaho was on position 17 – the best result for any living composer, and winning the likes of Brahms, Schubert and Tchaikovsky, to name a few.
Ondine released its first complete album devoted to the music of Kaija Saariaho in 1992. During the three decades to follow, Ondine’s collaboration with Kaija Saariaho has resulted in more than 15 album releases creating the most extensive catalogue of Saariaho’s music on any label available physically and/or digitally.
– Scene Magazine
– American Record Guide
– Classica-Répertoire
– BBC Music Magazine ★★★★★
– ClassicsToday.com
– WTJU
– The Classical Reviewer
![SAARIAHO, K.: Maa [Ballet]](https://www.naxos.com/sharedfiles/images/cds/hires/ODE791-2.jpg "SAARIAHO, K.: Maa [Ballet]")
– BBC Music Magazine ★★★★
– AllMusic.com
– Opera News
– The WholeNote
– Classica
– The WholeNote
Jan Schmidt-Garre’s new documentary about the power of opera
Opera confronts us with extremes of emotion, sometimes delivering unforgettable, life-changing experiences. Fuoco Sacro (‘Sacred Fire’) seeks out singers who have the power to pierce our hearts, presenting three of them at work in the most intimate details of their rehearsals and preparations.
Ermonela Jaho, Barbara Hannigan and Asmik Grigorian are observed closely as some of their secrets are revealed: how they inhabit their roles and transform words and notation on a page into that intangible but powerful magic being communicated to audiences from the opera stage. Over 90 minutes of extras are included, featuring vocal warm-ups and live performances accompanied by pianists Evgenia Rubinova, Reinbert de Leeuw and Francesco Piemontesi.
‘A gorgeous film that celebrates the beauty of sound and at the same time deeply shakes you. A moving screen event not only for opera fans.’
– Kino Kino
‘A touchingly intimate, magnificent film by Jan Schmidt-Garre.’
– Münchner Feuilleton
[2 DVDs + 2 Discs Boxed Set]
– Fanfare
– American Record Guide
– MusicWeb International
– Fanfare
Jaime Martín awarded Spain’s National Music Prize
The jury at the Premios Nacionales de Música 2022 named conductor Jaime Martín winner of the Interpretation category for his contributions to classical music. The prize is awarded annually by the Ministry of Culture and Sport.
Martín received the award for ‘his indisputable musical talent, which is expressed in his great career as a flautist and as a conductor.’ The jury members also highlighted ‘his extraordinary ability to transmit his musical ideas to the ensembles with which he works, including the four ensembles from four different countries that he currently leads (Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland and the Gävle Symphony Orchestra) and the National Orchestra and Choir of Spain, with which he collaborates as principal guest conductor.’ They also underlined ‘his pedagogical work and his constant commitment to the young generations of musicians.’
Having spent many years as a highly regarded flautist, working with the most inspiring conductors of our time, Jaime turned to conducting full-time in 2013 and very quickly became sought after at the highest level. Martín has also recorded a series of albums for Ondine Records with the Gävle Symphony Orchestra, including the Brahms Serenades, Songs of Destiny, Brahms choral works (with the Eric Ericson Chamber Choir) and a recording of the Brahms Piano Quartet arranged by Schoenberg, which was released in February 2019.
– ClassicsToday.com
– Classical Music ★★★★
– Gramophone
– The Classic Review
New on the Naxos Blog
Pater seraphicus
October 14, 2022
Pater seraphicus is how the 19th-century pianist/organist/teacher/composer César Franck was known to his pupils. It might be fair to suggest that the consonant Panis angelicus, Franck’s setting of a verse from an ancient hymn, is how he’s best remembered by music-lovers with only limited knowledge of his output. Has the passing of time treated him…
Good mourning, good music
September 30, 2022
If you’ve already made your will, maybe you’ve also stipulated the music you would like to be played at the assembly for your funeral service. After a lifetime in music, and not once having been able to nominate a favourite piece, I’ve recently opted for a quiet cremation and a silent scattering of ashes…
François-Xavier Roth to be next SWR Symphonieorchester chief conductor
François-Xavier Roth has been appointed chief conductor and artistic director of the SWR Symphony Orchestra in Stuttgart. He takes up the appointment in the 2025–26 season for an initial term of five years, leading projects as designate chief conductor from 2024–25. He will spend 14 weeks each season with the orchestra, conducting subscription concerts in Stuttgart, Freiburg and Mannheim, as well as taking part in national festivals, international tours and the orchestra’s educational projects.
Roth commented: ‘I am very honoured to accept the position of chief conductor and artistic director of the SWR Symphonieorchester from 2025. This orchestra, still young, has a unique DNA: the musicians are extremely experienced and passionate advocates of the music of our time; at the same time they approach the repertoire of the last centuries in a historically informed manner – two aspects that are very important to me personally. I look forward to our joint projects and challenges with all their educational, social and media opportunities to create a musical universe for and with our audience.’
Between 2012 and 2016 Roth recorded Richard Strauss’ complete tone poems with the orchestra, as well as the musical epitaph Metamorphosen. These recordings are now available in an exquisite 5-disc boxed set.
‘This now surely has to be the top-rating digital set of Strauss’s tone poems. Tod und Verklärung, Don Juan, Macbeth and Don Quixote, all superbly played, complete the deal.’
– Gramophone
‘There are fine performances especially of the revolutionary Ein Heldenleben.’
– new-classics.co.uk
Playlists for October
Looking for new music? Our selection of curated playlists has you covered with music to complement the season, moment, or activity! Enjoy your morning cup of joe with the Coffee and Chill playlist and discover the passion and drama of opera with the Opera Favorites playlist from Naxos. Queue up a creepy classical soundtrack for your Halloween festivities with unCLASSIFIED’s Spooky Classical for Halloween playlist. Then, let Grand Piano’s collection of uplifting contemporary piano pieces inspire your mind with positive thoughts. Finally, welcome the enchanting surprises of autumn with classy favourite pieces from Naxos Moods’ The Sound of Autumn playlist. Happy listening!
We’re excited to announce the launch of Naxos Moods! Naxos Moods is an ecosystem of playlists curated by experts and musicologists to complement the wide range of feelings and activities people experience every day, with an emphasis on stress alleviation, relaxation, and inspiration. These playlists aim to create an exceptionally diverse listening experience, leveraging not only the Naxos classical catalogue, but world and jazz music as well. Exciting developments to the Naxos Moods initiative are coming soon – stay tuned for more!
Discover the Naxos Atmosphere playlist, a spatial experience from the Naxos world of classical music featuring Dolby Atmos technology.
Marek Štilec conducts orchestral music by Josef Bohuslav Foerster
Josef Bohuslav Foerster succeeded Dvořák as organist at St Vojtěch Church in Prague, was a lifelong friend of Mahler, and proved a pivotal figure in Czech music, with almost 200 compositions in all the major genres. The three selected works here offer an overview of his orchestral music. Recalling several equally majestic pieces by Smetana, the arresting Festive Overture combines Czech flair with Viennese elegance, while From Shakespeare explores characterisation with warmth and resourceful orchestration. The early Symphony No. 1 in D minor offers a darkness-to-light trajectory suffused with rich mid-Romantic colours.
Czech conductor Marek Štilec is known as an interpreter of classical orchestral repertoire and is a specialist in Czech Romantic and contemporary music; his discography features over 30 titles. He commented about the new release cycle:
‘It’s been a great privilege and honour for me to work with Naxos on this new series of Josef Bohuslav Foerster’s orchestral works. Foerster was born the same year that Brahms’ First Piano Concerto premiered, and died just two years before Elvis Presley’s first recording was released. Volume 1 displays most of his musical talents: a solemn overture that really suffuses a flood of festive sounds; a truly romantic symphony written in his early years; and a Shakespeare suite that reflects his life-long dedication to theatre. It’s music you’ll definitely want to listen to!’
– ClassicsToday.com
– Infodad.com ★★★★
– Dvořák Society Newsletter
– Fanfare
– American Record Guide
– MusicWeb International
Classical hits featured in star-studded film Armageddon Time
From acclaimed filmmaker James Gray, Armageddon Time is a deeply personal story of the strength of family, the complexity of friendship and the generational pursuit of the American Dream. The film features an all-star cast including Anthony Hopkins, Anne Hathaway and Jeremy Strong.
Listen for excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake and Mozart’s Divertimento No. 17, K. 334 courtesy of Capriccio.
Need to license some music for a project and don’t know where to start? Visit Naxos Licensing to find out how!
Marin Alsop conducts Mahler’s rare re-orchestrations of Schumann symphonies
Robert Schumann’s works lie at the centre of German Romanticism, with an essentially lyrical style that reflects his quintessential place among the great German composers. From 1840 Schumann switched from writing primarily piano music and Lieder to writing orchestral music, with the joyful First Symphony written in just four days, and the uplifting tone of the Second Symphony a remarkable triumph over depression and illness. But the effectiveness of Schumann’s orchestration in his symphonies has been the cause of much debate. Gustav Mahler’s re-orchestrations from the early 1900s provide models of tasteful modification that are suited to the larger orchestras of today.
Music videos from this album will also be available for streaming exclusively on Apple Music starting 28 October 2022.
Spain’s National Music Prize
