Zelmira was the last opera Rossini wrote for Naples, knowing it would also be his calling card to Vienna where he had been assured performances. Keen to reconcile the alleged incompatibility between 'Italian' melody and 'German' harmony, Rossini employed exciting and daring harmonies and a raft of dazzling orchestral effects in this tragedy in which a daughter saves her father, the king, and her son, from usurpers to the throne. The opera was acclaimed wherever it was heard, and this recording presents the revised and triumphant Paris version.

Roger Norrington and the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra SWR continue their survey of the major works of the 19th Century symphonic repertoire with two symphonies by Schubert. Throughout his decade of working with the RSO, Norrington has transformed the sound of a modern symphony orchestra into an ensemble capable of delivering authentic historically informed music making. By employing both the benefits of authentic performance practice and technically superior modern instruments, Norrington has left a legacy that has opened the ears of romantic "purists" as well as delighting devotees of authentic performance practice.

Compositions for piano have held a prominent position throughout George Rochberg’s long career. The earliest works on this recording, the Twelve Bagatelles, are fully-formed lyrical pieces each of which, despite its brevity, is a complete and fully evolved story. His Three Elegiac Pieces comprise a distinct set with a clear emotional progression. Sonata Seria (composed in 1948, revised during the mid-1950s and published in 1998) is an overpoweringly intense tour de force.

As a composer of art-song, Ian Venables is considered to be one of the most important writing today. The Songs of Ian Venables (8.572514), Volume 21 of Naxos' critically acclaimed English Song Series, was the first devoted to a living composer. This new recording introduces US to his music for solo piano and brings together works written between 1975 and 2001. It is Venables' singular melodic gift and highly inventive use of harmony that combine to give US works that range from the deeply reflective and wistful to those in a lighter vein, full of charm and joie de vivre.

A 2020 GRAMMY nominee for Best Choral Performance!

After the success of his opera The Shining, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Paul Moravec has once again collaborated with librettist Mark Campbell to create the second of his “American historical oratorios.” Sanctuary Road draws on the astonishing stories to be found in William Still’s book The Underground Railroad, which documents the network of secret routes and safe houses used by African American slaves to escape into free states and Canada during the early to mid- 1800s. The epic nature of these stories of courage, perseverance and sacrifice is transformed into an enthralling saga, heard here at its world premiere performance at Carnegie Hall- a performance acclaimed by BroadwayWorld for its “riveting, pulsating wall of sound and stellar soloists.”

REVIEWS:

Paul Moravec’s Sanctuary Road is unique. Moravec terms it an oratorio, and indeed; yet there’s plenty of dramatic action of an operatic sort. The soloists, all African American, are an able group, but bass-baritone Dashon Burton, as Still, has an especially compelling, authoritative quality. The performance was recorded live at the work’s 2018 premiere at Carnegie Hall in New York, and the Oratorio Society of New York Chorus under Kent Tritle is both precise and energetic in the pressure-packed situation of a single recorded performance.

– AllMusicGuide.com (J. Manheim)

Santuary Road's eminent singability, colorful scoring, and uplifting messages would seem to guarantee its future success. Moravec’s setting of the material makes it unquestionably an oratorio in the full quasi-operatic sense, rich in character, action, and vocal display, and also cinematic in rhythm, cutting from intimate moments to breathless chase scenes and back.

The performance largely belonged to the five soloists, four portraying various fugitives plus the clear-voiced bass-baritone Dashon Burton in a sturdy turn as William Still himself.

Mezzo-soprano Raehann Bryce-Davis had the showstopper aria as the appropriately named Ellen Craft. Strong in the lower register, her voice blossomed on top, bringing loud applause at the close.

In recurring segments titled “Run,” Joshua Blue depicted the lone fugitive’s terror and grit in his powerful tenor. With clear diction and dry humor, baritone Malcolm J. Merriweather as Henry “Box” Brown told of his 26 hours traveling in a shipping crate to Philadelphia.

Soprano Laquita Mitchell’s solo came late but was worth waiting for. By the aria’s climax, she was in full-throated dramatic mode, to marvelous effect.

Between Moravec’s sensitive scoring and conductor Tritle’s astute management of balances, all the solos came across clearly, even though not all the voices were extra large. In fact, all the sonic and dramatic elements of the piece came together smoothly in a well-paced performance whose final crescendo on the word “Free” brought a tear to the eye and the audience to its feet.

– New York Classical Review by David Wright

It is extremely well crafted in musical terms and it sets off the text so that the experience is commemorative, rightly honoring, remembering but of course still providing a history-as-art experience. I come away with a feeling of satisfaction, of approval. You should hear this.

– Gapplegate Classical-Modern Music Review

All the soloists, including the lovely soprano Laquita Mitchell, the sonorous bass-baritone Dashon Burton and the heavy-lifting narrator, the superb baritone Malcolm J. Merriweather do sterling work with the unstinting support of maestro Tritle and his orchestra and chorus.

– Rafael's Music Notes

REVIEW:

The Finnish composer-pianist Magnus Lindberg has been the Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence at the New York Philharmonic since 2009, at which time the post was initiated by the NYPO’s current Music Director, Alan Gilbert.

I have been aware of Lindberg for some time, but this was my first opportunity for in-depth listening. First impressions were of a restless, often aggressive musical persona; of constantly changing musical landscapes, and brightly coloured, dramatic orchestration. Lindberg’s music is not excessively dissonant or discordant, and he does not shy away from key-centres either. In that sense his music is, as represented here, relatively accessible. On the other hand, it is very complex, and almost profligate in its material; none of these works has a single dominating motif … that I could discern, anyway.

As you listen, you become more and more aware of how cunningly shaped his music is, following definite emotional paths, and evolving, as it were, organically. Thus Expo, on track 1, has a kaleidoscopic feel to it, yet in the end seems satisfyingly inevitable and complete. The performance by the NYPO in the première, recorded here, is quite wonderful, reminding us what a very great ensemble this is.

They are matched by the astonishing pianism of Bronfman in the concerto. This is in three movements, which play without a break. Though it requires both hands to perform (and how - an extra one or two wouldn’t have come amiss), it has a close and intriguing affinity with the Ravel D minor concerto, written for Paul Wittgenstein, who lost his right arm in WW1. Lindberg’s work follows the same kind of progress as the Ravel - from an opening in Stygian depths of darkness to an affirmative conclusion. There are also numerous specific references to the French composer’s themes, rhythmic patterns and textures that are both fascinating and maddeningly elusive. It is a fine and often thrilling work, and Bronfman’s performance, again in the première, is breathtakingly assured.

The Italian phrase Al largo - apparently man being offshore, on the open sea - has much in common with Expo in its sense of shifting land- and seascapes. It is, though, a much longer, more fully developed work, dominated by heroic brass fanfares, busy tuned percussion, and delicate woodwind writing; the solo oboe is particularly prominent. Again there is a sense of finding, then losing, then rediscovering tonal centres as points of rest and stability.

This is an exciting CD, brilliantly performed and recorded; as an introduction to one of the most approachable and individual voices in contemporary music, it could hardly be bettered.

-- Gwyn Parry-Jones, MusicWeb International

Classical Music

The three works in this programme reflect different aspects of Strauss's compositional life. The tone-poem MacBeth, written between 1888 and 1891, offers a grippingly taut narrative. The Dance of the Seven Veils from the 1905 opera Salome is one of it's most exciting and intoxicating moments. Towards the end of his life, facing the ruin wrought by World War II, Strauss took inspiration from Goethe and wrote Metamorphosen, one of the most moving of all twentieth-century works.

For Decades, the Zurcher Sangerknaben Have Been One of the Leading European Boys' Choirs. They Run Their Own Concert Series in Zurich, Give Concerts All Over Europe, in the USA and in China, and Have Performed Under Herbert Von Karajan and Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Among Others. The Zurcher Kammerorchester Looks Back on a Prestigious Past. It's Founder Edmond de Stoutz Was a Close Friend of Many Artists: Yehudi Menuhin, Arturo Benedetti Michelangelo and Maurice Andre Were Regular Soloists. Thanks to Sir Roger Norrington, the Ensemble Is Now a Major International Chamber Orchestra. A Particular Attraction of This Recording Is Jonah Schenkel. As Previously in Pergolesi's Stabat Mater, This Outstanding Boy Soprano Is Absolutely Thrilling. He Fearlessly Masters Every Difficulty in the Solo Sections; His Voice Is Expressive, Pure and Agile, and He Has Exceptional Personal Charisma: A Most Felicitous Combination.

The ensemble Scaramuccia began in 2013, thanks to violinist Javier Lupiáñez's quest to rediscover the lesser-known baroque repertoire. Scaramuccia's purpose is to bring back to life the repertoire of which one could listen not only in the most refined circles, but also in the taverns and on the streets of the baroque past. Along with Vivaldi, this release features Prete Rosso's recently-rediscovered works. This recording is aiming to be part of the new history, featuring these recently discovered works.

Sergey Prokofiev’s final years were clouded by ill-health, and the Seventh Symphony was his last significant work, full of poignant nostalgia and restrained but deeply expressed emotion. The Love for Three Oranges consolidated Prokofiev’s reputation in the West in the 1920s, both this and the satirical tale of Lieutenant Kije producing two of his most popular suites. This is the final volume of the acclaimed cycle of Prokofiev’s Symphonies with the Sao Paolo Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marin Alsop.

-----

REVIEWS:

Alsop captures the lyrical aspects of the Seventh work really well. She also has the advantage of a superior recording in the acoustically friendlier Sala São Paulo. The orchestra is superb throughout, but special mention should be made of the woodwinds that have notable solos in the work.

– MusicWeb International

This is one of the most desirable Sevenths on disc. The Sao Paulo orchestra are in good shape, and continue with a display of their refined tonal quality through the remainder of the disc, the creamy double-bass solo at the opening of the Romance in the Kije Suite worthy of special mention. Commendable inner detail, but play the disc at a very high volume to bring it to life.

– David's Review Corner

Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez is the most celebrated classical guitar work of the 20th century, music that conjures up the color, sophistication and glories of eternal Spain. The founding father of Mexican music, Manuel Ponce, wrote his Concierto del sur for Segovia, and it is a work of vivid grandeur, Sevillian dances and melodic richness. To complete the programme, prize-winning international virtuoso Junhong Kuang plays a piece dedicated to him – Gerald Garcia’s China Sings! – a rhapsody inspired by two popular Chinese tunes. Darrell Ang is the artistic director and chief conductor of China’s Sichuan Symphony since December 2016. He regularly conducts the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, ‘Giuseppe Verdi’ Symphony Orchestra, Munich Radio Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony and at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg. Darrell Ang received a GRAMMY Award nomination for his Naxos debut recording of Symphony ‘Humen 1839’ by Zhou Long and Chen Yi (8.570611). His most recent albums feature Kabalevsky’s First and Second Symphonies (8.573859) and d’Indy’s incidental music Médée (8.573858), among others.

Soprano Mary Bevan and pianist Jopseph Middleton perform a programme exploring the genius of Baudelaire and Goethe, and how texts by them unlocked very specific musical landscapes in settings by Debussy, Duparc, Chausson, de Breville, Severac, Faure and Schubert. Praised by Opera for her “dramatic wit and vocal control” in stand out performances on opera and concert platforms, Mary Bevan is a winner of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Young Artist award and UK Critics’ Circle Award for Exceptional Young Talent in music. Pianist Joseph Middleton specialises in the art of song accompaniment and chamber music and has been highly acclaimed within this field. Described in the BBC Music Magazine as “one of the brightest stars in the world of song and Lieder”, he has also been labeled “the cream of the new generation” by The Times and “a perfect accompanist” by Opera Now.

William Henry Fry (1813-64) was the first native-born American to write for large orchestral forces (and the first to compose a grand opera), and was a vociferous supporter of music home-grown in the good old U.S.A. That's not to say Fry's music didn't contain European influences: traces of Berlioz, Wagner, and Verdi all show up in his work; but he also manages to include elements of (then) American popular song. For example, the Santa Claus Symphony of 1853 (really more of an extended symphonic poem) features "Rock-a-bye Baby" played on a soprano saxophone. Actually, Santa Claus makes only a brief appearance in this narrative-derived piece, which among other things depicts a lost traveler dying in a snowstorm and the birth of the Savior, before ending with the strings intoning "O come, all ye faithful". Fry's orchestral writing is vividly picturesque, with much imagination lavished on the score's fantasy elements.


An even more graphic portrayal can be found in the 1854 Niagara Symphony, which after a rumbling introduction roars out a big unison theme that mimics the Tuba mirum from Mozart's Requiem. The Overture to Macbeth (1864) contains some pretty exciting passages as well, and here's where the Berlioz influence is particularly strong (especially in the witches' music). Lastly, Fry's The Breaking Heart (a work once believed to be lost) shows his love for Italian bel canto in its many lyrical and "operatic" passages. All told, this is a highly compelling album of some first-rate 19th century orchestral music, enthusiastically and stylishly performed by Tony Rowe and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and recorded in top-drawer sound--another winner in Naxos' spectacular American Classics series.
--Victor Carr Jr., ClassicsToday.com

Bach wrote his six Suites for unaccompanied cello at Cöthen, about the year 1720. It is thought that the first four, at least, were written either for Christian Ferdinand Abel, bass viol player at Cöthen, or for Christian Bernhard Linike, more probably the latter. Abel, appointed to Cöthen in 1715 is not known to have been a cellist, while Linike was distinguished rather as a player of the cello and in this capacity had been appointed to the musical establishment of the court in Cöthen in 1716, thus rejoining former colleagues from the Prussian court musical establishment, disbanded in 1713 by Friedrich Wilhelm I on his accession to his father's throne. Both musicians were friends and colleagues of Bach. The original autograph of the suites is lost and the earliest copy is that made by the Gräfenroda organist and composer Johann Peter Kellner in about 1726. This is followed by that in the hand of Bach's second wife, Anna Magdalena, made probably in 1727 or 1728 for the Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel chamber musician Georg Heinrich Ludwig Schwanenberger, who had visited Leipzig at the time and taken lessons in thoroughbass from Bach, for whose daughter Regina Johanne he stood as godfather. Each of the six cello suites opens with a Prélude. Suite No. 1 in G major, BWV 1007, has an introductory movement in which the changing harmonies are made clear in arpeggiated form. The usual Allemande and Courante are followed by a slow Sarabande, with a repeated Menuet II framing a G minor Menuet II. The suite ends, as it should, with a Gigue. Suite No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1008, opens again with an elaborate Prélude, ending with a series of grandiose arpeggiated chords. Once again the Allemande and Courante lead to a Sarabande and a D minor Menuet I is repeated to frame a D major Menuet II, before a lively final Gigue. Suite No. 3 in C major, BWV 1009, has a Prélude that is marked Presto in a slightly later source. This opens boldly with a descending scale and an arpeggio that ends on the resonant bottom string of the instrument. A relatively elaborate Allemande is paired with a simpler Courante, followed by a stately Sarabande, a well-known movement that leads to the still more familiar pair of Bourrées, the second in C minor. The suite ends with an energetic Gigue. The fourth of Bach's cello suites, the Suite in E flat major, BWV 1010, opens, like the others, with a demanding Prélude. An Allemande follows, paired with a Courante, leading to a contrasting slow Sarabande. A busier first Bourrée is followed by a second that is simpler in texture and in the same key. The last movement is a lively Gigue. The fifth and six of Bach's cello suites differ in various ways from the first four. The fifth, the Suite in C minor, BWV 1011, was originally written in scordatura, a practice sometimes found in string music of the period, with the top A string of the instrument tuned down to G. The opening Prélude has a slower, embellished introduction before an extended faster fugal section in triple metre, it's fugal texture largely implied. An ornamented Allemande is duly followed by it's companion Courante and a slow Sarabande that strangely avoids the chordal pattern of it's predecessors. A first Gavotte is repeated after the unusual compound rhythm of the second Gavotte and the suite ends with a Gigue in dotted rhythm. The sixth of the suites, the Suite in D major, BWV 1012, is written for a five-string instrument, with an additional top string tuned to E. It has been suggested that Bach wrote this more difficult suite for the viola pomposa, a five-string viola that found occasional use from 1725 to about 1770. It seems, however, that Bach designed this work for the violoncello piccolo, a smaller form of cello, designed for more elaborate solo work and one that he uses elsewhere. The Prélude opens with the characteristic sound of bariolage, as the player repeats the note D on alternate strings. The Allemande has elaborate figuration and the companion Courante again exploits the wider possible range of the five-string instrument. A Sarabande is followed by a pair of Gavottes, played in alternation, and the suite ends with the customary and here demanding Gigue.

One of the least explored areas of Beethoven’s compositions is the miscellaneous sequence of canons, early exercises in counterpoint, mature jokes and jeux d’esprit that he wrote over many years. He composed a two-part canon for the composer Hummel in 1816 and in 1823 one for four voices (written in a tavern) for Count Lichnowsky. He also wrote birthday and Christmas greetings for colleagues and friends, and songs that punned on recipients’ names or poked fun at them. Viennese chamber choir Cantus Novus Wiendraws on an extensive repertoire of Baroque, Classical, and contemporary music, including a cappella choral music, oratorios by Handel and Haydn, and requiems by Mozart, Brahms, Verdi, and Fauré. Contemporary music is one of the choir’s focal points, including regular world premieres of commissioned pieces. The choir has been conducted by Thomas Holmes since 2001. Ensemble Tamanial is a vocal quartet based in Vienna, Austria. The ensemble was established to provide a place in which to grow and learn as musicians through undertaking soloist responsibility across a wide variety of musical styles, including Renaissance, Classical, Romantic and also in contemporary works. For these Beethoven recordings the ensemble have been working closely with Thomas Holmes as their musical director and wish to express their deep gratitude.

• Henri Hardouin (1727–1808) was a chorister at Rheims Cathedral, rising to maître de chapelle – until the French Revolution disbanded religious establishments.
• Hardouin’s six four-part masses, published in 1772, are unusual for their time in being a cappella and enjoyed wide circulation in pre-Revolutionary France.
• Since then they have been roundly neglected – an omission this two-CD survey intends to rectify.

ALBENIZ / SOLER / DE FALLA / GRANADOS: Piano Espanol

Alexandra Dariescu makes her concerto debut with Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Alexandra Dariescu has garnered an impressive reputation for her outstanding solo recordings and concert performances and was recently named as one of 30 pianists under 30 destined for a spectacular career in the International Piano Magazine.

Having completed his studies at the Brussels conservatoire and won first prizes at several distinguished competitions for young musicians, Matthieu Idmtal quickly became known as a specialist in the music of Alexander Scriabin. His debut on record was dedicated to a sequence of the Russian composer’s Etudes and Preludes, and it won him golden reviews. His Scriabin album was followed by an equally well-received album of the violin sonatas by Edvard Grieg, in company with his regular violin-recital partner Maya Levy. The natural sequel is this focus on the Norwegian composer’s solo output. Grieg composed seven books of Lyric Pieces across the course of his career: songs without words that amount to a diary of his compositional evolution as well as testament to enduring preoccupations such as the artistic transformation of folksong and the evocation of natural phenomena such as sunlight and the movement of water. Idmtal’s sequence ranges across all seven books, and does not shy away from established classics such as the Arietta and Wedding Day at Troldhaugen. However, he also includes several lesser-known and introspective masterpieces such as the Vanished Days and Homesickness from the Opus 57 set. Even by their side, however, the Piano Sonata Op 7 is an almost forgotten masterpiece. Grieg wrote it at the age of 22, recently graduated from the conservatoire in Leipzig, yet even within the first movement’s opening exposition there are shapes and harmonies that instantly identify the composer’s artistic fingerprint. The sonata reflects the ambitions and character of the young Grieg: high-spirited, virtuosic, impetuous, and permeated with brusque mood swings. Cast in a compressed version of the traditional four-movement form, it encompasses many changes of mood, sometimes very abrupt, as if the composer was overflowing with musical ideas and inspiration.