Also available in DVD!

The award-winning Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin has become one of the world’s leading chamber orchestras on period instruments. These concerts reveal some of the foundations of Beethoven’s genius, and capture vital performances from the 2020 SWR Schwetzingen Festival, the biggest radio festival for classical music in the world. These first two concerts of four see Beethoven’s revolutionary development through his first three symphonies set against C.P.E. Bach’s novel orchestration, Mozart’s pre-echo of a theme from the ‘Eroica’ Symphony, and Paul Wranitzky’s richly narrative Grande Sinfonie caractéristique, a work banned by the Viennese authorities of the day. The third and fourth concerts are also available on Naxos.

For those who are new to an instrument, the first question is often: where to start? The ‘Best Loved’ series offers an easy answer to that question and a perfect introduction to the wonderful, varied world of classical music. Spotlighting individual instruments in some of the best-loved pieces ever written, and with a mix of solo, chamber and orchestral works, the series provides a convenient introduction to classical music’s infinite variety of instrumental sounds and styles. The focus in these releases is a light and relaxed approach, rather than academic and theoretical: a joyful exploration and celebration of individual instrumental sounds. The present release is a showcase of the horn.

Alexander Rahbari’s My Mother Persia is a cycle of symphonic poems suffused with the rich melodies, rhythms and improvisations of Persian traditional music in which he is profoundly versed both as composer and conductor. Originally written as a violin concerto, Symphonic Poem No. 9 ‘Nohe Khan’ – the name relates to a singer at religious ceremonies – was recast for baritone saxophone in 2018. Symphonic Poem No. 10 ‘Morshed’ vividly explores ritualized song in the context of ‘ancient sport’. Volume 1 is on 8.574064 and Volume 2 on 8.574065. Alexander Rahbari is a remarkable figure in the music world, taking a leading position in the cultural development of his country from a young age, winning numerous awards as a conductor and becoming closely associated with the Berlin Philharmonic orchestra as assistant to Herbert von Karajan. Rahbari has conducted numerous successful Naxos recordings, but this is the world premiere release of his cycle of symphonic poems My Mother Persia.

Recorded with Estonian National Symphony Orchestra (ERSO), under the baton of Mihhail Gerts, Mihkel Poll's new album features the Everest of piano repertoire - Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No.3 along with the Concertino by pianist's compatriot, Eduard Tubin. The release follows the album featuring Artur Lemba's Piano Concerto No.1 recorded equally with ERSO under Neeme Jarvi. This is Mihkel Poll's third album released by DUX Records. Born in 1986 in Estonia, Mihkel Poll studied at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre with Prof Ivari Ilja, recently receiving the PhD in Music, and at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Prof Ronan O'Hora. He has also attended the masterclasses by prof Eliso Virsaladze at the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole in Italy. Mihkel Poll has won several prizes in important international competitions including 1st prize at the Rina Sala Gallo International Piano Competition in Italy, 1st prize at the Tallinn International Piano Competition in Estonia and 1st prize at the Ferrol International Piano Competition in Spain.

The composing career of Simon Bainbridge (born in London in 1952) is spanned by the four chamber works in this album, all of them cast as single narrative spans. The First String Quartet, written when its composer was not yet twenty, blends lyricism and pointillism, rather as if it were recasting abstract poetry in sound; and the recent Second offers a kaleidoscopic tableau of color and nervous energy inspired by visual art. In his Cheltenham Fragments, as the title suggests, Bainbridge uses mosaic technique to build up textures and thematic outlines. And the long lines of the virtuosic Clarinet Quintet generate fleetfooted whirlwinds as they unfold. Linda Merrick and the Kreutzer Quartet worked closely with the composer on the preparation of these recordings.

French pianist Lise de la Salle's new album is an outstanding, shining and subtle concept album built around Bach's music. Lise de la Salle selected pieces of Bach and works composed as a tribute to the giant of Leipzig: Busoni, Liszt, Roussel e.a. Four additional pieces have been commissioned to French classical and jazz pianist Thomas Enhco. Since 2001, Lise de la Salle has enjoyed an impressive international career that has seen her perform in every leading concert hall in Europe, the United States and Asia. She works closely with the conductors Fabio Luisi, James Conion and Osmo Vanska, among others, and has also played under the direction of Ludovic Morlot, James Gaffigan, Sir Andrew Davis, and others. She is regularly invited to perform with orchestras such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the London Symphony Orchestra. Her previous albums have garnered her critical acclaim.

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

Jean Michel Pilc had already planned on coming to Europe for concerts and master classes, and so a studio recording was arranged in the Netherlands. The result of both recordings is Parallel: a double album with two solo piano recordings, conceived in a completely new form, on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. The album is a fascinating and exciting journey into Jean-Michel's realm of composed and improvised music that makes one want to listen to it over and over again. Jean-Michel writes: "Most people believe that growing up and aging goes hand in hand with gaining knowledge and wisdom. It may be comforting to think that life teaches you things and there is often something true about it. However, for me there is a parallel, deeper reality at work. The more I know, the more I have to unlearn. The music of this album- created in the last years, in two very different sessions with the invisible ink of improvisation- deals with this mysterious and constantly growing part of the unknown: create, forget, and recreate."

A student of Rimsky-Korsakov and the teacher of Rachmaninov and Scriabin, Anton Arensky holds a distinguished place in the history of Russian music as both an academic and a composer. For his 1900 ballet Egyptian Nights, based on Pushkin, he chose an exotic theme – the dangerous love of the handsome Amoun for Queen Cleopatra – and sought authentic melodic material in scholarly texts. With his gift for orchestration and color, Arensky fashioned a sensuous and vivid score, featuring a brilliantly conceived series of dances. This was a world premiere recording on its initial release on Marco Polo 8.225028, recorded in1996. Gramophone wrote: ‘The playing is suitably colorful, the recording responsive to that’, as did Fanfare: ‘The Moscow Symphony Orchestra clearly revels in this repertoire, and it plays with spirit and enjoyment.’

REVIEW:

The present disc is one of many recordings originally on Marco Polo that have been re-released on Naxos. Acoustically, Egyptian Nights could use an up-to-date recording, but one cannot cavil about Dmitri Yablonsky’s powerful performance, which derives the maximum excitement from the score. The Moscow Symphony Orchestra plays equally well and the whole production is a feast for any fan of Russian music of the time.

– MusicWeb International

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Goldberg Variations is a contrapuntal tour de force, and one of the pinnacles in the history of the variation genre. Composed ‘to refresh the spirits of music-lovers’, it is a constantly fascinating and deeply enriching evocation of an entire musical universe. This arrangement with two ten-string guitars is a transcription of the original text including later corrections and additional musical indications made by the composer. The additional bass strings of these instruments provide an entire lower octave, giving access to the full range of musical timbres in this eternal masterpiece. Angela Kleger and Dimitar Ivanov founded Duo Synaphé in 2020 to present and record new repertoire for two ten-string guitars. These works were originally written for symphony orchestra, solo piano and other instruments. Having an extra four bass strings, the ten-string guitar offers the striking resonances of an extra octave below the normal guitar. This brings wider flexibility to voicing in arrangements, and retains the extended bass range of piano, harpsichord or other lower range instruments. The nature of these guitars takes classical masterpieces into unknown dimensions of musical expression and sound colors.