Navona Records is proud to announce the re-release of David Tanner's 1988 album The Eloquent Saxophone. Tanner is no Stranger to Navona; his compositions and arrangements can be heard on two other Navona releases: Of Birds and Lemons (2012) and Dashing (2016). This was his first album, featuring him as a performer. It includes two unaccompanied pieces and two sax quartets recorded by multi-tracking, as well as a rich variety of works with accompaniment admirably rendered by pianist Marc Widner. The music ranges from Schumann to a stylized blues by Gene DiNovi. Tanner's musical language is enriched by classical training and a career encompassing rock'n'roll and jazz as well as symphony. Reviewer Denis Armstrong wrote in Music Magazine, "Not long into this recording, one begins to marvel at the sheer joy David Tanner's playing conveys... a dense and rich recording... at times elegant and elegiac, other times ribald and visceral. But the one constant is the joy and clarity of expression." The first track sets the tone: "Serenade comique" is a brief, frantic sax quartet composition that evokes Parisian traffic or perhaps a flock of birds. "La Blues," the other quartet selection, evokes the melancholy of New York in the depth of night. "It is a treat for the listener to hear this feat of multi-tracking done so well," said reviewer Joseph Viola in Saxophone Journal. Each track is in contrast to the one before it; each represents something different and interesting. To quote Music Magazine again, "The Eloquent Saxophone [is] a thoroughly eccentric, invigorating and generous treat."

This third volume of Erik Satie’s complete solo piano music using Satie scholar Robert Orledge’s new Salabert Edition focuses on music composed between 1892-1897, including theatrical scores such as the revolutionary uspud, and the Danses gothiques and famous Vexations written while the composer was hiding from a tempestuous love affair. The period closes with Satie composing in what he called “a more flexible and accessible way withthe final Gnossienne and the six Pieces froides.” Recognized at once as a great interpreter of Liszt’s music, Nicolas Horvath became in recent years one of the most sought after pianists of his generation. Holder of a number of awards, like the First Prize of the Scriabin and the Luigi Nono International Competitions, he frequently organizes events and concerts of unusual length, sometimes over twelve hours, such as Philip Glass complete piano music or Erik Satie’s Vexations.

Telemann was among the most admired and prolific of composers and his compositions encompass virtually all genres and instrumentations known in his lifetime. The ‘Six Ouvertures,’ strangely neglected for many years, reveal his inventive and imaginative writing for solo harpsichord. They contain elements that suggest an amalgam of French and Italianate influences, whether ‘ouverture-suite’ or three-movement concerto or sonata. Also evident, in the central movements, is Telemann’s preference for Polish folk music, of whose ‘true barbaric beauty’ he was an ardent admirer. Gaku Nakagawa was born in 1993 in Japan. He began playing piano at the age of four, and in 2012 entered the University of Tokyo to study philosophy. Without ever having a harpsichord lesson, he became the first prize winner of the 27th YAMANASHI, Japan, international competition for early music in 2014. This is his debut recording.

A New York Times 25 Best Tracks Selection for 2018 - Fanfare

Following acclaimed albums devoted to Britten, baroque lute songs and German lieder, Grammy Award-nominated tenor Nicholas Phan continues to spread his wings with Illuminations, an album featuring compositions by Benjamin Britten, Claude Debussy and Gabriel Faure who were each inspired by the poetry of two nineteenth century French literary titans, Paul Verlaine and his protégé and eventual lover Arthur Rimbaud. The intertwined lives of the French poets and composers manifested themselves in Faure’s impassioned Verlaine-inspired ‘La bonne chanson’ and Debussy’s ‘Ariettes oubliees’ drawn from Verlaine’s ‘Romances sans paroles.’ Just decades later Britten was inspired by Rimbaud’s influential prose-poetry ‘Les Illuminations.’ Critical acclaim for Nicholas Phan has been widespread.



REVIEW:

Britten captures the blend of bizarre, beautiful, decadent, and courtly elements in Rimbaud's symbolist poems. These mingled emotions enliven Mr. Phan’s singing on this recording, starting with the opening “Fanfare,” in which, in trembling voice, he declares that he alone holds the key to this savage parade (of life).

– New York Times

Featuring ten premiere recordings and a number of recently discovered ‘Sins of Old Age’ manuscripts unassigned to specific volumes, this album brings together a notable diversity of genres and instrumentation. They include the catchy ‘Allegretto’ for violin and piano that Rossini used as his musical calling card, the ‘Tarantelle pur sang’ for choir, harmonium, clochette and piano, and a harmonization of the simple folk melody ‘Marlbrough s’en va-t-en guerre’ that transforms it into a little musical gem. The Ars Cantica Choir was established in 1988 in Milan and today, as a body of professional singers, has won a reputation for its versatility and ability to tackle repertoire from the Renaissance to the contemporary.

Monteverdi’s sacred vocal compositions introduced the expression of powerful and personal emotions to the world of church music. While it took him a number of years to find fulfillment in his work, Monteverdi was a revered composer within his lifetime and his music is regarded as revolutionary, marking the change from the Renaissance style to that of the Baroque. This album includes some of the finest works from Monteverdi’s years as director of music at St Mark’s in Venice, published posthumously in 1650 as the ‘Messa a quattro voci et salmi.’ “Pure- and vintage- Monteverdi, starting with a Dixit Dominus and ending, grandly with a version of Beatus Vir, using material we know from the familiar one. Ideal consort singing.” (The Sunday Times) “As always with The Sixteen, we get superb tuning, balanced ensemble work and a lively pace.” (BBC Music Magazine)

This release features a live concert recording from St Petersburg. Beethoven composed a total of eight works for cello and piano, whose sheer joy and ingenuity are hard to beat and are wonderfully captured in this live recording. The French cellist Marc Coppey and Peter Laul, his St Petersburg partner at the piano, perform these works with great character and energy, creating an impeccable, sparkling sound in the popular variations and substantial sonatas. Even in a live situation, the technical perfection of the performers is impressive. As a venue for their "Beethoven marathon", they opted for the Small Hall of the St Petersburg Philharmonia: its historical ambience, steeped in tradition, and the supremely attentive audience create atmosphere as well as inspiration. Both are features of this recording, setting it apart from other complete recordings of these popular works, most of which are studio recordings. The hall's resident Steinway and the recording equipment from the former Melodya studios complete the Saint Petersburg ensemble.

REVIEW:

Coppey and Laul put forward a highly effective case for this great music. Their sound is well balanced, the recording much more satisfying. There seems very little audience noise and no applause, and the players are technically remarkable. These two musicians play together as one, and their sensitivity for when to pause and how to make the most of Beethoven’s music is just as I would wish to play it myself. In a word, these are outstanding interpretations of some of the greatest cello music.

– American Record Guide

In an interview about great conductors with the newspaper Die Welt in 2015, Sir Simon Rattle said of Mariss Jansons, “He’s the best of all of us!” This new release from BR-Klassik focuses on the career of Mariss Jansons, and contains a total of five albums offering a representative cross-section of the classical symphonic repertoire- as well as a cross-section of the repertoire for which the chief conductor of the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks has been highly praised again and again for his outstanding interpretative qualities. Landmarks of great choral music can be found here, as well as milestones in symphonic development and select orchestral songs. The works range from music of the First Viennese School to early 20th-century late romanticism; from Haydn’s “Harmoniemesse” to the Minuet from Haydn’s Symphony Hob. I:88; from Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony, Brahms’ Fouth Symphony and Mahler’s Ninth Symphony to Strauss’ Eine Alpensinfonie.

REVIEW

Jansons’ thoughtful interpretations are consistently clear and often profoundly insightful, and the playing of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra is impressive, whether in purely orchestral performances or with the Bavarian Radio Chorus in the Haydn and the Stravinsky. Considering Jansons’ high productivity, this set can only give a small sample of his many recordings, but fans who have yet to delve into his full repertoire will appreciate this package.

– AllMusic Guide.com

Lucas Debargue’s third recording presents sonatas by Franz Schubert and polish composer Karol Szymanowski (1882 – 1937) Besides recording Schubert's famous Sonatas No.13 & No.14 the pianist continues to dedicate his musicianship to composers and works left in the shadow and presents Karol Szymanowski “I think it makes more sense to devote myself to an astonishing but little-known work, than it does to focus on pieces that people have heard too often.” – Lucas Debargue about Nicolai Medtner’s piano sonata, recorded on his last release Lucas Debargue has always been far off the beaten track, starting with his unusually late musical career to his interpretation of works where he widens the boundaries of the norm “Anyone who complains about uniformity in today’s music business will find the greatest pleasure in Debargue. He is different.” – NDR, Germany. “ Lucas Debargue takes the music beyond the accepted norm, questioning the status quo with a fresh perspective” - San Francisco Classical Voice. “Debargue is fantastically gifted: original, not tamed by any academicism, eccentric to the point of being mannered, but also thrilling as a result of his very personal tone.”– Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung