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Giuseppe Saverio Mercadante was a contemporary of Donizetti and Rossini, and his prolific output of operas proved influential in founding dramatic techniques that were taken on by Verdi. Set in the ancient and besieged city of Carthage, Didone abbandonata is the dramatic and tragic tale of ill-starred lovers whose decisions ultimately place an entire populace in peril. A genuine rarity in the theatre, Didone has strong ties to the 18th century but also points towards the bel canto innovations that were to come. This carefully researched and critically acclaimed production presents the work in the sound and playing style of Mercadante’s time.

The music of Carl Nielsen holds a very special place for Danes, defining the nation's musical voice for over a century and reflecting the soul of Denmark. Nielsen was a violinist from childhood, his early Sonata in G major having 'a scent of Mozartian youth,' while the newly published Romance in G major was dedicated to his first teacher. Mature works include the Second Violin Sonata, 'a work unparalleled in the sonata literature,' and the Prelude, Theme and Variations inspired by Bach's Chaconne for solo violin. This collection represents the first ever recording of Nielsen's complete music for violin solo or with piano.

Boris Lyatoshynsky is seen as the father of twentieth-century Ukrainian music. His compositions brought him not only critical acclaim, but also into conflict with the Soviet authorities. The remarkable First Symphony draws on the romantic traditions of Tchaikovsky and Wagner, and has at its heart a dramatic and tragic central movement originally entitled Lyric Poem. The symphonic ballad Grazyhna is one of Lyatoshynsky’s true masterworks, expressing the highly charged emotions of sorrow and heroism in Adam Mickiewicz’s inspirational poem. This is the first of three discs comprising the complete Lyatoshynsky symphonies.

Jewels indeed. And the singing ain't bad either. This is another in a very satisfying group of recent Christmas choral discs that strive to offer some terrific, rarely recorded "gems" along with a welcome mix of familiar--but mostly not too familiar--pieces. Beginning with Bach's "Break forth, O beauteous heav'nly light" from the Christmas Oratorio, the program proceeds with hardly a breath to Richard Dirksen's earth-awakening setting of William Austin's poem Chanticleer (why isn't this piece performed more?) and goes on to blend more Bach (Wachet auf) with Howells (A Spotless Rose), Reger (Maria Wiegenlied), more Bach (Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern), Mendelssohn (There shall a star come out of Jacob), and a regular carol arrangement or two--Here We Come a-Wassailing (Rutter), Deck the Hall ( a jazzy 7/8 version by James McKelvy). Well, perhaps Elizabeth Poston's Jesus Christ the Apple Tree is getting a little overworked, but it's beautifully sung and this a cappella setting fits nicely into the overall program, which also includes organ and orchestra. Soprano Janice Chandler sings nice solo versions of He's got the whole world in His hands and Sweet little Jesus boy (with piano accompaniment), and there's a cute little twist on Away in a Manger, written by Edmund Walters--it begins with a countermelody, sung by the women, that's nothing like the original tune, which we don't hear until the end, hummed by the men's voices.


Organist J. Reilly Lewis treats us to a brilliant performance of Bach's chorale prelude BWV 615 (In Dir ist Freude), and another Bach piece, O Jesulein süss (harmonized by Martin Shaw) gets a tender and lovely a cappella rendition by the choir. This is a very well-disciplined ensemble--and it has to be in order for this many voices (around 100) to sing with such precision and clarity. (The liner notes list only sopranos and altos--I swear there are lots of men singing too!) The sound, optimally recorded in an ideal church setting, is excellent. [11/3/2000]
--David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

Alexander Mosolov was one of the foremost composers of the Russian avant-garde during the1920s. His music was considered ‘a testament to the revolutionary spirit of his time’, but the legacy of his fame from that period now rests solely on The Iron Foundry. Soviet-era politics brought persecution and imprisonment, and these two recently rediscovered works were both composed after his ‘rehabilitation’. The Harp Concerto– a piece worthy of a place in the mainstream repertoire – is Mosolov’s ‘response’ to the concerto by his teacher Glière, and is heard here in its first complete performance. Coupled with the first recording of his final colorful Fifth Symphony, these are fascinating additions to the corpus of neglected Soviet-era works.

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Weber’s ‘great heroic-romantic’ opera Euryanthe premiered in Vienna in 1823. It concerns the wronged Euryanthe, victim of a plot to establish her unfaithfulness, but her love imbues her with colossal strength which Weber characterizes with acute psychological insight. Through-composed and dispensing with spoken dialogue, its chivalric plot provides opportunities for a series of arias, ariosos, duets, cavatinas and choruses that contain some of his greatest operatic music. This production employs the opera’s original version with a few, very minor cuts.

Daniel-Francois-Esprit Auber’s music radiates both his amiable personality and the Parisian elegance of his times. The huge success of his operas resulted in a popularity for these overtures that rivaled that of Rossini, who was an early influence. Auber’s brilliant and energetic style infuses tales of romance both rustic and aristocratic, with moods ranging from dramatic heroism to dashing ballroom dances- all portrayed with the signature charm that made him a standard bearer of musical stylishness and good taste. Auber’s opera La Sirene can be found on the Naxos label as well. This is the first volume of a project to record all the overtures to his 31 operas-comiques, seven operas, three drames lyriques and seven other stage works.

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REVIEW:

The present disc covers Auber's early period from 1813 to 1826, and, with the exception of La Neige, ou Nouvel Eginard, all are receiving their World Premiere Recording. So we open the disc with Le Macon from 1825, and by far his most successful of that era, remaining on French and German stages for the next hundred years. From one extreme to the other with Le Timide, ou Le Nouveau Seducteur that had just a handful of performances before descending into oblivion. As you go through the sixteen tracks you will find pleasing music played with a suitable elegance, the performances using the bouncy tempos requested in Auber’s metronome markings. That we have these performing scores, I gather we owe a debt of gratitude to the conductor, Dario Salvi, who also obtains neat performances from his Czech orchestra.

– David's Review Corner (David Denton)

Of all English oratorios Handel’s Messiah has always been the most overwhelmingly popular. It is the least theatrical of his oratorios and the most purely sacred in its choice of subject matter. The vivid choral writing- there are more choruses in Messiah than in any other Handel oratorio- coupled with the expressive density of the solo arias, have ensured its status as one of the greatest choral masterpieces in the Western canon. Since winning the Leopold Stokowski Conducting Award and conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra, Edward Polochick has attracted international attention as an orchestral, operatic, and choral conductor. He is the founding Artistic Director of Concert Artists of Baltimore since 1987. He is also in his 20th season as Music Director of Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra in Nebraska. From 1979-1999 he was the Director of the Baltimore Symphony Chorus, and since 1979 he has been at the Peaboedy Conservatory as Associate Conductor of the Orchestra, Director of Choral Ensembles, and Opera Conductor.

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REVIEW:

What we have here can be described as a ‘popular’ approach, using a large number of performers with a conventional modern chamber orchestra, and chorus capable of lifting the roof off the concert hall, as they almost do in Hallelujah and in a triumphal Worthy is the lamb. You will enjoy the passion he infuses into the music throughout, and he obtains a neat participation from his Baltimore musicians.

Jennifer O’Loughin's account of O daughter of Zion has joy as she negotiates the fast running passages, and there's a deep sincerity in her I know my redeemer Liveth. The tenor, Nicholas Phan, tastefully decorates his arias and slows down proceedings in his deeply felt account of the recit and aria, Behold, and see if there be any sorrow. Sidney Outlaw’s bass voice warms as the performance progresses and eventually gives an enjoyable The trumpet Shall Sound.

– David's Review Corner (David Denton)

Pauline and Paul Viardot were members of the famous Garcia family, Pauline's father the world renowned operatic tenor Manuel, and her son Paul a violin prodigy who rubbed shoulders with Europe's elite and became a friend and colleague of Saint-Saens. Pauline's 'Six Morceaux' were composed as a gift to her young son. Beyond his 'Sonatas,' much of Paul Viardot's music consists of the short 'salon' works on this recording. They are considered "a treasure of melodies" by Reto Kuppel, and an evocation of 1920s Paris and French elegance. Violinist Reto Kuppel has performed throughout Europe and the United States and has appeared as a soloist with many German orchestras, including the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Symphony Orchestra, the Concertino Hamburg, the Ensemble Haar, and the Augsburg Philharmonic Orchestra. He studied with Andreas Rohn at the Hochschule fur Musik und Theater in Hamburg, and with Dorothy DeLay at The Juilliard School in New York. His solo albums have been highly acclaimed by both critics and audiences.

This third volume of the first complete recording of the Guerra Manuscript, a recently discovered anthology of seventeenth-century Spanish secular songs, features tonos, works for solo voice and accompanying instruments, by some of the greatest Spanish composers of that time such as Juan Hidalgo and José Marín. + These are framed by instrumental works by other composers of the period to set them in a richer context.

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Enrique Granados is known for composing some of the most popular Spanish piano masterpieces. Along with these famous compositions, he also wrote a sequence of orchestral works. Marcha de los vencidos, which is the first track featured on this album, evokes the emotion of the painful march of "the defeated" from a lost battle. This album is the first in a series to be released in honor of the centenary of the composer’s death. The compositions on this album are performed by the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Pablo Gonzalez.

Patrick Gallois' contributions to Naxos' Haydn series have been some of the best, and this latest release is no exception. Symphonies 9-12 are a nicely varied lot, and rare enough on disc to make this release very useful to collectors looking to plug a gap in their Haydn discographies. The first and last have three movements (No. 9 ending with a minuet); No. 10 has the traditional four movements, and so does No. 11, but it begins with an Adagio (so-called "church-sonata form"). No. 12 features a very impressive, dramatic, minor-key Adagio that lasts some eight minutes, and has more than enough musical substance to justify its length, and the repeats.

The performances are stylish, lively, and perfectly played by the Sinfonia Finlandia, and my only criticism (once again) concerns the excessively obtrusive continuo part. Haydn didn't ask for it, the music doesn't need it, and the problem with modern performances, even purportedly "authentic" ones, is that the harpsichord player is always tempted to do too much, to fill out the part like a genuine Baroque figured bass, whereas we pretty much know that by this time any keyboard participation was likely limited to occasional bits of harmonic filler or stiffening of rhythm for ensemble purposes. This is very much a matter of individual taste, and certainly the problem, if it be such, isn't serious enough to undermine enjoyment of these well-recorded performances.

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Some of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies' most imposing and important music for solo instruments can be heard in his cycle of ten Strathclyde Concertos, composed for, and premiered by the soloists of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. The ingeniously structured Seventh Concerto, for double bass, is both tense and haunting. The more conventionally laid out Eighth Concerto, for bassoon, is by turns playful and lyrical, and features an important role for timpani. A Spell for Green Corn was written to celebrate the 21st anniversary of the SCO and Maxwell Davies' 60th birthday.

This album of French piano rarities features seldom-heard and recently discovered works by composers who had an influence on Pierre Boulez, as well as the premiere recording of Boulez’s Prélude, Toccata et Scherzo. This large-scale early work looks back on virtuosic Romantic music, while at the same time exploring the new compositional styles that Boulez would subsequently embrace.

Among the rarities is a posthumously discovered piano study by Debussy, a reconstructed birdsong work by Messiaen, and a tiny masterpiece by Ravel found in a notebook.

Ralph van Raat has been fascinated by classical music of the 20th century since the age of 14. Although his repertoire ranges from Bach to Boulez, his primary focus has always been on composers dating from Debussy, Bartók and Ives to present-day masters. Van Raat helps audiences identify with modern day composers by adhering to a classical approach: he firmly believes that a strong sense of classical structure as well as a refinement of tone is essential in conveying the logic and poetry of any music. This has not gone unrecognized: he is the recipient of a substantial number of national and international awards, many composers have written solo works for him, and he has performed over 50 piano concertos with orchestras worldwide.

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REVIEW:

In addition to other solo piano writing from Boulez, van Raat’s new album shows his lustrous way of playing lesser-heard gems by Debussy, Ravel and Messiaen. Given this repertoire, the album’s title, “French Piano Rarities,” makes plenty of sense. Yet it doesn’t do justice to the worldliness that informs this pianist’s process, no matter which tradition he is exploring.

– New York Times (Seth Colter Walls)

Arvo Pärt's justly popular 'Tabula Rasa' boasts the style by which we have come to know this appealingly distinctive Estonian composer. He arrived at this later style, however, only in the late 1970s, and his path leading to that point is strewn with fascinating compositions, two of which are included here.
Marking his departure from strict serialism, the 1964 'Collage über BACH' takes its inspiration from Baroque forms while nodding to tonality. The entire piece has a somber cast, from the opening "Toccata" movement's angular edginess (reminiscent of Bernard Hermann's music for 'Psycho') to the lovely "Sarabande" that turns darkly discordant (which features a very fine unnamed oboe soloist) to the agitated grimness of the closing "Ricercare."
If 'Collage' reminds one of a Hitchcock film, then Pärt's Symphony No. 3 (1971), in its neo-Romantic spin on both (and often alternately) medieval and Renaissance polyphony, sounds like a soundtrack for a film on an Arthurian legend. The most effective piece is, indeed, 'Tabula Rasa' in which Pärt brilliantly and idiosyncratically pays homage to Vivaldi by locating the seeds of his own minimalist aesthetic in Baroque figurations and suspension-resolutions.

This new release is part of the Best Loved series, covering a substantial selection of iconic and entertaining works from the Naxos catalogue. This series will be accompanied by supplementary online playlists. Awesome Organ includes tracks from popular releases such as Eric Lebrun’s recordings of Jehan Alain’s organ works, (Vol. 1, 8.553632), Wolfgang Rübsam’s Pachelbel series (8.554380) and Dupré’s Variations sur un Noël from Ji-Yoen Choi’s debut recording (8.555367).