Listen to the Naxos Podcast to learn more about this release

Over the last few years American composer George Tsontakis, winner of the Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition, has crafted three distinctive and exciting additions to the contemporary concerto repertoire. Anasa, for clarinet and orchestra, combines elements of the Klezmer tradition with dance themes inspired by the lyra and lauto, traditional Cretan instruments. In True Colors the trumpet journeys in harmonically vivid, jazz-tinged directions, while Unforgettable balances the meditative with the playful, moving from ballad to phantasmagoria in a double concerto of drama and drive.

Listen to the Naxos Podcast to learn more about this release

These three works represent the first recording for Naxos by the National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic, which is composed of elite conservatory students from across the United States and abroad. The chosen works reflect the richness and variety of the American repertoire. A work of immense poignancy and power, John Corigliano's Symphony No. 1 is a commemoration of friends of the composer who died during the 1980s and '90s. Michael Torke's Bright Blue Music evokes rich lyricism couched in the composer's favorite key of D Major. The suite from Copland's Appalachian Spring is one of the great, quintessential American works.

Review:

Large-limbed, vivid, and intense, John Corigliano’s 1989 Symphony No 1 commemorates the Aids crisis, memorialising some of the composer’s friends who succumbed at a time when diagnosis meant death. It has also stood the test of time simply as good music, here performed superbly.

– Sunday Times

A lifelong friend of Prokofiev and frequently performed outside of Soviet Russia in his lifetime, Nicolay Myaskovsky is best known today for his 27 symphonies. His lyrical and intensely passionate First Cello Sonata was one of his first important works, finished not long after completing his studies in St Petersburg. Premiered by Rostropovich, the Second Cello Sonata became immediately popular amongst cellists for its imaginative blend of folk-music styles with a sweet Romanticism that recalls Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov. The award-winning duo of Kehayova and Miller complete this recording with the perfect encore – Rimsky-Korsakov’s melodious Serenade.

Migrations provides a generous view of Derek Bermel's superb craftsmanship and eclectic style, in which classical forms, world music, jazz, blues and American folk music create a mix that reaches directly into the body and the heart. Commisioned by Wynton Marsalis, Migration Series has it's roots in African American music, it's impeccable counterpoint and biting rhythms expressed through orchestration that sounds like a city coming to life. Mar de Setembro was inspired by Luciana Souza's bell-toned voice and the intense feelings of Portuguese saudade, while A Shout, A Whisper, and A Trace honors Bartok's last years in New York, referring to the Concerto for Orchestra as well as to jazz and Balkan music.

Classical Music

Joan Tower is widely regarded as one of today’s most important American composers. The works heard here in their world premiere recordings are part of a growing legacy that one pundit has described as “The Power of Tower.” Strike Zones is tailor-made for percussionist Evelyn Glennie’s dazzling technique and impeccable musicianship. The work’s orchestration is crafted to enhance a stage filled with percussion instruments – while in Small they are contained on a single table, the soloist working like a brilliant chef. The piano concerto Still/Rapids was inspired by the glistening beauty and powerful force of water, and Ivory and Ebony, written as a test piece for an international piano competition, is infused with Tower’s “high-energy” signature.

REVIEW:

Another American Classics release features the music of contemporary composer Joan Tower. These fabulous premiere recordings give a good representation of the range of music Tower has been producing over recent years. It is particularly good to hear performances from Evelyn Glennie as one of a cast of top rate musicians here. The earliest work, Strike Zones, dates from 2001 and the latest, Small from 2016. Both these feature percussion. Still/Rapids combines piano and orchestra with the final piece, Ivory & Ebony being a test piece for an international piano competition.

-- Lark Reviews

The Prince Regent's band, featuring noted brass players, make their recording debut on Resonous Classics with a celebration of the legendary Distin Family. During the mid-nineteenth century the Distin Family blazed a traila cross Europe and North America performing countless concerts and promoting new and exciting designs of brass instruments. The Distins originally performed on a mixture of natural and keyed brass instruments but halfway through their career, thanks to a chance meeting with Adolphe Sax in Paris in 1844, they adopted the new valved brass instruments, and in particular the new "saxhorn", with which their names became synonymous. In "The Celebrated Distin Family", period brass specialists The Prince Regent's Band have recreated the lost Distin Family repertoire, performing on their unique collection of original saxhorns and other fascinating brass instruments of the period.

Winner of a Pulitzer Prize and a Grammy® Award, Christopher Rouse is one of America’s most prominent composers of orchestral music, creating a body of work perhaps unequaled in its emotional intensity. Conceived from the start as differing from a traditional piano concerto, Seeing brings together seemingly disparate elements to explore the notion of ‘sanity’ through the music of Robert Schumann and Skip Spence, swinging between extremes of consonance and dissonance, stability and instability, to create a disorientating and hallucinatory work seen through the lens of mental illness. Kabir Padavali or ‘Kabir Songbook’ presents a range of the great Indian poet’s religious concerns, from extraordinarily beautiful ecstasy to impishly humorous allegories.

-----

Review:

Trevigne is nothing less than sensational. She is assured in her presentation, and possesses a warm and, yes, voluptuous soprano that is perfectly matched to this material. Her performance shows a level of commitment to the composer’s intentions that only the best singers of contemporary music can command.

– Fanfare

Grammy Award-winning composer Michael Daugherty explores the relationships between machines, humanity and nature in three unique concertos. ‘Dreamachine’ for solo percussion and orchestra is a colorful tribute to the imagination of inventors who dreamed of new machines, both real and surreal. The flute concerto ‘Trail of Tears’ dramatizes the tragic governmental forced relocation of Native Americans in 1838 and meditates on how the human spirit discovers ways to deal with adversity. ‘Reflections on the Mississippi’ for tuba and orchestra is a musical voyage down the legendary Mississippi River from Iowa to Louisiana. The Albany Symphony, conducted by David Alan Miller, delivers mesmerizing performances by three outstanding women soloists: Grammy Award-winning percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie, flutist extraordinaire Amy Porter, and Carol Jantsch, the remarkable principal tubist of The Philadelphia Orchestra.

REVIEW:

Not typically known as a composer of virtuoso music hitherto, Michael Daugherty here writes splendid parts for all three soloists in these concertos, but percussionist Evelyn Glennie’s in Dreamachine is simply breathtaking. And yet, there’s more to this album than Glennie. Daugherty has been expanding his characteristic “Stravinsky plus pop culture” musical language, and although all the music here is typically programmatic, you might not guess that he was the composer. The opening flute concerto, Trail of Tears, applies cinematic techniques to that tragic event with unexpected and convincing results, all the while merging those with virtuoso flute writing. And the evocative tuba concerto, "Reflections on the Mississippi" is a much-needed expansion of the concerto literature for that instrument. With fine engineering from a pair of spaces in the Troy, New York area backing capable performances from the Albany Symphony under David Alan Miller, this is an unusually strong Daugherty release.

-- AllMusic.com (James Manheim)

The latest batch of colorfully orchestrated, imaginatively conceived orchestral works by this GRAMMY Award winning composer are concertante pieces from 2010: Trail of Tears, which is a meditation on the brutal 1838 relocation of Native Americans and the flute a fittingly haunting commentator; 2013's Reflections which goes down the famous river in four movements (“Mist”, “Fury”, “Prayer” and “Steamboat”) and the big, 34-minute Dreamachine of 2014, the most stylistically heterogenous work here from the eerie and impressionistic “Electric Eel” movement which sounds like the aquarium movement from Carnival of the Animals on acid or peyote to the rock-band drum solo in the “Vulcan’s Forge” finale.

-- Records International

This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.
Also available on standard DVD

Benjamin Britten’s last opera Death in Venice is based on the novella by Thomas Mann. It was first performed in England in 1973. The astringent score is marked by some haunting soundscapes of 'ambiguous Venice'. The boy Tadzio is portrayed by a silent dancer, gamelan-like percussion accompaniment. The music of the opera is precise, direct and movingly understated. Britten had been contemplating the novella for many years and began work in September 1970 with approaches to Piper and to Golo Mann, son of the author. Because of agreements between Warner Brothers and the estate of Thomas Mann for the production of Luchino Visconti’s 1971 film, Britten was advised not to see the movie when it was released. According to Colin Graham, director of the first production of the opera, some colleagues of the composer who did see the film found the relationship between Tadzio and Aschenbach "too sentimental and salacious". This contributed to the decision that Tadzio and his family and friends would be portrayed by non-speaking dancers. Themes in the work of "formalism in art and the perilous dignity of the acclaimed artist" have been noted.

Marlin Miller, tenor – Gustav von Aschenbach; Scott Hendricks, baritone – Traveller and other roles;François Bittar, countertenor – Voice of Apollo; Allessandro Riga, dancer – Tadzio;
La Fenice Theatre Orchestra and Chorus; Bruno Bartoletti, conductor
DIRECTION & COSTUMES: Pierluigi Pizzi
CHOREOGRAPHY: Gheorghe Iancu

Recorded Live at Teatro La Fenice, Venice 2008
NTSC; All Regions
Running time 155 min.
Sung in English
Subtitles: Italian, German, French, Spanish

The 1921 musical comedy, Shuffle Along, was a soaringly successful Broadway show. Contained inside this show are songs that would eventually become staples in the repertoire, such as “I’m Just Wild About Harry” and “Love Will Find A Way.” This musical also served a civil purpose. As an all black musical, the show desegregated theaters all across the country. This album is being release alongside the April 2016 revival of the show, and features Tony Award-winning stars such as Brian Stokes Mitchell and Audra McDonald.

REVIEWS:

This fascinating release combines original recordings made in the acoustic era by members of the Shuffle Along company in conjunction with later performances, primarily by Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake, who wrote all the music and lyrics. It is, of course, by no means perfect, but it is representative of what was considered a landmark show in the history of black theater and the first “jazz” musical to hit Broadway...

Singer and lyricist Sissle was originally a drum major and vocalist for Lieutenant Jim Europe’s “Hellfighters” 369th Infantry Band in World War I...not even the Original Dixieland Jazz Band had yet made an appearance in New York. To them, jazz was what we now call “hot ragtime.”

Nevertheless, Shuffle Along remains a vitally important historical moment in the history of black entertainment. It was the first all-black show to have a wide appeal to white audiences, first gaining attention at the Howard Theatre in Washington for two weeks, then moving to the 63rd Street Theater in New York City in May before racking up 504 performances(!) at the Cort Theater on 48th Street. The cast included several names that would become famous over the next few years such as Adelaide Hall, Florence Mills (who replaced Gertrude Saunders after the first year), Fredi Washington and Paul Robeson—none of whom recorded anything from the show!—and a very young Josephine Baker in the chorus line.

-- The Art Music Lounge

CORIGLIANO Conjurer 1. Vocalise 2 • David Alan Miller, cond; 1 Evelyn Glennie (perc); 2 Hila Plitmann (sop); 2 Mark Baechle (electronics); Albany SO • NAXOS 8.559757 (57:43)


When he was first asked to write a percussion concerto, John Corigliano was reluctant. Percussion concertos he had heard too often sounded “like orchestral pieces with an extra-large percussion section,” with little or none of the interaction between soloists and ensemble which is the hallmark of the form. The problem was the very nature of many percussion instruments, which produce no discernable pitch on which to build melodic material. One answer has been to limit the solo line to pitched percussion, and some composers have quite successfully created concertos for marimba or xylophone. In Conjurer (2007), Corigliano has done that one better, creating a Concerto that uses a large range of percussion instruments, pitched and unpitched, in which the melodic material is introduced— conjured as the title suggests—by the percussionist and then developed by the orchestra and soloist, much as would happen in any solo concerto.


The trick is the clever use of sequences in which pitches are implied for the unpitched instruments. It would be merely clever, though, if Corigliano had not succeeded in his real goal. This he has done brilliantly, not only creating exciting soundscapes of a dizzying variety of percussion instruments, but also using those sounds to create real music with emotional and dramatic depth. In this, he is fortunate to have the services of that most musical of percussion virtuosos, Evelyn Glennie, who plays all of the many instruments with great subtlety, or dazzling élan, as the situation requires.


The work is divided into three movements, each preceded by an extended cadenza in which the thematic material is revealed and presented to the string orchestra. Each movement showcases a particular percussion family: wood, metal, and skin. The character of the melodic material created by each family is part of the genius of the work. I will not spoil the fun of the discovery, but I will state that the movement in which tenderness and mystery predominate does not come from the family one might instinctively expect. Further delight arises when the composer uses his strings to create percussive effects to accompany the melodic lines of the percussion instruments. I cannot but imagine that we will be hearing this work a lot, as every percussionist with the chops will want a shot at this work. It’s a tour de force for the soloist, and a musical work of real merit.


The accompanying work, which dates from eight years earlier, finds Corigliano experimenting with a different sort of sonority—that of the human voice—and with the use of electronics to enhance and augment it. Commissioned by Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic, the wordless Vocalise begins with a soprano voice—the pure and very lovely voice of Hila Plitmann—with a few instrumentalists in the acoustic realm. Corigliano then gradually begins to amplify it, as electronic effects add to the accompaniment, eventually enlarging the voice into a Wizard of Oz-like presence dominating an augmented orchestra climax of Straussian dimensions. The work ends as quietly as it begins, but with the voice subsumed into the echoes of the electronic processing, which, as Corigliano describes it, “gently surround the audience.”


Mark Baechle is credited with producing and performing the electronics, and the sound design—an essential part of this work—is credited to Teese Gohl and Angie Teo. (Such things are very much the creative work of humans, not “soulless machines.”) David Alan Miller and the Albany Symphony Orchestra, usually heard on the Albany label, provide impressive accompaniment to the superb soloists. The recording of Conjurer was made in the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, with the exemplary results we have come to expect from that venue. Vocalise was recorded at the Experimental Media Performing Arts Center—who knew there was such a thing outside of Paris?—of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, also in Troy and with an equally fine outcome. Anyone with any interest at all in contemporary composition or exemplary percussion playing will want to hear this release.


FANFARE: Ronald E. Grames

Merry performs delightful arrangements of holiday chirping favorites on the harp and adds relaxing sound effects like chimes, crickets and children's laughter.

Classical Music

This program represents American orchestral music in all of it's verve and expressive variety. Following the sensational success of Rhapsody in Blue, Gershwin's Concerto in F was his first foray away from jazz bands into the concert hall, recorded here for the first time in a new critical edition by Timothy Freeze based on the composer's own notation and performances. John Harbison's Remembering Gatsby is a foxtrot that evokes the sonorities of1920s dance bands, while Joan Tower's Sequoia reflects her fascination with these silent giants of the tree world. Walter Piston's contribution to the development of 20th-century American music cannot be underestimated, and his Fifth Symphony successfully blends twelve-tone modernity with reflective profundity and a finale that evokes a spirit of joy and optimism.

The music of Glenn Miller's orchestra was central to the style and atmosphere of the Swing Era and is inextricably associated with the Allied victory in WWII, his hits keeping people's spirits up on both sides of the Atlantic, with Miller himself becoming part of the war effort until his mysterious disappearance in 1944. Such was his popularity that in the period of less than a decade from his launching his orchestra in the mid-30s through to his demise, he had over 120 hits, both with his instrumental classics and with the new songs of the time. This great value124-track 5-CD set comprises just about all of recordings on the Columbia, Brunswick, Bluebird, Victor and RCA-Victor labels which are listed as hits in standard industry sources, many from the era after the launch of the Billboard record sales charts in 1940. It features an extraordinary tally of 21 No. 1s, including "A String of Pearls", "(I've Got a Gal In) Kalamazoo", "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree", "Moonlight Cocktail", "Chattanooga Choo Choo", "Tuxedo Junction", "In the Mood", "Blueberry Hill", "Fools Rush In" and many more. The featured vocalists include Ray Eberle, Marion Hutton, Tex Beneke, Kathleen Lane, Jack Lathrop, Dorothy Claire, Paula Kelly, Skip Nelson and The Modernaires. It's a substantial and entertaining showcase for one of the most important orchestras of the times, and an enormously evocative journey through the popular music landscape of a remarkable era in modern history.

Sepia proudly presents it's third amazing set of music by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra, a collection that a new generation of Miller fans have asked us to bring to CD. All of the selections were performed live on the radio, direct from the Paradise Restaurant, Glen Island Casino, the Meadowbrook, the Café Rouge of the Hotel Pennsylvania, and elsewhere. Included are memorable renditions of This Time the Dream's On Me, I Got Rhythm, A Handful of Stars, Jersey Bounce, I Guess I'll Have to Dream the Rest, My Buddy, The Lamp Is Low, and over 40 more ballads, swing tunes, and novelties featuring Miller's vocalists Ray Eberle, Marion Hutton, Tex Beneke, and The Modernaires. Of course, the selections begin with Moonlight Serenade and end with Slumber Song, his opening and closing themes, respectively. In fantastic sound quality and complete with interesting notes, band personnel, dates, and broadcast locations.

In March 2011 when the 2-CD set '75 Glenn Miller Masterpieces' (SEPIA1165) was created by combining a keepsake album of some of his finest broadcast performances, 'For the Very First Time', with a dozen choice tracks from two landmark "Limited Edition" anthologies, fans were delighted. Now, in response to requests from around the world, Sepia happily gathers the remaining 80 wonderful air checks from both "Limited Edition" sets for this new 3 CD package. This fabulous collection, lovingly presented in remastered sound and with original artwork and other archival images, adds the production history and little-known trivia about the "Limited Edition" albums, plus a discography which corrects many names, dates, or other details.

Tenor saxophonist & trumpeter are recorded here in 1967 in Manchester, England, feat. Al Gay, John Barnes, Roy Williams, Jim Douglas, Ron Rae & Lennis Hastings on 11 tracks.

Miller and His American Air Forces Training Command Band gave these broadcast performances in '43 and '44-and they haven't been heard since! Johnny Desmond, Tony Martin and the Crew Chiefs sing as you hear I'll Be Around; My Blue Heaven; Paper Doll; Blue Champagne; Going My Way?; Moondreams, and 14 more.

Tenor saxophonist with pianist Varro's trio: Ray Leatherwood-bass & Gene Estes-drums.

Al Miller has assembled a full house of Chicago talent for your listening pleasure on his first album. Not only does this stacked deck feature Miller's triple threat talent as harpist, guitarist and vocalist, it boasts the formidable presence of some of the hottest blues artists from the windy city circuit - Willie Kent, Dave Specter, Tad Robinson and Steve Freund. (Previously deleted:3/1/04. Original release date:6/27/95)

Harmonica player Al Miller brings in three guitar aces to help him create this unique blues album: John Primer, Dave Specter & Billy Flynn. But Al doesn't just play harp. Whether he is wailing away on harmonica, singing, writing songs, or providing guitar accompaniment, Al imbues every aspect of his involvement in the music with feeling, which, as every blues fan knows, is what the blues is all about. Al sings most of the songs however John Primer sings lead on three. Also in the band are Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, Kenny Smith, Barrelhouse Chuck, Ken Saydak and others. 17 songs in all including the previously unissued "Blizzard".

VAGABOND

As relationships evolve, a special language can develop between partners. This language can foster new ways of approaching syntax and messages that have been often repeated. The duo of drummer Allison Miller and pianist Carmen Staaf found their voices together with repeated, enthusiastic involvement in a variety of musical settings. // The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic made it necessary for social distancing necessary in all aspects of life. Miller and Staaf's response to this distancing was to heighten their intimacy through music. Their new recording, Nearness, shows just how much their bond has grown and their creativity has blossomed.