The ‘My First’ album series from Naxos is the ideal springboard for a lifelong journey through classical music. Each selection is carefully tailored for younger listeners and includes famous tracks as well as unexpected gems. The booklet is full of information on every piece of music. Unique and imaginative, these CDs will open a door to a wonderful world that children and parents can discover together.

CONTENTS:

• My First CLASSICAL MUSIC Album
• My First MOZART Album
• My First BEETHOVEN Album
• My First TCHAIKOVSKY Album
• My First PIANO Album
• My First VIOLIN Album
• My First BALLET Album
• My First LULLABY Album
• My First ORCHESTRA Album

Naxos, the world's leading classical music group, supports the Alzheimer's Association with the release of the Purple Classics series. Each release in this new series of 10 recordings features approximately 2 hours of classical music on 2 CDs. For every CD sold through June 23, 2017, Naxos will donate $.50 to the Alzheimer's Association, with a minimum donation of $25,000,to advance their efforts in Alzheimer's care, support and research.

Includes work(s) by Ludwig van Beethoven, Frédéric Chopin, Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Giuseppe Verdi.

Rhapsody is classical favorites for relaxing and dreaming. Performed by such great orchestras as Accademia Ziliniana; Budapest Symphony Orchestra; Capella Istropolitana; Concentus Hungaricus; London Virtuosi; Nicolaus Esterhazy Sinfonia and Salzburg Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra. Also appearing are the Budapest Rossini Ensemble, Budapest Schubert Ensemble and Kodaly Quartet. You will hear works from Bach, Albinoni, Chopin, Mozart and more.

Beethoven wrote nine symphonies, the first heralding the new century, in 1800, and the last completed in 1824. Although he made few changes to the composition of the orchestra itself, adding, when occasion demanded, one or two instruments more normally found in the opera-house, he expanded vastly the traditional form, developed in the time of Haydn and Mozart, reflecting the personal and political struggles of a period of immense change and turbulence. The first performance of the Symphony in D minor, Opus 125, took place at the Karntnertor Theatre on 7th May, 1824, after a great deal of wrangling over the whole matter, and was a tremendous success with a public that Beethoven thought he had lost to Rossini. The composer, too deaf to direct the performance, indicated the tempi of each movement, the real conductor Umlauf having instructed singers and players to pay no attention to Beethoven, who could hear nothing of the proceedings. The work is scored for pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, trumpets and drums, with four French horns and the usual strings, to which the composer added three trombones, a double bassoon, a piccolo, triangle, cymbals and bass drum. The symphony was commissioned and paid for by the Philharmonic Society of London, but was dedicated by Beethoven to the King of Prussia, Friedrich Wilhelm III. The last movement provides a necessary link between the purely instrumental world of the rest of the symphony and the great setting of Schiller's words. There is an abrupt outburst from the orchestra, now joined by the double bassoon, followed at once by a baritone recitative, an abjuration of orchestral convention and an exhortation to sing a song of joy. This is followed by the famous theme, in fact structurally the principal theme of a rondo, that is to be varied in so many ways. The baritone is joined by the chorus and then by the other three soloists in it's declaration of human brotherhood.

Includes work(s) by Ludwig van Beethoven.

Beethoven was a musical giant. He wasn't taller or fatter than everyone else, but his music is big and his name is important. Beethoven is like the Olympic champion of classical music.

Includes work(s) by various composers.

The four works on this recording are at once typical of Hofmann's flute concertos and at the same time strongly individual in character. D3 was advertised for sale in the Breitkopf Catalogue in 1767; it was probably composed at least a year or two earlier. Although only two copies of the work survive -one in Regensburg and one Prague - it's appearance in both the Breitkopf Catalogue and the Ringmacher Catalogue (Berlin, 1773) suggests that it circulated fairly widely during the I8th century. The work's most unusual feature is the Tempo di Menuet finale otherwise unknown in Hofmann's flute concertos. A significant number of Hofmann's works survive in a single source including many of the flute concertos. G3 presents a unique problem since only the autograph score is extant and there is no evidence from contemporary thematic catalogues that any other copies ever existed. What is even more remarkable, however, is that in the archive in which the autograph is preserved; the Furst Thurn und Taxis'sche Hofbibliothek in Regensburg - there are no performing parts- While it is possible that these did exist at some time and have been lost it must remain a possibility, however remote, that the work was never performed.

Hofmann: Flute Concertos, Vol. 1

The Haydn symphonies with numbers in the 70s don't appear often in the concert hall or on disc, making Volume 25 of the continuing Naxos survey of these works particularly useful. The performances, by Béla Drahos and the Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia, were recorded and edited in 20-bit digital sound, which affords considerable sonic gains over previous issues from this source--though don't forget that Naxos is using several different ensembles, conductors, and recording teams in this exploration, so results vary widely. But throughout this disc, Drahos secures effective and stylish results, and the orchestral playing is of an impressively high order of expertise.


Symphonies 70 and 71 date from 1779-80, and each has unique features that Drahos doesn't overlook. For example, in No. 70's opening allegro Haydn sets his brief but highly concentrated development as a terse, jagged stretto, a highly progressive and "modern" technique in its day, and Drahos dissects the off-beat exchanges with an edgy angularity that's as aptly disturbing today as it must have been for Haydn's first audiences. Drahos also vividly captures the contrast between the ceremonial opening, complete with trumpets and drums, and the dark, severe middle section. The same severity extends to the weird canonic andante, its inverted counterpoint made doubly sinister owing to Haydn's "con sordino" direction to the violins. Unusually for a symphony in D major, a great deal of it is in the minor mode, so the provision of a startling and dramatic finale with fugal elements (there's even a triple fugue!) is no surprise. Drahos and his band give a fine reading, but it might have been even more telling had the violins been antiphonally divided.


In Symphony No. 71, Drahos is very adept at underscoring the Hungarian rhythms and effects. Particularly good is the trio section of the Menuet, with its two solo violins (they play with no vibrato, producing just the right rustic, gypsy feel) heard above guitar-like pizzicato strummings of the accompaniment. The later Symphony No. 73 in D "La Chasse" is better known, and the present account is in every regard a fine recommendation. The athletic high-lying horn parts are rock-solid throughout, the winds are superb, and the strings (especially violins in the songful Andante) play with impressive uniformity of tone and ensemble. Though Drahos is very good at managing effects such as the jubilant horn calls and droning hurdy-gurdy pedal notes suggestive of village festivities, the one disappointment comes with his unconvincing diminuendo at the symphony's conclusion. Decca's complete survey from Antal Dorati and the Philharmonia Hungarica includes a more pictorialist and imaginative version, but the orchestral playing isn't as refined and the recording is too resonant to allow inner voices to register ideally, as they do here.
--Michael Jameson, ClassicsToday.com

HAYDN: Symphonies, Vol. 27 (Nos. 50, 51, 52)

HAYDN: Symphonies, Vol. 12 (Nos. 69, 89, 91)

HAYDN: Symphonies, Vol. 11 (Nos. 53, 86, 87)

This is one of the finest recordings yet in Naxos' ongoing Haydn symphony series, and if you haven't heard these comparatively rare works, now's your chance, for they are marvelously played and recorded by Béla Drahos and the Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia. The performances combine the necessary liveliness with an ideal transparency of texture: woodwind and brass make their points with unobtrusive clarity, yet the strings never sound thin or emaciated, a critical factor in the success of the slow movements (of Symphony No. 68 especially, which has the longest one that Haydn ever wrote). These symphonies are little gems. Each offers a liberal sprinkling of those flashes of genius that make Haydn's works stand out from the rest of the classical crowd. In Symphony No. 66, it's the witty finale with its 10-bar main theme, broken down into two five-bar phrases: the tune always sounds too long and never goes where you feel it should. Symphony No. 67 has many more surprises in store, from the delicious "col legno" (with the wood of the bow) ending of the slow movement, to the two solo violins in the trio of the Menuetto, to the haunting slow movement for string trio that pops up in the middle of the finale. Finally, as mentioned, No. 68 has Haydn's longest slow movement followed by one of his most appealing Rondos, a real "concerto for orchestra" in which each episode features different members of the orchestra's wind section. Don't miss this one. [4/12/2000] --David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

The three works presented on this installment (Vol. 23) in Naxos' ongoing series of Haydn symphonies (using three different orchestras) usually appear only when somebody does a complete cycle. This is not surprising with so many great works in his symphonic output. Still, symphony No. 31 is very entertaining. The opening horn call which gave the work its 'Hornsignal" nickname quickly gives way to a beautiful movement featuring solo lines from the violin, cello and double bass, just like an old fashioned concerto grosso. The music is much more interesting than the other two works, and the excellent soloists play very tastefully. Some listeners may have slight objections to the Eastern European sounding winds and horns (all four of whom get plenty of action), but they actually lend a rustic quality, which is quite appropriate. Symphonies 27 & 28 are less remarkable by Hadyn's high standards, but both feature his usual high-spirited Allegros and Presto finales. The Nicolaus Esterházy Orchestra plays cleanly and brightly, if occasionally a bit stiffly. For example, the Menuet of No. 28 is a bit heavy-footed, and the following Trio could have used a slightly brisker tempo for contrast. These and a couple of other spots are just a bit too homogenous. Naxos' recorded sound is very good, and the balance is fine throughout, making this disc a nice way to get acquainted with some little known music.

--David Preiser, ClassicsToday.com

Beethoven wrote nine symphonies, the first heralding the new century, in 1800, and the last completed in 1824. Although he made few changes to the composition of the orchestra itself, adding, when occasion demanded, one or two instruments more normally found in the opera-house, he expanded vastly the tradition al form, developed in the time of Haydn and Mozart, reflecting the personal and political struggles of a period of immense change and turbulence. To his contemporaries he seemed an inimitable original, but to a number of his successors he seemed to have expanded the symphony to an intimidating extent. Beethoven's Symphony in C minor, Opus 67, is a work that has enjoyed enormous popularity, not least for it's patriotic associations that accord well with the period of it's composition and have proved to suit the sensibilities of later generations. For some the work has become known as Fate, as the result of an alleged remark of the composer, reported by the unreliable Schindler, on the opening of the first movement. Thus Fate knocks at the door. It has been left for others to point out that there is plenty of evidence for similar knocking at doors in other compositions by Beethoven, the initial rhythmic figure being one that he found to his purpose on other occasions. Beethoven composed music relatively slowly and carefully, and the early sketches for the C minor Symphony are found in notebooks of 1804, the period of the Eroica Symphony. The work was completed in 1808 and dedicated to Count Razumovsky, Prince Lichnowsky's brother-in-law, the Tsar's representative in Vienna and a patron of great munificence, while his money lasted, and to Prince Lobkowitz. It received it's first performance at a concert on 22nd December, 1808. The taxing programme, that resulted in near disaster in the final Choral Fantasia, included the Pastoral Symphony and the Fourth Piano Concerto, as well as a number of items for soloists and chorus. It seems that the Fifth Symphony was at first intended, like the Fourth, for Count Franz von Oppersdorff, from whom the composer certainly received some payment. By September of the year of it's completion, however, Beethoven had sold it to the publishers Breitkopf and H�rtel. In orchestration the Fifth Symphony shows innovations in it's inclusion of the piccolo, the double bassoon and three trombones in the final movement. The sixth of Beethoven's nine symphonies, the Pastoral, was first performed at a concert in Vienna in December 1808. The occasion was an important one for the composer, since it was likely to prove the only significant source of income for him that year. In preparation for the event he had put aside work on his projected opera MacBeth and on the alternative text of Bradamante, both supplied by Heinrich von Collin, and assembled a programme of phenomenal length. The works played included the Fifth Symphony, the Fourth Piano Concerto, a piano fantasia, items for soloists and chorus and, in conclusion, a Fantasia for the Pianoforte which ends with the gradual entrance of the entire orchestra and the introduction of the choruses as a finale, the Choral Fantasia.

Almost 2 hours of relaxing, easy listening classical music drawn from masterpieces by the world' greatest composers.

BEETHOVEN: Adagio