Autobiographical in content, Richard Strauss's Ein Heldenleben is one of a series of tone-poems, including, Also Sprach Zarathustra (Naxos 8.571215), in which he explored the utmost limits of extra-musical content in this form. The hero passes through love and adversity, confrontation, triumph in battle and fulfilment in a single, powerfully descriptive symphonic span. Gerard Schwarz's Ein Heldenleben has been acclaimed as "exciting and inspired" (Gramophone). The opera Capriccio is a romantic struggle to choose between words and music which opens with a gloriously bitter-sweet string sextet.

Robert Schumann drew inspiration from other leading Romantic voices of his day, and Manfred is the dramatic overture to a work based on verses by Lord Byron. Schumann’s wife Clara was an extremely accomplished musician, and the Piano Concerto in A minor is one of the most eloquent and highly regarded legacies of their relationship. Lacking only a slow movement, the Overture, Scherzo and Finale is a symphony in all but name. Gramophone described these performances as “extremely fine”.

Handel's Concerti Grossi, Op. 6 are written for small solo string ensemble and orchestra, a combination which invites elegant interplay between like-sounding but distinctive groups. Nicknamed Il gardellino, or 'The Goldfinch', Vivaldi's Flute Concerto is as filled with charming melody and sounds from nature as anything in the Four Seasons. Possibly written for King Frederick the Great, the easy grace of C.P.E. Bach's Flute Concerto in D minor has a surprisingly dramatic and virtuoso finale. This recording brings together leading soloists of the Seattle Symphony in a feast of 18th century refinement.

Paris was one of the great centres of European art and Sergey Dyagilev and his Ballet russes brought to the city a succession of epoch-shattering productions that revolutionised ballet. Whilst composing the Rite of Spring for Diaghilev Stravinsky broke off it's composition to write Petrushka the story of a puppet suddenly brought to life. Choreography was by Fokin and Nijinsky danced the title role. It remains one of the twentieth century's greatest ballets. Using music from Acts I and II of his opera Le rossignol Stravinsky's Song of the Nightingale is a brilliantly orchestrated symphonic poem richly evoking Chinese music and the allure of the Orient.

The penultimate release in the Naxos Seattle Collection, featuring internationally renowned soprano Susan Graham.

COPLAND Rodeo: 4 Dance Episodes. Piano Concerto 1. Billy the Kid: Suite • Gerard Schwarz, cond; 1 Lorin Hollander (pn); Seattle SO • NAXOS 8571202 (58:09)


This is yet another disc in Naxos’s Seattle Symphony collection, and again it consists of previously issued material. Recorded between 1990 and 1993, these pieces were originally issued by Delos, Schwarz’s former label. As is often the case with Schwarz, they are brisk, lively, well-phrased performances, in places quite elegant. I am particularly taken by his interpretation of “Corral Nocturne” from Rodeo, sensitively played and sensuously phrased. This in itself is conducting of the first rank, as it elevates a rather ordinary piece and makes it sound special. “Saturday Night Waltz” is also played with special elegance, and “Hoedown,” based on a country fiddler’s private recording of a tune called “Bonaparte’s Retreat,” has great swagger, although at a tempo a bit too fast to be danced to.


The piano concerto is described on the CD’s back cover as “saturated in jazz and blues effects.” Apparently, that is how it sounds to some listeners, probably those who don’t know real jazz or blues. The use of a flatted third is certainly a keynote of the blues, but does not in itself constitute a true blues feeling. It is, however, an interesting and at times atmospheric work, and played with surprising sensitivity by Lorin Hollander, a pianist generally known for his explosive keyboard effects. I would think that Schwarz possibly reined him in for this recording; if he did, that is all the more to his credit. I am particularly struck by the elegant phrasing of the winds in the first movement, where Schwarz evokes an almost Ivesian sound. As the first movement progresses, in fact, some surprisingly Ivesian tone clusters emerge in the background—surprising because almost no one was familiar with Ives in 1926. The second movement, which follows without a break, has a certain ragtime swagger and raw energy, something like a cross between Bartók and Antheil. A muted trumpet plays out-of-tonality figures at one point, then two muted trumpets at another, undoubtedly a touch of “jazz” for those who thought that Henry Busse was a jazz musician. Hollander is, again, surprisingly light of touch and elegant in his phrasing. A few Paul Whiteman-like spasmodic rhythmic jerks enter near the end, but are made palatable by the piano writing, which is in a different rhythm altogether. The piano settles into the regular rhythm while the orchestra plays against it, but then the tempo slows down as they eventually get back together. After a dead stop in the music, it becomes more lively again in the final pages.


Schwarz’s reading of the suite from Billy the Kid is continually elegant, eloquent, and atmospheric. Indeed, in the opening pages, if one did not know the score, one would not immediately associate the music with the story behind it. Schwarz again delights in bringing out the delicate and atmospheric wind textures, and even when strings enter the picture the music has an ethereal, floating quality. This reading is captivating; it is far more impressive than Copland’s own recording with the Columbia Symphony.


This disc is clearly competitive with most recordings of these works and better than some. For the price, highly recommended.


FANFARE: Lynn René Bayley

The scintillating orchestral effects of Fireworks so impressed Sergey Dyagilev that the impresario was prompted to commission a new work from Stravinsky for his Ballet Russes. Telling of Prince Ivan's fantastic adventures in the demonic Kastchei's magic realm the Firebird is a virtuoso composition in every regard; it's colorful sonorities and dramatic impact brought Stravinsky instant celebrity and led to his successful ballets Petrushka (Naxos 8571222) and the Rite of Spring (Naxos 8571223). This recording has been acclaimed as "polished and brilliant" (Gramophone).

The lives of the three Eastern European composers on this disc spanned almost 150 years, a period of dramatic historical change, political turmoil and radical developments in Western music. Leo� Jan�cek, Witold Lutoslawski and Karol Szymanowski.

Stravinsky's music for violin and piano was written for his duo with violinist Samuel Dushkin. Both the Suite Italienne and Divertimento are arrangements of ballet scores, each work in turn an alchemic transformation of Baroque and Romantic styles into Stravinsky's distinctive idiom. The enigmatic but unwaveringly expressive Duo Concertant was Stravinsky's only original work in this form. Huebl and Wait were acclaimed for their recording of Schnittke's complete Sonatas (8.570978). Mark Wait received two GRAMMY nominations for his disc of Elliott Carter's Piano Concerto (8.559151). Violinist Carolyn Huebl is in demand as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral leader, and has performed throughout the United States, as well as in Argentina and Canada, winning critical acclaim. Pianist Mark Wait is Dean and Professor at the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University. His recording of Elliott Carter's Piano Concerto (Naxos 8.559151) was nominated for a 2004 GRAMMY-� award for Best Classical Album and Best Instrumental Solo Performance with Orchestra.

Grace Williams (19 February 1906 - 10 February 1977) was a Welsh composer. Born in the coastal town of Barry, near Cardiff, Grace learned piano and violin and developed her musical skills early. She won the Morfydd Owen scholarship to Cardiff University in 1923 where she studied under Professor David Evans and in 1926 she proceeded to the Royal College of Music, London, where she was taught by Gordon Jacob and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Williams is regarded by many as one of Wales finest composers. She wrote two symphonies, the earlier being the first symphony ever composed by a Welsh composer, a mass, one opera, numerous other pieces for orchestras and chamber ensemble, as well as accomplished vocal works. She was also the first British woman to score a feature film, with Blue Scar in 1949. Her chamber music, recorded here for the first time, spans 40 years.

Famed for his sequence of Piano Concertos, Sterndale Bennett also wrote a small but distinguished body of chamber music. The String Quartet in G major is one of his earliest surviving works, revealing a precocious talent still strongly influenced by Haydn. Mendelssohn is the model for the Sextet, though Bennett's highly virtuosic piano writing, with it's concertante interplay, reinforces the work's lyrical qualities and required dexterity as well as it's advanced harmonies and hymnal beauty. The concise Chamber Trio radiates sheer charm while displaying an even greater grasp of structure and is the first English example in the trio form where both string instruments are given parts independent of the piano. The Villiers Quartet are British chamber music specialists. Their previous release of the Delius and Elgar Quartets was very well reviewed. MusicWeb International wrote: "This is a desirable chamber release with convincing and stylish playing from the Villiers Quartet who offer endearing expression and impeccable intonation throughout."

WILLIAMSON, M.: Organ Music - Peace Pieces / Little Carols of the Saints / Elegy / Mass of a Medieval Saint (Winpenny) - One of Australia's greatest composers, Malcolm Williamson settled in Britain and rose to the position of Master of the Queen's Music in 1975. He was championed by a number of prominent musical figures and wrote in almost every genre. A skilled keyboard player and a Catholic convert, he wrote for the organ throughout his life and these works reveal his deep immersion in religious music, initially inspired by Messiaen. His instinct for dramatic bravura and colorful registrations can be heard in R�surgence du Feu (P�ques 1959) whilst the beautiful poetic miniatures Little Carols of the Saints reveal deeply human qualities, elements developed more substantially in Mass of a Medieval Saint. Elegy - JFK is fittingly sombre.

Geoffrey Bush made a significant contribution to English song, while Joseph Horovitz's modest but equally varied contribution includes Lady Macbeth, a powerful, harmonically astringent scena, as well as witty cabaret items and one song which, in its late-Romantic nostalgia, reveals his Viennese roots. Bush's Cuisine Provencale has elements of an operatic drama, while the cycle Yesterday enshrines ballad simplicity and deft word-painting. Mirabile Misterium sets medieval texts which explore various types of ecstasy, and archy at teh zoo demonstrates Bush's zest and wit.

A champion of Haydn', Mozart' and Beethoven' chamber music, Louis Spohr also made a considerable contribution to this genre, composing 36 string quartets and four double quartets, these latter unique in the repertoire.

Francis Chagrin was self-described as "Romanian by birth, British by nationality and cosmopolitan by inclination". Chagrin was a student of Nadia Boulanger and Paul Dukas. He composed extensively for films, but wrote for most genres. Among his most notable orchestral works, the two symphonies are dramatic and fervent and full of contrast. Often unfortunately neglected, the show Chagrin's talent for form and color.