Antonio Ruiz-Pipó became an essentially Parisian artist, but his music always retained the historical roots and warmth of expression of his Spanish origins. Volume 1 of this edition (8.573971) focused on chamber music with guitar, and this programme presents four solo cycles. As with many of Ruiz-Pipó’s works, the Otoñales are dedicated to and inspired by figures amongst his own circle of friends and colleagues. The deeply expressive and vibrant Canciónes y danzas are a homage to Mompou, and representative of a composer steeped in the music of Albéniz and Falla but with a rigorous individuality that makes his voice unique, evocative and varied. A specialist in Spanish and South-American contemporary guitar music, internationally acclaimed virtuoso Wolfgang Wiegel has recorded for Naxos and other labels, and duringa long and distinguished career has presented a vast repertoire of eminent composers and their works for guitar, as a soloist, and in co-operation with numerous orchestras and chamber music groups.

First Prize Winner of the 2003 Walter W. Naumburg Foundation' Violin Competition and the 2000 Hannover International Violin Competition, Frank Huang has now embarked on a major career as a violin virtuoso.

Greek by parentage, Vasily Kalafati settled permanently in St Petersburg where he counted Rimsky-Korsakov among his teachers, and later included Igor Stravinsky among a distinguished roll-call of his own students. Kalafati’s style incorporated elements of the Russian National School into traditional forms, as can be heard in the wide-ranging contrasts and Romantic lyricism of his only Symphony. The Polonaise has a celebratory character with exceptionally bright orchestration, while the ingenious Légende commemorates Schubert by transforming his themes into a colorful late-Romantic symphonic poem that earned Kalafati some well-deserved distinction at its premiere. Conductor Byron Fidetzis and the Athens Philharmonia Orchestra recently made a much-admired recording of works by Nikos Skalkottas, and Fidetzis has also recorded for the Naxos Greek Classics edition. These releases include orchestral works by Manolis Kalomiris (8.572451) in which ‘Fidetzis...turns in a truly masterly job and delivers performances that are equally full of expertise, verve, and passion’ (Fanfare).

Ferruccio Busoni composed a significant number of works for two pianos throughout his life. While Bach’s pervasive influence is already evident in some of his early compositions including the Preludio e Fuga and Capriccio, it reaches its most complex and glorious expression in the definitive 1921 version of his Fantasia contrappuntistica. In the case of Schumann’s Op. 134 for piano and orchestra, Busoni simply reduced the orchestral part for a second piano. However, his skill as a master transcriber and composer is revealed in his brilliant arrangements of Mozart’s works, which also highlight the subtlety and originality of his style. Aldo Orvieto has recorded extensively, releasing more than 70 albums dedicated to composers of the 20th century on a wide variety of labels, many receiving critical acclaim. Aldo Ciccolini appeared on the Naxos release of Achille Longo’s PianoQuintet (Ciccolini’s teacher) with the Circolo Artistico Ensemble (8.572628), which was nominated for an International Classical Music Award (ICMA).Classical Lost and Found wrote that: ‘Considering Ciccolini’s intimate association with his mentor’s quintet, this would have to be considered a definitive performance.’ Marco Rapetti received his Diploma cum laude at the Accademia Perosi in Biella. Rapetti has been awarded many prizes in national and international competitions, and has released several recordings, including the complete piano works of Borodin, Liadov, Dukas and Debussy.

ZHOU LONG Su (Tracing Back). Pianogongs. Taiping Drum. Wild Grass. Taigu Rhyme. CHEN YI Monologue (Impression on “The True Story of Ah Q”). Romance of Hsiao and Ch’in. Chinese Ancient Dances • Beijing New Music Ens • NAXOS 8.570604 (56: 04)


Elsewhere in this issue (or the next) I review another disc in Naxos’s “Chinese Classics” series—three string quartets by Ge Gan-Ru. This one is no less worthwhile, and in fact probably will be more appealing to the average listener. (I say that only because I don’t think the average listener relishes George Crumb’s Black Angels , for example, but perhaps I am mistaken.)


These two composers were born in 1953. Both currently teach at the Conservatory of the University of Missouri in Kansas City, and both studied at the Central Conservatory in Beijing and at Columbia University in New York. Both also are married—to each other! While Ge Gan-Ru usually is described as “China’s first avant-garde composer,” Zhou Long and Chen Yi seem to have less confrontational musical personalities. Their music is most assuredly not derivative, however, nor does it have that picture-postcard quality that sometimes pervades earlier classical music by Chinese composers. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that these two composers speak with more distinctive voices than Ge Gan-Ru, who seems very connected to his Western avant-garde influences.


The works on this CD were composed for a variety of instrumental combinations. Some call for traditional Chinese instruments to be paired with Western instruments. Su , for example, is for flute and the zither-like guqin, and Pianogongs is for piano and luo, the gongs traditionally used in Chinese opera. It seems to me that Zhou and Chen are doing something similar to what Chopin and Piazzolla used to do, that is, taking their country’s indigenous genres of music and transforming them into something both personal and original.


All of this music is interesting. Some of it is terrifically exciting. Taigu Rhyme , which closes this CD, is scored for clarinet, violin, cello, and three traditional drummers, and the latter build up an impressive head of steam as the music hurtles along. The clarinet imitates the sound of the guanzi, a reed instrument related to the oboe—another example of how some modern Chinese composers are synthesizing East and West, and old and new.


The very existence of the Beijing New Music Ensemble demonstrates how quickly things are changing in China. Founded in 2005, and consisting (it appears) of an international array of musicians, it has presented dozens of new works in China and elsewhere. I have little to compare them to, but the performances seem to be on the highest possible level. This digital recording was made in the studios of Beijing’s China Record Company—in itself, a marker of both change and continuity.


These works are challenging and emotionally rich, and require no special pleading. Anyone interested in the continuing evolution of Chinese culture needs to give this excellent CD a listen.


FANFARE: Raymond Tuttle

Capella Istropolitana orchestra under the leading of conductors Wolfgang Sobotka and Harald Nerat perform MOZART's: Eine kleine Nachtmusik / Serenata Notturna / Divertimento.

Tobias Picker, hailed as “a genuine creator” by The New Yorker, has written extensively for the stage and for symphonic forces, and these two approaches are represented in this album. The Encantadas (an older name for the Galapagos Islands) derives from a novella by Herman Melville. Picker has set it as a melodrama, exploring the enchanted isles in all their quietly menacing and spectacular beauty. In a radical new form, Picker’s Opera Without Words is set to a libretto by Irene Dische that has now been removed, allowing the music alone to bear the expressive richness and intensity of this “secret opera.” Tobias Picker has been commissioned to write numerous works in other genres, including operas, three symphonies, concertos for violin, viola, cello and oboe, four piano concertos and chamber music. His many honors include the 2020 GRAMMY Award for Best Opera Recording (Fantastic Mr. Fox). Picker is a lifetime member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and is artistic director of the Tulsa Opera, a post he has held since 2016.

REVIEW:

The title for The Encantadas (1983) comes from the early name for the Galapagos Islands. In six sections it relates the journey made there by Herman Melville. The work was conceived for narrator and a standard sized orchestra, and, on this recording, the composer is the very articulate voice that relates Melville’s discoveries he made there.

The more recent score, Opera Without Words, was completed five years ago, and had a strange birth. He had hired a librettist, Irene Dische, to conceive the story, and, after many discussions, all was completed, even down to the stage actions and directions for the producer. But in the end Picker deciding to dispense with words. It receives its World Premiere Recording by one of the commissioning orchestras, the Nashville Symphony. They, and their conductor Giancarlo Guerrero, provide a very colourful score, both works instantly enjoyable in pure tonality. The booklet includes the words narrated in The Encantadas and I hope there is more Picker coming from Naxos.

-- David's Review Corner (David Denton)

This new release from Naxos brings together the two poles of Tobias Picker’s output: symphonic music and opera. He brilliantly straddles both worlds, drawing upon each to bring something new to the other.

…The music on this disc is impassioned and adventurous, providing the curious listener a great introduction to Tobias Picker’s output. The recorded sound is excellent, and the Nashville Symphony is in top form. Recommended.

-- Fanfare

Listen to the Naxos Podcast to learn more about this release

Mozart wrote his Violin Concertos in 1775 while still living in his home town of Salzburg and in service to Prince-Archbishop Hieronymus Colloredo. Mozart had already toured internationally and found his parochial environment restricting, but as ever he rose above circumstances to create sublime and thrillingly unconventional masterpieces filled with wit and elegant charm. The finely sustained melodic expression of each concerto’s slow center provides the perfect foil for inventive sparkle in outer movements that include a cheeky reference to the opera Il re pastore in K.216 to an exotic ‘Turkish’ moment in the finale of K. 219.

Reviews:

In the Fourth Concerto, there’s a lovely singing character to the central Andante, Kraggerud producing a variety of tone which matches the changing intensity of the line. Here, as in all the concertos, he plays his own cadenzas, which are stylish in the best sense, and show off his technique.

– BBC Music Magazine

The Norwegian Chamber Orchestra has something of a reputation for working harmoniously with guest soloist-directors, not least among them Leif Ove Andsnes in concertos by Mozart and Haydn. Their strength lies in the collaborative approach dictated by their modest dimensions and conductorless set-up. Those discs with Andsnes were conspicuously successful, both artistically and critically, and this new project with Henning Kraggerud is no less winning. While these are brisk, no-nonsense performances after the contemporary fashion, the thinking that underpins their shaping right from the very beginning makes these readings of the Third, Fourth and Fifth concertos worth returning to.

– Gramophone

Xiaogang Ye is regarded as one of today’s leading Chinese composers, having won prestigious awards for his concert music and for numerous highly successful film scores. The works on this recording share a deep affection for the beauty and power of nature and landscape in China. Mount E’mei eulogises the great spectacle and cultural significance of the mountain, creating a multi-dimensional picture through the use of traditional instruments. Lamura Cuo and The Silence of Mount Minshan describe mystic atmosphere and melancholy silence, while Scent of Green Mango uses vibrant colors and shading to express gratitude for the fruit’s refreshing fragrance.

The great hit at Venice's San Moise theatre in the autumn season of 1810 was Pietro Generali's Adelina. This 'melodramma sentimentale' was the latest work by an important contemporary of Rossini, who enjoyed a vogue in early nineteenth-century Italy. The plot concerns the trials of a girl who is seduced and abandoned by her lover, Erneville, has a child out of wedlock, and is rejected by her father who, thanks to the intervention of a kindly friend, then forgives her after she marries Erneville. Brimming with vivacious writing, Adelina reflects powerful cultural attitudes in vogue in early nineteenth-century Italy.

Puerto Rico-born composer Roberto Sierra is internationally renowned for his integration of Caribbean music with the Western idioms he acquired during studies in Europe. The character of Kandinsky ranges from the intimate to the bold and virtuosic, responding with fresh and surprising impressions to a selection of Wassily Kandinsky's unique paintings. The 'Clarinet Sonata' explores the intricate swing of Caribbean mixed meters and instrumental colors in a work of stunning expressiveness and virtuosity. Sierra's longest chamber work to date, 'Treinta y tres formas de mirar un mismo objeto,' was composed for Cheryl Seltzer and Joel Sachs, and is also one of the most substantial works in the repertoire for two performers at a single piano. This recording was made possible in part by grants from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency, and Cornell University.

The world-premiere recording of Richard Danielpour's Toward a Season of Peace offers a dynamic performance that impresses with its immense forces and energetic playing and compels an emotional response with its pacifist sentiments and beautiful lyricism. Danielpour's style is instantly accessible by virtue of its rich tonality and poignant melodies, and the flow of the music gives his oratorio a traditional appeal, with the right balance of dramatic tension and comforting release. The setting of excerpts from the Masoretic text of the Bible, the Persian verses of Rumi (in an English translation), and an Arabic poem by Al Mutanabbi brings languages into a convergence somewhat reminiscent of Leonard Bernstein's mixing of Latin, English, and Hebrew in his Mass (1971), and the ecumenical nature of Toward a Season of Peace also brings that theater piece to mind. Unlike Bernstein, and to Danielpour's credit, he doesn't mingle elements of popular music with his neo-Romantic choruses, and he avoids the trendiness that dates Mass, aiming instead for a more universal and timeless prayer for peace. At many points, the mystical choruses of Vaughan Williams and Holst spring to mind, and feel stronger than any modern influence. Perhaps this oratorio is more inspirational than motivational, and it may join other works earnestly dedicated to world peace that have fallen by the wayside, but the performers aren't to blame if that happens. Soprano Hila Plitmann, the Pacific Chorale, and the Pacific Symphony, conducted by Carl St. Clair, give a lovely and reverent performance that is gorgeous in its harmonies and textures, and ultimately moving because of its simplicity and directness.

-- All Music Guide

Penderecki wrote music for string quartet over a period of 56 years. His StringQuartetNo.1was written in the same year that he achieved international success with Threnody (Naxos8.554491), and includes a wide range of playing techniques reflective of the avant-garde. String Quartet No. 2 reveals the influence of Ligeti, while No.3is a personal, even autobiographical work. In No. 4 there are modal or even folk inflections, in writing that is both limpid and abrasive. The eventful Derunterbrochene Gedanke completes Penderecki’s music for quartet, while the String Trio exemplifies his music’s motoric energy.

REVIEW:

Penderecki's First Quartet pointed to his fascination with hard-edged atonality and 12-note influences, the one movement score expressed in pizzicato and lasting just a little over six minutes. With his Second Quartet he had begun to move away from astringency to a more legato quality but with atonality to signpost things to come. There was to be a gap of twenty years before the more lengthy Third appeared in 2008, and it was period when he ‘took stock’ of the way music was going. At the same time his music was moving to an even more communicative melodic period we experience to a final degree in the Fourth of 2016. Now in a more ‘traditional’ two movements, and with a Vivo finale, its style has a melodic starting point. Integrated into these changes were two further works for strings, an extremely brief String Quartet from 1988 given a title Der unterbrochene Gedanke (The Interrupted Thought), and a String Trio from 1990. Both fit neatly into the changing moods of the quartets that surround them. They are here performed by the much acclaimed British-based Tippett Quartet who encompass these changes with a conviction that would place the performances as my number one choice and in quite superb sound.

– David's Review Corner (David Denton)

Classical Music

This selection of pieces for mandolin and guitar represents the rich variety of music from Israel. Styles range from the diaspora of Babylonian Jewry through European klezmer traditions, and Balkan Ladino songs, to contemporary influences from America. Paul Ben-Haim and Marc Lavry pioneered the use of music originating in the Jewish East, and Jan Freidlin continues the tradition, employing Oriental dance figures in his music. Oren Lok's Ahavais an homage to love, while Ittai Rosenbaum’s Duet offers a vibrant and jazzy conclusion to this wide-ranging conspectus.

REVIEW:

This a distinctive program takes us to the Promised Land and, in fine interpretations, will probably cause most music lovers to explore new musical territories.

– Pizzicato

"None of the performances on this new release is less than superb; moreover, no one who has been using the Naxos series to build his library of Barber works risks being disappointed by this or any of the other releases...this new Naxos release is especially notable for its extremely rich yet transparent sound quality and for painstakingly shaped phrasing by the Scottish National Orchestra."

-- Walter Simmons, Fanfare

Saint-Saens wrote five symphonies between the years 1850 and 1886. The cycle began with the Mozart-influenced Symphony in A but as a precocious composer of 17 he wrote his first numbered symphony, a work much admired by Berlioz and Gounod. He progressed to his most popular piece in the genre, the ground-breaking Symphony No. 3 with its inclusion of organ and piano. This critically admired cycle includes a sequence of atmospheric and dramatic symphonic poems, including Phaeton and the ever-popular Danse macabre.

REVIEWS:

The standard reference versions for these works have been Martinon’s EMI (now Warner) recordings, but Soustrot’s are different enough to justify duplication. In the First Symphony, particularly, Soustrot adopts a very slow, dreamy tempo for the Adagio, but it works very well, particularly in contrast to the bold and brassy finale which follows without a break. Soustrot correctly highlights the adventurous writing for the harps, but never tastelessly, and some listeners may feel that the interpretation finds additional expressive depth in music often denigrated as merely sentimental. It’s good to hear it played with no apologies.

In the Second Symphony Soustrot comes closer to Martinon in terms of timing, but there’s no denying the extra clarity and nimbleness of the Malmö ensemble as compared to the old French National Radio and Television Orchestra for EMI. Soustrot’s exciting and rhythmically sharp reading of Phaéton makes a welcome bonus. This is unquestionably one of the best recordings of the piece, with an especially effective thunderbolt as Zeus hurls the hapless chariot (of the sun) driver from his seat. Attractively natural sonics round out a very promising start to this new series.

– ClassicsToday.com (David Hurwitz; in an earlier review of the CD release of Symphonies 1 & 2)

Marc Soustrot has some very good ideas about how the music should go. Soustrot prefers urgency even at the expense of some occasionally blurred articulation. The very slow tempo for the introduction followed by that agitated allegro highlights the broad range of contrasts typical of the performance more generally. The organ, excellently played by Carl Adam Landström, is very well balanced by the Naxos engineers. All told, this is a very fine performance of the Thrid.

– ClassicsToday.com (David Hurwitz; in an earlier review of the CD release of Symphony No. 3)

You certainly cannot pigeonhole the music of José Serebrier, if this survey is any guide. It does cover a broad period, from the youthful Symphony No. 1 of 1956 to the movie music for a film that was never made, in 2009. As related by the composer in the extensive program notes, all of these pieces have an interesting story behind them, none more so than the symphony. Serebrier was still a student at the Curtis Institute of Music in 1957 when, as he says, he literally bumped into a cello student on the street and spilled the pages of his manuscript onto the sidewalk. The cellist, Harvey Wolf, was on his way to join the Houston Symphony, then led by Leopold Stokowski, and suggested that he show the music to the great old man. Against all odds, Stokowski agreed to read the score, and liked it well enough to put it in the place of the Ives Fourth Symphony, which was giving his players trouble. Serebrier actually ignored the Curtis operator’s messages to return Stokowski’s phone calls, thinking it a student prank. Finally, Curtis director Efrem Zimbalist summoned the fledgling composer to his office; “What are you doing? Maestro Stokowski called me to say he’s been trying to reach you urgently for two days!”

It is not too hard to imagine what drew Stokowski to the music. It is a good showpiece, full of the kind of sweeping dramatic gestures that the wizard reveled in, as well as flashy writing for instrumentalists, especially in the brass. The rumbling opening has the flavor of Mahler as well.

The Violin Concerto...is subtitled “Winter,” an allusion to a dark, even bleak character, especially as the one-movement work begins, with a slow solo cadenza at the low end of the violin’s range. As if to signal the changes of the seasons, the work brightens as it proceeds, with subtly integrated quotes from Haydn, Glazunov, and Tchaikovsky, all of whom also wrote musical odes to winter. The conclusion is the emotional reverse of the beginning, a bright, raucous fanfare. This is an impressive, compact concerto, easily the best work on this program.

The performance is excellent; the Bournemouth band gives us rich and precise playing, and we can assume that the leadership is authoritative.

--Fanfare (Peter Burwasser)

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José Serebrier is obviously a very talented composer, and it's good that Naxos is giving him the opportunity to record his music under optimal conditions. The First Symphony is an impressive piece of work, especially for a Uruguayan teenage musician of just 18. Like most of Serebrier's work, there's a lyrical side to much of the material that's quite winning, but the style and "feel" of the music, its single-movement form, and its alternation of melodic episodes with powerfully rhythmic outbursts are quite modern as well as personal.

However, perhaps the two most enjoyable large works here are the Violin Concerto "Winter" (another single-movement piece lasting a bit more than 15 minutes, and wonderfully played by Philippe Quint) and the Music for an Imaginary Film (2009). Actually the film was real; it just became imaginary when a strike forced its cancellation and Serebrier got stuck with the music he had already written. It's extremely colorful and fun.

The two short "tango" pieces have obvious appeal as encores or musical "calling cards"...given Serebrier's gifts as a conductor there's nothing to criticize here regarding the performances, and the engineering is very good also. Recommended wholeheartedly.

--ClassicsToday.com (David Hurwitz)

The winner of many prestigious awards for composition, Samuel Adler is also Professor emeritus at the Eastman School of Music. His Canto series was written to meet the challenge of providing concert etudes for every orchestral instrument. This program presents the complete Cantos for solo string instruments, exploring the great possibilities in each instrument from virtuoso feats to lyrical poignancy, 'moody' pensiveness to sharply observed wit and humor. The duet Close Encounters expresses ecstatic feelings of love, while the string trio Five Snapshots reflects contrasting scenes of nature. Samuel Adler's of Musique and a selection of other chamber works can be found on Naxos 8.559602. His Fifth Symphony can be heard on 8.559415.

This program documents almost four decades of Ernst Toch’s artistic development. His romantic First Violin Sonata marks the end of the composer’s early period. The Divertimento and Cello Sonata were written during his most productive period, the 1920s, while the String Trio is the work of an exile determined not to compromise a style declared ‘asphalt music’ by the Nazis. The Adagio elegiaco commemorates the many relatives and friends Toch lost to the Holocaust.

Some of the world’s greatest sacred masterpieces are heard on this disc, performed by some of the world’s leading vocal ensembles. The journey ranges from Thomas Tallis’s extraordinary Spem in alium to César Franck’s immortal Panis angelicus. Pergolesi’s Stabat mater is a masterpiece of the early eighteenth century. Mozart, who as a 14-year-old had copied out Allegri’s Miserere from memory, is represented by his beautiful Ave verum corpus. It is impossible to omit the Bach-Gounod Ave Maria from a journey that crosses geographical borders and spans the centuries.

Remembered today for the Olympic Anthem, Spyridon Samaras was the most distinguished Greek composer of his day and the first to gain international recognition. By the time Mademoiselle de Belle-Isle was produced, Samaras was a well-established and much-admired opera composer in the Italian Romantic style. The narrative of the opera sees the mischievous plans of the Duke of Richelieu descending into a complex tangle of amorous deceptions, tests of faithfulness and the perils of dueling. The score for this world premiere recording has been painstakingly restored by Byron Fidetzis.

The Grands Motets on this disc (Exaudiat, Notus in Judaea Deus and Benedictus) are scored for five soloists, five-part choir and orchestra. Although averaging only a quarter of an hour in length, they are nevertheless broad in conception. Le Concert Spirituel certainly does not tiptoe around these works but rather throw themselves into their performances with élan.

The three Grands Motets are interspersed with Lully's settings of O dulcissime Domine and Laudate pueri Dominum. The two women's voices in O dulcissime Domine interweave magically over a continuo accompaniment. The highlight, however, is the first motet, Exaudiat te Dominus. The opening is lively and joyous, contrasting with the sad, heart-felt setting of Domine salvum fac. Le Concert Spirituel bring out the contrasts in the Dormierunt section of Notus in Judaea Deus well, and respond to the grandiose passages in the Benedictus. It is only in this latter piece that the generally crisp and rhythmic articulation flags.

The curious should not hesitate. The recording is in general good, although the harpsichord sounds dull. Full texts and translations are included.

-- Colin Clarke, MusicWeb International

This CD contains Bowles' most performed score, Night Waltz, the first of the Three Pieces for Two Pianos, which opens the CD. Rhythmically, this is a complex work of polyrhythms. It's the sort of thing he may have heard in the Tangiers streets and was written in the same year as the novel. The middle Nocturne was composed fourteen years earlier but the finale with its jazzy exoticism dates from 1976.

Bowles had been an inveterate traveller even before 1947 as the Four Piano Pieces demonstrate. The first, the rather neo-classical Impasse de Tombouchtou also refers to a dingy street in Thiviers in Southern France. Café sin Nombre and Carretera de Estapona refers to Southern Spain. Estapona, now a glamorous seaside town can almost be seen from Tangiers, and is, I recall, a pleasant boat trip away. Surrounded by a dry and desert landscape it was much more basic and village-like in Bowles’ day. The opening, with its massive chords, reminds us that it is surrounded by those startlingly blue, imposing mountains. In between these pieces is an elegant and tonally ambiguous Theseus and Maldoror inspired by Greek legend.

Bowles’ travel diaries continue with the Three Latin American Pieces. It’s Mexico which is celebrated in movement 1 with its lively rhythms (El Bejuco) and Costa Rica in 3 (Sayula). Despite their brevity these pieces attract immediately. Movement 2 (Orosi) is delicate and is succeeded by a dance-like episode reminding me of Mompou’s Canço i dansa which was also composed during the mid-1940s.

In the detailed and helpful booklet notes Andrey Kasparov describes the Sonatina Fragmentaria as having “crystalline sonorities”. The tiny middle movement is somewhat Spanish in flavor while the outer ones are more thoughtful and enigmatic. All in all, this amounts to a series of attractive mosaics.

South of Morocco, in the Atlas Mountains, is Tamanar. Views from this village inspired this austere, striking and unusually dissonant mini-tone poem. Bowles went there with Aaron Copland who had just completed his equally austere Piano Variations. Bowles discovers some intriguing sonorities. It's a great shame that he did not pursue this style very often.

The Four Miniatures are practically polytonal and pointillistic but are in Bowles’ usual light-hearted manner with Reverie having a touch of Spain about it again. The Sonatina is neo-classical, almost Poulencian. There is no sense of classical development; in other words the Germanic influence Bowles so disliked is disregarded in favour of the interconnection of fragments. The middle movement is a lyrical Andante Cantabile with a long line which reaches a strong climax.

The last seven tracks are devoted to arrangements for piano duet of miscellaneous Bowles pieces. Kasparov selected four songs, apparently quite popular, originally from 1946, all in a light jazz style and called them Blue Mountain Ballades. Gold and Fizdale took three miscellaneous pieces. The first, Colloquy Sentimental is the only surviving material from a lost Bowles ballet score. The next, Caminata again betrays a Spanish influence and is part of a ballet set in Mexico. The last, Turkey Trot is a sort of wild Scott Joplin essay and brings the CD to a zany conclusion.

This disc proved more attractive and interesting than I had expected. Although Bowles may be a better writer than a composer he certainly deserves his place in the Naxos American Classics series.

– MusicWeb International (Gary Higginson)

The performances are beautifully idiomatic, capturing the brittle character, whimsicality and subtle power of the music.

– Gapplegate Classical/Modern Music Review

Regondi's guitar compositions reflect not only his gentle nature but also the high romanticism of his period. The discovery by Matanya Ophee of 10 Etudes, previously thought to be lost, compelled a revaluation of Regondi's contribution. The two Airs Variés, Op.22, and Op.23, can only reinforce the new respect that ensued. Each begins with a slow introduction, followed by an Andante theme, slightly operatic in character, after which come a number of variations (four in Op.22, five in Op.23) that show off the resources of the instrument: brilliant passages of demisemiquavers (32nd notes), a minor-key tremolo, consecutive ninths and triplets.

What if there hadn't been a Mozart? Although this is an intriguing question for classical music lovers to debate and scholars to ponder, the fact is we'd be paying far more serious--and deserved--attention to Haydn, and beyond that we'd be stuck with the mediocre, very much of-its-time work of composers such as Antonio Salieri. Given all the discussion, much of it sheer nonsense, regarding the Mozart/Salieri rivalry, just a brief listen to any of these 12 overtures tells you what you already know: the monster talent/genius of Mozart had not a whit to fear from the competent Italian technician who was most widely respected for his pedagogical skills (Beethoven, Czerny, Schubert). Of course, the reality of the time and place dictated certain conditions of privilege and position, conferred by circumstances more political than artistically meritorious. Salieri undoubtedly was highly regarded and enjoyed a prominent position in Viennese musical circles, and he was talented, especially in the creation of a certain style of opera that audiences of the time literally ate up. Indeed, in the works on this program Salieri shows a certain dramatic flair, as in the opening of La Grotta di Trofonio--but with a few strokes of the pen, à la Don Giovanni, Mozart wiped out Salieri's best efforts in this genre. This takes nothing away from the very steady and polished musicians of the Slovak Radio Symphony, nor from Michael Dittrich's committed direction. Together they make the most of the music's considerable rhythmic energy, pleasant melodies, and frequent mood shifts typical of the style.

--David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

To the casual listener, Carmina Burana is a big splashy choral and orchestral work that has made it into more B action films that can be counted. Carl Orff’s decided masterwork has been sadly relegated to Hollywood status, and poorly imitated by countless hack film scorers. Herr Orff got his texts, however, from a manuscript of songs and poems, probably compiled around 1230, and written down by at least three different scribes in monasteries either in Styria or Carinthia. In 1803, the manuscript was taken from its home at the Abbey of Benediktbeuren to Munich, where in 1847 it was edited and published under its now famous title.

Although there is some musical notation in the original manuscript, it is in the form of heightened neumes, vague indications of pitch and melodic flow, and as such, it is impossible to determine the exact tunes to which these poems, which are often rather bawdy in nature, were sung. Since, however, it was the common practice of Medieval musicians to adapt a single tune to fit any number of texts, (a practice known as contrafactum) these works can rather easily and with a fair sense of authenticity be brought to life. This is achieved through the more clearly notated melodies left behind by, among others, the St. Martial composers active in Limoges during the period, and of those who were working at Notre Dame.

The end result is a collection of magnificent music, lively and rhythmic, tuneful and engaging with some of the most wonderful poetry ever penned for its texts. The two exemplary ensembles heard in this recording are breathtakingly flawless. They completely and utterly revel in this spirited repertoire and exhibit sheer joy in bringing it to life.

Of particular note here, (although there is absolutely nothing negative to say about the work of any of these musicians) are our two solo singers, countertenor Bernhard Landauer, and tenor Eric Mentzel. Mr. Landauer is absolutely the very finest countertenor I have ever heard. His voice is perfectly seamless; every note of his range from lowest to highest is of the ideal weight and timbre. His flawless rendition of Axe Phebus aureo,is a tour de force of musical story telling, delightful in its contrasts and scene painting. Mr. Mentzel also acquits himself marvelously in his several duets with Landauer. It is a bit of a shame that he gets no solos here, as his is a lovely and mellifluous instrument, which blends perfectly with his singing partner’s.

All of the tunes in this performance are infectious due in large part to their lilting rhythms. One would be hard pressed however to leave the room whistling them simply because they are such uncommon and unusual fare. One outstanding work however, Katharina collaudemus will instantly bring to mind the plainchant hymn Pange lingua for those who are familiar with the Roman and Anglican music traditions.

Lest I forget the instrumentalists, who on the whole all double as choristers where needed, let me be quick to point out their notable virtuosity and magnificent abilities at improvisation. Everything is played with a life and energy that left me dancing around the room by disc’s end.

Sound quality is exquisite; Keith Anderson has translated a set of notes program notes by Michael Posch that are concise, informative and relevant. A complete winner, this! Recommended without a moment’s hesitation.

-- Kevin Sutton, MusicWeb International

Leopold Hofmann was among the most prominent Viennese composers of his generation, his music performed all over Europe. Hofmann's radiant flute concertos follow the conventions of the day with superlative elegance and a deceptive facility. The solo writing has a lightness, grace and agility perfectly suited to the instrument's strengths, particularly in the lovely and often rhapsodic slow movements. It is hardly surprising that musicians and audiences found these concertos so beguiling, and they have lost none of their magic today. The works are performed by award-winning flautist Uwe Grodd and the Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice.

Tony Banks, the renowned founder member and keyboard maven of the rock band Genesis, continues his acclaimed series of orchestral compositions with Five. The suite opens with Prelude to a Million Years, originally commissioned for and performed at the Cheltenham Music Festival. Banks’ signature melodic gifts and feel for cinematic scale are all in evidence in Five, just as they were in Six (8.572986) and Seven (8.557466), ‘a work of stirring beauty’ (ProgSheet). First released by BMG Records in February 2018, Naxos is proud to present this recording which is described by Stage and Cinema as 'gorgeous, transporting music sounds exactly like a soaring soundtrack'. CrypticRock gave this recording 5 out of 5 stars: ‘Five is therefore no different from what one would expect from this artist: stunning, evocative, beautifully-orchestrated, and timeless. With five marvelous pieces of brilliance, Five is a shining gem of sonic beauty that is truly deserving of your attention and a round of emphatic applause.’

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REVIEW:

If you enjoy wide-screen film music then you will most certainly want this disc, which is sumptuous in sound and extended in dynamic impact.

– David's Review Corner (David Denton)

Sir John Tavener describes the Lament for Jerusalem as a mystical love song. The Lament brings together Christian, Judaic, and Islamic texts and is sung in Greek and English. The musical structure is that of a lattice whose proportions are carefully designed so that the listener is invited to focus on key points of the text which are themselves supported by transcendental melodic, harmonic, and textural devices. The simplicity of the work's form and it's logical progression through a series of seven linked, self-referential tableaux allow the Lament to grow in power and beauty during it's course. The American composer Steve Reich has described some of his own music as purveying 'a kind of dynamic stasis' and that aptly sums up the effect of Tavener's Lament for Jerusalem. The Lament is rooted in grim tradition, yet it looks longingly into the future to a time when beatific vision is restored, and, as in much of the very greatest art, form and content are inseparable.