When appraoching his latest chamber album Bliss Point, Polish-born violinist and composer Piotr Szewczyk turned to a unique lens of inspiration - food science. His interpretation of a "bliss point" in the culinary sense embodies the technique's saturation ofa flavor just before the poitn of diminished potency. Of course, he trades in the contents of his spice cabinet in favor of diverse instrumental pairings, and in doing so, the composer explores the "saturation limits in teh full spectrum of emotions, textures, and characters." In doing so, Szewczyk is confident that the resulting collection of chamber works "covers the entire expressive range of my vocabulary and artistic sensitivity." Naturally, Szewczyk's violin stylings are included in this spectrum, as he appears on nearly all the album's compositions. He keeps true to his stated inspirations on Bliss Point and exemplifies these goals on the title track. Accompanied by clarinet, cello and piano, the violinist leads the quartet through a set of intertwined sections that stakly differ in their pacing. An ostinato bookend aids in structuring the piece, opening with a gentle pulsation and closing with tranquility after a midsection of contrasting instrumental textures. Contrasting moods also appear on the album's first two mixed ensemble pieces. The four shot, ever-shifting movements of Twisted Dances are brought alive by oboe, violin, cello and piano, and the scattered themes of Images from a Journey - which retains the same instrumentation save for a flute replacing the oboe - range from explorations of darkness to a similarly dance-inspired movement based on gypsy performers. These ensembles are only a sample of Szewczyk's use of contrast on teh album, with a strong example arrivign on Piano Trio No. 1's bricolage of disparate movements. The composer cycles through passages of intense, rhythmic virtuosity; then meditative jazz piano obscured by melancholic tendencies; and lastly, an explosive finale with unbridled energy as its ignition. His vibrant writing for strings echoes this trend as well, including the viscous, atonal sonorities of a string quartet in the octatonic scale on Half-Diminished Scherzo and the fury of a lively string trio on the appropriately titled Furioso. These types of musical personification all exhibit the itnense imagery of Szewczyk's compositions. Even without knowing the title of Very Angry Birds, the way the violinist's extended techniques glide over propulsive piano chords will prompt listeners to point their imaginations skyward. This tendency also holds true for the composer's dialogue between instruments, such as the furious battle of violin and viola on Conundrum and the marital themes of Nimbus, which tests the polarity of wedding vows with passages full of both joy and bickering.

Trombonist Deb Scott makes her Parma debut with her new Navona release Playing Favorites, accompanied by pianist Ron Petti. She performs a variety of her favorite pieces that appeal to her background in jazz and to her considerable technical skill. She writes: “What I love about each one is its ability to engage a diverse audience making for enjoyable and exciting musical moments.” The central piece on the album is Stephen Lias’s River Runner, written in response to a paddling trip he took with Scott through Big Bend National Park’s Santa Elena Canyon. Across the piece, Lias explores nature landscapes and the excitement of adventure, culminating in the visceral and kinetic third and final movement “Rock Slide.” The album includes many additional pieces, as well. Derek Bourgeois’ crowd- pleasing Trombone Concerto, written for Christian Lindberg, appeals to pop, jazz, and classical audiences. William Goldstein’s emotional Colloquy for Solo Trombone uses elements of jazz to explore opposing feelings of positivity and angst against a backdrop of Americana. Finally, the album closes with Variations on "The Carnival of Venice" composed by Jean-Baptiste Arban. This arrangement by Donald Hunsberger was actually composed for trumpet and originally performed by Wynton Marsalis.

Premonitions American Chamber Works

A 2020 GRAMMY nominee for Best Choral Performance!

GRAMMY-winning chamber choir The Crossing is back with their latest installment in a multi-album series with Navona Records. In this latest offering, artistic director Donald Nally leads the choir through six striking pieces by composer James Primosch that confront the most elemental questions of Western philosophy. CARTHAGE opens with Journey, a solemn meditation in which the men of The Crossing chant text based on the work of 13th-century monk and mystic Meister Eckhart: “There is a journey you must take./It is a journey without destination./There is no map./Your soul will lead you./And you can take nothing with you.” Next comes the title track, Carthage, on prose by Marilynne Robinson from her novel Housekeeping, which employs the devastated city of Carthage as a metaphor for desire and imagination: “For to wish for a hand on one’s hair is all but to feel it.” Composer James Primosch evokes images of once-fertile fields now salted and wasted, with Nally teasing out the dynamic subtleties of a work that is nevertheless full of hope and rebirth. Following is Mass for the Day of St. Thomas Didymus. Here, four soloists sing the Latin Mass texts, while the main choir sings Denise Levertov’s cycle of poems which gives the work its title. In pulling together these texts, Primosch celebrates the feast of St. Thomas Didymus, plumbing the depths between unbelief and faith in which true spirituality so often resides. The ancient texts are strangely illuminated by the highs and lows of Levertov’s journey. The album closes with One with the Darkness, One with the Light, a setting of poetry by Wendell Berry. True to its title, the music employs cascading harmonic textures to explore the tension between light and dark, waking and sleeping, life and death.

Navona Records proudly presents PRISMA VOL. 2, an epic journey into the world of the large ensemble with five of today’s top contemporary composers. PRISMA 2 opens with two debuts: James Lentini’s stunning first release with PARMA Recordings, and the Zagreb Festival Orchestra’s first project on the Navona label. Lentini’s Concerto for Guitar and Strings, performed with the string orchestra by virtuoso guitar soloist Iliana Matos, begins with a fresh and buoyant motive that serves as a foundation for the entire movement. Orchestra and guitar converse back and forth as the piece moves through a melancholic, reflective second movement, and then rises back to full energy with the brisk final movement. This is followed by Rain Worthington’s Full Circle, a somewhat dissonant, striking piece with the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra that follows the emergence and recession of emotions through a lifetime, as soloists emerge and recede from the orchestra. Jan Järvlepp’s Camerata Music, is a bright, tonal piece in a style that the composer calls “post-academic.” Inspired by the vallenato styles of folk music that Järvlepp heard while visiting Colombia, Camerata Music uses percussion to capture the joyous, rhythmic energy of that musical tradition. Peter Castine’s Aperture takes the album in a more somber direction with unsettled dissonance and fragmented feeling, filled with the horror following the 2001 World Trade Center attacks. The composer sets the solo flute and concertino string quartet at odds with one another, clashing even as the orchestra sometimes intervenes to help. PRISMA 2 is brought to a close with composer Beth Mehocic’s Left of Winter, written as a prelude to Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. It has the same primal rhythms as Stravinsky’s ballet, but with the addition of cymbals, trumpets, and winds that paint the image of young men going off to war.

Navona Records' exhilarating PRISMA VOL. 3-the latest in the PRISMA series-unveils the diverse faces of contemporary orchestral music. Featuring the works of seven composers, PRISMA VOL. 3 follows up the success of the first two PRISMA installments with symphonic music that is both innovative and deeply alluring. The album opens with Ascension for Solo Clarinet and String Orchestra by Ahmed Alabaca, which pairs tender yet excitable clarinet lines with the cinematic grandeur of a string orchestra. Next comes Dark Glass Sinfonia by Sarah Wallin Huff, in which crumpled dissonances flower into exuberant tonality, capitalizing on the full dynamic range of the orchestra. The Defiant Poet by Noam Faingold follows, which lovingly commemorates the outspoken Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko. Then, Raisa Orshansky's Spring Fantasy explores themes of birth and renewal in nature, as inspired by another Russian poet- Alexander Blok. Next, Songs of the Seasons by Craig Morris utilizes chromaticism to evoke colorful images from nature, with all it's hope and uncertainty. The second-to-last piece on the album is Restoration by Scott Brickman, which he describes as a "symphony in one movement"; the music, with it's flirting allusions to Eastern European folk songs, celebrates Brickman's Latvian and Polish heritage. Lastly, in Prelude & Fugue for Orchestra, Audun G. Vassdal takes liberties with classical forms to create music that is at once playful and intensely evocative. The symphony orchestra is a powerful instrument; writing orchestral music presents significant obstacles and tantalizing opportunities for even the most skilled composer. In PRISMA VOL. 3, seven masters of this challenging artform rethink what a symphony orchestra is capable of, and in so doing, present their audience with a unique and gratifying musical experience.

Navona Records proudly presents PRISMA VOL. 4, the fourth installment in the acclaimed PRISMA series showcasing the best of American contemporary composition. Brian Belet's three-movement string orchestra work Stellar Nebulae starts off the album. The multi-layered I. Emergence is aptly contrasted with the calm II. Contemplation, before culminating in the animated finale of III. Expansion. The structure is classical, the tonal language modern, but with influences reminiscent of Baroque concertos. Mara Gibson strives to paint an impression of a small island's ecology in Secret Sky. Completely novel and original in it's concept, this work is based on the migratory patterns of birds on Beaver Island MI. A similarly nature-themed inspiration is the background of Rain Worthington's Shadows of the Wind. It graphically evokes the changing silhouettes of leaves and branches cast on walls during a storm, mirroring the workings of the human subconscious. Next up is Angel Sanchez' symphonic poem � Laura, a three-movement dedication to a beloved woman. I. La petite Princesse is a feisty characterisation of the heroine, II. La mer et les �toiles aptly portrays the beauty of the dedicatee's beloved sea and stars, while III. Feu is an uninhibited declaration of passion. There is an air of martiality to Adrienne Albert's Courage for Winds, it's beginning centered around a recurring snare drum beat. Commissioned by the Inland Empire Youth Wind Symphony Commissioning Consortium, it reflects the battle against adversity in a tonal language that is decidedly American. John Franek's Mithridates epically closes the album with a punch of Dvor�kian opulence: it's unbridled energy remains profoundly reminiscent of the highly dramatic Slavic musical tradition of the late 19th Century.

Navona Records is proud to present PRISMA, a compilation featuring four contemporary composers from the United States and England including Lionel Sainsbury, Clive Muncaster, Patricia Julien, and J. A. Kawarsky. PRISMA spans the spectrum of unique styles of composition, from the grandiose and triumphant to the fragile and tender. This compilation captures a journey through colorful orchestral elements in a singular listening experience that builds into a thrilling sound. PRISMA opens with triumph in Sainsbury’s “Time of the Comet.” Written in 1997, the piece was inspired by the visual presence of the Hale-Bopp comet. Sainsbury translated his vision into a grand composition featuring a proud and virtuous introduction that transitions between allegro and slow sections concluding with prevailing optimism and possibility. Muncaster’s “Reflective Thought Patterns” builds in arch form to its central section and then literally reflects itself in reverse order. The composition starts with brass and timpani, transitioning its melody patterns on woodwinds, marimba, vibraphone, and French horn until the piece comes together at the end echoing the opening this time with a full orchestra. “Among the Hidden” by Patricia Julien, introduces an eerie, darker shade to the PRISMA collection. Building off a circular, three-note piano melody, the moodiness of the composition creates a stark, yet refreshing contrast to the bright, brave orchestral performance of the other composers. Lastly, Kawarsky’s “Fastidious Notes” draws in the ear of the listener with its unusual 5/4 metrical setting. The composition, based on a reworking of the American folk-song “Goodbye Old Paint,” features a sound borrowed right from the school of 20th century American classical music. As the compilation end, the four songs touch every emotion resulting in a conclusive listener experience.

One does not have to be religious to appreciate the depth, inspiration, and melodiousness of PSALMS, Eloise Hynes Stowe's new album from Navona Records. Scored for voice and piano, and occasionally supplemented by flute and violin, these psalms and hymns immediately demonstrate the literary and emotional grasp of the biblical texts and ecclesiastical interpretations. Stowe effortlessly manages to clothe the scripture into a tonal tapestry which is equal parts tender and listenable, in an appealing style which wouldn't be out of place in a Christian musical. Exuberant and optimistic, they are a testament not only to the church’s teachings, but also to the intuitive power of music.

Every pianist makes a piece their own, adding flourishes and signature accents, but Marta Brankovich takes artistic interpretation to a new level. Leveraging her passion and irreplicable touch on the piano, the black swan of piano conjures an unforgettable storm on MARTA, THE TEMPEST. This long-awaited exploratory deep-dive into the classical canon delivers fresh interpretations of works by Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Kaufman, Jirásek, and Webber, complete with a solo piano composition by Brankovich herself that offers an inside look into her artistic emergence. Weaving themes of adversity, opposing forces, and oneness with a profoundly emotive approach, Brankovich delivers a powerful program in this Navona Records release.

On FADING SOUNDS, composer Georges Raillard turns a creative eye towards the simple wonders of the world with a deep appreciation for the fleetingness of each moment. The aptly titled album presents 10 works for solo guitar, each of which take full advantage of the instrument’s tone and timbre. As the pieces conjure images and memories of landscapes, experiences, and thoughts, every cheerful chord, harmonic passage, and lyrical progression inevitably ends with a haunting resonance that leaves the ear wanting more. The compositions are dexterously played by guitarist David William Ross, whose gentle confidence on the instrument lets Raillard’s musical ideas ring out with clarity and precision.

THREE CELLO SUITES from clarinetist Joshua Ranz and Navona Records is a truly groundbreaking take on Bach's legendary works; In this album, for the first time ever, listeners may enjoy three unabridged cello suites by Bach arranged for the bass clarinet. Ranz selected Suites 1, 2, and 4 for this recording because, together, they form a cohesive and dynamic whole. Ranz holds the chair of principal clarinet for the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and has played on such blockbuster soundtracks as Toy Story 3 and 4, and Star Wars episodes VII and IX. He can be heard prominently featured in La La Land, Catch Me If You Can, and An American Pickle. Ranz lends a fresh voice to Bach's profoundly-beautiful music in THREE CELLO SUITES.

On his latest Navona Records release, Ritornello, composer and pianist Curt Cacioppo revisits his beloved Italy, recalling places, friends, Italian tales, Don Giovanni and more to create a detailed sonic story about his experiences and Italian heritage. Divertimenti in Italia reflect on different regions of Italy. From the Dalle Dolomiti All' Etna comes a group of seven piano pieces. Women at the Cross is a collection of depictions of women who are significant in the Passion of Jesus Christ.

In an age accustomed to three-minute pop songs being the norm, does the world need more full-length symphonies? Yes, says New Zealand Canadian John Robertson with his new release, SYMPHONY NO 4 & 5. Like their predecessors, these orchestral works make no sacrifices in terms of scale and style: they aim to be grand, aesthetic compositions, and are intended to be enjoyed as such. Symphony No. 4 and Symphony No. 5 bear the opus numbers 73 and 76, respectively – quite a feat, and even more impressive when one considers that composing wasn't Robertson's primary career. Instead, young Robertson had made the sensible choice to go into the insurance business. Nonetheless, the desire to invent music stuck. A competition win in 1987 eventually cemented this pastime as a worthwhile pursuit. Like Robertson's previous symphonies, No. 4 and No. 5 exhibit a strong adherence to a kind of neoclassical aesthetic, with influences of 20th-century composers sprinkled throughout. Unlike the previous orchestral works, however, these later symphonies are darker, more mature, more mysterious and generally more collected. Nestled in between is Meditation: In Flanders Fields, op. 70, a poem colored by long, winding symphonic lines and nebulous harmonies. It's a clever choice both in terms of style and content, working perfectly as a musical palate cleanser between the larger symphonic pieces. Together, these works represent more than the sum of their parts: they aren't just unrelated compositions, but an apt snapshot of Robertson's later oeuvre.

Deeply committed to a beauteous aesthetic, composer John Robertson's second album Symphony No. 1 once more delivers a neoclassical triumph with tremendous potential for repeated listening. This release flaunts an unapologetically exuberant elegance ever-present in the composer's oeuvre. The heart of the album is, of course, Robertson's Symphony No. 1, a three-movement epos that explores the vast realm of classical tonality. While the first movement starts out touching upon 20th-century harmonies reminiscent of Prokofiev, the second one already harkens back to the late Romantic school. Still, remaining very much a contemporary composition in its essence, this symphony offers plenty of innovation: not only does it push the limits of the traditional symphonic fast-slow-fast movement order, it also spearheads intensely lyrical soloistic parts such as the third movement's elaborate solo violin introduction, from which all other instruments organically spring forth. In the same vein, the Suite for Orchestra Op. 46 is easy on the ear, oscillating between the exaltation of the introductory Fanfare, the natural grace of the subsequent Waltz, the profound tristesse of the Elegy, and the uplifting, resolute splendor of the concluding March. The form of musical variations, the calling card of a composer's skill and craftsmanship throughout the ages, receives an apt treatment in the form of Robertson's Variations for small orchestra, Op. 14. In just over 18 minutes, they explore the possibilities of thematic development from every imaginable angle, ranging from the solidly-classical to the breezingly and self-confidently outlandish. John Robertson's straightforward formal choices render all of these compositions intuitively accessible, yet make no compromises in terms of technical and musical complexity, which remain sophisticated throughout. Symphony No. 1 proves that new music can be rooted in tradition, yet offer a breath of creative fresh air – effortlessly and naturally.

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REVIEW:

The Symphony opens, à la Shostakovich, with a sombre and foreboding 5-note motif that sets the tone for the whole work, as that key motto theme returns many times under different guises. The main motif returns, albeit with a distinctly different outlook, to open the second movement and fully blossoms throughout as an ardent expression of longing and aspiration. The jaunty, out of character demeanor of the final movement eventually gives way to a remarkable transition back to the main impetus of this symphony, and this is where John Robertson truly reveals his “symphonist” credentials.

This is music of our time yet steeped in tradition that should be a guiding light forward.

– Classical Music Sentinel

New Zealand born, Canada based composer John Robertson’s album VALLARTA SUITE showcases the continuation of classic orchestral traditions into the present day. The album’s three works testify to Robertson’s flexible compositional voice, which expresses playful, grand, and romantic materials within a welcoming style based on nineteenth century, and early twentieth century precedents. Performed expertly by the Jánacek Philharmonic Orchestra, VALLARTA SUITE is defined by beautiful melodies, confident orchestration, and classic musical forms. The album’s anchors are its multi-movement works, Vallarta Suite, op. 47, and Symphony No. 2, op. 63. Vallarta Suite is a musical postcard to the Mexican city of Puerto Vallarta and, like George Gershwin’s Cuban Overture or Ralph Vaughan Williams’ A London Symphony, uses a variety of contrasting textures and materials to illustrate its geographical subject. For example, the work’s third movement, “Excursion para hacer compras (Shopping excursion)”, is the most concise and literal example of Robertson’s portrayal of Puerto Vallarta. Here, a series of playful and syncopated themes encourage the listener to imagine strolling through the city’s markets. The work’s other movements, namely, “Las Ballenas (The Whales)” and “La Noche en la Zona Romantica (The Night In The Romantic Zone)”, are more abstract and varied in their materials and form. “Las Ballenas”, for instance, is less thematic than other movements, but leans heavily on the orchestra’s brass to express the stately grace of whales. The two other works on VALLARTA SUITE present much more traditional music structures. Strut In – a March, as the title suggests, is Robertson’s take a classic March, and, as one might expect, features jaunty themes and more percussion than is typical to the rest of the album. Unlike Sousa, Robertson crafts a longer, more dramatic structure for his march, and, in particular, uses a wide range of textures to build towards the arrival of its culminating and triumphant melodic material. Robertson’s Symphony No. 2 stands out on VALLARTA SUITE as the only piece that is not wholly defined by a reference to a specific musical style or non-musical reference. Robertson excels in the more abstract setting of the Symphony, the first movement, in particular, is a tremendously crafted voyage of thematic and textural energy. The work’s final movement, “Passacaglia”, suggests, as well, that Robertson always has an eye to the past, as its title refers to a type of instrumental music that originated in the Renaissance. Marked by its grand orchestration, the “Passacaglia” serves as an intense and brilliant finale to the Symphony and VALLARTA SUITE, as a whole. Consider the potential differences between the works based on extra-musical references (i.e. Vallarta Suite and Strut In) and the Symphony, which is more of a statement of ‘absolute music’. There is great consistency in Robertson’s treatment of melodic themes, rhythm, and orchestration across the album, which may act as evidence in assessing his overall compositional style

The Grammy-winning professional chamber choir The Crossing, Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture, and Navona Records present WORDS ADORNED. Conducted by Donald Nally, with Takht musical direction by Hanna Khoury, the combined forces interpret lush scores from Kinan Abou-afach and Kareem Roustom; the music is at times driven and passionate, at others mystical and lyrical, responding to ancient Andalusian poetry in the Muwashshah tradition. The takht – masterfully handling the oud, qanun, violin, cello, and percussion – guides the kaleidoscopic sounds and colors in these poems of love, revelry, and war, with additional solo work by the virtuosic singer Dalal Abu Amneh. True to their commitment to honor tradition while constantly blazing new ground, The Crossing’s latest offering is steeped in history, deeply relevant to modern listeners, and bridges cultures seamlessly.

VOICES OF THE LAND from composer Christina Rusnak guides listeners on a journey through America; celebrating its landscape and its people. The pieces on this album explore the emotions and experiences of settlers; miners; and indigenous people as they navigated the challenges; triumphs; and indignities of early American history. Drawing inspiration from the Homestead Act and the Klondike Gold Rush to the John Day River and Pine Meadow Ranch; Rusnak’s music weaves together the rhythms and sounds of nature with the stories of the nation’s early inhabitants. This album is in keeping with Rusnak’s other work as a composer; focusing on the intersection of place; nature; culture; history; and art. A powerful tribute to the land and the people who shaped it; VOICES OF THE LAND invites listeners to reflect on the complex history of America.

Navona Records proudly presents renowned composer Ruth Lomon's Shadowing, her debut album on the label. The release showcases her remarkable skill in writing for the piano, pushing the instrument's timbre and color to its limits to create animated sound worlds such as those of the title work, Shadowing. Lomon writes of the colors in the pieces: "'Shadowing' means to have such a light touch, such a light tread, that one can move freely through the forest, observing without being observed...It is the equivalent of manifesting and then becoming like smoke, and then manifesting again..." Lomon incorporates more radical colors - such as prepared piano - in Five Ceremonial Masks, which is inspired by masks used by the Navajo people in their Yeibichai Night Chant ceremonies. Native American imagery also appears in the second movement of Esquisses, "La Fête," in which the rhythmic and melodic properties of the music are inspired by the Turtle Dance as seen by Lomon at New Mexico's Taos Pueblo. The first movement of Esquisses, "Les Cloches," incorporates overtone partials and change-ringing patterns of European flared tower bells, creating a distinctive pianistic color, culminating in the introspective, balladic "Memoires de..." to conclude the piece.

Although Arnold Schoenberg is often seen as a composer strictly concerned with pitch, his interests in timbre and sonority are ever-present in all five of his completed piano works. On Schoenberg Piano Music And His 17 Fragments, pianist Yoko Hirota performs three of Schoenberg’s completed works along with the 17 fragments that he never brought to completion. Hirota, praised as being “precise and keenly projective” and demonstrating the “highest level of proficiency,” is one of the leading interpreters of contemporary piano repertory, and she brings Schoenberg’s compositions to life with conviction. The three pieces that make up Drei Klavierstückes op.11 demonstrate Schoenberg’s burgeoning awareness that, as a corollary to the atonal structures he was beginning to use, more emotionally stringent use of the piano made for fertile musical ground. A close examination of the 17 fragments illustrates the composer’s preoccupation with and research into expressivity and color in his piano music — elements that are communicated clearly in Hirota’s performances. The evolution of Schoenberg’s musical thought can be clearly traced in the fragments, which were written throughout the first quarter of the 20th Century. The influence of Brahmsian piano writing is evident in the first four fragments; by the time he had composed the ninth, his demand for articulation had become predominant. The twelfth fragment contains a character dissimilar to both his previous works and fragments, in that the harmonic language is rather tonal and in the vein of Prokofiev’s works. Schoenberg’s priority was the expression of music in the creative process. Through this album, Hirota does not only demonstrates Schoenberg’s care for expressivity in music. She highlights the fact that other pianists should strive to present this color and expression in the performance of Schoenberg’s works, in order to deliver a performance that is both rich and true to the composer’s intent.

Venezuelan-American cellist Carmine Miranda is a renowned international soloist and recording artist. He studied first at the Carabobo State Music Conservatory in Venezuela, then at the Latin-American Academy of Violoncell, the Simon Bolivar Conservatory of Music, and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. For this release, Miranda has chosen cello concerti by Schumann and Dvorak. When Miranda was only twenty two and twenty three years old, he recorded Bach’s Six Cello Suites, as well as Alfredo Piatti’s 12 Caprices for Solo Cello. He was one of the youngest in the world to ever record these works. “It’s natural, then, that Miranda’s performance of the Schumann Cello Concerto sounds like a love letter—attention is paid to moments of delicacy and tenderness.” (Huntley Dent, Fanfare Magazine)

Navona Records proudly presents Flare, recordings by members of the Society of Composers, Inc. Now in it's 32nd installment, it offers a veritable cross-section of some of the most original voices in composition today. The album opens with 20-year-old Vaibhav Mohanty's Rhapsody No. 1 (2017), traveling through elements of Western classical composition, jazz, and Indian traditional music with such well-proportioned naturalness and ease, it bears all the telltale signs of an instant repertoire classic. Robert Strobel's Refugees, a dynamic piano composition reminiscent of Takemitsu, explores the human drama of displacement in profoundly thought-out rhythmic and melodic structures. Continuing with the musical tradition of the 20th century, Keith Kramer transcends Olivier Messiaen's harmonic heritage in his oboe/piano duo L'etere del Tempo. Rejuvenated by Matthew J. Jaskot perambulates a futuristic universe of musical expression in seven diverse piano variations, miraculously springing forth from a simple pentatonic melody. In contrast, Jonathan Graybill draws inspiration from ancient Cherokee mysticism and lends a mysterious voice to the black-capped chickadee in Tsigili'I, illustrating it's mythological association as a messenger of wisdom and truth. In Song of the Avadhut, Romanian composer Gabriel Malancioiu aims to affect human consciousness in an avant-gardesque duet between soprano and violin, influenced by the teachings of modern and ancient mystics. Jacob Thiede's When All Else Fails contrasts the sonorous texture of a tuba with the mathematical perfection of computerized sine tones. In Dreams Interrupted, Mark W. Phillips fuses jazz, blues, and classical elements into a rhapsodic tribute to the cultural heritage of Memphis TN.

Navona Records proudly presents MUSIC FOR WOODWINDS from composer Scott Pender, his fourth appearance on the label. On this album, Pender showcases his chamber works for woodwinds from the last thirty years in ensemble combinations both common and unfamiliar. On this release lyricism abounds throughout. In the lighthearted Kimchi Dreams for two clarinets and bassoon, Pender conjures gentle, dreamy imagery, balancing two lyrical pieces with two quirky, rhythmically charged ones. The cinematic Variations for Oboe & Piano uses the classic theme-and-variations form to paint a broad canvas, which dissolves into a veiled memory at the end. The dramatic Suite for Woodwind Quintet features bubbling, energetic outer movements surrounding a contemplative Adagio. The lower registers are used to great effect in rich, open chordal writing. The most candid and emotional work on the album, Lyric Set for bassoon and piano, fully exploits the wide range of the bassoon. The movements carry descriptive titles: from the flowing opening of “In the Tide of Times,” followed by the reflective simplicity of “Every Day Is Saturday” – then the stubborn humor of “Lord Berners’ Giraffe,” and ending with the sad grandeur of “Hopeful about the Past.” The remaining pieces—Toccatina for flute quartet and Five Dances for bassoon quartet—add an extra element of rhythmic excitement.

Russian composer Alexander Scriabin is known to enthusiasts for his theory of musical colors, innovative piano works that pushed the boundaries of tonal writing, and for his untimely demise brought on by an unsanitary razor blade. American pianist and music professor Russell Hirshfield has now recorded an ambitiously-broad selection of the composer's early works which may well provide a novel talking point. There are relatively few recordings of Scriabin's music these days, possibly because it's a daunting task: The compositions demand a high level of virtuosity, but also a natural musical expressiveness that few performers are able to capture. Often, as in the case of the 24 Preludes, the performer is required to condense the emotional depth of an entire sonata movement into one minute or less. It's a well-crafted but fragile kind of music: if any one component, say, the phrasing, is off-color, the whole piece can fall apart. Luckily, Hirshfield is more than up to the challenge. His pianistic sentiment, technical command and interpretive clarity is not only impressive, it's the perfect fit for Scriabin. The level-headed yet profoundly empathetic playing truly brings out the shine in Scriabin's idiosyncratic compositional voice. This rendition isn't drenched in pseudo-Slavic drama which often mars contemporary recordings of Russian composers: instead, it rightfully portrays the pieces as the works of the individual. And it's a success. ALEXANDER SCRIABIN: EARLY WORKS couldn't be more aptly titled: Even though they constitute a selection, one would be hard-pressed not to imagine them as the sole recordings of the true, unadulterated Scriabin. Russell Hirshfield adds another exceptional merit to his great pianistic mastery: that to be a good musician is not only to be a performer, but to be an ambassador.

Thomas Bowes' Sei Solo shines the spotlight on the sonatas and partitas for solo violin composed by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1720. Bowes believes that these six stand-alone compositions, while each individually offering insight into Bach's genius reveal more when taken as one epic work - and especially when set against the tragedy in Bach’s life in the year of composition. The three albums in Bowes’ release contain a total of six tracks. Each album starts with a sonata and concludes with a partita, moving through different keys. The sonatas showcase a larger, more abstract expression, while movements in the partitas are more focused on elements of the dance. Bowes views these six compositions as a vehicle for exploration into the existential, taking his cue from Bach’s cryptic title ‘sei solo’, which reads ‘you are alone’, punning on the Italian for ‘6’ and ‘you are’. Though the performer flies solo on all of the tracks, he reaches well beyond the limitations of just one instrument. The focus and attention the violinist brings to all six tracks draws the listener into a meditative state of mind. It’s almost as if Bowes is performing solely for each individual listener, providing an intimate experience that demands attention yet allows room for contemplation.

Keyboard Cubed is Cervetti’s second recording for Navona and takes the listener into a world of kinetic and emotionally charged sound forged from 3 keyboard instruments. Sometimes it is the pianoforte, the double keyboard of the harpsichord and the organ.

Transits: Minimal to Mayhem, his fifth full Navona Records release, is an abridged sequence of five works from a set time and concrete place that maps composer Sergio Cervetti's creative progression over four decades of composing. The Concertino for piano, woodwinds and timpani (2013) is a rowdy and raucous array of South American rhythms tempered by a tender quote from Gustav Mahler's Kindertotenlieder. One of Cervetti's last minimalist works, Exiles (1980) begins with a slow piano rendition of a melodic theme from the Uruguayan patriotic song Mi Bandera, which is soon overwhelmed by electronic textures. In contrast, 1975's Guitar Music, (the bottom of the iceberg) is an early minimalist work for solo guitar that experiments with "restricted pitch-classes". The two works completing the album are based on the history and culture of the R�o de la Plata where Cervetti was born and raised. El R�o de los P�jaros Pintados (1979) seamlessly integrates the bandone�n with electronics. Candombe for Orchestra is the 1996 orchestration of Candombe for Harpsichord (1984), both works indebted to a Uruguayan national dance of African origin.

Navona Records presents SHOSTAKOVICH / RACHMANINOFF: SONATAS FOR CELLO AND PIANO, an album that highlights the musical expression and virtuosity of these renowned works.

Acclaimed award-winning soloist Carmine Miranda and GRAMMY-nominated Nashville Symphony pianist Robert Marler combine their virtuosity with the legendary three-time GRAMMY-nominated producer Alan Shacklock and celebrated mastering engineer Tommy Dorsey (Berlin Philharmonic – Deutsche Grammophon) to deliver the highest quality performances of these works.

Deeply expressive with interplay and virtuosic passages, these two sonatas are held to high regard by pianists and cellists alike. Once turning points in the lives of Shostakovich and Rachmaninoff, these works have stood the test of time, rewarded with commanding performances by cellist Carmine Miranda and pianist Robert Marler.

REVIEWS:

These two well-known sonatas are treated to handsome performances. The Shostakovich is perhaps a touch too Romantic, with prominent cello slides, yet a wonderful sense of buoyancy. The Rachmaninoff is passionate and delicate as the mood demands, and never indulgent.

-- BBC Music Magazine

The first thing to be said about their version of the Shostakovich D minor (1934) is its pace – this is one of the swiftest accounts I have encountered, full of vim and vigor in the three fast movements, ardent in its lyricism in the Largo. The sonata was written at a time of emotional upheaval in the composer’s personal life, during his brief divorce from his first wife, Nina. Miranda and Marler catch the music’s mercurial, passionate nature as well as any pair have done.

There is a similar thrust to their account of the Rachmaninoff Sonata, too, full of impulsion in the quicker movements. This permits them to relish the lyrical moments (the opening Allegro’s second subject, for instance, and the Andante third movement) without wallowing in what can sometimes seem like an over-ripe style. Praise to Robert Marler’s accompaniment: a fiendishly difficult part that can easily overwhelm the cello but played here with a lightness of touch that would not be amiss in Schubert.

-- Gramophone

Simon Andrews has earned a reputation as a creator of eloquent concert music that blends harmonic complexity and lyricism, introversion and broad gestures, and delicate timbres and bold statements. Here, on his recording debut, he offers up 10 compositions, all of which emphasize his proficiency in both vocal and instrumental music. The opening track, Violin Dialogues I and II, presents violin and piano in conversation. The first Dialogue contrasts two sets of ideas, each instrument's individual voice rising and falling until the two come together in a hard-won consensus. If Dialogue I is oppositional, Dialogue II is conversational, it's narrative more about two characters who agree on the destination and differ only on the best way to reach it. The album's title track, borrowed from the poem "Song" by Seamus Heaney is by turns lyrical and passionate, intimate and robust, as the five performers' instruments weave their way through various combinations. The four movements of For the earth is hollow and I have touched the sky, is a musical response to a concert which the composer attended at the American Composers Orchestra of music by Frank Zappa. An even more pop-cultural reference is the composition's title track and fourth movement, which is a musical representation of a quote from an episode of Star Trek, originally "... for the world is hollow and I have touched the sky." The album's first track to feature solo voice is My dove, my covey, an early lyrical poem by W.H. Auden, performed by a trio of oboe, violoncello and piano. In similar fashion, The heart has narrow banks, a beautiful poem written by Emily Dickenson, was chosen by the composer because it allowed him to create a more flexible harmonic language that could express lyrics such as "blue monotony" and "a wall of unattempted gauze" while keeping a consistent musical thread throughout. Inspired by a visit to New Mexico, Abiquiu Trio displays the impact of the desert landscape and the work of Georgia O'Keeffe on Andrews. The language of all three movements is a response to different facets of those two influences. The music of the piece's final movement, begun during a short stay at Christ in the Desert, a living monastery where church services are intoned to Gregorian chants, is a strong reminder that in addition to his more secular work, Andrews is also noted for his compositions of church music.

Japanese-Canadian pianist Yoko Hirota stuns with impeccable pianism on SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL: MINIATURE PIANO PIECES. Originally recorded in 2009, this remastered edition brings out the intricacies of 20th- and 21st-century piano composition with a clarity that was previously unheard of. The first half of the album's track list reads like an exhaustive compendium of 1900's compositional celebrities: Schoenberg, Krenek, Ligeti, Berio. It's a brainy choice: the tracks on SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL aren't ordered by length, as one might intuit, but instead in geographical and roughly chronological order. Vienna's modernists may have laid the foundation, but North America's modernists took serial and atonal composition to the next level. And so, to do the matter justice, there is a splendidly representative selection of Elliott Carter’s oeuvre, along with pieces by Canadian composers - John Beckwith. Despite the immense differences in cultural background and era – the selection spans almost a century, after all – they are all united by one distinguishing feature: They are short pieces, with lengths between 31 seconds and six-and-a-half minutes. Yoko Hirota, who holds a doctoral degree in piano performance and currently teaches the piano at the Music Department of Laurentian University in Ontario, Canada, plays all of these pieces with academic precision, regardless of their respective geographical or temporal provenance. A recording veteran with six previous contemporary albums under her belt, her grasp of the modernist zeitgeist is not only palpable, but extraordinary. And it shows: there is a subtle lyricism even where traditional harmonies clash, a sensitivity not just for the musical language of the era, but for the greater principles that underpin them. SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL doesn't just serve as an index of contemporary piano composition and its roots, it's a worthwhile addition to a modernist record collection on merit of Hirota's powerful interpretation alone.