Classical Music

Classical Music

Although orchestral music and operettas such as Tom Jones (Naxos 8.660270-71) were Edward German's main focus as composer, he wrote a dozen or so works specifically for violin and piano, mostly during his time at the RAM, London, UK, where he was recognized as a gifted violinist, and the years immediately following. Many of these salon pieces were written for his own use, including his earliest known compositions. From the beguiling charm of the Chanson d'Amour to the haunting Souvenir, these works are exquisitely crafted miniatures, several of which have remained unheard for over a century.

Ego sum Resurrectio: Gregorian Chant for the Dead

World premiere recordings of three new important choral works by American composers Richard Einhorn, Gilda Lyons and Joseph Turrin. The Musica Viva NY Choir and Orchestra make their Naxos debut with these recordings, conducted by their artistic director Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez.

The impetus of the Mexican Revolution galvanized the use of Indigenous melodies in a new and original wave of musical compositions that loosened dependence on European models. José Moncayo’s infectiously joyful ‘Huapango,’ one of Mexico’s best-known works is, in its distinct national character, deeply rooted in folk music. Silvestre Revueltas’s ‘La Noche de los mayas’ is a symphonic suite derived from film music that employs Mexican percussion instruments in a vividly inventive way. The process of linking folk influence with classical techniques continues to the present day with Hebert Vazquez’s ‘El arbol de la vida’ which uses the folk style known as the ‘son.’ Mexican guitarist Pablo Garibay has established himself as a leading force on the international classical guitar scene with a repertoire that includes the great guitar concertos, notably those by Rodrigo, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Ponce, and Villa-Lobos. As a concerto soloist, he made his debut with the Orquesta Filarmonica de la Ciudad de Mexico and has since appeared as a soloist with orchestras throughout Europe and the Americas.

REVIEW:

This youth orchestra — founded in 2011 by the conductor — sound magnificent here. They are associated with Eduardo Mata University, and they consist of the finest young musicians of Mexico. They play with real mastery and joy — ensemble is precise, no matter how difficult the music; and the strings, in particular, can sound really lush and lovely. Anyone with interest in Mexican music should have this—or guitarists who are looking for a new, exciting work with orchestra.

– American Record Guide

This recording presents brand new concertos from two vibrant and contrasting American composers. Adolphus Hailstork’s First Piano Concerto draws on his African American heritage to create a work brimming with energy and high spirits. The Violin Concerto “Eleven Eleven” by Danny Elfman – renowned for his many film scores including Batman – has its roots in the composer’s rock, film and television background, but also illustrates his love for the music of Shostakovich and Prokofiev.

REVIEW:

Two major works from contemporary American composers sit side by side here in this latest American Classics production from Naxos. Well-known for his prolific film score output Danny Elfman’s Violin Concerto “Eleven Eleven” has echoes of his early Batman. There is an interesting note about the subtitle in the accompanying words – apparently the number 11 has special meaning for the composer. Alongside this we have Adolphus Hailstork’s Piano Concerto No 1. This has influences from his Afro-American heritage. Both are in fine new live recordings here.

-- Lark Reviews

ELGAR: Enigma Variations / Pomp and Circumstance Marches Nos

ELGAR: Enigma Variations / In the South / Coronation March

Nearly 80 minutes of Elgar in march tempo many be a bit much at a single sitting, but this disc fills a useful niche. The most interesting work here is the symphonic prelude Polonia, dedicated to Paderewski, and composed during the First World War. Making use of various Polish melodies (including music by Paderewski and Chopin), at nearly fifteen minutes it's a major statement for a mere "occasional" work, and the only reason I can think of that it isn't better known is that it's not about England so no one especially cares. James Judd and the New Zealand Symphony play it very well, as they also do the Pomp and Circumstances Marches. Frankly, you can have your Boults and Barbirollis: compared to Judd they sound far less involved. He actually has interesting ideas about phrasing (listen to how he drives the opening of March No. 2), and makes a persuasive case for this music as music, rather than as a high school graduation exercise or some other mundane event.


The Coronation March and the Funeral March from Grania and Diarmid are also bigger than their titles might suggest, the first as reflective as it is opulent, the second really a brief, elegiac tone poem. It's a bit hard to get excited about either the Empire March or the March from Caractacus, and the March of the Mogul Emperors (from The Crown of India Suite) could crash and bash with more abandon (where is the tam-tam?), but there's certainly enough here to whet the appetite of committed Elgarians. The sonics are also quite good: a touch low-level, perhaps, but easily adjustable, with plenty of room to expand and good bass separation between timpani, bass drum, and organ pedals (which are well caught but not overbearing). In short, this is another successful collaboration between Judd and the New Zealanders--long may they continue.
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Elgar: String Quartet - Piano Quintet

Elgar: Symphony No. 2

Formed in 1893 by Sir Dan Godfrey, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (it should be noted that the orchestra was eventually based in Poole, but maintained the original name for tradition's sake) became a world-class and world-traveled orchestra, performing in New York, Amsterdam, Berlin, and Vienna (to name but a few). In addition to it's well-stamped passport, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra had the rare pleasure of working with such names as Elgar, Holst, and Stravinsky. The orchestra did spin off a smaller group, the Bournemouth Sinfonietta, in 1968, but that group folded in 1999. Signed to a long-term deal with the Naxos label, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra has released more than 300 CDs, and has been nominated for a handful of Grammy Awards. For the 2008-2009 season, the conductor's baton was passed from Marin Alsop to Ukrainian Kirill Karabits.

For more than two decades before he achieved fame and financial security as England' foremost composer, the young Edward Elgar earned a living as a violinist and violin teacher.

A charming disc full of charming music, these light Elgar works seem to come and go in the catalog, undeservedly so. Like most great composers Elgar lavished as much care on his miniatures as he did on his large-scale productions, and some listeners may well prefer to enjoy his lyrical gifts and vivid orchestration in this easily digestible form. The performances are uniformly excellent, offering both lightness ("Fairy Pipers", "Little Bells", "The Merry Doll") and rambunctious high spirits ("The Wild Bears", "The Wagon (Passes)") where appropriate. James Judd's tempos tend to be a little slower than, say, Charles Mackerras' on his otherwise excellent Argo disc containing much of the same repertoire, but the music never drags and it's all easeful good fun. The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra plays with obvious care and affection, and the recorded sound lives up to the current high standards coming from this source. The Judd/New Zealand partnership has given Naxos some of its best discs, and this one is no exception. --David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Many things come to mind when considering the great flowering of the arts during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, among them the plays and poetry of Shakespeare and the magnificent sacred choral music masterpieces of composers such as Byrd and Tallis. But there also was abundant activity on the secular music front, most notably the incomparable lute songs of John Dowland and the lovely works for viol consort and for solo voice and viols by Byrd, Mundy, Farrant, Parsons, and many others. This recording, featuring the clear, expressive voice of Catherine King and the well-tuned, perfectly matched instruments of the Rose Consort of Viols, is devoted to the latter two categories--including theatrical pieces, dances, and some of the most melancholy--and beautiful--songs in the repertoire. King's rich mezzo is an ideal complement to the warm, reedy viols, and the instrumental playing must receive special mention for its sensitivity and tasteful style. This recording will provide an appealing introduction to one of the most significant and accessible genres of early music; and it will satisfy confirmed fans as well. --David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

Ellington, Duke: Jump For Joy (1941-1942)

Classical Music

More spare, yielding chamber music is found on the new Naxos disc. The 2005 Mosaic is Carter at his most inviting, in a program showing how even his minor works have a strong reason for existence. That disc comes with a bonus DVD documentary on the composer, not the best ever made, but at least providing face time with a composer who is as congenial as he is great.

Sephardic music, from the ancient domain of al-Andalus, lies at the heart of of this selection of songs in remembrance of a lost homeland. The word endechar comes from a time before the expulsion of the Jews and their culture from Spain in 1492; wit.

The Phoenix Symphony enjoys a long history of premiering new works that bridge gaps between Western art music and Native cultures. Hailed as 'a master', Mark Grey 'is a composer as well as a sound engineer.

This album focuses on Enescu’s early chamber music composed during the turn of the 20th century, much of which has only recently been discovered. The Fine Arts Quartet, one of the world’s leading quartets, is joined by the Witkowski Piano Duo and double bassist Alexander Bickard in works that include an arrangement of Enescu’s popular Romanian Rhapsody No. 1 for piano and string quintet.

REVIEW:

The Fine Arts Quartet is at the core of this program. Its members as well as the two pianists on the program bring great spirit to these youthful works, and the label’s recorded sound is fine. The program notes are informative as well. This is a very attractive disc.

— Fanfare

Enescu: Oedipe

This collection of piano music is a welcome reminder of the many fascinating stylistic strands that colour George Enescu' work. Seriously under-rated today, he exerted a powerful influence on all those who came under his spell.

Chamber music was a crucial element in Enescu’s output and these two works, separated by seven years, represent very different phases of his compositional development. The large-scale Piano Quartet No.1 marks the climax of his early maturity. The Piano Trio in A minor, however, was unknown until 1965 and represents a more transitional stage – a compact but intricately expressive work with an animated and compelling sequence of variations at its heart.

"This evocative and powerful music has certainly been given its deserved attention through the beautiful and dedicated playing on this excellent album." -Gramophone

This is one of those recordings that amply demonstrates the wisdom of Naxos' mission: greatly interesting though underheard repertoire; well-informed, talented performers who do justice to the music; unbeatable price. These quartets by Georges Enescu, who is much better known as one of the most influential violinists of the first half of the 20th century than as a composer, are lovely. The two works share a generally husky and dark-voiced tonality, sublimely Romanian textures, melodies that never slack into kitschiness, and a tendency to squeeze in many more thematic ideas than is perhaps advisable (see the 46-minute Quartet No. 1 for an example of such, though the much later second quartet is much more successful in squelching that impulse). The Romanian Ad Libitum Quartet (founded, coincidentally, at the Georges Enescu Academy of Arts in Iasi) is a perfect advocate for this music, with playing that is passionate yet never vulgar. The miking results in a wonderfully crisp sound, but the recording levels were clearly set a little too low. Be prepared to jack up the volume a few settings higher than you might regularly use. --Anastasia Tsioulcas, ClassicsToday.com

Britten's cantata St. Nicolas is another of the great modern pieces on a Christmas theme. Dramatic, even dark in places – as in the best music from Bach on down, a glimpse of the shade helps us better appreciate the light – Britten's tale of St. Nick is utterly enthralling, especially in this beautifully recorded performance. Conductor Steuart Bedford assisted Britten at the end of the composer's life and became one of his most sensitive interpreters, leading the premiere of the opera Death in Venice and directing the Aldeburgh Festival for decades. The late English tenor Philip Langridge, the soloist in St. Nicolas, does his stirring best here, as do the BBC Singers in Christ's Nativity. Like many of Britten's later scores, his festive setting of Psalm 150 was designed for a mix of professional and amateur players; the children's chorus here shines brightly.

– Bradley Bambarger, Listen [Winter 2011]

With fine organ playing from Jonathan Vaughn and excellent recorded sound(producer, Andrew Walton), the disc ranks among the best choral issues of recent times. John Steane, Gramophone

This is a fine collection of some of Charles Stanford's most enduring church music, sung by one of England's most revered choirs, itself a staple of the country's choral music tradition for more than 300 years. However, there are many fine recordings of Stanford church music in the CD catalog, also sung by superlative choirs steeped in the English cathedral repertoire--choirs from Chichester, Durham, and Portsmouth (all on Priory Records), the Cambridge Singers (Collegium), and Trinity College, Cambridge (Conifer), among others--and so, the question is, if you're looking to acquaint yourself with this beautiful and beloved music, would this be a good place to begin? And the answer is yes, but with the caution that although these performances are not collectively the best, they nevertheless offer faithful, conscientious, well-mannered interpretations that fully honor the substance and style of Stanford's scores.


The service music comes off best, owing to the power of the organ accompaniments and the choir's strongly projected and well articulated statements. The famous Three Latin Motets, staples of concert choir performances all over the world, seem overly reserved and lacking the punch we usually hear--and expect--from these richly expressive pieces. The Communion Service in C is a gem (minus the cumbersome Credo--a text that absolutely defies elegant musical setting), and the choir--probably the most vocally well-integrated of all of England's all-male ensembles--proves its reportorial command as well as its vocal prowess. Sonically, I have no serious complaints--except that I had to turn the volume up higher than my usual listening level to clearly hear and get the full effect of the unaccompanied motets. And I find Naxos' practice of printing track listings only on the back of the jewel box--and not reproducing them in the liner booklet--an irritating and unnecessary inconvenience.
--David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

Includes work(s) by Sir John Tavener (Composer), Gerald Finzi. Ensemble: St. John's College Choir, Cambridge. Conductor: Christopher Robinson.
Includes work(s) for choir by Herbert Howells, Sir Edward Elgar. Ensemble: St. John's College Choir, Cambridge. Conductor: Christopher Robinson.
Includes work(s) for chorus by various composers. Ensemble: St. John's College Choir, Cambridge. Conductor: Christopher Robinson.