Les Sopranos

This special product is dedicated to the voice of soprano, the most emblematic of the lyrical art and features some of the leading sopranos from the Na�ve catalogue: Sandrine Piau, Patricia Petibon, Julia Lehneva, Felicity Lott, Karina Gauvin, V�ronique Gens and Lucy Crowe.

Hoffmeister: Flute Concertos, Volume 2

�anyone who listens to Mozart or Haydn primarily for elegant melodies and rhythmic certainties will find Hoffmeister tasty. Others may find him at times a little too sweet...Gold-fluted Bruno Meier has no real difficulties to face in the scores, whether technical or expressive, whilst the dependable if not exactly characterful Prague Chamber Orchestra provide dabs of background colour.� --MusicWeb International, 30th October 2013

Franz Anton Hoffmeister was a formative figure in the musical life of his time and highly regarded as a publisher of famous contemporaries such as Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven. The variety and appeal of his own works also made him a popular and renowned composer. As with volume 1 of this series (8572738), flautist Bruno Meier has created new editions of these previously unknown works. With elegant and catchy themes, substantial proportions, intriguing major/minor contrasts of key and virtuoso solo writing, Hoffmeister satisfied the tastes of his time finding a perfect balance between grace and artistry.

Quietude

Renowned harpist Yolanda Kondonassis has made several popular concept discs for Telarc, Quietude is the most highly focused album to date. It has been especially created to evoke a mood of calmness and serenity in the listener. "An additional goal of mine," said Kondonassis, "was to find and record music that might stimulate one�s inner realm in a way that only seems to happen when the �everyday� part of the brain begins to quiet down. Many different things can access that inner realm in me," she continued, "but quite often, it�s music."

"Miraculous is Kondonassis's playing . . . If you've never even considered a harp recording, this one's a great place to start." --ClassicsToday.com

Revisions

Steven Isserlis has earned a reputation as one of the foremost cellists of our day. At the same time he has become known for his ingenuity and innovation in programming, something which this disc is the perfect example of. It combines four works for cello and orchestra that wouldn't even exist without Isserlis - all arrangements made at his personal request, and each of them by the arranger of his personal choice. The most radical reworking is the opening piece, an arrangement based on the fact that Debussy at the age of 19 composed a Suite for cello and orchestra. 

All that is known for certain about this suite is that its fourth movement was called Intermezzo, and that this piece has survived in a version for cello and piano. In her imaginative reconstruction of - or rather replacement for - Debussy's original composition, Sally Beamish has used this piece as the opening movement, going on to construct orchestral arrangements of four other Debussy works from the same period, including the piano pieces R�verie and Danse boh�mienne. The two Ravel songs which follow were arranged by Isserlis' friend, the violinist Richard Tognetti in order to supplement the concert programme for a tour that the two were to make with Tognetti's own Australian Chamber Orchestra.

Vladimir Blok's orchestration of Prokofiev's Concertino, which had been left incomplete at the death of the composer, was made as Isserlis was unhappy with the existing arrangement of the work, made by Kabalevsky. The disc closes with the earliest of these four re-visions, film composer Christopher Palmer's orchestration of Ernest Bloch's From Jewish Life, allowing the disc to end with the movement entitled Prayer - 'one of the most fervently beautiful pieces ever written for the cello', according to Steven Isserlis himself. Throughout the programme Isserlis receives the expert support of Tapiola Sinfonietta conducted by G�bor Tak�cs-Nagy.

Muzio Clementi: Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2

"For my money, this new Naxos release�is an excellent choice. Playing by Rome�s Orchestra Sinfonica under the leadership of Francesco La Vecchia is stylish and smart, and the recorded sound is bright and nicely detailed�Clementi�s symphonies are�expertly crafted and their many felicities are immensely enjoyable." --Fanfare, July 2013

"The current release presents a fine and lively recording of the first two symphonies [of Clementi]. The Rome Symphony[�s]�performance here is outstanding. Good sound, decent notes." --American Record Guide, May 2013

Muzio Clementi was �The Father of the pianoforte�, a performer, teacher, publisher and manufacturer of pioneering importance. But in addition to the works for piano, he also wrote a series of symphonies which, along with Cherubini�s D major Symphony (Naxos 8.557908), are the only works by an Italian composer to stand comparison with the great Viennese symphonies of the time. Colourful, characterful and atmospheric, these important works show the influence of Haydn, but also, in their orchestral richness, of Beethoven and Schubert.

Alb�niz Orchestral Music

The recorded sound on this Regis CD is very good and B�tiz�s readings are vibrant, rhythmically strong and taut yet elastic to make the dances sinuous and supple.

"[Piano Concerto]. an attractive lyrical strain... played quite winningly here and very well recorded... Catalonia is a bright little number." --Gramophone Magazine

A colourful and vibrant programme.

Iberia was originally conceived as a series of twelve piano pieces each depicting a Spanish dance, festival or locality. They make great technical demands on the pianist and in fact Alb�niz was the first of several pianists forced to simplify the writing. The composer was beginning to show signs of Bright�s Disease at the time and when he came to orchestrate the work he soon had to ask his friend Enrique Arb�s to continue the task. Surinach and Stokowski also orchestrated sections and there have been many transcriptions for guitar. This suite comprises six brightly coloured orchestrations. The recorded sound on this Regis CD is very good and B�tiz�s readings are vibrant, rhythmically strong and taut yet elastic to make the dances sinuous and supple. The first movement, �Evocaci�n� (orch. 1910) is a nostalgic fandanguillo-jota navarra dance in triple time; �F�te-Dieu � S�ville� (orch. 1925) depicts a Corpus Christi Day procession in Seville complete with a saeta lament. The 1906 �Triana� (orch. 1917), with its imitations of castanets and heeltaps, is named after the gypsy quarter of Seville. �El Puerto� (orch. 1908) evokes a busy fishing port. �El albaicin� another depiction of a gypsy quarter, this time in Granada, was orchestrated in 1924 and is in flamenco style. Finally, �Navarra�, the flamboyant last movement of this suite, was conceived as part of the composer�s original piano composition. It was begun in Alb�niz�s final year but completed by D�odat de S�verac and orchestrated in 1927.

Alb�niz�s Piano Concerto No. 1 shows the influence of the composer�s cosmopolitan travels and training. There is charm but it is not distinctive; it shows the influence of Chopin, Schumann and Mendelssohn. There is no obvious use of Spanish themes or dances - more�s the pity, one might think. It begins portentously with a darkly dramatic orchestral introduction lasting almost two minutes. This opening movement develops along the lines of many Late-Romantic concertos with dramatic, lyrically nostalgic and whimsical episodes. Its melodies are attractive if not especially memorable. The central movement is gentle and dream-like developing into exuberance. The finale continues in this mood with dramatic contrasts. Aldo Ciccolini makes the most of its material.

Catalonia has a strong Spanish influence. It is dazzling, very fast moving and hedonistic. It has been hailed as the most �brilliant Spanish fantasy since Chabrier�s Espa�a�.

The Alb�niz Concerto is nothing remarkable but the rest of the programme is colourful and vibrant enough.

-- Ian Lace, MusicWeb International

Mompou: M�sica callada I-XXVIII - Books 1-4 (complete)

Mompou was of Spanish and Basque background and as a young man associated with the musicians of the Groupe des Six in Paris led by Jean Cocteau, with Stravinsky and Ravel, and with Gide and Val�ry. He performed his own works with some success in the Parisian salons without directly working toward this goal. The piano was his instrument, and M�sica Callada was his greatest and last cycle. Performed by MDG artist Steffen Schleiermacher.