Naxos Classical Spotlight

Raymond Bisha’s latest podcast focuses on two works by William Bolcom that have been recently recorded for the Naxos American Classics Series. The emotional spectrum of his “Canciones de Lorca” and “Prometheus” is reflected in colourful orchestrations and a mix of musical styles that swing between intense drama and surreal humour.

Known principally for his prodigious output of concertos, Antonio Vivaldi was also a prolific composer of operas, so it’s perhaps no surprise that an engaging and demanding operatic vocal style also permeates Vivaldi’s sacred music. Raymond Bisha introduces both the music and the performers on this fourth volume of Naxos’ survey of Vivaldi’s catalogue of works written for the church.

It was the great virtuoso Wanda Landowska who spearheaded a revival of interest in the dormant harpsichord at the turn of the 20th century. Working closely with Pleyel of Paris, the instrument manufacturer, she helped develop and promote a sturdier and more sonorous instrument than was hitherto the case. Composers of the time weren’t slow to respond with wit and eccentricity, composing colourful new works that may have glanced to the past but were in clear harmony with the times. Raymond Bisha explores a selection of them on this month’s new release from leading contemporary harpsichordist Christopher D. Lewis.

Two disparate experiences in sound occupy this month’s new CD of works by American composer Christopher Rouse. From the schizophrenic to the sublime, ‘Seeing’ and ‘Kabir Padavali’ are scored respectively for piano soloist and soprano soloist, plus orchestra. Ranging from notions of insanity to the exquisite beauty of 15th-century Indian poetry, Rouse explores the striking extremes of his orchestral palette.

Raymond Bisha delves into the stunning new Naxos recording of three choral works by Leonard Bernstein. The performances are conducted by Marin Alsop, a protégé of the composer and one of today’s leading interpreters of his work. A fervent spirituality permeates The Lark, the Missa Brevis (the last choral work to be completed by Bernstein) and the Symphony No 3, ‘Kaddish’, which was premièred weeks after the assassination of John F. Kennedy and dedicated to his memory. With a starry line-up of performers, Marin Alsop presents sound proof of the musical power of “this musician who changed the world.”

Dramatic tension is never far from the surface in Gordon Chin’s music, exemplified by this new recording of two of his formidable orchestral works. Literary inspiration for the Cello Concerto No. 1 came from the pens of Shakespeare, Pascal and Samuel Johnson, while the disturbed history of Chin’s native Taiwan formed the bedrock of his Third Symphony. Raymond Bisha explores the works’ emotional ride.

Raymond Bisha dips into the latest Naxos recording of works by Jean Sibelius that have been obscured by the popularity of his symphonies and the violin concerto, including many pieces he wrote to complement stage works. Although these might be termed incidental and occasional, they belie such labels by constituting an extraordinary treasure house of the most charming and melodically rich pieces from Finland’s first internationally recognised composer.

Franz Ignaz Beck (1734–1809) was a member of the Mannheim school of composers, based at the court of Mannheim in the mid-18th century. The Mannheim orchestra was one of the largest and finest in Europe, and the Mannheim school’s spearheading of developments in orchestral style, technique and expression influenced symphonic composers during the rest of the 18th century and well into the nineteenth, including Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. This new Naxos release features the Thirteen Strings Chamber Orchestra conducted by Kevin Mallon in Beck’s Op. 2 set of six symphonies. In this podcast, Rick Phillips reveals the importance of Beck on the European musical scene and explains some of the compositional techniques to be found in his Op. 2.

From composer to transcriber to performer—less instantaneous than modern transmissions, but it’s how many works first came to be known by music lovers before the dawn of the age of technology. In this week’s podcast Raymond Bisha introduces pianist Sergio Gallo breezing through virtuoso transcriptions by Franz Liszt of music by opera composer Giacomo Meyerbeer, from Vol. 40 in Naxos’ ongoing cycle of Liszt’s Complete Piano Music.

Canada’s Gryphon Trio was established in 1993 and its founding members remain the same to this day. Indefatigable as performers, teachers and administrators at institutions around Canada, the trio has commissioned over 75 new works since its inception. Raymond Bisha explores their latest recording of works by four distinguished Canadian composers: Brian Current, Andrew Staniland, Michael Oesterle and James K. Wright.