The Naxos Blog

Brazilian composer Claudio Santoro (1919–1989) proved a dynamic force for his country’s classical music scene. His life was both intertwined with, and deeply influenced by, the political and social events playing out around him, from the building of the Berlin Wall in Europe to political upheavals in his homeland. Through it all, his compositions reflected Read More ...

This podcast from the Sounds Interesting series takes repetition as its theme, a musical technique that has long served composers very well, time and time and time again. Henry Purcell, Dmitri Shostakovich and Benjamin Britten provide the musical examples.     Links to the music featured in this podcast: Henry Purcell: Evening Hymn (8.557129) Dmitri Read More ...

Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745–1799) – a brilliant swordsman, athlete, violin virtuoso and gifted composer – might well lay claim to being the most talented figure in an age of remarkable individuals. Raymond Bisha gives an overview of this remarkable life, binding the disparate elements of his career with the constant beauty of his Read More ...

Raymond Bisha introduces Naxos’ new album of the complete works for solo piano by leading American composer John Corigliano Jnr. During their conversation together, the composer gives insight into the creative genesis of all the works on the programme, which span a period of some fifty years: from the 1968 Piano Concerto (“The first piece Read More ...

Raymond Bisha introduces Naxos’ fifth album devoted to the music of leading American composer, Jonathan Leshnoff, who was GRAMMY-nominated for his album Violins of Hope (Naxos 8.559809) and is amongst the most frequently performed of living composers. The themes of this mixed programme of his recent works are remembrance, memorialisation and hopefulness. The soloist in Read More ...

Conductor and Naxos artist Marin Alsop discusses Robert Schumann’s four symphonies in the wake of her recordings of the works as reorchestrated by Mahler (8.574429 and 8.574430). Following observations about instrumental developments of the time, Mahler’s myriad tweaks to the score, and the somewhat bipolar flavour of the music (with counterpoint always at hand as Read More ...

The first instalment in our brief survey of music from the Nordic countries – Finland, Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden [FINDS] – featured composers from Iceland and Sweden. This edition showcases music by a selection of Danish composers, whom we’ll introduce in broadly chronological order. We start with Friedrich Kuhlau (1786–1832) who, although he was German-born, Read More ...

This podcast from the Sounds Interesting series spotlights music expressed through the prism of madness in a range of contexts, from the world of fantasy to the theatre of war.             Links to the music featured in this podcast: Peter Maxwell Davies: 8 Songs for a Mad King (8.558191-92) William Read More ...

This podcast features Peter Hall in conversation with JoAnn Falletta, music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic, about her latest release on the Naxos label—a recording of William Walton’s Façades 1 and 2, together with four additional movements. The conversation takes us from Walton’s university days to his association with the poet Edith Sitwell and his Read More ...

This podcast from the Sounds Interesting series examines how a musical composition can be pampered by alternative wardrobes, when an original is dressed in different presentations of style and instrumentation while retaining its core character.         Links to the music featured in this podcast: Brahms: Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Read More ...