NEW ON NAXOS | MARCH 2024
INCLUDES WORLD PREMIERE RECORDINGS
Fernando LOPES-GRAÇA (1906–1994) Songs and Folk Songs, Vol. 3 Susana Gaspar, Soprano • Nuno Vieira de Almeida, Piano
Fernando Lopes-Graça, one of Portugal’s most prolific and innovative 20th-century composers, was steeped in the folk songs of various provenances. In this third instalment (the earlier volumes are on 8.579039 and 8.579082) Lopes-Graça sets some of the greatest of all Portuguese poets. His exploration of harmonic complexity and progressive writing is distantly rooted in Debussy and laced with other subtle French elements. Premiere recordings of the kaleidoscopic Old English and French songs, which run the gamut of emotions, are among his earliest settings of foreign folk songs. Key Feature: Vol. 1 of this series is on 8.579039: ‘This is a valuable offering and a worthwhile sortie into the work of a somewhat neglected composer’ ( American Record Guide ). ‘The recording is perfectly fine. …This disc contains some beguiling repertoire and anyone who has been impressed by this composer’s large-scale orchestral works will find much to enjoy here’ ( MusicWeb International ).
8.579152 Release Date: 22 Mar 2024
Companion Titles – Fernando Lopes-Graça, Composer 8.579039 | 8.579082 | 8.574373 | 8.572817
Click to listen to Six Vieilles chansons françaises, Op. 50 (‘Six Old French Songs’): No. 6. La Vigne au vin (‘From Vine to Wine’)
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Franz Joseph HAYDN ( 1732–1809) for 2 hANDs 4 Alexandra Ivanova, Fortepiano
Haydn’s creative imagination was stimulated by eminent Italian composers such as Porpora and Scarlatti and by his contemporary C.P.E. Bach, whose piano sonatas Haydn had performed. Through Georg Wagenseil, an important figure in Viennese music for the piano, he also absorbed a new sense of musical form. Together, these influences generated Haydn’s own individual language, as shown in the Sonata in C major with its elegance and wit. The Andante con variazioni in F minor shows further refinement and development in the composer’s command of variation form. Alexandra Ivanova performs on fortepianos from Haydn’s era, and plays both the primo and secondo parts in the sonata Il maestro e lo scolare . Key Feature: Alexandra Ivanova regularly performs in concerts throughout Europe and Russia. Her wide repertoire ranges from music of the 17th to the 21st centuries on various instruments such as the harpsichord, fortepiano, clavichord and piano. Born in Lake Baikal, Russia, Ivanova began her piano studies at the age of five with her mother, Natalia Ivanova. She made her orchestral debut at the age of eight with Mozart’s First Piano Concerto, K. 37 with the local philharmonic orchestra.
8.551466 Release Date: 22 Mar 2024 Companion Titles – Franz Joseph Haydn, Composer 8.574391 | 8.573934 | 8.573128 | 8.572040
GREAT COMPOSERS IN WORDS AND MUSIC
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Robert SCHUMANN (1810–1856) By Davinia Caddy • Read by Leighton Pugh
The unresolved and ambiguous details of Robert Schumann’s psychological decline and death have tended to dominate his biography. Yet in his time Schumann was lauded as a protean Romantic literary genius whose writings, as a music critic, poet, novelist and dramatist, eclipsed his musical creativity. How did Schumann reconcile these elements? Does his music suggest he suffered from bipolar disorder? How did his pianist wife, Clara, influence his compositions? The narration is illustrated with some of Schumann’s finest works including excerpts from the symphonies, his song cycle Dichterliebe , the piano works Papillon and Carnaval , and the Piano Concerto , among others.
8.578375 Release Date: 22 Mar 2024
Companion Titles – Previous releases in the series 8.578374 | 8.578361 | 8.578362 | 8.578363
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