NEW ON NAXOS | DECEMBER 2023
Francesco CAVALLI (1602–1676) Il Xerse Dramma per musica in a prologue and three acts (1655) Libretto by Nicolò Minato (c. 1627–1698) Critical edition by Sara Elisa Stangalino and Hendrik Schulze (2019) – abridged version Sung in Italian BUY NOW!
Dioklea Hoxha, Carolina Lippo, Ekaterina Protsenko, Sopranos Gaia Petrone, Mezzo-soprano • Carlo Vistoli, Countertenor Orchestra Barocca Modo Antiquo • Federico Maria Sardelli
Francesco Cavalli was successor to Monteverdi and the most influential opera composer in Venice during the mid-17th century. His dramma per musica , Il Xerse , was innovative for the period, with a tangled plot of affections and relationships based on history rather than mythology. Its enormous success was due in no small part to Xerse’s bizarre and overblown character and his famous declaration of love for a tree, ‘Ombra mai fu’. Cavalli’s Il Xerse is commedia dell’arte theatre that creates an exotic world aimed at inspiring awe in its audiences, enhanced with music that conveys an avalanche of emotions. Key Features: • The audiovisual premiere performance of this release has previously been available from the Dynamic label (DYN-37983/DYN-57983) released in June. • The strong cast for this production is led by countertenor Carlo Vistoli (Xerse) who has worked closely with conductors such as William Christie and John Eliot Gardiner.
8.660536-37 Release Date: 1 Dec 2023
Companion Titles – Italian baroque opera
NEW
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Click to listen to Act I: Sinfonia –
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WORLD PREMIERE RECORDINGS
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756–1791) Piano Concertos Nos. 19 and 25 (arr. Ignaz Lachner) Alon Goldstein, Piano • Fine Arts Quartet
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Mozart’s return to Vienna in 1781 initiated a remarkable period of inventiveness and productivity. In late 1784 he wrote the Piano Concerto No. 19 in F major , a work Mozart performed in Frankfurt on the occasion of Leopold II’s election as Holy Roman Emperor and which is notable for its rhythmic vivacity and sense of colour. In 1786 he wrote the Piano Concerto No. 25 in C major – a work that stretched the concerto genre considerably with its operatic qualities and dramatic dialogue. Ignaz Lachner’s ingenious transcriptions show a complete grasp of Mozart’s idiom, incorporating much instrumental detail and reinventing the music’s underlying dramatic scheme within a chamber context. Key Features: • Pianist Alon Goldstein performs on Volume 24 of the complete Scarlatti keyboard edition which can be heard on 8.574196. Crescendo (France) wrote, ‘The ornamentation is precise, the accents are deliberately striking, even provocative, the beautiful overall architecture well thought out. We ask for more Scarlatti to be played like this!’ •
8.574477 Release Date: 1 Dec 2023
Companion Titles – Previous releases in Mozart’s Piano Concertos series
The Fine Arts Quartet has made a number of Naxos recordings, for example Mendelssohn’s String Quintets (8.570488) and Glazunov’s chamber music (8.570256) which were named Recordings of the Year by MusicWeb International , Schumann’s string quartets (8.570151) hailed by the American Record Guide as ‘one of the very finest chamber music recordings of the year’.
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From left to right: Ralph Evans , Efim Boico , Gil Sharon and Niklas Schmidt
Click to listen to Piano Concerto No. 19 in F major, K. 459: III. Allegro assai (cadenza by Mozart)
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