NEW ON NAXOS | MARCH 2024
WORLD PREMIERE RECORDINGS
Reza VALI (b. 1952) The Being of Love Janna Baty, Mezzo-soprano Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen • Fawzi Haimor
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Award-winning composer Reza Vali is a native of Iran but is now based in the United States after studies in Europe. Vali’s distinctive cross-cultural style is founded in a quiet rebellion that saw him return to his Persian musical heritage. Following the dazzling concert opener Ravân , Vali has taken a text by 13th-century poet and mystic, Rūmī, two traditional texts, and words by Vali himself, to create the moving cycle The Being of Love , with each song evoking a different aspect of love. Isfahan uses Persian modes and forms, and is among Vali’s most striking microtonal works, pushing the orchestra beyond its usual twelve-note sound- world in an exciting way. Key Features: • Reza Vali has been described as the ‘Persian Bartók’, and as ‘a composer of wonderful clarity, precision and effectiveness’ in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review . The Being of Love sees the release of three premiere recordings, all of which were commissioned and given their first performances by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. • Also part of our 21st Century Classics edition, The Being of Love joins a previous release of Vali’s orchestral works on the Naxos label (8.557224) which includes Folk Songs (Set No. 10) and was much admired by critics. ‘Vali’s trademark mix of Persian and Western music makes for an unusual and evocative texture that is enormously appealing… The opulent sound and spirit of soprano Janna Baty, a Boston favourite who just finished a run in Boston Lyric Opera’s Così fan tutte , is ideally captured here in a memorably thrilling performance’ ( Boston Herald ). • Praised by the London Financial Times for her ‘eloquent dignity and vibrant tone’, and by the Boston Herald for possessing ‘a voice brimming with richness and confidence’, award-winning soprano Janna Baty has garnered accolades internationally for her exceptionally versatile career both in opera and concert music, specialising particularly in contemporary repertoire.
8.579150 Release Date: 22 Mar 2024
Companion Titles – 21st Century Classics
8.557224
8.579023
8.574208
8.660424-25
Click to listen to The Being of Love: No. 3. Sogvâreh
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INCLUDES WORLD PREMIERE RECORDINGS
Paul REALE (1943–2020) American Mosaic Kim Cook, Cello • John Jensen, Paul Reale, Pianos Yale Symphony Orchestra • William Boughton
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Paul Reale’s composing career blossomed in the last years of his life, but he was long held in high esteem as a renowned educator, and as a “mighty maestro with a unique expressive voice.” The New Hampshire state motto “Live Free or Die,” provided the impetus for Reale to finally complete his Cello Concerto in a mere 17 days, spurred on by a diagnosis of terminal illness. This work and the First Piano Concerto gestated over many decades, and both share Reale’s signature toolbox of expressive melody, Baroque counterpoint, references to many types of jazz, and extensions of tonality. The program concludes with the Sixth Piano Sonata , each movement of which ties in with T.S. Eliot’s poem The Waste Land but within a cinematic structure that departs from any traditional form. Key Features: • Kim Cook has performed to critical acclaim as a soloist in 30 countries in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, where she toured as Artistic Ambassador for the US State Department. Cook received enthusiastic reviews for her recordings, including the solo sonatas by Kodály, Crumb and Hindemith, and concertos by Dvořák, Haydn, Tchaikovsky, Saint-Saëns, Lalo and Shostakovich. Her recording of concertos by Schumann, Elgar and Strauss ( Don Quixote ) with the St. Petersburg State Symphony was released in 2018, as well as a recording of premieres of works by Paul Reale for Naxos, which received Fanfare ’s Top 5 Award for the year. • Pianist John Jensen has worked with acclaimed orchestras such as the Minnesota Orchestra and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and he is in great demand as a chamber musician. The music of Paul Reale has been a constant in his pianistic life and Jensen has recorded solo piano music by Reale on both the Music & Arts and Naxos labels.
8.559898 Release Date: 8 Mar 2024
Companion Titles – Paul Reale, Composer
8.559879 8.559820
Other piano concertos from the American Classics series
Click to listen to Piano Concerto No. 1: III. –
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8.559875 8.559824 8.559930 8.559894
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