NEW ON NAXOS | MARCH 2024
WORLD PREMIERE RECORDING
Michael DELLAIRA (b. 1949) The Leopard Opera in two acts (2018) Libretto by J.D. McClatchy (1945–2018) Yaqi Yang, Coloratura soprano • Margarita Parsamyan, Soprano Robynne Redmon, Mezzo-soprano • Minghao Liu, Frank Ragsdale, Tenors
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Kim Josephson, Baritone • Kevin Short, Bass-baritone Frost Opera Theater • Alan Johnson, Music Director Frost Symphony Orchestra • Gerard Schwarz
Michael Dellaira has earned a considerable reputation for his series of operas, of which the latest to be recorded is The Leopard . The libretto, by the distinguished poet J.D. McClatchy, is drawn from the 1958 novel written by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa. It charts social and political upheavals during the Italian Risorgimento and, as the young idealist Tancredi tells his uncle, the Prince of Salina, ‘If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change.’ The opera’s premiere, conducted by Gerard Schwarz, was exceptionally well received and described by Opera Magazine as ‘superbly crafted.’ Key Features: • Conductor Gerard Schwarz has won eight Emmy Awards and received fourteen GRAMMY nominations. • In 2017 The Gerard Schwarz Collection, a 30-disc boxed set set of previously unreleased or limited release works spanning his entire recording career was released by Naxos (8.503294).
8.669052-53 Release Date: 8 Mar 2024
Companion Titles – Opera titles in the American Classics series 8.669012-13 | 8.669049 8.669001-02 | 8.669140-41
Click to listen to Act I: Scene 5: Tancredi! I know it!
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Franz LISZT (1811–1886) Complete Piano Music, Vol. 61 Transcriptions from Operas Les Huguenots • Il giuramento • Lohengrin • Jean de Nivelle Martin Cousin, Piano
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Nearly half of Franz Liszt’s early output consisted of transcriptions and arrangements, filling out his virtuoso concert programmes with some of the grandest and most popular operas of the day. He cleverly weaves themes through a dramatic Grande Fantaisie on Meyerbeer’s Les Huguenots , while the Fantasia on Mercadante’s Il giuramento is a superb example of Liszt’s flamboyant and virtuosic earlier style. All of these works require delicate brilliance and precision alongside a superb technique to meet their fearsome challenges – the Rondeau fantastique on Manuel García’s ‘El contrabandista’ is one of the most technically demanding pieces Liszt ever composed. Key Feature: Our ongoing Liszt Complete Piano Music edition is already an internationally recognised reference for his greatest works as well as for less frequently performed early versions, transcriptions and other rarities. International Piano declared that ‘scholars will pounce on this release’ with regards to Vol. 53 (8.573773), which was also considered ‘first-rate’ and with ‘excellent sound’ by MusicWeb International . Vol. 54 (8.574059) was singled out as ‘particularly interesting’ by Gramophone , and ‘excellent’ by the American Record Guide .
8.574545 Release Date: 22 Mar 2024
Companion Titles – Previous recordings in Liszt’s Complete Piano Music series 8.574095 | 8.574172 | 8.574147 | 8.574106
Click to listen to Fantasia on Italian Operatic Melodies and Mercadante’s Il giuramento , S458/R294 ‘Réminiscences de La Scala’
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Gaspar CASSADÓ (1897–1966) Federico MOMPOU (1893–1987) Complete Solo Guitar Works Eugenio Della Chiara, Guitar
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This album presents the complete solo works for guitar by two Catalan contemporaries, the cellist Gaspar Cassadó and the pianist Federico Mompou. Cassadó wrote six guitar works connected to his friendship with Andrés Segovia, mostly based on folk elements such as the sardana , a traditional Catalan circle dance. In Mompou’s works for guitar, the influence of his mysticism and attachment to Catalan folklore are undeniable. He composed primarily for piano but he also wrote three pieces for guitar, notably Suite compostelana for Segovia. The hypnotic, austere and lyrical elements in this work distil Mompou’s compositional genius. Key Feature: As a soloist, guitarist Eugenio Della Chiara has been a guest of the orchestra of the Teatro Massimo in Palermo and the Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana, working with conductors such as Diego Ceretta and Tohar Gil. He has recorded three albums for Decca, and regularly performs with violinist Piercarlo Sacco, guitarist Andrea Dieci, pianist Alberto Chines and tenor Juan Francisco Gatell, as well as collaborating with numerous contemporary composers, who have dedicated around 20 solo and chamber works to him.
8.579103 Release Date: 22 Mar 2024
Companion Titles – Other recordings featuring works by Cassadó and Mompou 8.572142 | 8.572647 | 8.579097 | 8.570457
Click to listen to CASSADÓ, G.: Catalanesca
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