NEW ON NAXOS | AUGUST 2024
Sergey Ivanovich TANEYEV (1856–1915) Violin Sonata * • Piano Quintet, Op. 30 ** Spectrum Concerts Berlin – Eldar Nebolsin, Piano Boris Brovtsyn * ** , Mohamed Hiber ** , Violins Gareth Lubbe, Viola ** • Alexey Stadler, Cello **
BUY NOW!
Sergey Taneyev’s music was acclaimed by some as a ‘model of pure style and sublime art’, but he was a loner whose supreme mastery of European Classical technique placed him outside the more nationalist trends of the day. The Violin Sonata in A minor is neo-Classical in its reserved and often song-like moods and expressions. It contrasts with the grand scale of the Piano Quintet in G minor in which the virtuoso nature of the piano writing reflects Taneyev’s own prowess, and the brilliant integration of the works’ themes cumulate into an overwhelming conclusion. Key features: •
This recording joins a previous release from Spectrum Concerts Berlin with Sergey Taneyev’s String Trio, Op. 31 and Piano Quartet, Op. 20 on Naxos 8.574367. This was much admired by critics such as John Dutterer of the American Record Guide , who declared that the ‘three members of the Spectrum Concerts play like a veteran trio here, and unlike most trios they have an artistic director, Frank Dodge, shaping the interpretations. As a result, this feels like a significant release rather than a side project.’
8.574566 Release date: 9 Aug 2024
Companion titles – Other recordings featuring the Spectrum Concerts Berlin
From left to right: Mohamed Hiber , Alexey Stadler , Boris Brovtsyn , Gareth Lubbe , Eldar Nebolsin and Michael Havenstein (recording producer)
8.574367
8.574019
• Some of Taneyev’s chamber works remained in the repertoire of Russian artists from the Soviet era such as David Oistrakh, Maria Yudina and the Moscow Beethoven Quartet but his music became largely neglected after his death. The Naxos label has played a significant role in reviving awareness of Taneyev’s brilliance as a composer in recent decades with numerous releases including complete editions of his string quartets and symphonies. Other labels have some titles in their catalogues, but we are clear market leaders for this composer.
8.574008
8.573525
Click to listen to Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 30: I. Introduzione: Adagio mesto – Allegro patetico
LISTEN
WORLD PREMIERE RECORDINGS
Spyridon SAMARAS (1861–1917) Tigra 1 Epinikeia 2 • Chitarrata 3 Lenia Safiropoulou, Soprano 1
BUY NOW!
Marissia Papalexiou 1 , Varvara Tsambali 2 , Maria Vlachopoulou 1 , Mezzo-sopranos Angelo Simos, Tenor 1 • Dionysios Sourbis, Baritone 1 • Dimitri Kavrakos, Bass 1 Sofia Metropolitan Golden Voices Mixed and Children’s Choir 1 Sofia Amadeus Orchestra 1 Fretted String Ensemble of the Corfu Music School 3 Pazardzhik Symphony Orchestra 2–3 Byron Fidetzis
Spyridon Samaras was the most internationally respected Greek composer of his time, yet it is only in recent years that some of his major works have been edited or orchestrated for performance. Tigra is a major case in point, a ravishing love story set in medieval Venice, and a product of Samaras’s operatic maturity. With its innovative harmonic language set to an Italian text, musical Orientalism and Franco-Italian influences it helped pave the way for the emerging Greek National School. It has been faithfully orchestrated by Byron Fidetzis. Epinikeia is reminiscent of Samaras’s famous Olympic Anthem of 1896, while Chitarrata is a youthful work composed in Paris. Key features: • Conductor Byron Fidetzis has been artistic director of the Athens Philharmonia Orchestra since 2016. He has recorded Samaras’ opera Mademoiselle de Belle-Isle (8.660508-09): ‘Fidetzis is to be congratulated for his efforts in restoring this lovely work and for conducting a persuasive recording of it’ ( American Record Guide ). •
8.574358 Release date: 9 Aug 2024
Companion titles – Greek classics
8.660508-09
8.574356-57
He has also recorded Kalafati’s Symphony in A minor , Légende and Polonaise (8.574132): ‘Byron Fidetzis conducts the Athens Philharmonia Orchestra with a firm and sensitive baton, and they deliver the music with assurance and strong ensemble’ ( Fanfare ). He also orchestrated and performed Kalomiris’s Rhapsody No. 2 ‘Song to the Night’ (8.572451).
8.574182
8.574436
Click to listen to Tigra – Donna Palma! – Guardate donne
LISTEN
6
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker