A new book explores the relation between a few key figures in American classical music and U.S. foreign policy in the 20th century.
As a new decade approaches, hear 10 extraordinary classical albums well-equipped to propel the music into the future.
For nearly 200 years, Beethoven's epic Ninth Symphony, with its powerful "Ode to Joy," has inspired millions. Now conductor Marin Alsop takes it on a world tour.
His simultaneous dismissal from two of the world's leading opera houses comes after an investigation into allegations of misconduct during a Royal Opera performance in Tokyo.
One of classical music's most beloved and widely heard conductors died Saturday. Born in secret in Nazi-occupied Latvia, he went on to a stunning international career.
On her new album, the restless Italian opera star sings virtuoso music composed for Farinelli, the greatest of the baroque castratos.
Despite some very public bumps in his tenure, the head of the largest performing arts organization in the U.S. received a five-year extension to his contract.
The insightful pianist offers a Beethoven bonanza, ranging from the mesmerizing pulse of the popular "Moonlight" Sonata to flashes of wry humor and tender beauty.
Raymond Bisha summons the seasonal spirit with a comprehensive 5-CD collection of music for Christmas on the Capriccio label. He makes his selection from the release’s one hundred classical Christmas titles, many featuring world-renowned choirs and orchestras from musical centres located throughout Europe, and notably Germany, including Dresden, Cologne, Vienna, Leipzig, Berlin and Regensburg. From Read More ...
This latest release in Naxos’ ongoing series The Music of Brazil features chamber works and concertos by Heitor Villa-Lobos, one of Brazil’s best known and most prolific composers. He wrote more than two thousand pieces and was a major figure in the development of classical music in Brazil. Raymond Bisha introduces a colourful programme that Read More ...
Beethoven certainly has the wind in his sails with this tremendous release of music for wind ensemble, a genre that formed a regular part of entertainment in the composer’s day. Included on the recording, for example, is his Sextet for winds in E flat major that was well received by a critic at the time Read More ...
If playlists had been available in the 18th century, Magna Sequentia II would undoubtedly have enjoyed an enthusiastic reception, with its varied track list embodying a theme of music by association. In her second of three Magna Sequentias, pianist Sonia Rubinsky leads with J. S. Bach’s Overture in the French Style and follows by building Read More ...
The internationally respected artists on this release are well known to Naxos followers: pianist Boris Giltburg (whose recordings of Beethoven, Liszt, Schumann and Rachmaninov have been universally acclaimed); and conductor Vasily Petrenko (whose edition of the complete Shostakovich symphonies has been recognised as a historic recording milestone). They come together now in Beethoven’s first two Read More ...
Raymond Bisha introduces a new recording of music by Austrian composer Hanns Eisler who, in his late years, concentrated increasingly on adapting his film scores for the concert hall. He also began his Leipzig Symphony during this period, but it was left unfinished at the time of his death. Thilo Medek, a young composer at Read More ...
This podcast introduces Vol. 2 in our ground-breaking The Music of Brazil series, a five-year project to record around 100 mostly orchestral works by 19th and 20th-century Brazilian composers, many in world premiere recordings. Released in February, Vol. 1 (8.574067) featured works by Alberto Nepomuceno. Gramophone declared it “urgently recommended”. We follow up with chamber Read More ...
The Creatures of Prometheus was Beethoven’s only full-length ballet score. The work premiered in March 1801 and the composer’s own version for piano solo was published later the same year. The work relates the story from Greek mythology of Prometheus, a lofty spirit who endeavoured to lift human beings from a state of ignorance into Read More ...
Raymond Bisha and composer Derek Bermel discuss the latter’s Migrations, a 3-work programme that observes the universal phenomenon of human transit through an eclectic mix of styles: Migration series depicts the movement of African Americans from the south to the north of the United States in search of a better life during the first half of the 20th Read More ...
As Naxos reaches Vol. 19 of its 23-volume edition of the music of John Philip Sousa, Raymond Bisha talks with the musical director of the project, Keith Brion, a world authority on Sousa’s music, who conducts throughout.
Listening Guide With Lew Smoley and Howard Nevison Wotan V. Alberich Friedrich Schorr, Wotan; Eduard Habich, Alberich, René Maison, Loge hans Hotter, Wotan, Gustav Beidlinger, Alberich, Ludwig Suthaus, Loge George London, Wotan, Gustav Neidlinger, Alberich, Herbert Schachtschneider, Loge Alberich’s Curse Eduard Habich Gustav Neidlinger Zoltan Kelemen Erda Karin Branzell Maria Von Isolvay Helen Raab Donner […]
Listening Guide With Lew Smoley and Howard Nevison Alberich’s Arrogance Eduard Habich, Karl Laufkötter, Mime Lawrence Davidson, Leslie Chabay, Mime Gustav Neidlinger, Paul Küen, Mime Kelemen, Wohlfahrt, Loge Mime’s Complaint Karl Laufkötter, Fredrich Schorr, Wotan, René Maison, Loge Paul Kuen, Hermann Uhde, Wotan, Erich Witte, Loge Erwin Wohlfahrt, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Wotan, Gerhard Stolze, Loge Alberich’s […]
Listening Guide With Lew Smoley and Howard Nevison Rhinemaidens Olga Schramm-Tschörner, Anni Konetzni, Emmy Neiendorf Doris Doe, Stella Andreva, Irra Petina Erna Berger, Lucine Amara, Hertha Glaz Dorothea Siebert, Claudia Hoffmann, Sona Cervena Helen Donath, Edda Moser, Anna Reynolds Alberich’s Theft Eduard Habich, Doris Doe, Stella Andreva and Irra Petina Gustav Neidlinger Otakar Kraus Zoltan […]
With Lew Smoley
With Lew Smoley, Dennis Rooney, and Sedgwick Clark
This week on the Daily Download, we're featuring songs about winter. Get a free MP3 of Josef Suk - A Winter's Tale. And don't forget to sign up for the Daily Download newsletter to get a bonus download of Tchaikovsky's '1812 Overture' - and so you never miss a free classical track!
Get a free MP3 of Johann Sebastian Bach - Christmas Oratorio: Jauchzet, frohlocket. And don't forget to sign up for the Daily Download newsletter to get a bonus download of Tchaikovsky's '1812 Overture' - and so you never miss a free classical track!
Welcome to the Choral Stream Download, a handpicked, free, downloadable piece of choral music available every week for subscribers to the Choral Stream newsletter. This week, get a free MP3 of George Frideric Handel - Messiah: All We Like Sheep Have Gone Astray.
Get a free MP3 of 'Joy to the World,' performed by Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra.
The holiday season is filled with sweets. But maybe you like a little spice in your holiday eggnog. Listen as Orkestar Bez Ime joins Steve Staruch to perform its full-bodied music from the Black Sea region.
Get a free MP3 of Franz Liszt - Piano Concerto No. 2: Adagio sostenuto assai. And don't forget to sign up for the Daily Download newsletter to get a bonus download of Tchaikovsky's '1812 Overture' - and so you never miss a free classical track!
Alfred Reed's 'Russian Christmas Music' has become a majestic mainstay of the concert band repertoire since its debut in 1944. As the work marks its 75th anniversary, it's worth retelling how remarkable its world premiere was. Listen now to this timeless piece.