Available 9/28: “Premonitions” a collection of American Chamber Works

Premonitions: American Chamber Works is a stunning collection of five original works from four composers, each with a voice that is uniquely American. The disc features works by John Bilotta, Aaron Copland, Lee Actor, and Donald Betts; performers include the Boston String Quartet, Broyhill Chamber Ensemble, and Grammy award-winning clarinetist Richard Stoltzman. Bilotta’s haunting Petroushka Dreams opens the disc. The piece – an epilogue to Stravinksy’s Petroushka – depicts the afterlife of the titular character. Also on the disc is a piece by Aaron Copland, Quartet for Piano and Strings. Widely known for pieces celebrating American folk music, Copland is represented here with a wholly abstract piece that is often moody, occasionally exuberant, and consistently surprising. Closing out Premonitions are pieces by Lee Actor and Donald Betts, respectively.  Actor’s String Quartet No. 1 is a single sweeping movement with four sections connected by a singular theme, and Betts’ Soundings: Parable is a journey through musical landscapes; sometimes tranquil, sometimes hazardous. On Premonitions: American Chamber Works, the sum of its parts function as an exemplary profile of the depth and breadth of talent existing within the borders of the United States.

Available 11/16: “From Bow To String” by Karen Dreyfus and Glenn Dicterow

From the hugely talented husband-wife team of award-winning violist Karen Dreyfus and New York Philharmonic concertmaster Glenn Dicterow comes “From Bow to String”, their expressive interpretation of two masterful pieces by William Walton and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.  Aided by the Warsaw National Philharmonic with renowned conductors Carl St. Clair and Jerzy Swoboda at the helm.

 Covering ground  from  the brooding, emotional intensity of the first movement of Walton’s Viola Concerto to the triumphant sweeping instrumentation of Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat Major, this collection showcases two masters of their instruments inviting the listener to fully experience this wonderful music.

Available 10/26: “Destinations”, A collection of Orchestral works from Latin American Composers

The concert hall housing the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra in Olomouc, Czech Republic is a world away from the varying locales the five living Latin American composers featured here call home. Their journey to this small Eastern European city in a way symbolizes the convergence of influence and exodus that make the story of Destinations all the more real. Like Argentinean-born 20^th Century composer Astor Piazzolla, each of these North American-based composers had uprooted from Latin America and set out for the United States at various points in their lives. They came to America to study, teach, compose, and ultimately share their music influenced by the places that helped and continue to shape them. “One could think of the Destinations project as belonging to a ‘Post-Latin American era,’” says Ricardo Lorenz. “The sound is genuinely coming out of composers belonging to the Latin American Diaspora – composers born in yet uprooted from Latin America.” It is a collection marked by musical diversity throughout; Alfonso Tenreiro’s Meditacion rich in Romantic harmonic passages; Astor Piazzolla’s Milonga en Re a tango-infused orchestral work; Sergio Cervetti’s Chacona para el Martirio de Atahualpa an energetic chaconne baroque-style dance flavored with minimalist aesthetics. With Destinations, a unified hope to change the game for an underserved segment of modern classical music brought together by a common story is ready for new ears.

Available 10/26: “Colonnade” By Michael G. Cunningham

Although all the works appearing on Michael G. Cunningham’s Colonnade were written during the 1970s, the album maintains a timeless quality throughout. Cunningham’s works are lush and dramatic, depicting everything from early to mid- Twentieth-century paintings (Free Designs) to Greek mythology (Aedon). Colonnade is rich in texture, with electrosonics seamlessly melded with orchestral timbres in Aedon, and vocalists pairing written works by Shakespeare and Longfellow with Cunningham’s haunting melodies in the album’s closer, Symphonic Arias – Night. Of the piece, Cunningham writes: “In spite of additional imagery that each poet intended in his poem, the arias each seem to convey one aspect of the night … there is an ominous implication here, in that lovely sounds and voices ultimately pass into an unending inscrutable night.” Luckily, for listeners, Cunningham’s gorgeous works on Colonnade will not disappear into the ether like Symphonic Arias harmonically implies. Colonnade will be available everywhere on October 27 2009, and distributed by Naxos.

 

MEMENTOS SESSION IN PICTURES

Below are some pictures from the recording session for Mementos, recorded in the Czech Republic. Enjoy!

RICHARD STOLTZMAN AND PATRICK BECKMAN IN THE STUDIO

Patrick Beckman and Richard Stoltzman in a Boston recording session on November 10th, 2008 working on “Big Muddy Suite”.

MEMENTOS OF CONTEMPORARY COMPOSERS COMING IN AUGUST

Navona Records is proud to present Mementos, a compilation of modern orchestral works. This all-new release features four original and widely diverse compositions from four young contemporary composers. Keith Kramer, a Maryland-based composer and educator, opens the disc with “Emerge,” which he says “reflects the simplest and yet the most intricate aspects of existence.” Kramer’s description is fitting of the piece, which ranges from minimal and arrhythmic to percussive and cinematic. Stephen Yip, a Hong Kong native currently residing in Texas, presents “Raining in Autumn,” for solo violin and orchestra. The music evokes the sights, sounds, and smells of a damp October afternoon, along with the emotions that accompany such days. Next is Jason Barabba’s “Conjecture.” The Los Angeles-based composer creates a piece where the solo clarinet and orchestra appear to be simultaneously inspired based on one another’s ideas. Shawn Crouch’s “City Columns” closes out the disc. Inspired by the art-deco architecture of New York City, this percussive urban soundscape evokes a morning stroll through mid-town Manhattan. The composers featured on Mementos use each of their works to form a compilation that is surprisingly coherent, while remaining consistently varied and surprising.

Mementos will be available everywhere on August 25, 2009. Distributed by Naxos.

GRAMOPHONE: VESPERS A SUCCESS

Navona Records artist Piffaro continues to enjoy positive reviews for their album Vespers, which features composer Kile Smith, conductor Donald Nally and The Crossing vocal ensemble. Reviewed in the July, 2009 edition of Gramophone, Andrew Druckenbrod describes the album’s contemporary approach to an ancient practice a success.

He goes on to write “The Philadelpian composer displays a tender love for the texts of his church and Martin Luther with settings that express even the Latin or German in sparkling beauty.”

Druckenbrod also notes that “Smith’s decision to background Piffaro was gutsy, but crucial to the success and balance of the piece.”

You can read more of this review here.

PATRICK BECKMAN’S “BIG” MUSICAL CELEBRATION WITH RICHARD STOLTZMAN

Pianist/composer Patrick Beckman’s celebration of the Mississippi basin, Big Muddy Suite for Clarinet & Piano, is as musically diverse as the region it depicts. Beckman’s  last album Street Dance (2008, Produced by Bob Lord), was praised by Gramophone Magazine, stating “[His] craftsmanship is remarkable, and Beckman has the pianistic chops, as it were, to bring it all off.”

He is joined forces here by Grammy-award winning clarinetist Richard Stoltzman. Big Muddy is a romping chamber suite that defies traditional genre classification, blending classical, jazz, rock, and R&B into a unique and blissful musical experience. Stoltzman and Beckman take the through-written piece to greater depths with their improvisational flourishes throughout. The multi-dimensional Big Muddy is rounded out by exclusive photo and video footage from the Boston studio sessions, plus PDF study scores of the music heard on this CD.

MICHAL J. EVANS’ DEBUT SET TO “BLOOM” THIS JUNE

Washington DC-based Michael J. Evans will bring his latest release, Bloom, to Navona Records. Bloom contains eight original chamber compositions performed by pianist Karolina Rojahn, flutist Lisa Hennessy and cellist Emmanuel Feldman. On his Navona debut, Evans’ streamlined orchestrations of his modern Romantic-era inspired compositions are consistently poignant and affecting. The CD comes with PDF study scores, session photos, and information about Evans and each of the performers as bonus enhanced CD content. Michael J. Evans’ Bloom will be available everywhere on June 30, 2009.