Liza Stepanova E PLURIBUS UNUM

E PLURIBUS UNUM

Gillian Zammit / Frank Camilleri / Britt Arend CANTILENA

CANTILENA

Staatskapelle Halle Orchestra / Bernd Ruf GANESH B. KUMAR Spirit of Humanity

SPIRIT OF HUMANITY

Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra / Jiří Petrdlík TIMOTHY KRAMER Sentinels

SENTINELS

Chicago Arts Orchestra / Javier José Mendoza IGNACIO JERUSALEM Galant Music from Mexico City

GALANT MUSIC FROM MEXICO CITY

The Crossing / Donald Nally JAMES PRIMOSCH Carthage

CARTHAGE

Eliane Rodrigues ÆTERNUM

ÆTERNUM

PATTERNS - CHAMBER WORKS

PATTERNS, a multi-composer compilation of contemporary chamber music, accentuates the richness, intricacy, and minimal sound that can be found in works written for small ensembles. Included on the album are works by seven composers, each offering a distinct interpretation of what defines the genre.

Asymmetry, composed by James William Stamm, features lush and soaring harmonies and melodies guided by a swift tempo. Guitarist David William Ross’s performance on George Raillard’s Disintegration opens with a distinct melody that quickly does exactly what its title suggests, disintegrating into dissonance. Two Lords, written and performed by Santiago Kodela, is a guitar suite based on the works of two contemporary non-classical guitarists, Allan Holdsworth (1946 - 2017) and Fredrik Thordendal (b. 1970). The piece’s three movements progress from the darkly toned “Of Textures” through the relaxing “Of Colours” to the rhythmically rich, upbeat “Of Mechanics.”

David Arbury’s aptly titled Four Snares, performed by the McCormick Percussion Group, is an exploration of the often-overlooked timbral possibilities of the snare drum and a celebration of the wealth of sound available to it. Daniel Adams’s Road Traversed and Reversed also features the Percussion Group’s leader, Robert McCormick. Following an introduction of overlapping roll textures, thematic ideas emerge in an interplay between McCormick’s and Lee Hinkle’s marimbas. On Bunny Beck’s emotional two-movement Suite for Sarro, a string trio evocatively captures sorrow in the face of loss. PATTERNS concludes with Jan Järvlepp’s Bassoon Quartet, comprised of three movements that range in spirit from adventurous to haunting to lively.

 Together, each of the pieces on PATTERNS vibrantly illustrate the unlimited possibilities available within the ever-evolving world of chamber music.

SIMON ANDREWS and that moment when the bird sings

Simon Andrews is an English composer who has lived and worked in the US for more than three decades. A winner of the 1985 Benjamin Britten Prize, Andrews’ music has been commissioned and performed to critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic. His multi-faceted career as a composer, conductor and teacher led him to undertake his own edition-completion of the Mozart Requiem, which has also been incredibly well-received. Andrews has also composed music for two documentaries, The Amish and Us and Saving Pennsylvania, for PBS.

Simon Andrews has earned a reputation as a creator of eloquent concert music that blends harmonic complexity and lyricism, introversion and broad gestures, and delicate timbres and bold statements. Here, on his recording debut, and that moment when the bird sings, he offers up 10 compositions performed in a variety of configurations, from duos to trios and quintets, all of which emphasize his proficiency in both vocal and instrumental music.

Marta Brankovich BLACK SWAN OF PIANO

Be transformed by the haunting intensity of Brankovich’s performance in Black Swan of Piano. Extending from the melancholic forms of 19th century composer Eric Satie to the dark, moving compositions of the pianist herself, this album invites listeners into the realms of the past, the war-torn images of her homeland, and a look into the immense possibilities for the musical future.

Victory and War are the first of Brankovich’s own compositions, but with her sharpened technique combined with an emotional drive, the pieces play like those by a seasoned composer. The works are directly inspired by melodies heard during her childhood in Serbia and the dramatic choral elements found in the Kosovo region. Her melodies refer to “the screams of the lost souls that vanished in the wars during the 90s in the Balkan region.” These compositions are dedicated to the innocent victims of violence during that dark time in her homeland.

Throughout the album, Brankovich intertwines Serbian and Western techniques with her own experimental style. The piano is stretched to limitless sonic possibilities thanks to Brankovich’s application of phrasing, tension, and mood. The solo pianist fills the soundscape effortlessly, allowing chords and melodies to linger. This is especially present in Božić’s Lyric of Athos and Mansell’s Lux Aeterna, originally composed for the 2000 film Requiem for a Dream. The album also consists of works by acclaimed composer and professor Fredrick Kaufman, Metamorphosis and Yin and Yang. Kaufman’s compositions provided key inspiration for Brankovich’s debut album, and she is joined on Yin and Yang by the notable pianist and scholar Kemal Gekić.

The “Black Swan” pulls listeners into each composition with her spellbinding command of the piano. She gives life to the Serbian sound by adding space between the notes, letting her piano breathe and tell the complex story of her people.

Sara Hahn / Laura Loewen / Sarah Gieck I CLOSE MY EYES IN ORDER TO SEE

With her Navona debut I Close My Eyes In Order To See, accomplished Canadian flutist Sara Hahn demonstrates her exceptional sensitivity for emotional nuance coupled with great virtuosic capability, but most of all: the healing power of music itself. Hahn, currently the Principal Flutist for the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, is rightly known for her refined and beautiful tone, and I Close My Eyes In Order To See indubitably attests to this. But extraordinarily, there is even more to Hahn's musicianship: An exquisite ability to get right into the heart of a composition. No doubt this is in part due to the highly personal selection of pieces: The album's eponymous opening track, I Close My Eyes To See, was dedicated to Hahn by composer Arthur Bachmann, written to commemorate her mother's hard (but eventually successful) battle with cancer. Indeed, the compositions of this album center around perhaps the greatest, and most universal, challenge of the human condition: overcoming Fate's hardships. In this spirit, the individual musical pieces represent emotions such as fear, sadness, the desire to bargain, and depression and anger are reached with the help of mental fortitude and spirituality all culminating, inspiringly, in acceptance and optimism. Sara Hahn's interpretation of these wildly diverse sentiments is nothing short of riveting and, towards the album's cheerful conclusion, supremely uplifting. In this sublime feat, pianist Laura Loewen and alto flutist Sarah Gieck, who both accompany with fitting delicacy, add great musical depth. I Close My Eyes In Order To See is an aesthetic feast for the ears, no doubt; but its true strength lies in having encapsulated not only a timeless constant of the human experience suffering but also a viable, feasible way to overcome it.

Grupo Encuentros / Alicia Terzian 40 YEARS OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC

Since composer, conductor and musicologist Alicia Terzian founded Grupos Encuentros in 1978, the six-person group has garnered international acclaim for its success at bringing the music of avant-garde Argentinian and Latin American composers to the world. On 40 YEARS OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC, their debut recording for NAVONA RECORDS, the group combines compositions from such well-known Latin American composers as Heitor Villa-Lobos, Alberto Ginastera, and Terzian herself with works by an international array of composers that ranges from Anton Webern (Germany) to Luciano Berio (Italy) to Franz Schreker (Austria) to Pierre Boulez (France).

Grupo Encuentros consists of mezzo soprano Marta Blanco, pianist Claudio Espector, flutist Fabio Mazzitelli, clarinetist Matias Tchicourel, violinist Sergio Polizzi and violoncellist Carlos Nozzi.  In this CD, saxophonist Maria Noel Luzzardo, oboist Ruben Albornoz, bassoonist Ernesto Imsand and percussionist Arauco Yepes join Encuentros Group. The program presented on 40 YEARS OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC originally premiered at the annual Encuentros International Festivas in Buenos Aires and truly highlights the brilliance of these award-winning musicians, who have earned high praise from such media outlets as the Los Angeles Times, where they were lauded as “deeply serious and challenging.” Over their 40 year-long career, the group has performed in more than 300 concert halls and festivals of the main cities of five continents including London’s Royal Albert Hall and New York City’s Merkin Auditorium.

40 YEARS OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC transcends cultural boundaries with such selections as Villa-Lobos’ Choro No 7, which unites the sounds of Amerindian primitivism with the polkas and waltzes of suburban dance halls in Brazil. Emphasizing her status as a renowned ethnomusicologist, Terzian dedicates her composition Yagua Ya Yuca to the Chiriguano and Chanel peoples, who belong to a lost indigenous northwestern Argentinian culture O King was composed the same year as the assassination of Martin Luther King, a tragedy which deeply affected its Italian composer Luciano Berio.

Grupo Encuentros founder Alicia Terzian has composed over 80 compositions for orchestras, orchestra with soloist, and chamber orchestras with and without soloists, musical theater, dance, and multimedia. She travels the world giving seminars on composition and contemporary chamber music at European and American universities and is often invited to participate on juries at international compositions.

Nada Radulovich / Cullan Bryant UNEXPLORED

The four works on UNEXPLORED, offer an expansive variety of musical genres while introducing listeners to previously unrecorded cello repertoire. Premiere recordings of works by Tchaikovsky, Cassadó, Rudnytsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov are presented by cellist Nada Radulovich and pianist Cullan Bryant. 

Tchaikovsky’s Six French Songs, opus 65, dedicated to Madame Desirée Artôt de Padilla, are settings of works of three French poets. The intensity of these poems is amplified by Tchaikovsky’s music. They find a convincing voice in this transcription for cello. Although this is a fully instrumental program, Radulovich provides the only available English translation of this poetry with this album at Navona Records. Published by Ovation Press. 

The passionate and compelling voice of Cassadó (1897-1966) in his Sonata of 1924, deserves to be widely shared and enjoyed . This four movement work is dedicated to Donna Giulietta von Mendelssohn who was said to ‘sing like a mermaid and play the piano like Liszt’ . This compelling work, presented here for the first time, represents various moods and dances. At times poignant, dramatic, playful, or uplifting, it is an effective synthesis of tradition cast in striking harmonic terms.

Romantic Fantasie for Cello and Piano, Op 43, by Ukrainian composer Antin Rudnytsky (1902-1975), displays a conservative 20th-century harmonic language, while exploring the folk idioms of the composer’s native land. The intricate dialogue between the instruments illustrates the composer’s skill at evoking a variety of moods within a single composition. 

One of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s best-known works, The Flight of the Bumblebee, evokes the effortless yet driven path of the tiny insect. This unique transcription of the work was created by pianist Bryant in his effort to remain truer to the original score than previous transcriptions, and was inspired by his years of collaboration with Radulovich.

Greenbriar Consortium / David Kirk WALTER STEFFENS - MAREC BÉLA STEFFENS Two Cells in Sevilla

In many ways, Walter Steffens' Two Cells in Sevilla is a work of polar opposites. Quasi-tonal but modern, traditional but minimalist, the German composer has created an opera uniting two historical protagonists as multi-faceted as the music itself. The libretto, written by Steffens' son Marec Béla Steffens, fancifully merges the lives of Brother Gabriel Téllez, best known under his pen name Tirso de Molina as the inventor of the fictional womanizer Don Juan, and that of Miguel de Cervantes, the author of windmill-fighting Don Quixote. Both look upon the world from their own respective confines – the monk Brother Gabriel from his cloister, Don Miguel from a debtor's prison cell. Their divine literary outbursts are provoked by a very mundane desire indeed: Both habitats share the same slothful cook, a lady with a penchant for gallant novels. Spurred by the same simple wish of enjoying a heartier fare, both Brother Gabriel and Don Miguel de Cervantes embark on a competition to come up with the raciest, most exciting novel to win the good will of their cook. The music captures this dialectic perfectly, conveying a grandiose arc of drama with deceptive ease and at the same time elevating the mundane to greatness. It would be tempting to diagnose enlightened undertones in the libretto as well as in the music: For as sublime as the work sounds, it remains deeply committed to the human spirit. Two Cells in Sevilla is rounded off by Steffens' musical interpretation of five poems by fellow-German Friedrich Hölderlin, widely known for the intensely lyrical, idealistic quality of his work and his tragic descent into insanity. With these lieder's ethereal fluctuation between beauty and pain, they truly are an apt choice for an album as full of contrasts as this one.

Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra / Anthony Armoré JOHN ROBERTSON Symphony No. 1

Deeply committed to a beauteous aesthetic, composer John Robertson's second album Symphony No. 1 once more delivers a neoclassical triumph with tremendous potential for repeated listening. This release flaunts an unapologetically exuberant elegance ever-present in the composer's oeuvre. The heart of the album is, of course, Robertson's Symphony No. 1, a three-movement epos that explores the vast realm of classical tonality. While the first movement starts out touching upon 20th-century harmonies reminiscent of Prokofiev, the second one already harkens back to the late Romantic school. Still, remaining very much a contemporary composition in its essence, this symphony offers plenty of innovation: not only does it push the limits of the traditional symphonic fast-slow-fast movement order, it also spearheads intensely lyrical soloistic parts such as the third movement's elaborate solo violin introduction, from which all other instruments organically spring forth. In the same vein, the Suite for Orchestra Op. 46 is easy on the ear, oscillating between the exaltation of the introductory Fanfare, the natural grace of the subsequent Waltz, the profound tristesse of the Elegy, and the uplifting, resolute splendor of the concluding March. The form of musical variations, the calling card of a composer's skill and craftsmanship throughout the ages, receives an apt treatment in the form of Robertson's Variations for small orchestra, Op. 14. In just over 18 minutes, they explore the possibilities of thematic development from every imaginable angle, ranging from the solidly-classical to the breezingly and self-confidently outlandish. John Robertson's straightforward formal choices render all of these compositions intuitively accessible, yet make no compromises in terms of technical and musical complexity, which remain sophisticated throughout. Symphony No. 1 proves that new music can be rooted in tradition, yet offer a breath of creative fresh air – effortlessly and naturally.

SERGIO CERVETTI Transits: Minimal to Mayhem

Transits: Minimal to Mayhem, his fifth full Navona Records release, is an abridged sequence of five works from a set time and concrete place that maps composer Sergio Cervetti’s creative progression over four decades of composing. The Concertino for piano, woodwinds and timpani (2013) is a rowdy and raucous array of South American rhythms tempered by a tender quote from Gustav Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder. One of Cervetti’s last minimalist works, Exiles (1980) begins with a slow piano rendition of a melodic theme from the Uruguayan patriotic song Mi Bandera, which is soon overwhelmed by electronic textures. In contrast, 1975’s Guitar Music, (the bottom of the iceberg) is an early minimalist work for solo guitar that experiments with “restricted pitch-classes”. The two works completing the album are based on the history and culture of the Río de la Plata where Cervetti was born and raised. El Río de los Pájaros Pintados (1979) seamlessly integrates the bandoneón with electronics. Candombe for Orchestra is the 1996 orchestration of Candombe for Harpsichord (1984), both works indebted to a Uruguayan national dance of African origin.

Moonkyung Lee PARTS TO PLAY

On Parts to Play, critically acclaimed violinist Moonkyung Lee turns from the symphonic environment of the critically lauded label debut, Tchaikovsky, on which she performed with the London Symphony Orchestra, to a more intimate setting, with only pianist Martha Locker as her partner on a selection of works that include both stunning solo performances and intricate yet simple duets.

Choosing to include Prokofiev’s “Sonata for Solo Violin” amid compositions from six contemporary composers who collectively represent three decades of works is indicative of Lee’s ability to tease out the subtle nuances of every piece she performs. The three-movement suite moves from the simplicity of Moderato’s Classical sonata format through the more lyrically, introverted Andante Dolce to the clever finale, Con Brio.  Similarly, her transit through Benjamin Ellin’s composition for solo violin, “Three States at Play,” is a nuanced journey through three movements, in which the more serene second movement is bookended by two outer movements that are quite rhythmically active.

When performing duets with Locker, such as on Rain Worthington’s “Jilted Tango,” Lee’s violin seamlessly integrates with the piano to create an atmosphere both spirited and poignant, capturing the “push and pull in a dance of love” implied by its title. Another sort of dance entirely is captured on the duo’s performance of the vibrant and upbeat “Grand Tartanella.”

Moonkyung Lee’s career includes numerous accolades, awards and scholarships including the Yale Chamber Music Celebration, and an NYU/Steinhardt Doctoral Fellowship for Doctoral Studies, of which she was the first ever classical string performer recipient. Her extensive array of performances, both in Europe in the US, include collaborations with many eminent ensembles, conductors and performers. Among the venues at which she has performed are Lincoln Center. the Berlin Konzerthaus, Dvorak and Smetana Halls in Prague, and the Seoul Arts Center Recital Hall.  Her Parma label debut, Tchaikovsky Works for Violin and Orchestra, won the silver medal at the 2017 Global Music Awards and was chosen by Spotify for their Classical New Releases playlist.

Pianist Martha Locker performs as both a soloist and chamber musician in both the United States and abroad. As a soloist she has performed with the Pittsburg Symphony Orchestra and the New Juilliard Ensemble; as a chamber musician and performer of contemporary music she performs throughout New York at such venues as Symphony Space and New York University. She has been a fellow of the Tanglewood Music Center and has been a guest artist at the Kyoto International Music Festival and the New York University Summer String Seminar, among many others.

Lindsey Goodman RETURNING TO HEIGHTS UNSEEN

Flutist Lindsey Goodman presents her second solo album, returning to heights unseen. Goodman is a budding composer’s dream, interpreting new music with impeccable style and tenacity. 

Goodman grasps the listener’s attention right away with Roger Dannenberg’s Separation Logic for flute and live computer processing (2013). In this futuristic work, it is the listener’s responsibility to determine what is real and what is imagined as their ears are fed short melodic phrases that have been electronically manipulated. Every sound is crucial, even the echoes of the instrument’s keys clicking against their pads.
It’s this sort of electronic genius that allows Goodman to play a duet with herself in the second track, David Stock’s A Wedding Prayer for two flutes (2004), stark and striking. In Tony Zilincik’s I Asked You for solo flute and mixed media, Goodman competes with samples of her own spoken text and percussion riffs in “Everything I Love”. “I Play Music” boasts a similar challenge, with the addition of an atmospheric modern synthesizer and ocean waves. The flute melody is a native chant of sorts, and its meditative nature immediately sends all other sounds to the background. Goodman demonstrates dexterous trills that rival the wing speed of a hummingbird.
Elainie Lillios’s Sleep’s Undulating Tide for flute in C and live, interactive electroacoustics (2016) seems to be a continuation of the previous Zilincik track, until the entrance of a ghostly mezzo-soprano voice, the flutist’s herself. The listener is immediately transported into a dark tunnel or cave and can hear, but not see, many unidentifiable creatures of the night.
Next is Linda Kernohan’s Demon/Daemon (2016), a performance art piece in which the flutist is both musician and actor seemingly possessed by an evil spirit. Randall Woolf’s The Line of Purples for flute and pre-recorded electronics (2015) is the least harmonically experimental of the works, but the most complex to categorize. It begins as a popular rock anthem before journeying into a classical idiom and back again. Roger Zahab’s suspicion of nakedness (2012), takes the listener on an emotional journey through tentative phrases of the flute melody interspersed with pauses, rhythmic anxiety, and hurriedness. This work ends abruptly to give way for Judith Shatin’s For the Fallen for amplified flute and electronics (2017). The fallen, in this case, are the fallen of all wars. Here, Goodman offers a moving tribute with the entire spectrum of possible flute sounds and colors against an electronic backdrop of dark chimes, pipes, gongs, and cymbals.
This masterfully mixed album is a must-have for any new music or electronic music savant. (Navona Records)

Eliane Rodrigues FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN Notturno

Brazilian pianist Eliane Rodrigues has recorded the 21 Nocturnes by Chopin on her newest disc Frédéric Chopin – Notturno. The two-disc set also includes the Ballades No.1 in G Minor, Op.23 and No.4 in F Minor, Op.52.

Rodrigues teaches at the Royal Conservatoire in Antwerp, performs frequently and has more than 25 recordings in her discography. She traces her Chopin connection to her earliest years at the keyboard playing the Waltzes and Mazurkas. But her affection for the Nocturnes is more than wistful nostalgia. A passing reference in her notes suggests a very deep and personal experience made the sadness and melancholy of the Nocturnes profoundly meaningful to her. As if to underscore this, she uses quotations from a fictitious Chopin diary to capture the mood of each Nocturne.

The playing, however, is the proof of her ownership. Entirely consistent and sustained throughout both discs, her interpretations never stray from the beauty and tenderness that Chopin poured into these pieces. Rodrigues never rushes anything. Arching phrases, ornaments and grace notes are all critical to completing the composer’s every utterance, and she gives each one the time it needs to unfold. It’s an arresting and beautiful performance. (Alex Baran)

The Siberian State Symphony Orchestra / Vladimir Lande ALICIA TERZIAN Off The Edge

Argentinian composer, conductor, and scholar Alicia Terzian's new Navona release Off the Edge is an incredible journey into the heart of the string orchestra. The four works on the album introduce listeners to Terzian's captivating compositional perspective and enchanting treatment of this ensemble's sonic potential. Her writing focuses heavily on the drama, nuance, and contrasts accessible through instrumental color, and Off the Edge showcases numerous audacious textures involving a simple string orchestra, as well as pairings of large string ensemble with percussion and voice. To this end, Terzian's work Tres Piezas para Orquestra de Cuerdas is the album's simplest presentation of strings, as it is the only piece on the album to feature string orchestra by itself. Even so, this highly sectional piece demonstrates the ensemble's considerable textural flexibility. As one might expect, the composer uses the group as a conventional and singular melodic force with the accompaniment of solo violin and cello. More importantly, Tres Piezas is a varied work, and yields many other situations that exploit string instruments' capacity to produce both compellingly powerful and delicate sounds. The other works on Off the Edge more commonly play to the extremes of the string orchestra's sonic palette. This tendency is encapsulated in the first minutes of Carmen Criaturalis, a concerto for horn, string orchestra, and percussion. Here, Terzian fuses the sounds of a rolling cymbal with trembling, sliding strings, which give way to the solo horn's moaning entrance. As the work proceeds, the orchestra accompanies its soloists with strings playing called "col legno battuto", a distinctive technique in which a player taps their instrument's strings with the wood of their bow. Canto a Mi Misma features an enthralling form, as well as rich, vivified string textures. Scored for string orchestra and percussion, the composition thrillingly withholds the percussionists' entrance until the work's finale minutes, delivering a stunning revelation to the listener at the precise moment one thinks the piece is winding down to its conclusion. The album's titular work combines strings, percussion, choir and bass soloist in a dramatic and expansive musical design. (Naxos)