Classical Music Discoveries

Montreal-based ethno-classical Duo Beija-Flor explores the Spanish and Portuguese influence on classical music with COSTAS, their vibrant debut for Big Round Records. Charles Hobson (guitar) and Marie-Noëlle Choquette (flute) form a highly expressive, versatile duo that is a force to be reckoned with. The twenty-two tracks on COSTAS appear to be bite-sized, but not only do they span a vast repertoire, they also pack a powerful punch individually. When Astor Piazzolla's only non-tango piece (Escualo) is contrasted with traditional Spanish folk songs (Siete Canciones Españolas) and motion picture soundtracks (Summer Garden Suite), it's not far-fetched to call this selection eclectic. All the more astounding, then, is Duo Beija-Flor's ability to tie this diverse program together, making it sound as if these pieces had always gone hand in hand. Occasionally, experimental elements are allowed in and incorporated into the flow of the album, such as the temporary, modernist dissonance in Boulevard San Jorge or the jazz harmonies in Havana Street Parade. And naturally, mirroring the dualist nature of the set-up, contrasts abound, not only in instrumental timbre and dynamics, but also in the music's character: Thus, the cheerful sweetness of Pé de Moleque and Quebra Quiexo (both aptly performed according to their title referencing Brazilian candy) is abruptly cut short by two dramatic fados pondering nothing less than the value of life. COSTAS attractively meanders between the light-footed and the profound, and the album's finale, Four Sephardic Songs, forms a majestic and evocative conclusion to an hour of music that is as vivacious, colorful and multi-faceted as the performing duo itself. For more information, track listings, credits, notes, biography and YouTube videos please visit: http://bigroundrecords.com/epk/costas/ Purchase Digital Download at: http://www.classicalsavings.com/store/p707/Costas_%28digital_downloads%29.html Purchase CD at: http://www.classicalsavings.com/store/p706/Costas_%28CD%29.html

Kamyar Mohajer’s PICTURES OF THE HIDDEN honors the composer’s “four Grand Masters:" Johann Sebastian Bach, Persian poet Hafez, and his parents. In this album, Mohajer shares his artistic upbringing by combining his roots in Persian modality with his love of Western classical music. The eponymous piece, a set of five songs for voice and piano, feature the works of the Persian poet Hafez. In the multi-tiered composition, Mohajer draws from childhood memories of his mother’s singing. Used with Hafez’s poetry, which adores a superior spirit called “Beloved,” Pictures of the Hidden reaches towards a higher meaning, honoring the perfection of an all-powerful Spirit. Each song, sung in Persian by soprano Raeeka Shehabi-Yaghma, brings a motherly passion to the depth of Hafez’s poetry. With Karolina Rojahn on piano, the composer combines the story-like motifs and counterpoint of Bach-inspired piano composition with the brilliant virtuosity of Shehabi-Yaghma. In Reng, Mohajer shares the conventions of his native music. The dance , for instance, is built on a syncopated 6/8 rhythm characteristic of Persian dances throughout history. The dance signals a release, a giving up of self to the joy of music and movement. The album concludes with a stunning performance by the acclaimed Alexander String Quartet, who communicate the contrasting feelings of melancholic longing and swift energy - a task perfect for strings and their ability to produce sound across the dynamic spectrum. Though the album is Mohajer’s debut, PICTURES OF THE HIDDEN is more than just an artistic expression of self. Rather, the album celebrates the past figures who shaped his present context, and demonstrates how art can leave humanity in a better place for having experienced it. For track listings, credits, poems, notes, biography and YouTube links, please visit: http://navonarecords.com/epk/picturesofhidden/index.html Purchase Digital Download at: http://www.classicalsavings.com/store/p705/Pictures_of_the_Hidden.html Purchase CD at: http://www.classicalsavings.com/store/p704/Pictures_of_the_Hidden_%28CD%29.html

Arnold Schoenberg's masterpieces that Jean Sibelius protested against and the direction they were taking music. Transfigured Night, Op 4 5 Pieces for Orchestra Op. 16 Dominique Beaulieu conducts the CMD Philharmonic of Paris in Orleans Purchase Digital Download at: http://www.classicalsavings.com/store/p703/Schoenberg%3A_Transfigured_Night_and_5_Pieces_for_Orchestra.html

Pamela Coats - Paris mon Amour From the end of the 19th century through today, Paris has been named the "Capital of the Arts". For many composers "the city of lights" was not only a place of creative exchange and inspiration but also a place of adventurous "Joie de vivre“. In the CD "Paris mon Amour/Paris, my love", the clarinet-piano duo Coats-Stefanescu presents composers, that in their time, had their finger on the pulse of innovation and development of culture and music in France as well as Europe. This CD filled with thrilling, melancholic and sensuous chamber music from the "city of the arts and love", will delight and enchant all audiences. 1 - Camille Saint-Saens (1835-1921) Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 167 Allegro Allegro Animato Lento Molto Allegro 2 - Claude Debussy (1862-1918) Premiere Rhapsodie for Clarinet and Piano 3 - Darius Milhaud (1892-1975) Sonatina for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 100 Trés Rude Lent Trés Rude 4 - Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, FP. 184 Allegro Tristamente Romanza Allegro con Fuoco 5 - Germaine Tailleferre (1892-1983) Arabesque for Clarinet and Piano CD is Available at: Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Paris-Amour-Pamela-Carmen-Stefanescu/dp/B074JZGDZ7 Itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/se/album/paris-mon-amour/id1267249647

Featuring music of Beethoven, Ravel and Dvorak.

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 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 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. For more information, track listings, credits, notes, biography and YouTube links, please visit: http://navonarecords.com/epk/closemyeyes/ Purchase CD at: http://www.classicalsavings.com/store/p701/I_Close_My_Eyes_In_Order_To_See_%28CD%29.html Purchase Digital Download at: http://www.classicalsavings.com/store/p702/I_Close_My_Eyes_In_Order_To_See_%28digital_download%29.html

DREAMS LAID DOWN brings to life the works of several acclaimed composers, evoking a tender, reflective atmosphere. Inspired by sources from the Beatles to the poetry of Rinehart’s wife, the album creates an intimate aural experience that is as personal to the listener as it is to the artist himself. The title track, composed by Michael Karmon, is named after a book of poems by Rinehart’s wife Janice Notland. Karmon animated six of her poems with thoughtful, evocative compositions. Contrast this with composer John Oliver’s Ancient Heroes Suite. Oliver, inspired by ancient music conventions, worked with dance-oriented rhythms in experimental time signatures that recall melodies resonating through ancient halls, while filtering them through a modern context. Variaciones Sobre un Tema de Juan Lennon, written by New Brunswick composer Richard Gibson as a wedding gift for his daughter Julia, reimagines parts of a song originally written by John Lennon. Exploring shifts in key signatures, major and minor modes, and alternate harmonization, Gibson takes the pop song and breathes his unique perspective into it. The album is rounded out with works by two more well-established Canadian composers. Guitarist-composer William Beauvais contributes his improvisatory and rhythmic Beginning of the Day and Vancouver's David Gordon Duke explores the full range of guitaristic colors in his Soliloquies and Dreams. DREAMS LAID DOWN tenderly beckons for the listener’s attention with the lilting strains of classical guitar. Showcasing Rinehart’s inspired musical gifts, the gentle performance warmly invites audiences into a serene listening experience. For more information, track listing, credits, notes, poems, biographies and YouTube, please visit: http://ravellorecords.com/epk/dreamslaiddown/ Purchase CD at: http://www.classicalsavings.com/store/p699/Dreams_Laid_Down_%28CD%29.html Purchase Digital Download at: http://www.classicalsavings.com/store/p700/Dreams_Laid_Down_%28digital_download%29.html

The Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47, by Dmitri Shostakovich is a work for orchestra composed between April and July 1937. Its first performance was on November 21, 1937, in Leningrad by the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra under Yevgeny Mravinsky. The premiere was a huge success and received an ovation that lasted well over half an hour. Conducted by Maestra Kathryn Cavanaugh - Executive Director and Conductor CMD Grand Opera Company of Venice Orchestra Purchase Digital Download at: http://www.classicalsavings.com/store/p698/Shostakovich%3A_Symphony_No._5_in_D_minor%2C_Op._47_%28digital_download%29.html

MIND & MACHINE VOL. 2 is the second electro-acoustic compilation to be released on Ravello Records. Each of the seven composers featured on MIND & MACHINE VOL. 2 offers his or her own striking exploration into the means by which technology can be used to alter time and form to create entirely new musical experiences. This diverse assortment of composers have all taken different paths to reach that goal. The sounds of nature are manipulated or integrated into pieces such as Tom Prescott’s The Singing Forest and Jennifer Bernard Merkowitz’s Les Crapauds de la Fontaine, while Joshua Tomlinson’s Convergences utilizes the natural elements of metal and wood. Julius Bucsis takes as his source material the work of renowned composer Igor Stravinksy for Some Writings of Spring, using Schenkerian analysis and various audio processing techniques to reinvent The Rite of Spring. Cory Fant deliberately worked outside of the studio to create the sounds in his Vox Ballet without using synthesizers, while Lou Bunk’s Cut and Joshua Harris’ a tiny fleck of blue crying light into the void both each use pianos – albeit very dissimilar ones – in their individual manipulations of time and space. If there is one common trait that the works on MIND & MACHINE VOL.2 share, it is their ability to capture the immediacy of sonic experience and, regardless of context, to subtly create an entirely new musical narrative, again reinforcing the limitless possibilities inherent in the realm of electro-acoustic music. For more information, track listings, credits, notes, biographies and YouTube links, please visit: http://www.classicalsavings.com/store/p640/Mind_and_Machine_-_Volume_1_%28digital_download%29.html Purchase CD: http://www.classicalsavings.com/store/p697/Mind_%26_Machine_%28CD%29.html Purchase Digital Download: http://www.classicalsavings.com/store/p640/Mind_and_Machine_-_Volume_1_%28digital_download%29.html

The Symphony No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 82, by Jean Sibelius is a symphony in three movements. Dominique Beaulieu, conductor CMD Paris Philharmonic in Orleans

Peace and war, East and West, past, present, and future: find all this and more in BLACK SWAN OF PIANO, the latest album by award-winning composer and pianist Marta Brankovich. Brankovich, dubbed the “Black Swan of Piano” by the Miami Herald, invites listeners to explore the rich history of Serbia, her home country, in this captivating collection of piano works. For more information, track listings, credits, notes, videos, biography and YouTube, please visit: http://navonarecords.com/epk/blackswan/ Purchase CD at: http://www.classicalsavings.com/store/p687/Black_Swan_of_Piano_%28CD%29.html Purchase Digital Download at: http://www.classicalsavings.com/store/p688/Black_Swan_of_Piano_%28digital_download%29.html

Mozart: Eine kleine Nachtmusik (Serenade No. 13 for strings in G Major), K. 525 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 11 in F minor, Op. 95 "Serioso" Schubert: Piano Quintet in A Major, Op. 114 "The Trout" Visit LaMusicaFestival.org for more information about the 2019 season.

A central theme in Dr. Dennis Kam’s album SEVERAL TIMES is, predictably, time. Not so predictable is how time is used, manipulated, and developed throughout. Dr. Kam explores beyond expectation, using repetition and connectivity to experiment with form. This creates a unique sonic experience that pushes the boundaries of tonal and rhythmic conventions. For more information, track listings, credits, notes, biographies and YouTube links, please visit: http://navonarecords.com/epk/severaltimes/ To purchase the CD, please visit: http://www.classicalsavings.com/store/p686/Several_Times_%28CD%29.html To download the digital tracks, please visit: http://www.classicalsavings.com/store/p685/Several_Times_%28digital_download%29.html

Ed Martin's Ravello Records debut JOURNEYS could not be more aptly titled. This album of highly original piano compositions invites the listener on a voyage through mysterious realms where the limits of the sensual and the intuitive dissolve – a journey that is at times epic, and at other times epically quiet. The album commences with Three Pieces for Piano (2006), a modernist melange whose gamut ranges from dissonant serenity to rhythmic agitation. They're perfectly, intimately rendered by pianist Jeri-Mae G. Astolfi, who performs the entirety of JOURNEYS with great clarity, structural insight and precision, never losing touch with the primal, emotional appeal of the compositions. Swirling Sky (2014), dedicated to the pianist, displays the collaboration between the performer and the composer at its most fruitful. Martin has sculpted and captured the peculiar sensation of looking at clouds in the sky with seeming effortlessness; Astolfi performs them with a paradox combination of lightness and depth that is most appropriate. The album's namesake and centerpiece, however, is the recent, eleven-piece piano cycle Journey, composed in 2015-2017. In more traditionalist terms, one might call this "variations on a theme" – and one would fall horrendously short, considering the vast artistic and psychological scope of the work. The starting point, Soul, whose main idea centers around a humble minor third, is subsequently transformed in the most diverse of ways: The motive appears, recognizable but ever-changing, in deep sorrow in Lament, desperate to the brink of madness in Vexed, collected in Revelation, and cheerfully delusional in Manic. Eventually, a new thought – Conviction – leads to a Metamorphosis and ultimately culminates in the final Transcend, the cycle's (and album's) musical catharsis.

This broadcast is now on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/7NBcJBm4WCA