Monday, December 4, 2017

Opening Notes: December 2017 - New Release Playlist

We've sifted through all the new releases for this month, and we're highlighting our favorites. Some of these are obscure works that may be unknown to you, while others are fresh takes on standard repertoire. If you're like us and are constantly craving something new to enjoy, take a spin through these tracks to get a taste of what is now available to you in NML. And if you hear something you love, click on the cover art in the player window to be taken directly to the full album!

To hear the playlist, access NML as usual, go to the Playlists section, and select the Opening Notes folder under the Themed Playlists tab. If you are on your institution's premises, you may also be able to access it if you CLICK HERE.



Terry Riley
The Palmian Chord Ryddle: III. Slow Drag
T. Silverman; Nashville Symphony; G. Guerrero
Naxos - 8.559739
Dmitry Kabalevsky
String Quartet No. 1: IV. Allegro assai
Stenhammar Quartet
CPO - 555006-2
Ernesto Lecuona
Andalucia, "Suite Espagnole": VI. Malaguena
Yamile Cruz Montero
Grand Piano - GP758
Javier Farias
Andean Suite: III. Diablada
Apollo Chamber Players
Navona - NV6130
Heitor Villa-Lobos
Symphony No. 1: I. Allegro assai moderato
Sao Paulo Symphony; Isaac Karabtchevsky
Naxos - 8.573829
Bono / The Edge / Adam Clayton / Larry Mullen
MLK (arr. B. Chilcott)
The King's Singers
Signum - SIGCD500
Dobrinka Tabakova
Nocturne
Andrew Matthews-Owen
Nimbus - NI6354
Kalevi Aho
Saxophone Concerto: III. Allegretto marcato
A. Paulsson; Lapland Chamber Orch.; J. Storgards
Naxos - 8.573723
Bela Bartok
Concerto for Orchestra: II. Giuoco delle coppie
Bergen Philharmonic; Edward Gardner
Chandos - CHSA5189
Dmitry Shostakovich
The Gadfly: Bazar
Rheinland-Pfalz State Phil; Mark Fitz-Gerald
Naxos - 8.573747
Carl Nielsen
Symphony No. 3: III. Allegretto un poco
Seattle Symphony Orchestra; Thomas Dausgaard
Seattle Symphony Media - SSM1017
Camille Saint-Saëns
Romance in C Major
Tianwa Yang; Malmo Symphony; Marc Soustrot
Naxos - 8.573411
Charles Tomlinson Griffes
3 Tone-Pictures: No. 3. The Night Winds
Cecile Licad
Danacord - DACOCD783-784
Richard Rodney Bennett
Summer Music: III. Games
BBC Scottish Symphony; John Wilson
Chandos - CHSA5202


Iarla O Lionaird / Dan Trueman
Olagon, Part I: Being Only A Dame
Gallicantus; Dan Trueman; eighth blackbird
Cedille - CDR90000-174
Lalo Schifrin
Jazz Piano Sonata: III. Molto vivace
Mirian Conti
Grand Piano - GP776

Anton Urspruch
5 Fantasiestucke: No. 2 in C-Sharp Minor
Ana-Marija Markovina
Haenssler Classic - HC16015
Daron Hagen
After Words: No. 3. Widgeon
Justine Aronson; Joseph Gaines; Laura Ward
Naxos - 8.559714

Richard Wagner
Siegfried, Act II: Nun sing! Ich lausche dem Gesang
Hong Kong Philharmonic; Jaap van Zweden
Naxos - 8.660413-16
Giuseppe Verdi
Rigoletto, Act II: No, vecchio t'inganni
Dmitri Hvorostovsky; Kaunas City Symphony
Delos - DE3522
Georg Schumann
Symphony in F Minor: IV. Allegro molto maestoso
Deutsches Symphonie-Orch. Berlin; J. Feddeck
CPO - 555110-2
J.S. Bach
Musical Offering: Fuga canonica in Epidiapente
M. Suzuki; K. Suga; R. Terakado; Y. Yamaguchi
BIS - BIS-2151


Gabriel Faure
Automne
Septura
Naxos - 8.573619
Cesar Franck
Violin Sonata in A: I. Allegretto ben moderato
Sharon Bezaly; Vladimir Ashkenazy
BIS - BIS-2259



Each month, Naxos Music Library presents a new release playlist for our subscribers to enjoy. We know that a database of over 2 million tracks can be a bit daunting, so we'd like to highlight some of the amazing music that has become available to you just this month. Let it kickstart discovery!

Friday, December 1, 2017

2017 - NML Team Picks: Our Favorite Albums of the Year



We know that the sheer size of Naxos Music Library can feel a little overwhelming, and that with so many amazing new releases joining the database it can be easy to miss out on an album that would have become a favorite. Even those of us on staff, who spend our weeks in the site, can find it hard to keep up with every new title.

Nevertheless, we have found quite a few favorite releases over the course of 2017, and we would like to share them with you. This is of course no exhaustive list of what we've loved, but these were the albums we found ourselves returning to time and time again. Some of these will be Grammy nominees, or critical favorites you'll see on many year-end lists. Others will be those hidden gems we dug up ourselves and really want you to hear and love as much as we do. Either way, we encourage you to not let these slip by unconsidered.

We've created a playlist of some of the highlights of these favorite albums, which you can find by clicking the appropriate banner in NML. If you are within your institution's wifi network, you might also be able to go directly to the playlist by clicking HERE.

Full albums can be reached by clicking one of that album's tracks in the playlist, by clicking the album cover image in the player, or by copying and pasting any of the catalog IDs below into the keyword search in NML.

We know that 2017 has been a weird year for most of us, but it has not been short on excellent music. Enjoy!



1.
Bjarnason / Thorvaldsdottir / Jonsdottir / Vilmarsson / Sigfusdottir
Recurrence
Iceland Symphony Orchestra; Daniel Bjarnasson
Sono Luminus - DSL-92213
2. 
Vincent Ho
The Shaman / Arctic Symphony
Evelyn Glennie, percussion; Winnipeg Symphony; Alexander Mickelthwate
Centrediscs - CMCCD24317
3.
Jane Antonia Cornish
Into Silence
Anna Elashvili, Saeunn Thorsteinsdottir, Caitlin Sullivan, Claire Bryant, Hamilton Berry, Vicky Chow
Innova - INNOVA976
4.
Christian Lindberg / Osvaldo Golijov
Clarinet Concerto / The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind
Emil Jonason, clarinet; Norrkoping Symphony; Christian Lindberg
BIS - BIS-2188
5. 
Eriks Esenvalds
The Doors of Heaven
Portland State University Chamber Choir; Ethan Sperry
Naxos - 8.579008
6. 
Georgy Sviridov
Russia Cast Adrift
Dmitri Hvorostovsky, baritone; St Petersburg State Symphony; Constantine Orbelian
Delos - DE1631
7. 
Sergey Prokofiev
Symphony No. 7 / Suites
Sao Paulo Symphony; Marin Alsop
Naxos - 8.573620


8.
George Antheil
Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5
BBC Philharmonic; John Storgards
Chandos - CHAN10941


9. 
Dmitry Shostakovich
Piano concertos Nos. 1 & 2
Boris Giltburg, piano; Royal Liverpool Philharmonic; Vasily Petrenko
Naxos - 8.573666

10. 
Zenamon / Faure / Bach / Piazzolla / de Falla / Part
Boyd Meets Girl
Boyd Meets Girl
Sono Luminus - DSL-92217
11. 
Gregory Spears
Fellow Travelers
Soloists; Cincinnati Symphony; Mark Gibson
Fanfare Cincinnati - FC-011

12. 
Adams / Ballard / Chee / Daugherty / Garland / Higdon
Walk in Beauty
Emanuele Arciuli, piano
Innova - INNOVA255


13.
Abdimomyn / Qazangapuly / Sagyrbayuly / Zhubanova
Kazakh Classical Music
Kazakh State String Quartet
Divox - CDX-21501-6


14. 
Jaan Raats
Complete Piano Sonatas, Vol. 1
Nicolas Horvath, piano
Grand Piano - GP765

15. 
David Kirkland Garner
Dark Holler
Ensemble; Verena Mosenbichler-Bryant
New Focus - FCR191
16. 
J.S. Bach
Sonatas and Partitas
Christian Tetzlaff, violin
Ondine - ODE1299-2D

Happy Holidays! New for Christmas 2017

We've sifted through all the new releases for this Christmas, and we thought we'd share them with you. Some of these are new works that may be unknown to you, while others are fresh takes on classic carols. If you're like us and are constantly craving something new to enjoy, take a spin through these tracks to get a taste of what is now available to you in NML. And if you hear something you love, click on the cover art in the player window to be taken directly to the full album!

To hear the playlist, access NML as usual, go to the Playlists section, and select the Opening Notes folder under the Themed Playlists tab. If you are on your institution's premises, you may also be able to access it if you CLICK HERE.



Imagine Christmas
American Contemporary Music Ensemble; Jasper String Quartet; Skylark Vocal Ensemble; and more
Sono Luminus - DSL-92216

Christmas Presence
The King's Singers
Signum - SIGCD497
Jake Heggie
It's A Wonderful Life
Houston Grand Opera; Patrick Summers
Pentatone - PTC5186631
A Merry Little Christmas
U.S. Air Force Concert Band and Singing Sergeants
Klavier - KCD-77048
Christmas Around the World
Burning River Brass
Azica - Azica71317

O Holy Night - A Merton Christmas
Choir of Merton College; Oxford Philharmonic
Delphian - DCD34192
Choral Music for Christmas
Athesinus Consort Berlin; Calmus Ensemble; Stuttgart Chamber Choir; Dresden Chamber Choir
Carus - Carus83.486
Rejoice - Christmas with the DSO Brass, Percussion, and the Lay Family Concert Organ
Mary Preston, organ; Dallas Symphony; L. Loh
DSO Live - DSOLive009
Christmas with the Cincinnati May Festival Chorus
Cincinnati May Festival Chorus; Heather MacPhail, organ; Robert Porco
Fanfare Cincinnati - FC012
John Turner
Christmas Card Carols
Intimate Voices; Christopher Stokes
Divine Art - DDA25161
The Night of Saint Nicholas
La Reverdie; Roberto Spremulli; Fulvio Rampi
Arcana - A442

G.F. Handel
Messiah
Concert Spirituel Chorus and Orchestra
Alpha - ALPHA362
Carl Heinrich Graun
Christmas Oratorio
Arcis-Cocalisten Munich; L'arpa Festante
Oehms Classics - OC1876
Carols for a Victorian Christmas
Fine Arts Brass Ensemble; Harrogate Choral Society; Bill Ives; Magdalen College Choir
The Gift of Music - CCLCDG1292

Joyeux Noel - French Christmas Music
Aradia Ensemble; Kevin Mallon; La Fantasia; Rien Voskuilen; Christian Lambour, piano
Brilliant - BC95569
Songs of the Stable
Halifax Camerata Singers; Gayle H. Martin, organ; Jeff Joudrey
Leaf Music - HCS0106

German Advent Songs
Schwesterhochfunf
Rondeau - ROP6128

In Dulci Jubilo - Music for the Christmas Season by Buxtehude and Friends
Theatre of Voices; Paul Hillier
Dacapo - 6.220661

O Sanctissima - O Du Frohliche: Christmas Songs from Around the World, Vol. 2
Leipzig MDR Radio Choir; Philipp Ahmann
Genuin - GEN17484





Each month, Naxos Music Library presents a new release playlist for our subscribers to enjoy. We know that a database of over 2 million tracks can be a bit daunting, so we'd like to highlight some of the amazing music that has become available to you just this month. Let it kickstart discovery!