Monday, December 12, 2016

2016 - 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 2016, 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, or by copying and pasting any of the catalog IDs below into the keyword search in NML.

We know that 2016 has been a weird year for most of us, but it has not been short on excellent music. Enjoy!



1.
Oliver Davis
Dance
Kerenza Peacock, violin; Royal Philharmonic; Paul Bateman
Signum - SIGCD469
2. 
Michael Daugherty
Tales of Hemingway / American Gothic / Once Upon A Castle
Zuill Bailey, cello; Nashville Symphony; Giancarlo Guerrero
Naxos - 8.559798
3.
Bruno Bavota
Out of the Blue
Bruno Bavota
Dorian Sono Luminus - DSL-92206
4.
Ulvi Cemal Erkin
Symphony No. 2 / Violin Concerto / Köçekçe
Istanbul State Symphony; Theodore Kuchar
Naxos - 8.572831
5. 
Aaron Copland
Billy the Kid / Rodeo
Colorado Symphony Orchestra; Andrew Litton
BIS - BIS-2164
6. 
Skylark
Crossing Over
Skylark; Matthew Guard
Dorian Sono Luminus - DSL-92200
7. 
Emil Tabakov
Symphony No. 8 / 5 Bulgarian Dances
Bulgarian National Radio Symphony; Emil Tabakov
Toccata - TOCC0365


8.
Jennifer Higdon
Cold Mountain
Santa Fe Opera; Miguel Harth-Bedoya
Pentatone - PTC5186583


9. 
Tenebrae
Music of the Spheres
Tenebrae; Nigel Short
Signum - SIGCD904

10. 
Pyotr Il'Yich Tchaikovsky
Serenade in C Major / Souvenir de Florence
The Russian Virtuosi of Europe
Orchid - ORC100052
11. 
Samuel Adler
Symphony No. 6 / Cello Concerto
Royal Scottish National Orchestra; José Serebrier
Linn Records - CKD545

12. 
Sadie Harrison
The Rosegarden of Light
Cuatro Puntos; Ensemble Zohra
Toccata - TOCC0342


13.
Christopher Rouse
Odna Zhizn / Symphony No. 3 (After Prokofiev)
New York Philharmonic Orchestra; Alan Gilbert
Dacapo - 8.226110


14. 
Michael Nyman
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
Nashville Opera; Dean Williamson
Naxos - 8.660398

15. 
Sergey Prokofiev
Works for Violin and Piano
Franziska Pietsch, violin; Detlev Eisinger, piano
Audite - Audite97.722
16. 
Christine Brewer / Paul Jacobs
Divine Redeemer
Christine Brewer, soprano; Paul Jacobs, organ
Naxos - 8.573524


Label in the Spotlight: NMC Recordings

  

NMC Recordings is a record label and registered charity, established in 1989 to record and promote the best in British contemporary classical music. It releases around ten titles per year – divided between the main, full-price label, and Ancora, the mid-price label dedicated to reissuing important recordings previously released on other labels. NMC operates a non-deletion policy, so its catalog stands as an archive of British contemporary music. The quality of the catalog, which now has over 170 recordings by 200 living British composers, is reflected in the numerous awards and outstanding reviews NMC has received over the years. 

 According to NMC, they "arose almost more by chance than by design. Imogen Holst and Colin Matthews had set up the Holst Foundation in 1984 with the aim of supporting the work of living composers. A significant concert of contemporary music at the Aldeburgh Festival in 1987, funded entirely by the Foundation, attracted a full house, but was not broadcast and so was heard by only 800 people. This led Colin Matthews to propose that recordings were the ideal way to reach a larger audience. The Holst Foundation has been the major funder of NMC ever since our inception in 1989."

To hear the NMC Recordings sampler, access NML, go to the Playlists section, and select the Label in the Spotlight folder under the Themed Playlists tab. You can also access it via the rotating banners. If you are on your institution's premises, you may also be able to access it if you CLICK HERE.



Friday, December 2, 2016

Opening Notes: Christmas 2016 - New Release Playlist

We've sifted through all the new releases for this Christmas season, 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.


Joan Javits, Phil Springer, Tony Springer
Santa Baby
The King's Men
Choir of King's College, Cambridge - KGS0017
John Francis Wade
Adeste Fideles
BYU Choruses and Orchestra
BYU Music Group - YCD0516HLN

James Whitbourn
Missa Carolae: Gloria
Westminster Williamson Voices; James Jordan
Naxos - 8.573715
George Frideric Handel
Messiah, Part I: Ev'ry Valley Shall Be Exalted
Toronto Symphony; Andrew Davis
Chandos - CHSA5176-77
Jakub Jan Ryba
Czech Christmas Mass, "Hail, Master!": Záver
Czech Madrigalists Choir, Orchestra; F. X. Thuri
Naxos - 8.578342
P.I. Tchaikovsky
The Nutcracker: Overture
St Petersburg Mariinsky Theatre; Valery Gergiev
MAR0593
Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych
Carol of the Bells
Essential Voices USA
Sono Luminus - SLE-70006
J.S. Bach
Christmas Oratorio: Schlafe, Mein Liebster
Dunedin Consort and Chorus; John Butt
Linn - CKD499
Traditional (arr. A.G. Madsen)
Veni, Veni Emmanuel
Cocal Group Concert Clemens; C. Seyer-Hansen
Orchid - ORC100062
Franz Xaver Gruber
Stille Nacht
Septura
Naxos - 8.573719
Peter Warlock
Bethlehem Down
Magdalen College Choir, Oxford; Daniel Hyde
Opus Arte - OACD9022D
 Traditional
The Saviour's Work
The Sixteen; Harry Christophers
Coro - COR16146
Roy Wood
I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day
The King's Men
Choir of King's College, Cambridge - KGS0017
Felix Bernard
Winter Wonderland
Philharmonic Symphony; Richard Hayman
Naxos - 8.578340

P.I. Tchaikovsky
The Nutcracker: Divertissement: f. Mother Gigogne
Cologne Gürzenich Orchestra; Dmitri Kitayenko
Oehms Classics - OC448
Claude T. Smith
Symphonic Prelude on Adeste Fidelis
CSU Northridge Wind Ensemble; Lawrence Stoffel
Mark Records - 51710-MCD

George Frideric Handel
Joy to the World
BYU Choruses and Orchestra
BYU Music Group - YCD0516HLN
Traditional
O Little Town of Bethlehem
Carol Mastrodomenico; Gloriae Dei Cantores
Paraclete - GDCD128

Arcangelo Corelli
Christmas Concerto: V. Allegro - Pastorale ad libitum
Les Violons du Roy; Bernard Labadie
ATMA Classique - ACD22742
J.S. Bach
Christmas Oratorio: Nun seid ihr wohl
Dunedin Consort and Chorus; John Butt
Linn - CKD499

George Frideric Handel
Messiah, Part III: I Know That My Redeemer Liveth
Musica Fiorita; Daniela Dolci
Pan Classics - PC10351
Adolphe Adam
Cantique de Noel (O Holy Night)
Chapel Choir of the Royal Hospital Chelsea
Somm - SOMMCD0161
Henry John Gautlett
Once in Royal David's City
Neuer Knabenchor Hamburg; Jens Bauditz
Rondeau - ROP6125
Samuel Scheidt
A Child Is Born In Bethlehem
The Sixteen; Harry Christophers
Coro - COR16146



Each month, Naxos Music Library presents a new release playlist for our subscribers to enjoy. We know that a database of over 1.9 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!

December 2016 - Featured Playlist: The Happiest Holidays



Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, it’s time to indulge in Christmas music of all kinds. We can only speak for ourselves, of course, but when it comes to the holidays, genre biases fall to the wayside, and we find ourselves listening to anything and everything. Well, if Nickelback ever puts out a Christmas album, we will have to politely pass on that. But we digress…

Enjoy this hand-picked, diverse collection of tunes as you indulge in the season. Obviously, Christmas reigns in the world of holiday music, but if you instead celebrate Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Mawlid al-Nabi, Festivus, or anything else this month, we wish you and your loved ones a wonderful season together celebrating The Happiest Holidays.

To hear the playlist, access NML as usual, go to the Playlists section, and select the Playlist of the Month 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.


1. Angela Morley – Snowride
2. Leopold Mozart – Divertimento in F Major, "The Musical Sleigh-ride"
3. Frederick Delius – Sleigh Ride
4. Peter Il’yich Tchaikovsky – The Nutcracker Suite: I. Overture Miniature (arr. L. Weninger)

5. Gian Carlo Menotti – Amahl and the Night Visitors: Medley 
6. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Christmas Overture
7. Traditional / Robert Bennett / Robert Shaw – Many Moods of Christmas, Suite No. 1: III. Patapan
8. Joan Javits / Phil Springer / Tony Springer – Santa Baby
9. Shira Kammen – Nou Is Yole Comen (arr. B. Branch)
10. Traditional / Simeon Bigney – Bring A Torch / I Saw Three Ships
11. Traditional – Joy to the World (arr. L. Robertson)
12. John Francis Wade – Adeste Fideles (O Come All Ye Faithful)
13. John Henry Hopkins Jr. – We Three Kings (arr. P. Knight)
14. Adam Saunders – Fairytale Sleighride
15. Jefferson Mcconnaughey – Christmas Fancy on Bring A Torch
16. Cécile Chaminade – Le Noel des Oiseaux
17. Traditional – Angels from the Realms of Glory
18. Johann Sebastian Bach – Christmas Oratorio, Part I: Jauchzet, frohlocket, auf, preiset die tage
19. James Whitbourn – Missa Carolae: Gloria
20. Traditional / Alexander Courage – A Christmas Garland 



Each month, Naxos Music Library presents a themed playlist for our subscribers to enjoy. We know that a database of over 1.9 million tracks can be a bit daunting, so we'd like to highlight some of the amazing music that is available to you. Let it kickstart discovery!