N A XO S NAXOS MAHLER & SCHOENBERG NAXOS ENRIQUE GRANADOS SONGS MARÍA DEL CARMEN 8573536 | 747313353675 1 CD | SRP US $12.99 CA $12.99 COMPOSER: Gustav Mahler • Arnold Schoenberg (arranger) • Arnold Schoenberg founded the Society for Private Musical Performances in 1918 to perform contemporary music from “Mahler to the present”. • Mahler had been an early supporter of Schoenberg’s music, and Schoenberg repaid the favor by arranging Mahler’s orchestral works for chamber ensemble and including them at the society’s concerts. • The colorful Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen are given a feel of great intimacy in this form, while the lighter scoring of Das Lied von der Erde has the advantage of clarifying instrumental textures, its magical effects capturing “the finite nature of earthly things”. • María del Carmen was Enrique Granados’ first great operatic success and the stage work he held in highest regard. It was received with great acclaim at its premiere in 1898, admired for its refined and brilliant orchestral writing and for its prfound lyricism. • Using the folklore, language and sounds of Murcia in south-eastern Spain alongside the influence of Wagnerian thematic techniques, the opera is set in a rural village where a water shortage and a love triangle inflame the mutual hatred between the peasant farmer Pencho and his wealthy rival Javier. 8660144-45 | 730099014472 2 CD | SRP US $25.99 CA $25.99 COMPOSER: Enrique Granados ARTIST: Susan Platts (mezzo-soprano) • Charles Reid (tenor) • Roderick Williams (baritone) • Virginia Arts Festival Players • JoAnn Falletta (conductor) ARTIST: Diana Veronese • Larisa Kostyuk • Silvia Vazquez (soprano) • Jesús Suaste • Gianfranco Montresor • Alberto Arrabal • Alex Ashworth (baritone) • Dante Alcalá • David Curry • Ricardo Mirabelli • Nicholas Sharratt • Vincenç Esteve (tenor) • Stewart Kempster • Wexford Festival Opera Chorus • National Philharmonic Chorus of Belarus • Max Bragado-Darman (conductor) NAXOS JOHANN SIMON MAYR NAXOS LOUIS SPOHR AMORE NON SOFFRE OPPOSIZIONI SYMPHONIES NOS. 3 & 6 8660361-62 | 730099036177 2 CD | SRP US $25.99 CA $25.99 COMPOSER: Johann Simon Mayr • Mayr’s opera buffa Amore non soffre opposizioni was first performed in Venice in 1810 and owes something to the increasingly popular genre of the “sentimental drama”. • Conforming to Neapolitan practice in having no recitatives, it reflects precisely those qualities that aroused such enthusiasm for his music in Mayr’s contemporaries: beautiful, expressive melodies, a natural vocal style, stimulating harmonies, and sophisticated instrumentation. • The restoration of Mayr’s music in modern performance has been largely due to the critically acclaimed conductor on this recording, Franz Hauk. Louis Spohr was seen in his day as a worthy successor to Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven and completed his Third Symphony whilst at the apex of his personal and professional life. • This is reflected in a forward-looking, confident and compelling work which sublimely balances mood and atmosphere, including a passionate Larghetto and a joyous, life-affirming Finale. • In his Sixth Symphony, Spohr drew inspiration for each movement from a different musical era; from the music of Bach and Handel in the first movement through to the finale “The Very Latest Period”, a lively and sardonic satire on what Spohr felt to be the superficial and flashy compositional style of the time.• 8555533 | 747313553327 1 CD | SRP US $9.99 CA $12.99 COMPOSER: Louis Spohr ARTIST: Giulio Alvise Caselli • Philipp Gaiser • Josef Zwink (bass) • Richard Resch (tenor) • Monika Lichtenegger • Laura Faig (soprano) • East-West-European Festival Orchestra • Franz Hauk (conductor) ARTIST: Budapest Symphony Orchestra • Alfred Walter (conductor) 7 NAXOS OF AMERICA | NAXOS OF CANADA | NEW RELEASE GUIDE