The Republic of Georgia, now in the news for all the wrong reasons, has a very ancient history, and a very long musical tradition.

This podcast looks at that tradition, and introduces music by two contemporary Georgian composer: Sulkhan Tsintsadze and Giya Kancheli.

Album details…
Catalogue No.: Naxos 8.570324

Subscribe to Podcast: AAC* | MP3 | iTunes
Download this Episode: AAC* | MP3

* enhanced version of the podcast with chapter markers and cover art.

The historic concert in North Korea on February 26, 2008 is the first performing arts production released simultaneously on DVD and Blu-ray Disc.

“Those lucky enough to be present will never forget that historic evening, when people from two long-divided nations were united through the beauty and power of music. By the end of the final encore, both the audience and the musicians onstage stood waving to each other in a new-found spirit of understanding. We are honored and pleased that through this DVD we can share this transformative experience with new audiences for years to come.” -Zarin Mehta, President and Executive Director, New York Philharmonic

The New York Philharmonic’s historic February 2008 trip to Pyongyang, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, at the invitation of its government, was an unprecedented event that garnered worldwide media attention and was broadcast on PBS’ Great Performances series. The concert, which took place on February 26 in the East Pyongyang Grand Theater, was led by the Philharmonic’s Music Director Lorin Maazel and featured music by Wagner, Dvořák, Gershwin, Bizet, and Bernstein-along with the national anthems of both countries.

On September 16, Medici Arts, distributed by Naxos of America, released this remarkable concert on both DVD and Blu-ray disc. This is the first time a performing arts new release has been offered simultaneously in both formats on street-date.

The New York Philharmonic in Pyongyang (Medici Arts 2056948 and BD2056944) includes, in addition to footage of the historic performance, the never before seen documentary film Americans in Pyongyang: The New York Philharmonic Trip to North Korea, directed by Ayelet Heller. Heller’s film features footage of orchestra members giving master classes, as well as other memorable moments from the trip.

“The piccolo played a long, plaintive melody. Cymbals crashed, harp runs flew up, the violins soared. And tears began forming in the eyes of the staid audience … And right there, the Philharmonic had them. The full-throated performance of a piece deeply resonant for both North and South Koreans ended the historic concert in this isolated nation … in triumph.”
-Daniel J. Wakin, The New York Times

PROGRAM
National Anthem of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Aegukka
National Anthem of the United States of America The Star-Spangled Banner
Richard Wagner Lohengrin: Prelude to Act III
Antonín Dvořák Symphony No.9 in E minor, From the New World
George Gershwin An American in Paris
Georges Bizet Farandole from L’Arlésienne Suite No.2
Leonard Bernstein Candide: Overture
Traditional Arirang

Documentary: “Americans in Pyongyang”
The New York Philharmonic’s Trip to North Korea
Directed by Ayelet Heller

The New York Philharmonic is the oldest symphony orchestra in the United States and one of the oldest in the world. Lorin Maazel became Music Director in 2002, succeeding Kurt Masur in a distinguished line of 20th-century musical giants that has included Bernstein, Zubin Mehta, and Pierre Boulez; Mahler, Walter, and Toscanini. Since the Orchestra was founded in 1842 it has championed the new music of its time, commissioning or premiering many important works, from Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, From the New World (1893) and Gershwin’s An American in Paris (1928) to John Adams’s Pulitzer Prize-winning On the Transmigration of Souls (2002, the CD of which received three Grammy Awards), and Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Piano Concerto (2007).

The Philharmonic has long played a leading role in American musical life, and over the last century has become renowned around the globe, having appeared in 420 cities in 58 countries on 5 continents, in capitals such as London and Paris, São Paulo and Buenos Aires, and Hong Kong and Tokyo. Long a media pioneer, the Philharmonic began radio ew York Philharmonic To Perform in Democratic People’s Republic of Korea/4 broadcasts in 1922, and is currently represented by The New York Philharmonic This Week; the program is syndicated nationally 52 weeks per year, streamed on the Orchestra’s Website, nyphil.org, and carried on XM Satellite Radio. In addition, the Orchestra’s concerts are now broadcast throughout Europe on BBC Radio 3. On television, in the 1950s and ’60s the Philharmonic inspired a generation of music lovers through Leonard Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts, telecast on CBS; its presence on television has continued with annual appearances on PBS’s Live From Lincoln Center, which began with that series’ inaugural episode in 1976. In 2003 the Philharmonic made television history as the first Orchestra ever to perform live on the Grammy Awards telecast, one of the most-watched television events worldwide.

The New York Philharmonic may be the most recorded orchestra in history, with more than 1,500 authorized releases to its credit, starting with its first pressing in 1917. The Internet has expanded the Orchestra’s reach, and in 2006 the Philharmonic became the first major American orchestra to offer downloadable concerts, recorded live, which are available on the DG Concerts label, exclusively on iTunes.

Lorin Maazel, who has led more than 150 orchestras in more than 5,000 opera and concert performances, became Music Director of the New York Philharmonic in September 2002. His appointment came 60 years after his debut with the Orchestra at Lewisohn Stadium, then the Orchestra’s summer venue. As Music Director he has conducted seven World Premiere-New York Philharmonic Commissions, including the Pulitzer Prize- and Grammy Award-winning On the Transmigration of Souls by John Adams; Stephen Hartke’s Symphony No. 3; and Melinda Wagner’s Trombone Concerto. He has led cycles of works by Brahms and Beethoven, and in 2007 led a Philharmonic festival devoted to Tchaikovsky. He also conducted the Orchestra’s inaugural performances in the DG Concerts series - a groundbreaking initiative to offer downloadable New York Philharmonic concerts exclusively on iTunes.

Mr. Maazel has taken the Orchestra on numerous international tours, including the May 2007 Tour of Europe; the November 2006 visit to Japan and Korea; the June 2006 Tour of Italy, sponsored by Generali; and in autumn 2005, the two-part 75th Anniversary European Tour to thirteen cities in five countries. In addition to the New York Philharmonic, Mr. Maazel is music director of the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, Spain, and Italy’s Symphonica Toscanini. He has served as music director of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (1993-2002), and has held positions as music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (1988-96); general manager and chief conductor of the Vienna Staatsoper (1982-84) - the first American to hold that position; music director of The Cleveland Orchestra (1972-82); and artistic director and chief conductor of the Deutsche Oper Berlin (1965-71).

Releases in September include She’s Sweetest When She’s Naked, flute music from 18th century Scotland performed by flutist Alison Melville; D’Anglebert’s Pièces de clavecin performed by harpsichordist Hank Knox; From Bach to Mozart: Following the Path of the Trio Sonata; Vivaldi flute and bassoon concertos, and Telemann’s Les trésors caches performed by the Arion Baroque Orchestra

“As always, Alison Melville’s playing is exquisitely executed with warmth, wit and tenderness…these airs, dance tunes, variations and sonatas are performed with the grace, humor and touching sensitivity inherent in the music.” - The WholeNote

A collection of Scottish music from the 18th century, She’s Sweetest When She’s Naked is the brainchild of Baroque flutist Alison Melville. The collection and preservation of Scots tunes began during the 17th century following Scotland’s union with England. Scotland wanted to protect its cultural heritage, a large part of which existed in the traditional music that had been passed down through many generations. “It was many years ago when I first began exploring eighteenth-century Scottish music”, said Melville. “Having been steeped in the more typical Baroque repertoire for my instruments, I was always on the lookout for more esoteric musical fare; and as a first-generation Canadian with ancestry in Glasgow and Dundee, perhaps it was genetic.” Ms. Melville’s curiosity resulted in a recording to be released by early-music.com on September 30 that explores how these traditional songs would have sounded when played three centuries ago, on instruments like the flute, recorder, harpsichord, guitar, baroque cello and bodhrán.

Including songs from James Oswald’s Caledonian Pocket Companion (a multi-volume collection of Scots tunes for violin or flute solo published between 1742 and 1759), The Braes of Ballandyne from Edward Miller’s flute instruction method of 1799, Nicola Matteis’ Ayrs for the Violin (1685), and an anonymous 18th century song “Goodnight and God be with you”, from the National Library of Scotland, the music on She’s Sweetest When She’s Naked is true evidence of the virtually non-existent gap between what was 18th century ‘art’ and traditional music.

Now active as one of North America’s leading performers on historical flutes, Toronto-born Alison Melville has performed across Canada and the USA, New Zealand, Iceland, Japan, and Europe. With extensive television, film and radio performance credits, Alison can also be heard on over 40 CD recordings, including four internationally acclaimed solo recordings. She has been Assistant Professor of Recorder at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music since 1999.

Composer and court harpsichordist to King Louis XIV, J. Henry D’Anglebert also holds the distinction of having the first printed music in France to contain a table of ornaments as well as their realizations. Published by the D’Anglebert in 1689, Pièces de clavecin contains 57 pieces grouped into four suites. The collection remained widely-regarded for years after its publication and its table of ornaments served as a model for many composers in France and abroad. On this early-music.com recording, critically-acclaimed harpsichordist and recitalist Hank Knox performs pieces from three of the four suites on a reproduction of a 1768 Albertus Delin upright harpsichord.After studying harpsichord in Montreal and Paris, Hank Knox went on to become an accomplished recitalist, chamber musician, and continuo player. He is a founding member of Ensemble Arion, with whom he has toured extensively. He also has performed with ensembles such as Tafelmusik, the Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal, as well as with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. Hank Knox directs the Early Music program at McGill University, where he teaches harpsichord and figured bass accompaniment, coaches chamber music ensembles, and conducts the McGill Baroque Orchestra. He has been a William Dawson Scholar in recognition of his work in Early Music since 2003, and was awarded the Thomas Binkley prize for an outstanding university collegium director by Early Music America in 2008.

Early-music.com is dedicated to the promotion of the best early music performance artists in the world. Launched in 1998, early-music.com was founded with the intention of encouraging the appreciation of historically informed performance of music written in the 17th and 18th centuries played on period instruments, while also offering a platform on which member artists can communicate biographies and concert schedules on the early-music.com website.

Performed at La Scala alla Teatro de Milano and with a cast led by the incomparable Angela Gheorghiu and Ramón Vargas, Arthaus Musik releases La Traviata on both DVD and Blu-ray Disc on September 30. Gheorghiu first sang the role of Violetta, under Sir Georg Solti at Covent Garden in 1994. During one of the rehearsals for the production, Solti said of the soprano’s performance: “I was in tears. I had to go out. The girl is wonderful. She can do everything.” This production marks the first time that the title role was sung at La Scala by Gheorghiu. Proclaimed as a “tenor to cherish” by Gramophone, acclaimed Mexican tenor Ramón Vargas performs the role of love-striken Alfredo.

Conducted by Lorin Maazel and filmed live at La Scala during the summer of 2007, this production of La Traviata is a revival of the 1990 production, directed by Liliana Cavani and with sets designed by Dante Ferretti. Cavani’s direction of Traviata has been praised for its psychological and realistic detail. Ferretti’s sets are luxurious and beautiful, perfectly portraying the mid-nineteenth century time period in which the opera occurs.

I am a singer and a writer of music, and my natural mode of expression is music and sound. I think in sounds and tones, and I produce them, partly in the form of sung sounds and partly as heard, written-down sounds. And it’s a long way from that to the spoken word. - Hanne Ørvad, 2000

As a composer creatively driven by text, it is no surprise that one-quarter of Hanne Ørvad’s compositions are full choral works or that almost all of them use the human voice somewhere in their orchestrations. On September 30, Dacapo releases Corona, a recording that celebrates Danish composer Hanne Ørvad’s most important choral works expertly and powerfully performed by the Danish National Vocal Ensemble, Danish National Chamber Choir, and Danish National Girls Choir.

Ørvad, who began her career as a professional singer in the Danish National Chamber Choir/DR, didn’t start to compose until 1990.The 5 pieces represented on this recording span most of Ørvad’s compositional career, from Winter Organ (1991) to Threna (2003). Vega, composed in 1996 for the Netherlands Chamber Choir, comprises seven continuous pieces in seven strophes that illustrate the star Vega and its luminous surroundings. Using word rhythm and vocal color, Ørvad depicts a far-away galaxy as seen by an earth-dweller. Ørvad’s second choral work, Kornell, consists of three movements, Melody, Adagio and Serenade, based on the poetry by Bo Bergman. Although it refers to music, the poem’s text actually is an expression of love and nature that easily translates into song: “Just walking in the fields / You bring each wellspring alive, Each little mound sings your name.”

Threna (Easter Music I), orchestrated for girls’ choir, tubular bells, snare, low gong, and cello, is a setting of the 13th-century text of the Stabat Mater, which describes the grieving Virgin Mary at the foot of the Cross. Dramatic, pleading, and dark, this piece leaves listeners with an impression of the questions raised in the Stabat Mater, using the cello and girls voices as the primary storytellers. The second Easter work on the recording, Paschal Hymn (Easter Music II), is a setting of three English hymns that Ørvad has abridged and edited. Here Ørvad paints a vivid picture of the most significant moment in Christianity: the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The final piece on the recording, Winter Organ, is a striking 12-part choral work of great complexity. Based on the poetry of Erik Axel Karlfeldt, Ørvad uses the choir as a unified instrument, while also testing the limits of its expression

On September 30, the Montreal-based label ATMA-Classique releases the latest recording featuring renowned soprano Suzie LeBlanc, devoted to songs by Olivier Messiaen. Works featured include the1938 song cycle Chants de terre et de ciel, as well as Trois melodies (1930); La mort du nombre, a cantata for soprano, tenor, violin and piano, (1930); Vocalise (1935); and Thème et variations pour violon et piano (1932).Chants de terre et de ciel marks a recording departure for Ms. LeBlanc, who is best-known for her superb performances of Baroque and early music, as well as Acadian songs (she is a native of Edmundston, New Brunswick). In addition to her musical activities, Ms. LeBlanc recently made her dramatic film debut at the Toronto International Film Festival in Rodrigue Jeans’ The Lost Song. She already has been the subject of two documentaries: Suzie LeBlanc: A musical quest, directed by Donald Winkler, and Suzie LeBlanc and a man named Quantz, directed by the late Robert Chesterman (Prometheus Productions).

Other featured artists include American-born tenor Lawrence Williford, a graduate of the University of Toronto and the Canadian Opera Company’s prestigious Ensemble Studio; Laura Andriani, the first violinist of the Alcan Quartet since 2003; and pianist Robert Kortgaard, one of the most sought-after vocal accompanists in Canada today.

The Messiaen works on this recording are from the composer’s first creative period, before his reputation had spread beyond France. This music is closely associated with a period of great personal happiness in Messiaen’s private life-his marriage to his first wife, the violinist and composer Claire Delbos (1906-1958). It was for Delbos that Messiaen composed the Thème et variations (1932) for violin and piano; she also inspired the two song cycles Poèmes pour Mi and Chants de terre et de ciel, composed between 1936 and 1938. The Trois mélodies from 1930 honor the composer’s mother, the poet Cécile Sauvage.

The dramatic cantata La mort du nombre is unusual for Messiaen; it is the only work before his opera Saint-François d’Assise to use a male soloist. While it evokes the French tradition of dramatic opera, the dialogue between two souls also alludes to Bach cantatas. The music is also influenced by Massenet and by Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande.

ALSO FROM ATMA IN SEPTEMBER:

Les Violons du Roy are a Canadian national treasure. Outside Quebec, the group had built its reputation performing music from before 1800 until they released their acclaimed ATMA album Piazzolla. Under conductor Jean-Marie Zeitouni, Les Violons du Roy’s surprising shift of style was a complete success: the album won the Juno Award as Best Classical Album of the Year (solo or chamber ensemble) and has been added to regular playlists of both public and commercial radio.

For this new recording, Artistic Director Yoav Talmi again leads the OSQ in a program of transcriptions, this time of works by J.S. Bach. In addition to Stokowski’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor, Talmi has selected an unusual group of transcriptions by Walton, Elgar, Holst, and even Webern and Respighi.