On May 26, Naxos releases the newest recording by Grammy® Award-winning conductor-composer José Serebrier: Khachaturian Violin Concerto and Concerto-Rhapsody. Here, Serebrier leads the world-renowned Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and German-Brazilian violinist Nicolas Koeckert.One of Armenia’s greatest composers, Aram Khachaturian received both acclaim and criticism from the Soviet regime; his three Concerto-Rhapsodies won the USSR State Prize in 1941. “A concerto is music with chandeliers burning bright; a rhapsody is music with chandeliers dimmed, and the Concerto-Rhapsodies are both,” he noted. In the Violin Concerto, the passionately heroic first movement and poignant Andante sostenuto lead to a virtuosic, dancing finale.
Serebrier, who met Khachaturian when he was working with Leopold Stokowski, explains:
“I had the pleasure and privilege of having lunch with Khachaturian in New York, with Leopold Stokowski, when Stokowski invited him to conduct a concert of his music with the American Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. He had a wonderful sense of humor, and obvious charm and modesty. He stayed on after one of his rehearsals to watch me rehearse the orchestra for one of my own concerts, and sat in the hall next to Stokowski.”
Of this particular repertoire, the conductor remarks: “While the Violin Concerto is a staple of the repertoire, the Concerto-Rhapsody is very rarely performed, and has enormous difficulties for the soloist. In some ways, it’s more interesting and imaginative than the concerto, certainly more original.”
On January 27, Naxos releases the final recording in a series of orchestral transcriptions (and syntheses) by Leopold Stokowski led by Stokowski’s protégé, the GRAMMY-winning conductor and composer José Serebrier, and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Bach Transcriptions 2 (Naxos 8572050) includes the most famous Bach orchestration of all: the celebrated Toccata and Fugue in D minor, which reached its widest public in Walt Disney’s Fantasia. The recording also introduces a program of sumptuous arrangements, including other music from the pre- and post-Baroque periods.Stokowski discovered Bach during his early years as a church organist in London and New York. Serebrier notes “Stokowski attempted to emulate the sound of the gigantic organ, using every available orchestral instrument, literally pulling out all the stops, as if he was still sitting at the organ.”
Serebrier also comments:
“The Bournemouth musicians and I had so much fun recording these four volumes of Stokowski orchestrations, that we are sorry that the series is now finished, but I look forward to recording other repertoire with this wonderful orchestra. The 4th CD includes some works that were all time best sellers in the early part of the Twentieth Century. The Toccata and Fugue was included after we received numerous letters from listeners and critics asking for it. That is a very challenging work, and I had avoided it before because it is so closely identified with Stokowski and his wonderful numerous versions, but now I am delighted to have included it, and given my own personal view of this masterful, brilliant orchestration. I recently gave a concert in Israel in which I included several original Bach works on Baroque instruments, followed by orchestrations by Mitropoulos, Stokowski and others. The orchestrations and the originals are not exclusive of each other. Thanks to these colorful orchestrations Bach became known to entire generations.”
Bach-Stokowski Transcriptions 1 (Naxos 8557883), was released in June of 2006. It followed the 2005 release of Stokowski’s Mussorgsky and Tchaikovsky Transcriptions (Naxos 8557645), a recording universally praised by critics and receiving two Grammy® nominations. ClassicsToday.com assigned the CD its highest rating, and called it “spectacular, sensational … this is the real deal.”
In 2007, Serebrier’s recording of Wagner: Symphonic Syntheses by Leopold Stokowski (Naxos 8570293) led Gramophone to remark: “It would be hard to imagine a more sumptuous disc. Stokowski, in these ‘symphonic syntheses,’ enhances Wagner’s already opulent orchestration with shrewdly added instrumental lines and with the vocal parts usually given to the strings. José Serebrier conducts the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in thrilling performances, passionate in a genuinely Stokowskian manner…” MusicWeb International chose this CD as a “Recording of the Year,” commenting: “José Serebrier invests a fragrant and voluptuous sensuality to match the unbridled passion of the celebrated Liebestod that follows where its mounting excitement is literally edge-of-the-seat stuff.”
The idea for the Naxos recordings of Stokowski’s transcriptions originated from the Leopold Stokowski Society itself, which approached Serebrier in 2003. After graduating from Curtis, while still in his teens, Serebrier enjoyed a close working association with Stokowski, serving for many years as the Associate Conductor for the American Symphony Orchestra, which Stokowski founded. Stokowski also premiered a number of Serebrier’s own compositions, including his First Symphony, when the composer was 17 years old.
… the work takes in a range of emotional energies, and it sounds somewhat American in flavor and timbre, especially in its use of counterpoint, a David Diamond specialty. Agitated strings play against brass punctuations of “fateful” motivic allusions…
… The skittish Presto maintains a sarcastic tone, along with a compositional prowess that suggests toccata for orchestra…
… The Largo provides a D Major song, a paean that will likely provide a movie soundtrack eventually; maybe it is the love-music if someone remakes On the Waterfront…
“The fierce diversity of the tracks on this compilation is reflective of 20th century music as a whole, with its staggering range of innovation and expression. Discerning listeners will note the presence of such familiar touchstones as minimalism, serialism and polystylism, but there is nothing programmatic about their application in these pieces. The dissonant modernism in the third movement to Gloria Coates’ Symphony No. 15 is worlds away from the limpid warmth of Charles Wuorinen’s Renaissance-inspired Josquiniana. The angular contours conjured in John Corigliano’s A Black November Turkey find distinct counterpoint in the adagio of William Bolcom’s serene yet stealthily subversive Cello Sonata. José Serebrier demonstrates expressive melodic grace in his Fantasia for strings while Joan Tower marshals powerful rhythmic forces to dramatic effect in her aptly titled Tambor. The hard, trance-inducing repetition of Frederic Rzewski’s Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues is contrasted with the dark hued introspection of John Harbison’s
Piano Trio No. 1.”
-Dean Brierly
On August 26, Naxos of America releases Class of ‘38 (Naxos 8572087), a two-disc set of works by eight of America’s most compelling living composers: William Bolcom (Cello Sonata; II. Adagio semplice);
Gloria Coates (Symphony No. 15; III. What are the stars?); John Corigliano (A Black November Turkey); John Harbison (Trio, 1968); Frederic Rzewski (Four American Ballads: No. 4 Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues); José Serebrier (Fantasia for strings); Joan Tower (Tambor), and Charles Wuorinen (from Josquiniana). The second bonus disc contains podcast interviews with Naxos’ Raymond Bisha and composers Joan Tower, William Bolcom, John Corigliano, Charles Wuorinen, John Harbison, and José Serebrier.
To listen to the episodes from the respective Podcast you will need to have Adobe's FLASH player installed. Please use Adobe's web page to choose the appropriate version to install for your platform.
onductor-composer José Serebrier: Khachaturian Violin Concerto and Concerto-Rhapsody. Here, Serebrier leads the world-renowned Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and German-Brazilian violinist Nicolas Koeckert.One of Armenia’s greatest composers, Aram Khachaturian received both acclaim and criticism from the Soviet regime; his three Concerto-Rhapsodies won the USSR State Prize in 1941. “A concerto is music with chandeliers burning bright; a rhapsody is music with chandeliers dimmed, and the Concerto-Rhapsodies are both,” he noted. In the Violin Concerto, the passionately heroic first movement and poignant Andante sostenuto lead to a virtuosic, dancing finale.
Entries (RSS)