Updates from the world's leading classical music label
Surfing the press and the Naxos archives recently threw up several dates corresponding to the week ahead. Never one to turn down an offer from serendipity, I thought we could bring them to life with a few audio extracts. The US Presidential race has been engaging the world’s attention with the unexpected demeanour of some Read More …
It may have passed you by, but Monday of this week marked the UN’s International Day of Forests, observed each year on 21st March. Covering nearly a third of our planet’s landmass (for the time being) and home to incredibly diverse ecosystems, I reckon it’s a resource well worth acknowledging in this way. Forests and Read More …
A few weeks back we considered the contribution made by people who commission new works from composers. This week’s blog takes a quick look at the equally valuable role played by institutions that become guardians of the manuscripts of such works. Maybe you read a recent report in The Guardian about the performance of a Read More …
Have you ever commissioned a new work from a composer? I’ve been through the process a number of times. No work longer than twenty minutes. But when you get the brief of the commission right, which encourages the composer to turn up a bit of magic, it can be one of the more satisfying experiences Read More …
Mention music and American politics in the same breath and many people’s thoughts will immediately spring to anti-war songs. The passing late last month of Pete Seeger aged 94 is a reminder of his contribution to this powerfully simple milieu of folk music spiced with concepts of social change. Playing a less emotionally charged role, Read More …
The Romantic period in classical music wasn’t only about expressions of love and depictions of nature. There was also a fascination with the occult. From the world of opera, think Weber’s Der Freischütz and Marschner’s Der Vampyr for starters. These dark pathways accompanied a renewed fascination with awesome Gothic architecture and the proliferation of horror Read More …
Papa Haydn’s morning routine probably wasn’t quite so bothersome as for many of us today. No dithering over which tie to match with which shirt, shoes, suit, and the rest. His obligatory Esterházy Court livery decided itself. Bad hair days must also have been less of an issue with courtly wigs at his disposal. But Read More …
Music must be the leader among the arts when it comes to what one might call high-quality spin-offs. By that I mean many compositions exist not only in their original version, but also in what might be called…well, what does one call them? We have different words for our industry of remoulding originals—transcriptions, orchestrations, paraphrases, Read More …
New Year in the Gregorian Calendar has become a point in time for both public celebrations and private moments of reflection and resolution. These days we don’t associate New Year festivities and music so much with churchgoing, but in 18th-century Leipzig it was very much part of the Christmas cycle of celebratory services which ran Read More …
I’ve just finished reading Dan Brown’s novel Inferno. It’s another gripper from the American author, involving ancient symbology revolving around Dante Alighieri’s 14th-century epic poem The Divine Comedy. The last word of that title signals that it ends happily, not tragically; there’s nothing comedic about the work. It describes Dante’s tripartite journey across the nine Read More …