February: the heart of winter, but with a sense that the world will be thawed out soon and that spring is right around the corner. Brighten up these last lingering gray days with fresh new music from Navona, Ravello, and Big Round Records.
Dive in and discover new music from Phil Salathé, Paul Green, Jeff Morris, Garth Baxter, Renaissance Men, John A. Carollo, John Dante Prevedini, Willem van Twillert, Robert E. Thomas, Daniel Adams, David Carpenter, Richard Thompson, Shudong Braamse, Svetlana Belsky, and more.
FEBRUARY RELEASES OUT NOW
IMAGINARY BIRDS
Phil Salathé
In his album IMAGINARY BIRDS: MUSIC FOR OBOE AND ENGLISH HORN, composer Phil Salathé creatively explores the full potential of both instruments, always strongly committed to aesthetic and tonality.
A BISSEL RHYTHM
Paul Green
The music on A BISSEL RHYTHM from composer/clarinetist Paul Green is a continuation of his efforts to connect two pieces of his musical soul: Jewish music and Jazz. Throughout the album’s original compositions, Green has taken Jewish and Jazz structures and brought them side by side, all in the service of illustrating the natural fusion between the two styles.
WITH STRINGS
Jeff Morris
On WITH STRINGS, composer Jeff Morris delivers a captivating collection of string-centric, electro-acoustic pieces, focusing on the impact of technological mediation on the human experience.
RESISTANCE
Garth Baxter
Despite what contemporary concert programs and classical music magazines would have you believe, tonal composition is alive and well in the 21st Century. Proof of this manifests itself in the music of composer Garth Baxter and his latest release, RESISTANCE.
SOULS IN TRANSITIONS
Carl Vollrath
Composer Carl Vollrath’s fifth Navona Records release, SOULS IN TRANSITIONS, is a dynamic journey through life beyond death, told through three trios featuring the skill of PARMA veteran pianist Karolina Rojahn.
RENMEN LAMENTS
Renaissance Men
RENMEN LAMENTS showcases the Boston-based Renaissance Men in the valley of melancholy and emotion. The choir tell stories of sorrow and faith while filling every inch of space with layers of melodic intricacy and powerful vocals.
SUSTAIN
Daniel Adams; John A. Carollo; John Dante Prevedini; Robert E. Thomas; Willem van Twillert
SUSTAIN introduces the voices of the piano, marimba, and vibraphone together in one collection, celebrating the uniqueness of each instrument within its sonic circle.
FROM THE VALLEY OF BACA
David Carpenter
Composer David Carpenter’s Navona Records debut album, FROM THE VALLEY OF BACA, is permeated with the spirits of Shostakovich, Chopin, and poet Emma Lazarus, fashioning an album that is singularly fresh and dynamic.
THE MASK IN THE MIRROR
Richard Thompson
“We wear the mask that grins and lies / It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes . . .” THE MASK IN THE MIRROR presents the true story of poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, one of the first African American poets to gain critical acclaim, and his turbulent relationship and marriage with Alice Ruth Moore. Beyond a very personal struggle, the opera presents the dichotomies of racial identity, image of fame versus reality, and reconciling past with present and future.
SUEÑOS DE ESPAÑA
Shudong Braamse
Coloratura soprano Shudong Braamse enchants the ear with rich canciones of the Spanish tradition that touch on love, death, and life everlasting. Braamse’s technical virtuosity is perfectly complemented by the sincere emotion she communicates in each song.
FERRUCCIO BUSONI: THE LATE WORKS
Svetlana Belsky
Few people ever meet their true soulmates. How heartening, thus, to witness a spiritual kinship bridging more than a century: the one between 19th/20th-century scholar-composer Ferruccio Busoni and contemporary pianist Svetlana Belsky, impressively and vividly documented on FERRUCCIO BUSONI: THE LATE WORKS.
