Release Date: May 13, 2016
Catalog #: NV6041
Format: Digital & Physical
21st Century
Orchestral
Orchestra
Piano
String Orchestra

Sensations – Wind, Waves, Birds & Fire

Margaret Brandman composer

Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra | Petr Vronský conductor
Vít Mužík violin; Lucie Kaucká piano
Margaret Brandman piano; Marcello Maio piano

Australian composer, music educator, and pianist Margaret Brandman presents her debut Navona release SENSATIONS, featuring several of her celebrated compositions, each one presenting a unique musical experience and sensation. The Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra skilfully performs the orchestral portion, opening with the joyful Love Brings Change (Adagio for Strings). Pianist Lucie Kaucká joins the orchestra for Lyric Fantasy, an emotional and accessible two-movement work with contrasting moods for piano and strings. In the two-movement Undulations, also for strings, Brandman portrays the elegant flowing movement of the ocean waves on Australia’s eastern seaboard. In the central orchestral piece, the programmatic three-movement Firestorm Symphony for full orchestra, Brandman effectively captures the shimmering heat, dangerous wind and approaching fire along with the sounds of the native birds,  during the terrifying experience of Australian Blue Mountains’ bush fires which threatened her family home, the sorrowful aftermath and eventual renewal of the bush.

The chamber music portion, featuring violinist Vit Mužík and pianist Lucie Kaucká, opens with Binna Burra Dreaming, which centres on the aboriginal Binna Burra world heritage site in Australia’s Gondwana rainforest. The Eastern Spinebill and the Sulphur-Crested Cockatoos Herald a Blue Mountains’ Bush Fire, a vibrant reduction of the first movement of Firestorm Symphony, explores more closely the wildlife affected by the Blue Mountains’ bush fires. Mužík and Kaucká  round out their contributions with the Latin-American-styled Jucaro Rhumba D’Amor. Also featured on the chamber music portion are piano pieces performed by Brandman herself. Following the impressionistic and lyrical piano solo Autumn Rhapsody, Brandman is joined by pianist Marcello Maio for Spirit Visions, a two-piano work inspired by the tone colours of the Sydney Town Hall organ. This piece, like the many others on this release, embodies the bright and jazzy style that makes Brandman’s music so distinctive.

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"We appreciate the organic fluidity with which the notes and phrases flow and chase each other, the tensions are created and then resolved"

Kathodik

Artist Information

Margaret Brandman

Margaret Brandman

Composer

In a career of over 50 years, award-winning composer, pianist, and recording artist Margaret Brandman has followed her passion to create appealing music with strong melodic content, sensitive harmonies, and rhythmic ingenuity. Her output includes works for orchestra, chamber ensembles, choir, solo voice, and solo instruments, composed across a wide range of genres from Contemporary Classical to Jazz and Latin-American. 

Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra

Orchestra

The Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the foremost and oldest symphony orchestras in the Czech Republic. It is based in the historical capital of Moravia, the city of Olomouc, and has been a leader of music activities in the region for the past 70 years. Its artistic development was directly influenced by distinguished figures from the Czech and international music scene.

Vít Muzík

Violinist

Czech violinist and producer Vít Muzík (b. 1972) is one of the most multifaceted musicians working on the contemporary classical music scene. His abilities both as a performer on the concert stage and in the recording booth have led to appearances on more than 60 recordings in the Navona and Ravello catalogs, making him one of PARMA Recordings' most frequent collaborators.

Lucie Kaucká

Pianist

The pianist Lucie Kaucká was born on March 31, 1978 in Kraslice near Karlovy Vary, where she began studying music at the age of seven. She continued her piano studies at the Conservatory of Teplice and the Conservatory of Pardubice with Martin Hröel. After graduation from Pardubice she concentrated on the study of musicology at the Palacky University in Olomouc and finished successfully there in 2003.

Petr Vronský

Conductor

After successes in several important international competitions for conductors — including the competition in Besancon France in 1971 and the Karajan Competition in Berlin in 1973 — his career began at the opera company in Pilsen. From 1974 to 1978, he was Chief of Opera of the State Theater in Usti nad Labem, Czech Republic. In 1978, he was appointed Chief Conductor of the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, a position he held until 1991. Vronsky was later appointed Chief Conductor of the Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra Ostrava in 2002.