The Gershwin & Bernstein Connection
Catalog #: NV6230
Release Date: May 24, 2019
20th CenturyChamberPercussionPianoPiano virtuoso Eliane Rodrigues returns with her latest Navona Records release — THE GERSHWIN & BERNSTEIN CONNECTION, a new look at timeless pieces by legendary American composers. Together with talented artists including her daughter, pianist Nina Smeets, Rodrigues thrills audiences once again with her moving and truly spellbinding performances.
Direct Contact
Catalog #: NV6229
Release Date: May 24, 2019
20th Century21st CenturySolo InstrumentalPianoPianist Roberta Rust brings her own unique dynamism to the works of eight composers with whom she has had direct contact over the years. Dedicated to her late mother and step-daughter, this collection is as personal and touching as it is memorable for the broader audience.
In Tandem
Catalog #: NV6227
Release Date: May 24, 2019
21st CenturyChamberSolo InstrumentalClarinetPianoViolinIntroducing the album is Lee Actor’s Duo for Violin and Cello. The track, which won the Eva Thompson Phillips Award for Composition in 1979, is a short, textured, and powerful piece. In ABA form, the energy of the stringed instruments swings like a parabola from the height of sharp, angular rhythms down into deep and gentle expressions and builds up to a sharp, explosive climax.
3 Rhapsodies
Catalog #: NV6219
Release Date: March 22, 2019
21st CenturyConcertosOrchestralEast AsianOrchestraPianoIt is tempting to compare Matej Meštrović's compositional style to his great predecessors in the late-Romantic tradition. After all, much of the Croatian composer's style and techniques would be right at home in Rachmaninoff’s concertos, Tchaikovsky's works, or Prokofiev's neoclassicism; and the name of the album's first work, Danube Rhapsody, naturally evokes associations with Smetana's similarly river-themed Vltava. Add to all of this that Meštrović, like most of his great musical ancestors, is a talented virtuoso pianist, and it's easy to see why 3 RHAPSODIES is bound to meet with enthusiasm.
Schoenberg Piano Music
Catalog #: NV6214
Release Date: March 8, 2019
20th CenturySolo InstrumentalPianoAlthough Arnold Schoenberg is often seen as a composer strictly concerned with pitch, his interests in timbre and sonority are ever-present in all five of his completed piano works. On SCHOENBERG PIANO MUSIC AND HIS 17 FRAGMENTS, pianist Yoko Hirota performs three of Schoenberg’s completed works along with the 17 fragments that he never brought to completion. Hirota, praised as being “precise and keenly projective” and demonstrating the “highest level of proficiency,” is one of the leading interpreters of contemporary piano repertory, and she brings Schoenberg’s compositions to life with conviction.
Souls In Transitions
Catalog #: NV6212
Release Date: February 8, 2019
21st CenturyChamberCelloPianoViolinBeginning with just the spark to write three trios, composer Carl Vollrath created an intense yet reflective collection of works in SOULS IN TRANSITIONS. This Navona Records release moves through waves of contemplation on life, history, and the evolution of spirituality through the performances of violin, cello, and piano by acclaimed pianist Karolina Rojahn.
Suenos De Espana
Catalog #: NV6211
Release Date: February 8, 2019
RomanticVocal MusicGuitarPianoVoiceSoprano Shudong Braamse blends vocal artistry with technical skill in her recording of SUEÑOS DE ESPAÑA. This treasury of Spanish art song relates stories of passionate love, broken promises, and heartfelt prayers. Braamse's performance demonstrates both an understanding of the rich Spanish culture and its 19th-century romantic poetry.
The Mask in the Mirror
Catalog #: NV6209
Release Date: February 8, 2019
21st CenturyOperaPianoVoiceComposer Richard Thompson’s three-act opera presents the life behind the name of Paul Laurence Dunbar, one of the most prominent African American poets of the early 20th Century. This dramatic performance, inspired by the hundreds of letters exchanged between Dunbar and his wife, Alice Ruth Moore, removes the masks of fame and social identity to investigate the psychological realities of the people underneath.
From the Valley of Baca
Catalog #: NV6208
Release Date: February 8, 2019
21st CenturyChamberSolo InstrumentalPianoViolinVoiceComposer David Carpenter’s PARMA debut, FROM THE VALLEY OF BACA, features three works that illustrate the expansive scope of his compositional style. From the lyrical Trio, to the powerfully poetic title work for baritone and piano, to the romantically-inclined Sonata, FROM THE VALLEY OF BACA demonstrates the composer’s ability to express his artistic vision in a wide variety of musical genres.
Sustain
Catalog #: NV6207
Release Date: February 8, 2019
21st CenturyChamberSolo InstrumentalPercussionPianoWithin their varied appearances and sounds, the piano, vibraphone, and marimba make up a unique family. Nonetheless, key similarities bind them together, and SUSTAIN explores just that. The latest multi-composer release by Navona Records, SUSTAIN presents works for various keyboards that explore not only the abilities of each instrument, but the varied approaches from five different composers.
Resistance
Catalog #: NV6206
Release Date: February 8, 2019
21st CenturyChamberFlutePianoString QuartetComposer Garth Baxter calls his commitment to form and aesthetic "modern traditionalism." And indeed, his new album RESISTANCE may just offer the best of both worlds in one captivating experience. Each piece has certain features in common: they are immediately, intuitively accessible to the listening ear, and all of them draw upon Baxter's ability to evoke sincere emotions with every note.
The John Psathas Percussion Project Vol. 1
Catalog #: NV6204
Release Date: January 25, 2019
21st CenturyChamberSolo InstrumentalPercussionPianoThe idea for THE JOHN PSATHAS PERCUSSION PROJECT: VOLUME ONE began in 2013 with John Psathas’ piano and gamelan piece Waiting: Still which Omar Carmenates arranged for percussion trio. While unknown at the time, this arrangement launched a five-year-long relationship that culminates in Carmenates’ debut for PARMA Recordings. For THE JOHN PSATHAS PERCUSSION PROJECT: VOLUME ONE, Carmenates acts as arranger, director, and performer, and is joined by a roster of talented musicians including pianist Daniel Koppelman and drum set soloist Justin Alexander.
Toker Messing Around… With The Classics ;)
Catalog #: NV6202
Release Date: January 25, 2019
20th CenturyClassicalSolo InstrumentalPiano“Music is a game we play… It is to be respected, but not to be taken too seriously. It belongs to all of us. It is ours to create and recreate, to mess around with, as long as we give credit.” In his own words, Toker expresses the freedom that can be found within the written page of every musical score. A whole world can be discovered, rediscovered, and recreated in a single piece, and TOKER MESSING AROUND seeks to do just that.
Great Southern Land
Catalog #: NV6199
Release Date: January 25, 2019
21st CenturyChamberPianoPiano TrioTrumpetGREAT SOUTHERN LAND marks trumpeter Phillip Chase Hawkins’ recording debut. Hawkins’ decision to present the music of internationally renowned composer Brendan Collins in both duo and trio configurations clearly illustrates the exceptional synergy that exists between composer and artist. Each piece presents a unique scene, from Australian bushrangers escaping prison to the rich sounds of Vienna and its composers.
Whispers of Heavenly Death
Catalog #: NV6198
Release Date: November 9, 2018
21st CenturyVocal MusicPianoVoiceFirst up in this compelling collection is a selection of Walt Whitman's oeuvre, including the work that inspired the album's title, which Perkins' music hauntingly elucidates as the lament of a soul hovering on the brink between life and death. Intriguingly, the composer preserves the mood for the Holy Sonnets by John Donne, a Petrarch-style, English Renaissance collection of sonnets auguring the later Baroque period's preoccupation with the contrast between carnality and mortality.
Butterfly Effects
Catalog #: NV6196
Release Date: November 9, 2018
21st CenturyChamberFlutePianoVoiceBUTTERFLY EFFECTS AND OTHER WORKS contains four pieces of music, each with its own personality. Vercoe composed Butterfly Effects using evocative melodies reminiscent of a butterfly in flight. The mood of each of the seven movements, set by the interplay of harp and flute (piccolo, bass, alto, or concert flute), is at times somber and reflective, and at other times bluesy and brilliant. Vercoe experiments with various techniques, sometimes with soaring melodies and trills in the flute, and at other times with more primal, percussive sounds such as beat boxing and key slaps.
Boundless
Catalog #: NV6192
Release Date: November 9, 2018
20th CenturySolo InstrumentalPianoMinju Choi, a passionate performer with a love for contemporary compositions, unveils the works of three powerful composers in BOUNDLESS, her album for solo piano works. BOUNDLESS covers it all: love, the transcending of cultural boundaries, and music’s ability to communicate the abstract and indescribable.
In Your Head
Catalog #: NV6190
Release Date: October 12, 2018
20th Century21st CenturySolo InstrumentalPianoAcclaimed piano four-hand duo Dana Muller and Gary Steigerwalt come together once more for IN YOUR HEAD, a collection featuring the work of six composers that highlights both fresh compositional talents and earlier successful works. Each piece demonstrates the unique synergy between the two performers. With twice the hands, twice the talent, and twice the interpretation, the piano is pushed to dynamic and sonoric extremes.
Spectra II
Catalog #: NV6188
Release Date: October 12, 2018
20th Century21st CenturyChamberSolo InstrumentalPianoViolaSPECTRA 2 unveils the works of six composers, each of whom tells a unique, memorable story. First up is Elizabeth R. Austin's B-A-C-HOMAGE, an intricately constructed tribute to the German Baroque composer. Based on Bach's name and his "Air on G" respectively, the first and second movement reflect upon the clarity of his work through the lens of Austin's decidedly modern tonal language.
Black Swan of the Piano
Catalog #: NV6183
Release Date: September 14, 2018
20th Century21st CenturySolo InstrumentalPianoBe transformed by the haunting intensity of Brankovich’s performance in BLACK SWAN OF PIANO. Extending from the melancholic forms of 19th century composer Eric Satie to the dark, moving compositions of the pianist herself, this album invites listeners into the realms of the past, the war-torn images of her homeland, and a look into the immense possibilities for the musical future.