The Spectra Series
Catalog #: NV6077
Release Date: January 13, 2017
21st CenturySolo InstrumentalVocal MusicChoirOrchestraPianoIn 2008, PARMA Recordings acquired Capstone Records, the highly respected New York-based classical label founded by composer Richard Brooks in 1986, with the intent of shepherding the company and its music into the digital era. This album was originally released on Capstone and is being re-released by PARMA Recording's Navona Records.
Shadowing
Catalog #: NV6080
Release Date: March 10, 2017
21st CenturyChamberSolo InstrumentalPianoViolaViolinNavona Records proudly presents renowned composer Ruth Lomon’s SHADOWING, her debut album on the label. The release showcases her remarkable skill in writing for the piano, pushing the instrument’s timbre and color to its limits to create animated sound worlds such as those of the title work, Shadowing. Lomon writes of the colors in the piece: “’Shadowing’ means to have such a light touch, such a light tread, that one can move freely through the forest, observing without being observed… It is the equivalent of manifesting and then becoming like smoke, and then manifesting again…”
Dark Clouds in Life
Catalog #: NV6082
Release Date: March 10, 2017
21st CenturyOrchestralSolo InstrumentalOrchestraPianoA persistent goal of Mark John McEncroe is to create compositions that elicit an emotional response, as is echoed in the titles of his works. This is particularly true of the Australian composer’s Navona debut DARK CLOUDS OF LIFE, a conceptual release focused on overcoming addiction and depression, challenges McEncroe has personally struggled with. His sessions in Ostrava, Czech Republic with the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra and pianist Helen Kennedy produced a cornerstone suite and three addendums that capture the essence of the record’s stated purpose.
Forever Beeler
Catalog #: NV6085
Release Date: March 10, 2017
21st CenturyChamberSolo InstrumentalClarinetOboePianoFOREVER BEELER represents a sampling of composer Alan Beeler’s prolific output throughout his musical career, which is generally defined by his commitment to compositional craft and structural clarity. The works featured on this album also reveal a playfulness lying just under the surface of Beeler’s compositional perspective. This quality of Beeler’s music is most notable in the seven sonatas for piano, often accompanied by another instrument, included in FOREVER BEELER.
Reawakening
Catalog #: NV6087
Release Date: April 14, 2017
21st CenturyChamberOrchestralCelloOrchestraPianoComposer and pianist Jeffrey Jacob returns to Navona Records with REAWAKENING, a collection of varied works for orchestra and chamber ensembles. Jacob’s lush, mystical style pervades the album, often blending his piano’s sound with orchestral arrangements to create rich musical imagery, as in The Loch Before Sunrise and A Mirror Upon the Waters.
Ergo
Catalog #: NV6089
Release Date: April 14, 2017
21st CenturyChamberPianoWith his Navona debut ERGO, pianist and composer Zhen Chen makes an impressive contribution to the decades-long legacy of composers blending Chinese and western instruments and musical materials. This musical trend can be traced back 20 years, when a potent generation of Chinese and Taiwanese composers who began to explode across American and European concert stages. Luminary composers like Bright Sheng, Tan Dun, Chen Yi, and Zhou Long paved the way for younger Chinese artists like Zhen Chen, who uses ERGO to continue this blend of his native musical culture with many parts of the Western musical tradition.
The Chamber Works of Allen Brings
Catalog #: NV6090
Release Date: April 14, 2017
21st CenturyChamberSolo InstrumentalCelloFlutePianoThis triple re-release contains a collection of works for small ensembles comprised of a diverse selection of instruments. Along with two albums from Allen Brings, this reissue includes a compilation titled CONTRA-PUNCTUS (1994).
Small Storms
Catalog #: NV6092
Release Date: April 14, 2017
RomanticChamberCelloPianoLike many European composers alive during the World Wars, Bohuslav Martinů (1890-1959) was nomadic. But while most of these artists’ music changed drastically based on their location, Martinů’s compositional style consistently referenced the culture of his Czech heritage. SMALL STORMS – cellist Meredith Blecha-Wells’ debut record – contains Martinů’s duos for cello and piano from the latter half of his life, with the performances of Blecha-Wells and pianist Sun Min Kim fully embodying the folkloric sensibility and conservative style that typify the composer’s oeuvre.
Bliss Point
Catalog #: NV6093
Release Date: May 12, 2017
21st CenturyChamberFlutePianoString QuartetWhen approaching his latest chamber album BLISS POINT, Polish-born violinist and composer Piotr Szewczyk turned to a unique lens of inspiration – food science. His interpretation of a “bliss point” in the culinary sense embodies the technique’s saturation of a flavor just before the point of diminished potency. Of course, he trades in the contents of his spice cabinet in favor of diverse instrumental pairings, and in doing so, the composer explores the “saturation limits in the full spectrum of emotions, textures, and characters.” In doing so, Szewczyk is confident that the resulting collection of chamber works “covers the entire expressive range of my vocabulary and artistic sensitivity.”
What Are They Doing To That Piano?
Catalog #: NV6100
Release Date: May 12, 2017
21st CenturySolo InstrumentalPianoFrom Navona Records comes an exciting new CD bundle of five previous releases featuring the piano at its most prepared and extended. WHAT ARE THEY DOING TO THAT PIANO? features composers and artists dedicated to finding the most adventurous and compelling sounds that the piano has to offer. Opening with SONATAS AND INTERLUDES IN A LANDSCAPE, composed by John Cage, the virtual godfather of prepared piano, and performed by the virtuosic Kate Boyd, this CD bundle contains one of the most eclectic collections of solo piano music a listener will ever encounter.
Capstone Re-release: Music for Keyboard Instruments
Catalog #: NV6104
Release Date: June 9, 2017
20th CenturySolo InstrumentalOrganPianoIn 2008, PARMA Recordings acquired Capstone Records, the highly respected New York-based classical label founded by composer Richard Brooks in 1986, with the intent of shepherding the company and its music into the digital era. This album was originally released on Capstone and is being re-released by PARMA Recording's Navona Records.
Argot
Catalog #: NV6105
Release Date: July 14, 2017
20th CenturyChamberPianoViolinVéronique Mathieu’s ARGOT is a spectacular demonstration of her abilities as a violinist, as well as the dramatic range of her instrument. The recording embodies the definition of its title – ‘argot’, which means the language of a particular group – in two meaningful ways. First, Mathieu has selected a unique array of violin-centric works that illuminate the creative strengths of twentieth century modernist composers. Second, as a result of the album’s daring program and Mathieu’s incredible talents, listeners enjoy the opportunity to hear every nuance of the violin’s expressive vocabulary executed at the highest possible level.
Fleeting Realms
Catalog #: NV6107
Release Date: September 8, 2017
21st CenturyChamberPercussionPianoSaxophoneFLEETING REALMS is an inviting compilation of chamber music featuring six composers. Though the album obviously mixes different compositional voices, the different pieces share many characteristics. FLEETING REALMS is defined by a pervasive uplifting quality. Many of the album’s works feature driving rhythms and a joyfully relaxed sensibility. Even dissonance is used playfully or as a counter weight to beautiful lyricism. Such consistency in manner across six pieces by six diverse composers is obviously remarkable, and it makes FLEETING REALMS a very special musical collection.
4 Seasons for 3 Pianos
Catalog #: NV6114
Release Date: August 25, 2017
BaroqueChamberPianoNavona Records proudly presents 4 SEASONS FOR 3 PIANOS, a whirlwind transcription of Vivaldi’s masterful string concertos by Croatian pianist and composer Matej Meštrović. Performing with Hakan A. Toker and Matija Dedić on three pianos (and accordion), Meštrović thoroughly reimagines the four concertos, his work exceeding that of a normal transcription. The collection, in such a radical new form, becomes almost a whole new work.
Elegia
Catalog #: NV6120
Release Date: September 8, 2017
20th CenturyChamberClarinetPianoClarinetist Christopher Nichols makes his PARMA and Navona Records debut with ELEGIA, a compilation of Italian, French, and American clarinet works spanning two centuries. These works include repertoire standards, little-recorded rarities, and recent music from contemporary composer Kevin Cope. Collaborative pianist Julie Nishimura joins Nichols for these recordings.
Quickening
Catalog #: NV6121
Release Date: September 8, 2017
21st CenturyChamberVocal MusicPianoBritish composer Robert Hugill’s new release QUICKENING is an enthralling and intimate showcase of contemporary art song. Across the album, Hugill demonstrates an exceptional sensitivity to text and melody, both of which shine through his clear and lyrical musical language. The four sets of songs on the album are consummate modern lieder, and one can easily imagine hearing them at a private vocal recital alongside the Romantic song cycles of the nineteenth century.
Notturno
Catalog #: NV6123
Release Date: October 13, 2017
RomanticSolo InstrumentalPianoNavona Records’ NOTTURNO: The Complete Nocturnes and Ballades of Chopin is a fresh look at some of the Polish composer’s most expressive works. The nocturnes and ballades are also some of Chopin’s most innovative works, displaying exciting advancements in harmony, rhythm, and form—all renewed in pianist Eliane Rodrigues’s nuanced, thoughtful performances, recorded in Sacilie, Italy’s acoustically advanced Fazioli Concert Hall.
Music for Woodwinds
Catalog #: NV6127
Release Date: November 10, 2017
21st CenturyChamberPianoWind EnsembleNavona Records proudly presents MUSIC FOR WOODWINDS from composer Scott Pender, his fourth appearance on the label. On this album, Pender showcases his chamber works for woodwinds from the last thirty years in ensemble combinations both common and unfamiliar.
Skyborn
Catalog #: NV6128
Release Date: November 10, 2017
21st CenturyChamberSolo InstrumentalChoirPianoString QuartetShocking, gripping, and thought-provoking, Mara Gibson's new album SKY-BORN conjures a flurry of emotions through its moody music. In one moment, the busy strings create a fury of anxious, energetic sounds; the next, the strike of a lone piano chord paints a brooding soundscape.
Formika
Catalog #: NV6129
Release Date: February 9, 2018
21st CenturyChamberPianoSaxophoneWind EnsembleMexican composer Felipe Pérez Santiago introduces the follow up to his 2013 album, Mantis with his first Navona release, FORMIKA, an album of chamber music. Pérez Santiago continues his series with a vast notational layering and timing propelled by traditional instrumentation. Masterful playing by choice ensembles like Tamayo and Onix, create a particularly kaleidoscopic nostalgia in this pitching album.