Fuchs Piano Concerto "Spiritualist"

Kenneth Fuchs celebrates his unique fifteen-year recording history with conductor JoAnn Falletta and the London Symphony Orchestra with this stunning release of three new concertos and an orchestral song cycle. The London Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of JoAnn Falletta, has recorded five discs of Fuchs’s music for Naxos American Classics. The first, released in August 2005, was nominated for two GRAMMY® Awards (“Best Instrumental Soloist Performance with Orchestra” and “Producer of the Year, Classical”).

The Clarion Choir - Steven Fox

In the face of the devastation wrought by the First World War, Alexander Kastalsky conceived a musical service of remembrance for the fallen. He was a student of Tchaikovsky and acclaimed as the founder of a new, national church music- Kastalsky composed a choral-orchestral Requiem, for the concert stage. Following the basic structure of the Orthodox Panihida, or memorial service, Memory Eternal, and the short sacred pieces that end the programme, reveal Kastalsky’s masterful use of choral sonority and color, his weaving of complex polyphonic textures, and his graceful use of ancient chant melodies.

On The Path To H.C. Andersen

With this unique programme Hanzhi Wang takes us into the ‘fairy-tale world of the accordion’ in works by Danish composers that explore both the darkness and luminosity of Hans Christian Andersen’s famous stories. Up and coming artist Hanzhi Wang is the accordion’s perfect ambassador. Praised for her engaging stage presence and performances that are technically and musically brilliant, her career has already taken her around the globe with performances in Europe and Asia.

Abdi: Rumi

Behzad Abdi’s opera Rumi fuses traditional dastgah (the Iranian modal system) and the Persian Sama dance with Western classical music, and can be considered the first national opera of Iran. The libretto was written and conceived by the renowned Iranian theatre director and puppeteer, Behrouz Gharibpour, based on the life and writings of the 13th-century Persian scholar, poet, theologian and mystic, Jalal al-Din Rumi. The legendary story of Shams and Rumi is one of the most significant tales in the history of Iranian mystical literature and is brought vividly to life by the award-winning composer’s exotic, lyrical and at times intensely dramatic score.

Transfigured Night

Transfigured Night brings together two outstanding composers associated with Vienna: Joseph Haydn and Arnold Schoenberg. By combining Haydn’s two cello concertos (in C-major and D-major) and Schoenberg’s symphonic poem Verklärte Nacht – in the 1943 edition for string orchestra – this album sheds a new, fascinating light on both Viennese masters. The connection between the stylistically contrasting pieces on this album is further enhanced by the inspired playing of American cellist Alisa Weilerstein and the Trondheim Soloists.

House of Cards Symphony

This release grew out of the fascination of Robert von Bahr, founder and managing director of BIS Records, for the television series House of Cards. Jeff Beal, the composer of the House of Cards soundtrack, was contacted and it was soon decided that he should compose a Flute Concerto for the virtuosic Sharon Bezaly. To complement the concerto a selection of music from the series was agreed upon, but with five seasons worth of installments to choose from, this quickly grew into a large-scale House of Cards Symphony which at 83 minutes takes up an album all on its own.