Naxos Classical Spotlight

Naxos of America
  • 4.7 (18)
  • MUSIC
  • UPDATED WEEKLY
Naxos Classical Spotlight

Naxos Classical Spotlight explores the world of classical music. Along the way host Raymond Bisha shares the stories about the music, and the musicians who make it.

  1. 1 DAY AGO

    Christmas fizz. Black Dyke presents John Rutter.

    John Rutter is the most acclaimed composer of Christmas carols alive today, while the Black Dyke Band occupies the highest rank in the worldwide brass band community. Raymond Bisha introduces a new album that bridges these two pinnacles in arrangements for brass of Rutter's celebrated seasonal works, together with three in their original choral versions, representing a span of some sixty years of Rutter's captivating output.

    20 min
  2. Apollo’s Fire perform Israel in Egypt

    3 DAYS AGO

    Apollo’s Fire perform Israel in Egypt

    George Frederic Handel was one of the leading composers of the baroque, especially known for his Italian operas.  When he presented his dramatic oratorio Israel in Egypt in 1739 it flopped.  It has since returned to favour, and this recording by Apollo’s Fire shows why this turnaround has happened.  Put simply, the music is stunning.

    21 min
  3. Composer Kenneth Fuchs. The latest recordings.

    DEC 13

    Composer Kenneth Fuchs. The latest recordings.

    American composer Kenneth Fuchs discusses the programmes of his two most recent albums in conversation with Raymond Bisha; both recordings feature the Sinfonia of London and soloists under conductor John Wilson. Fuchs describes the unusual conception of his Concerto for Bass Trombone (a commissioning consortium of 21 bass trombonists was involved!) and the formative inspiration and sustained friendship he derived from abstract artist Helen Frankenthaler (1928-2011).

    20 min

  4. DEC 10

    Naxos Classical Spotlight meets the Military Music Appreciation Society

    The Military Music Appreciation Society was founded in 2008 by Roger Kennedy so he could share his passion for this music with other like-minded individuals.  The Society now has more than 5000 members, with new people joining every day.  In this podcast, Roger talks with host Raymond Bisha about the society and about his love for this music. This podcast includes performances by the Royal Marine Band, the Royal Artillery Band, the US Army Band, the Black Dyke Mills Band and the Band of the Coldstream Guards …. The opening and closing music features the Canadian Scottish Regiment Pipes and Drums, together with The Third Marine Aircraft Wing Band of the United States Marine Corps.

    20 min

  5. DEC 6

    Two into one does go. The music of Nikolai Kapustin.

    “As soon as I started playing jazz, I understood it was something for me. I understood that I had to combine the two musics.” These were the words of composer Nikolai Kapustin, born in Ukraine in 1937 and a graduate of the Moscow Conservatory, the “two musics” being classical and jazz. From Kapustin's pen came an impeccable fusion of the two genres, with no trace of shallow crossover. Raymond Bisha introduces the programme on a recent recording that includes Kapustin's Second and Sixth Piano Concertos, with soloist Frank Dupree accompanied variously by the SWR Big Band and the SWR Symphony Orchestra.

    20 min

  6. NOV 22

    Convention defied. Beethoven defined. The final three cello sonatas.

    Raymond Bisha introduces a new album featuring Beethoven's final three cello sonatas that are full of unexpected shifts of harmony and mood, virtuoso flourishes and experimental surprises, all of which defy convention. The cellist is Gabriel Schwabe, one of the leading cellists of his generation and a laureate of several national and international competitions; the exceptionally sympathetic pianist is Nicholas Rimmer. The first of their two volumes of Beethoven's complete cello sonatas (8.574529) was released in September: “I was totally engrossed by the duo’s warm, keenly articulated playing.” (Gramophone)

    20 min
  7. Conductor Vahan Mardirossian, Armenian roots, global reach.

    NOV 19

    Conductor Vahan Mardirossian, Armenian roots, global reach.

    Vahan Mardirossian grew up in Armenia surrounded by music, an upbringing that has given him a broad musical perspective and a desire to explore all kinds of music.  In this podcast he talks about everything from his musical roots to his new position with the Czech Chamber Philharmonic Pardubice with whom he now has an ongoing recording program that guarantees we can look forward to many more recordings.

    21 min

  8. NOV 15

    Dale Kavanagh & Friends

    Renowned both as a distinguished soloist with some 1,800 concerts worldwide to her credit and as a member of the Amadeus Guitar Duo, Dale Kavanagh is one of the most prominent classical guitarists of her generation. Raymond Bisha discusses her latest Naxos album that features a programme of her own compositions, both solos and duos in which she is joined by an octet of acclaimed, award-winning colleagues and friends.

    28 min
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4.7
out of 5
18 Ratings

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Naxos Classical Spotlight explores the world of classical music. Along the way host Raymond Bisha shares the stories about the music, and the musicians who make it.

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