Four Centuries of Great Music July 6, 2025 June New Releases

Four Centuries of Great Music  FCGM-07-06-25 Recent Releases in June

Today on Four Centuries of Great Music  I am sharing some of the recent classical  music releases from the month of June.

We open with Kent Nagano conducting  the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra with a performance of Johannes Brahms Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98. It is in 4 movements
I. Allegro non troppo 
II. Andante moderato 
III. Allegro giocoso 
IV. Allegro energico e passionato

This is from the album Johannes Brahms Symphonies Nos. 3 and 4

BIS Records 
Released on June 20, 2025

You have been listening to Kent Nagano conducting  the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra with a performance of Johannes Brahms Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98 from the album Johannes Brahms Symphonies Nos. 3 and 4

I am closing this first hour of Four Centuries of Great Music on which  I am sharing some of the recent classical  music releases from the month of June with a performance by the Onyx Brass.  Here is the première recording  of Florence Price Octet for Brasses and Piano

It is in three movements
I.  Tempo moderato – Poco meno mosso – Poco più mosso – 
Poco meno mosso
II.  Andante cantabile (with much expression)
III.  Tempo moderato – Poco meno mosso – Tempo I – Più mosso 
Performed by the Onyx Brass with Viv McLean, piano on the album Transatlantic
Chandos Records 
Release on June 27, 2025

You have been listening to the première recording  of Florence Price Octet for Brasses and Piano by the Onyx Brass with Viv McLean, piano on the album Transatlantic

I am opening this second hour of Four Centuries of Great Music on which  I am sharing some of the recent classical  music releases from the month of June with a performance by Angela Hewitt from her recordings of the complete set of Mozart piano works.  Mozart Piano  Sonata in F Major K 533
It is in three movements
Allegro
Andante
Rondo Allegretto

from the album Mozart Piano  Sonata K. 457, 533, 545, 570, 576
Hyperion Records Release on June 6, 2025

You have been listening to a recording  of

Today on Four Centuries of Great Music  I am sharing some of the recent classical  music releases from the month of June.
We will close with two works from a June 27 release of Mozart and Donizetti Opera Transcriptions by FRANZ LISZT

Franz Liszt returned to concertizing in 1840 and wrote these fantasias on operatic themes of  Mozart and Donizetti for his own  concert performances.   That Liszt uses themes from not one but two different Donizetti operas in a single work – the widely successful
Lucia di Lammermoor (1835) and less well known
Parisina (1833) – is unusual. However Liszt  blends the two waltz themes seamlessly.  The energetic coda contains some original
Liszt thematic material that he blends seamlessly with Donizetti’s style.

FRANZ LISZT: Mozart and Donizetti Opera Transcriptions
Konstantin Scherbakov, Piano

3 Valse à capriccio sur deux motifs de Lucia et Parisina
(Donizetti), S401/R155 (1842)

4 Réminiscences de Don Juan (Mozart), S418/R228 (1841)
This is an excellent example of Liszt’s ability to recast his chosen thematic material into a manageable timeframe while still reflecting the essential inner tensions of the opera. The work commences with
menace and threat using music sung by the Commendatore, the love duet of Don Giovanni and Zerlina along with the Champagne Aria, and concludes with that material laced with further disquieting threats.


Naxos Records Release on June 27, 2025

Thank you for joining me on Today on Four Centuries of Great Music and remember this episode is repeated on Saturday from 3-5 pm and we have a new episode on next Sunday also from 3-5pm.