Borodin Symphonies Gerard Schwarz

Howard Hanson is one of America's great mid-century composers. His music, like that of Roy Harris, draws its character from the plains, from the pioneer blood that settled that part of the country. Here we have two major symphonies, a piano concerto, and a tone-poem, "Mosaics". These works are at the heart of American Romanticism; his melodies are distinct and tonal, his writing formal.

Listening to a work of Armenian-American composer Alan Hovhaness, you recognize his characteristic style in a few measures. His music is often broadly expansive, painting sonorous landscapes that often use brass instruments to blend with and accentuate the strings. Also, while his peers experimented with serialism or highly intellectually challenging styles, Hovhaness maintained his world music-infused neo-Romantic style throughout his life. The result is an enormous body of work that are all a joy to listen to.

If Prokofiev's Symphony-Concerto for cello and orchestra and Shostakovich's Second Concerto for cello and orchestra had heretofore seemed to be late works shot through with nostalgia and bitterness, that's certainly entirely understandable. Rostropovich, the works' dedicatee who gave both their world premieres, played them that way in his recorded performances and most subsequent cellists have naturally followed his lead.

Lyric Opera of Kansas City presents the world-premiere recording of Paul Moravec and Mark Campbell’s opera The Shining (2016). Based on the novel by Stephen King, this opera “elevates the tale from horror story to a human drama” (Wall Street Journal) thanks to Moravec’s atmospheric, electrifying score and Campbell’s deft libretto. While staged performances have received critical and public acclaim, this engaging masterpiece can now be enjoyed as a recording for the first time.