Naxos Continues to Salute the Legacy of Renowned Conductor Gerard Schwarz with December Releases

December 5, 2012 – Naxos continues to celebrate Maestro Schwarz’s recording history and acclaimed 26-year tenure as Music Director of the Seattle Symphony with its December releases of Stravinsky’s Pulcinella and Tchaikovsky’s Symphonies 1 and 2. Projected 2013 releases include first-time Naxos releases of Schwarz conducting Dvorák’s Symphony No. 6 with Janacek’s rarely heard Idyll and the first complete recording of Hindemith’s ballet score, Nobilissima Visione. Schwarz’s Dvorák/Janacek and Hindemith releases are two of three discs recorded in 2010 and 2011 that were commissioned directly by Naxos. The third new release completed a cycle of Rimsky-Korsakov’s orchestral works and was released in late 2011.

These four recordings conclude the year-long release of more than 50 discs featuring Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony on Naxos, Delos, Artek and Brilliance Audio. They offer a broad view of the extraordinary recording legacy of one of America’s most prolific conductors.

Naxos kicked off the year-long release cycle in September 2011 with the Grammy-nominated Howard Hanson Symphony Cycle, originally released on the Delos label. The 2012 releases, now included in the popular Naxos American Classics Series as well as the newly-created Seattle Symphony Collection, showcase Schwarz and the Seattle players in a wide selection of repertoire. Among the 50 Naxos recordings are works by 54 composers ranging from the Baroque to contemporary periods. Representing the breadth and depth of the conductor’s vast repertoire, the recordings vary in genre, including major 20th Century ballets by composers Stravinsky, Richard Strauss, Bartók, Ravel and Prokofiev, as well as multi-disc cycles of works by Schumann, Richard Strauss, Wagner and Stravinsky. Schwarz’s dedication to the promotion of American music is also represented, with recordings featuring the works of 26 American composers.

In 2012, Delos also reissued Hovhaness: American Mystic on its own label to commemorate the 100th birthday of the composer. Artek released Mahler’s Symphonies 3 and 10 continuing Schwarz’s acclaimed Mahler Symphony Cycle. Brilliance Audio released Ballet for Martha, an audiobook featuring Sarah Jessica Parker telling the story of the creation of Copland’s Appalachian Spring combined with a performance of the ballet’s original version for 13 instruments. This audiobook follows the successful release of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf narrated by Jim Dale for Brilliance Audio in 2011.

A detailed list of all the 2012-2013 Gerard Schwarz recording releases can be found at the end of the release.

2012-2013 Gerard Schwarz Naxos Releases

3 New Naxos Recordings (made in 2010-2011)

• Dvorák Symphony No. 6/Janacek Idyll
• Hindemith Nobilissima Visione (complete ballet)
• Rimsky-Korsakov Orchestral Works, including suites from Sadko, Mlada and Le Coq d’or (3rd in Rimsky series)

46 Albums of Delos Reissues on Naxos, to be released as follows:

13 Releases in the “Naxos American Classics Series”


• 5 discs of Hanson Symphonies
• Stephen Albert: In Concordiam, Tree Stone
• Bernstein/Sheng: Arias and Barcarolles, plus works by Barber, Diamond
• Richard Danielpour: Symphony No. 3, First Light, etc.
• Morton Gould: Formations, Concerto Grosso, etc.
• Alan Hovhaness: Symphonies No. 1 Exile and No. 50 Mt. Saint Helens
• Peter Mennin: Moby Dick, Symphonies 3 & 7
• Deems Taylor: Through the Looking Glass, and works by Charles Griffes
• “American Trumpet” (soloist: Jeffrey Silberschlag)

33 CD Releases in the “Naxos Seattle Symphony Collection”

(*=first release, not previously issued by Delos)


• Bach arrangements by Respighi and Elgar
• Bloch: America, an Epic Rhapsody, and Concerto Grosso No. 1
• Copland: Piano Concerto (Lorin Hollander) and suites from Rodeo, Billy the Kid
• Copland: Symphonic Ode, Paul Creston: Symphony No. 3
• Deborah Drattel: Lilith, The Fire Within
• Gershwin: An American in Paris (original version), Grofé: Grand Canyon Suite
• 3 discs Handel: Acis and Galatea (complete opera)
• Arthur Honegger: Symphony No. 2, Henri Lazarof: carus, Poema
• Kodaly: Dances of Galanta, Hary Janos, Dohnányi: Konzertstueck (Starker)
• 3 discs of Richard Wagner: orchestral excerpts from the operas
• Schumann: Konzertstueck for 4 Horns, Pfitzner: Symphony in C *, etc.
• Bartók: Miraculous Mandarin/Concerto for Orchestra
• Grieg: Piano Concerto (Davidovich), Holberg Suite, Lyric Suite
• Concertos by Handel, Vivaldi, C.P.E. Bach (Seattle Symphony soloists)*
• Mendelssohn Symphony No. 2 Lobgesang
• Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet suites, and Pushkin Waltz No. 2
• Ravel Daphnis and Chloé (complete ballet)
• 3 discs of Schumann Symphonies, overtures, Piano Concerto (Davidovich)
• 6 discs of Richard Strauss: tone poems, opera suites, including Der Rosenkavalier in a new suite arranged by Gerard Schwarz*
• 4 discs of Stravinsky complete ballets: Firebird, Petrouchka, Rite of Spring, Pulcinella and various orchestral works, including Dumbarton Oaks*
• Tchaikovsky Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2

2012 Gerard Schwarz Additional Releases


• Mahler Symphonies Nos. 3 and 10 released on Artek
• Ballet for Martha (Copland: Appalchian Spring) released on Brilliance Audio
• Hovhaness: American Mystic – released on Delos

For further press information or disc requests, please contact:

Gerard Schwarz Personal Press Representatives:
Karen Ames at (415) 641-7474 or karen@karenames.com
Kristin Schellinger at (415) 641-7474 or kristin@karenames.com

Naxos Press Contacts:
Raymond Bisha, Director of Media Relations (917) 892-1249 or rbisha@naxosusa.com
Kelly Rach, National Publicist (615) 465-3806 or krach@naxosusa.com