August 2017 - Featured Playlist: Leading Ladies II

It’s one of the most notorious glass ceilings in all of the arts—until Marin Alsop was hired as music director of the Baltimore Symphony in 2007, no woman had ever held that position in a major American orchestra. You read that right: 2007. Even crazier, she had another first in 2013 when she became the first woman to conduct the Last Night of the Proms, a prestigious annual event in the U.K. with a tradition extending back to 1895.

As Alsop stated in her 2013 Proms speech, it’s shocking that at this point in history there are still so many firsts left for women to attain, even in the traditionally male-dominated world of classical music. But just as more women are shattering misconceptions of what a composer should look like, so too are more women taking up the baton to challenge antiquated notions on the podium.

We anticipate a future where there are no more firsts for women in music, and when any glass ceiling is a relic of history. But until that day when “maestro” is fully embraced as a gender-neutral term, we’ll keep celebrating the accomplishments of more Leading Ladies.

To hear the playlist, access NML as usual, go to the Playlists section, and select the Playlist of the Month folder under the Themed Playlists tab. If you are on your institution's premises, you may also be able to access it if you CLICK HERE.

1. Leonard Bernstein

Symphony No. 1, "Jeremiah": II. Profanation
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Naxos - 8.559790
Marin Alsop, conductor

2. Matthew Hindson

Violin Concerto No. 1, "Australian Postcards": III. Grand Final Day

Lara St. John, violin; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Ancalagon - ANC133

Sarah Ioannides, conductor

3. Duke Ellington

Three Black Kings: No. 3. Martin Luther King

Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra

Naxos - 8.559737

JoAnn Falletta, conductor

4. Ethel Smyth
Serenade in D Major: II. Scherzo: Allegro vivace - Allegro molto
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Chandos - CHAN9449
Odaline de la Martinez, conductor

5. Gustav Holst

St Paul's Suite: IV. Finale, "The Dargason"
English Chamber Orchestra
Lyrita - SRCD336
Imogen Holst, conductor

6. Michael Abels

Delights and Dances

Harlem Quartet; Chicago Sinfonietta

Cedille - CDR90000-141

Mei-Ann Chen, conductor

7. Aram Khachaturian

Masquerade Suite: I. Waltz

Moscow State Symphony Orchestra

Melodiya - MELCD1002146

Veronika Dudarova, conductor

8. Traditional
Dance of the Snake
Wong On-yuen, erhu; Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
Marco Polo - 8.225802
Yip Wing-sie, conductor

9. Alberto Ginastera

Estancia, Scene 5: Danza Final: Malambo
London Symphony Orchestra
Naxos - 8.570999
Gisele Ben-Dor, conductor

10. Arturo Márquez

Danzón No. 2

Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas

Sony Classical - 884977638905

Alondra de la Parra, conductor

11. Osvaldo Golijov

St Mark Passion: XIX. Agonia

Schola Cantorum de Caracas; Alberto Grau Cantonia; Passion Orchestra

Haenssler Classics - CD98.404

Maria Guinand, conductor

12. Jean-Féry Rebel
Les éléments, "Simphonie nouvelle": I. Le cahos
L'Orfeo Baroque Orchestra
CPO - 777914-2
Michi Gaigg, conductor

13. Joseph Haydn

Mass No. 14, "Harmoniemesse": Gloria: Gratias agimus tibi
Trinity Church Choir, New York; REBEL Baroque Orchestra
Naxos - 8.572126
Jane Glover, conductor

14. Antonio Vivaldi

The 4 Seasons, "L'estate" (Summer): III. Presto

Iona Brown, violin; Academy of St Martin in the Fields Orchestra

Haenssler Classics - CD98.107

Iona Brown, conductor

15. W. A. Mozart

Piano Concerto No. 21, "Elvira Madigan": II. Andante

Mitsuko Uchida, piano; Cleveland Orchestra

Decca - 00028947835400

Mitsuko Uchida, conductor

16. G. F. Handel
Dixit Dominus: De torrente in via bibet
Natalie Dessay, Karine Deshayes, sopranos; Philippe Jaroussky, countertenor; Toby Spence, tenor; Laurent Naouri, baritone; Le Concert d'Astree
Warner - 825646974610
Emmanuelle Haïm, conductor

17. Giuseppe Verdi

Aroldo, Act I: Ciel! Ch'io respiri
Montserrat Caballé, soprano; New York Opera Orchestra
RCA - 886972144023
Eve Queler, conductor

18. Anton Bruckner

Symphony No. 1: III. Scherzo: Schnell

Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra

Oehms Classics - OC633

Simone Young, conductor

19. Hans Rott

Symphony in E Major: III. Frisch und lebhaft

Mainz Philharmonic State Orchestra

Acousense - ACO-20104

Catherine Rückwardt, conductor

20. Sergey Rachmaninov
3 Russian Songs: No. 3. My cheeks, so white, so rosy!
Latvian State Choir; Nordic Symphony Orchestra
Warner - 825646199266
Anu Tali, conductor

21. Jón Leifs

Fine 1, "Farewell to Earthly Life"
Iceland Symphony Orchestra
BIS - BIS-CD-1050
Anne Manson, conductor

22. Kaija Saariaho

Circle Map: I. Morning Wind

Arshia Cont, reciter; Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

RCO - RCO14001

Susanna Mälkki, conductor

23. Augusta Read Thomas

Jubilee: III. reverie: prayer for a departed friend

Juilliard Orchestra

Nimbus - NI6263

Xian Zhang, conductor

24. Michael Daugherty
Time Machine: II. Future
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Naxos - 8.559613
Marin Alsop, conductor
Mei-Ann Chen, conductor
Laura Jackson, conductor 

Each month, Naxos Music Library presents a themed playlist for our subscribers to enjoy. We know that a database of over 2 million tracks can be a bit daunting, so we'd like to highlight some of the amazing music that is available to you. Let it kickstart discovery!