Naxos Release of the New World Suite

Naxos has released its second recording of orchestral music by Ignatz Waghalter, comprising the New World Suite, the Overture and Intermezzo from his 1914 comic opera Mandragola, and his 1936 Masaryk's Peace March.

From the Naxos announcement:

Ignatz Waghalter rose from an impoverished childhood in Poland to become conductor at the newly founded Deutsches Opernhaus in Berlin in 1912. Here, the first performance of his youthful comic opera Mandragola, attended by luminaries such as Richard Strauss, Busoni, and Humperdinck, won him huge acclaim: the Overture and Intermezzo reveal his orchestral mastery. With the rise of Nazism Waghalter left Europe for America where he strongly identified with the Afro-American cause, and began work on the New World Suite, ten short movements of rich melodic imagination that illustrate his constant desire to write approachable and lively music.

The orchestra is the New Russia State Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Alexander Walker — who, three years earlier, had discovered the manuscript of the New World Suite in a manila envelope at the bottom of a box of family papers in Detroit. Volume 1 of the Naxos series, the Violin Concerto and Sonata recording of 2012, was an ICMA (International Classical Music Awards) nominee.

Full track list

Mandragola — Opera (1914)

1. Overture · Allegro moderato, fliessend
2. Intermezzo · Allegretto grazioso

New World Suite (1939, reconstructed by Alexander Walker) 3. I. Intrada · Allegro moderato, fliessend 4. II. Intermezzo · Moderato 5. III. Hymn and Variations · Moderato assai 6. IV. Promenade · Allegro vivo 7. V. Idyll and Hornpipe · Andantino 8. VI. Pastorale · Larghetto 9. VII. City Dance · Tempo comodo 10. VIII. Vaudeville · Allegro vivo 11. IX. Berceuse · Andante con moto 12. X. Finale · Allegro

Masaryk's Peace March (1935) 13. Masaryks Friedensmarsch · Masaryk's Peace March

From the reviews

Enjoyable music, impeccably recorded. With ten short movements the New World Suite is a lively and charming work of rich melodic fantasy. — Remy Franck, Pizzicato, June 2015

Alexander Walker and the New Russia State Symphony Orchestra provide very fine performances and are nicely recorded. — Bruce Reader, The Classical Reviewer, June 2015

Their superb renditions of these selections once again prove Waghalter to be a significant romantic discovery. — Bob McQuiston, Classical Lost and Found, May 2015

Throughout, the New Russia State Symphony Orchestra play superbly in capturing the mood of the music, Alexander Walker keeping the tempos moving forward with admirable zest and fun. Top drawer sound quality. — David Denton, David's Review Corner, May 2015

For the full essay on the work — its composition in Harlem for the Negro Symphony Orchestra, its discovery, and its 2019 world premiere in Poznań — see The New World Suite. The recording is catalogued at Naxos as 8.573338.