Antonin Dvorak: Symphony No. 9
Aaron Copland: Billy the Kid

The launch of a new classical music record label is always cause for celebration. It indicates that the industry as a whole is in better shape than some naysayers would have us believe. It also suggests that, in this case, the Washington based National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of conductor Gianandrea Noseda, have commited to embark on a long term project to produce and release new recordings for us to enjoy.

For its inaugural release, the NSO label have opted for two composers that have greatly influenced the course of American music, one in a symbolic fashion and the other in an intrinsic way. Antonin Dvorak and Aaron Copland.

And nothing defines the sound and style of American orchestral music more than Aaron Copland's ballet Billy the Kid. Gun fights, frontier towns and the open prairie. Music based on the wild west which forged the American psyche. Copland had a knack for capturing the essence of big sky country in his music and nowhere is that more apparent than in the Open Prairie segment of this ballet. Conductor Gianandrea Noseda gives it all the sweep and grandeur it evokes. All the hustle and bustle of a Street in a Frontier Town is well projected under his baton, including the very distinctive sounds of hooves and spurs. The calm of a stellar canopy over a Prairie Night is well captured. And am I imagining things or do I hear what sounds like a harmonica in Billy's Death. If it is, this is the first time I've noticed its presence within the countless recordings I've heard.

Have you ever noticed that the 9th Symphony from all the composers who only finished nine symphonies -- Beethoven, Schubert, Bruckner, Mahler, Vaughan Williams, Dvorak -- always sounds like a major leap forward, especially the Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95 "From the New World" by Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904). It's loaded with memorable themes and unforgettable melodies, all strung together to form one of the best symphonies ever written. Noseda well projects the Tchaikovsky-like melancholy of the opening pages, as well as the solemn and yet light-hearted nature of its slow movement. The final movement has all the gusto and zeal it calls for, and Gianandrea Noseda certainly brings out the splendour and grandeur of its magnificent coda.

All of this captured in a well-engineered audio recording. If all the future releases on this new label are as impressive as this first one, we're in for a good time.