Vol. 27 in the Naxos Music of Brazil series features music by César Guerra-Peixe (1914-1993). In this podcast, Raymond Bisha discusses the life and music of the composer, known as the 'Brazilian Bartók' on account of his ethnomusicological research, with conductor Neil Thomson. Describing Guerra-Peixe as an “extremely prolific, incredibly rounded, complete musician”, Thomson also details how the Music of Brazil series got off the ground; how the featured orchestra, the Goiás Philharmonic, has raised its profile over the last forty years; and how the stylistic differences between Guerra-Peixe's First and Second Symphonies came about.

Raymond Bisha introduces the latest instalment in the Capriccio label's exploration of rarely performed or recorded symphonic works by Miklós Rózsa, outlining his maturation not only into one of the most successful film composers of all time, but also the creator of equally fine concert works. The album's programme comprises his Rhapsody for Cello, in which the young composer found his true style; the Notturno Ungherese (“a nostalgic night piece, harking back to the memories of my childhood in Hungary”); and the late Sinfonia concertante for violin and cello, a fiendishly difficult work that is among Rózsa’s finest, least filmic concert works, and one of his most underrated.

The GRAMMY Award-winning team of composer Michael Daugherty, conductor David Alan Miller and the Albany Symphony returns with a new album comprising a set of remarkable works exploring associations with flight and space exploration, both tragic and triumphant. In this podcast, the composer explains the context and inspiration behind the three works on the programme: from aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart's mysterious disappearance in 1937, to rock ’n roll legend Buddy Holly's tragic death in a plane crash just hours after his final performance in 1959, and Neil Armstrong's role in the triumphant Apollo 11 moon mission in 1969.