Described by Wynton Marsalis as "The High Priest of Bach", and by Time Magazine as "The High Priest of the Harpsichord," Newman continues his 50 year career as America's leading organist, harpsichordist and Bach specialist.
His prodigious recording output includes more than 170 CDs on such labels as CBS, SONY, Deutsche Grammaphon, and Vox Masterworks. In 1989, Stereo Review voted his original instrument recording of Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto as "Record of the Year". His collaboration with Wynton Marsalis on Sony's "In Gabriel's Garden" was the best selling classical CD in 1997.
As keyboardist, he has performed more than sixty times at Lincoln Center in New York, and has collaborated with many of the greats of music: Kathleen Battle, Itzhak Perlman, Eugenia Zukerman, John Nelson, Jean-Pierre Rampal, James Levine, Lorin Mazel, Mstislav Rostropovich, Seji Osawa, and Leonard Bernstein.
As conductor, he has worked with the greats of chamber music orchestras: St. Paul Chamber, LA Chamber, Budapest Chamber, Scottish Chamber, and the 92nd St. Y Chamber Orchestras. Larger symphonic groups include: Seattle (over 40 appearances), Los Angeles, San Diego, Calgary, Denver, and New York Philharmonic Orchestras.
No less prodigious a composer, his works have been heard in Paris, Vienna, Budapest, Krakow, Warsaw, New York, and London. His output includes 4 symphonies, 4 concerti, 3 large choral works, 2 operas: Nicole, and Massacre (in collaboration with Charles Flowers), 3 CDs of piano music, and a large assortment of chamber, organ and guitar works. Complete works are published by Ellis Press. Newman has received 30 consecutive composer's awards from ASCAP.
Newman is music director of "Bach Works," New York's all Bach association, and Bedford Chamber Concerts; is on the Visiting Committee for the Department of Musical Instruments at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; and on the board of the Musical Quarterly Magazine. As a person committed to outreach, he was a volunteer for Stamford Hospital, a member of Hospice International from 1995 to 2004. Newman is music director of St. Matthews Episcopal Church in Bedford NY.
Newman is a Yamaha Artist, and a proud alumnus of Young Concert Artists.
The 2-part Inventions appear in a collection called 'Aufrichtige Anleitung' with the added text: "...wherein the lovers of the clavier and especially those desirous of learning, are shown a clear way not only 1) to learn to play clearly in 2 voices, but also, after further progress, 2) to deal correctly and well with three obligato parts...to arrive at a singing style in playing...to acquire a strong sense of composing. 1723". Both the 2 and 3-part inventions-sinfonias are very concise and terse works, usually lasting about 75 seconds apiece. As short as they are, they demonstrate utterly what a great composer Bach was, in not only their compactness but the amount of compositional information that is present in each bar.
Bach's most famous harpsichord work is the concerto in the Italian manner appearing in print in 1735, in part II of 'Clavierubung.' The work is in three movements, with really every moment inspired by the gods of music. The concerto reflects the 'Italian' concerto style: tuttis interspersed with differing solo selections. The lyrical slow movement is Vivaldi influenced, the last taxes any harpsichordist's technique.
The Toccatas are earlier works influenced by Pachelbel and Froberger. They are filled with small sections of differing moods and virtuosity. The one in D Major has a brilliant and rollicking gigue fugue as a finale. The one in C Minor is a long and demanding fugue in two large sections as its finale. I would think Bach was in his early to mid 20s when he wrote them. -- Anthony Newman
Label: 903 Records Item Number: NSR-1000401 Format: Download Year Recorded: 2013
From Bach's "simple" instructional pieces to three masterworks of the harpsichord, this is a brilliant rendition by America’s foremost Baroque interpreter.
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