ETUDES D'EXECUTION TRANSCENDAN

FANTASIAS & SONATAS

Rossini: IL Barbier Di Sivigia (highlights) Performer: Ra�l Gim�nez (Tenor), H�kan Hageg�rd (Baritone), Alessandro Corbelli (Baritone), Jennifer Larmore (Mezzo Soprano), Barbara Frittoli (Soprano), Samuel Ramey (Bass) Conductor: Jes�s Lopez-Cobos Orchestra/Ensemble: Lausanne Chamber Orchestra Written: 1816; Italy The Barber of Seville, or The Futile Precaution (Italian: Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione) is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's French comedy Le Barbier de S�ville (1775). The premi�re of Rossini's opera (under the title Almaviva, o sia L'inutile precauzione) took place on 20 February 1816 at the Teatro Argentina, Rome. Rossini's Barber has proven to be one of the greatest masterpieces of comedy within music, and has been described as the opera buffa of all "opere buffe". Even after two hundred years, it's popularity on the modern opera stage attests to that greatness.

SYMPHONY NO. 3,5,8

This is one of four special APEX releases of (mostly) music from Hungary performed by Hungarian artists.

OPERA ARIAS

Russian Favorites: Mussorgsky - Pictures at an Exhibition / Night on the Bear Mountain / Rimsky-Korsakov - Capriccio espagnol / Borodin - Glinka / Orchestra/Ensemble: Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra / Conductor: Alain Lombard

CLARINET CONCERTOS 1 & 2 GRAN

Wagner: Siegfried Highlights / Jerusalem, Tomlinson, Clark, Evans, Barenboim Composer: Richard Wagner Performer: Graham Clark, Siegfried Jerusalem, John Tomlinson, Anne Evans Conductor: Daniel Barenboim Orchestra/Ensemble: Bayreuth Festival Orchestra. Siegfried, WWV 86C, is the third of the four operas that constitute Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung), by Richard Wagner. It premiered at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus on 16 August 1876, as part of the first complete performance of The Ring. This part of the opera is primarily inspired by the story of the legendary hero Sigurd in Norse mythology. The Barenboim Ring cycle is acclaimed as one of the best of recent times, with John Tomlinson as Wotan, Anne Evans as Brunnhilde, and Siegfried Jerusalem, appropriately enough, as Siegfried. While listeners, critics and philosophers have argued passionately about various interpretations of Wagner's libretto, and opera fans and critics debate the relative merits of singers and performances and sets, there are few who are not moved by the magnificent music. And Barenboim and the Orchester der Bayreuther Festspiele are superb!

Lamentations: Holy Week in Provence / Joel Cohen Conductor, Boston Camerata Performing Ensemble, Anne Azema Soprano (Vocal), Readings, Frederick Jodry Counter Tenor (Vocal), William Hite Tenor (Vocal), Paul Guttry Bass (Vocal), Christopher Kale Tenor (Vocal), Schola Cantorum of Boston Choir, Chorus, Daniel McCabe Brass Baritone

MESSIAH [HIGHLIGHTS]

Brahms : Symphony No.1 & Tragic Overture. Kurt Masur & New York Philharmonic. Kurt Masur took over the New York Philharmonic and this is one of the slower interpretations of this symphony.

Bizet / Carmen / Jennifer Larmore /Thomas Moser / Angela Gheorghiu / Samuel Ramey / Giuseppe Sinopoli / Georges Bizet (1838 - 1875) Date Written 1873-1874 Venue Stadthalle Germering France. Performers on Bizet: Carmen CD : Nathalie Boissy, Fintaras Vysniauskas, Angela Gheorghiu, Jennifer Larmore, Dieter Miserre, Maurizio Muraro, Natascha Petrinsky, Samuel Ramey [Bass-Baritone Vocal], Ulrich Ress, Thomas Moser [Tenor Vocals], Jan Zinkler

CANTATAS BWV 4&131

LES NUITS DETE, MELODIES

DON JUAN

Shostakovich String Quartets 7, 8, and 9 are right in the middle of his output in the genre. This recording by the Brodsky String Quartet is more lyrical and relaxed than many interpretations of the same pieces.