Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

This CD features ten gems of the Canzona Napuletane, sung in the authentic dialetto Napuletano; from the well-known classic Mamma to the ballads Palomma ‘e notte and Dicitencello vuje. These songs capture the longing and desperation of immigrants who found themselves strangers in a new land. Written from a predominantly male perspective, the songs have are rarely been recorded by female vocalists. Ms. Lucente’s vocals, resonating with the same sentiments of any hot-blooded Italian male, are perfectly complimented by the luscious orchestral arrangements of Ludek Drizhal.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Marina Samson Primachenko writes about the music on this release: "The idea to include in one programme music woven together by inner poetic links came to me earlier when I was preparing a solo recital which was to include piano music by Boris Pasternak. Pasternak's music had been on my mind for a long time by simply just existing - music by a poet, writer, Nobel Prize laureate, friend of Heinrich Neuhaus. Yevgeniy Pasternak (the son of Boris Pasternak) at the time expressed his wish that the album should include the music of his father in company with the works of Skryabin, emphasizing that Boris Pasternak appreciated and loved his early works up to Sonata No. 5. All these wishes have been fulfilled in the drawing up of the repertoire on this release."

Marina Samson-Primachenko is one of the most outstanding representatives of the Russian piano school. Among her other accomplishments, she was a student of Heinrich Neuhaus. In her past, she was considered a miraculous child, and she started acting at the age of four. She currently acts pedagogically at the Schola cantorum in Paris and often conducts master classes in Europe, along with well-known authors. She also likes the rare repertoire – for example, she has chosen to perform the preserved autographs of Borise Pasternaka. For two her new piano albums with ArcoDiva she has chosen to interpret the romantic poet Robert Schumann. This second installment includes Schumann’s Carnaval, op. 9, Blumenstuck, Op. 19, along with other well-known works and less-performed pieces.

Classical Music

Classical Music

This album is dedicated to Czech composers. The first is Antonin Dvorak, who wrote his Moravian Duets in 1875 and 1876. The original idea was to arrange folk melodies from the collection of Frantisek Susil, but Dvorak eventually decided to use just the folk texts, setting them to music by himself. The resulting work in a way marked the beginning of his worldwide recognition. Although the genre of duets for two women’s voices and piano is well known today thanks chiefly to Dvorak, in its time it was cultivated by other composers too. Among them by Dvorak’s contemporary and friend Karel Bendl, whose “Dvanact dvojzpevu” (Twelve Duets) are settings of mostly lyrical texts by Vitezslav Halek from the collection “V prirode” (In Nature) and were probably written in the second half of the 1870s. The last cycle is The Slovak Duets by one of the most important contemporary Czech composers Sylvie Bodorova. Working with the rhythmic aspect of her music and layering her polyphony are typical features of her approach. She has also found inspiration in Roma, Jewish, and contemporary approach to folk (especially East European and Balkan) music, as well as other areas of the music of our time. The works here are sung by Hana Dobesova and Michaela Rozsa Ruzickova, accompanied by pianist Ladislava Vondrackova, and were recorded live at Martinu Hall, Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.

As you can read from the title "A meeting of piano virtuosos" - this album is a selection of compositions by the greatest composers of all times. The first one is Chaconne in D minor by Johann Sebastian Bach. After a big rise in the interest in Bach's music in the 19th century was originally violin Chaconne arranged for the modern piano by Italian composer and piano virtuoso Ferruccio Busoni. The next composer is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his Piano Sonata No. 18 in D major, K.V. 576, written in 1789, also known as "The Hunting" or "The Trumpet Sonata". The third composition is Ballade No. 3 in A flat major, Op. 47 by Fryderyk Chopin, written in 1841 in Paris. Next composition is well-known Hungarian Rhapsody No. 12 in C sharp minor by another piano virtuosos Ferenc Liszt. And last but not least composition is Fantasia on Czech Folksongs by the Czech composer Bedrich Smetana, whose credo written in his diary was: "With God's help and grace I will one day be a Liszt in technique and Mozart in composition." Pianist Ladislava Vondr�ckov� studied in the final class of Prof. Valentina Kamen�kov�. She took part in many competitions, always winning prizes and special awards. While attending the Prague Conservatoire she already began to take part in chambre music and work with singers. Later she was auditioned at the Conservatoire for a repetiteur position which she held for 7 years. In 1997 she graduated from the Prague Academy of Performing Arts, where she now teaches.

Classical Music

Marina Samson-Primachenko is one of the most outstanding representatives of the Russian piano school. Among her other accomplishments, she was a student of Heinrich Neuhaus. In her past, she was considered a miraculous child, and she started acting at the age of four. She currently acts pedagogically at the Schola cantorum in Paris and often conducts master classes in Europe, along with well-known authors. She also likes the rare repertoire – for example, she has chosen to perform the preserved autographs of Borise Pasternaka. For two her new piano albums with ArcoDiva she has chosen to interpret the romantic poet Robert Schumann. Thisalbum is the first installment in her project, and includes Schumann’s Intermezzi, Op. 4, and Symphonische Etuden in Form von Variationen, Op. 13.

Classical Music