Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier

Classical Music

Alirio Díaz, Vol. 1: Lauro Guitar Concerto

Christian Ferras, Vol. 2: Beethoven Triple & Brahms Double C

This album is one of the most important symphonies by Shostakovich. This is the fifth Shostakovich release featuring the Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart and Andrey Boreyko. Many considered it a "wonderful, passionate performance."

Julius Katchen, Vol. 1: Bach & Beethoven (Live)

Clementi, M.: Early Piano Sonatas, Vol. 1

This DVD/CD set is devoted to one of the most admired violinists of our time, Ivry Gitlis, particularly noted for his originality and his distinctive style. Included are works by Sibelius, Paganini, Brahms, Hindemith, and Leibowitz.

Fischer performs works by Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, and Mozart in live performances from the 1960s and 1970s.

Richter Archives, Vol. 16: Poulenc & Reger

• This CD, the second volume in the new DYNAMIC budget-price “ The Masters of Violin” series, presents of three violin concerti by the late-classicist era Italian composer Giovanni Battista Viotti, a form he helped greatly to advance. • Viotti's works, with a few exceptions, still remain largely unknown. • Violinist Franco Mezzena performs together with the Symphonia Perusina.

Includes work(s) by various composers. Soloist: Thomas Bloch.

The Christmas Story

Ricardo Odnoposoff, Vol. 1

Paganini: 6 Violin Concertos

Richter Archives, Vol. 10: Carnegie Hall Recitals 1960 (Live

Our journey takes US principally to the city of Genoa, for centuries an independent republic, held by Austria, seized by Napoleon, and later joined to Piedmont. Violinist, priest and most prolific composer, Antonio Vivaldi was born in Venice in 1678 and spent most of his life there, associated for much of the time with the Ospedale della Pieta, a charitable institution for girls, with a strong musical tradition. The music for the tour is taken from concertos for various instruments.

Selections recorded at the Toronto Centre for the Arts in June, 2001 and St. John Chrysostom Church, Newmarket in August, 2001.

PIANO CONCERTO DIVERTIMENTO

AUSTRIA

The Places
The tour starts in Salzburg, with glimpses of the Austrian countryside, often in winter snow. It ends in the district of Salzburg, where it began.

The Music
The music is taken from three serenades by Mozart. The most famous, Eine kleine Nachtmusik, written in 1787 in Vienna, is followed by two serenades written ten years earlier for social occasions in Salzburg.

Picture format: NTSC 4:3
Sound format: PCM Stereo 2.0
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 68 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

Rossini's musical wit and zest for comic characterisation have enriched the operatic repertoire immeasurably, and his overtures distil these qualities into works of colourful orchestration, bravura and charm. From his most popular, such as La scala di seta (The Silken Ladder) and La gazza ladra (The Thieving Magpie), to the rarity Matilde of Shabran, the full force of Rossini's dramatic power is revealed in these masterpieces of invention. Each of the four discs in this set has received outstanding international acclaim, with Volum 2 described as "an unalloyed winner" by ClassicsToday , and the Prague Sinfonia Orchestra's playing described as "stunning" by American Record Guide (Volume 3).

Though the origin of Bach's sonatas for flute and harpsichord is uncertain there has also been considerable debate about their genre. The first three are often called "Sonaten auf Concertenart" - sonatas in concerto style - a hybrid genre that became popular between 1720 and 1740, so Bach may have been deliberately experimenting with form in these works. The Sonata in E-Flat Major, BWV 1031, with its lovely Siciliano, is perhaps the most popular of the flute sonatas, holding a special place in the repertory, but all offer a fascinating insight into Bach's use of the sonata genre and a wealth of inventive music.

Set to vernacular texts dealing mainly with the theme of love, frottole were short, improvisatory polyphonic songs with instrumental accompaniment that flourished in the Renaissance courts of Italy for some forty years between c. 1480 and 1520. Despite it's apparent simplicity, this completely new genre of song inspired some of Europe's greatest vocal and instrumental musicians. The recent invention of movable type added further to it's popularity. This recording explores a representative selection, including work published by the historically pivotal figure of Ottaviano Petrucci.

BUDAPEST QUARTET: XX CENTURY

Colombia’s thriving cultural heritage derives from Spanish, African and Amerindian elements. The rich blend of colour and rhythmic vitality found in the synthesis of dance forms and styles, notably the sharply accented Andean bambuco (‘pursuit dance’), the flowing, graceful pasillo and the traditional, rhythmic guabina, recurs throughout this programme. Poignant expressiveness and intricate virtuosity are features of Montaña’s two Suites. Saboya’s Suite Ernestina includes characteristically South American melodies and rhythms, while Caribbean rhythmic patterns are recreated in González’s Preludio. José Antonio Escobar’s Guitar Music of Chile (Naxos 8.570341) was described as “absolutely stunning” by MusicWeb International.