Recorded in: Brangwyn Hall, Swansea 13,14 February 1994 Producer(s) Mike George Ralph Couzens Sound Engineer(s) Ralph Couzens Richard Smoker (assistant)

V 2: COMPLETE ORGAN WORKS

Soprano Francesca Scaini, winner of the 2001 Maria Callas award for sopranos, New Verdi Voices, and star of Hannover Staatsoper is accompanied herein by pianist Mattia Ometto. Liner notes (in English and Italian) contain work notes and performer biographies.

C�sar Franck's R�demption (1873) is a pivotal work. It is an "ode-symphony," coming at the crossover point between oratorio, opera and symphonic poem - a vein brilliantly exploited by Franck in Psych� (1888) and Les B�atitudes (1891). R�demption also marks a further progression: with this vast fresco C�sar Franck became "le p�re Franck", leading father figure in the new French compositional school, the composer of maturity, creator of Le Chasseur maudit (1883), the Variations symphoniques (1885) and Les �olides (1885). Here we see the organist becoming a virtuoso in handling grand orchestral or vocal forces and taking his place amongst the major composers of the Symbolist period.

Classical Music

After Joseph Callaerts (titular organist from 1891 to 1901), Gustaaf Brees (from 1901 to 1926), Alex Paepen (from 1926 to 1962) and Stanislas Deriemaeker (from 1962 to 2002), Peter Van de Velde is the fifth titular organist of the romantic Schyven organ of Antwerp Cathedral. Peter Van de Velde, born in 1972, began his organ studies as an autodidact at the age of nine. At twelve he became organist of the village church of Doel in East Flanders. He received his first music lessons at the Antwerp Academy of Fine Arts. There he was awarded a first prize for aural training and the highest distinction in the organ category. Peter Van de Velde continued his studies at the Royal Flemish Music Conservatory in Antwerp, where he won several first prizes and a soloist diploma in 1996. He was the last student of Stanislas Deriemaeker. During his studies, and also afterwards, he participated in numerous master classes for organ and improvisation. On this recording he presents several transcriptions for organ by the composer C�sar Franck.

Classical Music

Piano Recital: Ashley Wass

Import Hybrid-SACD pressing.

FRANCK: Great Organ Works, Vol. 1

FRANCK: Orchestal Music, Vol. 1 - Symphony in D Minor / Le c

FRANCK: Symphony in D Minor / Prelude, Choral et Fugue

In November 1949, at the age of eight, Idil Biret entered the studios of ORTF (Radiodiffusion Television Francaise) in Paris and made her first recordings; these were works by Couperin, Bach, Beethoven and Debussy. In the following decades she made nearly 100 LPs and CDs, released on ten record labels (Pretoria, Vega, Decca, Atlantic/Finnadar, Pantheon, EMI, Naxos, Marco Polo, Alpha, BMP) and many recordings for radio and television stations around the world. These included the complete piano works of Brahms, Chopin and Rachmaninoff as well as the Sonatas of Boulez and the Etudes of Ligeti. The Idil Biret Archive (IBA) is now bringing together her past and present recording; as the copyrights are obtained, old recordings no longer available commercially are being released together with her new recordings. The transcriptions by Liszt of Beethoven's Symphonies, originally recorded for EMI, and the newly recorded 32 Sonatas and all the Piano Concertos of Beethoven were released by IBA and also made available in a box set. All the Piano Concertos of Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Schumann and Grieg and the nine LPs recorded for Atlantic/Finnadar in New York which include works by Boulez, Webern, Berg, Ravel and Stravinsky were also released. Among the recent new releases are Liszt's Etudes and the piano transcription of Berlioz's Harold en Italie, Schumann's Carnaval, Fantasie and other works, all five Piano Concertos of Hindemith and, in the Archive Edition, the early LPs made in France for Pretoria (Schumann, Brahms), Vega (Bartok, Prokofiev, Brahms, Beethoven) and Decca (Rachmaninoff). IBA is distributed worldwide by Naxos.

Classical Music

Classical Music