The Christmas Story

PAGANINI: 15 Quartets for Strings and Guitar (The), Vol. 4

This DVD, filmed during last year�s festival, is a worthy tribute to Maestro Puccini and the Old Theatre, which has served so well during more than forty years. The stage is wide and occasionally one feels that it is at odds with, at least, the setting of the first and last act of La Boh�me, which takes place in a small attic in Paris. However, set designer Jean-Michel Folon�s inventive solutions reduce the problems and from the outset the viewer is engrossed by the performance. All through the four acts the action takes place on a slightly raised �stage-within-the-stage� in the shape of an artist�s palette. In the second act, at Caf� Momus, the brightly colored table-cloths become spectacular splashes of paint. A large screen, covering the greater part of the background, is used entertainingly and informatively to underline aspects of the performance. We are shown the roofs of the surrounding houses, as seen from the attic and in the opening scene of act one, where Rodolfo is writing a poem and Marcello is painting � obviously he was a fore-runner to Mark Rothko � and on the screen well-known and lesser known paintings march past. It is certainly a stimulating production � one to return to and enjoy.

Prokofiev: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 - Sonata for 2 Violin

Paganini: Works for Guitar

To celebrate Verdi's 200th birth anniversary Dynamic is featuring a fascinating collection of performances recorded during the best period of Maria Callas' artistic career. Some moments of the greatest poignancy can be listened in Forza del Destino and Ballo in Maschera where the American born Greek soprano's interpretative art is expressed with it's full beauty.

MASSENET: Werther (1901 Baritone version)

Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 20 and 24

Vocal Recital: Colombara, Carlo - Fauré, G. / Hahn, R. / Gou

STRAUSS, R.: Salome (French version) [Opera]

“Ero e Leandro is an essence of sensibility, of forms’ accuracy and the product of a strong artistic personality which wants to respect tradition and knows how to do it.” Fernando Fraga (Diverdi) Bottesini is remembered mainly as a double-bass virtuoso and as a conductor, but he was also a composer of some success; apart from several works for the double-bass he also wrote 7 operas. The best known, Ero e Leandro, was premiered at the Turin Regio in 1879 to great success.

Rolla, A.: Flute Quartets, Op. 2, Nos. 1 and 2 / Divertiment

Lolli: Sonatas for Violin and Basso Continuo

• 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.

MILAN / VALDERRABANO / MUDARRA / SANZ / STEFANI: Love and Ad