Paganini, N.: 4 Nocturnes / 6 Duets / Quartet No. 7 (Arr. fo

VALERI: Organ Sonatas

• The Bach Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin are among touchstone works in the solo violin literature. • Partita No. 2 concludes with the famous Chaconne, often played as a stand-alone work. • Italian violinist Luca Fanfoni's discography includes several previous Dynamic releases • NY debut 2002 – Carnegie Hall • Luca Fanfoni is violin professor at the Parma Conservatory

When Il trittico premiered at New York's Metropolitan Opera in December 1918, Gianni Schicchi became an immediate hit. The libretto is based on an incident mentioned in Dante's Divine Comedy. The action in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi takes place in Buoso Donati's bedroom in 13th-century Florence, immediately after his death, as his greedy relatives feign grief and search for his will. The mood shifts to anger when the relatives discover that they have been disinherited. They seek out the clever and resourceful Schicchi to make a counterfeit will. Schicchi, however, turns their scheme against them, bequeathing most of the dead man's fortune to himself while the relatives, all parties to the crime of forgery, are forced to sit by silently. The aria O mio babbino caro is one of Puccini's most popular arias for soprano. Bruno de Simone plays the character of Gianni Schicchi. As Italy's finest basso buffo, he is perfect for this role. Puccini completed the score on 20 April, 1918, eight months before the scheduled premiere. At that performance it was presented as the third part of a trilogy of newly written one-act operas by Puccini billed as Il trittico (The Triptych); the first two were Il tabarro (The Cloak) and Suor Angelica (Sister Angelica). Il tabarro was a dark tragedy and Suor Angelica a sweet one, so by closing with Gianni Schicchi Puccini rounded off the night with a high-spirited comic farce. Critical reaction at the time judged that Gianni Schicchi was "an uproarious delight", and it was the most favorably received of the three.

PARSIFAL

TOM JONES

Tancredi and L�Italiana in Algeri, Rossini�s tenth and eleventh operas, both premiered in Venice, launched the composer on an unstoppable career. They saw him become the most prestigious opera composer of his time. The formidable impresario Domenico Barbaja summoned Rossini to Naples and offered him the position of musical director of the city�s two Royal Theatres, the San Carlo and Fondo. Barbaja�s proposals appealed to Rossini for several reasons. Not only was his annual fee generous and guaranteed, but also the San Carlo had a professional orchestra, unlike the theatres of Venice and Rome. The composer also saw this as a considerable advantage as he aspired to push the boundaries of his opera composition in more adventurous directions. Under the terms of the contract, Rossini was to provide two operas each year for Naples whilst being permitted to compose occasional works for other cities. The composer tended to test the limits of this contract and in the first two years composed no fewer than five operas for other venues, including four for Rome.

World premiere recording! These scant few compositions are all that is known to remain of Nicolaus Hasse and Nicolaus Bruhns 17th century works for organ. Organist Manuel Tomadin is artistic director of the International Organ Festival in Udine, Italy.

Verdi: Giovanna d'Arco (Live)

IDOMENEO

All the works presented here belong to the same creative period as those solo pieces on Marco's first Dynamic CD (CDS708) containing some of his most important 1990s pieces for solo guitar. On this world premiere recording Marcello Fantoni plays the little-known and seldom performed works.

From 1917 to 1919, composer Eleuterio Lovreglio was first violin of the La Scala theatre's orchestra conducted by Toscanini, and in 1919 he moved to France. Lovreglio's works blend French and Chinese musical influences (the latter absorbed during his stay in China). Endowed with uncommon musicality, he was able to write incredibly modern works, many of which are, regrettably, still unknown.

Chamber Music (Baroque) - Lotti, A. / Platti, G.B. / Vivaldi

KURTAG / LIGETI / BERIO / SCRIABIN / LUTOSLAWSKI: Piano 4-Ha

In the vast panorama of 20th-century guitar music, the works of Madrid composer Tomás Marco hold a prominent position. Born in 1942, Marco first became known as an exponent of the Spanish avant-garde in 1963 with Albayalde for solo guitar, and would return to write for that instrument in later years. 22 Tarots, Presto Mormorando and Sonata de Fuego were written between 1990 and 1996. Even though they are formally very different - a collection of short pieces, a single work, a sonata - the three works share traits that warrant their being united in this sort of short anthology.