Paganini: 15 Quartets for Strings and Guitar (The), Vol. 2

Paganini, N.: Centone Di Sonate for Violin and Guitar, Vol.

ERNST: 6 Mehrstimmige Studien / WIENIAWSKI: L'ecole moderne

RAVEL / KODALY: Works for Violin and Cello

Paganini, N.: Historical Documents

PAGANINI: Variations on O mamma, mamma cara from Il carneval

Rinaldo Da Capua: La Zingara / Kehr, Monkewitz, Et Al, Release Date: 01/01/2011, Composer: Rinaldo di Capua, Performer: Kurt-Heinz Stolze, Josef Ulsamer, Annalisa Monkewitz, Rodolfo Malacarne, Conductor: G�nter Kehr, Orchestra/Ensemble: Mainz Chamber Orchestra, Number of Discs: 1, La Zingara Annalisa Monkewitz (Artist), Rodolfo Malacarne (Artist), Rinaldo Da Capua (Composer), Gunter Kehr (Conductor)

BELLINI: Norma (1831 Edition for 2 Sopranos)

As with Orpheus and Euridice: Jackie can not get over the loss of her first husband Jack (JFK). You descend into Hades and organized a happening in NY. Liz Taylor and Grace Kelly singing the blues, Andy Warhol painted Jackies Portrait, Maria Callas has a grand entrance with Aristotle Onassis. As the story goes, is clear: Callas presents Jackie in a singing duel after Onassis married the latter. On a libretto by Wayne Koestenbaum Daugherty wrote, in the US one of the most important and best-known composers of his generation, in 1995 on behalf of the Houston Grand Opera, a two-act work, the elements of opera, theater, rock and jazz in a tribute to the turbulent sixties years combined. Jackie O, Opera in two acts, Libretto by Wayne Koestenbaum. Directed by Damiano Michieletto. Starring Alice Quintavalla, Fiona McAndrew, Paul Carey Jones.

Gaetano Donizetti had big shoes to fill at his debut in Naples in 1823, arriving at the Teatro di San Carlo just after Rossini's departure, full of talent but still seeking his true voice. Alfredo il Grande is influenced by Rossini, but also shows hints of great things to come. The narrative is a celebration of heroism and magnanimous royalty, taking us to 9th century England where King Alfred the Great is on the run from the Vikings. Revived two centuries after the spectacular failure of it's premiere, this little-known opera seria can now stand as a reflection on humanitarian values and gestures of resistance against the destructiveness of war.

Gaetano Donizetti had big shoes to fill at his debut in Naples in 1823, arriving at the Teatro di San Carlo just after Rossini's departure, full of talent but still seeking his true voice. Alfredo il Grande is influenced by Rossini, but also shows hints of great things to come. The narrative is a celebration of heroism and magnanimous royalty, taking us to 9th century England where King Alfred the Great is on the run from the Vikings. Revived two centuries after the spectacular failure of it's premiere, this little-known opera seria can now stand as a reflection on humanitarian values and gestures of resistance against the destructiveness of war.

Italian instrumental music was at its zenith when the works of these ten composers were written and each of those selected was a significant figure in the expansion of music for the harpsichord. Frescobaldi, represented by two athletic Toccatas, was influential across Germany while Merula’s beautiful Capriccio and Zipoli’s gracefully austere Sonata in C major reveal the breadth and variety to be found in Italian keyboard music of the period. The Venetian-born Pescetti draws the music from the Baroque onward to the new galant style.

Paganini’s string quartets with guitar are amongst his very finest chamber compositions. Written for friends and private performances, they reveal the care he took in their construction. The dialogues in Quartet No. 6 are conversational but Nos. 11 and 13 are more advanced – here, formal ingenuity and melodic creativity are fused with great character. Paganini’s feel for aria-like lyricism, for operatic richness, conveyed with a variety of musical ideas, is at its zenith in these works.

Francesco Cilea’s Gloria, performed here in its 1932 revised edition, takes as its theme the ultimately tragic story of two lovers caught up in a conflict in 14th-century Siena. The libretto is based on Victorien Sardou's play La Haine (Hatred) and the opera features Cilea’s refined orchestral writing inspired by the Russian and French schools, with vocal lines that are varied and rewarding. Opera Today called this production ‘musically magical’, while Operawire.com extolled the inventive and convincing staging along with Francesco Cilluffo’s compelling musical direction.

Bringing together works both well known and entirely new, this remarkable Paganini program is packed with world premiere recordings made from painstakingly reconstructed manuscripts and unpublished discoveries.

The most important of these is the Sonata a preghiera, performed here for the first time with its original orchestral accompaniment. Other fascinating compositions include the Sonata a Violino Scordato that requires re-tuning the violin, the miniatures Capriccio and Agitato casually handed out by Paganini as gifts, and the stunning Introduzione e variazioni sul tema ‘In cor più non mi sento’ which incorporates all of the most spectacular effects of the composer’s legendary violin technique.