Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Spiritoso - Italian for spirited, humorous, witty - is the latest title in MDG's Classical References series. Bursting with 25 sonic surprises from theatres, concert halls, cathedrals and salons on high-resolution Super Audio CD, it includes an additional CD as well as an informative booklet. The sheer overwhelming original ambient sound created by MDG's three-dimensional 2+2+2 recording technology is legendary amongst hi-fi enthusiasts, audiophile connoisseurs and music fans.

Andrea Battistoni, a rising star conductor with an international reputation as one of the most important of his generation, juxtaposes two iconic 20th century dance masterpieces in this co-production by MDG and DENON. With every beat of Stravinsky's "Le Sacre du Printemps" and Leonard Bernstein's "West Side Story", Battistoni's elation is audible and the immediacy of the rhythmic pulse can be felt.

There is no better place to show off the magic and colours of Ottorino Respighi's sound world than in one of Europe's most beautiful concert halls with world-famous acoustics: The Historische Stadthalle Wuppertal. The Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra, conducted by George Hanson, plays rarely heard works by the Italian instrumentation magician, including the mighty "Metamorphoseon" and a suite on themes by Rossini, as well as Bach's titanic C minor Passacaglia in a breathtaking orchestration and - as a veritable premiere recording - a short "Burlesca" from the composer's early works.

When Berlioz's revolutionary milestone is paired with ballet music by Toshiro Mayuzumi from 1962, unexpected similarities in sound, power and inspiration emerge. Andrea Battistoni conducts the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra in this enigmatic performance

Not only for the young but also for the young at heart, "The Little Prince Meets You" is a music theatre piece for chamber ensemble and narrator based on the timeless tale by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. The author's experiences as a pilot led him to inspire others with descriptions of his fascination with flying and the vastness of the world. His world-famous story, "Le Petit Prince", still touches readers to this day, encouraging people to ponder the meaning of life, and values such as love, humanity, love of nature, peace and the importance of friendship.

Hard to believe but true: at the beginning of the 1870s Joseph Joachim Raff numbered among those composers whose works were most often performed in German-speaking countries. He satisfied the taste of the times like no other composer and published one work after another. The prizewinning Ensemble Villa Musica again turns to a chapter of music history too quickly and not closely enough read during other times. Not a few Raff contemporaries regarded his musical language as the summit of Central European artistry. In 1869 Hans von B�low effusively declared that Raff's Grand Quintuor op. 107 was "the most important work in the field of chamber music since Beethoven." Raff's parents, who lived in Switzerland, did not have the means to finance the education of their talented son. He developed his compositional capabilities autodidactically and later had to make ends meet with occasional work, as a salesperson in a Cologne music shop, as a music teacher, or as Liszt's private secretary. Renown It was from Wiesbaden, where his wife was an actress, that Raff's works finally found the dissemination that he had hoped for. At the height of his public renown Raff assumed the post of director of the recently founded Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt in 1877. Under his leadership the conservatory became one of the leading institutions of it's kind.