Francisco Mignone was a leading figure in the Brazilian music scene of the 20th century, with a free-flowing style and gift for melody that instantly communicated with audiences. He was part of the first generation of modernist Brazilian composers that included Villa-Lobos and Guarnieri. Mignone's two early unnumbered sonatas emulate the French influence of Faure and Debussy, but it was not until the 1960s that he returned to the genre. The First and Second Sonatas share a fragmented, experimental character that juxtapose varying forms of tonality and metre, while the Third Sonata features national rhythmic and melodic elements. These sonatas represent some of the most significant works for violin and piano to come from Brazil.

Pianobasso's low-key and stripped-down arrangements of classical pieces has brought them international success with many listeners all over the world. This time they have chosen to go a little outside their established concept and instead record Christmas music consisting of Christmas carols and art music with a Christmas theme. The album is called Tranquillo - Sacred Christmas and will be released on November 22. Pianobasso is a duo that consists of pianist and arranger Thomas Gustavsson and double bassist Andreas Gustafson. On their previous albums, they perform well-known classical choral and orchestral works with their own arrangements and a personal expression, which means that they do not always follow the usual norms for this genre.

Paul Wranitzky began composing late in life compared to his friend Mozart, but quickly rose to become the most important symphonist in Vienna by the end of the 1790s. The dramatic Grande sinfonie caracteristique pour la paix avec la Republique francoise depicts the French Revolution and France's subsequent war with Austria. Political complications saw it's performance in Vienna forbidden by Imperial decree, but this did not end Wranitzky's success at court: the exuberant Symphony in D major and the charming 'Hunt Symphony', both unpublished, come from the collection of the Emperor's brother.

Domenico Scarlatti's 555 keyboard sonatas were most probably written for his patron Princess Maria Barbara of Portugal. Her love of music leads us to assume that she was suitably appreciative of these extraordinary gifts from her teacher and friend. The earlier sonatas are rooted in the Italian style, with the Sonata in G major, K.103 notable for it's eyebrow-raising lurches between major and minor tonalities. The influence of Spanish flamenco guitar can be heard in exotic embellishments and spicy harmonies in sonatas such as K.137 and K.303. Scarlatti's astonishing originality can be found throughout this entire collection.

Handel's success with Italian-style opera in London had passed it's initial peak by 1729. Lotario - a tale of revenge and heroism based on events in the life of Holy Roman Empress Adelaide of Italy - was the first of a new series of works intended to revive interest and challenge society's new 'vile taste' for satire and light entertainment. Despite being one of Handel's least-known operas, it displays his renowned talent for writing convincing drama with melodically rich and emotionally charged arias. This live recording is performed on period instruments by the Handelfestspielorchester Halle.

Although Ernesto Halffter's modest yet well-crafted piano output is best sampled in small doses, it's useful to have it bundled together in one release. There's little I can add to David Hurwitz's succinct comments about the music itself in his review of Adam Kent's complete Halffter cycle on Bridge. Guillermo González's Naxos cycle actually is "completer" than complete, and spills over onto a second disc. Disc one contains all of Halffter's original piano works, while disc two features piano arrangements of the entire ballet Sonatina, Pasodoble, Panaderos, and Boleras de la Cachucha, plus the tiny Tres piezas infantiles for piano duet. For the record, González omits El Cuco, a work Halffter wrote when he was six that Kent transcribed from the elderly composer's own performance on tape. In the main, González's performances are a shade slower and more generalized in detail than Kent's leaner, more incisive, and rhythmically taut traversals. This particularly holds true for dance pieces such as Marche Joyeuse and L'espagnolade. Kent also imbues the three late Hommages (works that González premiered) with a lighter, more fluid touch. However, González's hotheaded, impulsive dynamic surges vivify the two Sonatas quite differently than Kent's buttoned-down, carefully thought out finger work does. Naxos' bright, slightly twangy sonics (more amplitude in the bass would have helped) suit the music well enough.

--Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com

Down a Path of Wonder: Memoirs of Stravinsky, Schoenberg and Other Cultural Figures Hardcover - Robert Craft met Stravinsky by invitation in 1948, after nearly four years of letter correspondence with the composer. It was this close association that steered Craft into a stimulating world of leading composers, writers and artists. At virtually the same time that he became a member of the Stravinsky household, Craft, aged twenty-four, discovered the 'path of wonder' created by Arnold Schoenberg. In 1950, the young conductor sought instruction from Schoenberg in the performance of his music, and maintained a friendship with him that became increasingly cordial until the week of the composer's death a year later. 'Remembering Schoenberg', the first chapter of "Down a Path of Wonder", charts with charm the development of this mutual understanding and friendship. Craft's musical observations are pertinent and witty, and it is music that underpins this collection of memoirs. However, his descriptions of Stravinsky's collaborator-friends, such as George Balanchine, T.S. Eliot, W.H. Auden, Aldous Huxley and other Makers of the Twentieth Century, also provide a fascinating contribution to the intellectual and cultural history of our era. Craft's travel diaries, forming the final part of this book, focus on Italy, Seville and Cambodia; they are similarly insightful, colorful and edifying. "Down a Path of Wonder" is a unique and truly compelling perspective on the post-Second World War artistic world - and beyond.

One of the most important composers of opera and sacred music between Mozart and Rossini, and Donizetti' teacher, Johann Simon Mayr also composed several major oratorios, including David and the Marriage of Tobias. Like Haydn' more famous Il Rito.

Dimitri's Dragatakis' compositions combine elements of the musical traditions of Epirus in the north-west of Greece with the contemporary music of his age.

The Essential John Tavener

Acis and Galatea, variously described as a pastoral, a 'little opera' and a masque, is one of Handel's most popular works. It is a delectable succession of pastoral airs, love-lorn lyrics, and sprightly or mourning choruses, spiced by the pungent and unforgettable interjection of the one-eyed giant Polyphemus, who destroys the idyll of the shepherd Acis and the nymph Galatea. Handel had first turned to the subject in a cantata written in Naples in 1708. His English work, formally a masque, went through several stages until this two-act version of 1739, written principally by John Gay and graced by Handel's exquisite music.

Shiro Fukai (1907-1959) is barely known in the West. Born in the far north of Japan and in ill-health as a young man, he had the leisure to memorize scores he was able to obtain from a library. He eventually studied with the French-influenced composer Meiro Sugahara, only ten years his senior. He tended not to be particularly interested in Japanese musical influences, preferring to imitate music by Ravel and others. The 'Four Parodies for Orchestra' are imitative of the music of and dedicated to Falla, Stravinsky, Ravel and Roussel. By far the most successful is the limpid Ravel movement (No. 3) which features a very Ravelian flute solo that is reminiscent of the second movement of Ravel's G major piano concerto. 'Cr�ation' is a 1940 ballet that sounds more like Roussel. In it's three movements it supposedly limns 'The Birth of the Gods,' 'The Birth of Living Things' and 'The Birth of Humans.'

All six of these orchestral works exemplify Busoni's personalized classicism. The Lustspielouverture (Comedy Overture) is light, and almost Mozartian in clarity, whilst Gesang vom Reigen der Geister (Song of the Spirit Dance) is a delicately scored chamber piece, forward-looking in both style and content. Both the Concertino for Clarinet and the Flute Divertimento reveal Busoni's affinity for solo instruments; the former is deftly organized and the latter more obviously capricious. The spirit of Johann Strauss II haunts the infectious Tanzwalzer and the Rondo arlecchinesco unleashes Busoni's broadsides of wit. In 2002 Francesco La Vecchia was appointed Artistic Director and Resident Conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma. Under his leadership the orchestra has rapidly achieved success in Europe and in highly successful tours to St Petersburg, Madrid, Belgrade, Brussels, Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia, London, Athens, Berlin, Beijing and Shanghai.

Herman, Woody: Thundering Herd (The) (1945-1947)

BECHET, Sidney: House Party (1943-1952)