There are two aspects underlying this recording by Raphael Feuillatre, First Prize winner at the prestigious Guitar Foundation of America Competition in 2018: original works for the guitar and transcriptions. Among the former is Villa-Lobos’s Prelude No. 5, part of one of the most evocative and Romantic guitar cycles of the 20th century, the Chopinesque brilliance of the inventive Valse by Barrios Mangore, and the compendium of virtuosity that is Llobet’s Variations on a Theme of Sor. The transcriptions range from Rameau, through Rachmaninov’s pianistic showcase, the Prelude No. 4, Op. 23, to the superbly evocative Alfonsina y el mar by Ariel Ramirez.

Joseph Marx was an excellent pianist: the hugely demanding solo part of his Romantic Piano Concerto, a ‘symphonic duet’ between piano and orchestra, marks him as a true virtuoso who had also absorbed the heady impressionism of Debussy, Scriabin and Delius. While having no connection with film music, Marx left a multitude of intoxicating melodies that eclipsed the wildest of Hollywood’s dreams. His second piano concerto Castelli Romani was inspired by ancient ruins in the wooded hills outside Rome, and is a magical, pyrotechnic display of Mediterranean emotions and masterfully orchestrated atmospheric pictures. Franco-American pianist David Lively’s unique musical personality is drawn from his double culture, passionately attached to his two inheritances. Born in the United States, he went to France in 1969 at the age of 16 to study at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris. His technical and musical prowess has brought success in a number of international competitions.

Beethoven's contribution to the development of German song was significant - he wrote some 90 songs - but it has inevitably been overshadowed by his mastery of orchestral and instrumental music. Unlike Mozart and Schubert's works in the genre, little is known about the composition and performance of Beethoven's songs, but he is known to have greatly respected Goethe, as his settings amply show, not least in the incidental music to Egmont, from which Freudvoll und leidvoll is taken. A versatile concert singer, Austrian soprano Elisabeth Breuer has performed with the top orchestras in Germany and Austria. Her work with conductors such as Daniel Harding, Franz Welser-M�st, Andrew Manze, Hansj�rg Albrecht and Martin Haselb�ck has taken her to the Elbphilharmonie, Musikverein in Vienna, Gewandhaus Leipzig, K�lner Philharmonie and Munich Philharmonie am Gasteig. Rainer Trost has appeared at the most prestigious opera houses and festivals in the world. He has recorded numerous albums, including Mozart's Cos� fan tutte, Leh�r's The Merry Widow, Mozart's La clemenza di Tito, Mendelssohn's Saint Paul, Beethoven's Missa solemnis and Fidelio, as well as recordings of Schubert's Die sch�ne M�llerin and Schubert's Friends. Paul Armin Edelmann has sung at major opera and concert venues, and the state theatres in Darmstadt, D�sseldorf, Wiesbaden, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Munich and Leipzig. Edelmann has worked with renowned conductors such as Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Lorin Maazel, Michel Plasson, Jeffrey Tate and Manfred Honeck. His discography includes Reger Orchestral Songs and an album of works by Schubert. Bass Ricardo Bojorquez made his stage debut while there in June 2014 as Bottom in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. He has subsequently sung various roles such as Osmin in Die Entf�hrung aus dem Serail, Masetto and Comendatore in Don Giovanni, Sarastro and Sprecher in Die Zauberfl�te, Cold Genius in King Arthur, Le Bailli in Werthe rand Sciarrone in Tosca.

With 27 symphonies to his name, Nikolay Myaskovsky is known as the 'father of the Soviet symphony,' his legacy placing him in the same line as other great Russian symphonists such as Prokofiev and Shostakovich. Myaskovsky's richly Romantic Symphony No. 1 won him the Glazunov scholarship, and as a graduation work reveals the influence of Tchaikovsky and Scriabin in it's expressive, dramatic impact. The more experimental but also deeply inward-looking and disconsolate Symphony No. 13 is regarded as one of Myaskovsky's most individual statements.

Zdenek Fibich's three symphonies project very different qualities: No. 1 (available on 8.572985) prizes structural integration, and No. 2 (8.573157) cyclical unity. Symphony No. 3, written only two years before his untimely death, but at the zenith of his powers as one of the Czech Lands' leading composers, reveals Fibich's sustained melodic and atmospheric powers as the music pursues the 'darkness to light' trajectory synonymous with the symphony during the 19th century. The remaining pieces, drawn from his best stage works, showcase operatic qualities that extend the dramatic lineage of Smetana. This is the final volume in this series. Marek �tilec is an alumnus of the International J�rvi Academy and Jac van Steen's Emerging Conductors Series, and has participated in the masterclasses of Michael Tilson Thomas and Jorma Panula, among others. He conducts a wide range of leading orchestras, including the New World Symphony, the Ulster Orchestra, Das Kurpf�lzische Kammerorchester Mannheim, the Wiener Concertverein Orchester, the Orchestra of the Swan, the London Classical Soloists, the Berlin Camerata, the Kammerphilharmonie Graz and Sinfonietta Bratislava, as well as the top orchestras in the Czech Republic.

This special box contains all four of Ralph van Raat's Naxos recordings plus an exclusive interview CD which includes music selected by Ralph specifically for this boxed set. Also on this bonus CD, Ralph speaks about his musical choices for the set, as well as his own playing in an exclusive interview with Naxos Classical Music Spotlight's very own Raymond Bisha. Featured composers include: Tavener, Adams, Rzewski, Lindberg, Takemitsu, Ives, Bolcom, Messiaen, and more. 1. Adams, J.: Piano Music (Complete) 2. Rzewski, F.: People United will never be Defeated (The) (Van Raat) 3. Tavener: Piano Works 4. Lindberg, M.: Piano Music (Van Raat) - Klavierstuck / Play I / Jubilees / Twine / Etudes 5. Artist Profile Series - Van Raat, Ralph

Franz Schreker was a prominent figure in early 20th-century Austro-German music, his reputation as an opera composer rivaling that of Richard Strauss. The Prelude to a Drama is the concert overture of Schreker’s acclaimed opera Die Gezeichneten, a lurid drama involving murder and madness. Conceived as a theatrical pantomime, The Birthday of the Infanta adapts Oscar Wilde’s tragic tale of an ugly dwarf who dies of a broken heart, while the Romantic Suite fully explores the composer’s colorfully detailed and translucent orchestration and lyrical expressiveness. The Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra dates back to the beginnings of music broadcasting in 1923. Since then it has developed its position to become one of Berlin’s top orchestras, and today is ranked in the highest echelon of German radio orchestras. JoAnn Falletta became the first female conductor to lead a major American ensemble upon her appointment as music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in 1999.

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REVIEW:

Falletta obtains excellent playing from the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra with enormous climatic moments, opportunities for which are readily at hand in his late-Romantic, opulent orchestral scores. The sound quality from the German Radio is way beyond today’s norm. Unreservedly recommended.

– David's Review Corner (David Denton)

Joseph Marx was described by Wilhelm Furtwangler as one of the leading figures in Austria's music scene, and while his music disappeared completely from concert programmes after his death he 'shaped an era' and left a profound impression on several generations of composers. Marx made no secret of his admiration for the Classical giants of music, and the late period works in this programme pay homage to Haydn and others while retaining Romantic sensibilities: a blend of old and new that creates something remarkably timeless. Founded in 1919, the Bochum Symphony Orchestra has developed into one of the leading orchestras in western Germany. Under several general music directors and with avant-garde programmes, it has developed a wide reputation as an innovative orchestra. In 1994, the Israeli-American conductor Steven Sloane became general music director. Since then he has succeeded in raising the local, regional, and international profile of the Orchestra.

Shostakovich was still a young composer when he was hired to provide incidental music for The Bedbug, a surreal and farcical satire on Communist utopian dreams and bourgeois corruption and vulgarity. He produced a terrifically knockabout score that draws on local fireman’s bands and American dance music. Illustrated by Shostakovich’s powerful middle-period music, Love and Hate is a film about female fortitude set in a mining village during the 1919 Civil War. The innovative score, newly reconstructed by Mark Fitz-Gerald from rough piano sketches and the 1935 soundtrack, combines symphonic sections with popular songs.

As one of the leading Italian composers of the twentieth century, Bruno Bettinelli occupies a significant place in his country's musical lineage. An inheritor of the traditions o fRespighi, Casella, and their contemporaries, he employed contemporary techniques to fashion music of structural clarity, inventiveness and considerable communicative power. The Improvvisazione and Due movimenti are two of his greatest smaller-scaled works, and the Trio a masterful embodiment of his musical principles. Bettinelli's complete works for solo guitar, performed by Davide Ficco, can be heard on Naxos as well.

For 150 years Albert Lortzing was, after Mozart and Verdi, the most performed composer on German stages. He was a multifaceted man of the theatre who wrote his own libretti, and his works follow in the tradition of Mozart and Weber but explore a variety of subjects, from romantic fairy tales to heroic calls for political freedom, which inevitably led to bans on his performance. His opera overtures reflect the liveliness of his imagination and orchestration, and the exceptionally tuneful nature of his writing, as the music traverses imposing grandeur and lighter motifs alike. Malmo Opera Orchestra was founded in 1991. Consisting of 62 musicians, the orchestra is recognized for it's ability to master a wide range of musical styles: from the classic operas to contemporary music dramas and ballet.

Viva España And Mexico

This collection of popular excerpts from award-winning science fiction film scores brings together the spectacular compositions of some of the greatest American film composers of our time.

Richard Hayman's orchestra is surely the best of the American pops orchestras not associated with one of the major symphony orchestras (such as the Boston or Cincinnati Pops) and he's been making these kinds of recordings for decades. This issue was previously released in the early 1990s. #selections on this recording are: Can-Can, Funny Girl, Me and Juliet, Finian's Rainbow, Kiss Me Kate, Flower Drum Song, and Silk Stockings. Three by Cole Porter, two by Richard Rodgers, one each by Jule Styne and Burton Lane. The arrangements are for a string heavy orchestra.

Brusa: Orchestral Works, Vol. 1