ENGLISH FESTIVAL

Selections recorded January 10 and June 16-17, 1990.

RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Snow Maiden / GLINKA: Overture

TCHAIKOVSKY / ARENSKY: Piano Trios

KODALY: Galanta Dances / Marosszek Dances / The Peacock

The Kodaly players enter animatedly into the spirit of the music; the leader, Attila Falvay, shows himself fully equal to Haydn's bravura embellishments in the demanding first violin writing. The Naxos sound is fresh and truthful. -- Penguin Gude [2003/4 Edition]

Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 1, Fantasia on Polish Airs & Anda

Mozart: Piano Trio, K. 498, 'Kegelstatt' / Violin Sonata No.

SPOHR: Piano Trios Nos. 2 and 4

Classical Music

CINEMA CLASSICS 2004

CORGHI: Divara - Wasser und Blut

This disc continues Marco Polo's tasteful chronicle of Argentinean composer Alberto Williams' music for solo piano. As in volume one, this selection collects several graceful waltzes and perky mazurkas (always a pleasure to listen to). But the standouts on this release are the extended pieces: Poem of the Bells (1912), Poem of the Ravine (1920), and Poem of the Valley (1920). Poem of the Bells may remind you of Rachmaninov's choral symphony, The Bells, but it's opening sequences hark back even further to Mussorgsky. The main influence on these extended tone poems for piano, however, sounds like it comes from Ravel, but this doesn't mean that Williams' music derives entirely from European modes. Poem of the Ravine and Poem of the Valley clearly display their Argentinean character, incorporating subtle folk motifs and songs from the pampas. Pianist Valentin Surif plays these works with obvious affection, and his attention to detail brings out their special flavor, particularly in the vivacious Poem of the Valley. Recommended for all fans of offbeat solo piano works in the Romantic mode.

In his famous novel the Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald coined the phrase 'the Jazz Age' to describe the flamboyant era that emerged in America after World War I.

SERRA: Orchestral Works