REGER: Clarinet Quintet, Op. 146 / String Quartet, Op. 109

Martinu composed more music for cello and piano than any major composer since Beethoven, and much of his output for this difficult combination remains virtually unknown. This disc fills a useful repertoire gap, containing as it does only non-sonata music. I was less than impressed with the Bendas' somewhat rough-and-ready approach to the three cello sonatas in Volume 1 of this series, but things sound better here. Perhaps the lighter tone of the music permits them to take it all a bit less seriously, but cellist Christian Benda's tone appears in a markedly more winsome light, and Sebastian Benda balances his partner with more consideration. Both players spring the rhythms across the bar lines in the way Martinu always demands, and the Naxos recording captures them faithfully. The music itself is delightful: try the delicious Pastorales for a surprising treat that's actually a larger work than any of the better-known sonatas (the four Nocturnes are similarly expansive). The two variation sets also offer an abundance of charm and insouciant wit. Where has this music been? Well, now there's no excuse for not getting to know it! [9/16/2000] --David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Bach's Christmas Oratorio consists of six cantatas, the first of which was first performed at Christmas in 1734 at the town church of Leipzig, the Nikolaikirche, in the morning, with an afternoon performance at the Tomaskirche. The second part was performed on 26th December, in the morning at the Tomaskirche and in the afternoon at the Nikolaikirche, while the third was performed only at the Nikolaikirche on 27th December. The fourth part was performed first on 1st January 1735, the Feast of the Circumcision, at the Tomaskirche and in the afternoon at the Nikolaikirche, while the fifth for the first Sunday of the New Year, 2nd January, was only performed in the morning at the Nikolaikirche. The sixth part was given two performances on 6th January, the Feast of the Epiphany, first at the Tomaskirche and then at the larger Nikolaikirche. Although the work makes considerable use of music originally composed for other purposes, the cycle was clearly conceived as a unified work, to which the elaboration of the first chorale at the end of the sixth part bears witness. The impression is enforced by choice of keys and formal structure, in spite of the original intention of performance of each part on a different day during the twelve days of Christmas. The first three parts deal with Christmas itself, the birth of Christ and the message to the shepherds at Bethlehem. The Evangelist intervenes only once in the fourth part to mention the circumcision and naming of Jesus. In the fifth are the reactions of the Wise Men to Bethlehem, their departure ending the Evangelist's account. The instruments used in the Christmas Oratorio include the ubiquitous four part string orchestra, with a keyboard continuo part for organ, the bass line doubled by cello and bassoon. Transverse flutes, rather than recorders, are used in some movements while the oboes used include pairs of ordinary oboes as well as pairs of the alto and tenor of the family, the oboe d'amore and the oboe da caccia. Brass instruments include three natural trumpets, their melodic parts restricted by their nature to the brilliant upper clarino register. Timpani make their due appearance with the trumpets. Two natural horns, corni da caccia, make a brief appearance in two numbers in the fourth part. There are four vocal soloists, soprano, alto, tenor and bass.

Bartók: Piano Music, Vol. 2

Bartok: Piano Music, Vol. 1: Suite for Piano - 7 Sketches -

FRANCK: Great Organ Works, Vol. 1

The Deutsche Schubert-Lied-Edition presents all Schubert' Lieder, over 700 songs, grouped according to the poets who inspired him.

Schubert set the poetry of over 115 writers to music. He selected poems from classical Greece, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, from eighteenth-century German authors, early Romantics, Biedermeier poets, and Heine.

Alberto Williams was the most influential Argentinean classical musician of the 20th century. As a pianist and conductor he brought distinction to the concert stage, while his compositions include nine symphonies among a considerable orchestral output. Yet it was in the field of education that he made his most significant contribution to music in South America, opening a Conservatoire in Buenos Aires on European lines. In his music he successfully merged a European musical training with an attractive and distinctive South American idiom. He was gifted in writing the most pleasing melodies, his piano works often coming close to the salon style of the late 19th century.

Verdi wrote his Egyptian opera Aida in response to a commission from the Khedive of Egypt for the opening of the new Cairo Opera House, after rejecting requests for an anthem to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal a year earlier. The first performance was conducted by the famous double-bass player Bottesini. Spectacle, of which some stage directors have made much, is provided particularly in the return of the victorious Radames in triumph. The story was the invention of the French egyptologist Auguste Mariette, elaborated in French prose by Camille Du Locle, before the final Italian text was drafted. Aida remains a popular part of Italian opera repertoire. Familiar concert excerpts from Aida inevitably include the tenor Celeste Aida (Heavenly Aida) and Aida's Ritorna vincitor (Return victorious). The grand march has celebrated many an unoperatic festivity and has allowed spectacular extravagance in more ostentatious productions of the opera. O patria mia (O my homeland) for Aida in the third act adds a particular poignancy, while the final death scene of Radames and Aida is also sometimes to be heard in dramatic isolation.

Puccini's version of Manon Lescaut was first mounted at the Teatro Regio in Turin on 1st February 1893, the year and month of the first production of Verdi's Falstaff in Milan. The opera proved an immediate success. It was staged at Covent Garden and at the Grand Opera House of Philadelphia the following year. There were subsequent revisions and temporary changes, with alterations in orchestration suggested by Toscanini for performances at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, these last incorporated in the later published score. The libretto itself, effective enough, in spite of its multiple authorship, offers certain problems, not least in the omission of the original second act suggested by Praga and Oliva and set in the Paris apartment of Des Grieux, although what has happened in the interval between the present first and second acts is quickly apparent.

Schubert set the poetry of over 115 writers to music. He selected poems from classical Greece, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, from eighteenth-century German authors, early Romantics, Biedermeier poets, and Heine.

DANZI: Wind Quintets, Op. 68, Nos. 1-3 / Horn Sonata, Op. 44

LA RUE: Mass of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin / M

On Naxos 554704; 1 CD; This is one of the most delicious recordings of Donizetti's delectable opera, and here are 77 minutes of choice highlights from the complete recording!! All the hits are here, and this CD presents one magnificent melody after another, each one delightfully sung!!! And, of all the highlights CD's of "L'Elisir," this one has the most music.