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Thalberg: Fantasies on Operas by Donizetti / Nicolosi

Naxos

Available as CD

~~$19.99~~ $9.99

May 27, 2022

Sigismond Thalberg was one of the most distinguished pianists of his time, embarking on a solo career in the 1830s and touring as far as the Americas. Thalberg was considered a rival to Liszt though their supposed animosity was largely a journalistic invention. The creation of transcriptions of popular operatic melodies and their transformation into virtuoso concert pieces was hugely fashionable, but Thalberg’s treatments were also admired by Schumann for their Classical transparency, and for stylish technical innovations that saw him imitated throughout Europe. These fantasies on themes by Donizetti are full of the lyrical charm and drama of the original operas, combined with pianistic fireworks that delighted audiences worldwide.

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Thalberg: Fantasies on Operas by Donizetti / Nicolosi

~~$19.99~~ $9.99
CD

Naxos

May 27, 2022

8555502

Operatic Fantasies

Tactus

Available as CD

~~$21.99~~ $10.99

Sep 09, 2014

Non-professional lovers of music ranged, in their mastery of the instruments, from amateurs to concert performers. So the instrumental fantasias were “molded” to the patrons’ specific requirements, and nourished a constantly growing market. The history of Pietro Morlacchi (1828-68) and Antonio Torriani (1829-1911) coincides with the history of the success of instrumental music genre in Italy. That these of the many published fantasias of the time survived, testify to their musical worth.

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Operatic Fantasies

~~$21.99~~ $10.99
CD

Tactus

Sep 09, 2014

TC820002

Fantasies

Signum Classics

Available as CD

~~$20.99~~ $15.99

Apr 25, 2025

The youngest musician ever to win the International Tchaikovsky Competition Cello Division, exciting American cellist Zlatomir Fung has collated an album of opera fantasies including Fantasy on Jenufa which he arranged himself and a Fantasy written especially for him - Fantasia Carmen - by composer Marshall Estrin. After extensive research Fung found these fantasies for cello used recognizable tunes from famous operas to create a free medley and that there are few rules beyond the pure expression of the composer's personality, interests, and strengths as a cellist. But it's more unconventional elements reimagine the notion of the fantasy itself, proving that the genre's possibilities are far from exhausted-and, indeed, may only be in their infancy. After his Tchaikovsky competition win, Fung has garnered accolades, critical acclaim and standing ovations at performances around the world, more and more widely recognized as one of the preeminent cellists of our time. Astounding audiences with his boundless virtuosity and exquisite sensitivity, the 25-year-old has already proven himself a star among the next generation of world-class musicians.

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Fantasies

~~$20.99~~ $15.99
CD

Signum Classics

Apr 25, 2025

SIGCD882

Opera Fantasies / Ensemble Wien Berlin, Stefan Vladar

Sony Masterworks

Available as CD

~~$17.99~~ $13.99

Dec 17, 2009

OPERA FANTASIES ENSEMBLE WIEN

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Opera Fantasies / Ensemble Wien Berlin, Stefan Vladar

~~$17.99~~ $13.99
CD

Sony Masterworks

Dec 17, 2009

SONY52564

The Tales of Hoffmann

Opus Arte

Available as Blu-Ray

~~$39.99~~ $29.99

Nov 21, 2025

Through the haze of the years, a poet remembers the women he loved. But when it comes to matters of the heart, nothing is as it seems. Particularly when the devil himself is involved. Journeying back to his school days, Hoffmann (Juan Diego Florez) relives his childhood romance with Olympia, a model student in every sense. Doomed love follows him into adulthood, where the dancer, Antonia, is taken from him too soon. Meanwhile, the sensual courtesan Giulietta has her own secret agenda. As memory and fantasy become increasingly blurred, will Hoffmann find the enigmatic Stella before it is too late? Olivier award-winning director Damiano Michieletto returns to The Royal Opera for a new production of Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann alongside conductor Antonello Manacorda.

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The Tales of Hoffmann

~~$39.99~~ $29.99
Blu-Ray

Opus Arte

Nov 21, 2025

OA BD7330D

Thalberg: Fantasies On Operas By Donizetti / Nicolosi

Marco Polo

Available as CD

$19.99

Feb 09, 1993

Thalberg: Fantasies On Operas by Donizetti

Thalberg: Fantasies On Operas By Donizetti / Nicolosi

$19.99
CD

Marco Polo

Feb 09, 1993

8223365

Scenes & Fantasies

Challenge Classics

Available as SACD

~~$20.99~~ $15.99

Jun 01, 2018

The three works on this release span a period of fifteen years- years in which the young Schumann suffered forcible separation from his beloved Clara, followed by their marriage and a brief period of relative calm, to the increasing bouts of mental instability which were to close him off from the world around him until his death. The piano Fantasiestucke op. 111 was composed in 1851 during atime of deteriorating mental health and increasing disillusionment with his post as Music Director of the Dusseldorf Music Society. In contrast to the youthfully extroverted Fantasiestucke op. 12 of 1837, these three untitled pieces are “of a serious and passionate character,” as Clara described them. The Fantasie in C major op. 17 is one of Schumann’s most powerful large-scale piano works, composed during the bitter period of his enforced separation from Clara. Schumann completed his cycle of nine forest piano miniatures, Waldszenen, in 1849, while struggling with increasing bouts of mental instability and depression. Each piece is headed by a descriptive title. These masterly tone paintings display Schumann’s genius in creating miniature images consummate in expression, characterization and mood. Critics have praised Einav Yarden’s previous recordings for Challenge Classics: “She pairs Beethoven with Stravinsky to striking effect, merging that unlikely couple with imagination and exceptionally vivid playing.” (The Washington Post) “Yarden plays a wonderfully exuberant, vibrant Haydn, glowing, transparent, adventurous, at times intimately chamber-music-like, at times grand and orchestral. A voice for Haydn!” (Fono Forum)

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Scenes & Fantasies

~~$20.99~~ $15.99
SACD

Challenge Classics

Jun 01, 2018

CC 72776

Schumann: Fantasiestücke - Kreisleriana - Brahms: Theme & Va

Chandos

Available as CD

~~$21.99~~ $10.99

Feb 26, 2013

This is Volume 1 in Imogen Cooper’s new series on Chandos Records, dedicated to the complete works for piano by Robert Schumann. Recognised worldwide as a pianist of virtuosity and poetic poise, Imogen Cooper has established a reputation as one of the finest interpreters of the classical and romantic repertoire. She has dazzled audiences and orchestras throughout her distinguished career, bringing to the concert platform a unique musical understanding and lyrical quality.

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Schumann: Fantasiestücke - Kreisleriana - Brahms: Theme & Va

~~$21.99~~ $10.99
CD

Chandos

Feb 26, 2013

CHAN 10755

Thalberg: Fantasies on Italian Operas - Les Soirées de Pausilippe - Piano Concerto, Op. 5 / Nicolosi

Naxos

Available as CD

~~$51.99~~ $36.99

May 14, 2021

Sigismond Thalberg was a Wunderkind and one of the most accomplished virtuoso pianists of the 19th century. Mendelssohn, Chopin and Clara Schumann were impressed by his technical skills. As legend goes there was a big rivalry between Thalberg and Liszt, though mostly fomented by the press. Thalberg was also a composer whose focus laid mainly on fantasies on operatic themes. In the 19th century this was a genre aiming to delight audiences with the familiarity of known melodies, the ingenuity of the transcriptions and their spectacular virtuosity. Thalberg wrote fantasies on quite a number of opera by Italian composers. These fantasies and other works are presented now in a comprehensive set by the Italian pianist Francesco Nicolosi. Nicolosi specializes in the interpretation of Thalberg's composition and the result is truly remarkable. With an exquisite technique, a wonderful sound and an impeccable legato these recordings have no rival. They came to be in the 1990s as individual releases and brought Nicolosi the Bellini Golden Prize. They are now being made available for the first time as collector's item.

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Thalberg: Fantasies on Italian Operas - Les Soirées de Pausilippe - Piano Concerto, Op. 5 / Nicolosi

~~$51.99~~ $36.99
CD

Naxos

May 14, 2021

8506042

Fantasie Op. 17/ Sonate B-Dur

Orfeo

Available as CD

$16.99

Jul 04, 1995

Classical Music

Fantasie Op. 17/ Sonate B-Dur

$16.99
CD

Orfeo

Jul 04, 1995

ORF-C401951

Fantasia - Mozart on the Organ

Brilliant Classics

Available as CD

~~$12.99~~ $9.99

Feb 07, 2025

A unique take on Mozart's music from the organ loft. Mozart wrote sparingly for the solo organ - a relatively early collection of short Epistle Sonatas for liturgical use, and later on a few more individual pieces for a new mechanical organ. In neither case was he using the full extent of a large instrument as exploited by his Baroque predecessors. At the same time, Mozart himself was no stranger to the organ loft; he would have been regularly playing the instrument at St Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna had his plans come to fruition and he had lived long enough to attain the post of Director of Music there. Manuel Tomadin has imaginatively filled in this gap in the Mozart catalogue, as it were, with his own transcriptions of pieces particularly well suited to the soundworld of the organ. The A minor Sonata K310 shares a surging, Sturm und Drang sensibility with the two fantasias, in C minor and D minor. In turn this character lends itself to the Gothic grandeur of the 'king of instruments', when sensitively registered and nimbly executed. The coloristic possibilities of the organ, it's dynamic range and effects of perspective, are also put to dramatic use in bringing to life two of Mozart's opera overtures, from Cosi fan tutte and Die Zauberflote. Tomadin does not neglect the roots of Mozart's music in the Baroque, with a transcription of the rococo G major sonata K283 which he wrote at the age of 18, plus a much less familiar Preludio and Capriccio in C K394. In both of these pieces, Mozart was drawing on the legacy of CPE Bach, who had given him lessons as a child - a period to which Tomadin pays tribute with another rarity, one of the 'London Sketches' preserved in notebook form from the family's stay in the English capital. Tomadin has chosen an original and historically appropriate instrument for this fascinating exploration of Mozart on the organ, built in the late 1780s by the Montesanti firm for the parish church of Governolo in the province of Lombardy. The booklet includes a full specification of the organ, plus Tomadin's own introduction to the repertoire and his approach to it as a transcriber and performer. - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) had a profound connection with the church organ, an instrument that played a significant role in his musical development. As a child prodigy, Mozart was exposed to the organ in church settings, where he often performed. The organ's grandeur and complexity influenced his compositional style, particularly in his sacred music. - Although Mozart called it "The King of instruments" he wrote comparatively few works for the organ. Organist Manuel Tomadin professes his love for the composer and his considerable skill as an organist by transcribing several works for the organ: the overtures Cosi fan tutte and Die Zauberflote, two piano sonatas K 283 and 310, and several small keyboard works, perfectly suited for performance on the organ. - Played on a historical instrument: the 1788-1790 Andrea & Luigi Montesanti organ of the Parish Church of Governolo, Italy. - A feast of colours and timbres, celebrating the genius of Mozart's eternal music!

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Fantasia - Mozart on the Organ

~~$12.99~~ $9.99
CD

Brilliant Classics

Feb 07, 2025

BRI97249

Thalberg: Fantasies On Operas by Bellini

Naxos

Available as CD

$19.99

Jul 01, 2001

Thalberg: Fantasies On Operas by Bellini

Thalberg: Fantasies On Operas by Bellini

$19.99
CD

Naxos

Jul 01, 2001

8555498

Thalberg: Fantasies On Operas by Rossini

Naxos

Available as CD

$19.99

Jun 01, 2002

Thalberg: Fantasies On Operas by Rossini

Thalberg: Fantasies On Operas by Rossini

$19.99
CD

Naxos

Jun 01, 2002

8555501

Royal Opera: The Collection

Opus Arte

Available as DVD

~~$179.99~~ $134.99

Oct 06, 2017

The Royal Opera Collection brings together eighteen outstanding productions from The Royal Opera, spanning all-time classics and contemporary masterpieces. Featuring some of the world’s finest performers and leading directors, The Collection demonstrates the breadth of The Royal Opera’s work including Le nozze di Figaro, Carmen, Turandot, La traviata, Cavalleria rusticana, Pagliacci, and the Multiple award-winning Written on Skin. A special edition book is also included, containing new articles about The Royal Opera, richly illustrated with stunning photographs.

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Royal Opera: The Collection

~~$179.99~~ $134.99
DVD

Opus Arte

Oct 06, 2017

OA 1244BD

Schumann: Piano Sonata No. 1 - Fantasiestücke, Op. 12 - 3 Fa

Profil

Available as CD

~~$13.99~~ $10.99

May 29, 2012

From the start, it was literature and poetry which stimulated Schumann. His music is poetic, narrative and descriptive. Schumann preferred small forms, individual pieces that he often compiled into sets like the Intermezzi, Impromptus, Albumbletter and Kinderszenen, as well as the Fantasiestucke presented on this recording.

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Schumann: Piano Sonata No. 1 - Fantasiestücke, Op. 12 - 3 Fa

~~$13.99~~ $10.99
CD

Profil

May 29, 2012

PH12007

S. Wagner: Schwarzschwanenreich (Realm of the Black Swan) / Bach, Lukic, Thuringian SO

Marco Polo

Available as CD

$29.99

May 10, 1995

*** Please note: while the booklet includes a synopsis and notes in English, the printed libretto is in German only. ***

Schwarzschwanenreich ("Realm of the Black Swan") is that dark chamber of the human psyche in which a woman is driven by guilt and shame to kill her own illegitimate child. She is execrated by a cruel, intolerant society, and even the love of a good man cannot save her from the flames, although it does reconcile her to her fate.

Siegfried Wagner had all the basic skills needed to conceive a viable operatic plot and put together a serviceable libretto. The plot can obviously be linked with that of many operas whose heroines are in some sense outsiders, from Euryanthe to Elektra, and in 1910, when Schwarzschwanenreich was written, it could almost have been taken as a bid to wrest the high ground of expressionistic melodrama from such wild radicals as Schoenberg, not to mention the more conventional Zemlinsky or Schreker. Wresting the high ground was not Siegfried Wagner's way, however, and the leisurely lyricism of the opera's Prelude, harmonically constrained and rhythmically flaccid, gives notice that he prefers the happy endings of fairy tales to the harsh resolutions of tragedy. As with his first opera, Der Beirenhiriuter, the livelier scenes work best. There's a shameless rip-off of Hagen's vassalsummoning (GOtterddmmerung) in Act 1, and some strong moments of confrontation and recrimination later on, but even these tend to run out of steam, and attempts to modulate to a more elevated tone are at best bland and at worst banal.

Most of the Thuringian team throw themselves uninhibitedly into the piece. Kerstin Quandt is too restrained a villainess, but Beth Johanning and Walter Raffeiner, as the unfortunate heroine and her honest but ineffective lover, work through moments of vocal bluster to achieve some robustly ardent characterization. The recording strikes a reasonable balance between voices and orchestra, and the conductor sustains as high a level of dramatic engagement as the patchy score permits. The libretto included is in German only, but there is a detailed English synopsis.

-- Gramophone [11/1995]

S. Wagner: Schwarzschwanenreich (Realm of the Black Swan) / Bach, Lukic, Thuringian SO

$29.99
CD

Marco Polo

May 10, 1995

8223777-78

Opera Arias (Baritone): Luca, Giuseppe de - CILEA, F. / MASS

IDIS

Available as CD

~~$32.99~~ $16.49

Apr 03, 1999

Classical Music

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Opera Arias (Baritone): Luca, Giuseppe de - CILEA, F. / MASS

~~$32.99~~ $16.49
CD

IDIS

Apr 03, 1999

IDIS301-02

SCHUMANN: FANTASIE, OP. 17 - CARNIVAL SCENES

HARMONIA MUNDI

Available as CD

~~$22.01~~ $22.00

Feb 06, 2026

From the Fantasie Op. 17 - a pinnacle of lyricism and virtuosity - to the irresistible Carnival Scenes from Vienna, via the Humoreske that bubbles over with invention, Nikolai Lugansky explores three of Schumann's iconic masterpieces for piano: a compelling panorama of an intensely personal musical world, mingling passionate outbursts with ironic daydreams and poetic depths.

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SCHUMANN: FANTASIE, OP. 17 - CARNIVAL SCENES

~~$22.01~~ $22.00
CD

HARMONIA MUNDI

Feb 06, 2026

HMF902753.2

Fantasies, Rhapsodies & Daydreams / Steinbacher, Foster, Monte-Carlo Philharmonic

PENTATONE

Available as SACD

~~$21.99~~ $16.99

Sep 09, 2016

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.

Thrilling flights of fancy abound from violinist Arabella Steinbacher in Fantasies, Rhapsodies and Daydreams Spectacular virtuoso playing, bravura passagework and show-stopping melodies are balanced with wistful lyricism and sublime tone painting in this irresistible programme of perennial favourites, played with elan by the violinist Arabella Steinbacher with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, conducted by Lawrence Foster in this new release from Pentatone.

From the high jinks and outrageous showmanship of Franz Waxman's Carmen Fantasie and Pablo de Sarasate's Zigeunerweisen, to the fearsome technical demands of Ravel's Tzigane and the exquisite refinement of Saint-Saens' Havanaise and Introduction et Rondo capriccioso, this album harks back to an earlier era of violin playing.

REVIEW:

Were someone to ask me to suggest a disc to introduce them to the violin, I might well steer them in the direction of this one. I rather like the way she pushes on in the central section of The Lark Ascending, and it cleverly elides into the beginning of Saint-Saens's Havanaise. This, the Introduction and Rondo capriccio, and Ravel's Tzigane are given excellent performances. The standout performance comes with the Meditation from Massanet's Thais, done with breathtaking beauty, a turn-on for any newcomer to the violin.

– Gramophone

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Fantasies, Rhapsodies & Daydreams / Steinbacher, Foster, Monte-Carlo Philharmonic

~~$21.99~~ $16.99
SACD

PENTATONE

Sep 09, 2016

PTC5186536

Wagner: Die Feen

Belvedere Edition

Available as DVD

$32.99

Jun 14, 2013

While hunting at night, Prince Arindal encounters the beautiful fairy Ada. Both fall in love immediately. Arindal decides to be always at Ada's side in the fairy realm. The fairy king warns, however, if Arindal should ever leave Ada alone for longer than a year she will turn to stone. But the Prince must leave Ada. Will he be back on time? Wagner's opera Die Feen (The Fairies), a charming fairy tale about the magic of love and music, is featured here in a special adaptation for children by the Wiener Staatsoper.

Wagner: Die Feen

$32.99
DVD

Belvedere Edition

Jun 14, 2013

BVE10129

Tristan und Isolde

C Major Entertainment

Available as Blu-Ray

~~$45.99~~ $34.99

Apr 17, 2026

Semperoper Dresden presents an historic performance of Tristan and Isolde, directed by Marco Arturo Marelli and conducted by world-leading conductor Christian Thielemann. The sound he obtains from the Wagnerian score "fills the room with elegiac longing, drawing listeners into the emotional depths of the famous lovers." (Opera Online) Klaus Florian Vogt, in his debut as Tristan, is "fully present and convincing with natural phrasing and clear diction" (Opernmagazin), while Camilla Nylund as Isolde "convinced with her still incredibly lyrical, light soprano" (Sachsische Zeitung). At the zenith of his career, Christian Thielemann manages to set a new standard with his permeation of this difficult score and leads the Staatskapelle Dresden to new heights of artistic expression. "It would be most wonderful if this Tristan never ended." (Opernmagazin). "Brilliant performances that bring you to your knees". (Sachsische Zeitung)

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Tristan und Isolde

~~$45.99~~ $34.99
Blu-Ray

C Major Entertainment

Apr 17, 2026

770804

Lehar: Das Furstenkind / Schirmer, Muenchner Rundfunkorchester

CPO

Available as CD

~~$36.99~~ $25.99

Jun 25, 2013

Das Fuerstenkind (The Prince’s Child) has always been an “insider’s tip” in Lehár’s oeuvre, and the composer himself regarded this robbers’ tale from Greece premiered in 1909 as one of his best works. It was also his problem child because it never became a sensational success. The reason may have been due to the works blurring of boundaries between opera and operetta.

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Lehar: Das Furstenkind / Schirmer, Muenchner Rundfunkorchester

~~$36.99~~ $25.99
CD

CPO

Jun 25, 2013

777680-2

Ermanno Wolf-ferrari: Die Neugierigen Frauen

CPO

Available as CD

~~$36.99~~ $25.99

Jun 09, 2015

Premiering in Munich in 1903, Le donne curiose numbered among the greatest and earliest successes of the German-Italian composer Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari. No Wagnerian pathos or turn-of-the-century bombast here: Wolf-Ferrari’s merry work is based on a Carlo Goldoni comedy in the spirit of a newly discovered rococo. Le donne curiose formed the basis of his world renown as a composer whose dramatic talent was always overshadowed by the subtle humor of his buffo operas. Ulf Schirmer again presents a convincing case on his behalf (previous release: Wolf-Ferrari, Orchestral Works: cpo 777 567-2).

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Ermanno Wolf-ferrari: Die Neugierigen Frauen

~~$36.99~~ $25.99
CD

CPO

Jun 09, 2015

777739-2

Peter Seiffert - Magische Töne - Opera Arias / Jiri Kout

RCA

Available as CD

$17.99

Sep 11, 2007

Selections recorded April 25-29, 1992 and July 23, 1993.

Peter Seiffert - Magische Töne - Opera Arias / Jiri Kout

$17.99
CD

RCA

Sep 11, 2007

RCA61214

Sigismund Von Neukomm: Three Orchestral Fantasies; Sinfonie Heroique / Willens, Die Kolner Akademie

CPO

Available as CD

$18.99

Oct 30, 2012

Sigismund Neukomm (b. 1778) is best known today as a footnote in Haydn biographies, as one of the composer’s students and associates in his last years. But he lived until 1858, traveling all over Europe, from France, to Russia, to London, and even residing for a number of years in Brazil. It was in Rio de Janeiro in 1817 that he composed his Grande Sinfonie heroïque. The music is faux Haydn: just about about the only thing “heroïque” about it is the drumroll at the start. Check out the tune that begins the finale; it’s as if Beethoven had never existed.

The remaining works on the program represent an interesting illustration of musical aesthetics in the early 1800s. They represent Neukomm’s response to the problem of writing orchestral music that does not sound like Haydn and that employs “free” forms. Indeed, the “Dramatic Fantasia on some passages of Milton’s Paradise Lost,” composed in 1833 for the London Philharmonic Society, might be deemed a symphonic poem, though its general pleasantness reveals a composer lacking true fire in his belly. Still, the music is enjoyable, and the two earlier fantasies composed in 1806-8 reveal a composer clearly trying to find an individual identity while working in Haydn’s (still living) shadow.

The performances are very successful. I have had some pretty harsh things to say about Die Kölner Academy and Michael Willens (and he has replied in kind), particularly on account of their lousy Mozart piano concerto recordings on BIS. This is probably their most successful disc to date. Yes, the “period” string playing still lacks timbral allure, but the winds play characterfully, especially in the Milton fantasia, and the passages for full orchestra sound lively and bold. The fact that the music has no competition on disc also helps, as does the excellent engineering. Interesting stuff, this.

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Sigismund Von Neukomm: Three Orchestral Fantasies; Sinfonie Heroique / Willens, Die Kolner Akademie

$18.99
CD

CPO

Oct 30, 2012

777573-2

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