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Francesco Cavalli (1602-1676) was a worthy successor to Monteverdi on the Venetian musical scene, and while his operas may not sustain the level of exalted musical inspiration and psychological depth of Monteverdi's, they come close enough to fully deserve the recognition they are beginning to receive. Like Monteverdi, Cavalli was a master dramatist, and his operas bristle with theatrical energy and vivid musical characterizations. L'Ormindo (1644), the first of his operas to be rediscovered (by Raymond Leppard, who conducted it at Glyndebourne in 1967), was written just two years after L'incoronazione di Poppea, and shares some of its attributes, most notably a remarkably expressive use of recitative, intriguing characters, and a dramatically arresting intermingling of comic and serious elements...

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Mahler’s Symphony No. 6 is brought vividly to life in a concert recording by Antonio Pappano and the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia performing in January 2011 to mark the composer’s double anniversary.

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Gerasimos Miliaresis (1918-2005) was the most important greek guitar virtuoso, composer, arranger and teacher. He was student of Andres Segovia from the very first year that the great master decided to teach in the Academy of Siena (1950). Segovia considered Miliaresis as one of the top guitarists worldwide and trusted him to teach in his place when he was away of the Academy. In this rare CD, Gerasimos Miliaresis, transcripts and interprets songs of Manos Hadjidakis, Mikis Theodorakis, and his own, based on traditional greek dances. A wonderful experience for every classical guitar lover.

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The virtuoso pianist and exclusive Chandos artist Louis Lortie here performs all three books, or ‘Years’, of Liszt’s Années de Pèlerinage (Years of Pilgrimage), a work rarely recorded in its entirety. Lortie has made more than thirty recordings for Chandos, covering a repertoire from Mozart to Stravinsky. His recording of Beethoven’s ‘Eroica’ Variations won an Edison Award; his disc of works by Schumann and Brahms was judged one of the best CDs of the year by BBC Music, and his interpretations of Liszt’s complete works for piano and orchestra and of Beethoven’s complete piano sonatas were both selected as Editor’s Choice in Gramophone.

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This is the second volume in a series devoted to the works for strings by Béla Bartók, with James Ehnes the featured soloist. Ehnes had earlier recorded the Violin and Viola Concertos (CHAN 10690), which was made Disc of the Month in Gramophone magazine. On this new recording, he turns to the Violin Sonatas and Rhapsodies, complemented by the earliest surviving work by Bartók for violin and piano, an Andante. He is accompanied by the pianist Andrew Armstrong.

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So much of Steve Reich’s music depends on shifting tensions and sonorities. The slightest harmonic tweak in the upper strings must be as committed as the most grounding and predictable left-handed piano thuds. Consequently, performing his works requires an almost telepathic connection between musicians and expert marshalling, perhaps even more so than any other contemporary composer. This new recording of Reich’s Desert Music and his Three Movements fortunately adheres to this maxim, presenting unpretentiously but effectively these effervescent, atmospheric works.

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being this the second recording of this opera,i found it similar at that of maestro Zedda.but it has the part of the story of the nymph Siringa sung by Pan at the end,what make us aware that this kind of situation it was no unique to Dafne, nor Apollo.Musically and vocally excellent.But as i have always said,you have to have a libretto or to know the language to apreciate this masterpiece, because is formed for long recitatives,that are so varied ,that they are diferents of the later comic,seria,romantic and wagnerian operas... By Domingo Warner Quijada "music fan" (santiago,chile)

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It's been six years since these same performers got together to create one of the decade's more unusual experiments in musical alchemy. Beginning with the raw materials of early music and modern jazz, the four male voices of the Hilliard Ensemble joined with jazz saxophonist Jan Garbarek to see what would happen when the proper measure of old music and new style were combined, shaped by the performers' considerable experience and collective aesthetic vision.

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This new release represents one of the comparatively rare recordings of the highly attractive string quartets by William Walton, one of England’s finest composers. The works are performed by the Doric String Quartet, exclusive Chandos artists and among the youngest and most impressive quartets on the classical music scene today. Their recent release, of the string quartets by Korngold, was given ‘Editor’s Choice’ in Gramophone.

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One of the benefits of the current “catalog-dumping” trend from major record labels these days is the gathering together of sets such as [this one], offering a trove of music that otherwise would be difficult or impossible to assemble from individual recordings, and many of which are no longer available singly. The 6-CD collection from Concerto Köln is the best overall, comprising some of the finest orchestral works from 18th-century Europe not written by Bach, Haydn, or Mozart, and celebrating the spirit and expressive capabilities and character of a smaller-sized, conductor-less instrumental ensemble... – David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

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Il turco in Italia has too long been regarded as a cheap knockoff composed by Rossini to capitalize on the great success of L’italiana in Algeri. In fact, the later opera has the superior libretto, and is markedly bolder in its technical demands and use of exotic colors. It isn’t as often performed, but when it is done with the energy and flair shown in this production of Pesaro’s Rossini Opera Festival, it works very well. FANFARE: Barry Brenesal

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French Impressions, Joshua Bell's first recital program for Sony Classical features the Grammy Award-winning violinist and his longtime friend and recital partner, pianist Jeremy Denk, offering a passionately nuanced interpretation of works by Saint-Saens, Ravel and Franck.

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EMI celebrates the 75th birthday of one of our most acclaimed and respected contemporary composers, Steve Reich. This album includes a world-premiere recording of a new scoring of Reich's "Six Pianos", entitled "Piano Counterpoint", arranged and performed by Vincent Corver, Pianist and Co-Founder of the Composer-Endorsed London Steve Reich Ensemble.

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Luisa Miller is known for a great tenoraria, Luciano Pavarotti often indcluded in his recitals. The hero of the opera played by Francesco Demura shows his fine voice an his dispair of a love corrupted by circumstances in his version of the aria. Maybe of special interest is, that this opera demonstrates something of the mature Verdi's "leitmotive": the affection between a father (a retired soldier) and his daughter, commoners in conflict with a corrupt aristocrasy (a story told with greater concentration and more musical highlights in Rigoletto) - and a caracter, called "Wurm", who is the factotum (a study so to tell for the future Jago in Othello) of the Count, father of the lover of Luisa. The story gets rather complicated, but finds ist grim ending with the dead of the lovers by poison and the respective fathers left in grief. By Erik Mortensen

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