Tracklista:1 Mai Nozipo ("Mother Nozipo") 2 Saade ("I'm Happy") 3 Tilliboyo ("Sunset") 4 Ekitundu Ekisooka ("First Movement") 5 Escalay ("Waterwheel") 6 Wawshishijay ("Our Beginning") 7 I. White Man Sleeps 8 II. White Man Sleeps 9 III. White Man Sleeps 10 IV. White Man Sleeps 11 V. White Man Sleeps 12 Kutambarara (" Spreading")
Mahler completed his first symphony at the age of 24 and the work was considered a remarkable achievement, especially for someone so young. The symphony was originally conceived as a tone poem in the form of a symphony. Mahler drew inspiration from nature and described the epic final movement as a journey ‘from inferno to paradise’. Reviews: Choc Le Monde de la Musique
„Equinoxe Infinity” to długo oczekiwany sequel do słynnego albumu „Equinoxe” Jean-Michela Jarre’a, który ukazał się dokładnie czterdzieści lat wcześniej, 16 listopada 1978 roku. Płyta zawiera 10 zupełnie nowych utworów. Nowa część inspirowana jest relacją między ludzkością a nową technologią, zwłaszcza sztuczną inteligencją i zmianom, jakie zachodzą w nas w wyniku postępu technologicznego. Okładkę albumu, również nawiązującą do ikonicznej okładki oryginału, zaprojektował Filip Hodas. „W czasach, gdy winyl wraca na dobre, okładka ponownie zyskuje na znaczeniu i uwadze” – mówi Jean-Michel Jarre. Okładka »Equinoxe« zawsze była jedną z mych ulubionych. Czy te dziwne postaci nas obserwują? Patrzą w przestrzeń kosmiczną? Obserwują maszyny, czy zjawiska naturalne? Nie wiemy tego. Nie są straszne, ale są dziwne i tajemnicze. Wykorzystaliśmy ponownie motyw oryginalnego »Watchmena« na okładce, aby kontynuować tę historię”. Filip Hodas stworzył dwie okładki - jedna pokazuje ludzkość w zgodzie z naturą i technologią, inna obrazuje strach i zniszczenie, które maszyny sieją we świecie. „Dzięki obu pracom, chcę zwrócić uwagę na dwa scenariusze, z którymi możemy mieć dziś do czynienia, z powodu naszej miłości i uzależnienia od innowacji i technologii. Muzyka na Equinoxe Infinity to soundtrack tych dwóch światów” – mówi kompozytor. Specjalny box "Equinoxe Project" zawierają albumy „Equinoxe” i „Equinoxe Infinity” na CD, dwa 180g winyle, kartę do pobrania płyty oraz plakaty. Tracklista: CD 1 1. Equinoxe, Pt. 1 2. Equinoxe, Pt. 2 3. Equinoxe, Pt. 3 4. Equinoxe, Pt. 4 5. Equinoxe, Pt. 5 6. Equinoxe, Pt. 6 7. Equinoxe, Pt. 7 8. Equinoxe, Pt. 8 LP 1 Side A 1. Equinoxe, Pt. 1 2. Equinoxe, Pt. 2 3. Equinoxe, Pt. 3 4. Equinoxe, Pt. 4 Side B 1. Equinoxe, Pt. 5 2. Equinoxe, Pt. 6 3. Equinoxe, Pt. 7 4. Equinoxe, Pt. 8 CD 2 1. The Watchers (Movement 1) 2. Flying Totems (Movement 2) 3. Robots Don't Cry (Movement 3) 4. All That You Leave Behind (Movement 4) 5. If The Wind Could Speak (Movement 5) 6. Infinity (Movement 6) 7. Machines Are Learning (Movement 7) 8. The Opening (Movement 8) 9. Don't Look Back (Movement 9) 10. Equinoxe Infinity (Movement 10) LP 2 Side C 1. The Watchers (Movement 1) 2. Flying Totems (Movement 2) 3. Robots Don't Cry (Movement 3) 4. All That You Leave Behind (Movement 4) 5. If The Wind Could Speak (Movement 5) Side D 1. Infinity (Movement 6) 2. Machines Are Learning (Movement 7) 3. The Opening (Movement 8) 4. Don't Look Back (Movement 9) 5. Equinoxe Infinity (Movement 10)
Tracklista:1. Dark Autumn (Movement I)2. The Prod (Movement II)3. Sister Kim (Movement III)4. Four Shades of Darkness (Movement IV)5. Four Shades of Light (Movement V)6. Chorale (Movement VI)7. Martha (Movement VII)8. Blues for Jerome (Movement VIII)9. I See Your Face Before Me (Movement IX)10. Thank You for the Life You Have Given Me (Movement X)11. Dark Autumn (Movement XI)
Francesco Zappa to dość specyficzny album, wydany oryginalnie w roku 1984. Zawiera muzykę kameralną włoskiego kompozytora Francesco Zappy z lat 1763-1788. Muzyka ta, lubiana przez niektórych studentów, nie była nigdy opublikowana. Frank Zappa przerobił niektóre z utworów na swoim nowym cyfrowym syntezatorze (Synclavier System – Zappa był jednym z pierwszych jego użytkowników) i wydał na płycie. Warto dodać, że Francesco nie był krewnym Franka Zappy.Tracklista:1. Opus I: No. 1 First Movement: Andante – 3:322. No. 1 2nd Movement: Allegro con brio – 1:273. No. 2 1st Movement: Andantino – 2:144. No. 2 2nd Movement: Minuetto grazioso – 2:045. No. 3 1st Movement: Andantino – 1:526. No. 3 2nd Movement: Presto – 1:507. No. 4 1st Movement: Andante – 2:208. No. 4 2nd Movement: Allegro – 3:049. No. 5 2nd Movement: Minuetto grazioso – 2:2910. No. 6 1st Movement: Largo – 2:0811. No. 6 2nd Movement: Minuet – 2:0312. Opus IV: No. 1 1st Movement: Andantino – 2:4713. No. 1 2nd Movement: Allegro assai – 2:0214. No. 2 2nd Movement: Allegro assai – 1:2015. No. 3 1st Movement: Andante – 2:2416. No. 3 2nd Movement: Tempo di minuetto – 2:0017. No. 4 1st Movement: Minuetto – 2:10
Legendarna formacja Chicago od początku istnienia, czyli od przeszło 50 lat słynie z doskonałych koncertów. Członkowie Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame słyną też z tego, że genialnie wkomponowali instrumenty dęte do muzyki rockowej. Przykładem na to jest, chociażby wydany w 1970 roku drugi studyjny album, który ukazuje się w wyjątkowym, koncertowym wykonaniu pod tytułem „Chicago II: Live On Soundstage”. Płyta zawiera drugi album zespołu wykonany w całości na żywo, na potrzeby programu „The PBS Soundstage Series”. Występ odbył się w 2017 roku w rodzinnym mieście grupy, Chicago, w WTTW-TV Studios. Był rejestrowany przez kamery, dlatego oprócz wydania na CD i formie plików do posłuchania w streamingu lub ściągnięcia, ukazuje się również jako zestaw CD/DVD. Będzie też oczywiście coś dla kolekcjonerów. W zestawie CD/DVD znajdzie się też druga płyta, ponownie zmiksowana przez doskonale znanego w Polsce Stevena Wilsona. Przypomnijmy, że na wydanym w styczniu 1970 roku drugim albumie Chicago znalazły się evergreeny zespołu – „25 Or 6 To 4”, „Make Me Smile”, „Colour My World”. „Chicago” był przełomem w karierze grupy. Pokrył się w USA podwójną platyną, a formacja otrzymała za niego trzy nominacje do Grammy. Zespół Chicago wydał w swojej karierze 36 albumów, które sprzedały się w ponad 100 mln egzemplarzy. Wciąż koncertuje, a w jego składzie jest trzech oryginalnych muzyków: Robert Lamm (klawisze, śpiew), Lee Loughnane (trąbka, flugelhorn) i James Pankow (puzon). Oprócz nich drugą płytę latem 1969 roku nagrywali jeszcze: Peter Cetera (gitara basowa, śpiew), Terry Kath (gitara, śpiew), Walter Parazaider (saksofon, flet) i Danny Seraphine (perkusja). Walter figuruje wciąż w składzie Chicago, lecz nie koncertuje z kolegami. Tracklista: Chicago II: Live On Soundstage 1. Movin’ In 2. The Road 3. Poem For The People 4. In The Country 5. Wake Up Sunshine 6. Ballet For A Girl In Buchannon Make Me Smile So Much To Say, So Much To Give Anxiety’S Moment West Virginia Fantasies Colour My World To Be Free Now More Than Ever 7. Fancy Colours 8. Memories Of Love 9. It Better End Soon 1st Movement 2nd Movement 4th Movement 10. Where Do We Go From Here 11. 25 or 6 to 4
Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of Vivaldi's multiple-instrument concertos!The term 'con molti istromenti' (Vivaldi's own) refers not so much to the literal number of instruments involved as to their variety and unusual deployment. For an Italian concerto of the period to use wind instruments at all would be unusual; Vivaldi combines recorders, oboes, chalumeaux, horns and bassoons alongside a wide-ranging complement of strings, itself including viole all'inglese and the even more obscure violins 'in tromba marina'.The composer's opportunity to write such works arose largely from the talented pool of girls available at the Pietà orphanage in Venice. These expert musicians would turn their hands to whatever Vivaldi could possibly desire and the resultant scoring is colourful (sometimes outrageously so) and inexhaustibly inventive.Introduction EnglishFrançaisDeutschFive of the seven works featured on this recording belong to a kind of concerto that scholars of all nationalities tend to call, for want of a better alternative, the ‘concerto con molti istromenti’ (literally, ‘concerto with several instruments’). The description is Vivaldi’s own and appears as a heading in two of his manuscripts (one of them that of RV555). It corresponds exactly, in translation, to the expression ‘concerts avec plusieurs instruments’ used by Bach for his six Brandenburg Concertos. ‘Molti’ and ‘plusieurs’ refer less to the total number of instruments employed—one could, after all, perform conventional solo concertos with heavily doubled orchestral parts, so increasing the number of instruments without limit—than to their variety. Vivaldi, like Bach, revels in contrast, in the combination or juxtaposition of rare, or rarely associated, instruments.‘Concerti con molti istromenti’ were very unusual in Italy, much more common in Germany. The main reason for their rarity south of the Alps must have been the relative paucity of wind instruments (whose presence is normal in such concertos). Exceptionally among his Italian contemporaries, Vivaldi wrote them in considerable quantity: about thirty survive. The need to produce them probably occurred irregularly, in connection with special events. Most of the concertos can be associated with one of four venues or types of event.The largest and most interesting group belonged to the repertoire of the Ospedale della Pietà, the home for foundlings that was one of four such charitable institutions (known as ospedali grandi) found within Venice. All four systematically trained a section of their female population as musicians, both vocalists and instrumentalists. These musicians, who collectively made up the coro (literally, ‘choir’, but in this instance including the instrumentalists as well), performed regularly at services in the respective institution’s chapel. The prime purpose of these performances, viewed as remarkable throughout Europe on account of the musicians’ extraordinary proficiency (especially in relation to their gender), was to earn the favour of the local and visiting public, which would then, it was hoped, result in legacies or similar benefits. While all four ospedali boasted choirs capable of vying with one another, the Pietà (which, as the most populous, had the largest pool of talent on which to draw) was, in Vivaldi’s day, unrivalled in the sphere of instrumental music. A French connoisseur of music, Charles de Brosses, wrote in 1739: ‘Out of the four ospedali, the one that I visit most often, and where I enjoy myself most, is the Pietà; it is also the best for instrumental music. What disciplined playing! It is only there that one hears the impeccably coordinated attack [premier coup d’archet] on which the Paris Opéra so falsely prides itself.’ The Pietà assembled, over the years, a huge and diverse instrumentarium for the benefit of the girls and women of the coro. When Charles de Brosses enthuses, ‘[they] play the violin, the flute, the organ, the oboe, the cello, the bassoon; in short, there is no instrument large enough to scare them’, he is actually understating the case. Instruments rare enough anywhere—and virtually unknown in Italy—found their way into the Pietà. Among the stringed instruments were the viola d’amore, with its six fingered and six resonating strings, the viola all’inglese (a mysterious six-stringed instrument built in several sizes whose middle member Leopold Mozart referred to, a few decades later, as the ‘Englisches Violett’, or ‘English Viola’) and two violins specially modified in an unknown way to sound like trombe marine (these ‘trumpets marine’ were a kind of bowed monochord that produced a peculiar rattling sound on account of their freely vibrating bridge). Among the woodwind instruments were at least two sizes of chalumeau (elder cousin to the clarinet which, lacking a speaker key, played mostly in its fundamental register), the clarinet itself (whose presence in Vivaldi’s oratorio Juditha Triumphans of 1716 (recorded by the same artists on Hyperion CDA67281/2) marks its first datable appearance in an Italian score), the sopranino recorder and perhaps also the flageolet. Trumpets were also available, although the horn was not cultivated until 1747, after Vivaldi’s death. Many members of the coro played several instruments, including some of the more exotic ones. For instance, the famous violinist Anna Maria is lauded (in an anonymous poem dating from the middle of the 1730s) for her equal mastery of the harpsichord, cello, viola d’amore, lute, theorbo and mandolin.To accommodate this wealth of instruments and talented performers, the Pietà appended purely instrumental music to its services. After the finish of what was called the ‘ordinary’ music (at Vespers this would constitute the five Psalms and a Magnificat, to which, perhaps, a few motets for solo voice would be added), the instrumentalists treated the congregation to a feast of orchestral playing. As described by an anonymous German visitor in 1725: ‘When the singing is done, there customarily follows, at the Pietà, a splendid concert, which always deserves to be heard as much as a whole opera.’During such performances the female instrumentalists, who could number over twenty, were largely invisible to the congregation-cum-audience for reasons of decorum. In the galleries at the sides of the chapel their forms were obscured by grilles, over which black gauze was draped for added concealment. However, this invisibility gave them, and the composers who worked for them, the advantage of surprise. Players could exchange instruments out of public view, and intriguing new sounds could emerge without warning. And because the Pietà’s orchestra was an unusually subservient body (all its members—even the internationally famous ‘stars’—were in legal terms only wards of the institution), inequalities and inconsistencies in the use of solo instruments could be tolerated without ruffling any feathers. In a way, the Pietà’s players prefigured the ‘session’ musicians of today: competent, versatile and pliable in high degree.Vivaldi’s close links with the Pietà (at various times, as teacher of the violin and other stringed instruments, director of the orchestra and purveyor of musical compositions) during most of his working life require little comment. So far as the composition of concertos was concerned, his most productive period was that stretching from 1723 to 1729, during which time he supplied the Pietà by contract with two concertos every month, attaining a total of almost one hundred and fifty. Most of these were conventional solo concertos, but there was scope for several other kinds: with two or more soloists; with no soloists; with soloists but no orchestra; for divided ensemble.The second natural ‘home’ for concertos with several soloists was the opera house. Opera orchestras of Vivaldi’s day regularly included, in addition to the usual strings and continuo instruments, a pair of oboes (capable of doubling on other wind instruments), one or more bassoons and a pair of horns. Occasionally, unusual instruments such as the psaltery and the viola d’amore were added for special expressive effect in an aria, thereby becoming available for use also in the instrumental music heard before and during the opera. Later in the century the critic and biographer J A Hiller identified Vivaldi’s Concerto RV571, which has parts for two oboes, two horns and bassoon, as one performed at a Venetian opera house (evidently that of S. Angelo) in 1717. He may have been wrong over the precise identification (the surviving score in Dresden was not copied—in Venice, by the flautist J J Quantz—until 1726), but the type of concerto seems exactly right.Lavishly scored concertos could also be suited to church festivals for which especially large orchestras were recruited. For instance, the two fashionable Venetian convents of S. Lorenzo and S. Maria della Celestia went to enormous expense each year to obtain the services of the leading musicians, not merely of Venice but of the whole peninsula, for their respective patronal festivals.Finally, a few permanent orchestras, mainly outside Italy, were equipped to perform them. Vivaldi enjoyed especially close relations with the orchestra of the Saxon court based at Dresden ever since the visit to the Pietà of the electoral prince (later Frederick Augustus II) in 1712. In 1716 the leading violinist of the court orchestra (Hofkapelle), Johann Georg Pisendel, accompanied the same prince on a longer visit to Venice, becoming Vivaldi’s pupil, friend and (after his return) enthusiastic advocate. The Hofkapelle boasted numerous expert wind players who naturally required exposure in the form of solo parts. Two of Vivaldi’s ‘concerti con molti istromenti’—RV576 and 577—were expressly written by Vivaldi for this orchestra, and the very numerous concertos of this type preserved in the court musical archive (today held by the Sächsische Landesbibliothek) point to its importance as a destination for heavily scored works. Moreover, Pisendel, no mean composer himself, was in the habit of ‘customizing’ orchestral works taken into the repertoire of the Hofkapelle, of which he became director in 1729; in this way, not a few conventional concertos have been transformed, via his handiwork, into synthetic ‘concerti con molti istromenti’!When discussing the character of Vivaldi’s concertos of this type, one must be careful to distinguish between the form, which is, in Vivaldian terms, perfectly conventional, and the scoring, which is colourful (sometimes outrageously so) and inexhaustibly inventive. In ‘solo’ sections the multiple soloists appear variously in alternation and in combination with each other. The patterns that their interplay creates are deliberately kept unpredictable, subject to no routine. In ‘tutti’ sections, where in ordinary solo concertos the soloist merely doubles the appropriate orchestral line, Vivaldi adopts a surprisingly progressive approach that anticipates the symphonic practice of the second half of the eighteenth century. Here, the solo instruments frequently have independent, or semi-independent, parts. These are not necessarily prominent, but they give the orchestral texture an added warmth and richness.RV574, whose two instruments named as ‘tromboni da caccia’ are merely trompes de chasse, or horns, is almost certainly an ‘opera-house’ concerto. Its partly autograph score is headed, in Vivaldi’s hand, ‘Concerto per S.A.S.I.S.P.G.M.D.G.S.M.B.’. Many have tried their hand at interpreting this dedication, but a plausible solution arrived only in 1995, when Carlo Vitali completed the initials to read: ‘Sua Altezza Serenissima Il Signor Principe Giuseppe Maria De’ Gonzaga Signor Mio Benignissimo’ (‘His Most Serene Highness My Lord Prince Giuseppe Maria De’ Gonzaga, My Most Kind Master’). Gonzaga, the music-loving younger brother of the duke of the small territory of Guastalla (adjoining Mantua), was in fact Vivaldi’s choice of dedicatee for the printed libretto of an opera performed under his direction at S. Angelo in early 1714, so it would not be too fanciful to identify the concerto as entr’acte music for that very occasion.The evocative Concerto funebre, RV579, was probably written in the mid-1720s for performance at the funeral of a patron or governor of the Pietà. The highly original, indeed unique, combination of a muted oboe, a tenor chalumeau and a trio (two soprano instruments and one bass) of viole all’inglese, accompanied by muted strings, lends this work a suitably lugubrious tone, which is only lightened a little when the mutes come off for the fourth movement. The slow opening movement is an adaptation of a sinfonia for a solemn procession to an execution in Vivaldi’s opera Tito Manlio (1719), while the fourth movement borrows the material of the finale of the Concerto without soloist RV123.RV562—composed, according to its title, for the feast of St Lawrence—was copied out by Pisendel during his Venetian sojourn of 1716/7. It may therefore relate to the celebration of this martyr’s feast on 9/10 August 1716. Since, according to its liturgical calendar, the Pietà did not celebrate this feast with music (other than chant), it is very possible that Vivaldi composed the concerto for the Venetian convent dedicated to the saint, and that either he or Pisendel took the prominent solo violin part. The written-out cadenza for the third movement recycles material used earlier in that of the Concerto RV208. Such self-borrowing was facilitated by the fact that cadenzas acquired the habit of referring directly to the main material of the movement only much later in the century; being athematic, they possessed a ‘passe-partout’ quality.RV97 is a real oddity: a ‘chamber’ concerto without orchestral strings that in other respects adopts all the mannerisms of a ‘concerto con molti istromenti’ in F major, right down to the allusions to hunting calls (and, by extension, to the world of princely courts) associated with horns playing in this key. Vivaldi could well have written the viola d’amore part for himself to play (a recently discovered document records that on 25 April 1717, passing through the town of Cento, he played this instrument at Vespers in the Church of the Holy Name of God, which was ‘so packed with people that they struggled among themselves and spilled out half way into the street’). Another peculiarity is the presence of an introductory slow movement, a feature otherwise almost unknown among Vivaldi’s concertos without orchestra. It is certainly a mature (post-1720) work; I suspect that it was written for an intimate private concert held in honour of some nobleman.The Concerto RV781, formerly designated RV563 in Peter Ryom’s general catalogue of Vivaldi’s works, is technically only a ‘double’ concerto, since the third solo instrument, a violin, appears separately, and only in the central slow movement. It survives only in a contemporary copy in Vienna. The wind parts are nominally for oboe, but they observe the style, and the restricted choice of notes, of the natural trumpet. This has led several scholars to speculate whether, in fact, the intended instruments are not trumpets rather than oboes, a view to which the present recording subscribes. (Actually, the question is more complex than at first it seems, since the oboe was frequently used in the early eighteenth century as an ersatz trumpet; consider, for example, the use of the solo oboe as a partner to the solo trumpet in the opening movement of Vivaldi’s Gloria, RV589.) What is not in doubt is the very early date of the concerto; it may have been composed before 1710 when Vivaldi was still groping towards the style that finally blazed forth in L’estro armonico of 1711.RV555, the most extravagantly scored of all the concertos in this recording, poses a riddle—the identity of the pair of instruments that appear for the first time in the finale and are labelled ‘2 Trombe’. The problem with accepting this designation at face value is that these parts, while often fanfare-like in character and therefore related in a general sense to the trumpet style, contain too many notes in the octave above middle C that are unplayable on the natural instrument. There are other technical difficulties, and also problems of balance with the rest of the ensemble. Robert King’s novel solution, which I find fully convincing, is to interpret trombe as a shorthand form of violini in tromba marina (the recording employs ordinary violins played near the bridge and making maximum use of harmonics in an attempt to simulate the historical instruments). There is a precedent for this. For a similar concerto in C major, RV558 (specially written for a visit of Frederick Augustus’ son to the Pietà in 1740), Vivaldi’s copyist wrote ‘violini in tromba marina’ on the title-page but abbreviated this to ‘trombe’ or ‘trombe marine’ in the score itself. The relevant parts in RV555 possess exactly the same general characteristics as those in RV558. Similarly, the ‘violino in tromba’ required in the solo concertos RV221, 311 and 313 may in reality be, as argued by Cesare Fertonani in a recent book on Vivaldi’s instrumental music, a ‘violino in tromba marina’. The point is that, with Vivaldi, so many options remain open: what was yesterday’s heresy can so easily turn into today’s orthodoxy.RV566, probably also dating from the 1720s and written for the Pietà, features as its solo instruments pairs of recorders, oboes and violins. It is noteworthy how, in the outer movements, the solo episodes are almost entirely reserved for the violins (as in an orthodox concerto for two violins), although the wind instruments have plenty of ‘solo’ phrases to play during the tutti (ritornello) sections. As so often in his concertos, Vivaldi gives the central slow movement a chamber-music scoring, reserving it for a trio of recorders and bassoon.Michael Talbot © 1998
Tides From Nebula "Eternal Movement" to trzeci albumem zespołu, tym razem jako reedycja na płycie winylowej (Wydanie typu gatefold). Inspiracją do kompozycji były dla muzyków fundamentalne pytania o byt, świadomość i tożsamość. Tytułowy „Eternal Movement” to ruch na poziomie elementarnym. Gdy przyjrzymy się światu w mikroskali, wejdziemy głęboko w atom, zostaje tylko energia, a więc ruch. Wszystko czym jesteśmy, a czego nie widzimy, to tak naprawdę ruch. Jak mówią muzycy: „krążek to ich najbardziej energetyczny i pełen światła album”. Jest również najbardziej kolorowy pod względem brzmieniowym. Podczas nagrywania zostało użytych kilkanaście gitar, kilka zestawów bębnów oraz niezliczona ilość brzmień klawiszy. Produkcją płyty zajął się Norweg Christer-Andre Cederbeg, który był producentem m.in. ostatniego albumu grupy Anathema - „Weather Systems”. Tracklista: 1. Laughter Of Gods 2. Only With Presence 3. Satori 4. Emptiness Of Yours And Mine 5. Hollow Lights 6. Now Run 7. Let It Out, Let It Flow, Let It Fly 8. Up From Eden
Piano Trio No. 1 Although Anton Arensky studied for a time under Rimsky-Korsakov at the St Petersburg Conservatory, his musical affiliation seems closer to Tchaikovsky, and it was to the Moscow Conservatory – where Tchaikovsky’s eclectic approach to music to some extent balanced the nationalistic school of ‘The Mighty Handful’, including RimskyKorsakov – that Arensky went as a teacher of theory and composition after having gained the Gold Medal in St Petersburg. His own most important student was Rachmaninov.Arensky wrote three operas, two symphonies, a piano concerto, incidental music to a production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest and a number of choral and chamber works, including two trios for piano, violin and cello. The first of these, in D minor, was published in 1894, the year in which Balakirev, founder of the ‘Mighty Handful’, suggested Arensky as his successor as Director of Music at the St Petersburg Imperial Chapel. The trio was inspired by Karl Davïdov who had died five years earlier. Davïdov, a cello virtuoso, founded the Russian school of cello playing, and the trio bears posthumous testimony to his work at the St Petersburg Conservatory which he joined in 1863 and where he served as Director from 1876 until 1886.The first movement is built around three themes, the first dramatic, the second lyrical and the third impetuous. It is followed by a playful Scherzo which provides a natural continuance to the thoughtful coda of the previous movement and contains an example of what became known as the ‘Arensky Waltz’. The movement is a scherzo more in character than in form, and the waltz appears as the central trio, offering full-blooded contrast to the lighter mood of the main sections, themselves tinged with Mendelssohnian delicacy, spiced with pizzicato passages.The Elegia also has a central section, its texture a light contrast to the preceding conversation between the violin and muted cello. The piano, which provides a dark-hued dotted backing to the dialogue of the strings, relaxes in the central section where it takes pride of place. The Finale is a dramatic rondo with two ideas, the first strong and vigorous, the second gentler and given to the two string instruments. In an Andante episode the central part of the Elegia is recalled, and the first theme of the first movement returns at the end to bring a sense of unity to the work. © Denby RichardsPiano Trio No. 2 While the Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor is perhaps Arensky’s best-known chamber work, the Piano Trio No. 2 in F minor remains virtually unknown. Composed in 1905, a year before the composer’s death, the second trio is less abrupt and more expansive than the first, almost symphonic in its dimensions.The first movement is in straightforward sonata form with two contrasting themes. The piano opens alone, the unison strings later joining in with a countermelody. The roles are then reversed, the strings playing the theme while the piano soon after takes up the countermelody. The second theme, which follows, is much more lyrical than the first, with the piano accompanying the strings. The short coda is loud and fast, strikingly different from the rest of the movement.After a brief introduction, the secondmovement Romance begins with a piano solo in the style of a nocturne by Chopin. The melody is taken over by the strings, and the piano and strings work together throughout the movement to weave a beautiful melodic tapestry.In the virtuosic third-movement Scherzo the strings play with spiccato (bouncing bow) and pizzicato effects. There are rippling arpeggios in the piano, and at times it almost sounds as if these are played pizzicato, too. The elegant contrasting trio opens with a slower, lyrical solo for the cello, the violin and cello later playing in unison; the piano has an accompanying role throughout.The finale is a Tema con variazioni. The block-chordal theme, with interesting harmonic twists, is introduced by the piano alone. The first variation is a flowing, songlike melody in the strings, accompanied by arpeggios in the piano. In the second variation the piano takes centre stage with a lively display, accompanied by pizzicato strings. The third variation is waltz-like, with a fluttering accompaniment. Virtuoso runs are featured in the lively, agitated fourth variation. The fifth is an ornamented waltz played rubato, first by solo piano, then by cello with piano accompaniment, and at last by violin and piano. The sixth and final variation, played bravura, is characterised by wide-ranging melodies. The return of the first movement’s opening theme leads to a quiet ending. © Borodin TrioThe Borodin Trio was formed after its members emigrated from the Soviet Union in 1976, since when they have played in all the major cities of Europe and America, as well as making a tour of Australia. Rostislav Dubinsky founded the legendary Borodin Quartet and served as its first violinist for thirty years. His wife, Luba Edlina, is best known for her brilliant performances and recordings as a pianist with the Borodin Quartet. The cellist Yuli Turovsky gave many acclaimed performances as soloist with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra before emigrating to Montreal. He is the founding Music Director and conductor of I Musici de Montréal.
Pochodzący z Austrii (spotyka się również określenie że z Niemiec) wybitny kompozytor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart urodzony w 1756 w Salzburgu, zmarł w 1791 roku w Wiedniu. Prócz komponowania Mozart był również wirtuozem instrumentów klawiszowych, jego twórczość w większości otoczona była głównie austriackim Wiedniem. Należał do „klasyków wiedeńskich” do którego zaliczani są prócz Mozarta, Haydna i Beethovena. Tracklista: CD 1 1. Due pupille amabili 2. Adagio 3. Luci care, luci belle 4. Esquisse d'un allegro assai 5. Adagio 6. Piu Non Si Trovano 7. Movement 1 8. Movement 2 9. Movement 3 10. Ach zu kurz CD 2 1. Esquisse du concerto in G major 2. Terzett. Liebes Mandel, wo ist's Bandel? 3. Unknown 4. Se lontan, ben mio 5. Adagio 6. Allegretto 7. Andante - Allegretto Tranquillo - Andante 8. Allegretto 9. Ecco Quel Fiero Istante 10. Esquisse d'un allegro 11. Bona Nox