Apolloni / Domenico / Piccoli - L'ebreo - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Completed in 1891 and 1895 respectively, the Piano Concerto No. 1 and the D minor Symphony were Sergei Rachmaninov's first large-scale orchestral compositions, written by a young man still in his early 20s. The composer, whose self-critical vein was evident from the start, almost immediately decided to revise the concerto, even though he did choose to perform it in it's original form when he made his London d+-but as a pianist in 1899. Two years earlier, the symphony had been premiered, an event which has become notorious as one of music's great disasters The rehearsal time had been completely inadequate, and Glazunov, who conducted the work, was less than sympathetic to it - and may also have been drunk during the performance. The scathing reception caused Rachmaninov to doubt not only the quality of the work, but his own gifts as a composer, and he didn't write anything of importance for three years. In 1917, he did revise the piano concerto, making use of the experience gained from having in the meantime composed the immensely successful 2nd and 3rd piano concertos and performing them numerous times himself. Rachmaninov also repeatedly expressed the wish to return to his first symphony, but the score was lost in the upheavals of the Russian revolution and the composer's move to the USA. Not until after his death in 1943 was a set of the original orchestral parts rediscovered. That Rachmaninov never forgot the work is however proven by the fact that he quoted it in his very last orchestral composition, the Symphonic Dances from 1940. The Singapore Symphony Orchestra and Lan Shui have previously impressed critics worldwide with their performances of Rachmaninovs Second and Third Symphony, and are once again joined by the piano soloist Yevgeny Sudbin, with whom the team recently recorded what the reviewer in American Record Guide described as 'the most stunning perfo

A distinguished and versatile musician, Attilio Ariosti was born in Bologna. He joined the Servite order, but in 1696 he was in the service of the Duke of Mantua, travelling thence to Berlin at the request of the Electress Sophie Charlotte and continuing as a composer of operas and other music. Recalled by his religious superiors, he returned by way of Vienna, where he spent some years intermittently in the service of the court. Good Friday in 1705 Emperor Leopold I chose a macabre story from the Old Testament for devotion for himself and the court. An oratorio that was to underpin the unbreakable faith of virtually the entire Holy Roman Empire. Attilio Ariosti created profound, groundbreaking music for it, which shows it's creator's exceedingly great sensorium for drama.

Montaigne's InchEssaisInch (Essay) are one of the greatest and most important books of the French literature. They were written at the end of the 16th century. This present a selection of Montaigne's Inchchef d'œuvreInch made for a contemporary man or woman's preoccupations. The selection has been adapted for an oral transmission. Only a great actor could pretend to take up this challenge, and this is the brilliant Michel Piccoli who did it in this 4-album box. InchA universal voice [...] This so modern, surprisingly contemporary voice sings of tolerance, cries out for freedom, murmurs the fragility ofInch the human condition Inch. Music in a language that the actor Michel Piccoli gives us to hear, taking as much pleasure in putting it in the mouth as we experience listening to it. [...]Inch S.V. - PHILOSOPHY MAGAZINE