Bebbington Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Latham-Koenig - Piano Concerto - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

R. Wagner - Die Meistersinger Act 2 Compl Act 3 Excerpts [COMPACT DISCS] date 10/24/2000

In the centenary anniversary year of Hubert Parry's death, the eagerly-awaited second volume in Somm's complete survey of his English Lyrics highlights a deeply-felt connection to the richly evocative language of the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. There is breadth, too, ranging eloquently into the romantic realms of 18th- and 19th-century texts and the nascent modernity of the 20th century. Tenor James Gilchrist, baritone Roderick Williams and pianist Andrew West are re-united here, with soprano Sarah Fox contributing to the three-volume series for the first time. Plaudits for Volume 1 included The Classical Reviewer hailing it Inchan auspicious start to this series,Inch while Gramophone approvingly declared InchRoll on Vol.2!Inch Drawing on texts spanning five centuries, this second volume reveals Parry's wide reading of English poetry and includes Book 9 of the English Lyrics - featuring seven songs by Mary Coleridge (great-grand-niece of Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge) - in it's entirety. Among the treasures it contains are 'The Maiden', a fantasy-accented hymn to Spring, the meditative love song 'Whether I live' and the sensuously melodious 'Armida's Garden' - described by Parry expert Jeremy Dibble in his booklet notes as Incharguably the masterpiece of the collectionInch.

SOMM Recordings is pleased to announce the return of the acclaimed partnership of pianist Clélia Iruzun and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Jac van Steen with two colorful late-19th-century Romantic Piano Concertos from Brazil and France Henrique Oswald's G minor Piano Concerto, Op.10 and the Fifth Piano Concerto in F major (Op.103) by Camille Saint-Saëns. Iruzun's Brazilian compatriot Henrique Oswald shared a long friendship with Camille Saint-Saëns based on mutual admiration for each other as composers and pianists. They occasionally performed together some of Saint-Saëns' music for two pianos in public recitals. Saint-Saëns' exotic Fifth Piano Concerto, the Egyptian, was composed during a North African holiday in 1896. Combining complex piano writing with a deft lightness of touch, it boasts a lyrical main theme (described by Saint-Saëns as Incha Nubian love songInch), hypnotic echoes of the gamelan and a finale bursting with virtuosity. Oswald's Piano Concerto was composed in Italy a decade before Saint-Saëns' Egyptian. With bravura passages recalling Saint-Saëns' Second Piano Concerto, it's richly Romantic vein carries allusions to Fauré while brimming with Oswald's intriguing native Brazilian rhythms. Like Oswald, Alberto Nepomuceno was a Brazilian who studied in Europe, later succeeding him in a prestigious teaching position in Rio de Janeiro. Modelled on Grieg's Suite from Holberg's Time, his Suite Antiga (Suite in the Old Style) combines Baroque style and Romantic attitude with a bewitching savoir faire.