Christy Doran - Perspectives - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Michel Pignolet de Montéclair, a noted basse violon player in Paris, composed a small but exquisite body of innovative works in a variety of forms, including an opera-ballet. He was also an important figure in the composition of music for flute at a time when innovations in design brought it to prominence as a solo instrument. This album traces his earliest published pieces through to his mature works of the 1730s. They show how Montéclair's use of vocalized writing, and his ornate and complex obbligati in the cantatas proved to be pivotal in the development of the transverse flute. Les Ordinaires brings us as close as can be imagined to the private spheres of one of the most flamboyant European royal figures of all time. Each composer's contribution is a refined gem of Baroque taste, whether it be through musical reference to poetry, the gamut of human emotions, forms of dance or idealized depictions of life within and beyond the walls and gardens of the palace. The ensemble made their Naxos debut in 2018 in the album Inner Chambers (8.573814), described as 'relaxed music for gentle enjoyment... presented with fine stylish feeling' by American Record Guide.

The Moravian Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst is a dazzling example of the nineteenth-century violinist-composer, of whom the greatest was Ernst's sometime rival, Paganini. Indeed it was the Italian who persuaded Ernst to follow the life of a touring virtuoso, in which role he was to perform with the greatest musicians in Europe, earning the admiration of men such as Chopin and Mendelssohn. The Elegie sur la mort d'un objet cheri, mentioned by Tolstoy in the Kreutzer Sonata, was one of the best-known violin works of the century, and the Polyphonic Studies offer a compendium of violin technique on a par with the works of Paganini himself.

Vocalist Bill Farrell was discovered by Bob Hope in 1948 while singing in a club in Buffalo, New York. Bill accompanied Bob Hope and entourage to Berlin, Germany to entertain the troops during the Berlin Airlift. Farrell became a popular singer on radio and introduced many popular songs of the day. Among his most famous recordings were InchBlue VelvetInch and InchYou've Changed.Inch in the early 1950's he had his own radio show in Chicago and was a frequent guest on the Frank Sinatra show. Presented here is a rare mid-70's featuring Bill Farrell (vocals); Dave Koonse (guitar); Putter Smith (bass) and John Tirabosso (drums). All selections newly re-mastered.