Eric Reed - Stand! - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Providing an overview of almost a century, this album reflects the aspirations of Polish nationalism through the works of three pivotal figures Karol Kurpinski, whose Fantasy for String Quartet is both serious and ingenious in design, Zygmunt Noskowski, whose witty piece on a theme of Viotti includes the use of a polacca, and Stanislaw Moniuszko, whose quartets balance the hymnal with the rustic.

Over the last fifteen years, pianist Eric Reed has been a mainstay on the jazz scene. Having toured the world with his group and recorded as both a leader and sideman on numerous projects, he constantly demonstrates the creativity that distinguishes him as one of the leading pianists of his generation.

RELIEF presents here for the first time on album the Bavarian Radio recording of Donizetti's cheerful one-act opera Rita (in German) from 1960. The outstanding cast with Ingeborg Hallstein, Erwin Wohlfahrt and Karl Christian Kohn leaves nothing to be desired, and the sound quality can fully satisfy even the highest demands. Rita was completed in 1841. It is a domestic comedy which consists of eight musical numbers connected by spoken dialogue. It premiered in May 1860, unfortunately after Donizetti's death. It tells the story of Rita, the abusive wife of the timid Peppe, and the inn that they own. When Rita's believed-dead first husband returns, their lives are turned upside down.