Goran Krivokapic - Twelve Studies Op. 6 / Fantaisie Op. 7 - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Stretching back from the stark Soviet soundscape of Shostakovich, through the early modernism of Prokofiev to the pre-revolutionary opulence of Scriabin and Rachmaninov, Septura redresses a lack of original music for brass by these great composers by charting a turbulent seventy years of Russian history. Brass instruments feature prominently in these composers' symphonic output, and Septura is a natural fit for their chamber music. The focus is piano music with one prominent exception perhaps Septura's most ambitious transcription to date, Shostakovich's profound and deeply personal Eighth String Quartet. Volumes 1 and 2 are available on Naxos 8.573314 and 8.573386.

NBC Symphony Orchestra - Music of Alan Shulman [COMPACT DISCS] date 08/27/2002

Mauro Giuliani was both a virtuoso performer on the guitar and one of the great figures in early 19th-century composition for the instrument. His variations, studies, sonatas and other works have entered the repertoires of generations of subsequent performers. The six dazzling Rossiniane for solo guitar are fantasias on themes taken from the great Italian composer's operas. They offer a compendium of the guitar as a miniature orchestra revealing refinements of technique and expressiveness never before achieved on the instrument.