Malmö Opera Orchestra Salvi - Jerry Und Bately - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Engelbert Humperdinck won a worldwide reputation through his application of Wagnerian techniques to folk music in Hänsel und Gretel. But he wrote far more widely for the stage than is acknowledged, and this selection focuses on long overlooked works that reveal Humperdinck's flair for romance, comedy and innovation. These include music for one of the first full-color silent films, the spectacular Das Wunder (1912); the passionate, ethereal small cantata Die Wallfahrt nach Kevlaar; the rich antique flavor of Lysistrata; as well as his dance-saturated and serenely beautiful incidental music for Der Kaufmann von Venedig. Dario Salvi is a Scottish-Italian conductor, musicologist and researcher who specializes in the restoration and performance of rare works. His passion is the rediscovery and performance of long-forgotten masterpieces by the likes of Suppé, Meyerbeer, Rumshinsky, Genée, Auber, and many others. He is collaborating with Naxos on recording a series on Romantic ballets, including works by Minkus, Pugni, Adam and others, and a series on Auber's overtures and orchestral music. Two other important projects include recording the last three missing operas by Johann Strauss II and three never before recorded operatic works by Giacomo Meyerbeer.

A showcase for two masterful musicians, InchFissuresInch presents saxophonist Idit Shner and harpist Yumiko Endo Schlaffer in a program of works for this unique combination of instruments that has rarely been represented in recorded form. A wide array of composers and musical expression are explored, from Rokus de Groot's bass saxophone feature InchCadenza,Inch and Dr. Yusef Lateef's light and transparent InchRomance.Inch

Niklas Sivelöv has proved a prolific symphonist over the past ten years or so, with six completed symphonies and a seventh currently in progress. The Symphony No.1 (Nordico) was written in the summer of 2013, during a surge of creativity following the birth of the composer's son on 30th July of that year. The title may be understood both as a reflection of Sivelöv's upbringing in the north of Sweden, and of at least some of his strongest influences, most notably of Sibelius. The music is bursting with energy and momentum, infused with all the verdant colors of the Nordic forest, it's deep blue sky, and - in winter - the all-enveloping snow. The work is in three movements of more or less equal duration, lasting in total around half an hour. The writing is highly virtuosic, making considerable demands upon a standard-sized orchestra, the forces extended only by a large percussion section and - as usual for Sivelöv - a substantial part for his own instrument, the piano.