Marina Tarasova - Cello Sonatas: Prokofiev/Shostakovich/Khachaturian - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Gary Higginson has spent a life writing music for a wide range of formations, ages and abilities. Much of his work explores two great loves nature and English literature, especially Shakespeare. Accordingly, this presents a sequence of songs, instrumental works and a substantial cantata. This is music that is always communicative, characterful and accessible. He was born in West Bromwich which, although then semi-rural, also forms part of the industrial Black Country. His first musical experience, listening to his father's constant singing at home, led him to joining the local church choir at the age of seven, the next year beginning piano lessons with the choirmaster. The constant presence of the church and it's music has been a strong influence on him ever since and led to singing in an early performance of Britten's War Requiem. His first attempt at composition was made when he was eleven and he has not stopped for more than fifty years. Album Tracks 1. Two Pieces for Solo Flute Op. 62 2. Messages of Hope, for Soprano, Tenor, Baritone and Piano Op. 87 3. Three Ben Jonson Songs, for Baritone and Piano Op. 126 4. Scenes from Shakespeare, for Solo Piano, Op. 164 5. When Most I Wink, Then Do Mine Eyes Best See, for Soprano and Piano, Op. 147 6. Scenes from Shakespeare, for Solo Piano, Op. 164 7. Three Shakespeare Duets, for Soprano, Tenor, Flute and Piano, Op. 167 8. Sweet Song of the Summer Woods (Reprise with Birdsong)

WORLD PREMIERES (Levitin & Komarov Sonatas) Only the 2nd recording of the Komarov Concerto InchRostropovich thanked [me] for the dedication, which remained in the handwritten score, and spoke very highly of the work and the tremendous performance of Marina Tarasova. At that time, we were already neighbours in the composer's house at No.13 Orgareva Street (now Gazetny Lane)Inch. [Vladimir Komarov] Album Tracks 1. Sergei Prokofiev Ballade, Op.15 2. Prokofiev Sonata for Cello Solo, Op.134 3. (Andante, Completed By Alexander Blok) 4. Yuri Levitin Sonata for Cello & Piano, Op.49 I Allegro Con Fuoco 5. II Largo 6. III Allegretto Non Troppo 7. Vladimir Komarov 'Uncertainty' Sonata for Cello Solo Dedicated to Marina Tarasova 8. Komarov Concerto-Poem (Cello & Orchestra) Dedicated to Mstislav Rostropovich

Marina Tarasovais one of the most renowned cellists, who has garnered an international following through her numerous recordings on Alto, Musical Concepts, Divine Art, and Northern Flowers.Her newest recording showcases the cello sonatas of Russian futurist composer Nikolai Roslavets. Written during the first years of the Russian Revolution, the sonatas are unabashedly modern, eschewing traditional form in favor of brash extended harmonies and rhapsodic form, deeply influenced by the music of Scriabin. The program also includes works from the same period by fellow Russian futurist Alexander Mosolov and the then-young Gavriil Popov, as well as Scriabin's Romance for Cello and Piano - a high-intensity virtuoso romantic tour-de-force. Album Tracks 1. Cello Sonata No. 1 2. Cello Sonata No. 2 3. Meditation 4. Dances of the White Maidens 5. Legend, Op. 5 6. Elegy 7. Melody, Op. 1 8. Romance in a Minor, W21