Orchestral Works - Orchestral Works - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

She was a great musical talent and a sensitive soul, the child of a socially aspiring family who forbid their daughter to marry the love of her life; instead she was forced into a utilitarian marriage with a respectable husband, but later had an affair with her first sweetheart after all - the stuff of a sentimental novel. Yet Mel Bonis (1858-1937) was no fictional character. She was one of the strongest composers of her time with a focus on piano, chamber music and art songs. She also enriched the repertoire of impressionism with numerous original gems and arrangements for orchestra. Her particularly modern Ophelia, her purring melodie of an enamoured tomcat on a roof at night, her Spanish gypsy waltz and her dances for orchestra are just some of the enchanting discoveries you will find here. Our recording pays a well-deserved tribute to this noble woman.

Leonard Slatkin celebrated his 75th birthday in September 2019. Many of the selections in this program come from a concert given in his honor and are also a tribute to his remarkable musical family, both past and present. Historical recordings include Leonard's cellist mother, Eleanor Aller, being conducted by Korngold in the Haydn concerto and a 1944 broadcast of his father, Felix, as a solo violinist in Brahms. Every piece here has a deeply personal connection for the family. For his composition The Raven, Leonard used Edgar Allan Poe's poem in a work that is Inchalmost like a concerto for speaker and orchestra.Inch

As a servant to his craft, Heinz Rögner was influenced by the musical traditions of his hometown of Leipzig. GENUIN, together with MDR, is dedicating a 4-album box set to the great conductor, featuring concert recordings from the Gewandhaus from 1994 to 2001. Originally from a humble background, the musician worked predominantly in Berlin and Leipzig but was also exceptionally well known and popular in Japan. This album box provides us with superb recordings of Ludwig van Beethoven, Felix Mendelssohn, Franz Schubert and Anton Bruckner, as well as Reger's Mozart Variations and Gershwin's An American in Paris. The MDR Symphony Orchestra and the MDR Chamber Philharmonic perform at their best!