Part - Portrait - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Antony Hopkins is a phenomenon - a fact which escapes much of the public and even press who still confuse him with the actor (Anthony). Composer, pianist, conductor, broadcaster, lecturer, author a true man of music. A livewire at the age of 91, (as we write in May 2012), his genius has suffered from fickle fashion, his 'serious' music being lyrical and tuneful though certainly deep and complex; his lighter music now seen as 'period' - and just ripe for re-discovery. This double album contains much fine music including eight pieces written by top British composers as tributes to Antony. For all interested in the evolution of 20th century music this album will be invaluable, and it's also made with wit and humor, to suit the character of Hopkins himself.

Hélène Boschi's repertoire was broad-based, ranging from the Baroque (François Couperin, Jean Philippe Rameau, Johann Sebastian Bach) to contemporary music. Her favorite composers of the Viennese Classical era were undoubtedly Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Franz Schubert; strangely, it seems she left behind no Beethoven recordings. One notable fact about Boschi is that she was the first female pianist to record the works of Padre Antonio Soler (1729-1783), receiving the 1952 Grand Prix du Disque in honor of her achievement. As for the nineteenth century, her passionate readings of Schumann are of the utmost importance; but Carl Maria von Weber and Muzio Clementi also captured her attention, as did Frédéric Chopin and Emmanuel Chabrier and the Impressionists Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel. Modern classics were also integral to her repertoire - as were the works of her immediate contemporaries. Luigi Dallapiccola dedicated his 1952 piano composition Quaderno di Annalibera to Hélène Boschi, Claude Ballif paid her that honor with his Fourth Sonata op. 31

2 CDs with over 2 hours of music Illuminating essay by Stephen Johnson Illustrated with photographsWell over half a century after his death, Bela Bart k is held up as one of the twentieth century' great musical moderni.