R. Strauss - Symphonic Poems 3 / Aus Italien / Metamorphosen - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

The four Salve Regina recordings presented on this uniquely compiled new album cross the boundary between opera house and church - a boundary that in 18th-century Naples was never very forbidding to begin with. In fact, Leo, Pergolesi and Porpora are all fine examples of composers who moved with unselfconscious facility between sacred and secular genres, between old counterpoint and the Monteverdian stile concertato that caressed each word with sensuous melismas and velvet harmonies. Porpora was a noted singing teacher of his day, intimately familiar with everything that a voice can do, and possessing a melodic skill that spins long and ornate vocal phrases of almost instrumental effect. The Salve Regina by Pergolesi presented here is in G minor, and is a different work to his much more familiar settings of the text in F major and A minor, with a grave and restrained vocal line that evokes a meditative aura far removed from Porpora's fireworks. Extreme versions of these contrasting tendencies also characterize the two settings by Leonardo Leo. The F major Salve Regina is bright and extrovert, only darkening for a minor-key setting of 'Ad te suspiramus', with an agile vocal line full of operatic flourishes. In the C minor Salve Regina, however, Leo evokes a mood of intense lamentation with a style so restrained that it would seem almost archaic were it not for the expressive harmonies not so distant from Pergolesi's world. Federica Napoletani studied piano and singing at the conservatoire in Parma before joining Luisa Castellani's class for a Masters at the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italian in Lugano. She specializes in new and early music and has performed with many distinguished early-music groups including Vox Altera, Odhecaton and Ensemble Imaginaire. Album Tracks 1. Salve Regina in G 2. Salve Regina in G minor 3. Salve Regina in C minor 4. Salve Reg

This special recording of the Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart under Georges Prêtre comprises two symphonic poems by Richard Strauss and his Rosenkavalier-Suite Op. 59. Richard Strauss was a pioneer in the genre of the tone poem. The tone poems that he wrote are still considered to be the high point of program music. He extended the boundaries of program music and took the concept of realism in music to an unprecedented level. He widened the expressive range of music, while depicting subjects many times thought unsuitable for musical depiction. French conductor Georges Pretre made his Paris debut at the Opera-Comique conducting the work of Richard Strauss, no doubt creating a special place in Pretre's heart for Strauss's music. This album is part of a new re- series (Century Classics) consisting of SWR music bestsellers. The series is competitively priced, optically highly attractive and contains acclaimed SWR recordings mostly of the SWR orchestras and their chief conductors.

Album Tracks 1. Hast Was Gesehn? 2. La Rosa, la Rosa Che Un Bel Fiore 3. Hunger! Hunger! 4. Hier Ist Des Kaisers Boden 5. Sieg! Welch Ein Fanal 6. Mein Kommandant 7. Schweige! Hier in Meiner Hand 8. Es Sei! Doch HÖRT 9. Ihr Alten Habt in Mancher Schlacht 10. Zu Magdeburg in Der Reiterschlacht 11. Geht, Geht Alle! 12. Wie? Niemand Hier? 13. Nur Einer Hier in Diesen Wilden Turm 14. Wohl Durft Ich Dir Den Harnisch Lösen 15. Nein... Leer Hoffnung Alles! 16. In Einer Stunde Verschwindet Diese Stadt 17. Krieg, Furchtbarer Würger 18. Erwünschtes Zeichen! 19. Nein, Nicht Todesnebel! 20. Der Feind, Der Feind! 21. Das Zeichen, Das Zeichen 22. Marsch 23. HÖR, Kommandant 24. Geliebter, Nicht Das Schwert! 25. Warum Kämpften Wir Jahre 26. Wagt Es Zu Denken