Richard Novak - Richard Novak: Portrait - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

This fabulous five-disc set is divided up into a CD of arias from Italian and French operas (mainly sung in German); a CD of arias by Tchaikovsky, Smetana and German composers; a CD of arias and duets from works by Franz Lehar in German; a CD of pieces from operettas by Johann Strauss II, Kalman, Stolz and others, and a CD of popular songs and operetta extracts sung in English.

Richard Blackford writes InchWhen David Hill proposed a Bach Choir commission based on Peter Johnstone's ICU diaries I was immediately drawn to his idea of composing a work to be written during the Covid -19 pandemic about one man's direct and intense experience of it, and the care he received from the nursing staff. Peter was very patient and generous in allowing me to select entries that I felt could provide a satisfying musical structure, entries which could encompass the different stages of his experience, from delirium, crisis, lyrical reflection, to recovery and gratitude to his nurses. The work is framed by gently overlapping choral entries in which the nurses introduce themselves, set against a pulsating, almost mechanical string accompaniment col legno battuto that evokes the sounds of hospital ward machines. The first choral outburst, InchYou are positive with the Covid-19 virusInch is thematically linked to the later chorus, InchHe died from the Covid-19 virusInch after the dream garden sequence. A male nurse describes how he sung along to a recording of Handel's Messiah which was played to the delirious Peter. This quote, with it's harmonically blurred cadence, leads to the first garden dream music. A lyrical solo viola weaves through the baritone's vocal line. Later, in the real visit to the garden, the viola's material is taken up and transformed by a solo violin. These musical mirrors help to unify the work and help prepare for the choral climax that starts, InchI hope you feel better soon.Inch In the final section, in which the baritone articulates the overwhelming feeling of love Peter felt for his nurses, their soft overlapping voices return, as if introducing themselves once more to the next patient in the ICU.Inch

When a double volume featuring Ivan Moravec was included in the 1999 InchGreat pianists of the 20th CenturyInch box set (Philips Records), many a music lover was taken aback. Although Americans knew the Czech artist, owing mainly to the Connoisseur Society, a lot of European listeners and critics had overlooked him - yet the recordings contained in the edition certainly attested to Moravec being a pianist of global calibre. Repertoire magazine referred to him as the Inchmost closely guarded secret of the classical music worldInch. The 90th anniversary of Ivan Moravec's birth is a very good reason to for come up with a special project. The most complete collection of his recordings to date, the present Supraphon encompasses 11 albums and a documentary and unique, previously unseen footage from the Czech Television archives. Moravec recorded his core repertoire for the Connoisseur Society, Supraphon, Dorian, Nonesuch and Vox labels. Some of his recordings are now being released on album for the first time. A number of older recordings have been remastered from the original analogue tapes. The set includes the complete Moravec repertoire of Beethoven, Schumann, Debussy, solo Franck, Janácek and Chopin's Mazurkas. The booklet provides an exhaustive account of one of the greatest 20th-century pianist's artistic development, from the early 1960s to the end of the millennium. Most significantly, the affords the listener the opportunity to revel in the music that - due to it's sheer profundity, myriad colour shades and irresistibly personal delivery - touches one's very heart. A portrait of a great artist.