Sankt Annae Girls' Choir - Works for String Orchestra - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Sankt Annae Girls' Choir - Purcell Realizations [COMPACT DISCS] date 07/11/2006

Britten Complete Music for Cello Solo and Cello and Piano, Composer Benjamin Britten, Artist Alexander Ivashkin cello, Andrew Zolinsky piano, 2 CD, InchYour music is truly among the most outstanding work of the twentieth century. And for me it is a source of great and strong impressions. Write as much as you can.Inch (Shostakovich to Britten, 1963) This set represents the first-ever complete collection of Benjamin Britten's music for unaccompanied cello and cello with piano. Many of these works were composed for the legendary Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich. Britten and Rostropovich were close friends and regularly gave recitals together in both Britain and Russia. It is perhaps because of this connection with Rostropovich that Britten's cello works in particular demonstrate his enduring affinity with Russian culture, leading such a renowned composer as Shostakovich to repeatedly express his admiration for Britten's music. Britten's much-loved Suites for solo cello are an ideal vehicle for dramatic displays of virtuosity by the cellist - particularly in the First Suite - but also have beautifully expressive moments, such as the Second Suite's lyrical fourth movement. The Russian influence in the Suites is evident through Britten's use of Shostakovich's famous D-S-C-H monogram, and allusions - albeit enigmatic and subtle ones - to Russian folk melodies in the Third Suite. This collection also includes the C major Cello Sonata - which, like the Suites, takes much of it's inspiration from historical forms, the world premiere recording of the previously unpublished A major Sonata, a charming work that was written when the composer was just 13 years old and is influenced by Schubert, and the intriguing Tema 'Sacher', written just a few months before Britten's death to celebrate the 70th birthday of the Swiss conductor Paul Sacher and commissioned and premiered by

Sankt Annae Girls' Choir - Benjamin Britten Conducts Benjamin Britten [COMPACT DISCS] date 09/28/2010