Various Artists - Complete Chamber Music Vol 3 - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

In his 80s, Jean Françaix (1912-1997) supervised this 1996 Dutch album of four pieces for varied forces, writing the engaging booklet notes and performing with undimmed skill in the Divertimento which he wrote back in 1953 for the flautist Jean-Pierre Rampal. As he notes, the title is somewhat ironic for those who play it 'if it is InchdivertingInch to listen to, it is not at all so to play it and requires great virtuosity.' Le Colloque des deux Perruches (The Dialogue of Two Parakeets) is a modern classic of the repertoire for two flutes a six-movement dialogue opening with a fluttering, swooping Allegrissimo, followed by a melancholy little Larghetto. Smiles and laughter are never far away in Françaix's music and the mood brightens with a darting Scherzando. The fifth movement is another plaintive Larghetto, with the parakeets in earnest conversation. As a 22-year-old composer of already remarkable fluency, Françaix composed the String Trio for the Trio Pasquier, who went on to play it in over a thousand concerts an inimitably bustling, weightless piece in four movements enclosing a wistful Andante and rounding off with one of those Françaix tunes that turns round in the listener's head for days afterwards. The ten-minute Cantate de Méphisto sets a text by Paul Valéry according to the composer, 'This 'Méphisto' is terribly authentic, cunning, subversive and perverse.' The devil wheedles and beguiles in a lyric parlando, accompanied by a string ensemble, spiced by the irony and satire of his operas and comedies such as Le diable boiteux, his first work for the stage. Valéry's text is printed in the booklet. Françaix's music features in countless compilations here is an authoritatively performed opportunity to immerse yourself in his world for 'une heure exquise'. Album Tracks 1. Trio à cordes~I. Allegretto vivo 2. Trio à cordes~II. Scherzo 3. Trio à co

One of the best selling classical compilations of all time, InchThree Centuries of the Greatest Classical MasterpiecesInch features a carefully picked selection of the world's most popular classical compositions including works by Pachelbel, Bizet, Brahms, Chopin, Dvorak, Berlioz, Debussy, Vivaldi, Dorati, Rossini, Borodin, Khachaturian, Mussorgsky, Shostakovich, Dinicu, Albinoni and Rimsky-Korsakov. Featuring the London Symphony Orchestra, the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Stadium Symphony Orchestra of New York, the Symphony Orchestra of Turino de la Radio Televisione Italiana, and I Solisti di Zagreb. All selections newly re-mastered. Album Tracks 1. Adagio for Violin, Strings and Organ in G minor, T. Mi 26 2. Canon and Gigue for 3 Violins and Continuo in D Major, T. Mi 26 3. Carmen 'Aragonaise' 4. Carmen 'Habanera' 5. Hungarian Dance No. 7 6. Hora Stacato for Violin and Piano (Or Orchestra) 7. Scheherazade, Symphonic Suite for Orchestra, Op. 35, the Prince and the Young Princess 8. Slavonic Dance No. 8 for Orchestra in G minor B. 83/8 (Op. 46/8) 9. Waltz for Piano No. 6 in D - Flat Major ('Minute'), Op. 64/1, CT. 212 10. Marche de Rákóczy for Orchestra (From Le Damnation de Faust), H.109 11. The Flight of the Bumblebee, Musical Picture for Orchestra (From the Tale of Tsar Saltan) 12. The Age of Gold, Suite from the Ballet, Op. 22A - Polka 13. Gopak (Hopak) for Orchestra, Transcribed By Liadov from the Opera Sorochintsï Fair 14. Gayan Suite for Orchestra No. 3 Sabre Dance 15. The Maid with the Flaxen Hair from Preludes for Solo Piano (Or Orchestra) 16. La Vie Parisienne (Offenbach), Operetta in 5 Acts, Revised to 4 Acts, Excerpt 17. William Tell Overture - Finale 18. Concerto for Lute (Or Guitar), 2 Violins and Continuo in D Major, RV 93 - Largo 19. Prince Igor 'Polovetsian Dances' - Andantino

2 Disc set.The Condon Collection, compiled by Australian musician and leading piano roll authority Denis Condon, documents major classical composers including Claude Debussy, George Gershwin and Sergei Rachmaninoff performing their famous piano works using a form of music storage and playback technology that predates modern recording techniques. Recorded between 1905 and 1933, and capturing every nuance of each individual performance, this collection of classical compositions from the 19th century reproduces the playing styles and techniques of these legendary musicians and offers a unique opportunity to experience these rare performances and historical treasures first-hand, while also serving as a comprehensive archive of the reproducing piano's unique musical legacy. Album Tracks 1. Arthur Rubinstein - 2 Rhapsodies, Op. 79, I. Agitato in B minor 2. Rudolph Ganz - 10 Pieces for Piano, Op. 24 IX. Romance 3. Josef Casimir Hofmann - Venezia E Napoli, S. 159 IV. Tarantelles Rapolitaines, Allegro Vivace 4. Wilhelm Backhaus - Myrthen, Op. 25, I. Widmung 5. Guiomar Novaes - Grand Fantaisie Troiomphale Sur L'hymne National Resilien in D Flat Major 6. Percy Grainger - Symphonic Etudes, Op. 13 7. Arthur Friedheim - Études D'exécution Transcendante, S. 139 ; Lw.A172, XI. Harmonies Du Soir in D Flat Major 8. Arthur Friedheim - Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C Sharp minor, S.244/2 ; LW. A132/2 9. Paquita Madriguera - Celebre Serenade Espagnole, Op. 181 10. Alexander Raab - Siljouettes-Portaits, Op. 34 V. Reverie 1. Ferruccio Busoni - Etudes D'execution Transcendante, S. 139; Lw.A172 V. Feux Follets in B Flat Major 2. Cécile Chaminade - Guitare, Op. 32 3. Percy Grainger - the Nutcracker, Op. 71A TH 35, Iic. Russian Dance 4. Ignace Paderewski - Waltz in a Flat Major, Op. 34, I 5. Leopold Godowsky - 10 Pieces for Piano, Op. 13 II. La Gondole, Eru