Various Artists - Portrait / Various - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

With InchPremière PortraitsInch Capriccio set an example for the support of young and talented artists and invite them to their première album for a worldwide audience. Melba Ramos, Puerto-Rican Soprano, studied at Pablo Casals Conservatory of Music in San Juan, capital city of her home country. She distinguished herself by winning several opera singing prizes. After being active at the Opera Studios in Cologne and in Wuppertal, she made her way as coloratura soprano to the Ensemble of the Volksoper in Vienna in 2003 to which she is still dedicated today. In parallel, numerous guest engagements led Melba Ramos to esteemed places to work at as the Komische Oper Berlin, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Staatsoper Unter den Linden and further Opera Houses in cities such as Bonn, Mannheim, Bremen, Kassel, Hamburg, Hannover, Saarbrücken, Nuremberg and many more.

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. Album Tracks 1. Sonata for Viola and Piano March 2. Sonata for Viola and Piano Ground 3. Sonata for Viola and Piano Scherzo 4. Sonata for Viola and Piano Epilogue 5. Ronda from Piano Sonata No 2 in F Sharp minor 6. A Humble Song to the Birds Cantata Moderato 7. A Humble Song to the Birds Cantata Andante 8. A Humble Song to the Birds Cantata Allegro Con Brio 9. A Humble Song to the Birds Cantata Lento Assai 10. Partita in G minor Andante Fugato 11. Partita in G minor Virgoroso 12. Partita in G minor Moderato Molto Rubato 13. Partita in G minor Mesure 14. Partita in G minor Allegro Glusto 15. Piano Sonata No 3 in C Sharp minor Allegro Vigoroso 16. Piano Sonata No 3 in C Sharp minor Largo 17. Piano Sonata No 3 in C Sharp minor Tranquillo Allegro Glusto 18. Suite for Descant Recorder and Piano Prelude 19. Suite for Descant Recorder and Piano Scherzo 20. Suite for Descant Recorder and Piano Canon 21. Suite for Descant Recorder and Piano Jig Vicace 22. Pastiche Suite for Treble Recorder and Piano Allegro Molto Glusto 23. Pastiche Suite for Treble Recorder and Piano Alla Sicil

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 Album Tracks 26. Sonata in F Sharp minor / Sonate Fis-Moll