Zorina Sinaiski - Soundmaps Extended Realities - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Is the imitation of rolling thunder, howling winds and bleating sheep a form of musical composition worthy of the name? Can we take seriously a composer who boasts of being able to 'set a restaurant menu to music, if need be'? These were the kinds of questions that Richard Strauss, one of the most virtuosic composers of the so-called 'programme music', had to ask himself. His answer 'I am a musician from head to toe; for me, all InchprogrammesInch are merely incentives to invent new forms, nothing else.' The NDR Orchestra, conducted by Krzysztof Urbanski, has chosen to devote it's sixth Alpha Classics recording to three of Richard Strauss's most famous symphonic poems Also sprach Zarathustra op. 30, Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche op. 28 and Don Juan op. 20.

Various Artists - Music / Various [COMPACT DISCS] date 04/23/2002

At the time he composed this sonata, Beethoven was already struggling intensely against the handicap of his deafness. After his attack of deep despondency, accompanied by the suicidal thoughts to which the famous InchHeiligenstadt TestamentInch bears witness, his extraordinary vitality regained the upper hand. He then declared to one of his pupils InchI am not satisfied yet with my works; I wish to take a new path.Inch This renewed energy led first to his Sonata op. 53, dedicated to Count Ferdinand von Waldstein, then to the InchEroicaInch Symphony op. 55 and the InchAppassionataInch Sonata op. 57. InchFantastic costumesInch, Verlaine would have said. At a point where tears are never far from laughter, Schumann masks himself and by that very act, unmasks himself. The work is mischievously subtitled InchScènes mignonnes sur quatre notesInch (delightful scenes on four notes). This is a reference to the four letters A S C H, which make up the name of the birthplace (Asch) of Ernestine von Fricken, his sweetheart of the moment. In German notation, these letters correspond to A flat, C and B (As-C-H), or to A, E flat, C and B (A-Es-C-H). This set of letter-notes can in fact be found in disguise in all the pieces, at the very heart of the musical text, except in InchSphinxesInch, where Schumann declares them openly, three times. Jean-Nicolas Diatkine comes from a family of recognized doctors and considers commitment to others to be the basis of his profession. It seemed impossible for him to do without this basic attitude in the exercise of his profession, which is why he always sees his artistic development as a return to the essential artistic values to which he has devoted himself over the last thirty years.