Category: Recordings

Audiences accustomed to hearing the grandeur of Shostakovichís early symphonies may initially be disillusioned when listening to his Thirteenth Symphony for the first time.

With a career spanning the monarchies of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary Tudor, and Elizabeth I, Thomas Tallisís musical pragmatism became both a necessary and distinctive trait.

Among Gaetano Donizettiís compositions are just over a dozen one-act operas. Save for his one (Venice 1818), a genre that many twentieth-century historians considered respectable primarily because of contributions made to it by Gioachino Rossini, the Donizettiís other single-act works generally have been brushed aside as less important than the larger operas.

This recording of Musica Nuptialis celebrates occasional music and does so in a fittingly occasional manner.

Baritone Lado Ataneliís self-titled debut CD contains an impressive selection of arias intended to showcase the singerís style, range, and versatility.

In 1728 John Gayís Beggarís Opera was produced in London as a sardonic response to the ongoing craze for Italian opera seria.

Among recent recordings of music by Gustav Mahler, the 2004 release of the composerís Second Symphony conducted by Claudio Abbado stands out as an intense and highly charged performance.

Schoenberg, born in Vienna in 1874, is remembered as a composer and a music theorist. He held strong attitudes toward the craft of composition and its pedagogy, which have been received as the beginnings of a theory of music, though Schoenberg denied ever attempting to create a systematic theory.

When I was a young child, my mother purchased a blouse and brought it home to the acclaim of my aunts and older sisters. “Oh, that’s smart!” they pronounced, cooing and stepping back to admire the thing. Not a little bit jealous, I was taken aback.

ìI send my heart up to thee, all my heart in this, my singingî Robert Browning.

The title of this CD is taken from the text of one of Amy Beachís Three Browning Songs, which close the program. Given Deborah Voigtís ability to sing this program with completely natural expression and crystal clear diction while maintaining a consistently high standard of vocal production and musicianship, it is easy to believe that in her singing she shares with us something of what is most dear to her own heart. Fortunately for us, in doing this she is also giving us a fine recording of American art songs, some of which will be quite familiar to many listeners, others of which will be wonderful new discoveries.