Beethoven - The Violin Sonatas [Grumiaux]

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) - The Violin Sonatas

Arthur Grumiaux (violin)
Clara Haskil (piano)

Decca - 475 8460

Eac / Ape (img+cue+log) / Mp3 (lame vbr --alt preset)
Total playing time: 68:25 + 68:23 + 76:35
Full covers & booklet (scan @ 300dpi)

Recording dates:
September 1956 (Sonatas 2, 3, 8)
December 1956 (Sonatas 7, 10)
January 1957 (Sonatas 1, 4, 5)
September 1957 (Sonatas 6, 9)


Track listing:

CD 1
1. Sonata No 1 in D, op. 12, no. 1: I. Allegro con brio
2. Sonata No 1 in D, op. 12, no. 1: II. Tema con variazioni
3. Sonata No 1 in D, op. 12, no. 1: III. Rondo. Allegro
4. Sonata No 2 in A, op. 12, no. 2: I. Allegro vivace
5. Sonata No 2 in A, op. 12, no. 2: II. Andante piu tosto allegro
6. Sonata No 2 in A, op. 12, no. 2: III. Allegro piacevole
7. Sonata No 3 in E-flat, op. 12, no. 3: I. Allegro con spirito
8. Sonata No 3 in E-flat, op. 12, no. 3: II. Adagio
9. Sonata No 3 in E-flat, op. 12, no. 3: III. Rondo. Allegro molto
10. Sonata No 4 in a, op. 23: I. Presto
11. Sonata No 4 in a, op. 23: II. Andante scherzoso piu allegretto
12. Sonata No 4 in a, op. 23: III. Allegro molto

CD 2
1. Sonata No 5 in F, op. 24 "Spring": I. Allegro
2. Sonata No 5 in F, op. 24 "Spring": II. Adagio molto espressivo
3. Sonata No 5 in F, op. 24 "Spring": III. Scherzo, allegro molto
4. Sonata No 5 in F, op. 24 "Spring": IV. Rondo, allegro ma non troppo
5. Sonata No 6 in A, op. 30, no. 1: I. Allegro
6. Sonata No 6 in A, op. 30, no. 1: II. Adagio
7. Sonata No 6 in A, op. 30, no. 1: III. Allegretto con variazioni
8. Sonata No 7 in C minor, op. 30, no. 2: I. Allegro con brio
9. Sonata No 7 in C minor, op. 30, no. 2: II. Adagio cantabile
10. Sonata No 7 in C minor, op. 30, no. 2: III. Scherzo: Allegro
11. Sonata No 7 in C minor, op. 30, no. 2: III. Finale: Allegro

CD 3
1. Sonata No 8 in G, op. 30, no. 3: I. Allegro assai
2. Sonata No 8 in G, op. 30, no. 3: II. Tempo di menuetto ma molto moderato e grazioso
3. Sonata No 8 in G, op. 30, no. 3: III. Allegro vivace
4. Sonata No. 9 in A, op.47 "Kreutzer": I. Adagio sostenuto - Presto
5. Sonata No. 9 in A, op.47 "Kreutzer": II. Andante con variazoni
6. Sonata No. 9 in A, op.47 "Kreutzer": IIa. Var. I
7. Sonata No. 9 in A, op.47 "Kreutzer": IIb. Var. II
8. Sonata No. 9 in A, op.47 "Kreutzer": IIc. Var. III
9. Sonata No. 9 in A, op.47 "Kreutzer": IId. Var. IV
10. Sonata No. 9 in A, op.47 "Kreutzer": IIe. Coda: Molto adagio
11. Sonata No. 9 in A, op.47 "Kreutzer": III. Finale: Presto
12. Sonata No. 10 in G, op.96: I. Allegro moderato
13. Sonata No. 10 in G, op.96: II. Adagio espressivo
14. Sonata No. 10 in G, op.96: III. Scherzo. Allegro
15. Sonata No. 10 in G, op.96: IV. Poco allegretto

Info (from the liner notes):
During the first half of the eighteenth century (and earlier) the vast majority of sonatas for "one-line" instruments such as the violin, the cello, the flute, and the oboe, with keyboard accompaniment, were written on two staves, with the melodic line on top and a figured bass below it, to be amplified by the harpsichordist largely at his own discretion, and supported by a bass instrument such as a cello, a viola da gamba, or a bassoon. The attention was therefore focused on the melodic instrument, the accompaniment being of secondary importance (though of more or less prominence depending on the skill of the musician sitting at the harpsichord). All of Handel's sonatas except one — an early work for viola da gamba and harpsichord — follow this formula, as do several of Bach's. The more important of Bach's sonatas, however — six for violin, three for viola da gamba, and three for flute — anticipate later practice in that they contain fully written-out, obbligato harpsichord parts and that the two instruments are of equal importance. In the second half of the century, when the severity of the contrapuntal style yielded to the insinuating charm of the galant, the earlier relationship was reversed: the harpsichord (or, as the years went by, the piano) became the dominating factor in the partnership, and the violin or flute dwindled to a mere accompaniment which could often be omitted without seriously prejudicing the structure and flow of the music. The earliest of Mozart's violin sonatas are of this type, though those he wrote from 1778 onwards show a distinct, if gradual, reversion to the conception of the accompanied sonata as a true duo.
In Beethoven's ten sonatas for violin and piano the process is continued, and the stringed instrument achieves its full emancipation in the "Kreutzer" Sonata, composed in 1802-03. Their composition spans a period of fifteen years, from 1797 to 1812, and although they neither offer such a representative picture of his attitude to the duo sonata as do his five sonatas for cello and piano (which, though only half as numerous, cover a wider span — 1796 to 1815 — and are more evenly spaced) nor, since some of them were designed for various virtuoso acquaintances and not for Beethoven's own exclusive performance, form such an impressive and inexhaustible compendium of his art as do his thirty-two piano sonatas, they nevertheless include among their number at least three works that are among the very finest of their kind, and for whose loss music would be immeasurably the poorer.

Reviews:
Penguin Guide to Compact Discs:
The performances are wonderfully civilized and aristocratic and no one investing in them will regret it.

Amazon.com customer review:
This splendid three CD box set of Beethoven's complete Sonatas for Violin and Piano features perhaps the finest such duo of the mid-20th Century: Violinist Arthur Grumiaux and Pianist Clara Haskil. They are equally renowned for their Mozart performances and Grumiaux produced a splendid recording of the Bach solo Violin Sonatas and Partitas. Haskil's various Mozart recordings, especially of the Piano Concertos, are some of the finest, most lyrically eloquent ever made. Both musicians represent the summa of music's Germanic core at mid-century in its recorded state.

These three CDs place Beethoven's Sonatas in chronological order, making it easier to follow the progression of his musical thought and the evolution of his style. What one discovers quickly, aided by such splendid playing, is how swiftly (certainly by the Opus 30 Sonatas, written in 1802) Beethoven relinquished Mozartean lyricism in favor of a motoric rhythmic drive and much shorter melodic lines. There is often an expansion and contraction of the musical pulse (much like the intake and release of breath), frequently in the very same movement. This requires rhythmic flexibility, a subtly different, exquisitely free sense of time a la Furtwangler: a trait more common in the 40's and 50's than today's more rigid linearity. In other words, Beethoven had learned how to breath life into his music and Haskil and Grumiaux were positioned to express it effortlessly. That's what makes these recordings so good, so necessary for a serious Classical collection. Both performers are lyrical, capable of great beauty of tone, yet they are intellectual enough to convey the profound musical architecture of these pieces. You will enjoy these performances on several levels simultaneously: they are multi-dimensional performances as opposed to today's all-too-often 'single-note' musicality.

These recordings were made in early stereo between September 1956 and September 1957. They are beautifully recorded, clear and full with somewhat narrow separation. Comparing these to Mutter/Orkis and Argerich/Kremer, there is a beauty of tone and a level of confident music making that stands just slightly above. Beethoven's Sonatas are great enough to merit several different interpretations. One of them should be this set. Most strongly recommended.

Grumiaux interview - Gramophone 1971:



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Shostakovich - Symphony No. 15 / Jewish Folk Poetry

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) - Symphony No. 15 / Jewish Folk Poetry
London Philharmonic Orchestra - Concertgebouw Orchestra - Bernard Haitink

Elisabeth Söderström (soprano)
Ortun Wenkel (contralto)
Ryszard Karczykowski (tenor)

Decca - 425 069-2
Eac / Ape (img+cue+log) / Mp3 (lame vbr --alt preset)
Total playing time: 73:27
Full covers & booklet (scan @ 300dpi)

Recording:
Kingsway Hall, London, 1978 (Op. 141)
Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, 1983 (Op. 79)

Track listing:
1. Symphony 15 : I Allegretto
2. Symphony 15 : II Adagio - Largo
3. Symphony 15 : III Allegretto
4. Symphony 15 : IV Adagio - Allegretto
5. From Jewish Folk Poetry : I Lament for a dead infant
6. From Jewish Folk Poetry : II Fussy Mummy and Aunti
7. From Jewish Folk Poetry : III Lullaby
8. From Jewish Folk Poetry : IV Before a long seperation
9. From Jewish Folk Poetry : V A warning
10. From Jewish Folk Poetry : VI The deserted father
11. From Jewish Folk Poetry : VII A song of poverty
12. From Jewish Folk Poetry : VIII Winter
13. From Jewish Folk Poetry : IX The good life
14. From Jewish Folk Poetry : X A girl's song
15. From Jewish Folk Poetry : XI Happiness

Info:

Symphony No. 15 in A major, op. 141
The Fifteenth Symphony, the last Shostakovich wrote — though at his death he was at work on another — was composed in the summer of 1971 and given its first performance at the Moscow Conservatoire in January 1972. It is scored for a comparatively small orchestra, at least by Shostakovich's standards, and is for the most part clear and transparently written, with an important part for percussion. The work opens with a solo flute being summoned by two bell strokes, and closes with the gentle ruminations of celesta, triangle, xylophone and bells and a few rhythm instruments against a long-held string chord.

From Jewish Folk Poetry, op.79
The collection of eleven solos, duets and trios which make up the song cycle From Jewish Folk Poetry was composed in 1948. In February of that year had appeared the notorious decree in which a number of composers, most notably Shostakovich and Prokofiev, were accused of representing 'formalistic perversions and anti-democratic tendencies in music', of 'infatuations with confused, neurotic combinations which transform music into cacophony'. This was clearly nonsense, but it was Stalin's nonsense. The composers in question had absolutely no alternative but to produce some form of recantation and conform as best they could to the roles expected of them by the ageing dictator.

In Shostakovich's case, outward submission was to some extent tempered by the composition of works which he withheld from performance until the thaw following Stalin's death in 1953. These included the First Violin Concerto, the Fourth String Quartet and From Jewish Folk Poetry, which was first performed in 1955 in its original version with piano ccompaniment (played by Shostakovich himself). The version with orchestral accompaniment recorded here dates from 1964.

Reviews:
Classicstoday.com:
An early entry in Bernard Haitink's Shostakovich cycle, this winning performance of the Fifteenth Symphony promised much for what was eventually to become a series greatly varied in quality and inspiration. It may be asking too much for a Western conductor to perform all of these symphonies with the same intensity and passion as might be shown by any of several Soviet counterparts, who were, after all, living and working under the same system that had so oppressed and threatened the composer. As for Symphony No. 15, its lesser degree of brutality than most of its predecessors makes it a good match for Haitink's tidy conducting style. This is evident from the start in the fresh, ebullient, "toy shop" first movement, through the cartoonish scherzo, and into the serene "clock factory" coda of the finale. In the big climaxes of the second and fourth movements, Haitink does not project the tortured anguish revealed by Neeme Järvi or Kurt Sanderling, but nonetheless makes these passages sufficiently moving.

He is aided by Decca's wonderfully realistic recording, one of the last great analog Kingsway Hall productions. The digital sound for the songs From Jewish Folk Poetry also is impressive, capturing the rich resonance of the Concertgebouw Orchestra in this dark and disturbing rendition of a truly magnificent score. Elisabeth Söderström, Ortun Wenkel, and Ryszard Karczykowski give searing performances of these defiant, ironic, and ultimately tragic songs. Even if you have Yuli Turovsky's lighter but still excellent account on Chandos, you must hear this.

Gramophone:



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Chopin - The Legendary 1965 Recording

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) - The Legendary 1965 Recording

Martha Argerich - piano

EMI Classics - 56805
Eac / Ape (img+cue+log) / Mp3 (lame vbr --alt preset)
Total playing time: 52:13
Full covers & booklet (scan @ 300dpi)

Recording: 23,24,27 June 1965, No. 1 Studio, Abbey Road, London

Track listing:
1. Piano Sonata No.3 in B minor, Op.56 (1844) - I. Allegro maestoso
2. Piano Sonata No.3 in B minor, Op.56 (1844) - II. Scherzo. Molto vivace
3. Piano Sonata No.3 in B minor, Op.56 (1844) - III. Largo
4. Piano Sonata No.3 in B minor, Op.56 (1844) - IV. Finale. Presto, non tanto
5. Mazurka No.36 in A minor, Op.59 No.1 (1845)
6. Mazurka No.37 in A flat, Op.59 No.2 (1845)
7. Mazurka No.38 in F sharp minor, Op.59 No.3 (1845)
8. Nocturne No.4 in F, Op.15 No.1 (1830-31)
9. Scherzo No.3 in C sharp minor, Op.39 (1839)
10. Polonaise No.6 in A flat, Op.53 (1842)

Info:
Record-label politics prevented this awesome recording of Argentinean pianist Martha Argerich from being released for 34 years. The spitfire musician delivers a powerful set of Chopin's best-loved works that still sounds riveting today. Intense and gorgeous.

Artist info:
Martha Argerich was born in Argentina and made her debut at the age of five. While still a child she gave recitals in Buenos Aires, before moving to Europe where she studied with Friedrich Gulda. Nikita Magaloff and Michelangeli. She won the Geneva International Music Competition and the Busoni Competition at the age of sixteen and in 1964 toured Western Europe and Poland. The following year she won the Seventh Warsaw International Chopin Competition and was awarded the Polish Radio Prize for her performances of Chopin waltzes and mazurkas. Her playing is notable for its uninhibited brilliance and her technical skills are among the most formidable of her generation. Indeed, she is considered to be one of the greatest pianists of our time, among such renowned names as Michelangeli, Horowitz and Pollini.

Review:
Classicstoday.com
This CD truly deserves its legendary status. It was recorded way back in 1965 at the start of what has turned out to be one of the most exciting and frustrating careers in history; exciting because Argerich is arguably the greatest pianist alive, and frustrating because she refuses to give solo recitals, preferring the support of friends and colleagues in chamber or orchestral concerts. That makes her rare solo outings all the more precious. This disc exactly duplicates her debut recital for DG, which release and subsequent exclusive contract forestalled EMI until now. Rumor had it that the EMI was better, and on the whole it is, though both are pretty exceptional by any standards. The differences are relatively minor, but include an even more brilliant response to the Polonaise in A flat, tighter rhythm in the Scherzo No. 3, and a few incidental touches in the Sonata No. 3 and elsewhere. Chopin lovers and fans of this artist certainly need no further recommendation. Now, if only she would record some new solo repertoire - we can only hope.

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Pergolesi - Stabat Mater

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710-1736) - Stabat Mater

Concerto Vocale
Sebastian Hennig - boy soprano
René Jacobs - countertenor

Harmonia Mundi - 1951119

Eac / Ape (img+cue+log) / Mp3 (lame vbr --alt preset)
Total playing time: 37:20
Full covers & booklet (scan @ 300dpi)

Recording: April 1983

Track listing:
1. Duo : Stabat Mater dolorosa
2. Aria (soprano) : Cuius animam gementem
3. Duo : O quam tristis et afflicta
4. Aria (alto) : Quae moerebat et dolebat
5. Duo : Quis est homo, qui non fleret
6. Aria : Vidit suum dulcem natum
7. Aria (alto) : Eja, Mater, fons amoris
8. Duo : Fac, ut ardeat cor meum
9. Duo : Sancta Mater, istud agas
10. Aria (alto) : Fac, ut portem Christi mortem
11. Duo : Inflammatus et accensus
12. Duo : Quando corpus morietur - Amen

Info:
The most famous of all religious music
‘Knowing in advance that the music of this or that opera is by Pergolesi causes me to find it better than if I did not know the name of the composer. My soul is bidden to embroider’,’ Stendhal said. The last work of a composer who died at the age of 26, the masterpiece on this recording is by far the most famous setting of the Stabat Mater in musical history. This performance by René Jacobs and the boy soprano Sebastian Henning has become legendary.

Review:
“The best recording I have yet heard” – Hi-Fi News & Record Review

Gramophone:



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George Antheil - Ballet Mécanique

George Antheil (1900-1959) - Ballet Mécanique

Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra - Daniel Spalding

Naxos - 8.559060

Eac / Ape (img+cue+log) / Mp3 (lame vbr --alt preset)
Total playing time: 59:22
Full covers & booklet (scan @ 300dpi)

Track listing:
1. Ballet Mécanique (Revised 1953)
2. Serenade for String Orchestra, No 1: Allegro
3. Serenade for String Orchestra, No 1: Andante Molto
4. Serenade for String Orchestra, No 1: Vivo
5. Symphony for Five Instruments (Second Version) : Allegro
6. Symphony for Five Instruments (Second Version) : Lento
7. Symphony for Five Instruments (Second Version) : Presto
8. Concert for Chamber Orchestra

Info:

George Antheil's musical reputation rests predominantly upon his Ballet Mécanique, This represented the climax of his period with the French 'avant-garde'. It achieved massive notoriety on both sides of the Atlantic through its bizarre orchestra of pianos, percussion, electric buzzers and aeroplane propellers. Musically it is one of the masterpieces of the early twentieth century, and looked at culturally it represents a fine example of the 'spirit of the time' that was prevalent in Paris during the early 1920s. The Symphony for Five Instruments was the first work that Antheil composed following his arrival in Paris and he lavished great care on it. Clearly influenced by another 'enfant terrible' of the period, Igor Stravinsky, it is full of high spirits as well as possessing an element of mystery. The Concert for Chamber Orchestra dates from 1932, immediately prior to Antheil's return to America, and the Serenade for String Orchestra was composed there in 1948. Both works display considerable invention, as well as the wide range of mood that Antheil was able to create musically.



Reviews:
Classicstoday.com:
George Antheil's infamous Ballet Mécanique exists in (basically) three versions, the first of which (for lots of synchronized mechanical pianos and percussion) has only recently been premiered and recorded for the first time by the UMass Lowell Percussion Ensemble. The version that scandalized Paris audiences in 1926 actually was an arrangement for lots of normal pianos and percussion, and this version was recreated on a long out-of-print MusicMasters disc. Daniel Spalding and his intrepid ensemble take on the composer's 1953 revision for the time-honored (via Stravinsky and Orff) ensemble of four pianos and percussion, an arrangement that reduces the score by about half while preserving the most important thematic material. It's a fine work in its own right, more conventionally "listenable" than the early versions, and it's easy to understand Antheil's desire to give the music wider currency. Spalding and his ensemble play very well indeed, and the recording balances the various special effects (airplane propellers and electric bells) in such a way that they register without ever becoming totally obnoxious.

You can't help but feel sorry for Antheil's subsequent career misfortunes. After all, no one today seriously castigates Stravinsky for not writing more Rites of Spring, and we can only view with bemusement the cold shoulder given Antheil's post "Mécanique" production, especially considering the fact that even this notorious work was as ignored in performance as the rest of his music. Antheil clearly recognized that, like Stravinsky's "Rite", the Ballet Mécanique was an artistic dead end, but as this disc proves, he wrote plenty of fine music both before and after it. Take the Serenade for String Orchestra No. 1. Here's a delightful piece, humorous and lyrical, full of rhythmic energy and good tunes. The Symphony for Five Instruments very cleverly balances an unusual ensemble of viola, flute, bassoon, trumpet, and trombone, and will appeal to anyone who enjoys the chamber music of Poulenc. The Concert for Chamber Orchestra (actually a wind octet), also reeks of Stravinsky and Les Six, but you'd be hard pressed to find anything by that septet of composers precisely like it.

In short, Antheil's neglect is completely unjustified, as this and other fine recordings now appearing on Naxos and CPO clearly demonstrate. As with the Ballet, Spalding and the Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra play these diverse other works with affection and relish. Naxos provides them with excellent recorded sound too. A winner in every respect, this disc should go far toward supporting the ongoing rehabilitation of this seminal figure in 20th century music.

Gramophone:
Colourful, inventive music from one of last century's mavericks, played with great commitment by this Philadelphia group. A real bargain. [Editor's Choice]



Musicweb (1):
The more eagle-eyed amongst you will spot, on perusing the CD case, that the recording venue happens to be the very town, Trenton New Jersey, where George Antheil was born on July 8th 1900. What a happy coincidence!

Antheil is describe in various books as 'The Bad Boy of Music' and that is how the CD booklet describes him and also how he describes himself in his amazingly entertaining autobiography written in 1945.

His move to Paris in 1923 as part of a European tour started it all off. But, before I move into that, let me assume that you know nothing of Antheil's work and need to be lowered gently into it. Well, this CD is the best starting point. CPO have recently set about recording all of the composer's six symphonies, but these are a little difficult to grasp at first, so start here with the Serenade for Strings. This was composed in 1948 at about the time of the 5th and 6th Symphonies. It is the most American of the works here, written when he had settled back into American life in Hollywood. It is vaguely modal, particularly movement 3 and has a tuneful outdoor air about it as if it is using real American folk melodies. The finale even has a touch of Shostakovitch at the barn dance about it. It is the latest piece on the CD and is the most conservative. Why?

The main work on the disc is the infamous 'Ballet Mechanique' of 1923. Paris was not, and is not, I can say from experience, immune to riots. This young American caused one on October 4th of that year with this ballet. Punches were thrown, abuse hurled and I suspect, as with 'Le Sacre', the music was never properly heard. Perhaps the French were not too fond of the orchestral layout of the work,- sixteen synchronised pianos, xylophones, drums and percussion, but on this recording it is heard in an even more bizarre arrangement of 1953 for aeroplane propellers, small and large gong, cymbal, woodblock, snare drum, tambourine, a small and a large electric bell, tenor drum, bass drum, two xylophones and just four pianos. Antheil described this as " the fourth dimension in music" but it was also an artistic dead end.

It is virile, anarchic, exciting and wildly energetic, in fact it is young man's music, but at the end of it I must say that Stravinsky is not far away, - the Stravinsky of 'Les Noces' or of the Concerto for Piano and Wind. Athletic, percussive, rather minimalist, lithe, I could go on; you probably get the picture, certainly dissonant and full of reckless noises. Once you have heard it, the remaining pieces will seem so very different. And yet, not entirely so, Stravinsky lies behind them too. This is not too surpris really as Stravinsky was all the rage in the Paris of the '20s and '30s.

The 'Symphony for Five instruments' written in 1924 is definitely a first cousin to Stravinsky's 'Symphonies of Wind Instruments' of 1920 and thereby is its problem. It is difficult to warm to it at first. It has all the weaknesses of Stravinsky's neo-classicism and none of the good things. The effect can be unrelenting in the outer movements although Stravinskian high-spirits make a good ending. The slow movement however is as long as the other two put together and it is moving, nostalgic and formally clear.

If Parisian audiences fell out with Antheil in the late '20s easily tiring of the style as it was, in the '40s Americans 'fell in' with him, so to speak. What they saw in the 'Concert for Chamber Orchestra' (1932) I can't say. The extensive and informative booklet notes by Joshua Cheek do not tell us except that it was commissioned by 'The League of Composers.' It is a little severe and reminiscent of Stravinsky's Octet for Winds (1922). What is also Stravinskian are the sudden and short-lived changes of tempo, the constantly changing instrumentation with little time for reflection and a certain element of the circus. Yet there is also something entirely new and original which I can't quite put my finger on. I'm not sure if I really enjoyed this piece but it did impress more with each hearing.

And who better to play this music than a young and enthusiastic group from George Antheil's homeland, the Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra conducted by Daniel Spalding who founded the ensemble in 1991. This is their first disc for Naxos and will not be their last. They are indeed a group of virtuosi with a tremendous sense of ensemble and rapport. Spalding is a percussionist and a composer and has an ideal profile for a disc of this kind. Please let us have more from them.

Musicweb (2):
Among the many enterprising projects to have developed under the Naxos banner is the 'American Classics' series. This repertoire is well worth exploring: behind the popularity of popular song and jazz there lurks an art music which is marvellously rich and rewarding.

This disc was recorded in Trenton, New Jersey, the small town where Antheil was born in 1900. He achieved fame, if not notoriety in the mid-1920s with the Ballet Mécanique, which was written in Paris, the city which attracted so many American composers during the inter-war years. With its extraordinary orchestra of multiple pianos, percussion, electric buzzers and even aeroplane propellers it was a typical example of the modernism which was then changing the face of music. Although the music was not much liked at the time, it certainly made an impression and gave the composer a reputation.

What is recorded here is not the original version but the revision of 1953. This lacks the cutting edge of the music's more extreme nature, but the instrumentation remains distinctive: glockenspiel, propellers, gong, cymbal, woodblock, triangle, snare drum, tambourine, electric bells, drums, xylophones and four pianos. The music has much in common with the moto perpetuo style of Stravinsky, as found in works such as Les Noces and the Concert for piano and winds. In fact it is somewhat derivative. Daniel Spalding directs an accomplished performance, clearly articulated, with plenty of vitality. And the Naxos recording is clear and well focused.

The Symphony for Five Instruments is another Parisian composition, and stylistically also shows the Stravinsky influence. The music is charming and entertaining, nothing more. More interesting is the wind scoring of the Concert for Chamber Orchestra of 1932, originally entitled 'Octet for Winds'. This is beautifully performed and proves a most attractive and witty work, full of subtleties rhythmic inventiveness.

The Serenade for Strings is a later piece, composed in 1948, back in America. But it sounds as if it comes from an earlier generation, more conventional in its post-romantic outlook. It is none the worse for that, however, since the invention is attractive and the fluency of development entirely pleasing, not least because of the excellent ensemble playing and intonation of the Philadelphia ensemble.

Throughout the programme the recording is sympathetic and atmospheric, one of the best that Naxos has produced. And high standards are also found in the accompanying booklet, which is beautifully designed and printed, with well written, informative notes by Joshua Cheek.

More info: check the Naxos web page...

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John Adams - Harmonielehre

John Adams (1947 - ) - Harmonielehre
San Francisco Symphony - Edo De Waart

Nonesuch - 79115
Recording: Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, 23 March 1985

Eac / Ape (img+cue+log) / Mp3 (lame vbr --alt preset)
Total playing time: 40:08
Full covers & booklet (scan @ 300dpi)

Track listing:
1. Part I
2. Part II: The Anfortas Wound
3. Part III: Meister Eckhard and Quackie

Info:
Of the music by the four reigning minimalists in this country (Steve Reich, Philip Glass, and Terry Riley are the others), that of John Adams is perhaps the simplest, constructed on punctuated--and percussive--chords riding above coherent melodies. This is probably why Adams has had such success with his two operas. Harmonielehre is a sustained orchestral piece in three sections--triptychs framing a slow second movement of unusual somberness, given the gaiety of the opening section. Part III, called "Meister Eckhardt and Quackie", is a sprightly fairy tale of shimmering, glissando-like textures underscored by a dignified flowing melody.

Commissioned as part of the Meet the Composer Orchestra residency program and funded by Exxon Corporation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

First performed March 21, 1985 by the San Francisco Symphony, Edo de Waart, conductor, Davies Hall, San Francisco

4 flutes (2,3,&4=piccolos), 3 oboes (3=English horn), 3 clarinets (3=bass clarinet 2), bass clarinet, 3 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 4 trumpets, 3 trombones, 2 tubas, timpani, percussion (4 players) 2 harps, piano, celesta, strings

John Adams on Harmonielehre:

Harmonielehre is roughly translated as "the book of harmony" or "treatise on harmony." It is the title of a huge study of tonal harmony, part textbook, part philosophical rumination, that Arnold Schoenberg published in 1911 just as he was embarking on a voyage into unknown waters, one in which he would more or less permanently renounce the laws of tonality. My own relationship to Schoenberg needs some explanation. Leon Kirchner, with whom I studied at Harvard, had himself been a student of Schoenberg in Los Angeles during the 1940s. Kirchner had no interest in the serial system that Schoenberg had invented, but he shared a sense of high seriousness and an intensely critical view of the legacy of the past. Through Kirchner I became highly sensitized to what Schoenberg and his art represented. He was a "master" in the same sense that Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms were masters. That notion in itself appealed to me then and continues to do so. But Schoenberg also represented to me something twisted and contorted. He was the first composer to assume the role of high-priest, a creative mind whose entire life ran unfailingly against the grain of society, almost as if he had chosen the role of irritant. Despite my respect for and even intimdation by the persona of Schoenberg, I felt it only honest to acknowledge that I profoundly disliked the sound of twelve-tone music. His aesthetic was to me an overripening of 19th century Individualism, one in which the composer was a god of sorts, to which the listener would come as if to a sacramental altar. It was with Schoenberg that the "agony of modern music" had been born, and it was no secret that the audience classical music during the twentieth century was rapidly shrinking, in no small part because of the aural ugliness of so much of the new work being written.

It is difficult to understand why the Schoenbergian model became so profoundly influential for classical composers. Composers like Pierre Boulez and Gyorgy Ligeti have borne both the ethic and the aesthetic into our own time, and its immanence in present day university life and European musical festivals is still potent. Rejecting Schoenberg was like siding with the Philistines, and freeing myself from the model he represented was an act of enormous will power. Not surprisingly, my rejection took the form of parody…not a single parody, but several extremely different ones. In my Chamber Symphony the busy, hyperactive style of Schoenberg’s own early work is placed in a salad spinner with Hollywood cartoon music. In The Death of Klinghoffer the priggish, disdainful Austrian Woman describes how she spent the entire hijacking hiding under her bed by singing in a Sprechstimme to the accompaniment of a Pierrot-like ensemble in the pit.

My own Harmonielehre is parody of a different sort in that it bears a "subsidiary relation" to a model (in this case a number of signal works from the turn of the century like Gurrelieder and the Sibelius Fourth Symphony), but it does so without the intent to ridicule. It is a large, three-movement work for orchestra that marries the developmental techniques of Minimalism with the harmonic and expressive world of fin de siècle late Romanticism. It was a conceit that could only be attempted once. The shades of Mahler, Sibelius, Debussy, and the young Schoenberg are everywhere in this strange piece. This is a work that looks at the past in what I suspect is "postmodernist" spirit, but, unlike Grand Pianola Music or Nixon in China, it does so entirely without irony.

The first part is a seventeen-minute inverted arch form: high energy at the beginning and end, with a long, roaming "Sehnsucht" section in between. The pounding e minor chords at the beginning and end of the movement are the musical counterparts of a dream image I’d shortly before starting the piece. In the dream I’d watched a gigantic supertanker take off from the surface of San Francisco Bay and thrust itself into the sky like a Saturn rocket. At the time (1984—85) I was still deeply involved in the study of C. G. Jung’s writings, particularly his examination of Medieval mythology. I was deeply affected by Jung’s discussion of the character of Anfortas, the king whose wounds could never be healed. As a critical archetype, Anfortas symbolized a condition of sickness of the soul that curses it with a feeling of impotence and depression. In this slow, moody movement entitled "The Anfortas Wound" a long, elegiac trumpet solo floats over a delicately shifting screen of minor triads that pass like spectral shapes from one family of instruments to the other. Two enormous climaxes rise up out of the otherwise melancholy landscape, the second one being an obvious homage to Mahler’s last, unfinished symphony.

The final part, "Meister Eckhardt and Quackie" begins with a simple berceuse (cradlesong) that is as airy, serene and blissful as "The Anfortas Wound" is earthbound, shadowy and bleak. The Zappaesque title refers to a dream I’d had shortly after the birth of our daughter, Emily, who was briefly dubbed "Quackie" during her infancy. In the dream, she rides perched on the shoulder of the Medieval mystic, Meister Eckhardt, as they hover among the heavenly bodies like figures painted on the high ceilings of old cathedrals. The tender berceuse gradually picks up speed and mass (not unlike "The Negative Love" movement of Harmonium) and culminates in a tidal wave of brass and percussion over a pedal point on E-flat major.

The recording by Edo de Waart and the San Francisco Symphony was made only three days after the world premiere in March of 1985. (I have since revised the ending.) Despite the daunting length and rhythmic complexity of the piece, both conductor and orchestra made a totally convincing representation of it, and the recording can testify to the rare instances when a composer, a conductor, and an orchestra create an inexplicable bond among each other.

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Iannis Xenakis - Oresteïa

Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001) - Oresteïa
Maîtrise de Colmar - Ensemble Vocal d'Anjou - Ensemble de Basse-Normandie

Spiros Sakkas - baritone
Sylvio Gualda - percussion

Naïve-Montaigne- 782151
Recording: Festival Musica de Strasbourg, Eglise Sainte Aurélie, 4 & 6 October 1987

Eac / Ape (img+cue+log) / Mp3 (lame vbr --alt preset)
Total playing time: 49:23
Full covers & booklet (scan @ 300dpi)

Introduction:
A savage, insolent liturgy under the sun of Aeschylus' Greece, the cantata Oresteïa is anything but decorative music, something its composer abhorred ... Yet in it Iannis Xenakis nonetheless shows he has the same metaphysical preoccupations as ancient Greece. He determinedly captivates, fascinates and charms the listener with the jubilation and the rhythm of his movement, his grandiose male choruses [Agamemnon], the overwhelming clamour of his female voices [Les Chorephores] and the transfigured orality of Kassandra — an unnatural union between the very highest register of the baritone Spiros Sakkas and the thundering percussion of Sylvio Gualda.

Reviews:
Classicstoday.com

The origins of Iannis Xenakis' Oresteïa are almost more remarkable than the music itself, a truly bizarre "only in the USA" sort of story. Sometime in the 1960s the town of Ypsilanti, Michigan discovered that its name was not derived from some Native American language, but rather from Greek. Filled with pride at its newfound ethnic association, the town decided to hold a Greek festival capped by performances of The Birds and Oresteïa in a Greek-style amphitheater constructed on the local university baseball field. They hired an authentic Greek director and also agreed to engage the services of an authentic Greek composer to write the incidental score. Xenakis, in turn, fired with enthusiasm for the project, wrote more than an hour and a half of music for the production, which by all accounts was a huge success. In order to salvage the work for concert performance, Xenakis later prepared a cantata lasting around 50 minutes, adding in the mid-1980s the movement "Kassandra"--and here we have the result.

Okay, so it's not exactly as easy to listen to as Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky, another cantata that grew out of, shall we say, populist roots (in this case a film score), but anyone who thinks that Xenakis is unapproachable might hear Oresteïa and reconsider this hasty judgment. What gives this music its strange fascination is the combination of generally tonal, chant-like vocal elements with primitive sounding (but actually very technically sophisticated) instrumental interludes. In this respect we're not so far away from Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, the vocal works of Varèse, or (perish the thought) the later settings of Greek drama by Carl Orff. You can hear this very clearly in the second movement, Kassandra, with its delirious writing for percussion and high baritone, as well as in the chanting of the chorus in Les Choephores. The stylized instrumental writing, often monophonic and permeated with strange percussion sounds and extremes of pitch (both high and low), adds to the impression of primal starkness, and how well it suits the drama!

So where's the snake in this particular avant-garde Eden? Here it is: Montaigne can't find room in its cheap and flimsy paper package for the texts. You would think by now that any record company with even a shred of pride would understand that it's worth it to charge a few pennies more to let people serious about music understand what all of the screaming's about. Sure, we know the story (Agamemnon, Elektra, Klytemnestra--it's all been done before); but much as Xenakis disliked merely descriptive music, his settings go hand in hand with the words, and to miss them is to miss much of the music's point, however fascinating and evocative it may be as pure sound. So what could have served as an ideal introduction (in this very fine and well recorded performance) to a fascinating and original composer winds up being just another specialty item for the already converted. God, what a pity!

Gramophone

Tracklisting:

PLEASE CHECK COMMENTS

Vivaldi - Bajazet

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) - Bajazet
Europa Galante - Fabio Biondi

BAJAZET: Ildebrando D'Arcangelo bass-baritone
TAMERLANO: David Daniels countertenor
ASTERIA: Marijana Mijanovic mezzo-soprano
ANDRONICO: Elina Garanca mezzo-soprano
IRENE: Vivica Genaux mezzo-soprano
IDASPE: Patrizia Ciofi soprano

Europa Galante
dir: Fabio Biondi

Virgin Classics - 724354567629
Recording: Musica Numeris, Flagey Studio 4, Brussels, Belgium, 10-15 April 2004

Eac / Ape (img+cue+log) / Mp3 (lame vbr --alt preset)
Total playing time: 73:37 (cd 1) + 72:49 (cd 2)
Full covers & booklet (scan @ 300dpi)

This stunner of an opera involves the proud sultan Bajazet (bass) and his battle with his bloodthirsty rival-tyrant Tamerlane (counter-tenor). More than 50 operas were composed on the subject. Here Vivaldi has composed all the recitatives and marvelous arias for the dignified, fine characters and used arias by other composers--Hasse, Giacomelli, Carlo Broschi--for Tamerlano and the nasties. The music is energetic and virtuosic throughout. Fabio Biondi leads Europa Galante and soloists with urgent, theatrical precision, making the story come to life. The singing could not be better: Ildebrando d'Arcangelo is a remarkably sympathetic Bajazet, singing with fluency and power; David Daniels amazes as Tamerlano; Marijana Mijanovic sings the role of Asteria (Bajazet's daughter) with love and precision; and Viveca Genaux dazzles with her perfect coloratura as Irene. This is a treasure trove of singing. Highly recommended.

Reviews:
Classicstoday.com

This stunning work is one of the 50 operas composed on the subject of the bloody rivalry between the Tartar tyrant Tamerlano, whose methods of intimidation included constructing towers made up of his enemies heads (120 towers of 750 heads in Baghdad alone), and the proud Ottoman sultan, Bajazet, who after being imprisoned by Tamerlano opted for suicide rather than submission. In the opera, Tamerlano, though promised to the selfish princess Irene, loves Bajazet's daughter Asteria, who tries to kill Tamerlano twice. Asteria loves and is loved by Andronico, a confederate of Tamerlano's; Idaspe is a confidante of Andronico. Believe it or not, after Bajazet's suicide, Tamerlano is satisfied, and he pardons Asteria and Andronico.

The opera is a pastiche: It contains music by Vivaldi, some original, some adapted from earlier operas (all the recitatives and arias for Bajazet and Asteria); arias by Hasse, Giocomelli, and Carlo Broschi (brother of the famous castrato, Farinelli) reworked by Vivaldi; and three (also by Vivaldi) that have been chosen by conductor Fabio Biondi where they were missing from the score. With the exception of the last three mentioned, though, it must be remembered that the work was entirely overseen by Vivaldi; it is assuredly "his".

Conductor and cast throw themselves into this recording with a theatrical passion rarely encountered on CD: only René Jacobs' recent Cosi and Figaro come to mind, and by nature those operas are more stageworthy. Recits are spat out in this vicious story, and the arias--many of the simile type (I'm a turtledove; I'm like a ship on a storm-tossed sea)--actually are put across as if they were relevant. Bajazet, here sung and acted to perfection by Ildebrando D'Arcangelo, touches the heart with his desperate, second-act "Dov'è la figlia", in which he thinks his daughter has betrayed him by marrying Tamerlano; elsewhere, he sings with noble mien and fluent coloratura.

David Daniels may have too beautiful a voice for the role of Tamerlano, but his delivery is forceful, grand-mannered, and tough, and the singing itself is ravishing. Marijana Mijanovic sings the role of Asteria forcefully and with great dignity, her dark, lower register as stunning as her free middle and top. Vivica Genaux dazzles with her perfect coloratura as Irene in two arias composed for Farinelli; you wish the part were larger. Patrizia Ciofi's Idaspe contains the opera's highest-lying music; she handles it with ease, a pinched very high note aside. And Elina Garanca makes the most of Andronico's music, delivering it with princely abandon.
Praise cannot be high enough for Fabio Biondi and his Europa Galante, who play with such verve and such smooth tone that all issues about "early music performance" are moot. The horns, although they don't appear often (most arias are accompanied by strings in various formations), are played with great security and genuinely grand tone. The sonics are ideal, a slightly different acoustic for the recits aside. A bonus DVD featuring each of the singers performing an entire aria (and two for Bajazet) in rehearsal is great fun. What are you waiting for?

This stunning work is one of the 50 operas composed on the subject of the bloody rivalry between the Tartar tyrant Tamerlano, whose methods of intimidation included constructing towers made up of his enemies heads (120 towers of 750 heads in Baghdad alone), and the proud Ottoman sultan, Bajazet, who after being imprisoned by Tamerlano opted for suicide rather than submission. In the opera, Tamerlano, though promised to the selfish princess Irene, loves Bajazet's daughter Asteria, who tries to kill Tamerlano twice. Asteria loves and is loved by Andronico, a confederate of Tamerlano's; Idaspe is a confidante of Andronico. Believe it or not, after Bajazet's suicide, Tamerlano is satisfied, and he pardons Asteria and Andronico.

The opera is a pastiche: It contains music by Vivaldi, some original, some adapted from earlier operas (all the recitatives and arias for Bajazet and Asteria); arias by Hasse, Giocomelli, and Carlo Broschi (brother of the famous castrato, Farinelli) reworked by Vivaldi; and three (also by Vivaldi) that have been chosen by conductor Fabio Biondi where they were missing from the score. With the exception of the last three mentioned, though, it must be remembered that the work was entirely overseen by Vivaldi; it is assuredly "his".

Conductor and cast throw themselves into this recording with a theatrical passion rarely encountered on CD: only René Jacobs' recent Cosi and Figaro come to mind, and by nature those operas are more stageworthy. Recits are spat out in this vicious story, and the arias--many of the simile type (I'm a turtledove; I'm like a ship on a storm-tossed sea)--actually are put across as if they were relevant. Bajazet, here sung and acted to perfection by Ildebrando D'Arcangelo, touches the heart with his desperate, second-act "Dov'è la figlia", in which he thinks his daughter has betrayed him by marrying Tamerlano; elsewhere, he sings with noble mien and fluent coloratura.

David Daniels may have too beautiful a voice for the role of Tamerlano, but his delivery is forceful, grand-mannered, and tough, and the singing itself is ravishing. Marijana Mijanovic sings the role of Asteria forcefully and with great dignity, her dark, lower register as stunning as her free middle and top. Vivica Genaux dazzles with her perfect coloratura as Irene in two arias composed for Farinelli; you wish the part were larger. Patrizia Ciofi's Idaspe contains the opera's highest-lying music; she handles it with ease, a pinched very high note aside. And Elina Garanca makes the most of Andronico's music, delivering it with princely abandon.
Praise cannot be high enough for Fabio Biondi and his Europa Galante, who play with such verve and such smooth tone that all issues about "early music performance" are moot. The horns, although they don't appear often (most arias are accompanied by strings in various formations), are played with great security and genuinely grand tone. The sonics are ideal, a slightly different acoustic for the recits aside. A bonus DVD featuring each of the singers performing an entire aria (and two for Bajazet) in rehearsal is great fun. What are you waiting for?


Gramophone

Strong cast and imaginative playing bring this strong Vivaldi opera to life

The time when recordings of Vivaldi operas were almost unheard of is absurdly recent, yet in the past couple of years they have been coming thick and fast, the suddenness of their acceptance and perceived marketability threatening to make even the past decade’s rise of Handel operas seem slow. Whether Vivaldi can match up to his contemporary’s heavyweight reputation as a musical dramatist is no doubt too early to judge – though in truth it seems unlikely – but, hey, so what? Lovers of Vivaldi and Baroque opera will certainly not be complaining at the appearance on disc of so much ‘new’ music.

Bajazet was Vivaldi’s opera for the 1735 Carnival season at Verona, and is based on the same libretto as Handel’s Tamerlano. The Ottoman sultan Bajazet has been defeated and taken captive by the ruthless Tartar emperor Tamerlano, but defiantly refuses to submit to him. Tamerlano wishes to marry Bajazet’s daughter Asteria, for whom he is prepared to ditch his fiancée Irene, but Asteria, after some confusions, remains loyal to her true love Andronico, one of Tamerlano’s allies. Just as the furious Tamerlano is promising all manner of dire punishments, Bajazet’s suicide brings him to his senses and the original relationships are restored.

This is strong stuff and Vivaldi responds with sound dramatic sense. His recitatives especially show a conversational realism that allows them to be more than just a functional advancement of the plot, and indeed Bajazet’s biggest moment – his bitter denouncement of the daughter he believes unfaithful – is a powerful accompanied recitative.

Vivaldi also works harder at characterisation than is often the case, if by unusual means: Bajazet is partly a pasticcio, which is to say that it borrows and adapts arias from other operas, and in this case, while the arias for ‘conquered’ characters such as Bajazet and Asteria are by Vivaldi, those for the conquerors – Tamerlano, Andronico and Irene – are other men’s work. What is more, these men are exponents of the fashionable and suave Neapolitan style, composers such as Hasse and Giacomelli who by the 1730s were beginning to dominate the operatic world. In his booklet-note, Frédéric Deleméa suggests a conscious allusion by Vivaldi to proud old Venetian opera succumbing to an arrogant Neapolitan new order. That is as maybe, but it cannot be denied that Vivaldi chose his arias well. A composer with his penchant for spectacular vocal writing would, of course, have appreciated the crowd-pleasing virtuosity of an aria such as ‘Qual guerriero in campo armato’, originally written for Farinelli by his brother Riccardo Broschi; but here it aptly expresses Irene’s near-deranged indignation at being dumped by Tamerlano. Clever choices such as this make Bajazet a real opera, not just a hotch-potch.

The same can be said for the performers here. The cast has hardly a weak link: David Daniels is in typically beautiful voice as Tamerlano, yet at the same time manages enough hardness to suggest the spiteful anger of the man; Elina Garanca conveys a suitable measure of weakness as the indecisive Andronico; and Marijana Mijanovic’s moving and dignified Asteria never looks like losing her moral high ground. Vivica Genaux gives a show-stopping display as Irene (not least in that ‘Farinelli’ aria) and Patrizia Ciofi proves no less equal to the tough technical challenges set by the role of Andronico’s friend Idaspe. Only Ildebrando D’Arcangelo as Bajazet disappoints slightly, failing to reach to the Sultan’s defiant heart, and rushing at his big recitative – a major missed opportunity.

The orchestra’s contribution, on the other hand, is a major bonus. Fabio Biondi has never been one to miss details and he and his players bring out countless nuances in the score with their usual array of interpretative devices ranging from gentle cello chords in recitative to sparky off-beat accents and pizzicati, and even some acid sul ponticello. There could hardly be a better way to bring this opera to life.

Tracklisting:

Disc 1
1. Sinfonia : Allegro
2. Sinfonia : Andante Molto
3. Sinfonia : Allegro
4. Acte 1, Scène 1 : Prence Lo So, Vi Devo
5. Acte 1, Scène 1 : Del Destin Non Dee Lagnarsi
6. Acte 1, Scène 2 : Non Si Perda Di Vista
7. Acte 1, Scène 2 : Nasce Rosa Lusinghiera
8. Acte 1, Scène 3 : Principe, Or Ora I Greci
9. Acte 1, Scène 3 : In Si Torbida Procella
10. Acte 1, Scène 4 : Il Tartaro Ama Asteria
11. Acte 1, Scène 4 : Quel Ciglio Vezzosetto
12. Acte 1, Scène 5-6 : Or Si, Fiero Destino
13. Acte 1, Scène 5-6 : Vedeste Mai Sul Prato
14. Acte 1, Scène 7-8 : Non Ascolto Piu Nulla
15. Acte 1, Scène 7-8 : Amare Un'Alma Ingrata
16. Acte 1, Scène 9 : Cosi La Sposa Il Tamerlano Accoglie?
17. Acte 1, Scène 9 : Qual Guerriero In Campo Armato
18. Acte 1, Scène 10 : E Bella Irene
19. Acte 1, Scène 10 : Non Ho Nel Sen Costanza
20. Acte 2, Scène 1 : Amico, Tengo Un Testimon Fedele
21. Acte 2, Scène 2 : Sarete Or Ostinato
22. Acte 2, Scène 2 : Anche Il Mar Par Che Sommerga
23. Acte 2, Scène 3 : Gloria, Sdegno Ed Amore
24. Acte 2, Scène 3 : Stringi Le Mie Catene

Disc 2
1. Acte 2, Scène 4 : Ah, Disperato Andronico!
2. Acte 2, Scène 4 : La Sorte Mia Spietata
3. Acte 2, Scène 5 : Signor, Vergine Illustre
4. Acte 2, Scène 5 : Cruda Sorte, Avverso Fato!
5. Acte 2, Scène 6 : Senti, Chiunque Tu Sia
6. Acte 2, Scène 6 : La Cervetta Timidetta
7. Acte 2, Scène 7 : Gran Cose Espone Asteria
8. Acte 2, Scène 7 : Sposa, Son Disprezzata
9. Acte 2, Scène 8 : Dov'E Mia Figlia, Andronico?
10. Acte 2, Scène 8 : Dov'E La Figlia?
11. Acte 2, Scène 9 : Asteria, Siamo Al Soglio
12. Acte 2, Scène 9 : Si Crudel! Questo E L'Amore
13. Acte 3, Scène 1 : Figlia, Siam Rei
14. Acte 3, Scène 1 : Veder Parmi, Or Che Nel Fondo
15. Acte 3, Scène 2-3 : Andronico, Il Mio Amore
16. Acte 3, Scène 2-3 : Barbaro Traditor
17. Acte 3, Scène 4 : Lascero Di Regnare
18. Acte 3, Scène 4 : Spesso Tra Vaghe Rose
19. Acte 3, Scène 5-7 : Eccoti, Bajazette
20. Acte 3, Scène 5-7 : Verro Crudel, Spietato
21. Acte 3, Scène 8 : Signor, Fra Tante Cure
22. Acte 3, Scène 8 : Son Tortorella
23. Acte 3, Scène 9 : Signore, Bajazette
24. Acte 3, Scène 10 : E Morto, Si, Tiranno
25. Acte 3, Scène 10 : Svena, Uccidi, Abbatti, Atterra
26. Acte 3, Scène Finale : Deh, Tu Cauto La Segui
27. Acte 3, Scène Finale : Coronata Di Gigli E Rose

Interview with Fabio Biondi (click to enlarge):



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