Naxos of America to Distribute Ivory Classics.

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HISTORICAL SERIES
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CLASSICAL
8.553782 – SRP: $6.99
Bohuslav Martin˚u (1890-1959)
String Quartets Vol.1
Sting Quartet No. 1 (1918) – String Quartet No. 2 (1925) – Tˇri jezdci (Three Horsemen)
Martin˚u Quartet • Playing Time: 71:41
8.110904– SRP: $6.99
Frederick Delius (1862-1934)
Orchestral Works, Vol. 1
Two Pieces for Orchestra – Eventyr (‘Once Upon a Time’) – Koanga: Closing Scene
Hassan: Incidental Music – Paris (‘Ein Nachtstück’) (The Song of a Great City)
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / London Select Choir / London Philharmonic Orchestra
Sir Thomas Beecham
Playing Time: 61:11
Living in a church tower, 193 steps above street level, was a good enough reason for the young Bohuslav Martin˚u,to spend his evenings practicing the violin.
It was later to bring him a temporary living as a member of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, though his objective in life was to become a composer.
An enormously prolific composer, he developed an intensely personal style, which often made use of Czech thematic material. The quite remarkable Tˇri jezdci,
written by the 12-year-old Martin˚u, was to herald one of the outstanding string quartet composers of the 20th century. The First Quartet was composed while
Martin˚u was strongly influenced by the music of Ravel and Debussy, and had yet to develop the unique tonal colors we find in the Second Quartet.
8.554399 – SRP: $6.99
Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687)
Grand Motets, Vol. 3
This famous recording, conducted by Delius’ greatest champion, Sir Thomas Beecham, is amazingly restored by
engineer David Lennick. This was the first recording session at which Beecham worked with legendary music
producer Walter Legge. Volume 2 by the same artists is eagerly awaited.
Exaudiat te Dominus (Psalm 19) – O dulcissime Domine – Notus in Judaea Deus (Psalm 75) – Laudate pueri Dominum (Psalm 112) – Benedictus
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Le Concert Spirituel/Hervé Niquet • Playing Time: 57:35
By the age of twenty-one Jean-Baptiste Lully had become Composer of the King’s Instrumental Music and for the next thirty years he almost completely
dominated music life at the court and in French theatre, winning in 1672 the exclusive right to produce opera. His output ranged from Church music to ballets
de cour and notable collaborations with Molière in the form of comédies-ballets such as Le bourgeois gentilhomme. In these works, written for the Chapel Royal,
Lully is inspired to paint a whole sweep of emotions, at once melancholy, sweet, tragic, noble and victorious. Observe his mastery of color. Listen to how choral
and orchestral textures, now in five, now in ten parts, change with the rhythm of the text. Note how subtle touches of orchestral color highlight the meaning of
a word or the sweetness of a modulation.
8.554286 – SRP: $6.99
Franz Berwald (1796-1868)
Complete Duos
Duo in D minor for violin and piano (1858) – Fantasy on two Swedish folk-melodies (1850) – Concertino in A minor for violin and piano (1859)
Duo Concertant in A minor for two violins (1816) – Duo in B flat major for cello and piano (1857)
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Tobias Ringborg, Violin / David Bergström, Violin / Mats Rondin, Cello / Bengt-Ake Lundin, Piano • Playing Time: 70:20
For much of the nineteenth century in Sweden, music making was confined to small-scale chamber music at home and ambitious composers had to move abroad
to seek acceptance of their work. While Berwald enjoyed some success in continental Europe, only a handful of his orchestral works were performed in Sweden during
his lifetime. This caused him in later years to concentrate on chamber music, completing two piano quintets, two string quartets, three piano trios as well
as duos for violin and piano and cello and piano. Berwald received much encouragement from his friend Liszt who praised Berwald’s invention, skill and elegant
style while adding, somewhat prophetically: ‘you truly possess originality but you will not enjoy success during your lifetime. Nevertheless you must persevere.’
8.554704 – SRP: $6.99
Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848)
L’elisir d’amore (Highlights)
Nemorino – Vincenzo LaScola, Tenor / Adina – Alessandra Ruffini, Soprano / Dulcamara – Simone Alaimo, Bass
Belcore-Roberto Frontali, Baritone / Giannetta – Mariangela Spotorno, Soprano
Hungarian State Opera Choir & Orchestra / Pier Giorgio Morandi
Playing Time: 77:09
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This highlights disc of L’Elisir d’Amore includes over half of the music from the Naxos full-length version of the Bel Canto Master Donizetti’s most popular comic
opera. American Record Guide praised the recording saying, "The chorus is strong, the orchestra alert and the sound is fine." Of the hallmark
aria of this disc, "Una Furtiva Lagrima" the magazine raves that it "is poured out with full tenorial intensity."
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