Giuliani Rossiniana No.1

Rossiniana is the name of two works, one by Mauro Giuliani, the other by Ottorino Respighi, both based on compositions by Gioachino Rossini. "Rossiniane" are a virtuoso variations cycle for the guitar based on themes by Rossini. One of the unique features of these Galant Classical compositions is that they were jointly composed by Giuliani, Paganinni (who was also an accomplished guitarist), and Rossini himself at Rossini's villa. Mauro Giuliani (who died in 1829) alone is formally credited with composing the six sets of jointly composed variations for guitar on themes by Rossini, Opp. 119–124 (c. 1820–1828). Each set was called "Rossiniana", and collectively they are called "Rossiniane". This was the first known tribute by one composer to another using a title with the ending -ana. Giuliani's achievements as a composer were numerous. Giuliani's 150 compositions for guitar with opus number constitute the nucleus of the nineteenth-century guitar repertory. He composed extremely challenging pieces for solo guitar as well as works for orchestra and Guitar-Violin and Guitar-Flute duos. Outstanding pieces by Giuliani include his three guitar concertos (op. 30-36 and 70); a series of six fantasias for guitar solo, op. 119-124, based on airs from Rossini operas and entitled the "Rossiniane." WIKIPEDIA

VIDEO: German guitarist Isabella Selder interprets Rossiniana No.1 op. 119 by Mauro Giuliani. This video was made in St. Stefan, Friedberg in September of 2011. Guitar: Nicolaus Wollf 2007

 

Strauss - Der Rosenkavalier/Waltz Suite Op.59

Der Rosenkavalier (The Knight of the Rose or The Rose-Bearer), Op. 59, is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from the novel Les amours du chevalier de Faublas by Louvet de Couvrai and Molière’s comedy Monsieur de Pourceaugnac. It was first performed at the Königliches Opernhaus in Dresden on 26 January 1911 under the direction of Max Reinhardt, Ernst von Schuch conducting. Until the premiere the working title was Ochs von Lerchenau. (The choice of the name Ochs is not accidental, for in German Ochs means ox, which depicts the character of the Baron throughout the opera.) The opera has four main characters: the aristocratic Marschallin, her very young lover Count Octavian Rofrano, her coarse cousin Baron Ochs and Ochs' prospective fiancée Sophie von Faninal, daughter of a rich bourgeois. At the Marschallin's suggestion Ochs gets Octavian to act as his Rosenkavalier and present the ceremonial silver rose to Sophie. But when Octavian meets Sophie they fall in love at first sight. By a comic intrigue they get rid of Ochs with the help of the Marschallin, who then yields Octavian to the younger woman.Although a comic opera, Der Rosenkavalier also operates at a deeper level. Conscious of the difference in age between herself and Octavian, the Marschallin muses in bittersweet fashion over the passing of time, growing old and men's inconstancy. There are many recordings of the opera and it is regularly performed.

 VIDEO: Prom 57: Wagner, Berg, R. Strauss & Ravel R. Strauss - Der Rosenkavalier -- suite Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester Daniele Gatti conductor Royal Albert Hall, 26 August 2012
 

Dvorak Romantic Pieces Op. 75 for Violin and Piano

Antonín Dvořák composed his cycle of four Romantic Pieces (in Czech: Romantické kusy) for violin and piano (Op. 75, B. 150) in January 1887. These four pieces are arranged from his previous composition, a trio for two violins and viola, known as Miniatures (in Czech: Drobnosti), (Op. 75a, B. 149). The first performance of the Romantic Pieces took place on 30 March 1887 at the chamber concert at the Umělecká Beseda in Prague. The violin part was played by Karel Ondříček, at that time leader of the orchestra of the National Theatre (he was a younger brother of the violinist František Ondříček), with Dvořák at the piano. The trio version was premiered by members of the Prague Quartet on 24 February 1938 at a concert of Dvořák's chamber music at the Prague City Library. The individual parts were played by Vilibald Schwejda, Herbert Berger and Ladislav Černý. The Romantic Pieces were published in 1887 by the Berlin publishing house of Simrock, the Miniatures in 1945 by Hudební Matice Umělecké Besedy. WIKIPEDIA

VIDEO: Ivan Ženatý and Sandra Shapiro live at CIM...Live recording from Cleveland Institute of Music Recital Series December 2013. 

Handel - Music for the Royal Fireworks

George Frideric Handel's "Music for the Royal Fireworks" (1749), composed at the behest of King George II of Great Britain for the great fireworks display celebrating the signing of the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, which concluded the War of the Austrian Succession on October 18, 1748. The "Music for the Royal Fireworks" was first performed publicly six days before the great fireworks display, on April 21, 1749, when a full rehearsal of the music was held at Vauxhall Gardens. However, Handel himself objected to this performance. It is assumed his objection was due to logistics, but was more due to his promise to repeat the music for a charity concert at the Foundling Hospital four weeks after the main display. The Vauxhall performance was publicly advertised, and would thus be widely attended, so Handel feared it would lessen interest in subsequent performances. However, catastrophe ensued when the great "machine" misfired and burst into intense flame. The left pavilion of the structure was most affected, and according to the "Description II" of the celebration, published afterwards, the contrivance "burnt with great Fury."

 VIDEO: Performed by the English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Raymond Leppard
 

Wagner - Die Walküre: "The Ride of the Valkyries"

Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), WWV 86B, is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner with a German libretto by the composer. It is the second of the four operas that form Wagner's cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung). The story of the opera is based on the Norse mythology told in the Volsunga Saga and the Poetic Edda.[1][2] In Norse mythology, a valkyrie is one in a group of female figures who decide which soldiers die in battle and which live. Die Walküre's best-known excerpt is the "Ride of the Valkyries". It received its premiere at the Königliches Hof- und National-Theater in Munich on 26 June 1870. Wagner originally intended the opera to be premiered as part of the entire cycle, but was forced to allow the performance at the insistence of his patron King Ludwig II of Bavaria. It was first presented as part of the complete cycle on 14 August 1876 at Wagner's Bayreuth Festival. The opera made its United States premiere at the Academy of Music in New York on 2 April 1877. The "Ride of the Valkyries" (German: Walkürenritt or Ritt der Walküren) is the popular term for the beginning of act 3 of Die Walküre, the second of the four operas by Richard Wagner that constitute Der Ring des Nibelungen. Ride of the Valkyries Performed by the American Symphony Orchestra for Edison Records in 1921 Problems playing this file? See media help. As a separate piece, the "Ride" is often heard in a purely instrumental version, which may be as short as three minutes. Together with the "Bridal Chorus" from Lohengrin, the Ride of the Valkyries is one of Wagner's best-known pieces.

  VIDEO: Conducted by Pierre Boulez

Schubert - Rosamunde

Rosamunde, Fürstin von Zypern (Rosamunde, Princess of Cyprus) is a play by Helmina von Chézy, which is primarily remembered for the incidental music which Franz Schubert composed for it. Music and play premiered in Vienna's Theater an der Wien on 20 December 1823 Schubert's incidental music is scored for orchestra, and for some of the numbers diverse combinations of singers. Excerpts from the Rosamunde music are frequently performed, and are some of Schubert's most performed pieces. They have been recorded several times, including versions conducted by Kurt Masur and Claudio Abbado. The complete score, which lasts an hour, is seldom heard. In one rare performance, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, directed by Nikolaus Harnoncourt, performed the full score at the Styriarte festival in Graz, Austria, in June 2004. The Arnold Schoenberg Choir sang the vocal parts with soloists Elisabeth von Magnus and Florian Boesch. WIKIPEDIA

VIDEO: Rosamunde, Fürstin von Zypern D.797 - Ouvertüre "Die Zauberharfe" D.644 0:00 - Ballet Music n°2 10:08 - Entr'acte n°3 17:17 - Entr'acte n°1 23:58 Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest George Szell Studio recording, Amsterdam, 2-4.XII.1957

 

Chavez - Obertura Republicana

Carlos Antonio de Padua Chávez y Ramírez (13 June 1899 – 2 August 1978) was a Mexican composer, conductor, music theorist, educator, journalist, and founder and director of the Mexican Symphonic Orchestra. He was influenced by native Mexican cultures. Of his six symphonies, the second, or Sinfonía india, which uses native Yaqui percussion instruments, is probably the most popular.Chapultepec Obertura republicana, Marcha provinciana, Vals nostálgico, Canción de Adelita was composed in 1935. It was in 1935 the Orquesta Sinfónica de México offered a series of concerts aimed at a proletarian audience in which Chávez premiered his Obertura Republicana, a piece based on three popular Mexican melodies of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: the Marcha de Zacatecas, the waltz Club Verde, and La Adelita. Chávez defined these pieces as “genuinely Mexican, popular and mestizo, encompassing a large amount of Republican expression.”

  Chavez Obertura Republicana

 

Schubert: String Quartet No. 13 in A minor (the Rosamunde Quartet)

Portrait_of_Franz_Schubert_1797-1828,_oil_on_canvas_by_Carl_Jäger


The String Quartet No. 13 in A minor (the Rosamunde Quartet), D 804, Op. 29, was written by Franz Schubert between February and March 1824. It dates roughly to the same time as his monumental Death and the Maiden Quartet, emerging around three years after his previous attempt to write for the string quartet genre, the Quartettsatz, D 703, that he never finished. Starting in 1824, Schubert largely turned away from the composition of songs to concentrate on instrumental chamber music. In addition to the A-minor String Quartet, the Quartet in D minor, the Octet, the Grand Duo and Divertissement a la Hongroise (both for piano duet), and the Sonata for Arpeggione and Piano all date from that year. With the exception of the Grand Duo, all of these works display cyclic elements—that is, two or more movements in each work are deliberately related in some way to enhance the sense of unity. In the case of the A-minor Quartet, a motive from the third-movement Minuet becomes the most important melodic figure for the following finale (Chusid 1964, 37). Schubert dedicated the work to Schuppanzigh, who served as the first violinist of the string quartet appointed by Beethoven. Schuppanzigh himself played in the premiere performance which took place on 14 March 1824. VIDEO: Sini Simonen, Benjamin Bowman, Steven Dann, Richard Lester at the 15th Esbjerg International Chamber Music Festival 2013. 25th August at South Denmark's Music Academy

SCHUMANN Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 97, 'Rhenish'

The Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 97, also known as the Rhenish, is the last symphony composed by Robert Schumann (1810–1856), although not the last published. It was composed from 2 November to 9 December 1850, and comprises five movements. The Third Symphony is scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets in B♭, two bassoons, four french horns in E♭, two trumpets in E♭, three trombones, timpani and strings. It premiered on 6 February 1851 in Düsseldorf, conducted by Schumann himself,[1] and was received with mixed reviews, "ranging from praise without qualification to bewilderment". However, according to Peter A. Brown, members of the audience applauded between every movement, and especially at the end of the work when the orchestra joined them in congratulating Schumann by shouting "hurrah!".WIKIPEDIA

VIDEO:Schumann : Symphony No. 3 "Rhenish" (Live) NDR Symphony Orchestra Christoph Eschenbach.

RESPIGHI Rossiniana

Respighi revisited this source of musical delights a few years later when he created an orchestral suite he called Rossiniana. Complete in 1925, this time Respighi treated the original material more freely, being unbound by the limitations of a ballet libretto. It is a very colorful score (typical of Respighi) in which Rossini's music seems to be absorbed into the more modern style of Respighi. The four movements are: " Capri e Taormina (Barcarola e Siciliana)"; "Lamento"; "Intermezzo"; and "Tarantella 'Puro sangue'." VIDEO: Ottorino Respighi: Rossiniana, original music by Rossini arranged for orchestra, P. 148 Parts 1 and 2 JoAnn Falletta / Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra

Chopin Rondo a la Krakowiak

Frédéric Chopin's Rondo à la Krakowiak in F major, Op. 14 is a composition for piano and orchestra. It was written in 1828 and dedicated to Princess Anna_Zofia_Sapieha, whose mother, Izabela_Czartoryska, was influential in shaping the burgeoning Romantic aesthetic in Poland, particularly through the Temple of [Polish] Memory in Puławy. The piece begins with a soft, pentatonic section in 3/4 time, which introduces the lively syncopated krakowiak in its typical 2/4 meter. The Rondo à la Krakowiak was written in Warsaw in 1828 under the guidance of Józef Elsner. It has received a number of recordings but still remains less known than most of Chopin's other works. Chopin quotes Niccolò Paganini's Caprice No. 24 during this work, and includes a variation on the quotation.


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VIDEO: Fryderyk Chopin - Krakowiak, Grand Rondeau de Concert op.14 pt1/2 - Rondo a la Krakowiak Symphony Orchestra of the Frederic Chopin Music School in Warsaw, Poland Sławek A. Wróblewski - conductor Krzysztof Moskalewicz - piano Wilold Lutosławski Concert Studio of Polish National Radio 

BERLIOZ Roman Carnival Overture (Le carnaval romain)

The French composer Hector Berlioz wrote a number of overtures, many of which have become popular concert items. They include overtures intended to introduce operas as well as independent concert overtures. WIKIPEDIA Le carnaval romain, ouverture pour orchestre (Roman Carnival Overture), Op. 9. Composed in 1844 and first performed at the Salle Herz, Paris, on 3 February 1844. A stand-alone overture intended for concert performance, made up of material and themes from Berlioz's opera Benvenuto Cellini, including some music from the opera's carnival scene – hence the overture's title. It is scored for large orchestra, is in the key of A major, and features a prominent and famous solo for the cor anglais.

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 VIDEO:The YouTube Symphony Orchestra 2011 performs Roman Carnival Overture, Op.9 by Hector Berlioz at the Grand Finale concert.

 

Liszt Reminiscences of Don Juan S 418

Réminiscences de Don Juan (S. 418) is an opera fantasy for piano by Franz Liszt on themes from Mozart's Don Giovanni. It is extremely technically demanding. For this reason, and perhaps also because of its length and dramatic intensity, it does not appear in concert programmes as often as Liszt's lighter and more popular pieces, such as the Rigoletto Paraphrase. As Ferruccio Busoni says in the preface to his 1918 edition of the work, the Réminiscences carries "an almost symbolic significance as the highest point of pianism." Liszt wrote the work in 1841 and published a two-piano version (S. 656) in 1877.           WIKIPEDIA



 VIDEO: Tiffany Poon plays Liszt Reminiscences de Don Juan, S. 418 WATCH TIFFANY'S PERFORMANCE AT 2015 CHOPIN COMPETITION (PRELIMINARY ROUND) 

Mendelssohn Symphony No 5 Reformation

The Symphony No. 5 in D major/D minor, Op. 107, known as the Reformation, was composed by Felix Mendelssohn in 1830 in honor of the 300th anniversary of the Presentation of the Augsburg Confession. The Confession is a key document of Lutheranism and its Presentation to Emperor Charles V in June 1530 was a momentous event of the Protestant Reformation. This symphony was written for a full orchestra and was Mendelssohn's second extended symphony. It was not published until 1868, 21 years after the composer's death – hence its numbering as '5'. Although the symphony is not very frequently performed, it is better known today than it was during Mendelssohn's lifetime. The key of the symphony is stated as D major on the title page of Mendelssohn's autograph score. However, only the slow introduction is written in D Major, whereas the main theme and the cadence setting of the first movement are in D minor. The composer himself referred to the symphony on at least one occasion as in D minor.             WIKIPEDIA

VIDEO: Felix Mendelssohn Symphony No 5 D major minor 'Reformation' S. Baudo OSI
 

Franz Liszt Reminiscences De Robert Le Diable

Robert le diable (Robert the Devil) is an opera in five acts composed by Giacomo Meyerbeer from a libretto written by Eugène Scribe and Germain Delavigne. Robert le diable is regarded as one of the first grand operas at the Paris Opéra. It has only a superficial connection to the medieval legend of Robert the Devil. In the 19th century this was one of Liszts [photo] most popular pieces. According to Charles Suttoni: Liszt first performed this piece in 1841 in Paris on his first solo recital there and it was an immediate success. Liszt was even forced to play this piece in a fundraising concert in Beethovens memory, that was supposed to have an all Beethoven program, because the audience continuously demanded it. When the sheets were published in 1846 the first edition of 500 copies was sold out in a day!



VIDEO: Franz Liszt - Reminiscences De Robert Le Diable - EARL WILD 

Rachmaninov The Rock Fantasy Op 7

The Rock, Op. 7 (or The Crag) (Russian: Утёс) (Utyos) is a fantasia or symphonic poem for orchestra written by Sergei Rachmaninoff in the summer of 1893. It is dedicated to Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Rachmaninoff highly respected the older and accomplished composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and in a meeting between the two at the home of Rachmaninoff's former teacher Sergei Taneyev, the younger composer was given the opportunity to perform his just completed piece at the piano. The Rock had a positive effect on Tchaikovsky, who had been discontented with an earlier performance of a four-hand piano arrangement of his latest symphony (the sixth) by another young composer, Lev Conus.Tchaikovsky asked to be allowed to include The Rock in the program of a forthcoming European concert tour. This was never realized, however, as Tchaikovsky died later that year. As an epigraph for the composition, Rachmaninoff chose a couplet from a poem by Russian poet Mikhail Lermontov: The golden cloud slept through the night Upon the breast of the giant-rock He later admitted, however, to a second musical programme, drawn from a story by Anton Chekhov titled "Along the Way", in which a young girl meets an older man during a stormy, overnight stop at a roadside inn on Christmas Eve. The man shares with her the story of his life, beliefs, and past failures, as a blizzard rages on through the night.

                                                   WIKIPEDIA              

VIDEO: The USSR Symphony Orchestra Evgeni Svetlanov Music "The Rock, Fantasia for Large Symphony Orchestra, Op. 7" by USSR State Symphony Orchestra 

Rachmaninoff Three Russian Songs Op 41

The Three Russian Songs, Op. 41 (Trois Chansons Russes; Tri Russkie Pesni) for chorus and orchestra (also seen as Three Russian Folk Songs) were written by Sergei Rachmaninoff in 1926. It is the last of Rachmaninoff's three works for chorus and orchestra, the others being the cantata Spring, Op. 20 (1902), and the choral symphony The Bells, Op. 35 (1913). The work takes about 15 minutes to perform. The thematic material for the work came from three traditional folk songs: Через речку (Cherez rechku; Across the River, Swift River), Moderato, was a song Rachmaninoff had probably heard for the first time by the touring Moscow Art Theatre's opera studio a year or so before Ах ты, Ванька (Akh ty, Vanka; Ah, You Vanka! You Devil-May-Care Fellow), Largo, had been sung to him by Feodor Chaliapin Белилицы, румяницы, вы мои (Belilitsy, rumyanitsy, vy moi; You, My Fairness, My Rosy Cheeks), Allegro moderato, was a favourite of Nadezhda Plevitskaya. The Three Russian Songs were dedicated to Leopold Stokowski, who conducted the first performance in Philadelphia on 18 March 1927 with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. The program also included the world premiere of Rachmaninoff's Fourth Piano Concerto, with the composer as soloist. The Three Russian Songs were favourably received by the critics, the concerto less so. The pair of works was repeated on 19 March, and given in New York on 22 March, with similar critical reactions.

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VIDEO: I. Over the stream, the swift stream 4:23 II. Ah, Vanka, you are dashing 10:47 III. My cheeks, so white, so rosy! State Symphony Capella of Russia - Valery Polyansky