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SPONTINI, G.: Fernando Cortez, ou La conquête du Mexique [Opera] (Schmunck, Voulgaridou, Fiorentino Maggio Musicale Chorus and Orchestra, Tingaud) (CDS7868.03)




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SPONTINI, G.: Fernand Cortez, ou La conquête du Mexique [Opera] (Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, 2019) (NTSC) (DYN-37868)




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SPONTINI, G.: Fernand Cortez, ou La conquête du Mexique [Opera] (Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, 2019) (Blu-ray, HD) (DYN-57868)




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DEBUSSY, C.: 12 Études / Préludes, Book 1 / Images / Suite bergamasque (Idil Biret Solo Edition, Vol. 10-11) (8.571401-02)

“For well versed insiders of music, Idil Biret is since years a trusted, respected and beloved artist. Her Skrjabin, Bartók and Prokofiev interpretations are exemplary classical benchmarks. The discipline of her powerful grasp and approach of the music has led, especially for works of our century, to a stylistic congruence between the written score and the interpretation, which is way outside of the unusual norms of conventions with so called “Star raving and rantings”, which, in the case of Idil Biret, makes us all aware of an outstanding artistic potency of the highest standards of excellence!” – DIE WELT, Germany 1979 “Idil Biret takes the opening movement of Debussy’s Children’s Corner very briskly and impetuously, but the performance then settles down and is sensitive and well characterized, especially the closing Golliwog’s Cakewalk. Good recording and recommendable couplings, too.” – PENGUIN GUIDE, England 2009 “There is no question whatever that Biret’s reading of the Ravel Gaspard de la nuit takes its place among the most delicately wrought Ravel interpretations by any of the many great pianists renowned for their performances of French piano music.” – SOHO WEEKLY NEWS, USA 1977 “For years, Debussy’s Études, which are dedicated to ‘the memory of Frederic Chopin’, had been distanced from the programs of pianists, seen as dry, abstract, annoying pieces. However, apart from their importance in piano learning, these études are actually concise, emotional colorful masterpieces that are products of imagination.” – Ilhan Mimaroğlu (from an article on Debussy), Turkey 1961




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CHINA Folk Music of China, Vol. 1: Folk Songs of Qinghai and Gansu (NXW76088-2)

This series explores China’s rich and diverse musical heritage. The songs featured in this recording are folk songs of the five minority ethnic groups of Qinghai and Gansu provinces—Tu, Bonan, Dongxiang, Yugur and Salar. As with Chinese traditional visual arts, the song titles explain their mood and origin.




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CHINA Folk Music of China, Vol. 2: Folk Songs of Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang (NXW76089-2)

This series explores China’s rich and diverse musical heritage. The songs featured in this recording are folk songs of five minority ethnic groups of Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang—Mongol, Daur, Oroqen, Evenki and Hezhen. As with Chinese traditional visual arts, the song titles explain their mood and origin.




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CHINA Folk Music of China, Vol. 3: Folk Songs of Yunnan (NXW76090-2)

This series explores China’s rich and diverse musical heritage. The songs featured in this recording are folk songs of three of the minority ethnic groups of Yunnan province—Wa, Blang, and De’ang. As with Chinese traditional visual arts, the song titles explain their mood and origin.




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CHINA Folk Music of China, Vol. 4: Folk Songs of Guangxi (NXW76091-2)

This series explores China’s rich and diverse musical heritage. The songs featured in this recording are folk songs of four of the minority ethnic groups of Guangxi province—Zhuang, Bouyei, Mulao, Maonan. As with Chinese traditional visual arts, the song titles explain their mood and origin.




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MAURITIUS Noukilla: Soley (NXW76151-2)

Noukilla’s Soley is a mix of sega and seggae music, with a touch of jazz: a tribute to their home country of Mauritius. Created by Creole slaves, sega music was publicly shunned in Mauritius until the 1960s, when it was embraced nationally. In the 1990s, a Mauritian Rastafari, known as Kaya after the Bob Marley classic, infused it with reggae, creating seggae. Although he died under questionable circumstances in 1999, countless contemporary Mauritian musicians are influenced by his legacy and music. The album cover features the island’s most famous exr-esident, the dodo bird.




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CHINA Folk Music of China, Vol. 5: Aboriginal Folk Songs of Taiwan (NXW76092-2)

This album features folk songs of the Austronesian aboriginal ethnic groups of Taiwan—Amis, Atayal, Saisiyat, Tsou, Paiwan, Rukai, Bunun, Seediq and Truku. As with Chinese traditional visual arts, the song titles explain their mood and origin.




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Guitar Recital: Kowalski, Mateusz - ASSAD, S. / BARRIOS MANGORÉ, A. / PONCE, M.M. / TÁRREGA, F. (Classical Guitarist) (CDAccordACD251)




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MOZART, F.X.: Rondos / Piano Sonata / 4 Polonaises / Variations on a Russian Theme (Drogosz) (CDAccordACD260)




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Chamber Music (Viola da gamba) - MARAIS, M. / FORQUERAY, A. (J. and K. Karpeta, Birula, Niedźwiecka, Raczyński) (CDAccordACD259)




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MONIUSZKO, S.: Choral Music (inaczej śpiewany) (Choirs of the Choral Academy Project - Singing Poland, NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra, Frankow-Zelazny) (CDAccordACD265)




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RASMUSSEN, K.A.: Four Seasons (The) (after A. Vivaldi) / Follia, follia… / RESPIGHI, O.: The Birds (arr. K.A. Rasmussen) (Fryklund, Mortensen) (8.226220)




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KOCH, J.: Concertos (Dreamscapes) (Fukačová, Tichindeleanu, Kruse, Odense Symphony, J. Brown) (6.220579)




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MADSEN, A.G.: Nachtmusik / GUDMUNDSEN-HOLMGREEN, P.: For Violin and Orchestra (Duo Åstrand/Salo, Danish National Symphony, Bancroft, Collon) (8.226138)




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Concertos - KUHLAU, F. / BARTH, C.F. / GADE, N.W. (Concertos from 19th-Century Denmark) (O. Nordahl, Aarhus Symphony, Thorel) (6.220664)




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RASMUSSEN, S.: Andalag Nos. 5 and 7 / Fanfare lontane / Viola Sonata No. 1 (Lützen, Aldubáran) (8.226133)




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ALENIUS, L.: ILT (Jensen, Jansson, Frandsen, J.S. Andersen, Rolin) (8.226619)




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Violin Music (Danish) - ALSTED, B. / CHRISTENSEN, S. / FUZZY / KONDRUP, E.V. / NØRHOLM, I. / OLSEN, M. (Educate·S) (C. Balling, B.B. Pihl) (8.226614)




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PASCULLI, A.: Fantasies on Themes by Giuseppe Verdi (Grazia, Orchestra Senzaspine, M. Parmeggiani, Ussardi) (TC841602)




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MARGOLA, F.: Chamber Music - Concertos for Soloist and Orchestra (Convervatorio Arrigo Boito di Parma Orchestra) (TC901390)




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MOZART, W.A.: Entführung aus dem Serail (Die) [Opera] (La Scala, 2017) (NTSC) (752008)




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MOZART, W.A.: Entführung aus dem Serail (Die) [Opera] (La Scala, 2017) (Blu-ray, HD) (752104)




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VIENNA JOHANN STRAUSS ORCHESTRA: Musical Journey Across Austria (A) (NTSC) (753008)




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VIENNA JOHANN STRAUSS ORCHESTRA: Musical Journey Across Austria (A) (Blu-ray, HD) (753104)




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WAGNER, R.: Fliegende Holländer (Der) [Opera] (Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, 2019) (NTSC) (753808)




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WAGNER, R.: Fliegende Holländer (Der) [Opera] (Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, 2019) (Blu-ray, HD) (753904)




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Piano Trio and Quartets - ELSNER, J. / SZYMANOWSKA, M. / MOZART, W.A. / LESSEL, F. (Warsaw Music Salon) (Arte dei Suonatori) (CDAccordACD269)




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Piano Music (Norwegian) - TVEITT, G. / GRIEG, E. / KJERULF, H. / BACKER GRØNDAHL, A. (Nordic Light) (Soboń-Wakarecy) (CDAccordACD267)




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MAGNARD, A.: Orchestral Works - Ouverture / Chant funèbre / Hymne à la justice / Hymne à Vénus (Freiburg Philharmonic, Bollon) (8.574084)

Although Albéric Magnard’s oeuvre is relatively small, the uncompromising perfectionism with which he worked created a catalogue that is filled with expansive, complex and beautifully crafted music. Composed while he was still a student of Vincent d’Indy, the Suite d’orchestre dans le style ancien follows 18th-century models and is simultaneously solemn and joyful in mood, while the Chant funèbre is seen as his first true masterpiece. The importance of justice in Magnard’s life is expressed in the Hymne à la justice, while the Hymne à Vénus reflects every aspect of love, from tenderness to elation.




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HERNÁNDEZ, S.: Piano Music Initiation to the Shadow / Terra Santa / Fantasia for Piano / Don't Forget About That (S. Hernández) (8.579072)

The distinguished Spanish composer and pianist Sira Hernández is known especially for her involvement with multi-discipline arts projects at major international festivals and cultural events. Many of her works are inspired by Italian artists as can be heard on this album. Minimalist techniques and the significance of tonality and timbre in communicating darkness and light are heard in Iniciación a la sombra and the sewing-machine ostinatos of Fantasía para piano. The presence of God amidst the bleak spaces of madness are expressed in Terra Santa, and the intensity of Don’t Forget About That invites us to resist oblivion.




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Harp Recital: Plachá, Barbora - KRUMPHOLTZ, J.-B. / DUSSEK, J.L. (Works for Harp) (UP0216)




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GAVRILIN, V.A.: Russian Notebook (The) / Anyuta (excerpts) (Shkirtil, St. Petersburg Philharmonic Symphony, Serov) (8.573883)

Valery Gavrilin was one of the most colourful and significant Russian composers of the second half of the 20th century. He was only 25 when he composed The Russian Notebook, a ‘poem of love and death’ crafted in a new musical language that doesn’t employ folk melodies but does use folkloric texts, and with a virtuosic vocal part. These stylised tunes are combined with rich melodies to form a haunting cycle heard here in a 2018 orchestration. The ten numbers from the ballet Anyuta are lively, melodious and touchingly beautiful.




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COUPERIN, F.: Harpsichord Music (L'Unique) (Vinikour) (CDR90000-194)




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CLASSICAL MUSIC - 30 of the Best (8.578355-56)

This introduction to the exciting world of classical music will take you on a voyage of discovery as you experience the beauty and drama of some of the most famous music ever written. This essential collection presents something for every moment: excitement, relaxation, elation and more, with critically acclaimed recordings selected from the vast Naxos catalogue. Let your mind and emotions be transported by the greatest music from the greatest composers.




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CIPULLO, T.: Parting (The) [Opera] (Strickling, C. Cook, Mayes, Music of Remembrance, Willis) (8.669044)

Heard here in its world premiere recording, The Parting is a daring opera by award-winning composer Tom Cipullo and librettist David Mason that explores the life and art of Miklós Radnóti, one of the most important poetic witnesses to the Holocaust, and one of its tragic victims. Radnóti’s poems express emotions from love and enchantment to absolute loss, and The Parting includes texts found in his jacket pocket after his death. This opera is a profound meditation on what it is about art that outlives us, that enables us to be creative even in the face of unimaginable adversity, and reminds us to guard against hatred and to celebrate what makes us human.




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CHOPIN, F.: Scherzos Nos. 1-4 / Impromptus Nos. 1-3 / Fantasy-Impromptu / Allegro de concert (Mao Fujita) (8.574052)

Chopin turned the Scherzo into a new form of piano composition: an independent virtuoso work which he laced with drama, Polish folk song, tranquillity and nuance. With their rhythmic lilt and filigree ornamentation the Impromptus are infused with Romantic freedom, while the Allegro de concert, Op. 46 was originally conceived as a movement for a projected piano concerto but was instead revised for solo piano.




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Cello, Soprano and Piano Recital: Ruh, Janina / Kusnezow, Boris - POULENC, F. / DEBUSSY, C. / FRANCK, C. (Dialogues) (SWR19030CD)




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BOLIVIA Ruphay (Los): Music of the Andes - Jach'a Uru (The Great Day) (EUCD2893)




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BOITO, A.: Mefistofele [Opera] (F. Furlanetto, Filianoti, Theodossiou, Zaramella, Palermo Teatro Massimo Chorus and Orchestra, Ranzani) (CDS581)




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BEETHOVEN, L. van: Mass in C Major / Vestas Feuer / Meeresstille und Glückliche Fahrt (Chorus Cathedralis Aboensis, Turku Philharmonic, Segerstam) (8.574017)

The custom of marking the name-day of Princess Esterházy with a newly composed Mass began in the 1790s and for many years was carried out by Joseph Haydn. In 1807 Beethoven was commissioned and responded with his Mass in C major. Coolly received at court, it is a celebratory work of large-scale brilliance. The cantata Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt is set to Goethe’s poems and contrasts calm with exuberance. In 1803 Beethoven set two numbers from Vestas Feuer, written by Emanuel Schikaneder, the librettist of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte.




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BEETHOVEN, L. van: Chamber Music - Piano Quartet, Op. 16 / Minuets and Dances (Sofia Kim, Kroh, Segal, Sarid, IU Wind Ensemble, Dorsey) (8.574040-41)

In his first decade in Vienna, Beethoven seems to have been preoccupied with music for wind instruments. The best-known example is his Quintet in E flat major, Op. 16, which he arranged at the same time for piano quartet. He also wrote music for dances and settings of folk songs, and reflected the public’s interest in automata by writing for musical clock. The Napoleonic wars were mirrored in Beethoven’s music of the period, especially in his military compositions such as a series of Marches and the Equali, scored for trombones, which were later played at his funeral.




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BEETHOVEN, L. van: Celebrate Beethoven - Music from His Late Compositional Period (c.1815–1827) (9.30207)




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BALZAC, H. de: Cousin Bette (Unabridged) (NA0458)

Lisbeth Fischer has lived in the shadow of her beautiful cousin Adeline for much of her life. Pampered while Lisbeth works in the fields, Adeline makes an enviable leap in status when Baron Hulot offers her his hand in marriage. Out of kindness, they bring Lisbeth to Paris, where she falls in love with the artist Wenceslas, her protégé. However, when she is jilted for Adeline’s daughter Hortense, her jealousy and rage exponentially intensify, and she resolves to bring the Hulot family to ruin, employing the cold seductress Valérie Marneffe as her vehicle for revenge. A classic tale of obsession, self-destruction and unabated desire, Cousin Bette is a blazing portrayal of libertine France, and the fatal excesses which drive the novel to its dark end.




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Vocal and Piano Recital: Fingerlos, Rafael / Mouissi, Sascha el - BRAHMS, J. / SCHUBERT, F. / WOLF, H. / STRAUSS, R. / SCHUMANN, R. (Fremde Heimat) (OC1711)




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Violin Recital: Arnoldi, Roberto - ANZAGHI, D. / ARNOLDI, N. / GARBARINO, G. / SPINOSA, R. / VACCHI, F. (New Music for Solo Violin) (TC940003)




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VERDI, G.: Attila [Opera] (I. D'Arcangelo, Monastyrska, S. La Colla, G. Petean, Bavarian Radio Chorus, Munich Radio Orchestra, Repušić) (900330)




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TCHAIKOVSKY, P.I.: Sacred Choral Works - Vesper Service / Hymn in honour of SS Cyril and Methodius (Latvian Radio Choir, Kļava) (ODE1352-2)