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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Barber - Cello Sonata, Excursions & Summer Music
Alan Staphansky, Israelela Margalit, Jeanne Baxtresser, Joseph Robinson, Stanley Drucker, Judith Le Clair & Philip Myers This selection of chamber music by Samuel Barber (1910-1981) contains some of his most notable compositions. The youthful Cello Sonata of 1932; Excursions for piano from 1942-44 and the charming Summer Music for wind quintet, written in 1956, amply illustrate Barber's propensity to lyricism, making this a most appealing disc. | 
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| |  | American Piano Sonatas Volume 1
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| |  | Barber - Violin Concerto
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa |
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| |  | Samuel Barber
London Symphony Orchestra & Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin & Michael Tilson Thomas Samuel Barber (1910-1981) is best-known today for his Adagio for Strings, which was originally written as the slow movement for an early string quartet, and has become one of most played pieces of classical music. The Adagio was first perfomed in its orchestral form by Toscanini, with the Essay for Orchestra in the same concert. These works are typical of Barber's output, being overtly European in outlook and language.Barber composed music in most genres: two symphonies; concertos for piano, cello and violin, two grand operas; ballets; choral works; chamber music and a great number of songs. This selection of works includes the beautifully reflective Knoxville: Summer 1915, written to a sensitive text from James Agee's unfinished novel A Death in the Family. Also included is the Violin Concerto with it's lovely slow movement and the Overture to a School for Scandal, which was the first of Barber's works to be performed by a major orchestra. | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Menotti & Barber - Violin Concertos
Ruggiero Ricci (violin) Pacific Symphony Orchestra, Keith Clark | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | The American Virtuoso
American pianist Paul Barnes performs his own solo transcription of Philip Glass’s Piano Concerto No 2 in a virtuosic recital devoted to US composers. Besides this premiere, he plays the landmark 1950 Sonata for piano and the haunting Ballade and Nocturne by Samuel Barber, and two short colourful pieces from Joan Tower’s No Longer Very Clear | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Michael Sheppard
The American Pianists Association was founded in New York City in 1979 by Tony Habig and Victor
Borge. Its mission is to discover and support young world-class pianists through competitions,
performance tours and educational programmes.Winners receive assistance for two years, including a
cash award and career services valued at $75,000. Currently, the APA awards three Fellowships:The
DeHaan Classical Fellow; the Max I. Allen Classical Fellow; and the Cole Porter Fellow in Jazz. | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Barber - Songs
Gerald Finley (baritone) & Julius Drake (piano) The Aronowitz Ensemble The wonderful Gerald Finley, described recently as ‘the best living baritone currently at the peak of his powers’ (The Globe and Mail), brings his ‘glorious sound and great dramatic instinct’ to this fascinating selection of songs, sensitively accompanied by Julius Drake. “This is a pretty stunning achievement. At his most mellifluous and focused, Gerald Finley has beauty of tone to spare. But he is also at his most expressive – hollowing out the voice for the hopelessness of the song “Bessie Bobtail”, letting it splinter with anger at the climax of the brief, furious “Sea Snatch”.
Throughout, Julius Drake proves a predictably accomplished, thoughtful partner. The pair move easily and logically from the prettiness of the very early songs through the complexities of the Hermit Songs and the pensive Mélodies passagères.
It’s a canny move
to place Dover Beach
as the final track. The introduction of the string quartet to close the disc shifts the mood, sending us off in another direction. It comes as a hopeful reminder of the wonder of love, even with a sting in its tail. Entirely appropriate for a bittersweet, marvellous collection.” Gramophone Magazine “Performances of this calibre emphasise Barber's stature in the mainstream… The immediate comparison is with the Gramophone Award-winning Thomas Hampson… Most I prefer Finley, and the recording is warmer.” Gramophone Magazine, Janurary 2008 “As on his 2005 Ives collection, the Canadian baritone Gerald Finley is golden in tone, persuasive in phrasing, and unfailingly responsive to the sound and sense of the words. Julius Drake once more proves a strong and imaginative partner, and a quartet from the Aronowitz Ensemble makes a promising recording debut.” BBC Music Magazine, December 2007 *****  BBC Music Magazine
Choral & Song Choice - December 2007 |
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| |  | Earl Wild Plays 20th & 21st Century Piano Sonatas
Earl Wild, whose legendary career has spanned over 70 years, performs in this brand new recording four 20th and 21st century piano sonatas. Mr. Wild states: "I had a personal friendship with all four composers on this disc, although one of the relationships has been a little more intimate. I have performed the Hindemith and Stravinsky sonatas in public many times since the 1940s. The Barber Sonata however is a first performance for me. I have the greatest admiration for this wonderful work. My own Sonata was completed in April of this year. A stylistically eclectic work, it incorporates Civil War tunes, echoes of popular music of the 1920s and, in the finale (entitled "Toccata a la Ricky Martin"), there is a distinctive Latin American flavour. | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein “Barber's Adagio is presented on an epic scale, and this Appalachian Spring is compelling. Bernstein is less convincing as a pianist, however - his Rhapsody in Blue is rough around the edges.” BBC Music Magazine, November 2007 **** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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Gramophone Awards 2008
Gramophone Magazine
