A Guided Tour of the Romantic Era, Vol. 8

A Guided Tour of the Romantic Era, Vol. 8

Various Artists and Orchestras (please see Album Info)

Naxos 2013

A Guided Tour of the Romantic Era, Vol. 8

The Romantics were champions of the individual. Beethoven – the brilliant, troubled, fiercely idiosyncratic genius – was seen by his followers as the embodiment of greatness. Composers began to break down the boundaries between different genres and forms, resulting in a musical landscape full of contrasts: from massive symphonies to delicate, lyrical chamber music. The symphonic poem – a new form – took orchestral music into previously uncharted territory by abandoning classical forms and striving to ‘paint’ images, impressions and emotions with sound. Music was perceived not so much as entertainment (as it was during the eighteenth century) but as a unique and deeply personal form of self-expression.

In the sphere of instrumental music, the virtuoso reigned supreme. Performers like Liszt and Paganini filled concert halls again and again, inspiring near-hysterical devotion in their fans. Composers and performers had more-or-less completely broken away from the bonds of patronage – the public had now become the supreme arbiter of musical taste.

Underpinning all this was the way in which music reflected the political upheavals of the period as societies strived to throw off established autocratic rule. A sense of national identity became more evident in European music, with composers becoming acutely aware of their roots: among others, Schubert, Brahms and Wagner in Germany; Verdi and Bellini in Italy; Chopin, Debussy and Berlioz in France; Tchaikovsky and Mussorgsky in Russia; Dvořák and Smetana in Eastern Europe; and Grieg in Norway.

Album information taken from: http://www.classicsonline.com/promos/Guided-Tours-Romantic-Era.html

Artists and Orchestras:

Eldar Nebolsin (piano), Jeno Jando (piano), Philip Thomson (piano), Giuseppe Andaloro (piano), Andreas Rothkopf (organ), Folke Alin (choirmaster), Christina Hornell (choirmaster), Goran Eliasson (tenor), John Erik Eleby (bass), Lennart Forsen (bass), Lars Cleveman (tenor), Marian Vach (choirmaster), Domenico Trimarchi (baritone), Alessandro Cosentino (tenor), Enrico Facini (tenor), Franco de Grandis (bass), Elena Filipova (soprano), Carlo Colombara (bass), Cesar Hernandez (tenor), Gloria Scalchi (mezzo-soprano), Matthew Polenzani (tenor), Valerian Ruminski (bass), Indra Thomas (soprano), Ana Maria Martinez (soprano), Ingrid Kertesi (soprano)

Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Franz Liszt Academy of Music Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Austrian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Swedish Opera Orchestra, Stuttgart State Opera Orchestra, Royal Swedish Opera Chorus, Royal Swedis, Michael Halasz, Andras Ligeti, Vasily Petrenko, Pinchas Steinberg, Leif Segerstam, Lothar Zagrosek, Johannes Wildner, Alexander Rahbari, Daniele Callegari, Ricco Saccani, Oliver Dohnanyi, Jose Serebrier, Will Humburg, Pier Giorgio Morandi, Richard Hayman

Tracklisting

Franz Liszt: Les Preludes, S97/R414
Les Preludes, S97/R414

Franz Liszt: Eine Faust-Symphonie in drei Charakterbildern, S108/R425: I. Faust
Eine Faust-Symphonie in drei Charakterbildern, S108/R425: I. Faust

Franz Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-Flat Major, S124/R455
Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-Flat Major, S124/R455: Allegro maestoso – Tempo giusto

Franz Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 2 in A Major, S125/R456
Piano Concerto No. 2 in A Major, S125/R456: Allegro moderato

Franz Liszt: Totentanz, S126/R457
Totentanz, S126/R457

Franz Liszt: Annees de pelerinage, 1st year, Switzerland, S160/R10
Annees de pelerinage, 1st year, Switzerland, S160/R10: No. 2. Au lac de Wallenstadt (At the Lake of Wallenstadt)

Franz Liszt: Annees de pelerinage, 2nd year, Italy, S161/R10b
Annees de pelerinage, 2nd year, Italy, S161/R10b: No. 1. Sposalizio (Marriage of the Virgin)

Franz Liszt: Annees de pelerinage, 2nd year, Italy supplement, S162/R10: Venezia e Napoli
Annees de pelerinage, 2nd year, Italy supplement, S162/R10: Venezia e Napoli: No. 1. Gondoliera (Gondolier’s Song)

Franz Liszt: Annees de pelerinage, 3rd year, S163/R10
Annees de pelerinage, 3rd year, S163/R10: II. Aux cypres de la Villa d’Este I (To the Cypresses of the Villa d’Este I: Threnody)

Franz Liszt: 12 Etudes d’execution transcendante, S139/R2b
12 Etudes d’execution transcendante, S139/R2b: No. 2 in A Major, “Fusees”

Franz Liszt: Consolations, S172/R12
Consolations, S172/R12: No. 3. Lento placido

Franz Liszt: Harmonies poetiques et religieuses, S173/R14
Harmonies poetiques et religieuses, S173/R14: II. Ave Maria

Franz Liszt: 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies, S244/R106
19 Hungarian Rhapsodies, S244/R106: No. 2 in C-Sharp Minor
19 Hungarian Rhapsodies, S244/R106: No. 10 in E Major, “Preludio”

Franz Liszt: Der Tanz in der Dorfschenke, S514/R181, “Mephisto Waltz No. 1”
Der Tanz in der Dorfschenke, S514/R181, “Mephisto Waltz No. 1”

Franz Liszt: Piano Sonata in B Minor, S178/R21
Piano Sonata in B Minor, S178/R21

Franz Liszt: Prelude and Fugue on the name B-A-C-H, S260/R381
Prelude and Fugue on the Name B-A-C-H, S260/R381: Prelude

Franz Liszt: Fantasy and Fugue on the Chorale Ad nos, ad salutarem undam by G. Meyerbeer, S259/R380
Fantasy and Fugue on the Chorale Ad nos, ad salutarem undam by G. Meyerbeer, S259/R380

Richard Wagner: Der fliegende Hollander (The Flying Dutchman): Overture
Der fliegende Hollander (The Flying Dutchman): Overture

Richard Wagner: Tristan und Isolde
Tristan und Isolde, Act I: Prelude

Richard Wagner: Das Rheingold
Das Rheingold: Prelude

Richard Wagner: Die Walküre, 3. Akt: Walkürenritt
Die Walkure, Act I: Prelude

Richard Wagner: Siegfried
Siegfried, Act I: Vorspiel

Richard Wagner: Götterdämmerung
Gotterdammerung (Twilight of the Gods), Prologue: Einleitung

Richard Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg (The Mastersingers of Nuremberg) .
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg (The Mastersingers of Nuremberg), Act III: Finale

Richard Wagner: Tannhauser
Tannhauser, Act II: The Guests’ Procession into the Hall of Song in the Wartburg

Richard Wagner: Parsifal .
Parsifal, Act I: The Journey to Montsalvat (The Castle of the Guardians of the Grail)

Richard Wagner: Lohengrin
Lohengrin, Act II: Bridal Procession

Richard Wagner: Rienzi
Rienzi, Act II: The Messengers of Peace

Richard Wagner: Siegfried Idyll, WWV. 103
Siegfried Idyll

Giuseppe Verdi: Rigoletto
Rigoletto, Act I: Prelude

Giuseppe Verdi: La traviata
La Traviata, Act I: Prelude

Giuseppe Verdi: Macbeth
Macbeth, Act I: Preludio

Giuseppe Verdi: Aida
Aida: Prelude

Giuseppe Verdi: Otello
Otello, Act I: Fuoco di gioia

Giuseppe Verdi: Otello, Act III Scene 7: Ballabile
Otello, Act III: Ballabile

Giuseppe Verdi: Falstaff
Falstaff, Act I: Falstaff! Ola!

Giuseppe Verdi: La forza del destino
La forza del destino: Overture

Giuseppe Verdi: Messa da Requiem
Messa da Requiem: Requiem: Requiem aeternam

Giuseppe Verdi: 4 Pezzi sacri
4 Pezzi sacri: No. 1. Ave Maria

Charles-Francois Gounod: Faust
Faust, Act II: Ainsi que la brise legere
Faust, Act II: Quel trouble inconnu me penetre! … Salut! Demeure chaste et pure
Faust, Act IV: Alerte! Alerte! Ou vous etes perdus!

Charles-Francois Gounod: Romeo et Juliette
Romeo et Juliette, Act I: Je veux vivre

Gounod: Ave Maria (version for voice and orchestra)
Ave Maria (version for voice and orchestra)