John Ganz

The eminent teacher and theoretician Ferruccio Busoni was revered throughout all Europe at the turn of the century, but his unclassifiable music became overshadowed by other avant-garde movements such as the Second Viennese school. By 1916, his unconventional, innovative opera Arlecchino is a caustic farce about the war, and includes sprechgesang that very much inspired him since he held a performance of his friend Schoenberg’s Pierrot lunaire in his own house. The featured version is conducted by Sir John Michael Pritchard and was the first ever to be put on record.

The eminent teacher and theoretician Ferruccio Busoni was revered throughout all Europe at the turn of the century, but his unclassifiable music became overshadowed by other avant-garde movements such as the Second Viennese school. By 1916, his unconventional, innovative opera Arlecchino is a caustic farce about the war, and includes sprechgesang that very much inspired him since he held a performance of his friend Schoenberg’s Pierrot lunaire in his own house. The featured version is conducted by Sir John Michael Pritchard and was the first ever to be put on record.

One of Mozart’s most colourful and delightful scores, The Seraglio is stylishly sung here in a performance that includes the spoken dialogue. Gardiner’s orchestral forces are on tip-top form, and the sound is warm and fresh.