Meyerbeer

When Richard Wagner failed to have his one-act version of Der fliegende Holländer staged at the Paris Opera, the cash-strapped composer sold a synopsis of the plot, written in broken French. This was fashioned into a proper libretto, which was then set to music by Pierre-Louis Dietsch, who enjoyed 11 performances of Le Vasseau fantôme before it was pulled from the repertoire in 1843. Ironically, Wagner's success with Der fliegende Holländer in Dresden happened shortly after that, and the expanded three-act version has remained an essential part of Wagner's canon.

Robert Schumann considered Peter Joseph von Lindpaintner the most promising operatic composer in the country, yet despite his 21 operas he has been almost forgotten. Like most leading German composers of his time he took Meyerbeer’s historical grand operas, conceived in Paris, as his model. Set in Sicily at the dawn of the 1848 revolution, Il vespro siciliano (‘Die sizilianische Vesper’ / ‘The Sicilian Vespers’) is a dramatic four-act opera that reveals why he was held in such esteem by Schumann, Spohr and Mendelssohn: expressive harmonies, folksong-like strophic songs, rich orchestration, the use of the latest stylistic devices, and tuneful bel canto melodies that point to the work’s Franco-Italian lineage.

Plácido Domingo, one of the greatest opera singers of all time, and one of the few classical musicians who can genuinely be considered a household name, is 70 in January 2011.In 2010 he proved he is still going strong through incredible performances of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra at Covent Garden, his first performance as a baritone. He also appeared in the extremely popular live televised performances of Rigoletto. In his own words “If I rest I rust”!

Mercadante studied under Zingarelli, who also taught Bellini. Although Rossini’s influence is present, especially in the early works, Mercadante admired operas by Meyerbeer, Halevy, and Mozart. The opening of Caritea’s Sinfonia is strongly reminiscent of Mozart’s Don Giovanni , and much of his music reminded me of Donizetti with a hint of Bellini here and there. Eleven years after Caritea , Mercadante endeavored to “reform” opera by varying the forms, eliminating “trivial cabalettas,” crescendos à la Rossini, limiting the number of repeats, and enriching the orchestrations without overwhelming the singers. He also lost interest in ending operas with a splashy showcase for the prima donna. Beginning with his 41st opera Il giuramento (1837), Mercadante put these reforms in place, although his later operas don’t sound all that radically different than many of his earlier ones…

The master of the piano must surely be Frédéric Chopin. Every one of his compositions includes the piano in some form, yet within his oeuvre there is still an exciting variety of music to be found. Chopin made the solo piano form into an art, extensively developing various styles – including the piano sonata, waltz, polonaise and impromptu – and heavily popularising others for the first time, such as the Polish mazurka, the form he often chose to express his nationalism.

This set includes Leibowitz acclaimed Beethovens symphonies cycle also noted for attempting to follow very precisely Beethoven's metronome marks. Leibowitz's conducting repertoire, which spanned virtually everything, is well represented in this comprehensive 13CD set. Many recordings featured in this set are have been available only as downloads. Glorious, inspired, unique interpretations of classical masterpieces. AfterWW II, Leibowitz became one of the most sought-after conductors in Europe and his well deserved reputation is extensively represented in this set THE ART OF LEIBOWITZ.