Nino Pedretti

Franco Corelli's charismatic Don Josè finally available on home video in this 1956 production with the great tenor in his early prime. Carmen is sung by Belén Amparan and Anselmo Colzani contributes a swaggering Escamillo.

Alessandro Scarlatti was both the most celebrated vocal composer of his day, and one of the most prolific to ever live. In his lifetime (1660-1725) he composed nearly 700 cantatas and 66 operas. He was also far more famous then than his son Domenico, whose harpsichord sonatas today have all but completely eclipsed his father's works.

As Anneleen Lenaerts proves, Nino Rota brought the same gifts to his music for harp as he did to such unforgettable film scores as The Godfather, La dolce vita and Romeo and Juliet. “What could be better than to sweep an audience away and give them a moment of pure joy?” she asks. “For me, that is Nino Rota’s most important musical message.

This is a fine selection of Nino Rota's film scores , with 'La Strada' and 'Il Gattopardo'. The 'La Strada' is , in fact, a seven movement suite from the ballet which Rota adapted for the stage using his filmscore. Rota's ability to both supply big tunes and provide ironic comment in his scores is in evidence here. Gianluigi Gelmetti gets big, bold playing from his Monte Carlo orchestra. He gets committed playing that suits the pieces here, especially the splendid 'Il Gattopardo'. The sound is warm and big scale, particularly for the 'Waterloo' and 'War and Peace' items.