The Arman Ratip

For his ''Occasional Oratorio'', composed in 1746 in an age of personal and political upheaval, Handel made generous use of much of his own earlier material, and this resulted in something quite close to an anthology: a choice collection of his most beautiful and most famous pieces - as it were, a ''Best Of''. The ''Messiah'' librettist Charles Jennens complained loudly that the oratorio was ''a triumph for a victory not yet gain'd'', and that its libretto, by a certain Newburgh Hamilton, was an ''inconceivable jumble of John Milton and Edmund Spenser''.

Rossini's Stabat Mater experienced some birth difficulties; the work had been commissioned by a Spanish aristocrat in 1832 but the following year the composer had only finished half of it, and an illness prevented him from continuing. Eager to be satisfied with his sponsor - and his wallet, no doubt - Rossini asked his friend and colleague Giovanni Tadolini to compose the remaining numbers, and in 1833 resounded in Spain the world premiere of Rossini's Stabat Mater. had not hesitated to sign the entire score without mentioning Tadolini's name. What a little joker! In 1841, the book was bought by a Parisian publisher who was unaware of the deception, Rossini was offended all the more because he had reserved the rights, and after many financial tuggings that are not necessarily to his credit, Rossini himself completed his score which was given in full and integrally Rossini in 1842. The public and the criticism were divided; some observers a bit Germanic felt that for religious music, it sounded like an opera, others rejoiced that although it was religious music, it still looked like an opera. This new recording from the Bavarian Radio Orchestra and Choir, with a fine line of Italian soloists, will delight fans.

From the five-hundred-year old musical history of the Sufi Fakirs of Bengal to the virtuoso musicianship of Calcutta’s guitar master Debashsish Bhattacharya and Carnatic violinist Jyotsna Srikanth, this Rough Guide explores India’s spiritual connections with its ancient musical traditions.