Maria Antouaneta

Alexandre Tansman (1897-1986) was born in Lodz, Poland, into a wealthy Jewish family of great culture. He spoke five languages and studied law and philosophy. His early compositions show experiments with atonality and 12-tone music. In 1919 he left Poland for Paris, where he settled permanently. Tansman: "I spent the first twenty years of my life in Poland. In regard to the importance of Slavic influence in my music, I can readily say that I followed the same path as Bartók or Manuel de Falla: folklore imaginé. I did not use popular themes per se. I used, however, their general melodic contour. This folklore remained strongly present in my musical sensitivity".

Manon Lescaut, from the eponymous Puccini opera, is a difficult character to grasp, evolving from a naïve young girl to a venal and manipulative femme fatale, and finally a despaired woman weeping over her miserable end.

Pure Amina is one of the most touching characters of the bel canto repertoire. The young somnambulist is completely unaware of her condition which loses her the love of her fiancé.

It was as Ponchielli’s long-suffering ballad singer, La Gioconda, that Callas made her Italian debut, in 1947 at the Arena di Verona, and it proved crucial to her career.

Francesco Molino was an Italian guitarist, oboist, violist, and composer, born In Ivrea, Piedmont, on June 4, 1768.
His father Giuseppe Ignazio was an oboist in the service of the Piedmontese troop band. Francesco followed his father in choosing a military career, at the age of 15 years he joined the Piedmont Regiment as a volunteer, thereby also learning his father’s instrument, the oboe. He also undertook training on the viola, and by the age of 18 years he was active as a violist in the orchestra of the Royal Theater of Turin. He often travelled to Spain to give concerts. He was orchestral conductor during 1796–97.

Maria Callas wurde am 2. Dezember 1923 im New Yorker Stadtteil Washington Heights als zweite Tochter der griechischen Einwanderer George Kalogeropoulos (1881–1972) und Elmina Evangelia Dimitriadou (1894–1982) aus Meligalas geboren.

Hermes Opernlexikon: "Callas as a fascinatingly disciplined ensemble member;Stabile in a post-war recording as a reminder of his great past;Rossi-Lemeni's demonstration of a quasi-graceful wit - all that makes these discs very precious."

On She / Her, South African clarinetist Maria du Toit and Dutch pianist Vera Kooper explore music from around the world, exclusively written by women.

On She/Her, South African clarinetist Maria du Toit and Dutch pianist Vera Kooper explore music from around the world, exclusively written by women. The pieces performed here are rarely played, and for about half of them this is the world-premiere recording. Although some of these composers enjoyed popularity during their lifetimes, such as Ivy Priaulx Rainier, with the passage of time, their music vanished into near oblivion. Rainer’s exhilarating and at times meditative Suite is the centre of this album. With compositions ranging from 19th-century France to present day Nigeria, the exploration of this obscure repertoire became a mission – to celebrate and appreciate the music of talented and neglected female composers and bring these wonderful pieces to life again.

December 2nd is the birthday of Maria Callas, meaning that we are now exactly one year before her centenary.