Nicolai Terra Firma

One of the most 'hidden' and sought after releases of all times is finally getting a due repress: a work of epic proportions, Ennio Morricone's and Bruno Nicolai's "Dimensioni Sonore" has been eluding collectors and affectionate listeners for about 50 years.

Te Deum von 1832, eine groß angelegte Festmusik, überzeugt durch rasche Ausdruckswechsel und warme Orchesterfarben. Die 15-sätzige Komposition vereint klangprächtige, teils achtstimmige Chorsätze und filigrane Arien, experimentiert mit ungewöhnlichen Instrumentalklängen und Ensemblegruppen. Hochdramatisch wird es, wenn schmetternde Posaunen und bebende Streicher das jüngste Gericht ankündigen, woraufhin ein Solisten-Sextett die Erlösung erfleht.

Quartet Records and GDM are proud to present a mammoth 3-CD set with the complete, remastered edition of scores by the great Bruno Nicolai from three of the most renowned and lovely mid-sixties Eurospy movies.

Before Otto Nicolai wrote the major work for which he is known–The Merry Wives of Windsor–he wrote Italian operas, of which Il Templario, first shown in 1840 in Turin and given more than 70 productions over the next 40 years, was the third. This recording is a reconstruction of Il Templario from various versions–there were revisions in Italy, a German language edition, a French piano-vocal score–by the musicologist Michael Wittmann. The result is a full-blown, exciting Italian opera in the bel canto tradition (more like Bellini, Mercadante, and Meyerbeer than Rossini) that looks forward to the energetic, melody-filled works of the young Verdi.

The short-lived Nicolai is better known for his operatic effort The Merry Wives of Windsor so it is good that MD&G are celebrating the less obvious. Of course neglect is sometimes justified. This turns out not to be the case here. Joyous Beethovenian bravura from same bloodgroup as the Beethoven's Choral Fantasy (much under-rated) and the Third and Fourth piano concertos. There is also restraint and tenderness aplenty amidst all the coruscating notes. The dashing piano part is pressed forward and breasted by MD&G regular Claudius Tanski - a most convincing performance. The work is restless with excitement and rich in detail.

Te Deum von 1832, eine groß angelegte Festmusik, überzeugt durch rasche Ausdruckswechsel und warme Orchesterfarben. Die 15-sätzige Komposition vereint klangprächtige, teils achtstimmige Chorsätze und filigrane Arien, experimentiert mit ungewöhnlichen Instrumentalklängen und Ensemblegruppen. Hochdramatisch wird es, wenn schmetternde Posaunen und bebende Streicher das jüngste Gericht ankündigen, woraufhin ein Solisten-Sextett die Erlösung erfleht.

Der Barbier von Bagdad (The Barber of Baghdad) is a comic opera in two acts by Peter Cornelius to a German libretto by the composer, based on The Tale of the Tailor and The Barber’s Stories of his Six Brothers in One Thousand and One Nights. The first of three operas by Cornelius, the piece was first performed at the Hoftheater in Weimar on 15 December 1858.