Kammeroper Nr. 2. Par RIHM WOLFGANG. Chamber opera does not mean “little opera.” On the same scale as chamber music is to the symphony, it is rather the other way of talking onstage. The movable apparatus permits sophisticated voice-leading. A large ensemble demands simple conception to achieve the complexity it perhaps intends; this can be formulated more sharply and nuanced in a chamber ensemble…

Following the birth of her first child, violinist Rachel Barton Pine went looking for a collection of lullabies written for violin and piano. After finding nothing in existence, she set about gathering sheet music and recording her own versions with pianist Matthew Hagle. This new collection celebrates the beauty of new life and parenthood with familiar tunes and new discoveries by composers such …

Par WIDOR CHARLES-MARIE. Charles-Marie Widor 's Symphonies for Organ, Op. 42 No. 2. Charles-Marie Widor (b. Lyons 1844, d. Paris 1937) first began his studies in his hometown, but later pursued them in Brussels, taking lessons with Nicolas-Jacques Lemmens on the Organ, and composition lessons with François-Joseph Fetis. In 1868, he inaugurated the Organ at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. He also de…

Beethoven's four-movement Sonata in A-flat major op. 26 belongs to his most popular works. It is dedicated to Prince Lichnowsky, one of his most generous patrons and the dedicatee of, for example, the Grande Sonate pathétique op. 13 and Symphony No. 2 op. 35. The work's initial drafts date from 1800-01 - it was first published in March 1802. This demanding sonata is highly varied in its form: it b…

An outstanding collectíon of ukulele duets. Par MANSELL PAUL / MIZEN TONY. 22 outstanding classical and contemporary ukulele duets arranged for both high and low G ukulele written by professional ukulele players Paul Mansell and Tony Mizen. Mixing famous pieces by classical composers such as Mozart and Schumann with some beautiful but less-known pieces by Dowland and Carulli, the book also feature…

Par BEETHOVEN LUDWIG VAN. 'My angel, my all, my self”. With these words Beethoven, in July 1812, began his passionate love letter to a woman whose identity has eluded discovery to the present day. Was he perhaps addressing the same woman four years later when he composed 'An die ferne Geliebte”, his song cycle on poems by Alois Jeitteles? Barry Cooper discusses this and many other questions in the…