As many may be aware, Emile Waldteufel rivaled Johann Strauss II in the genre of the waltz. But unlike Strauss, many of Waldteufel's popular waltzes were arrangements of folk themes or themes by other...
Vincenzo Bellini, was one of the three great composers of the belcanto-era. However, besides his opera's his instrumental output is limited. The Concerto for Oboe in E-flat major, most likely composed...
A short aria for lyric soprano. Delicate orchestration contributes to an extremely moving rendition of this splendid melody. (Concert Band)
Ruggiero Leoncavallo war ein italienischer Opernkomponist und Librettist. Obwohl er im Laufe seiner Karriere zahlreiche Opern und andere Lieder komponierte, sind sein zweiaktiges Werk Pagliacci (1892)...
Besides operettas Franz Lehár also wrote sonatas, symphonic poems, marches and a number of waltzes. The most popular of these waltzes is 'Gold und Silber' (Gold and Silver) which he composed for Princ...
The 'Andante e Rondo Ungarese', was written in response to the success of Carl Maria von Weber's 'Bassoon Concerto' and was requested by the bassoonist in the Munich Orchestra, Georg Friedrich Brandt....
In Lehar's bittersweet operetta 'Giuditta', the beautiful heroine Giuditta abandons her husband to be with Octavio, an army captain. When he leaves her to pursue his military career, she becomes a nig...
The 'Missa Solemnis in B flat' was Anton Anton Bruckner's first major work for choir and orchestra. In this transcription of the Agnus Dei, a brass choir of horns, Trumpets and trombones replaces the...
The Cavatina 'Quel guarda il cavaliere' is sung in the first act of Donizetti's opera Don Pasquale by the young Norina .She comments on a novel she is reading, but also dwells on her skills as a charm...
Madamina, il catalogo è questo" (auch bekannt als die Katalog-Arie) ist eine Arie aus Mozarts Oper "Don Giovanni" nach einem italienischen Libretto von Lorenzo Da Ponte. Sie wird in Szene 5 des ersten...
In the central part of the concerto, the Adagio, Mozart's preoccupation with cantabile melody opens a new world of sonority.It opens with a melody which must be one of the most beautiful ever written,...
Tannhäuser is one of Richard Wagner's richest and most elaborate musical achievements. A mood of autumnal melancholy imbues the third and final act: Wolfram feels the chill hand of impending death, bu...
Tschaikovsky composed his Solo Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in the spring of 1878. The work does have a rocky beginning, somewhat like that of his first Piano Concerto. The premiere was both some...
In a life spanning almost ninety-five years, Stolz wrote in excess of 2000 songs, dances and marches, as well as the music for more than 50 stage works, 60 films and 19 ice revues. In 1929 the German...
Giuseppe Giordani (1751-1798) was an Italian composer, mainly of opera. Giordani is mostly know for his popular aria 'Caro mio ben'. This song is even nowadays sung by many great singers, as well male...
The 'Piano Concerto No. 1' in B-flat minor, Op. 23, is one of the most popular of Tschaikowsky's compositions and among the best known of all piano concertos. The concerto follows the traditional form...
In 1855 Johann Strauss composed the 'Aurora Polka' for the ball of the Aurora artists' association. The work was performed for the first time on February 14, 1855 in 'Tanzlokal Zum Sperl' in Vienna. D...
Ruggiero Leoncavallo, both composer and librettist, based Pagliacci on real-life events he recalled from childhood. From these he fashioned a vivid musical play with intense passions build in the live...
Cavalleria Rusticana is a tempestuous drama of adultery and revenge set in a remote Italian village. Its earthy passions, bold confrontational scenes and richly melodic score set a fashion for so-call...
Die Oper "La Wally" von Alfredo Catalani ist vor allem für die Arie "Ebben? Ne andro lontana'. Er hatte diese Arie 1878 unabhängig als "Chanson GroÙnlandaise" komponiert und sie später in seine Oper a...
Ombra mai fù is the opening aria from the 1738 opera Serse by Georg Friederich Handel. The opera itself was a commercial failure, lasting only five performances in London after its premiere. In the 19...
'Der ZigeunerbaronD ist nach DDie Fledermaus' Johann Strauss' beliebteste Operette. Ein musikalisches Highlight daraus ist der schwungvolle Einzug des Chores im dritten Akt: 'Hurrah die Schlacht mitge...
Rudolf Sieczynski (1879-1952) was an Austrian composer of Polish ancestry. His fame today rests almost exclusively on the nostalgic Viennese song Wien, du Stadt meiner Träume (Vienna, City of My Dream...
Hans Christian Lumbye ist vor allem für seine Lichtkompositionen bekannt, von denen viele auf nicht-musikalische Quellen zurückgehen. Der "Champagner-Galopp" (BTM681) beispielsweise beginnt mit dem "K...
'Die Moldau' ('Vtlava') ist der zweite Satz aus Bedrich Smetanas sinfonischer Dichtung 'Mein Heimatland' ('Ma Vlas'). Er beschreibt den Verlauf des Flusses von den beiden kleinen Quellen durch Wälder...
Carl Millöcker (1842-1899), was an Austrian composer mainly known for his operetta Der Bettelstudent. In 1884 Millocker composed the opereatta Gasparone. on a libretto by Friedrich Zell and Richard Ge...
Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf (1739 -1799) was an Austrian composer and violinist. Although his 'Concerto for Harp and Orchestra in A major' is a favorite of concerto-starved harpists the world over, t...
Carl Heinrich Carsten Reinecke (1824 -1910) was a German composer, conductor, and pianist. After retirement as a teacher at the conservatory, Reinecke devoted his time to composition. In his great oeu...
Strauss's very first "Lied" - in fact his very first attempt as a composer - was a Christmas song, "Weihnachtslied", to a poem by Christian Schubart, most famous as the poet of Schubert's "Die Forelle...
Sieht man nur den Titel 'Schwips-Lied' wird einem dieses Werk kaum bekannt vorkommmen. Doch hört man es, so dahinter eine Gesangsversion der berühmten 'Annen-Polka' erkennen, in der sich eine Dame aus...
'Le Nozze di Figaro' is one of the three opera's which Mozart composed on libretto's of Lorenzo da Ponte (1749-1838) the famous Viennese theaterdirector and courtpoet. The overture of 'Le Nozze di Fig...
Johann Strauss's operetta 'Eine Nacht in Venedig' (A Night in Venice) premiered 1883 in Berlin and is his only operetta to be premiered outside Vienna. Although the score gained high acclaim, the pres...
Pietro Mascagni's most successful opera 'Cavalleria Rusticana' is a tempestuous drama of adultery and revenge set in a remote Italian village. Its earthy passions, bold confrontational scenes and rich...
The operetta 'Pique Dame' ('The Queen of Spades') was a revised version of Franz von Suppé's 1862 operetta 'Die Kartenschlägerin' ('The Fortune Teller') and premiered in June 1864 at the Thalia Theate...
Mozart's funeral motet Ave verum corpus was composed in june 1791 for Anton Stroll, choirmaster at the spa of Baden, near Vienna. Within a tiny span the music sounds an extraordinary depth of feeling,...
Renowned as the composer of such operas as 'La Boheme', 'Tosca' and 'Madame Butterfly', Giacomo Puccini began his musical career in the composition of church music. 'Messa di Gloria' was written by Pu...
The 'Ave Maria' by Charles Gounod consists of a melody that he superimposed over an only very slightly changed version of the Prelude No. 1 'from Joh. Seb. Bach's 'The Well-Tempered Clavier, written 1...
Vincenzo Bellini is one of the great composers of the bel canto era. The aria 'Casta Diva' is Norma's ode to the moon. The role of Norma was one of the favourites of the legendary soprano Maria Callas...
The moving prayer of Desdemona from Act IV of Otello. The accompaniment is arranged exclusively for woodwinds only. (Soprano and Concert Band)
'Der Zigeunerbaron' is Strauss's second most popular operetta after 'Die Fledermaus'. Its 1885 premiere had political resonance; the plot popularized the Dual (Austro-Hungarian) Monarchy which was to...
