September 11, 2001 was a day never to be forgotten. It was unspeakably devastating, and a tragically surreal day for all who witnessed the events unfold. I was there that day, hearing incessant sirens, watching in disbelief as the North Tower crumbled, smelling the stench and wandering in all...

Stephen Caracciolo writes beautiful music. However, as pleasurable as the music is of its own accord, to hear it without at the same time taking in a full understanding of the sung texts is to miss the true essence of the music. It is Stephen Caracciolo’s consummate writing for chorus...

A quick query shows that the music of Xavier Montsalvatge is best represented on the Naxos label. Recordings prior to this release include some of the Catalan composer’s piano music and chamber works. Performed by the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Victor Pablo...

This is a gem. It’s one of those rare albums where, hearing only the opening few measures, you become completely absorbed in the beauty of what you are hearing. Simply titled Preisung (German for “Praise”), the music is sung by Sjaella, a group of six extraordinary young...

England produced few remarkable composers for a period of several hundred years. For virtually all of the Baroque, Classical and Romantic eras, the country had to wait until the time of Britten, Vaughan Williams and Elgar in the early 20th century to boast their own true greatness. However, if...

This Cypres CD contains two rarities from the late Romantic repertoire by French composers Alfred Bruneau and Claude Debussy. The Bruneau work is his Requiem, first performed in London in 1896. The music of Debussy comes by way of Romanian-born French composer Marius Constant, who was one of...

The music of Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725) lacks the representation in the catalog it deserves. The Italian composer, who is probably best known as the father of Domenico Scarlatti, composed over 50 works for the stage (predominately operas) and over 700 chamber cantatas, two of the most...

A recent release in Supraphon’s Music from eighteenth-century Prague series, this CD is subtitled Bohemian Disciples of Johann Joseph Fux. The music of Fux (1660-1741) does not appear on the disc at all. What these pieces have in common is that each of the three composers, František...

The concert going public of 19th-century France was consumed by opera. While composers kept opera stages humming, it wasn’t quite enough and a new genre evolved, one which allowed audiences to get an operatic shot in the concert hall. The scene lyrique, in its ultimate form, was a series...

This splendid album, The Golden Age of Danish Partsongs, should be an obvious acquisition for any listener who enjoys Romantic choral music. It’s been released by the Danish Dacapo label and is performed by Ars Nova Copenhagen under the direction of eminent choral conductor, Paul...

A common denominator to the three piano trios on this Phaedra Classics album is each composer’s passionate commitment to the principles of the Romantic era. The composers represented, François Rasse (1873-1955), Joseph Ryelandt (1870-1965) and Victor Vreuls (1876-1944) were all born in...

Subtitled Devotional Music from 17th-century Hamburg, A German Soul from Brilliant Classics is a varied program of instrumental, solo vocal and organ pieces dating, for the most part, from the early Baroque. The eight composers represented were all active in northern Germany at some point or...