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Fernando LOPES-GRAÇA (1906–1994) Songs and Folk Songs, Vol. 3 Susana Gaspar, Soprano Nuno Vieira de Almeida, Piano
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Fernando Lopes-Graça, one of Portugal’s most prolific and innovative 20th-century composers, was steeped in the folk songs of various provenances. In this third instalment (the earlier volumes are on 8.579039 and 8.579082) Lopes-Graça sets some of the greatest of all Portuguese poets. His exploration of harmonic complexity and progressive writing is distantly rooted in Debussy and laced with other subtle French elements. Premiere recordings of the kaleidoscopic Old English and French songs, which run the gamut of emotions, are among his earliest settings of foreign folk songs. Key Feature: • Vol. 1 of this series is on 8.579039: ‘This is a valuable offering and a worthwhile sortie into the work of a somewhat neglected composer’ ( American Record Guide ). ‘The recording is perfectly fine. …This disc contains some beguiling repertoire and anyone who has been impressed by this composer’s large-scale orchestral works will find much to enjoy here’ ( MusicWeb International ). • Vol. 2 is on 8.579082: American Record Guide wrote that ‘these performances are first rate… Soprano Susana Gaspar … has a rich creamy voice with a mezzo timbre.’ Of this recording, Fanfare also praised pianist Nuno Vieira de Almeida for contributing ‘the most life and imagination to this enterprise, which is generally well mannered, well prepared…’
8.579152 Release Date: 22 Mar 2024
Companion Titles – Fernando Lopes-Graça, Composer
Click to listen to Six Vieilles chansons françaises, Op. 50 (‘Six Old French Songs’): No. 6. La Vigne au vin (‘From Vine to Wine’)
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8.574373 8.572817
GREAT COMPOSERS IN WORDS AND MUSIC Robert SCHUMANN (1810–1856) By Davinia Caddy • Read by Leighton Pugh
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The unresolved and ambiguous details of Robert Schumann’s psychological decline and death have tended to dominate his biography. Yet in his time Schumann was lauded as a protean Romantic literary genius whose writings, as a music critic, poet, novelist and dramatist, eclipsed his musical creativity. How did Schumann reconcile these elements? Does his music suggest he suffered from bipolar disorder? How did his pianist wife, Clara, influence his compositions? The narration is illustrated with some of Schumann’s finest works including excerpts from the symphonies, his song cycle Dichterliebe , the piano works Papillon and Carnaval , and the Piano Concerto , among others. About Davinia Caddy, Author Davinia Caddy studied music at the University of Cambridge, where she graduated with a BA (Hons), MPhil and, in 2005, a PhD. Her doctoral dissertation was broadly based on French musical culture from 1890 to 1914. She has since taught at the Universities of Oxford, Oxford Brookes and Auckland. Her books include The Ballets Russes and Beyond: Music and Dance in Belle-Époque Paris (Cambridge University Press, 2012), Musicology and Dance: Historical and Critical Perspectives (Cambridge University Press, 2020, co-edited with Maribeth Clark), and How to Hear Classical Music , a contemporary guide to the Western classical repertoire written for the general public (Awa Press, 2013). About Leighton Pugh, Narrator Leighton Pugh trained at LAMDA, after studying Modern Languages at Queen’s College, Oxford. His radio work includes the plays Murder by the Book and Scenes from Provincial Life for BBC Radio 4 and the voice of Heinrich von Kleist in the BBC Radio 3 documentary The Tragical Adventure of Heinrich von Kleist . Leighton has been in five productions for the National Theatre, most recently The Lehman Trilogy (NT Live 2018–19, New York, West End). For Naxos AudioBooks he has recorded, among other things, The Diary of Samuel Pepys , Zola’s Germinal , Nana and L’Assommoir , and featured in Walton’s The Compleat Angler .
8.578375 Release Date: 22 Mar 2024
Companion Titles – Previous releases in the series
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8.578362 8.578363
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