RECORDING OF THE MONTH     CHOPIN Waltzes and Impromptus Vladimir Feltsman £11 post free World-wide VIVALDI The four seasons London Mozart Players/Juritz £12 post free World-wide BEETHOVEN Symphonies 4 and 5 LSO/Yondani Butt £12 post free World-wide

BUY NOW  Crotchet   AmazonUK   AmazonUS

Giuseppe VERDI (1813-1901) An Introduction to Il trovatore Written by Thomson Smillie and narrated by David Timson With musical excerpts from the Naxos production of Il trovatore – Naxos 8.660023-24 With Daniela Longhi as Leonora, Irina Tschistiakova as Azucena, Maurizio Frusoni as Manrico and Roberto Servile as the Count di Luna Budapest Festival Chorus and Hungarian State Opera Orchestra/Will Humburg NAXOS 8.558079 [79:18]

Canny folk they are at Naxos. This educational tool is just one in a growing series (the 17th) of excellent albums introducing young (and of course not so young) people to the world of opera. And, again, Naxos prove that you really do not need to have world-famous singers to enjoy opera. The 1996 Naxos production of Il trovatore is most convincing with some excellent dramatic singing from the leads. Thomas Smillie has written not only a splendid commentary to the excerpts that includes all the big numbers of this popular opera (with the barmiest libretto but the most sublime music - so many wonderfully melodic and dramatic arias and choruses), but also some twenty minutes of valuable introductory material. This includes a fascinating look at Italy’s history in the 19th century (the time of the Risorgimento – Verdi, friend of Count Cavour, of course, was active in Italian politics). There is also an overview of the Verdi’s operas, concentrating on the three major works of his middle period, Rigoletto, Il trovatore and La traviata. One of Naxos’s busiest readers, David Timson, delivers a clear and expressive narration. Recommended to those eager to know more about Il trovatore (and Verdi’s operas). An ideal sampler for Naxos’s splendid 1996 recording. Ian Lace     Advertising Rates Visitor stats MusicWeb International has over 40,000 Classical CD reviews on offer Discs received Having a problem Donating? Gerard Hoffnung Concerts & The Bricklayer Story   New Releases New Releases   MusicWeb sells the Polish catalogue CDAccord £10.50 post free W-W MusicWeb sells the Arcodiva catalogue £12.00 post free W-W £11.75 post-free world- wide MusicWeb can now offer you discs from the following catalogues: Prices include postage [Acte Préalable £13.50] [Arcodiva £12.00] [Avie from £6.25] [British Music Society £12.00] [CDACCORD from £13.50 ] [ClassicO £12.50] [Hallé from £11] [Heritage £10] [Hortus £14.99 ] [Lyrita ONLY £11.75 ] [Nimbus Special prices] [Northern Flowers £13.50] [REDCLIFFE £11 ] [Sheva £11] [Tactus £11.50 ] [Talent from £12.00 ] [Toccata Classics £10.50 ] Musicweb Special Offers Monthly Best Buys     Google Ads - for information about privacy matters, click here.  Amazon Musicweb International is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

Return to Index

Reviews from previous months Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.