Brilliant Classics

It was with this opera, premiered in Milan in 1830, that Donizetti's reputation as one of the leading opera composers of Europe was cemented. The premiere was quickly followed by performances in London, Paris, and in 1839, in New Orleans. Finally, Donizetti had a good libretto, though one that doesn't let the facts of the real life of Anne Boleyn...

This exciting new issue brings together one of the most popular of late-Romantic composers with a fine talent on the Italian scene who is quickly winning a reputation abroad. Sandro Ivo Bartoli has shown himself a fine champion of early 20th-century piano music, especially from his home country. His previous disc was of arrangements of Liszt by...

An original contribution to the Verdi and Wagner celebrations of 2013: the complete Verdi and Wagner transcriptions by Liszt!'Incredible One' is only one of dozens of adulatory salutations to be found in Liszt's letters to Wagner, and Liszt's devotion to Wagner and his music caused him to devote his purse and his art to Wagner's cause. The Wagner...

Hans von Bulow called Bach's Well Tempered Clavier 'The Old Testament' of music -- Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas being the so called 'New Testament. Bach's set of 48 preludes and matching fugues is the ultimate in keyboard instruction. Intended for his son Wilhelm Friedemann, they consist of one prelude and fugue in each of the twelve major and...

Today Richard Wagner is best known for his extraordinary operas; any success in other domains was dwarfed by these compositional feats in the world of musical theatre. But Wagner's piano works can be seen to be just as important in understanding the evolution of his style and musical thought, and thus the development of this dominating figure of...

Born in Moscow on 4 May 1931, Gennady Rozhdestvensky stands as one of the Russia's greatest conductors. Having studied at the city's conservatoire, he later became associated with orchestras including the Bolshoi and Western ensembles such as the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic. He was a regular frequenter of the Proms, a man with an extensive,...