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	A - Z of Opera (includes 762 page booklet) Price: $12.99 $6.97 A-Z of Opera is a 762-page, illustrated book, accompanied by two-and-a-half hours of opera's most glorious and moving moments on two CDs, and reflects the ever-growing Naxos catalog of recordings ranging from Monteverdi to the contemporary. A-Z of Opera provides a wide range of information on operas and their composers, from Handel's Rinaldo to Mozart's Die Zauberflote, and...

Product Description

A-Z of Classical Music is a remarkable 932-page, illustrated book, detailing the lives of all the great composers as well as many less known, but equally fascinating, musical masters. Like the Naxos range of recordings itself, A-Z of Classical Music is a rich source of inspiration for anyone either just embarking on a lifetime of musical enjoyment or for whom classical music has long been a way of life. Included within is an extensive glossary of musical terms plus a unique guide to classical music used in acclaimed films. Two-and-a-half hours of the finest music from across the centuries are contained on the accompanying CDs.

Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Adams: Short Ride in a Fast...
2. Bach: Double Violin Concerto
3. Bartok: 44 Duos for Two Violins
4. Beethoven: I. Grave
5. Berlioz: IV. Marche au supplice
6. Brahms: III. Poco allegretto
7. Britten: II. Playful Pizzicato
8. Chopin: Impromptu No.
9. Debussy: No. 2: Fêtes
10. Dvorak: III. Allegretto grazioso
11. Elgar: IV. Where Corals Lie
12. Greig: II. Adagio
13. Handel: For unto us a child is...
14. Haydn: III. Finale: Allegro
15. Janacek: IV. Allegretto
16. Liszt: No. 2: Gnomenreigen
17. Mahler: Von der Jugend

Disc 2:

1. Mendelssohn: Andante con moto...
2. Monteverdi: Occhi, un tempo mia.
3. Mozart: II. Larghetto
4. Palestrina: Hodie Christus ...
5. Prokoviev: IV. Vivace
6. Schicchi: O mio babbino caro
7. Rachmaninov: Prelude in G minor,
8. Rossini: Sinfonia
9. Schoenberg: II. Langsam
10. Schubert: IV. Theme and Vari...
11. Schumann: I. Allegro vivace
12. Shostakovich: I. Waltz
13. Strauss: No. 1: Frühling
14. Stravinsky: Russian Dance
15. Tchaikovsky: Valse: Allegro
16. Telemann: IV. Presto
17. Verdi: Act III. La donna è mobile
18. Vivaldi: III. Il sonno
19. Vivaldi: IV. Sorge l aurora
20. Wagner: Isolde s Liebestod

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2974 in Music
• Released on: 2000-10-17
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .97 pounds

Amazon.com
Is it a two-CD set with a particularly thick booklet, or a 562-page book with a compilation album attached? Either way, the unpretentious text by Keith Anderson offers an introduction to the lives and works of dozens of composers, together with recommended recordings from the Naxos and Marco Polo catalogs. Anderson includes a useful 59-page glossary of musical terms and an extensive listing of classical pieces used in films. The odd thing about the 36 extracts and complete pieces on the CDs is that they do not form an A-to-Z at all. Rather, they are arranged chronologically, from 1,000-year-old Gregorian chant to the opening movement of contemporary composer Philip Glass's Violin Concerto. Between these two points is the early music of Palestrina and Byrd; the Baroque glories of Vivaldi and Bach; the 19th-century Romantic masters, from Beethoven to Tchaikovsky; and such 20th-century greats as Rachmaninov and Stravinsky. Opera, song, and chamber music are barely represented, but only so much can fit into 151 minutes. Essentially a deluxe sampler of the vast Naxos catalogue, the discs offer a good introduction to some of the most famous and melodic music ever composed, while the book will be very useful to newcomers to the potentially confusing world of classical music. --Gary S. Dalkin