VA — Barber (2022)

FLAC (tracks) / MP3 320 kbps | Classical | 3h 34 min | 799 MB / 492 MB

Samuel Barber, one of the most prominent and popular American composers of the mid-20th century, wrote effectively in virtually every genre, including opera, ballet, vocal, choral, keyboard, chamber, and orchestral music. His music is notable for its warmly Romantic lyricism, memorable melodies, and essentially conservative harmonic style, all of which put him at odds with the prevailing modernist aesthetic of his . Barber was a member of the first class at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. In 1928, the 17-year-old Gian Carlo Menotti came to study at Curtis, and the two formed a personal and professional bond that would last most of Barber\’s life. As a student, Barber wrote several works that have entered the repertoire, including the song Dover Beach and Overture to the School for Scandal for orchestra. A fine singer and pianist, as well as composer, much of his work throughout his career featured the voice. After his graduation from Curtis, Barber wrote a string quartet, the second movement of which became his most famous work, Adagio for Strings. Toscanini performed the Adagio with the NBC Symphony in 1938, and Barber\’s career was effectively launched. His 1939 Violin Concerto further established his international reputation. During the Second World War, Barber served in the Army Air Corps, where his duties included writing a symphony, his second. Works that followed over the next two decades include the Capricorn Concerto; a Cello Concerto; a Piano Sonata; Knoxville: Summer of 1915, an extended song for voice and orchestra with a text by James Agee; He Songs, for voice and piano, using medieval texts; the chamber opera A Hand of Bridge; Medea\’s Meditation and Dance of Vengeance, taken from the ballet Cave of the Heart, written for Martha Graham; Summer Music, for wind quintet; the opera Vanessa; and a Piano Concerto. Some of the most prestigious musicians in the world performed his music and became champions of his work, including Leontyne Price, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Eleanor Steber, Martina Arroyo, Vladimir Horowitz, Arturo Toscanini, Eugene Ormandy, Bruno Walter, George Szell, and Serge Koussevitzky. Barber received his first Pulitzer Prize for Vanessa, which had been commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera, had its prre in 1958, and was hailed as the first great American \»grand opera.\» His 1962 Piano Concerto won the composer his second Pulitzer Prize. The Metropolitan Opera commissioned Barber to write an opera to inaugurate its new opera house in Lincoln Center in 1966. Antony and Cleopatra, based on Shakespeare with a libretto by Franco Zeffirelli, proved to be a failure due at least as much to flaws in the production as to the music. Barber was so devastated by the intensity of the animosity toward his work that he never regained his confidence. He was temperamentally disposed to melancholy, which turned into clinical depression, and although he continued to compose sporadically, he produced few further works of substance. In spite of the indifference or contempt of critics and the acad establishment, Barber\’s expressive and directly communicative music has never lacked support and devotion from concert audiences, and he remains one of the best-known and beloved American composers. His Adagio for Strings has achieved iconic status as a profound and universally understood expression of grief and remains a testament to Barber\’s ability to write music of the highest artistic standards that can also touch the heart.
1. Baltimore Symphony Orchestra – Adagio For Strings, Op. 11/2 (Live) (08:44)
2. Joshua Bell – Concerto for Violin & Orchestra, Op. 14 : 1. Allegro (10:16)
3. Joshua Bell – Concerto for Violin & Orchestra, Op. 14 : 2. Andante (08:49)
4. Joshua Bell – Concerto for Violin & Orchestra, Op. 14 : 3. Presto in moto perpetuo (03:45)
5. Baltimore Symphony Orchestra – First Essay for Orchestra, Op. 12 (08:10)
6. Baltimore Symphony Orchestra – First Symphony (In One Movement), Op. 9 : Allegro, ma non troppo (06:54)
7. Baltimore Symphony Orchestra – First Symphony (In One Movement), Op. 9 : Allegro molto (04:11)
8. Baltimore Symphony Orchestra – First Symphony (In One Movement), Op. 9 : Andante tranquilo (04:28)
9. Baltimore Symphony Orchestra – First Symphony (In One Movement), Op. 9 : Con moto (03:55)
10. Baltimore Symphony Orchestra – Overture \»The School for Scandal\», Op. 5 (08:22)
11. Baltimore Symphony Orchestra – Music for a scene from Shelley, Op. 7 (09:00)
12. Elizabeth Joy Roe – Piano Concerto, Op. 38 : 1. Allegro appassionato (14:33)
13. Elizabeth Joy Roe – Piano Concerto, Op. 38 : 2. Moderato (07:48)
14. Elizabeth Joy Roe – Piano Concerto, Op. 38 : 3. Allegro molto (06:39)
15. Baltimore Symphony Orchestra – Second Essay for Orchestra, Op. 17 (10:33)
16. Tedd Joselson – Medea\’s Meditation and Dance of Vengeance, Op. 23a (13:40)
17. Zara Nelsova – Concerto for Cello and Orchestra : 1. Allegro moderato (11:36)
18. Zara Nelsova – Concerto for Cello and Orchestra : 3. Molto allegro e appassionato trattenuto (09:02)
19. Zara Nelsova – Concerto for Cello and Orchestra : 2. Andante sostenuto (06:54)
20. The Band of the Grenadier Guards – Commando March (03:40)
21. Elizabeth Joy Roe – Nocturne, \’Homage to John Field\’ Op. 33 (04:35)
22. Ruth Golden – Knoxville — Summer Of 1915 Op. 24 (17:11)
23. Renée Flg – Vanessa — opera in 4 Acts / Act 1 : \»He has come…do not utter a word, Anatol\» (06:46)
24. Barbara Bonney – He Songs Op. 29 : 1. At Saint Patrick\’s Purgatory (01:24)
25. Barbara Bonney – He Songs Op. 29 : 2. Church Bell at Night (00:48)
26. Barbara Bonney – He Songs Op. 29 : 3. St. Ita\’s Vision (03:21)
27. Barbara Bonney – He Songs Op. 29 : 4. The Heavenly Banquet (01:04)
28. Barbara Bonney – He Songs Op. 29 : 5. The Crucifixion (02:15)
29. Barbara Bonney – He Songs Op. 29 : 6. Sea-Snatch (00:31)
30. Barbara Bonney – He Songs Op. 29 : 7. Promiscuity (00:50)
31. Barbara Bonney – He Songs Op. 29 : 8. The Monk and His Cat (02:22)
32. Barbara Bonney – He Songs Op. 29 : 9. The Praises of God (00:51)
33. Barbara Bonney – He Songs Op. 29 : 10. The Desire for Heage (03:34)
34. Joyful Company of Singers – Agnus Dei (08:03)