Clara Wieck?s sincerest wish was that her future husband, Robert Schumann, turn his extraordinary genius toward the larger and more challenging task of composing orchestral music. Confiding in her diary in 1839, just one year before her marriage, she explained that ?it would be best if he composed for Orchestra: his imagination cannot find sufficient scope in the Piano?? In the years that followed their marriage Robert Schumann continued to devote much of his attention to Piano music, but he also found the time to comply with his beloved Clara?s wish by creating a number of musical pieces composed specifically for Piano and Orchestra. Although Schumann?s genius is most in evidence in his masterful solo Piano compositions and superb lieder, his lively and provocative imagination manifests itself with equal aplomb in the works composed for Piano and Orchestra. The same compelling romantic and lyrical qualities that captivate lovers of Schumann?s Piano music are evident in these compositions. Three of his finest are presented here in full score, including the A Minor Piano Concerto, one of the most popular and frequently performed concertos ever written. All demonstrate his remarkably innovative approach to music, diverting substantially from the classic models of the day, and display his immense creativity as well as his warmth and sensitivity. Included in this collection of Schumann?s compositions for Piano and Orchestra are: Piano Concerto In A minor, Op. 54 (published 1846) Concertstück, Op.92 (Introduction and Allegro appassionato; published 1852) Introduction and Allegro, Op. 134 (published 1855) These three works by one of the greatest masters of romanticism will delight musicians, music lovers and students, as well as devotees of Schumann. Pianists will be especially pleased to have these appealing Schumann works in one convenient edition available at an affordable price.

Avec le poème symphonique Fontane di Roma, Respighi a commencé la soi-disant ' Roman trilogie ', reprenant un sujet très répandue dans les domaines de la littérature et la musique. Depuis les clavecinistes français, waterworks ont toujours été le sujet de la musique programmatique et même la poésie de la ' seicento ' déjà traité avec les fontaines romaines. Définition de Respighi, cependant, n'est pas juste une représentation onomatopéique du réseau d'aqueduc. Comme il est expliqué par Respighi dans son programme spécialement ci-jointe, la musique capture les humeurs et les images qui sont générées dans le spectateur en regardant les fontaines. / Grand Orchestre

Beethoven?s sacred works include two settings of the Mass. The ?Mass in C major?, completed and premiered in 1807, has been unjustly described as a preliminary step towards the great ?Missa solemnis?. Yet it is a self-contained and, for its time, decidedly modern piece of church music. Drawing on the rich body of sources, Beethoven specialist Barry Cooper suggests practical solutions to the work?s musical and interpretative problems. His deep study of the sources convinced him to include a fully realized organ part in the score, just as Beethoven envisioned it for the first printed edition. As stated in the sources, the parts for the soloists and choir are notated on joint staves to demonstrate that the soloists are also to sing the choral passages. Rounding off this Urtext edition are a Foreword on the work?s genesis and a detailed Critical Commentary. ? Score with realization of the organ part ? Bilingual Foreword (Eng/Ger) and Critical Commentary (Eng) ? Idiomatic piano reduction

Par HAENDEL GEORG FRIEDRICH. ?Giulio Cesare in Egitto? is by far Handel?s most frequently performed opera owing its success not least to its subject matter, one of the best known love stories in world history. Already during Handel?s lifetime the popular work was often staged and therefore adapted by Handel for each of the performance conditions. The editor Hans Dieter Clausen has succeeded in editorially defining and practically presenting these adaptations ? essentially four versions ? on the basis of a meticulous study of the sources within the framework of the ?Halle Handel Edition?. The new edition allows for a performance of each of the four versions. The version of 1725 is particularly noteworthy because Handel newly devised the role of Sesto for the famous tenor Francesco Borosini. The libretto shows the Roman dictator Cesar in a friendly light. He instructs his enemy, the Egyptian tyrant Tolomeo, how to treat adversaries: he reconciles the widow and son of his enemy Pompeo who was murdered by Tolomeo: he is generous and just, hands on, but also diplomatic, thoughtful, aware of the limits of his power, and susceptible for art and nature. However, the actual protagonist of the opera is Cleopatra. In a masterly way Handel develops her character musically. In his extensive Foreword Hans Dieter Clausen not only decribes the genesis, historical background, reception and the edition of the opera, he also examines the musical and dramaturgical reworking of individual numbers in ?Giulio Cesare?. Handel was such an expert in adapting arias for new purposes and other characters that he did not only meet the needs at hand but often the new version surpassed the original. In this way, the reader gains, in passing, a well-founded insight into Handel?s work methods when designing and redevising his characters. The detailed Critical Commentary includes information on the comprehensive and highly complex source situation as well as on individual editorial decisions./ Répertoire / Chant et Orchestre