Delos Artists Celebrate after Falstaff

Celebration time after a recent performance of Verdi's Falstaff at L.A. Opera. The place: Glendale's famous Armenian restaurant, The Carousel. The people seated from left: Ana Landauer, assistant concertmaster; and Armen Anassian, first violin from the opera orchestra. Leaning forward is Vassily Gerello, baritone, who sings Ford in the L.A. Falstaff, his arm encircling Chris Landen, Delos recording producer. Chris displays Vassily's Delos CD recording Favorite Ukrainian Folk Songs. Standing behind are tenor Daniil Shtoda, who sings the young lover Fenton in the opera and whose CD of Russian Tenor Opera Arias is soon to be released by Delos.
Judging from the table, a good time was had by all.

Delos Diary - The War Songs Tour V

Eureka! Constantine Orbelian has been able to eke out enough time from his impossibly busy schedule to continue his wonderful series of articles narrating the fascinating story of the Hvorostovsky-Orbelian-Moscow Chamber Orchestra tour of Russian "Hero Cities."
This tour, remember, was to be an 8-city celebration of the end of World War II, climaxing on Sunday June 12 with an open-air concert in Palace Square, St. Petersburg.
This Novosibirsk segment (concert of June 7) should be especially intriguing to the American music lover. Few realize that this enormous Siberian metropolis ranks with Moscow and St. Petersburg as a major music center with its own great cultural institutions which produce world famous artists on a regular basis… but let Constantine continue this story in his own words.

Novosibirsk

He sang and the people wept! ( Headline from Novosibersk’s "Vedomosti" Newspaper)

David Diamond 1915 – 2005

Just this morning we heard the announcement on news broadcasts of the death of American composer David Diamond. Next month he would have celebrated his 90th birthday. His reputation as one of America’s finest composers is secure. Here at Delos we have had the privilege of working with him on a number of recordings covering a wide range of his finest work.
During the course of preparing these recordings, we at Delos, and especially Amelia Haygood and Carol Rosenberger, became close friends and participants in a continuing dialogue and correspondence, both social and musical, with the composer. His unfailing graciousness, cooperation, intellectual input and whimsical, piquant humor made for music-making and recording on a very high level.
A survey of the Delos catalog reveals the current availability of a number of Diamond’s finest and most representative works. While the actual recordings were accomplished from 1990 to 1994, the pieces themselves range from early 1940 to 1993 when Diamond was a very active 78.
On Delos DE 3708 Great American Composers Collection you can find Diamond’s masterful Music from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet of 1947, a suite many consider one of his finest romantic works, and also his Concerto for Small Orchestra of 1940, a tightly organized composition for strings and winds, “made of the finest musical materials” as Virgil Thomson noted. Gerard Schwarz leads the New York Chamber Symphony in both selections.
Diamond’s special love of chamber music shines through on Delos DE 3088 American Chamber Music. The Chamber Music Northwest group and David Shifrin, clarinet, play Diamond’s 1950 Quintet for Clarinet, Two Violas and Two Violoncellos. As Diamond commented, “the instrumental choice… was made to capture a quality of Rembrandtian, Brahmsian, even Regerish autumnal richness of texture and emotion. Many decades of admiration for Brahms and Reger chamber works surely influence the glow of my work. This admiration remains constant today.”
This work is in strong contrast to the 1989 Concert Piece for Flute and Harp written for the Glorian Duo, Wendy Kerner Lucas, harp, and Donna Milanovich, flute, which received its premiere recording on Delos DE 3143 Sounds of the Seine. It reveals another facet of Diamond’s talents, music inspired by the French composer Albert Roussel, whom Diamond admired… lyrical, songful, sparkling and sophisticated.
Finally, the competitive “anything you can do, I can do” Diamond shows up in the Two Barcarolles for Piano of 1993. During a meeting with Amelia Haygood and Carol Rosenberger, Diamond learned that Carol was recording an album of piano barcarolles, mostly by famous composers of the past. Diamond offered to add two new compositions of his own to the list and followed through with two contrasting pieces, one gentle and reflective, the other strong and passionate, dedicated respectively to Carol and Amelia. These can be found on Delos DE 3172, Singing on the Water and add a touching contribution to our Delos portrait of David Diamond and his long relationship with Delos both as recording artist and valued friend.
The obituaries are already piling up. One and all seem to recognize that this man and his brand of American music, often called “20th Century Romantic Classicism,” represent the music which will survive in this new century, sounding better all the time.

Delos Diary - The War Songs Tour IV

Upon receiving this new installment of Constantine Orbelian's journal describing Dmitri Hvorostovsky's "Hero Cities" tour, we took out our trusty atlas and an old-fashioned ruler and made a few guesses at the total number of miles this ambitious project will finally cover.
Our estimate comes to well over 5,000 miles in about two weeks. The longest hop seems to be the one between Volgograd and Krasnoyarsk (Dmitri's hometown) — around 2,000 miles. The next longest is about 1,000 miles between Yekaterinburg and St. Petersburg.
As this narrative continues, we are now in Siberia. Both Krasnoyarsk and the next stop Novosibirsk are very large, thriving industrial cities and areas with formidable cultural and scientific establishments. During World War II both cities supplied thousand of soldiers and manufactured much of the weaponry which helped defeat the Nazi invaders.
Constantine Orbelian makes clear that even less than ideal Siberian weather can't put a damper on Hvorostovsky's enthusiastic reception. The story continues to be heartwarming.

We arrived at the Krasnoyarsk airport and were met with some "gorgeous" Siberian weather; it was raining! Nevertheless, we knew that we had come to Dmitri's home town; loads of people at the airport and TV cameras from all sides.

Delos Diary - The War Songs Tour III

The continuing saga of Dmitri Hvorostovsky’s War Song Tour of Russian "Hero Cities" is taking on legendary proportions as you will see as you read about the open-air concert which took place on June 3… the Volgograd Concert.
Formerly known as Stalingrad, this heroic city, and the battle that took place there, marked the turning point of World War II when Russia, at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives, repelled the Nazi invasion.
Constantine Orbelian's Chapter III narrative continues on the same high level as Chapters I and II — Tula and Smolensk. His account of the immense public response to this tour is engrossing. We beg you to pay particular attention to the quotes from the Governor and Mayor of Volgograd, the region and the city. Their comments underline and clarify Dmitri Hvorostovsky's overriding decision to sing songs glorifying Russia as Motherland, for transcending the philosophies of the former Soviet Union and the political system it sponsored.
Pride in Russia, the Motherland, and the sacrifices Russians made to preserve its integrity, is the ultimate aim of this ongoing songfest now approaching its halfway mark.
Critical and public response to this Constantine Orbelian journal of the "Hero Cities" tour have been numerous and enthusiastic. We at Delos have every intention of following up the completion of the tour narrative on the web with a brochure or book which will include the story of the entire experience illustrated with photos to bring to life even more vividly the events Orbelian describes so well in his text.

Delos Diary - The War Years Tour II

As a preface to this 2nd installment of Constantine Orbelian's account of Dmitri Hvorostovsky's War Song Tour of Russian "Hero Cities," we urge you to read this chapter and not to miss any of those yet to come. If Orbelian were not a famous musician he would certainly qualify as a first-rate writer-historian-journalist! The deatils of the journey, the historical background and the heart-felt reception of the SMolensk audience are all brought to life in his account.
Smolensk should have special meaning to lovers of Russian literature since its importance during Napoleon's invasion figured prominently in Tolstoy's War and Peace.
Let's hope that in future this long-suffering city is allowed to recover and continue to develop in peace with only music like the "War Years" songs recalling its tragic past. --

The road to Smolensk

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Moscow, when Hvorostovsky; his manager from London, Mark Hildrew; his Moscow secretary, Elena Nedosekina; and I met at the entrance to the Byelorussian Train Station in Moscow.

Emanuele Segre - The Spanish Guitar - 1535-1962 (DE 3347)

This April 2005 Delos release demonstrates that you don't have to be Spanish to be a masterful interpreter of Spanish music. Emanuele Segre, Italian Guitarist, proves this point as he surveys a wide swath of Spanish guitar music ranging from 1535 to 1962.
On two discs and 30 tracks, Segre plays the music of a pantheon of Spanish classical composers, including Milán, Mudarra, Sanz, Narvaéz, Murcia, Aguado, Sor, Albéniz, Granados, Tárrega, Llobet, Falla, Turina, Moreno-Torroba, and Mompou. The results are impressive, convincing and beautiful sounding. Segre makes his instrument sing and dance as he uses creative phrasing, fingering and ornamentation to bring new life to old music.
Segre's fresh look at more familiar 19th and 20th century composers is equally original. Even Albéniz and Granados selections have been restudied and newly transcribed when needed.
As Segre notes "…in the relationship between the guitar and Spain … the horizons of research are always wide open."

The Virtuoso Flute - Raffaele Trevisani / Paola Girardi (DE 3340)

Never was a CD more aptly titled than this recent Delos release featuring the artistry of flutist Raffaele Trevisani and pianist Paola Girardi.
This new flute and piano CD of 19th century repertoire demonstrates the enormous advances in virtuosic playing made possible with mechanical improvements added to the instrument in the first third of the century.
Composers of the age of romanticism including Donizetti, Sarasate, Boehm, Massenet, Doppler, Borne and Bazzini all created music which reveled in emotion, virtuosic execution and individual indulgences of all kinds.
Raffaele Trevisani, playing his 14-carat gold Miramatsu flute, illustrates the period’s special qualities brilliantly with his unique sound and masterful technique, unsurpassed by any other flutist playing today.
The pianist’s contribution to this recording is also estimable. Paola Girardi responds to and supports Mr. Trevisani’s most extravagant and demanding outbursts. Her musicianship and grasp of the romantic style blend seemlessly with Trevisani’s own vision.
Donizetti’s almost operatic sonata, flute transcriptions of Sarasate and Bazzini’s violin showpieces, and Massenet’s Meditation from Thaïs are only part of the dazzling repertoire. Selections by Boehm, Doppler and Borne complete the picture, especially Borne’s “Fantaisie brilliante sur Carmen” in which Mr. Trevisani’s flute solos are guaranteed to leave the listener, if not Mr. Trevisani, breathless.