Baton Music

Gioacchino Rossini composed the Variations in Do for Clarinette in 1810 during his last year of study at the Musical Lyceum of Bologna. It was, in all probability, written for a school concert given b...

When Rossini's Opera Matilde di Shabran was premiered in Rome in 1821, it was billed as a 'melodrama giocoso', somewhere between an Opera Buffa and an Opera Seria in character.In 1822 it was given in...

When Rossini's Opera Matilde di Shabran was premiered in Rome in 1821, it was billed as a 'melodrama giocoso', somewhere between an Opera Buffa and an Opera Seria in character.In 1822 it was given in...

George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess contains many songs that have become popular in their own right, becoming standards in jazz and blues in addition to their original operatic setting. One of thos...

The first act of Puccini's Opera Tosca is set in a church where Cavaradossi, working on a Madonna, compares the mysterious harmony (recondita armonia) that excists between his dark-haired lover Tosca...

The first act of Puccini's Opera Tosca is set in a church where Cavaradossi, working on a Madonna, compares the mysterious harmony (recondita armonia) that excists between his dark-haired lover Tosca...

This Tsar Boris was the same Boris Godunov who was celebrated by Pushkin and immortalized by Mussorgsky, and Kalinnikov's (1866-1901) resplendent piece is aptly endowed with Tsarist pomp and circumsta...

This Tsar Boris was the same Boris Godunov who was celebrated by Pushkin and immortalized by Mussorgsky, and Kalinnikov's (1866-1901) resplendent piece is aptly endowed with Tsarist pomp and circumsta...

Jago's Credo from Giuseppe Verdi's Opera Otello, is sung at the beginning of the second act: a venomous expression of evil and, so to speak, of negative belief. He sings his creed: 'I believe in a cru...

Jago's Credo from Giuseppe Verdi's Opera Otello, is sung at the beginning of the second act: a venomous expression of evil and, so to speak, of negative belief. He sings his creed: 'I believe in a cru...

La Boheme is perhaps Puccini`s most nearly perfect opera. It has long been one of the world's most beloved musical works - an instantly enchanting blend of charm, warmth, gaiety, and pathos, brought t...

La Boheme is perhaps Puccini`s most nearly perfect opera. It has long been one of the world's most beloved musical works - an instantly enchanting blend of charm, warmth, gaiety, and pathos, brought t...

The Helios Overture was composed in 1903 while Nielsen was on holiday in the Greek isles. The piece is said to depict the course of the sun through the sky from dawn to sunset. Even though the piece w...

The Helios Overture was composed in 1903 while Nielsen was on holiday in the Greek isles. The piece is said to depict the course of the sun through the sky from dawn to sunset. Even though the piece w...

(Choir and Concert Band)

(Choir and Concert Band)

The 'symphonie Fantastique' (Episode in the life of an artist) was heard for the first time in Paris on 5 December 1830. Still we can feel the beating of the creator's heart at every performance. Hect...

The 'symphonie Fantastique' (Episode in the life of an artist) was heard for the first time in Paris on 5 December 1830. Still we can feel the beating of the creator's heart at every performance. Hect...

Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835) was one of the three great composers of the belcanto-era that dominated the Italian opera scene in the first half of the 19th century. The other masters of 'beautiful sing...

Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835) was one of the three great composers of the belcanto-era that dominated the Italian opera scene in the first half of the 19th century. The other masters of 'beautiful sing...

Giuseppe Verdi's romantic opera Il Trovatore lives by its streams of memorable melodies. One of those is the 'Miserere' which is placed in the fourth and final act. A chorus of monks begins chanting a...

Giuseppe Giuseppe Verdi's romantic opera Il Trovatore lives by its streams of memorable melodies. One of those is the the 'Miserere' wich is placed in the fourth and final act. A chorus of monks begin...

Dvorak composed the great Czech national opera, Rusalka in a single burst of inspiration between April 21 and November 27, 1901, to a text by Jaroslav Kvapil based on Hans Christian Andersen. Rusalka...

Dvorak composed the great Czech national opera, Rusalka in a single burst of inspiration between April 21 and November 27, 1901, to a text by Jaroslav Kvapil based on Hans Christian Andersen. Rusalka...

The 1955 film of The Gadfly is no Soviet epic but rather a romantic history based on the novel by Ethel Voynich and set in fin de siecle Austria. Dmitri Shostakovich composed the Tarantella from The G...