Mitropa Classics

Ernani (1844), Giuseppe Verdi's fifth opera, is based on the homonymous tragedy by Victor Hugo. Verdi's success with Ernani, as well as Nabucco and I lombardi alla prima crociata, can be ascribed to t...

For the first draft of the libretto of Un ballo in maschera (1859), Giuseppe Verdi drew his inspiration from the grand-opéra Gustave III by Auber, an opera performed for the first time in Paris in 183...

For the first draft of the libretto of Un ballo in maschera (1859), Giuseppe Verdi drew his inspiration from the grand-opéra Gustave III by Auber, an opera performed for the first time in Paris in 183...

A technique much employed by Verdi is to alternate main scenes of a drama with others which allow the listener to relax temporarily. These moments are often entrusted to the choir (as in the case of t...

A technique much employed by Verdi is to alternate main scenes of a drama with others which allow the listener to relax temporarily. These moments are often entrusted to the choir (as in the case of t...

The celebrated Austrian composer Josef Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) owes his fame predominantly to his symphonies, his masses, his Te Deum, his string quintets and his devotional church music, including...

The Barber of Seville is based on the first of Beaumarchais' (1732- 1799) two sequential plays, The Marriage of Figaro being the second, although unusually the overture does not contain any themes fro...

In the monumental overture to the opera La Gazza Ladra (The Thieving Magpie) Gioachino Rossini employs themes from the opera itself in order to prepare the audience for the material to come. The overt...

Camillo De Nardis' Il giudizio universale (The Universal Judgement) was awarded first prize at the Competition for Band Composition held in Naples. This composition was inspired by Verdi's Requiem wit...

Franz Liszt's 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies are characterised by melancholy, great expressiveness and wonderful gypsy rhythms. No. 2 is the best known of all, mainly thanks to the use of various passages fo...

The English composer Sir Edward Elgar wrote the five Pomp and Circumstance marches between 1901 and 1930, the time of the British Empire, when the colonial and strategic world power of England was at...

Anton Bruckner is probably best known today as a symphonist however he was also a significant composer of religious works, motets and masses, and the composer of the great Te Deum. These choral works...

Anton Bruckner is probably best known today as a symphonist however he was also a significant composer of religious works, motets and masses, and the composer of the great Te Deum. These choral works...

Thomas Doss created a beautiful and sensitive arrangement of this famous religious work by Anton Bruckner (1824-1896).

Kein schöner Land is surely one of the best-known of all German folk songs. The song recounts the story of a group of friends who spend a happy evening singing. The arrangement by Gerald Oswald begins...

Das Andante Religioso ist der langsame Teil der vierten von sechs Orgelsonaten, die der Komponist und Pianist Mendelssohn Bartholdy zwei Jahre vor seinem Tod komponierte. Die authentische Blasorcheste...

The English composer Sir Edward Elgar wrote the five Pomp and Circumstance marches between 1901 and 1930, the time of the British Empire, when the colonial and strategic world power of England was at...

The Ave Maria by Franz Schubert is known and loved worldwide and was originally written as part of the song cycle The Lady of the Lake. In the course of time, the German text has been replaced by the...

George Gershwin stipulated that his 'American opera' should only feature black artists. Hampered by this stipulation, Porgy and Bess was rarely performed and only became truly famous after Gershwin's...

George Gershwin bestimmte, dass seine 'amerikanische Oper' nur mit schwarzen Künstlern besetzt werden sollte. Durch diese Vorgabe erschwert, wurde Porgy and Bess nur selten aufgeführt und erst nach Ge...

Master-composer Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, in 1770, but he lived in Vienna from 1792, until his death in 1827. With his innovative style, he has had a great influence on Western classical...

The celebrated Austrian composer Josef Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) owes his fame predominantly to his symphonies, his masses, his Te Deum, his string quintets and his devotional church music, including...