BPO Recordings
The BPO has released over 60 recordings, including on their own label, Beau Fleuve, and on the international classical music label, Naxos. Explore the BPO’s discography and take a little bit of their music with you wherever you go.
BPO recordings are now available to stream on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora, Deezer, and more!
To view CDs available for purchase through the BPO Box Office, click here.
Philharmonic Portraits: Gallery
2024
Get to know BPO Associate Principal Bassist Brett Shurtliffe in the newly-released recording, Philharmonic Portraits: Gallery! Shifting from a supporting role in the orchestra, Brett’s double bass prowess is featured here in solo repertoire, both unaccompanied and joined by pianist Amber Shay Nicholson. The album takes its name, Gallery, not only from Daniel Walker’s work about a stroll through an art exhibit, but also from the eclectic mix of works originally for bass by E. Plutalov and Joseph Jongen, and transcriptions from cello and violin works by Glière, Vaughan Williams, and Sarasate. Finishing out the trip to the gallery are three original compositions by Brett himself.
Echoes of Eastern Europe
2023, Beau Fleuve Records
The heart of Eastern Europe has been the birthplace of some of the greatest musical voices. Around the turn of the last century, that music became even more exquisitely expressive, portraying a world on the brink of vanishing. Antonín Dvořák’s Seventh Symphony, a testament to his love for Bohemia, is renowned for its strength, grace, and melodies imbued with Czech folk influences. Contemporary composer David Ludwig’s violin concerto, inspired by his Eastern European roots and written as a tribute to his Bulgarian violinist wife, Bella Hristova, is performed by Hristova herself in this premiere recording. These two pieces, though separated by 130 years, are connected in spirit and history.
Kodály: Háry János Suite
2023, Naxos
Zoltán Kodály’s life was largely occupied with collecting his country’s folk music and devising the internationally renowned method of music education that bears his name. His orchestral output is therefore a relatively small but astonishingly colourful and rhythmic legacy, brimming with Hungarian spirit. Háry János is the charming story of a veteran soldier and the ‘tall tales’ he spins about his life, while Summer Evening is a timeless evocation of that gentle moment in the day. The Symphony in C major occupied Kodály for over 20 years, the composer’s disarming explanation being, ‘I was busy with more important work.’
Elfman & Hailstork
2023, Naxos
This recording presents brand-new concertos from two vibrant and contrasting American composers. Adolphus Hailstork’s First Piano Concerto draws on his African American heritage to create a work brimming with energy and high spirits, reflecting the rich traditions of jazz and blues. The Violin Concerto “Eleven Eleven” by Danny Elfman – renowned for his many film scores – has its roots in the composer’s rock, film and television background, but also illustrates his love for the music of Shostakovich and Prokofiev. In keeping with his famous Batman score, this work is a true violin concerto noir that is both haunting and compelling.
Scriabin: The Poem of Ecstasy – Symphony No. 2
2023, Naxos
*2024 GRAMMY Nominee
Scriabin composed most of his single-movement fourth symphony The Poem of Ecstasy between 1905 and 1908 in Italy and France. He originally intended it to be called Poème orgiaque (‘Orgiastic Poem’) with its unprecedented raw sensuality and overpowering aesthetic, taking chromaticism beyond even Wagnerian voluptuousness. His earlier Symphony No. 2 in C minor adopts César Franck’s cyclical ideas to which Scriabin layered sweeping climaxes, majestic intensity and rich orchestral colour that enliven its five movements with ceaseless invention.
Light in a Time of Darkness
2021, Beau Fleuve Records
*Now streaming
Light in a Time of Darkness was born out of the BPO’s 2020-2021 broadcast season, a time that allowed the orchestra musicians to learn and perform music they had never before played and communicate with each other in different ways. The recording features six unique works chosen for their emotional depth and spirituality: Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, Ulysses Kay’s Pietà featuring English hornist Anna Mattix, J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 featuring principal viola Caroline Gilbert and associate principal viola Anna Shemetyevah, Wayne Barlow’s The Winter’s Passed, George Walker’s Lyric for Strings, and Haydn’s Symphony No. 44 in E minor.
The Four Seasons / The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires
2021, Beau Fleuve Records
*Now streaming
The BPO’s latest release includes two performances recorded this past fall as part of our BPOnDemand broadcast series: Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, a set of four tone poems each representing a season of the year, featuring BPO concertmaster Nikki Chooi; and in celebration of Astor Piazzolla’s 100th birthday, The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, featuring violinist Tessa Lark.
Schmitt: La Tragédie de Salomé
2020, Naxos
Florent Schmitt was a student of Massenet and Fauré, and winner of the coveted Prix de Rome. His impressionistic style blends influences ranging from Debussy to Wagner, with references to Stravinsky and other contemporaries. Conceived as a ballet but revised as a symphonic poem, La Tragédie de Salomé depicts Salome’s dangerous seductiveness with subtle magnificence. Narrative symbolism also applies to the evocative word painting of the exquisite Musique sur l’eau. The perilous saga of Oriane et le Prince d’Amour contrasts with the poetic tapestry of orchestral colours in Légende, in a version that replaces the original solo saxophone with violin.
The Passion of Yeshua
2020, Naxos
GRAMMY Award-winner for Best Choral Performance
Richard Danielpour’s dramatic oratorio The Passion of Yeshua—a work which has evolved over the last 25 years—is an intensely personal telling of the final hours of Christ on Earth. It incorporates texts from the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Gospels inspiring extraordinarily beautiful music that stresses the need for human compassion and forgiveness. Conductor JoAnn Falletta considers The Passion of Yeshua to be “a classic for all time.”
The Romantic Age: Beethoven & Mahler
2019, Beau Fleuve Records
*Now streaming
The BPO pays tribute to the grand masters who bookended the romanticism of the 19th century with two extraordinary works; Beethoven’s soaring “Eroica,” originally composed as an homage to Napoleon Bonaparte, and the intimate and tender Adagio from Mahler’s unfinished Symphony No. 10.
Forgotten Treasures
2019, Beau Fleuve Records
*Now streaming
Forgotten Treasures was recorded as a 20th Anniversary gift to JoAnn Falletta from the orchestra. The recording features five of JoAnn’s favorite lesser known works by Schmidt, Weiner, Martucci, Pizzetti and Tcherepnin, recorded live at Kleinhans Music Hall between 2013-2018. This CD is a personal and heartfelt thank you to our audiences for their support of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.
Brahms & Prokofiev
2019, Beau Fleuve Records
*Now streaming
Over the past decade, the BPO has enjoyed the opportunity to travel and perform for our friends in Florida. Captured in Buffalo prior to the 2019 Florida Friends tour, this live recording documents the orchestra’s exuberance as we played for our beloved audiences in March and April of 2019. Pianist Fabio Bidini gives a superlative performance of Brahms’ profound Second Piano Concerto, supported by the orchestra with solo contributions from cello, horn, oboe and clarinet. In Prokofiev’s music from Romeo and Juliet, the BPO reveals its dramatic personality in performances of great passion and searing emotion.
Respighi: Roman Trilogy
2019, Naxos
Respighi is renowned as the composer of the lavishly orchestrated Roman Trilogy, sumptuous tone-poems full of provocative harmonies and suggestive rhythms, which celebrate the city’s architectural marvels, its festivals, pines and fountains. The composer’s kaleidoscopic writing encapsulates romantic serenade and rustic dance, solemn melody and pastoral landscape, children at play and visions of past martial glories. JoAnn Falletta’s previous Respighi recording of Church Windows, Brazilian Impressions and Rossiniana (8.557711) was a Gramophone Editor’s Choice.
Built For Buffalo 2
2018, Beau Fleuve Records
The follow-up to the BPO’s ultra-successful Built For Buffalo disc is here! BPO Associate Principal Cello Feng Hew performs the meterologically-inspired “Whistler Waves” by Buffalo-based composer Caroline Mallonee. Principal Trumpet Alex Jokipii performs the Trumpet Concerto by eminent Finnish composer Jaakko Kuusisto. English horn/oboe Anna Mattix performs Rob Deemer’s heartrending “Vox Humana,” which addresses the global refugee crisis that exploded in 2016. The work also features soprano Danielle Buonaiato. Each piece was conducted by JoAnn Falletta and written expressly for the musician that performs it.
Wagner: Orchestral Music from Der Ring des Nibelung
2018, Naxos
At the close of the 2016-17 season, the BPO joined with Projex to present the world of Wagner’s epic Ring cycle operas. Now, we present this orchestral music from Der Ring des Nibelung on disc for your listening pleasure. Includes: Entrance of the Gods into Valhalla (Das Rheingold); The Ride of the Valkyries and Wotan’s Farewell and Magic Fire Music (Die Walkure); Forest Murmurs (Siegfried); Siegfried’s Rhine Journey, Siegfried’s Death and Funeral Music; and Brunnhilde’s Immolation Scene (Gotterdammerung).
Treasures of Poland
2018, Beau Fleuve Records
*Now streaming
From the 1960s through today, the BPO has celebrated the composers and musicians of Poland. As the BPO prepares to tour Poland in its first international tour in 30 years, they released this disc of music by Polish composers, performed by Polish soloists. Featuring Karlowicz’s Prologue to “The White Dove;” Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 performed by Konrad Skolarski; and Penderecki’s Concerto for Horn and Orchestra, “Winterreise,” performed by BPO Principal Horn Jacek Muzyk.
Kodály: Concerto for Orchestra
2018, Naxos
Zoltán Kodály, like his compatriot Béla Bartók, wrote major orchestral scores that were deeply enriched by his research into Hungarian folk music. Featured on this recording are the Dances of Galánta, full of swagger and vitality; the lush, sparkling and vivid Concerto for Orchestra, commissioned for the Chicago Symphony’s 50th anniversary; and Variations on a Hungarian Folk Song, ‘The Peacock’, a virtuoso showcase of sizzling effects. These scores reveal the brilliance of his orchestral colours and the indelible allure of Gypsy themes.
Alain Lefevre: Mathieu and Gershwin
2017, Analekta
Alain Lefèvre unveils the results of three years of hard work by Jacques Marchand, George Nicholson and himself aimed at restoring, in its original form, André Mathieu’s famous Concerto No. 3. Presented as a world premiere in February 2017 in Buffalo, where it was performed by Alain Lefèvre and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of the renowned JoAnn Falletta, the reconstituted Concerto No. 3 was enthusiastically received by the audience. Released on Analekta, the album hit #1 on the Canadian Classical charts in its first week of release.
Beethoven Piano Concertos No. 3 and 5 with Norman Krieger
2017, Decca
Eminent pianist Norman Krieger is the star of this recording, featuring Beethoven’s ever-popular “Emperor” concerto, paired with the delightful Concerto No. 3. JoAnn Falletta conducted Krieger and the BPO in both performances.
Vítězslav Novak: In the Tatra Mountains
2017, Naxos
Emerging from the fertile background of Bohemian nationalism, Vítězslav Novák’s music achieved cult status in his homeland for its richness of melody and full-blown romantic orchestral color. The lush timbres and monumental solemnity of In the Tatra Mountains were inspired by the composer’s journeys. Eternal Longing is based on a poem by Hans Christian Andersen, while the dramatic Lady Godiva Overture, complete with tolling bells at the finale, is considered one of his most powerful works.
Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos
2017, Naxos
The disc that was two seasons in the making is finally available! When Strauss originally composed the music to the German version of “Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme,” he added an opera-within-the-play, “Ariadne auf Naxos,” making for a downright Wagnerian runtime. D. Wilson Ochoa has created a new symphonic orchestral suite from Strauss’ opulent Ariadne auf Naxos, enabling the orchestra to revel in music of extreme beauty and sensuous luxury, studded with gorgeous instrumental solos and the composer’s incomparable blend of poignancy, humor and melodic richness.
Sounds of the Season
2016, Beau Fleuve Records
*Now streaming
Recorded at the 2015 Classical Christmas concert,this disc features works by Vivaldi, Bach, and more. BPO Concertmaster Dennis Kim shines in Vivaldi’s “Winter” from The Four Seasons, and BPO saxophonist Sal Andolina is in the spotlight in “I’ll be Home For Christmas.”
BPO Live: Brahms and Tchaikovsky
2016, Beau Fleuve Records
In February 2016, the BPO once again visited Florida. This Florida Friends tour featured violinist Chloe Hanslip performing Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto. Brahms’ Symphony No. 2 was a gorgeous showcase for the powerful sound of the orchestra. Before the BPO took the show on the road, they performed it for their Buffalo audience, and that performance was captured for this recording.
Carnivals and Fairy Tales
2015, Beau Fleuve Records
*Now streaming
JoAnn Falletta joins forces with Robby Takac of the Goo Goo Dolls on this disc of music designed for our youngest listeners. Featuring Carnival of the Animals, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, and Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite, it’s sure to spark young listeners’ imaginations!
Schmitt: Antoine et Cléopâtre
2015, Naxos
A student of Massenet and Fauré, winner of the Prix de Rome in 1900, Florent Schmitt blended influences and inspiration from wherever the spirit took him. His incidental music for Antony and Cleopatra originally formed ballet scenes between the acts, evoking and enhancing Shakespeare’s saga of rivalry between the Roman Empire and Egypt. Schmitt’s The Haunted Palace follows the nuances of Mallarmé’s translation from Edgar Allan Poe in lush orchestration and a sound-scape of enigmatic imagery.
Stars of the Guitar
2015, Beau Fleuve Records
*Now streaming
A double disc ten years in the making, featuring all of the major guitar concertos as performed by the finalists of the JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition.
The Essential Sibelius
2015, Beau Fleuve Records
*Now streaming
The most well-known works by Finland’s most famous composer, including Finlandia, The Swan of Tuonela, Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Valse Triste and The Bard. Evocative and lush, Sibelius’ compositions are engaging and memorable, piquing the interest of the most avid listener of classical music.
Nordic Masters
2014, Beau Fleuve Records
*Now streaming
JoAnn Falletta conducts the BPO in two symphonies by Nordic master composers: Jean Sibelius (Finland) and Carl Nielsen (Denmark).
Built For Buffalo
2014, Beau Fleuve Records
*Now streaming
Works commissioned by today’s top composers expressly for the musicians of the BPO. Includes the Triple Trombone Concerto by Eric Ewazen, performed by Jonathan Lombardo, Tim Smith, and Jeffrey Dee; Concierto en Tango by Miguel del Aguila, performed by cellist Roman Mekinulov; and Songbook by Daron Hagen, performed by then-concertmaster Michael Ludwig.
Bartok: Kossuth, Two Portraits
2014, Naxos
All three of the works on this disc reveal a young composer on the threshold of greatness, serving as his passport to the vast new world of orchestral music prevailing at the beginning of the 20th century.
BPO Live in Concert
2014, Beau Fleuve Records
*Now streaming
This two-disc set was recorded on the BPO’s 2014 Florida Friends tour, and features music by Mozart, Dvorak and Rachmaninoff. Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A Major is one of the composer’s last works. Dvorak’s Symphonie No. 6 is hailed as a hallmark achievement in his career, and Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No. 3 in D Minor is notable for having been premiered by the composer himself. Featuring Ricardo Morales, clarinet and Phillipe Bianconi, piano.
Gliere: Symphony No. 3, “Il’ya Muromets”
2014, Naxos
The first recording of this monumental work in a generation. The piece tells the tale of Russian folk hero Il’ya Muromets over 71 sweeping minutes and formed the centerpiece of the BPO’s 2013 performance at Spring For Music at Carnegie Hall.
Tyberg Symphony No. 2
2013, Naxos
Marcel Tyberg was a victim of the World War II Holocaust, but his scores were preserved and have been revived through the support of JoAnn Falletta and the BPO. The Second Symphony is filled with romantic enchantment and pastoral narrative, reflecting Tyberg’s reverence for nineteenth-century styles. The Second Piano Sonata also develops earlier traditions, revealing the influence of Beethoven.
From the Heart of Europe
2013, Beau Fleuve Records
*Now streaming
KODALY Marosszek Dances
BRAHMS Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98
Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
2013, Naxos
Featuring BPO clarinetist John Fullam and guest pianist Orion Weiss, this disc also includes such Gershwin gems as “Catfish Row” and “Strike Up The Band.”
Russian Masterworks
2013, Beau Fleuve Records
Ellington: Black, Brown & Beige
2013, Naxos
Edward Kennedy ‘Duke’ Ellington wrote some of the twentieth century’s greatest Big Band music, but he also wrote in a variety of forms. Includes “The River Suite,” “Three Black Kings,” “Harlem,” and his signature “Take the A Train” in addition to the title work.
From the New World
2012, Beau Fleuve Records
DVOŘÁK Scherzo Capriccioso, Op. 66
DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 9 in E Minor Op. 95, “From the New World”
Gershwin: Concerto in F
2012, Naxos
Pianist Orion Weiss joins the BPO for this recording, which also includes Variations on “I Got Rhythm.”
Polish Masterworks
2011, Beau Fleuve Records
Created with support from the Kosciuszko Foundation and the Polish Cultural Institute of Western New York, this 2012 disc features works by Karol Szymanowski, Henri Wieniawski, Witold Lutoslawski and Mieczyslaw Karlowicz. Former BPO Concertmaster Michael Ludwig performs Wieniawski’s Violin Concerto No. 2.
Great Performances: Scheherazade
2011, Beau Fleuve Records
*Now streaming
A brilliant composer of the early twentieth century, Franz Schreker deserves more fame for his rich orchestration and singular harmonic sensibility. Schreker’s Prelude to a Drama grew directly out of his mysterious, otherworldly opera, “The Play and the Princess.” Schreker’s brilliance is complemented by Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade.
Suk: Fairy Tale
2011, Naxos
Encouraged by Brahms and Dvořák while embracing the influences of Debussy, Mahler and Richard Strauss, Josef Suk ranked among the most important composers of the Romantic Czech school. Suk’s Fantasy carries the listener into the realms of reverie with its solo violin and rich orchestration. The tale of a prince who desires the hand of princess Mahulena from a rival mountain kingdom, lies behind Suk’s Fairy Tale. The Fantastic Scherzo is one of his most evocative works, with a haunting Czech tune on middle strings and cellos.
Tyberg Symphony No. 3
2010, Naxos
Marcel Tyberg was killed in Auschwitz before any of his classical works achieved fame. JoAnn Falletta, Naxos and the BPO engaged in a multi-year project to transcribe, record and publish these works, which led to Tyberg being named the National Composer of Croatia.
Rachmaninoff & Rossini
2010, Beau Fleuve Records
Dohnányi: Variations on a Nursery Song
2010, Naxos
Ernő Dohnányi had a long career as an important composer, pianist and teacher. Deeply indebted to the Germanic Romantic tradition, the works on this disc showcase his love of scintillating orchestral tone-colour—notably of brass, wind and percussion—and his fascination with Classical forms such as the variation. His Variations on a Nursery Song traverses several musical styles in a tour de force of good-humoured virtuosity, while the Symphonic Minutes and the Suite in F sharp minor cultivate a lush, romantic mood with characteristic dashes of suavity.
Corigliano: Violin Concerto, “The Red Violin”
2010, Naxos
With this new recording, JoAnn Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic continue their revelatory exploration of Corigliano’s highly engaging and imaginative symphonic music. Phantasmagoria draws material from his immense opera The Ghosts of Versailles, with subliminal quotes from Mozart, Rossini and Wagner. Music from his third film score, The Red Violin, provided elements which Corigliano elaborates in the Violin Concerto, its opening Chaconne being described by the composer as ‘a passionate romantic essay’ which he has complemented with an effervescent Scherzo, an intensely emotional Andante and a racing, rollicking Finale.
City of Light: The Music of Persis Parshall Vehar
2009
Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier
2009, Naxos
To give renewed life to two of his less well-known scores, the fantasy opera Die Frau ohne Schatten and the biblical ballet Josephs-Legende, Richard Strauss created symphonic memoirs which preserved both their storylines and musical highlights. This disc also includes one of his best-known works, Der Rosenkavalier.
Hagen: Shining Brow
2008, Naxos
Daron Hagen and Paul Muldoon’s first, and highly successful, opera is based on the life of the great American architect Frank Lloyd Wright and Taliesin (Welsh for ‘Shining Brow’), the home he built for himself in Wisconsin. Popular with audiences and critics alike, Shining Brow has been hailed as a masterpiece full of fresh ideas, and is frequently performed. ‘Hagen has a gift for the big tune, and he serves up some beauties’ (New York Times). ‘Its libretto is unusually inventive and poetic’ (Capital Times).
Schubert: Death and the Maiden
2008, Naxos
Schubert’s music has been arranged by many other composers, though few have succeeded in amplifying the drama and pathos of the Death and the Maiden Quartet as has Andy Stein. The reconstruction of the Scherzo of Schubert’s ‘Unfinished’ Symphony is based on fragments from the composer’s notebooks. The last movement uses segments from Schubert’s incidental music for Rosamunde, which scholars believe may have been intended for the symphony’s finale.
Corigliano: Mr. Tambourine Man
2008, Naxos
“…A colleague suggested that I look into the poetry of the songs of Bob Dylan. Having not yet listened to the songs, I decided to send away for the texts only…and found many of them to be every bit as beautiful and as immediate as I had heard—and surprisingly well-suited to my own musical language…these would be in no way arrangements, or variations, or in any way derivations of the music of the original songs, which I decided to not hear before the cycle was complete…I intended to treat the Dylan lyrics as the poems I found them to be. Nor would their settings make any attempt at pop or rock writing. I wanted to take poetry I knew to be strongly associated with popular art and readdress it in terms of concert art—crossover in the opposite direction, one might say. Dylan granted his permission, and I set to work.” — John Corigliano
Favorite Holiday Classics
2007
Resphigi: Church Windows
2007, Naxos
The four symphonic impressions Vetrate di chiesa (Church Windows) began life as Tre preludi sopra melodie gregoriane for piano. Making full use of indigenous melodic and rhythmic shapes, Impressioni brasiliane (Brazilian Impressions) are a musical snapshot of the composer’s 1927 visit to Brazil. Rossiniana, Respighi’s orchestration of piano ‘trifles’ by Rossini, is one of his most brilliantly scored works.
Prairie Music
2006, Naxos
Aaron Copland was inspired by the sweeping prairies to the west of Buffalo, as was famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright. In celebration of Wright’s architectural masterpieces found in Buffalo, the BPO presents a collection of Copland’s works specifically rooted in the spacious landscape of the American Prairie: Prairie Journal, Four Dance Episodes from Rodeo, Letter From Home and The Red Pony Suite.
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra at Carnegie Hall
2005, Beau Fleuve Records
*Now streaming
Burchfield Gallery: A Tribute to Charles Burchfield
2004, Beau Fleuve Records
*Now streaming
This album serves as a tribute to artist Charles Burchfield and his connection to Buffalo through a 7-movement symphonic work by Morton Gould. Burchfield had resided in Buffalo and let the city influence his art style, and today, the Burchfield Penney Art Center stands as a testament to him and the artists of Western NY. Also on the album is Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2 in D major.
Holiday Pops with Marvin Hamlisch
2003, Beau Fleuve Records
For seven shining seasons, the late, great Marvin Hamlisch served as the BPO’s principal pops conductor. Re-live those years with this disc, recorded during several Holiday Pops concerts.
Griffes: The Pleasure Dome of Kubla Khan
2003, Naxos
During his brief life (cut short by pneumonia when he was just 35), Charles Griffes was able to compose music of distinctive beauty. Soprano Barbara Quintilliani and Buffalo’s own flutist Carol Wincenc are featured on this recording.
Pictures at a Gallery
2003, Beau Fleuve Records
*Now streaming
Each work on this disc was inspired by a work of art. Featuring Reger’s Four Tone-Poems after Arnold Bocklin; Schreker’s The Birthday of the Infanta; Rachmaninoff’s The Isle of the Dead and Berlioz’s Overture to Benvenuto Cellini.
Rhapsodie
2002, Beau Fleuve Records
*Now streaming
Rhapsodie features the music of French composers who are known for capturing the imagination of their audience. The works in this collection take the listener on journeys into musical exoticism, and intimate, passionate love stories Includes Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloe and Rhapsodie Espagnol, Debussy’s Petite Suite, D’Indy’s Diptyque mediterrannee, and Massenet’s “Sous les Tilleuls.”
Converse: The Mystic Trumpeter
2001, Naxos
Frederick Shepherd Converse is today best known for a small but hearty collection of orchestral tone poems, three of which are featured on this recording. He drew inspiration not only from works of literature by Walt Whitman and Keats, but from the factories of Detroit.
Impressions of French Music
2000, Beau Fleuve Records
*Now streaming
The centerpiece of this collection of French impressionist favorites is Roussel’s rousing Bacchus and Ariane. Complemented by Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun and Satie’s Gymnopedie No. 3, Roussel’s enthralling piece is a masterwork of sound painting executed in the French impressionist style.
Holiday Classics
1999, Beau Fleuve Records
Works by Bizet, Vaughan Williams, Tchaikovsky, Vivaldi, Delius, Humperdinck, Rimsky-Korsakov, Corelli, Glazunov, and Bach.