Discover: Music Of The Baroque

SIEPMANN, JEREMY

Music of the Romantic Era—There have been many biographies of great composers on Naxos CDs, every one of which I have reviewed over the past several years. “Discover the Music of the Romantic Era” is a different approach to classical music. I should say, “Romantic music,” which was a reaction to the clean “classical” lines of composers such as Haydn and the younger Mozart. As the text by David McCleery makes clear, the expression of grand emotions in musical terms was the essence of Romantic music. This four-CD set concentrates on the masters of the Romantic Movement—Beethoven, Berlioz, Liszt, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms, Rossini, Donizetti, Verdi, Wagner, Glinka, Borodin, Tchaikovsky, Smetana, Dvorak, Faure, Grieg, Mahler, Rachmaninov and Elgar. Some of those composers are more “classical romantics” than pure ones; but the reasons for their inclusion are pointed out in the excellent narration by Jeremy Siepmann. There are about two dozen extended musical examples to illustrate the contribution of each composer, along with brief biographies of their lives and a commentary on their idiosyncrasies, some of which border on the psychotic. Those who already own the complete Naxos audio-biographies of some of these composers will welcome a fresh synopsis of their lives and a slightly different approach. Those who know little about them will welcome this excellent introduction to the subject. I hope to see more entries in what might be a “Discover” series.

Price: $30.98