Vittorio Monti
Vittorio Monti’s Csárdás, written around 1904, is the piece that carries his name: a Hungarian dance of slow lament and whirling fire that has become a virtuoso showpiece far beyond its original scoring.
An Italian composer, violinist and mandolinist, Monti also wrote ballets, operettas and a mandolin method, and worked for a time as conductor of the Lamoureux Orchestra in Paris. Little of that catalogue travels now. Csárdás does. Its slow opening and accelerating dance make it endlessly adaptable, and on these recordings it turns up for mandolin and guitar, for tuba, and for trumpet with organ, still sounding like the pre-1914 hit it was.
Compositions by Vittorio Monti appear on
Music for Trumpet and the King of Instruments
In the world of classical music, one of the most special and enduring combinations of instruments is that of the trumpet and the pipe organ. Dating back over a millennium, the pairing has produced a tradition of heroic and majestic music-making.
Tuba Magnifique
Ian King, painter, scientist and tuba player extraordinaire, joins pianists Margaret Schofield and Dean Sky-Lucas for a wide-ranging recital that is truly très magnifique, spanning Spanish dances, Bach, Fauré and Kreisler.
Breathe
Melbourne duo Nougat – guitarist and composer Tania Ravbar Costantino with mandolinist Ruth Roshan – place Breathe on the cusp of world and classical music.