Stories, Sonnets and Serenades

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco remained always faithful to a tonal musical language. Today he is mainly known for his guitar works, but his oeuvre is much more extensive and varied than is generally assumed. Castelnuovo-Tedesco chose the more ironic poems by Heinrich Heine for the three song cycles included here and added lighthearted quotations from Schumann and Verdi to his cycle "The Tales of Joseph". Also included are unpublished songs such as "La canzone di Usigliano" with its allusions to Tuscan folk songs and the "Three Sonnets" from the Portuguese, which reflect the romantic and dreamy character of the texts by Elizabeth Barret Browning. Rising soprano Elizabeth Hertzberg sings and is accompanied at the piano by Simonetta Heger, who is also an accomplished harpsichordist.