Since you are interested in Bach: Life and Works Narrated biography with extensive musical examples, here is a list of other items that you may find interesting.
J. S. BACH
Piano Concertos Vol 2 Hae-won Chang (piano) Camerata Cassovia / Robert Stankpvsky [ Naxos / CD - released 28/Jan/2004 ] "It is difficult to imagine a more satisfying pair of discs of this repertoire." Daily Telegraph |
ARVO PART
A Portrait: His works / His life (2 CDs of music plus a detailed essay and photographs) Various orchestras, performers and conductors [ Naxos / 2 CD - released 18/Jun/2005 ] - 2 CDs with over 2 and a half hours of music - Richly illustrated with rarely seen photographs - Detailed essay by Nick Kimberley |
JOHN TAVENER
A Portrait: His Works / His Life (2 CDs of music plus a detailed essay and photographs) Various orchestras, performers and conductors [ Naxos Educational / 2 CD/Book - released 30/Aug/2008 ] "Even Tavener's loyal admirers will find something new here; for others, it's an extremely useful introduction to a significant and utterly individual body of work." -- BBC Music Magazine |
BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Life and Works Narrated biography with extensive musical examples Jeremy Siepmann (narrator) with Bob Peck as Beethoven [ Naxos Educational / 4 CD Box Set - released 1/Jul/2009 ] For many people, Beethoven is the greatest composer who ever lived. In this portrait-in-sound, actors' readings combine with his music to reveal a titanic personality, both vulnerable and belligerent, comic and tragic, and above all heroic, as he... |
JOSEPH HAYDN
Haydn: Life and Works Narrated biography with extensive musical examples Jeremy Siepmann (narrator) with David Timson as Haydn [ Naxos Educational / 4 CD Box Set - released 1/Jul/2009 ] No great composer's story is more predominantly happy than Haydn's, though even his has its share of clouds. A classic rags-to-riches tale. |
VERDI
Verdi: Life and Works Narrated biography with extensive musical examples Jeremy Siepmann (narrator) with Freddie Jones as Verdi [ Naxos Educational / 4 CD Box Set - released 1/Jul/2009 ] Jeremy Siepmann's narration is enthralling and detailed, and the character behind this most fervently Italian music is fascinating to discover. |
TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: Life and Works Narrated biography with extensive musical examples Jeremy Siepmann (narrator) with John Shrapnel as Bach [ Naxos Educational / 4 CD Box Set - released 1/Jul/2009 ] Who was the man behind some of the most intensely emotional music ever written? Who were the influential figures in his life? In this 4-CD set packed full of biographical detail and poignant musical extracts we are led through the course of... |
W.A. MOZART
Mozart: Life and Works Narrated biography with extensive musical examples Jeremy Siepmann (narrator) with Nicolas Boulton as Mozart. [ Naxos Educational / 4 CD Box Set - released 13/Apr/2006 ] "As usual with Naxos, the musicians are solid performers if not big names. This four-CD collection is accompanied by a 125-page booklet chock-full of useful, well-presented information." (Denver Post) |
SCHUBERT
Schubert: Life and Works Narrated biography with extensive musical examples Jeremy Siepmann (narrator) with Tom George as Schubert [ Naxos Educational / 4 CD Box Set - released 1/Jul/2009 ] As revealed in this dramatised biography (lavishly illustrated with musical examples), there was a secret, darker side to Schubert which only renders his story that much more fascinating. |
BELA BARTOK
Bartok: A Portrait: His works / His life (2 CDs of music plus a detailed essay and photographs) Various orchestras, performers and conductors [ Naxos Educational / 2 CD - released 19/Jan/2008 ] Includes music from Out of Doors, Mikrokosmos, Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta, the string quartets, the Miraculous Mandarin, Concerto for Orchestra and more. |
Peter MAXWELL DAVIES
A Portrait: His works / His life (2 CDs of music plus a detailed essay and photographs) Various orchestras, performers and conductors [ Naxos Educational / 2 CD - released 10/May/2008 ] Sir Peter Maxwell Davies is one of the most exciting and provocative composers at work in the world today. His Eight Songs for a Mad King set the dizzying pace for Britain's 1960s avant-garde, and the recent Naxos Quartets bear witness to his... |
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Shostakovich: A Portrait: His Works / His Life (2 CDs of music plus a detailed essay and photographs) Various orchestras, performers and conductors [ Naxos Educational / 2 CD - released 19/Jan/2008 ] Includes music from nine symphonies, two string quartets, two ballet suites, Piano Concerto No. 2, The Gadfly and Hamlet, as well as Shostakovich himself playing the piano and making a radio address. |
SERGEI PROKOFIEV
Prokofiev: A Portrait: His works / His life (2 CDs of music plus a detailed essay and photographs) Various artists incls Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra, Kosice, Ukraine National Symphony Orchestra, Ukrainian State Symphony Orchestra [ Naxos Educational / 2 CD - released 22/Dec/2007 ] Among the most popular of twentieth-century composers, Sergey Prokofiev is seen as a great musical giant of the Soviet Union. But after the 1917 Revolution he took his talents to the United States and France. Only later was he lured by the power of... |
RODRIGO
A Portrait: His works / His life (2 CDs of music plus a detailed essay and photographs) Various orchestras, performers and conductors [ Naxos Educational / 2 CD - released 10/May/2008 ] "Rodrigo's place as one of the greatest Spanish composer of the past century should be solidified by this fine musical biography." AudAud.com Five Stars |