DCD 057 - Two from Laurel Records

In episode #57 of the "DCD Classical 'Cast" we play music from Ernest Bloch and Nikolai Lopatnikoff, two 20th Century composers who are under-represented on the concert stage. Laurel Records is proud to have these works in their catalog, and we're happy to bring them to a wider audience.

Ernest Bloch enjoyed a great deal of success during his lifetime, both as a composer and as an educator. He served as the first Musical Director of the Cleveland Institute of Music, and taught Roger Sessions and George Antheil, among others. While his music is well-represented in recordings, with the exception of a few works, his compositions aren't regularly performed in the concert hall.

Like Bloch, Nikolai Lopatnikoff emigrated to the United States. Originally from Estonia, he moved to Germany before fleeing the Nazis first to England, then to America. Lopatnikoff was a contemporary of Rachmaninoff, and shared some of his Russian romanticism in his music. And Lopatnikoff was an educator as well, serving on the faculty of the Carnegie-Mellon Institute in Pittsburgh for a number of years.

- Ralph
This program we play:

Ernest Bloch: Concerto Symphonique for piano and orchestra, Mvt. 2
Michah Yui, piano; London Symphony Orchestra; David Amos, conductor
Laurel Records

Nikolai Lopatnikoff: Five Kontrasts for solo piano, Op. 71
Nanette Kaplan Solomon, piano
Laurel Records

Ernest Bloch: Concerto Grosso No. 2, finale
London Symphony Orchestra; David Amos, conductor
Laurel Records