Music from the Novels of Louis Bernieres / Stephens, Ogden

Agustin Barrios-Mangore (Composer), Raphael Calace (Composer), Mauro Giuliani (Composer), Johann Nepomuk Hummel (Composer), Antonio Lauro (Composer), Miguel Llobet (Composer), Angy Palumbo (Composer), Benedetto Persichini (Composer), Celedonio Romero (Composer), Julio S. Sagreras (Composer), Spanish Traditional (Composer), Joaquin Turina (Composer), Heitor Villa-Lobos (Composer), Antonio Vivaldi (Composer), Craig Ogden (Performer), Alison Stephens (Performer)

Product Details

• Performer: Craig Ogden, Alison Stephens
• Composer: Agustin Barrios-Mangore, Raphael Calace, Mauro Giuliani, Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Antonio Lauro, et al.
• Audio CD (November 30, 1999)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Chandos
• ASIN: B00002EPMX
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #374,758 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

It is unusual to make a soundtrack for a series of books, but music--particularly music for guitar and mandolin--is everywhere in the novels of Louis de Bernières. On this CD, guitarist Craig Ogden and mandolinist Alison Stephens play music that the characters in the books either play or discuss. The pieces that relate to Corelli's Mandolin include a version of Vivaldi's Concerto in C, arranged for guitar and mandolin, and an excerpt from Hummel's Concerto for Mandolin in G Major. The most interesting pieces are by Calace, Persichini, and Palumbo, three composers who wrote for the mandolin in the late 19th century. Classical mandolin was extremely popular during that period, until it was eclipsed by the guitar in the 1920s. Composers such as these wrote beautiful music that was forgotten when the public's taste in instruments changed. The South American trilogy is represented by solo guitar pieces by composers like Villa-Lobos, Barrios, Llobet, and Lauro. The only mandolin-guitar duet in this section is the charming arrangement of a folk tune called "Mis Dolencias." Ogden and Stephens are both fine musicians and they do an excellent job in playing this delightful music. --Michael Simmons

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Captain Corelli comes to life!, April 11, 2000

By	Philip Bellshaw (Birmingham, England) - See all my reviews

An essential companion to "Captain Corelli's Mandolin". Hearing the music on this CD really brought parts of the story to life for me, and I feel confident that anyone who enjoyed the book will derive pleasure from this disc. Hear the polka with which Corelli impresses Pelagia and the concerto he plays to Dr Iannis (after irritating him by insisting on tapping out the orchestral introduction, played here on the guitar). All of the music is taken from or inpired by the novels of Louis de Bernieres, but it would be wrong to think that this is an album only for literary fanatics - there is a tremendous range of styles, and the listener's attention is held throughout on purely musical grounds. As someone who had never heard solo mandolin music before I was pleasantly surprised by the dynamic and tonal range the instrument produced. Alison Stephens gives a virtuoso performance of relatively unknown music which deserves a much wider audience. There is also classical guitar music (sensitively played by Craig Stephens), most with a Latin American feel, and some very succesful arrangements for guitar and mandolin (the Hummel and Vivaldi concertos), as well as some more familiar tunes. The beautiful short pieces by Perichini, Calace and Palumbo (all recorded for the first time here) are particularly worth hearing. This is a CD I have returned to over and over again, and I would recommend it unhesitatingly