In the monumental overture to the opera La Gazza Ladra (The Thieving Magpie) Gioachino Rossini employs themes from the opera itself in order to prepare the audience for the material to come. The overt...
The celebrated Austrian composer Josef Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) owes his fame predominantly to his symphonies, his masses, his Te Deum, his string quintets and his devotional church music, including...
Giuseppe Verdi is one of the most famous composers of Italian opera. Here, Cesarini has masterfully arranged Nabucco.
Franz Liszt's 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies are characterised by melancholy, great expressiveness and wonderful gypsy rhythms. No. 2 is the best known of all, mainly thanks to the use of various passages fo...
Master-composer Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, in 1770, but he lived in Vienna from 1792, until his death in 1827. With his innovative style, he has had a great influence on Western classical...
This overture, called Sinfonia, is without doubt one of the best original works for concert band to emerge from the 19th century. It is characterised by its fluid spontaneity as well as its rich textu...
The triumphal march from Aida is probably one of the best known classical works of all times. This superb transcription by Franco Cesarini retains the exciting spirit of the original. As always his na...
Inspired by the operas of Bellini, Saverio Mercadante created this richly contrasting overture from lyrical and dramatic moments in his own works. This arrangement offers modern concert bands access t...
Tancredi, composed in 1813, is rarely performed in today's opera houses, however its overture, or Sinfonia, as it was called at the time, is well-liked and has received regular performances over the y...