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Kaleidoscope - Music from a Thousand Years on CD

Like gazing into a kaleidoscope, this double-CD

album brings a treasure-trove of musical miniatures

tracing the sweeping panorama and historic

perspective of 10 centuries. A mirage-like journey

through 1000 years - from the 11th Century until

present day - introduces evanescent encounters with

a dizzying array of epochs, genres and styles: from

otherworldly chants half-whispered beyond ancient

monastery walls, to the traditions of Indian Raga,

Bulgarian folk tunes and Mongolian throat-singing,

to rustic bagpipes and medieval troubadours, to the

Baroque splendor of Bach, Handel and Rameau, to

Mozart and Schubert, to Italian and French opera,

flamenco and tango, jazz and blues, Stravinsky and

Shostakovich, Piazzolla, Duke Ellington, Erroll Garner

and David Bowie. This charismatic retrospective is a

fascinating collection, brimming with world-premiere

recordings (50 out of 51 tracks) and presenting a

stunning variety of compositions - some original,

some arranged by the performing artists - violinist

Elmira Darvarova (first and to date still only ever,

woman-concertmaster of the Metropolitan Opera

Orchestra) and hornist Howard Wall (a former

long-time member of two of the world's greatest

orchestras - the New York Philharmonic, and the

Philadelphia Orchestra). 17 nations from 5 continents

are represented, including by ten women composers

(one of whom composed operas in the 17th C. and

had her works performed for the likes of Galileo). The

meticulous album notes cover the multi-dimensional,

serendipitous and cross-pollinating nature of

essential events and legacies, which endure and

continue to fascinate and transport us.