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Verdi’s late string quartet has never reached the levels of popularity of that other later masterpiece, the Requiem. That work has been described as Verdi’s best opera – a swipe at the overtly dramatic character of the setting of the Mass for the Dead.

The string quartet also has its roots firmly in the operatic world, with quotes from Aida, Macbeth and a foreshadowing of Falstaff. Verdi’s model was Mozart, and although Verdian lyricism pervades, it is essentially a ‘modern’ , or proto-neo-classical, version of a late 18th-century quartet.

Luigi Cherubini (1784–1842), in contrast was determined to make his six string quartets a unique contribution to the genre. These works are individual, often complex (especially No.4) and show an intellectual rigour combined with a gift for melody – derived no doubt from Cherubini’s mastery of opera. The First Quartet dates from 1814 when he had retired from the opera house. Although Italian by birth, and having worked for many years in Paris, Cherubini's model for his quartets, and the musical vocabulary is very much German. He was much admired by Beethoven, Brahms and Wagner.

Joaquin Turina’s (1882-1949) Oracion del torero (The Prayer of the Toreador) is an early work, influenced by Debussy and Ravel.

Booklet notes.

Unusual repertoire from one of the UK’s premier quartets.

Recordings released commercially for the first time.

Grand and compelling: how Italian and operatic can a requiem be? Verdi has the impressive answer. Performed by the Sofia Philharmonic Choir & Orchestra.

‘This performance has a dramatic and dynamic tautness that extends throughout to give a satisfying thought through whole without sounding over-driven. I have paid a lot of money to hear this work over the years, often with ‘name’ conductors and soloists. Not many have given me as much pleasure as this performance.’ Musicweb International review

In 1868 Rossini died, and the leading composers of the day grouped together to contribute to a jointly composed Requiem for the great man who had dominated Italian opera for half a century. Much to Verdi’s frustration, the work was never performed. In 1871, the director of the Milan Conservatoire asked him if he’d ever thought of composing a Requiem of his own – after all, he’d written the Libera me, the final part of the multi-composer work. Verdi dismissed the idea, saying that there were enough Requiems already. In 1873, Verdi’s friend, and favourite author Alessandro Manzoni died aged 88. Verdi had first read his novels when he was 16 years old. He was devastated at his funeral. This provided the catalyst for what is the grandest of all Requiems.

Premiered in 1874 with the composer conducting, it was an immediate success, and Verdi toured the work to Paris, London, Cologne and Vienna – in fact he conducted it more often than any of his operas. Overtly operatic in nature, it has been called ‘Verdi’s greatest opera’, but it is a deeply spiritual work, adhering to the traditional Mass for the dead. It ranks among the very greatest of religious works alongside Bach’s Mass in B minor, Mozart’s Requiem and Beethoven’s Missa solemnis.

A true discovery for many western ears: Valentina Levko, star contralto of the Bolshoi!

“In a career of 50 years, I have rarely encountered such a voice, rounded, youthful, with an uncommon timbre and astonishing warmth” , thus said the legendary Sol Hurok, one of the most famous American Impresarios, who introduced Valentina Levko in the New York Met.

Although she frequently toured the world, her real home was Russia, where she reigned for more than 40 years, and 25 years as the star contralto of the Bolshoi Theatre.

This set features Levko in a wide variety of repertoire, ranging from moving Baroque arias by Bach and Handel, through the art songs of Schubert and Brahms, towards great opera scenes from Prince Igor, Ruslan & Ludmilla, Ivan Susanin, Queen of Spades, Rossini, Verdi, the songs of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff, and a superb collection of Russian folk songs.

An unrivalled breadth of recordings.

Valentina Levko was another in the glorious line of Russian 20th‐century contraltos who in some ways defined the sound of Russian opera for ears, both Eastern and Western, which were often discovering the rich tradition of Russian opera for the first time through recordings. Levko's name, however, unlike compatriots such as Elena Obratzova, never travelled as far or as well. Committed to her contract at the Bolshoi, she spurned several opportunities to make a name for herself in the West, with the lucrative recording contracts that would surely have followed.

And yet hers was, as this important set reveals, a voice and dramatic presence firmly in the mould of greats of the past such as Zara Dolukhanova. The set is carefully curated by themes, thereby revealing Levko's remarkable versatility. Arias from Bolshoi classics by Glinka, Rimsky‐Korsakov and Tchaikovsky sit alongside Western operas by Ponchielli, Verdi and others; her ability to scale her voice to an intimate environment results in warmly idiomatic recordings of art song by Schubert, Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov. The pleasure she took in the popular song of her own country also resulted in many recordings with the Ossipov Folk Orchestra, but her facility extended to folk songs of many languages, as the last CD reveals. Perhaps most remarkably of all, the first CD reveals a natural interpreter of Bach and Handel. An extensive booklet note discusses her life and career; for anyone interested in Russian voices, this set will be essential.