Highlights from Opera and Concert (Book 1)

Highlights from Opera and Concert (Book 1 Famous Pieces in Easy Arrangements for 1 Piano 4 Hands). By Various. Arranged by Rainer Schrapers. For Piano Four Hands, 1 Piano, 4 Hands. Schott. 60 pages. Schott Music #ED8917. Published by Schott Music.

This collection of classical “highlights” arranged for piano duet fills a gap in the vast amount of teaching material available in that it endeavours to combine the educational suitability of such arrangements with the artistic quality of the original works. What is new is not so much the selection of the pieces offered – the reasons for which are obvious – but rather the attempt that has been made to provide material ranging from the very easy to the moderately difficult, without incurring the all too typical loss of structural complexity or richness of tonal quality, losses which can seriouly distort the original. J. Brahms: Lullaby • C. Saint-Saëns: The Elephant; Tortoises; The Lion's Royal March (Carnival of the Animals) • F. Schubert: Heidenröslein • J. Offenbach: Cancan (Orpheus in the Underworld) • W.A. Mozart: various arias (The Magic Flute); Non piu andrai (Marriage of Figaro); Verdi: A Little Night Music; Donna e mobile (Rigoletto); Prelude (La Traviata) • Vivaldi: Spring (Four Seasons) • A. Dvorák Final Theme (New World Symphony) • Tchaikovsky: Dance of the Swans (Swan Lake).