Maestro Carlo Ponti Revives Arabian Nights with Landmark Recording
Award-winning conductor Carlo Ponti releases Scheherazade a new album with the world-renowned Russian National Orchestra (RNO), September 27, 2011 on PentaTone Classics.
Born into artistic royalty, Ponti is the son of actress Sophia Loren and late film producer Carlo Ponti but chose early on to bring musical scores to life rather than screenplays.
As Associate Conductor of the Russian National Orchestra since 2000, the Maestro invigorates the classical music scene with special attention to young artists and audiences and a flair for the dramatic that has garnered him international acclaim.
On the heels of his successful debut recording with the RNO, Ponti’s latest release features symphonic works by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, including Scheherazade and Capriccio espagnol. Based on the popular story of One Thousand and One Nights, Scheherazade is renowned for its colorful orchestral arrangements and alluring melodies.
Also included on the album is Rimsky-Korsakov’s Neapolitan Song which Ponti recently performed at the Vatican for Pope Benedict XVI.
According to Ponti, the rarely recorded showpiece is “a lively tribute to my cultural roots and to my mother who hails from a small town near Naples.”
Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade and Capriccio espagnol were among the first works Ponti conducted with the RNO, and they remain two of the ensemble’s most often-performed compositions. In spite of their popularity and canonic status within the Russian symphonic repertoire, however, they have never before been recorded by the RNO until now.
Says Ponti, “The works on this album have a truly universal appeal… anyone can be moved by this music.”
For full bio, visit: carloponti.com/biography.cfm. See also the page devoted to him at Shore Fire Media.
For more information on Carlo Ponti, please contact Elizabeth Lutz, David McTiernan, or Rebecca Shapiro at Shore Fire Media, 718.522.7171.