The Classic Guitar Trio

Niccolo Paganini, the great violin virtuoso, was born in Genoa on February 18, 1784 and died in Nice on May 27, 1840. His father, although not a professional musician, was an excellent mandolin player and taught the young Niccolo how to play this instrument and also some elementary violin. Niccolo showed remarkable talent and was sent to study the violin with other teachers.
He made his public debut as a violin soloist at the age of nine when his father arranged a series of solo appearances at the local church. The intensive study that was required for these weekly performances further developed his ability and led him to study with renowned masters of the violin. Tours through Italy and later in other European countries brought him both fame and fortune.
Paganini loved the guitar and played it well. The guitar was always with him on his tours and many of the violin solos that he composed were first worked out on the guitar. This accounts for the many plucking and harmonic devices that abound in his solos. A number of his guitar compositions are still in manuscript, never having been published.

The trio in D Major recorded here was originally written for violin, cello and guitar during a visit to England in 1833. The Classic Guitar Trio has made some minor changes to create this highly interesting performance, using flute, bassoon and guitar. The music is substantially the same, but the use of these instruments imparts a different tone color with very pleasing results.

Franz Schubert was born in Lichtenthal, a suburb of Vienna, in 1797 and died at an early age in 1828. Franz was one of many children, and his great musical talent was evident from an early age. He was a prolific composer and composed over 100 songs, five operas, several symphonies, and some chamber music. He played the viola in a quartet with his father and brothers. 
Schubert's musical interests covered a wide field, and he appears to have been interested in music involving the guitar. A bohemian composer, Wenzeslas Maytega, had written a trio for guitar, flute and viola, and this was transformed into a charming quartet by the addition of a cello part written by Schubert. 
The eight minuets recorded here were originally written for piano solo. The Classic Guitar Trio performs these delightful minuets in an arrangement for flute, bassoon, and guitar.

Biographies:

Harry Moskovitz, Flutist
Harry Moskovitz received most of his musical education at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston and the Juilliard Graduate School in New York. He has been a member of our leading musical organizations among which were the St. Louis Orchestra under Vladimir Golschman, the NBC Symphony Orchestra under Toscanini and Stowkowski, the CBS Symphony Orchestra under Bernard Herman, and the New York City Center Symphony under Leonard Bernstein. In addition, he was a member of the Voice of Firestone TV Orchestra and solo flute on the Bell Telephone Hour under Donald Vorhees.
Mr. Moskovitz was president of the N.Y. Flute Club for six terms, and played many solo recitals under its auspices. His recitals and clinics have been presented at many music educators' conferences in various parts of the United States and Canada.

Harold Morris, Guitar (Folk and Classical)
Mr. Morris has made numerous appearances as soloist and as a member of chamber ensembles in concert halls, in clubs, and on television. A former student of Andre Segovia, he has had several of his own collections of practical guitar music published by leading firms in New York. He is also a distinguished teacher of guitar and can count Jose Feliciano as one of his most notable students.

Paul Cammarota
Paul Cammarota began his bassoon studies as a private student with Adelchi Angelucci, a member of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Mr. Cammarota later became a scholarship student at the Juilliard School of Music, where he studied bassoon with William Polisi. After his conservatory training, he performed extensively in both the United States and Canada as first bassoonist with such organizations as the NBC Opera, the Bell Telephone Hour, New York City Opera, the Goldman Band, the Little Orchestra Society, the Longines Symphonette, and many others. Throughout his early playing career, Mr. Cammarota taught woodwind instruments and chamber ensemble both privately and at a variety of institutions, including the Horace Mann School and the Long Island Institute of Music.

As a long standing member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Mr. Cammarota has performed extensively throughout the United States, Europe and Japan.