Extractions: Welcome to Compact Discoveries . I'm your guide, Fred Flaxman. The next hour will be devoted completely to a single compact discovery: an RCA Red Seal BMG Classics recording called "Vocalise." I call this program "Vocalise Variations." MUSIC: fades out The Vocalise in question is by Sergei Rachmaninov. It contains what in my opinion is one of the most beautiful melodies ever written. And lots of people evidently agree with me, including musicians, as this hour will prove. You see the original piece by Rachmaninov was written for soprano and piano. After all, a "vocalise" is a melody sung without words but to one or more vowel sounds. Cellists, flutists, violinists, choirs and orchestras all loved this melody so much that they arranged this music for their instruments. This CD consists entirely of these various arrangements of Rachmaninov's famous piece.
