‘From my life’, performed by the Pavel Haas Quartet, or below by the Stamitz Quartet (cover image by Roman Kraft) Bedřich Smetana was born on 2 March, 1824 in Litomyšl, near the border between Bohemia and Moravia, at the time both provinces … Continue reading Bedřich Smetana: String Quartet no. 1 in E minor, ‘Z mého života’
performed by the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin under Riccardo Chailly, or below by the Saarbrücken Radio Symphony Orchestra under the late Stanislaw Skrowaczewski (cover image by Adam Edgerton) It’s been sometime since we’ve seen Bruckner. And aside from the revisit article … Continue reading Bruckner Symphony No. 3 in D minor, WAB 103
performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Sir Georg Solti, or below with the Vienna Philharmonic and Claudio Abbado (cover image by Nick Scheerbart) I’ve been needing to do this for some time. Back when I wrote about Brahms’ first … Continue reading Revisit: Brahms Symphony no. 1 in C minor, op. 68
performed by the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra under Riccardo Chailly or (very) alternatively, here by Klemperer and the Philharmonia, which I’ll talk about below “In the deep twilight we went today to the palace were Queen Mary lived and loved…The chapel below … Continue reading Mendelssohn Symphony no. 3 in Am, op. 56 ‘Scottish’
performed by the Taipei Symphony Orchestra and National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra under Lan Shui, with: Emma Bell, soprano 左涵瀛 (Hanying Tso), soprano 黃莉錦 (Li-Chin Huang), soprano Charlotte Hellekant, alto 陳珮琪 (Pei-Chi Chen), alto Barry Banks, tenor 巫白玉璽 (Wu Bai-Yu-Hsi), baritone … Continue reading Mahler’s Eighth in Taipei
performed by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble, or below by the Prazak Quartet and Zemlinsky Quartet (in a recording I chose not for the sound quality but the engaging experience of watching only eight people … Continue reading Mendelssohn String Octet in E flat, op. 20
What is Mozart’s music if not naked, pure, exposed, unadulterated, magnificent beauty? A few weeks ago, we had the TSO’s season opener with accomplished pianist Kirill Gerstein making his first appearance in Taiwan, and it was a fine one. The NSO’s … Continue reading NSO’s 2017 Season Opener
performed by Yo-Yo Ma and Emmanuel Ax, or below by Rostropovich and Richter (cover photo by Aaron Burden) Prokofiev’s cello sonata in C major is not to be confused with the sonata for solo cello in C# minor. That’s a … Continue reading Prokofiev Cello Sonata in C major, op. 119
performed by Shlomo Mintz and Yefim Bronfman, or below by Oistrakh and Oborin (cover photo by Jace Grandinetti) Confusingly, Prokofiev’s violin sonata no. 1 was completed two years after his violin sonata no. 2, which originates from his flute sonata … Continue reading Prokofiev Violin Sonata no. 1 In F minor, op. 80
featuring Igor Levit “If you’re ever in that part of town, you should try…” It’s a small world, but it isn’t that small. You probably won’t accidentally find yourself in Taipei anytime soon, but if you were to, you might learn that … Continue reading Bayerisches Staatsorchester in Taipei
performed by the Emerson String Quartet, or below by the Pavel Haas Quartet (cover image by Tamara Menzi) Indeed, the material proved to be fresh and original… I settled on writing a string quartet, thinking that the combination of new, … Continue reading Prokofiev String Quartet no. 2 in F, op. 92
performed by Dmitry Yablonsky and Hsin-Ni Liu (cover image by Toa Heftiba) We’re continuing our discussion of some of Weinberg’s earliest chamber works. If you haven’t yet read the articles on his string quartet or violin sonata, I suggest you … Continue reading Weinberg Sonata no. 1 for Cello and Piano in C, op. 21
performed by Linus Roth and Jose Gallardo, or below by Yuri Kalnits, violin and Michael Csányi-Wills, piano (cover image by Thomas Cigolla) I used to record a podcast. And one of the people on my radar I’d intended to interview before … Continue reading Weinberg Violin Sonata no. 1
performed by the Quatuor Danel in a world premiere recording, or below by the Gothenburg Quartet entire playlist here (cover image by Ricardo Gomez Angel) Mieczysław Weinberg was born on 8 December, 1919 in Warsaw to a Jewish family. So … Continue reading Mieczysław Weinberg: String Quartet no. 1, op. 2
performed by Hilary Hahn and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Esa-Pekka Salonen [It] is extremely difficult, just as much for the head as for the hands. I am delighted to add another ‘unplayable’ work to the repertoire. I want … Continue reading Schoenberg Violin Concerto, op. 36
performed by János Starker and Rudolf Firkušný, or below by John Walz, cello; Edith Orloff, piano Imagine being in a foreign country and hearing news of the Nazi invasion of the country your family still inhabits. What kind of music would … Continue reading Martinů Cello Sonata No. 1, H. 277
performed by the late Fredell Lack and Timothy Hester, or below by Markéta Janoušková, violin; Václav Mácha, piano (Before we begin this article, I’d like to take a moment to discuss Fredell Lack. This article had been scheduled for months, … Continue reading Martinů Violin Sonata no. 1, H. 182
featuring Kirill Gerstein Welcome back, everyone! I met a certain fellow concertgoer (and at least occasional reader) formally for the first time this evening while we stood in line to meet Gerstein and Maestro Varga. The gentleman, who I see … Continue reading TSO’s Season Opening Concert
performed by the Panocha Quartet (Oops! We have a rare case with no YouTube video for the work. If you’re intent on hearing it, you can purchase the first three movements individually from iTunes, part of the Panocha quartet set. Since … Continue reading Martinů String Quartet no. 1, H. 117, ‘French Quartet’
performed by Torleif Thedéen and Roland Pöntinen, or below by Kevin Kunkel, cello, Yejin Noh, piano (cover image by Elias Schupmann) I hope you read Tuesday’s article. Hindemith’s op. 11 is a set of six (some places incorrectly list it as five) … Continue reading Hindemith Cello Sonata, op. 11 no. 3
performed by Oleg Kagan & Sviatoslav Richter, or below by David Oistrakh and Vladimir Yampolski (cover image by Sergei Akulich) As you may have read from this past weekend’s article on Hindemith’s early first (posthumously published) string quartet, its composition straddled … Continue reading Hindemith Violin Sonata in E flat, op. 11, no. 1
Fugue for Thought 