performed by the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig under Riccardo Chailly, or below with the London Symphony Orchestra under István Kertész (cover image by Liam Pozz) Brahms may have only written four symphonies, but the symphonic works that come before it, of which … Continue reading Brahms Serenade no. 1 in D, op. 11
performed by members of the Berlin Philharmonic Octet, or as below, by people you may recognize (cover image by Christopher Harris) Say goodbye to Beethoven. At least for a few weeks. We’re working our way through the earlier pieces of … Continue reading Beethoven Septet in E flat, op. 20
performed by Eric LeSage, Paul Meyer, and Claudio Bohórquez, or below by José Franch-Ballester, Ani Aznavoorian and Warren Jones (cover image by Michael D. Beckwith) Today’s work is the one that ruined it all for Beethoven’s piano trios. Just kidding. … Continue reading Beethoven Piano Trio in B flat, op. 11
performed by Arabella Steinbacher and Festival Strings Lucerne, or as below by Johannes Leertouwer and La Borea (cover image by Zhang Kaiyv) This is a suitable end to our long stretch of Mozart pieces. Thoughts I have about this piece … Continue reading Mozart Violin Concerto no. 3 in G, K. 216
performed by Isabelle Faust and Il Giardino Armonico under Giovanni Antonini, or below by Johannes Leertouwer and La Borea (cover image by Brooke Lark) The second of Mozart’s five legitimate (numbered, verified) violin concertos also dates from 1775, is also … Continue reading Mozart Violin Concerto no. 2 in D, K. 211
performed by Isabelle Faust and Il Giardino Armonico under Giovanni Antonini, or below by Johannes Leertouwer and La Borea (cover image by Anastasia Zhenina) We welcome Mozart’s violin concertos to the blog. It was thought for a time, or perhaps … Continue reading Mozart Violin Concerto no. 1 in B-flat, K. 207
performed by the Wiener Mozart Ensemble under Wili Boskovsky (cover image by Aaron Burden) If YouTube video descriptions are to be believed (and that is one of the only sources of information I have about this work), then we are … Continue reading Mozart 4 Contredanses in F major (Serenade No. 2), K. 101
performed by The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Josef Krips, or below by the Academy of Ancient Music under Christopher Hogwood (cover image by Grant Ritchie) Here we are with our last Mozart symphony for a while. The 30th was written … Continue reading Mozart Symphony no. 30 in D, K. 202
performed by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Josef Krips, or below with the Academy of Ancient Music under Christopher Hogwood (cover image by Dawid Zawila) Did you expect anything else? Mozart’s 29th symphony, in contrast with the previously numbered work, does have … Continue reading Mozart Symphony no. 29 in A, K. 201
performed by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Josef Krips, or below by The Academy of Ancient Music under Christopher Hogwood (cover image by Dawid Zawila) Here we are with the next in that little set of four symphonies we started … Continue reading Mozart Symphony no. 28 in C, K. 200
performed by Josef Krips and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, or below by The Academy of Ancient Music under Christopher Hogwood (cover image by Aneta Pawlik) For today’s symphony, we jump back to 1773, a few years before some of the pieces … Continue reading Mozart Symphony no. 27 in G, K. 199
performed by Stepan Turnovsky and the Vienna Mozart Academy under Johannes Wildner, or below, likely Aligi Voltan and the Orchestra del Teatro Olimpico di Vicenza under G.B. Rigon (cover image by Ales Krivec) Name another bassoon concerto. I’m sure you … Continue reading Mozart Bassoon Concerto in B-flat, K. 191
performed by the Wind Soloists of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, or as below by Ensemble Philidor (cover image by Aaron Burden) Today’s piece is the first in a group of five works for six instruments. A few weeks ago … Continue reading Mozart Divertimento no. 8 in F, K. 213
performed by The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, or below by Le Concert des Nations under Jordi Savall (cover image by Aleyna Rentz) Now this is something a little different. This three-movement work was written in (or at least … Continue reading Mozart Serenade no. 6 in D, K. 239, ‘Serenata Notturna’
performed by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields under Sir Neville Marriner, or as below by The Smithsonian Chamber Players under Jaap Schröder (cover image by Alex Block) So we’ve talked about a lot of Mozart lately, right? … Continue reading Mozart Serenade no. 5 in D, K. 204
performed by the Capella Istropolitana under Richard Edlinger, or as below by La petite bande under Sigiswald Kuijken (cover image by Alistair MacRobert) This piece was Composed in Salzburg on July 26, 1773, and Naxos says of its composition: probably … Continue reading Mozart Divertimento no. 7 in D, K. 205
performed by the Grumiaux Trio and William Bennett, or as below by Ensemble Connect (cover image by Aleyna Rentz) With this piece, we jump ahead a bit in Mozart’s chronology, to 1777. The work was apparently completed on Christmas day … Continue reading Mozart Flute Quartet no. 1 in D, K. 285
performed by the Consortium Classicum under Dieter Klocker, or below by someone else (cover image by Alex) It’s worth mentioning here that what was at one time labeled as Mozart’s fifth divertimento, also in C major, given catalogue number 187, … Continue reading Mozart Divertimento no. 6 in C, K. 188
performed by the Vienna Philharmonic Wind Ensemble, or below by Ensemble Zefiro, apparently on period instruments (cover image by Diego Botero) I just want to point out that 1773 was a relatively busy year for the young Mozart, in his mid-teens. … Continue reading Mozart Divertimento no. 3 in E flat, K. 166
performed by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields under Sir Neville Marriner, or below with Pinchas Zukerman and the English Chamber Orchestra (cover image by Alex Block (also here)) We’re moving away from the more famous form of the … Continue reading Mozart Serenade no. 4 in D, K. 203, ‘Colloredo’
performed by the Vienna-Mozart Trio, or below by the Mozartean Players (cover image by Ales Krivec) It’s really a divertimento, I guess, scored for piano trio. Now, if we go back a few years to our discussion of Beethoven’s op. … Continue reading Mozart Piano Trio no. 1 in B flat, K. 254