performed by the Gewandhausorchester under Riccardo Chailly, or below by the Orchestra Mozart under Claudio Abbado (cover image by Aaron Burden) We have made it to only the second of Bach’s six Brandenburg concertos. As you may recall, or else … Continue reading Bach: Brandenburg Concerto no. 2 in F major, BWV 1047
performed by Mikkel Futtrup, Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra & Hannu Koivula (Again, no YouTube for today, but get used to it. Buy your music or at the very least support your artists and record labels through Spotify. You can find … Continue reading Holmboe Chamber Concerto no. 6 for violin and chamber orchestra, op. 33
performed by Gidon Kremer and The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields under Sir Neville Marriner, with cadenzas by Alfred Schnittke (cover image by Steven Wang) This is one of only a few violin concertos we’ve discussed on the … Continue reading Beethoven Violin Concerto in D, op. 61
performed by Gidon Kremer and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe under Nikolaus Harnoncourt, or below with Itzhak Perlman and the Berlin Philharmonic under Daniel Barenboim (cover image by Andrea Sonda) Well, I’ll try not to repeat myself too much, but … Continue reading Beethoven Romance for Violin and Orchestra no. 1 in G, op. 40
performed by Isaac Stern and the English Chamber Orchestra under Alexander Schneider, or below by David Oistrakh and The Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy (cover image by Colin Maynard) Bach’s violin concerto in E major is sometimes labeled as No. 2, … Continue reading Bach Violin Concerto in E, BWV 1042
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 Dennis Russell Davies and the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra Philip Glass’s first piano concerto isn’t (usually) referred to as piano concerto no. 1. Instead, it’s given the above name, the Tirol Concerto for Piano and Orchestra. It was completed … Continue reading Glass: Tirol Concerto for Piano and Orchestra
performed by Leif Ove Andsnes and the Berlin Philharmonic under Pierre Boulez, or below by the Géza Anda and the Concertgebouw Orchestra under Bernard Haitink Since we discussed the first piano concerto earlier this week, I’d like to suggest you … Continue reading Bartók Piano Concerto no. 2, Sz. 95, BB 101
performed by Jean Efflam-Bavouzet and the London Philharmonic under Vladimir Jurowski “My first concerto […] I consider it a successful work, although its style is up to a point difficult, perhaps even very difficult for the orchestra and the public.” … Continue reading Bartók Piano Concerto no. 1, Sz. 83, BB 91
performed by Jean-Efflam Bavouzet and the BBC Philharmonic under Juan José Mena, or below by Marylene Dosse and the Stuttgart Philharmonic under Matthias Kuntzsch Henri Constant Gabriel Pierné was born 16 August, 1863 in Metz, in northeast France. His family … Continue reading Gabriel Pierné: Piano Concerto in C minor, Op. 12
performed by Sviatoslav Richter and the Bavarian State Orchestra under Carlos Kleiber I see I am unable to write a Concerto for a virtuoso; I must think of other things. Dvorak, about his piano concerto … there is nothing in … Continue reading Dvorak Piano Concerto in G minor, Op. 33
performed by Krystian Zimerman and the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Seiji Ozawa, or below by Jean-Yves Thibaudet and the Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse under Tugan Sokhiev Well, we certainly haven’t seen Liszt in a very long time, about a year and … Continue reading Liszt Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2 in A major, S. 125
performed by Francesco Nicolosi and the Razumovsky Symphony Orchestra under Andrew Mogrelia Sigismond Thalberg was born 8 January, 1812 in Pâquis, near Geneva, in Switzerland. His Wikipedia page states that “according to legend,” he was the illegitimate son of a … Continue reading Sigismond Thalberg: Piano Concerto in Fm, op. 5
Performed by Maurizio Pollini and the Berlin Philharmonic under Claudio Abbado, or below by Mitsuko Uchida and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under Mariss Jansons Beethoven’s fourth piano concerto, with an opus number of 58, dates from the time of … Continue reading Beethoven Piano Concerto no. 4 in G, op. 58
performed by Andras Schiff, Daniel Barenboim, and Georg Solti with the English Chamber Orchestra (I think) Talk about extravagant. Why three pianos? I thought the same thing, and I’ll tell you why, or rather Wikipedia will: The concerto is often … Continue reading Mozart Piano Concerto No. 7 in F for three pianos and orchestra, K. 242
performed by Mitsuko Uchida and the English Chamber Orchestra under Jeffrey Tate, or below from Murray Perahia and the English Chamber Orchestra Well, we did some sonatas, and now, as you should have expected, some concertos. (A quick note on the … Continue reading Mozart Piano Concerto no. 6 in B-flat, K. 238
performed by David Pyatt and the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Nicholas Braithwaite, or below by Alan Civil and the Bournemouth Sinfonietta under Normal Del Mar Sir Malcolm Henry Arnold was born on October 21, 1921, in Northampton, the youngest of … Continue reading Sir Malcolm Arnold: Horn Concerto no. 2, op. 58
performed by David Pyatt and the London Philharmonic under Nicholas Braithwaite, or below in a piano reduction by Gerardo Diaz, horn; Alex Marshall, piano I personally feel repelled by the intellectual snobbery of some progressive artists… the day that melody is … Continue reading Gordon Jacob: Concerto for Horn and Strings
performed by Peter Damm and the Staatskapelle Dresden under Rudolf Kempe, or below by Stefan Dohr and the Oklahoma Symphony under Hansjörg Schellenberger This is very early Strauss. It was written by a very young Richard Strauss to his father, a horn player … Continue reading Strauss Horn Concerto no. 1 in E-flat, op. 11
performed by Barry Tuckwell and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields under Sir Neville Marriner (from the same album mentioned earlier in the week), or below by Anthony Halstead, natural horn, with The Hannover Band under Roy Goodman This is our first appearance of … Continue reading Carl Maria von Weber: Concertino for Horn in Em, J188 (Op. 45)
performed by Barry Tuckwell and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields under Sir Neville Marriner What distinguished Punto, in a way that one has never heard in any other artist heretofore, was his most magnificent performance, the gentlest … Continue reading Giovanni Punto: Horn Concerto no. 11 in E
Fugue for Thought 