Various threads or chunks of history or music organized into strings of posts.
performed by the Vertavo Quartet, or below by the Copenhagen Quartet I have recently finished a string quartet which I still haven’t heard. It is in G minor and is not intended to bring trivialities to market. It strives towards … Continue reading Grieg String Quartet no. 1 in Gm, op. 27
performed by Tamás Vásáry, Thomas Brandis and Ottomar Borwitzky, or below by Suk, Starker, and Katchen (cover image by Juja Han) Play this work while you’re reading, if you can, at least the first movement. Brahms was a prodigy for sure. … Continue reading Brahms Piano Trio no. 1 in B major, Op. 8
performed by Trio Wanderer, or below by the Castle Trio, on period instruments (cover image by Martin Oslic) More Beethoven! Today’s work acts as sort of an introduction to what we’ll be doing in the month of August, similar to … Continue reading Beethoven Variations in E-flat piano trio, op. 44
(cover image by Ian Baldwin) I started this (last) month’s series by talking about how difficult it was for me to appreciate and discover opera the way I listen to music (headphones, no visuals, no subtitles, etc.), but I discovered … Continue reading A Month of Opera in Review
performed by Anne Sophie Von Otter, Ian Bostridge, Deborah York, Bryn Terfel, et al., the London Symphony Orchestra, and Monteverdi Choir under Sir John Eliot Gardiner, or below in this recording led by Kent Nagano For idle hearts and hands and … Continue reading Stravinsky: The Rake’s Progress
performed by the Emerson String Quartet, or below by the Borodin Quartet Although this is only the third of the composer’s fifteen completed string quartets, it’s not an early work by any means. In fact, it comes after the composer’s ninth symphony, op. 70, … Continue reading Shostakovich String Quartet No. 3 in F major, op. 73
performed by the “Soloists, Chorus & Orchestra Of The Moscow Chamber Theatre” and the Leningrad Philharmonic under Gennady Rozhdestvensky, or below (in English) by the Royal Opera conducted by Ingo Metzmacher The Nose loses all meaning if it is seen just as a … Continue reading Shostakovich: The Nose
performed by the Emerson Quartet, or below by the Takács Quartet Bartók’s third string quartet was written in Budapest in 1927, putting it just after the first piano concerto in his output. Remember, despite the low numbers, these are not … Continue reading Bartók String Quartet no. 3
Performed by the Quatuor Diotima and Marie-Nicole Lemieux, or below by the Juilliard Quartet (without vocalist) If I haven’t already mentioned it, and I’m pretty sure I have, the works of Alban Berg might for many be the way into … Continue reading Berg: Lyric Suite
performed by Taiwan’s 國家交響樂團 a.k.a. National Symphony Orchestra a.k.a. Taiwan Philharmonic, or below in a trailer for the work from The Royal Opera This is a concert (opera) review, and less so a discussion of the opera itself, but I’m … Continue reading NSO’s Il Trittico
performed by the Vienna Philharmonic under Claudio Abbado and all the people in this recording (Act 1 with subtitles below, Abbado and the Vienna State Opera) Still, alles still, als wär’ die Welt tot (Still, all is still, as if the … Continue reading Berg: Wozzeck, op. 7
performed by the Quatuor Diotima, or below by the Juilliard Quartet playlist for the entire work here Qualifying Statements This is another revisit article, and one I’ve been meaning to rewrite for a long time. My previous articles on works … Continue reading Revisit: Webern’s 5 Sätze für Streichquartett, op. 5
performed by Jessye Norman, László Polgár and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Pierre Boulez, or below by Anne Sofie von Otter, John Tomlinson and the Berlin Philharmonic under Bernard Haitink (There’s also an English version with Gwynne Howell, Sally Burgess and … Continue reading Bartók: Bluebeard’s Castle
performed by Janis Martin and the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Pierre Boulez, or by the astoundingly talented Jessye Norman at the Metropolitan Opera under James Levine (the only one I can find with subtitles), or in a higher-quality video below featuring … Continue reading Schoenberg: Erwartung, op. 17
performed by the Venice Quartet, or below by the Enso String Quartet Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini had a long name. He was born on December 22, 1858 in Lucca, Italy, one of nine children in the Puccini … Continue reading Giacomo Puccini: Crisantemi
Performed by the Orchestre National de France under Bernard Haitink, with Anne Sofie von Otter, Wolfgang Holzmair, Laurent Naouri, et al., or below by the Vienna Philharmonic and many more under Claudio Abbado So here we are with our first opera of … Continue reading Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande
performed by the Venice Quartet, or below by the Shanghai Quartet I’ve written a Quartet in my leisure moments in Naples. I had it performed one evening in my house, without attaching the least importance to it and without inviting … Continue reading Verdi String Quartet in E minor
I’ve spoken before about how difficult it is for me to explore and begin to enjoy opera the way I listen to most other music. For me, as for most people, it’s an auditory experience, and I’ll listen to music while I’m … Continue reading 20th Century Opera: a series
performed by Karl Schlechta, clarinet; Susanne Kaldor, violin; Akos Hernadi, piano; or below, in what might be this release We jump ahead now to a much later work in Bartóks’ output, having given him our attention for an entire week, even if … Continue reading Bartók: Contrasts, Sz. 111
performed by the Emerson String Quartet, or below by the Takács Quartet Bartók’s second quartet was written between 1915 and 1917, in Rákoskeresztúr, Hungary (or Gerersdorf in German, for those of you who don’t like consonants as much). What you may or … Continue reading Bartók String Quartet no. 2, Sz. 76
performed by the Borodin Quartet with Sviatoslav Richter My dear friend! Do you remember that quintet (A major) with piano which, thanks to your efforts, was performed in Prague for the first time, about 14 years ago? I cannot find … Continue reading Dvorak Piano Quintet No. 1 in A, op. 5, B. 28
Fugue for Thought 