performed by the Gewandhausorchester under Riccardo Chailly, or below by the Orchestra Mozart under Claudio Abbado in a performance very worth watching (cover image by Annie Gray) Now that we’re back to Bach, it’s a good time to discuss the … Continue reading Bach Brandenburg Concerto no. 3 in G, BWV. 1048
performed by Jean-Guihen Queyras, or below by Pieter Wispelwey (cover image by Patrick Hendry) And now for something a little lighter. I’d originally intended to cover all six of these suites across three consecutive weekends, but later thought better of … Continue reading Bach Cello Suite no. 6 in D major, BWV. 1012
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 the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig under Riccardo Chailly, or below by the Orchestra Mozart under Claudio Abbado (cover image by Brooke Lark) I feel such a sense of distance from people like Bach and Telemann and Handel and all the … Continue reading Bach: Brandenburg Concerto no. 1, BWV 1046
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 Steven Isserlis, or below by Anner Bylsma (cover image by Ashley Knedler) We’ve finally made our way around to another installment of Bach’s cello suites. I remember nearly two years ago now when I began the weekend chamber … Continue reading Bach Cello Suite no. 5 in Cm, BWV 1011
with Leonidas Kavakos under Herbert Blomstedt Well, add one more to the list. Yet another world-class orchestra comes through Taipei, with a world-class conductor and soloist. I’ll be honest. When I heard about this concert many months ago, my first … Continue reading Gewandhausorchester Leipzig in Taiwan
featuring Julie Comparini, available here or in iTunes I’ve recently been interested in people’s musical backgrounds, or (formal) lack thereof, and how it informs their eventual careers or interests in music. Ms. Julie Comparini was one of those people, but … Continue reading Podcast: From Bach to Brecht
Beethoven’s ninth. Everyone knows it. Or they think they do. ‘Ode to Joy’ has been used and reused in everything from church hymns to TV commercials, but do you know the whole thing, its ins and outs, and what it … Continue reading NSO: The Immortal 9th
performed by Steven Isserlis, or below by Rostropovich (Is it sacrilege to say I don’t like M-Rost’s Bach? As I have discussed below, I have gotten very attached and used to Isserlis’ readings of these works, as new a recording … Continue reading Bach Cello Suite No. 4 in E-flat, BWV 1010
performed by Steven Isserlis, or in a nice (if not slightly resonant) performance below by Jean-Guihen Queyras (cover image from here, photographed by Alex Markovich) Back to Bach. Also, it’s May now, so hop down below to see what that means for … Continue reading Bach Cello Suite No. 3 in C major, BWV 1009
All six of them. These pieces have been interjecting themselves into my life lately. When I started the String Quartet Series back in February, I decided to start with Bach because it’d been two and a half years on the blog and … Continue reading Concert Review: Alexander Rudin plays Bach
performed by Isaac Stern and the New York Philharmonic under Bernstein (at least listed in iTunes as such) or below with Stern and others part 2 part 3 I’d never thought to look at all the credits on this album and see who was involved in … Continue reading Bach Violin Concerto in A minor, BWV 1041
performed by Steven Isserlis, or below (in full) by Maurice Gendron So here we are for the second of our installments of the Bach cello suites. If you haven’t yet listened to the awesome third episode of the podcast with cellist Richard Narroway, … Continue reading Bach Cello Suite No.2 in D minor, BWV 1008
performed by Stephen Isserlis (the above video begins with the prelude of no. 1, but is excerpts of Isserlis’ performances of all the suites. Find plenty of full versions of the work on YouTube or practically anywhere music exists. I … Continue reading Johann Sebastian Bach: Cello Suite No. 1 in G major, BWV 1007
featuring cellist Richard Narroway (other links below) One of the people I’d been hoping to catch up with when I first planned to start the podcast was a gentleman I’d kind of stumbled upon online almost a year ago. More specifically, I stumbled … Continue reading Podcast: Bringing Bach to Life
performed by either Ashkenazy/Philharmonia, or below by Perahia/English Chamber Ochestra Number three. The year is (still) 1767, and our little composer is still eleven years old. Everything is the same, except we get trumpets in addition to keyboard, strings, horns and oboes. Again, three movements, but none of which based on Raupach. Wikipedia says: The first movement is based on the initial movement of Honauer’s Op. 2, No. 1. The second on one by Johann Gottfried Eckard (op. 1, no. 4 ), the most famous keyboardist of his day. The third movement is based on C. P. E. Bach‘s piece … Continue reading Mozart Piano Concerto no. 3 in D, K40
If you haven’t noticed, it’s that time of year. Lots of graduation recitals and concerts and things. It’s a great time of year to be a concertgoer, and I’m sure many students heave huge sighs of relief once their performances are over. It is also often hardly the end, but a beginning of more, better things. I’ve talked before about my thoughts about concerts and recitals and performances in an academic setting. There are two main ones, the first being that the people in the room (at the university where these recitals are [most often] held) are the real professionals … Continue reading Concert Review: 陳柔安鋼琴獨奏會
or my piano teacher’s graduation recital at 師大 I missed her other recital, and felt terrible about it, but was glad I was able to attend this one. If you go check out the About Me section, I talk in there about my final decision to go get piano lessons like I’d always wanted, so I did. I was cohost of a radio show for a local news channel at the time, and happened to mention to the host in passing that I’m looking for a piano teacher. Turns out his cousin and her whole family are music people. He … Continue reading Concert Review: 簡韻玲鋼琴獨奏會
Fugue for Thought 