performed by the LaSalle Quartet, or below by the Amadeus Quartet (cover image by Tina Rolf) On the theme of Brahms delaying the composition of works in the more revered forms, we have his first string quartet, which came after … Continue reading Brahms String Quartet no. 1 in Cm, op. 51 no. 1
performed by the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig under Riccardo Chailly, or below with the London Symphony Orchestra under István Kertész (cover image by Saketh Garuda) In our discussion of Brahms on the blog over the years, we first addressed his symphonies, and … Continue reading Brahms Serenade no. 2 in A, op. 16
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 the Amadeus quartet with Cecil Aronowitz and William Pleeth, or below by the Alberni Quartet with Roger Best and Moray Welsh (cover image by Brooke Lark) If you have, like I used to have, any doubt that where … Continue reading Brahms String Sextet in G, op. 36
performed by the Quartetto Italiano and Maurizio Pollini, or below by the Amadeus Quartet with Christoph Eschenbach (cover image by Vidar Nordli Mathisen) Have you ever had that experience of meeting (well, more like being in the presence of) someone … Continue reading Brahms Piano Quintet in Fm, op. 34
performed by Barry Douglas, or below by Anatole Kitain (cover image by Simon Matzinger) The sixteen waltzes of Brahms’ op. 39 are dedicated to Eduard Hanslick and were completed by 1866. They were originally written for piano-four-hands. There were two … Continue reading Brahms: 16 Waltzes, op. 39
Songs of Destiny and the Night In contrast with last week’s meagre turnout, depending on who you ask, due to Bartók and/or Sibelius, we had a packed concert hall tonight for Mahler’s seventh symphony, preceded by Brahms’ Schicksalslied. Nearly as fascinating … Continue reading NSO’s Mahler 7
featuring Yuja Wang, piano It seems like the last year or two we haven’t had as many of the big-name, super famous ensembles come through Taipei. The Lucerne Festival Orchestra decided (last minute?) not to come to Taipei, and the … Continue reading New York Philharmonic in Taipei
performed by Cecil Aronowitz and the Amadeus Quartet, or as below: You have never before heard such a beautiful work from me. Brahms, writing of his quintet (cover image by Freddie Marriage) Brahms’s first string quintet, with an additional viola, … Continue reading Brahms String Quintet no. 1 in F, op. 88
performed the Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus, Schwarzkopf and Fischer-Dieskau under Otto Klemperer (cover image by Tom Barrett) Formal composition on the requiem began in 1865, after a very important, very tragic event that same year, the death of the composer’s … Continue reading Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem, op. 45
performed by Tamás Vásáry, Thomas Brandis, Wolfram Christ and Ottomar Borwitzky, or below with Sviatoslav Richter and members of the Borodin Quartet (cover image by Maciej Rusek) We recently discussed the G minor quartet, op. 25, and it was a reminder … Continue reading Brahms Piano Quartet No. 2 in A, op. 26
performed by Tamás Vásáry, Thomas Brandis, Wolfram Christ and Ottomar Borwitzky, or below by Ax, Stern, Laredo, and Ma (cover image by Patrick Fischer) If you haven’t yet discovered Brahms’s chamber music, here’s a bit more for you. We’ve done a … Continue reading Brahms Piano Quartet No. 1 in Gm, op. 25
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
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 Pinchas Zukerman & Daniel Barenboim (cover image by Ian Baldwin) Maybe I shouldn’t be discussing the first sonata before I address the violin concerto. The op. 78 sonata is only Brahms’ second work for the violin as a solo … Continue reading Brahms Violin Sonata No. 1 in G, Op. 78, ‘Regensonate’
performed by Mstislav Rostropovich and Rudolf Serkin, or below with Jacqueline du Pré and Barenboim (The work is officially titled ‘Sonate für Klavier und Violoncello‘; we will discuss this shortly.) (cover image by Miguel Mateo) Brahms completed his first sonata … Continue reading Brahms Cello Sonata No. 1 in E minor, op. 38
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
featuring Wen-Sinn Yang (楊文信 ), cello; May-Lin Ju (朱玫玲), clarinet; Chaio-Han Liao (廖皎含), piano Oh, how rarely we have local, affordable chamber music. The vast majority of the string quartet concerts we see are all from foreign ensembles, some … Continue reading NSO’s Trio Cantabile
featuring Sabine Meyer and Michael Sanderling I skipped the NSO concert last week. We were supposed to have the Labèque sisters come to perform Glass’s double concerto for two pianos, but something happened and the program got changed. While the … Continue reading NSO’s Extreme Classical
featuring Kolja Blacher (subtitled ‘The Arts of Play & Lead’) Beethoven, Brahms, Britten and Blacher. But not in that order. That ‘Play and Lead’ title refers exactly to what made this concert so special, the almost unbelievable feat that Blacher … Continue reading Blacher & NSO
performed by Tamás Vásáry, Thomas Brandis & Norbert Hauptmann, or below by Dale Clevenger, Itzhak Perlman, and Daniel Barenboim It’s been a while since we’ve seen Brahms on the blog, in fact about nine months, in his fourth and final symphony. Today’s … Continue reading Brahms Horn Trio in E-flat major, Op. 40
Fugue for Thought 