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
I’m not entirely sure what it was about these three pieces that tie them together under that title, even before hearing the first piece on the program. Some things, though, never change, and that’s so comforting. 19:30 pm, the chatter from … Continue reading Concert Review: NSO’s Musical Philosophy
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
This is the final concert of the first half of the TSO’s season, and so nice to see them once again in our National Concert Hall. Word on the street is that there’s going to be a new hall for … Continue reading Concert Review: TSO’s Legendary Hungary
performed by Oistrakh/Knushevitsky/Oborin, or the Beaux Arts Trio, or anyone else So… for whatever reason, this piece just does not resonate with me. I’ve really tried. I’ve done my homework, I know it’s a common piece in the repertoire. I … Continue reading Chopin Piano Trio, op. 8
performed by Martha Argerich and Gautier Capuçon What was one of the happiest times in your life, a time when you really genuinely wished everything would freeze and your life would stagnate in that perfect period in time and never … Continue reading Chopin: Introduction and Polonaise brillante in C major, Op. 3
performed by Szeryng/Fournier/Kempff or below by Vegh/Casals/Horszowski Our third and final Beethoven trio for now is the opus 1 no. 3 trio, the most daring of them all. Haydn approved of the first two trios, but suggested with whatever degree … Continue reading Beethoven Piano Trio no. 3 in Cm, op. 1 no. 3
performed again by Szeryng/Fournier/Kempff, or as below Again, same opus number, same year, same performance dates as yesterday. What’s new is a quiet, serene, classical personality, the “quiet middle child” as expressed in this fantastic article that was an excellent … Continue reading Beethoven Piano Trio no. 2 in G, op. 1, no 2.
performed by Henryk Szeryng, violin; Pierre Fournier, cello; Wilhelm Kempff, piano; or below by the Istomin/Stern/Rose trio That’s a lot of ones. I have a confession to make. This is the first piano trio I’ve ever listened to in full, … Continue reading Beethoven Piano Trio no. 1 in Eb, op. 1. no.1
with Steven Isserlis Spoiler: the highlight was that I got to meet Mr. Isserlis after the concert. He is a very nice human. Sunday afternoon concerts always seem… less formal. There’s something about an evening event that makes it seem more… well, formal. In any case, I’d bought this ticket a month or more ago, prior to some recent schedule changes, and had to adjust my affairs to be able to attend, but boy was I glad I did. I’ve mentioned before that concerts are one of the few places that my constant internal “what do I need to be … Continue reading Concert Review: NSO: Slavonic Series- A Hero and a Witch
performed by two separate teams:the clarinet and piano duo here or a truly splendid performance by Capucon and Argerich (cello, not clarinet) Welcome to part two of our three (and a half?) part clarinet series. Today’s piece was originally written for clarinet and piano, but it seems that it is more often performed on cello. That isn’t against the composer’s wish, though, as he’d directed that the clarinet part could be played either on violin or cello as well.Schumann is a composer I’m not terribly familiar with, as evidenced by my poor attention to his symphonies I wrote about a … Continue reading Schumann’s Drei Fantasiestücke, op. 73, for clarinet and piano
Fugue for Thought 