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 Jessye Norman and the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir Colin Davis (cover image by Eberhard Grossgasteiger) Can you believe this is (sort of) the first formal appearance of Richard Wagner on the blog(ner)? It is. I’ve reviewed two of … Continue reading Richard Wagner: Wesendonck Lieder
performed by Tamás Vásáry, Thomas Brandis, Wolfram Christ and Ottomar Borwitzky, or below by Ax, Stern, Laredo, and Ma https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX96azNTi98&feature=youtu.be&t=11m10s (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 … Continue reading Brahms Piano Quartet No. 1 in Gm, op. 25
performed by the Artemis Quartet or below by the Alban Berg Quartett https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4pkT371U9g (cover image by Shane Stagner) Well, here we are, the final installment of the groundbreaking op. 18 quartets. Op. 18 no. 6 is the only one of … Continue reading Beethoven String Quartet no. 6 in B flat, op. 18, no. 6
performed by the Artemis Quartet, or below by the Alban Berg Quartett https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B9ftTBLJU0 (cover image by Andreea Chidu) We’re finally nearing the end of Beethoven’s op. 18 quartets that he published in 1801. This fifth quartet in the series of … Continue reading Beethoven String Quartet no. 5 in A, op. 18, no. 5
performed by Gidon Kremer and The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields under Sir Neville Marriner, with cadenzas by Alfred Schnittke https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy4Giri3QY4 (cover image by Steven Wang) This is one of only a few violin concertos we’ve discussed on … 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 Gidon Kremer and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe under Nikolaus Harnoncourt, or below by Itzhak Perlman and the Berlin Philharmonic under Daniel Barenboim (cover image by Steven Wang) As we saw and (I think) discussed at the beginning of … Continue reading Beethoven Romance for Violin and Orchestra no. 2 in F, op. 50
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
performed by the Artemis Quartet (an excerpt of their performance there), or below by the Cleveland Quartet (cover image by Mona Eendra) It’s been a while since we’ve seen any of the opus 18 string quartets. We’ve only gotten through half … Continue reading Beethoven String Quartet no. 4 in Cm, op. 18 no. 4
performed by Gidon Kremer and Martha Argerich https://youtu.be/oqNM8DMm3SA?t=35m14s (cover image by Rodion Kutsaev) Today’s work is the third and final installment in the op. 12 piano sonatas, completed in 1798 and dedicated to Antonio Salieri, with whom Beethoven studied for … Continue reading Beethoven Violin Sonata no. 3 in E-flat, op. 12 no. 3
performed by Gidon Kremer and Martha Argerich https://youtu.be/oqNM8DMm3SA?t=19m27s (cover image by Annie Spratt) As discussed in Monday’s post, these three violin sonatas are Beethoven’s first, dating from 1798, and dedicated to Antonio Salieri, the supposed antagonist of that Mozart film. … Continue reading Beethoven Violin Sonata no. 2 in A, op. 12 no. 2
performed by Gidon Kremer and Martha Argerich https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqNM8DMm3SA (cover image by Annie Spratt) Do you think there could be anything challenging about this work? Well, you’d probably not have agreed with the critics of Beethoven’s time. As this is the … Continue reading Beethoven Violin Sonata no. 1 in D, op. 12 no. 1
performed by the Zurich String Trio, or below by the Grumiaux Trio (cover image by Ivan Jevtic) As I mentioned in an article earlier this week, we will be seeing lots of Beethoven this year. We’ll be seeing a dozen pieces from … Continue reading Beethoven String Trio in Cm, op. 9 no. 3
performed by the Berlin Philharmonic under the composer’s baton If music were a part of man’s everyday life, as it should be, there would certainly be less aggression and much more equality and love on Earth; for music is a … Continue reading Hans Werner Henze: Symphony no. 1
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
performed by the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra under Riccardo Chailly https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2omAt97OAME or (very) alternatively, here by Klemperer and the Philharmonia, which I’ll talk about below “In the deep twilight we went today to the palace were Queen Mary lived and loved…The chapel … Continue reading Mendelssohn Symphony no. 3 in Am, op. 56 ‘Scottish’
performed by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble, or below by the Prazak Quartet and Zemlinsky Quartet (in a recording I chose not for the sound quality but the engaging experience of watching only eight people … Continue reading Mendelssohn String Octet in E flat, op. 20
performed by Torleif Thedéen and Roland Pöntinen, or below by Kevin Kunkel, cello, Yejin Noh, piano (cover image by Elias Schupmann) I hope you read Tuesday’s article. Hindemith’s op. 11 is a set of six (some places incorrectly list it as five) … Continue reading Hindemith Cello Sonata, op. 11 no. 3
performed by Oleg Kagan & Sviatoslav Richter, or below by David Oistrakh and Vladimir Yampolski (cover image by Sergei Akulich) As you may have read from this past weekend’s article on Hindemith’s early first (posthumously published) string quartet, its composition straddled … Continue reading Hindemith Violin Sonata in E flat, op. 11, no. 1
Fugue for Thought 