performed by the Amsterdam Sinfonietta under Lev Markiz, or below by the Northern Chamber Orchestra under Nicholas Ward So here’s the second of these dozen little symphonies. I won’t have a ton to say about them, I don’t think, but … Continue reading Mendelssohn String Symphony no. 2 in D major
performed by the Amsterdam Sinfonietta under Lev Markiz, or below by the Northern Chamber Orchestra under Nicholas Ward I’d originally intended to do two of Mendy’s actual numbered symphonies this week, and then put on the breaks when I realized they … Continue reading Mendelssohn String Symphony No. 1 in C major
aka Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy “Musical prodigies … are probably no longer so rare; but what this little man can do in extemporizing and playing at sight borders the miraculous, and I could not have believed it possible at so early … Continue reading Influential People: Felix Mendelssohn
performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Rene Leibowitz (see below for more information on recordings) “a slender Greek maiden between two Norse giants” Robert Schumann of Beethoven’s fourth symphony I don’t know that I’d call her that, but she’s certainly … Continue reading Beethoven Symphony No. 4 in B-flat, Op. 60
The Overture to the Ballet performed by the Gewandhausorchester under Riccardo Chailly, or below by the Vienna Philharmonic and Claudio Abbado So we’re not talking about the entire ballet, at least not yet. Maybe we should. In any case, if you’ve … Continue reading Beethoven’s Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus, op. 43
featuring cellist Carmine Miranda. Listen here or find it in iTunes. I’m interested in interesting things. Aren’t you? Codes and ciphers are interesting. Is there something secretive in Schumann’s sole cello concerto? While not a performer of any kind, I agreed with what … Continue reading Podcast: Schumann’s Cipher
performed by the Artemis quartet, or in a live performance below by the Belcea quartet (I always love to watch the intensity of the performers playing these works) We’re on to Beethoven’s second string quartet, the no. 2 of the opus 18 … Continue reading Beethoven String Quartet No. 2 in G, op. 18, No. 2
performed by the Zurich string trio, or below in a much brisker rendition by the Grumiaux Trio So trios… We talked about Beethoven’s op. 1 piano trios starting here, the first of those also in E flat. That was last summer, … Continue reading Beethoven Trio for violin, viola & cello in E flat, Op. 3
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 Maurizio Pollini and the Vienna Philharmonic under Claudio Abbado I find Brahms so intimidating to talk about (if you haven’t already noticed). Like I mentioned in Tuesday’s post about the piano sonata, there’s always so much going on, … Continue reading Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat, Op. 83
performed by Krystian Zimerman movement 1 below; the rest of the piece in the playlist here Zimerman is back because he’s amazing. Ditto for Brahms. Last time we saw Brahms (well, before his sextet on Sunday) was last summer. How … Continue reading Brahms Piano Sonata No. 2 in F#m, Op. 2
performed by the Amadeus Quartet, Cecil Aronowitz & William Pleeth, or a stunning performance below from the Israeli Chamber Project Brahms’ chamber music is something special. I say that not being very familiar with it, really, but being far more eager … Continue reading SQS: Brahms String Sextet no. 1 in B flat, op 18
The nonet. And Louis Spohr. What do they have in common? They both seem to be rarely if ever heard these days. An older gentleman who I see at (literally) every concert I attend waved to me excitedly during the intermission, shuffling … Continue reading Concert Review: NSO’s The Principals
I love the French horn. But it has to be one of the most difficult, unreliable, wobbly instruments in the ensemble. In most (rare-ish) cases of a missed entry or high note, a ‘whoops’ of loss of tone or control, the … Continue reading Concert Review: NSO’s Blast of Spring
performed by the Artemis quartet, or below by in a fantastic performance by the Ariel Quartet And here we are at Beethoven’s first quartets. Like Haydn’s op. 1 and others after, Beethoven’s no. 18 is a collection of six quartets, published … Continue reading Beethoven String Quartet no. 1 in F, op. 18, no. 1
performed by Maurizio Pollini and the Berlin Philharmonic under Claudio Abbado, or the same pianist with the Vienna Philharmonic under Karl Böhm I saw almost nothing but empty pages; at the most, on one page or another a few Egyptian … Continue reading Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3 in Cm, Op. 37
performed by Maurizio Pollini, or below by Richard Goode Also, required (or at least very enjoyable, informative) watching (actually listening) is Andras Schiff’s lecture about the piece from Wigmore Hall below: Dating from 1796, Beethoven’s second-longest piano sonata, the Grand Sonata, … Continue reading Beethoven Piano Sonata no. 4 in Eb, op. 7
performed by Jörg Demus and Norman Shetler, or below by Lucia Tiovis and Andrei Roth Piano four-hands. That’s different than two pianos, obviously, which is why it’s nice to watch the above video of two people sitting at the piano and working … Continue reading Beethoven Sonata for piano, 4 hands, in D, op. 6
performed by the Vienna Philharmonic and Violeta Urmana under Pierre Boulez, or in full here with Anna Larsson. Below is a recording of Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen with Magdalena Kožena and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra under Claudio Abbado So it’s a leap … Continue reading Leap Day: Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder
This will be a short one. Salient points as follows: Mozart in Mandarin and Min nan (instead of German recitative) No English (or even German) marquee (the former I understand why not) Local political issues infused into centuries old German opera … Continue reading ESO’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Just a week after having finally heard Mahler 2 in concert, we pack into the same hall for a different ensemble and conductor but the same incredible chorus and an equally packed audience. This piece was also part of my season … Continue reading Concert Review: NSO’s Elias
Fugue for Thought 