performed by the Concertgebouw Orchestra under Bernard Haitink (cover image by Gaetano Cessati) Georges Bizet was born on 25 October, 1838 in Paris as Alexandre César Léopold Bizet, but baptized as Georges. His father was a hairdresser and wig maker … Continue reading Georges Bizet: Symphony in C
performed by Jessye Norman, László Polgár and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Pierre Boulez, or below by Anne Sofie von Otter, John Tomlinson and the Berlin Philharmonic under Bernard Haitink (There’s also an English version with Gwynne Howell, Sally Burgess and … Continue reading Bartók: Bluebeard’s Castle
Performed by the Orchestre National de France under Bernard Haitink, with Anne Sofie von Otter, Wolfgang Holzmair, Laurent Naouri, et al., or below by the Vienna Philharmonic and many more under Claudio Abbado So here we are with our first opera of … Continue reading Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande
performed by The London Philharmonic Orchestra under Bernard Haitink Mendelssohn beat us to the punch with his overture/symphonic poem, but as we discussed in our introduction to this series, it’s Franz Liszt who ‘invented’ the concept of the symphonic poem, … Continue reading Liszt: Ce qu’on entend sur la montagne
performed by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Bernard Haitink “although it is in many ways very immature, yet fundamentally it has more substance and is better than any of my other more mature works.” So, here we are at arguably … Continue reading Tchaikovsky Symphony no. 1, op. 13, ‘Winter Dreams’
performed by Claudio Arrau and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Bernard Haitink … and here we are, at the end of a very long string of piano works taking us from the heart of the Classical era almost a hundred … Continue reading Brahms Piano Concerto no. 1 in Dm, op. 15
performed by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Bernard Haitink, 1994 This is another one I was fortunate enough to hear in person, having gone to see a local university symphony perform it at symphony hall. Tickets were cheap, and seats … Continue reading Tchaikovsky Symphony no. 4 in F minor, Op. 36
Performed by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Bernard Haitink This has got to be one of my recent favorites. It would be in my top five at the moment (although, if I were to make a top five list, it … Continue reading Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Symphony no. 5 in Em, op. 64
Fugue for Thought 