performed by Andreas Bach, or below by someone (entire playlist for the work here) (cover image by Aaron Blanco Tejedor) Back to Bartók. And to folk music, sort of. Bartók’s collection of Ten Easy Pieces (or Tíz könnyű zongoradarab, in Hungarian) dates from … Continue reading Bartók: Ten Easy Pieces, Sz. 39
performed by Andreas Bach, or below by Jenő Jandó (cover image by Roman Mavrin) While Bartók’s music may not strike you as something that would challenge your perception or definition of ‘classical music,’ I think this little set of pieces might. … Continue reading Bartók: Hungarian Folksongs from Csík, Sz. 35a
performed by the Emerson String Quartet, or below by the Juilliard Quartet (cover image by Patrick Hendry) We’re going on a little journey. Come with me. Back to Bartók, and now in the second half of his output of six … Continue reading Bartók String Quartet no. 4, Sz. 91
performed by the Emerson Quartet, or below by the Takács Quartet Bartók’s third string quartet was written in Budapest in 1927, putting it just after the first piano concerto in his output. Remember, despite the low numbers, these are not … Continue reading Bartók String Quartet no. 3
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 Karl Schlechta, clarinet; Susanne Kaldor, violin; Akos Hernadi, piano; or below, in what might be this release We jump ahead now to a much later work in Bartóks’ output, having given him our attention for an entire week, even if … Continue reading Bartók: Contrasts, Sz. 111
performed by Leif Ove Andsnes and the Berlin Philharmonic under Pierre Boulez, or below by the Géza Anda and the Concertgebouw Orchestra under Bernard Haitink Since we discussed the first piano concerto earlier this week, I’d like to suggest you … Continue reading Bartók Piano Concerto no. 2, Sz. 95, BB 101
performed by Jean Efflam-Bavouzet and the London Philharmonic under Vladimir Jurowski “My first concerto […] I consider it a successful work, although its style is up to a point difficult, perhaps even very difficult for the orchestra and the public.” … Continue reading Bartók Piano Concerto no. 1, Sz. 83, BB 91
performed by the Emerson String Quartet, or below by the Takács Quartet Bartók’s second quartet was written between 1915 and 1917, in Rákoskeresztúr, Hungary (or Gerersdorf in German, for those of you who don’t like consonants as much). What you may or … Continue reading Bartók String Quartet no. 2, Sz. 76
performed by Krystian Zimerman and the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Seiji Ozawa, or below by Jean-Yves Thibaudet and the Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse under Tugan Sokhiev Well, we certainly haven’t seen Liszt in a very long time, about a year and … Continue reading Liszt Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2 in A major, S. 125
performed by David Oistrakh and Sviatoslav Richter, from the recital in the Grand Hall of Moscow Conservatory in 1972 I’d like to say I planned it, but I didn’t. Both of Bartok’s violin sonatas, written within a year or so … Continue reading Bartok Violin Sonata no. 1, Sz.75/BB 84
performed by the Emerson String Quartet Beethoven left his mark on just about everything. If you want to talk about ‘cycles’ of piano sonatas, Beethoven has a killer one. Symphony cycle? One of the best. Piano concertos? Five of them. … Continue reading Bartok String Quartet No. 1 in A minor
performed by Martha Argerich The article from a few days ago about Liszt was to try to give a few of the highlights that I personally enjoyed about Liszt’s life. This virtuoso performer and composer is likely more known through … Continue reading Liszt: Piano Sonata in B minor, S. 178
Franz Liszt: where does one begin? Handsome chap, too Most people know him as the frighteningly virtuosic virtuoso pianist born in 1811, the year after Chopin and Schumann, he himself being one of the most influential performers/composers of the 19th … Continue reading Influential People: Franz Liszt
or 斯拉夫系列：東歐瑰寶 I have pretty much fallen in love with our biggest symphony orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra (translated from the Chinese: 國家交響樂團, but more often referred to in English as the Taiwan Philharmonic). I’d heard them in the past, but the real moment was hearing them perform Mahler’s ninth back in September. It was… almost spiritual. Just wonderful, and so I’ve been eager to attend as many of their performances as possible. This performance was the orchestra I’d come to love with a special guest conductor. Just as 呂紹嘉 seemed perfectly at home conducting Mahler and Schoenberg after … Continue reading Concert Review: Treasures from Eastern Europe
played by Nelson Friere and the Munich Philharmonic under Rudolph Kempe Music You Can Understand: Part 2 This is intense. Also, two videos this week. Watch the top one first (at least the first minute or so), then the second … Continue reading Liszt: Totentanz
Fugue for Thought 