performed by the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig under Riccardo Chailly, or below with the London Symphony Orchestra under István Kertész (cover image by Saketh Garuda) In our discussion of Brahms on the blog over the years, we first addressed his symphonies, and … Continue reading Brahms Serenade no. 2 in A, op. 16
performed by the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig under Riccardo Chailly, or below with the London Symphony Orchestra under István Kertész (cover image by Liam Pozz) Brahms may have only written four symphonies, but the symphonic works that come before it, of which … Continue reading Brahms Serenade no. 1 in D, op. 11
performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Pierre Boulez, or below with the London Symphony under Robert Craft The conductor need not try to polish sounds which seem unbalanced, but watch that every instrumentalist plays accurately the prescribed dynamic, according … Continue reading Schoenberg: Five Pieces for Orchestra, op. 16
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 Anne Sophie Von Otter, Ian Bostridge, Deborah York, Bryn Terfel, et al., the London Symphony Orchestra, and Monteverdi Choir under Sir John Eliot Gardiner, or below in this recording led by Kent Nagano For idle hearts and hands and … Continue reading Stravinsky: The Rake’s Progress
performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Vernon Handley, or below by the London Symphony Orchestra under Jascha Horenstein This is the work that started it all. By ‘it’, I mean my fascination with the work of Robert Simpson and … Continue reading Simpson Symphony no. 3
performed by the London Symphony Orchestra under Richard Hickox, or below by the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland under Andrew Penny We had a chance to hear Arnold’s second horn concerto a few months ago, but he was yet another … Continue reading Arnold Symphony No. 1, Op 22
performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the composer’s baton, or below with the London Symphony Orchestra under Richard Hickox They have an original development of their own, and they will be looked at in the future as being something … Continue reading William Alwyn: Symphony no. 1
performed by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra under Richard Hickox, or below by the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir Colin Davis Sir Michael Kemp Tippett was born on 2 January, 1905 in Eastcote, London. His father was a singer, or rather a … Continue reading Sir Michael Tippett: Symphony no. 1
performed by Barbara Hendricks and the London Symphony Orchestra under Michael Tilson Thomas, a remarkable performance, or below by Dawn Upshaw and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s under David Zinman We are talking now of summer evenings in Knoxville, Tennessee … Continue reading Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915
performed by Anne Sofie von Otter and the Vienna Philharmonic under Claudio Abbado or, because she’s an outstanding performer and it’s a (somewhat unclear) video of a live performance, Jessye Norman and the London Symphony under Pierre Boulez If you’ve … Continue reading Berg: Sieben frühe Lieder
performed by the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir Colin Davis, or below with Davis and the Staatskapelle Dresden I’ll be honest: this is a work that really never made a single impression on me until I sat down to focus … Continue reading Elgar Symphony no. 1 in A-flat major, Op. 55
performed by Sir Steven Isserlis and the London Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas, or below from Mstislav Rostropovich and the London Philharmonic under Carlo Maria Giulini “Here, for once, is a violoncello concerto in which the solo instrument displays every register … Continue reading Saint-Saens Cello Concerto in A minor, Op. 33
performed by members of the London Symphony Orchestra under Pierre Boulez, or the below with (members of) the Berlin Philharmonic also under Boulez Greater unity is impossible. Even the Netherlander didn’t manage it. In the fourth variation there are constant … Continue reading Webern: Symphony, op. 21
performed by the London Symphony Orchestra under Claudio Abbado MYCU: Part 6 In one swift stroke of genius, I wrote a wonderful post about this piece, and then Blogger ate it. I am livid. Thankfully, I have most of it still in mind. Thanks for nothing, technologies. From Wikipedia: Ida Rubinstein, the inspiration behind Boléro. Portrait by Valentin Serov. I had to check with a friend to make sure this wouldn’t sound weird, but there’s basically two things you need to know about this piece, and they are as follows: It’s a fantastic treatise in orchestration It’s like, the sexiest piece of classical … Continue reading Ravel: Bolero
Fugue for Thought 