performed by Linus Roth and the Berlin German Symphony Orchestra under Mihkel Kütson, available on Spotify I am very impressed by M.S. Vainberg’s Violin Concerto, superbly interpreted by the Communist violinist L.B. Kogan. It is a magnificent work. And I am weighing my … Continue reading Weinberg Violin Concerto in Gm, op. 67
performed by the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra under Thord Svedlund I am a pupil of Shostakovich. Although I never took lessons from him, I count myself as his pupil, his flesh and blood. Weinberg (cover image by Brian McMahon) Mieczysław Weinberg’s first … Continue reading Weinberg Symphony no. 1 in Gm, op. 10
performed by the Quatuor Danel, available on Spotify (cover image by Vidar Nordli-Mathisen) The second string quartet of Mieczysław Weinberg was written in 1940. There is unfortunately not really a lot online about this piece, so this introductory bit will … Continue reading Weinberg String Quartet no. 2, op. 3
performed by Vladimir Ashkenazy, with the fourth below it played sublimely by Eric Lu (cover image by Jez Timms) Chopin composed his op. 17 mazurkas between 1832 and 1833, and they were published in Leipzig in 1834. The composer … Continue reading Chopin: Four Mazurkas, op. 17
performed by Dmitry Yablonsky, cello and Hsin-Ni Liu, piano, or as below by Michal Kaňka, cello; Miguel Borges Coelho, piano (cover image by Mathieu Stern) Well, here’s our next Editor’s Choice composer. We’ve seen him on the blog now three previous times, all … Continue reading Weinberg Cello Sonata no. 2 op. 63
performed by Rafał Blechacz It’s about darn time to get Chopin’s music back on the blog, and so we’ll revisit him by discussing a work that so simply, so powerfully expresses the entire gamut of human emotion in an irresistible, … Continue reading Chopin: Preludes, op. 28
performed by Dmitry Yablonsky and Hsin-Ni Liu (cover image by Toa Heftiba) We’re continuing our discussion of some of Weinberg’s earliest chamber works. If you haven’t yet read the articles on his string quartet or violin sonata, I suggest you … Continue reading Weinberg Sonata no. 1 for Cello and Piano in C, op. 21
performed by Linus Roth and Jose Gallardo, or below by Yuri Kalnits, violin and Michael Csányi-Wills, piano (cover image by Thomas Cigolla) I used to record a podcast. And one of the people on my radar I’d intended to interview before … Continue reading Weinberg Violin Sonata no. 1
performed by the Quatuor Danel in a world premiere recording, or below by the Gothenburg Quartet entire playlist here (cover image by Ricardo Gomez Angel) Mieczysław Weinberg was born on 8 December, 1919 in Warsaw to a Jewish family. So … Continue reading Mieczysław Weinberg: String Quartet no. 1, op. 2
or Explanation of Metaphors for two pianos (Marc Reichow, Florian Hoelscher) harp (Françoise Friedrich), percussion (Boris Müller) and narrator (Julie Comparini), under Walter Nußbaum, with text by Raymond Queneau, translated into English by the composer, on this album, a world premiere recording (the two discs are … Continue reading René Leibowitz: L’explication des Metaphores, op. 15
Performed by Krystian Zimerman and the Polish Festival Orchestra I didn’t really feel bad for writing somewhat coldly or dispassionately about the piano sonata; after all, I seemed more positive about it than many of the other writers and critics … Continue reading Chopin Piano Concerto no. 2, op. 21
performed by Idil Biret no. 2 here no. 3 here There are three of these works, but I’m not going to address them on separate days as we did with the works that make up Beethoven’s ops 1 and 2. … Continue reading Chopin Nocturnes, op. 9
performed by Oistrakh/Knushevitsky/Oborin, or the Beaux Arts Trio, or anyone else So… for whatever reason, this piece just does not resonate with me. I’ve really tried. I’ve done my homework, I know it’s a common piece in the repertoire. I … Continue reading Chopin Piano Trio, op. 8
performed by Idil Biret, or as below by Vladimir Ashkenazy Hello again, and welcome back to our second installment today, continuing our discussion about Chopin’s early mazurkas. If you didn’t catch the earlier discussions of what a mazurka is, check … Continue reading Chopin: Mazurkas, Op. 7
performed in my favorite rendition by Idil Biret or below by Arthur Rubinstein no. 2 no. 3 no. 4 I shall begin this discussion of the Chopin mazurkas in a way that I also did not expect. YouTube videos are one … Continue reading Chopin: 4 Mazurkas, Op. 6
performed (again) by Idil Biret, or below by Daniil Trifonov …lovely, enthusiastic and full of grace. He who does not yet know Chopin had best begin the acquaintance with this piece… Robert Schumann, 1836 In listening to these pieces … Continue reading Chopin Rondo a la Mazur in F, op. 5
performed by Idil Biret I must admit, I didn’t care much for this piece the first many times I listened to it, but… Perhaps this isn’t necessarily the sonata’s fault. This piece is given the opus number 4, but … Continue reading Chopin Piano Sonata No. 1 in C minor, Op. 4
performed by Martha Argerich and Gautier Capuçon What was one of the happiest times in your life, a time when you really genuinely wished everything would freeze and your life would stagnate in that perfect period in time and never … Continue reading Chopin: Introduction and Polonaise brillante in C major, Op. 3
performed by Idil Biret and the Slovak State Philharmonic orchestra under Robert Stankovsky Eusebius came in quietly the other day. You know the ironic smile on his pale face with which he seeks to create suspense. I was sitting at … Continue reading Chopin: Variations on ‘Là ci darem la mano’ for piano and orchestra, Op. 2
performed by Idil Biret from her Chopin box set, or equally excellently below, by Vladimir Ashkenazy Today, we begin with a new composer. Could there be a more logical choice? I suppose there’s Schubert, but he didn’t make it this … Continue reading Chopin Rondo in Cm, op. 1
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
Fugue for Thought 