performed by the Berlin Philharmonic under Seiji Ozawa, or below by the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra under Valery Gergiev Now we are rejoicing in our great victory, but each of us has wounds that cannot be healed. One has lost those … Continue reading Prokofiev Symphony no. 6 in E flat minor, op. 111
performed by the Berlin Philharmonic under Seiji Ozawa, or below by the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra under Valery Gergiev (cover image by Ian Baldwin) Next is the third symphonies of both composers, and again, Prokofiev comes out in a much better … Continue reading Prokofiev Symphony no. 3 in Cm, op. 44
performed by Chamber Music Northwest, or below by performers at the Cleveland Institute of Music (cover image by Joanna Kosinska) We’re going to see that Prokofiev’s self-plagiarism was relatively common, at least in this period, and considering he wrote such … Continue reading Prokofiev Quintet in Gm, op. 39
performed by the Berlin Philharmonic under Seiji Ozawa, or below by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra under Neeme Järvi (cover image by Johannes Plenio) I have made the music so complex to such an extent that when I listen to … Continue reading Prokofiev Symphony no. 2 in Dm, op. 40
performed by Matti Raekallio, or below by Boris Berman In every fleeting vision I see worlds, Filled with the fickle play of rainbows Konstantin Balmont (cover image by Joel Filipe) It’s not ‘visions of fugitives.’ Prokofiev wrote his Visions Fugitives from … Continue reading Prokofiev: Visions Fugitives, op. 22
featuring Yuja Wang, piano It seems like the last year or two we haven’t had as many of the big-name, super famous ensembles come through Taipei. The Lucerne Festival Orchestra decided (last minute?) not to come to Taipei, and the … Continue reading New York Philharmonic in Taipei
featuring Akiko Suwanai, violin, and Dorian Wilson, conductor It’s been a while since I’ve been in our local concert hall, I feel, and others told me so this evening as I found my seat (and three others a few rows back … Continue reading Akiko & NSO
featuring Jo-Pei Weng (翁若珮) and the Taipei Philharmonic Chorus When you think of famous movie scores, what do you think of? Most likely John Williams. Maybe Hans Zimmer, Howard Shore, or Danny Elfman, James Horner, Philip Glass. Well, The Last Jedi came … Continue reading NSO’s At the Movies 2: Star Wars
featuring Jan Vogler Programming is so important. And our NSO is sounding incredible this season. Some of you likely enjoyed, depending on your generation, making mixtapes, burning mixes on CD, or creating playlists to distribute or enjoy via various media … Continue reading NSO’s Poem of Ecstasy
performed by Yo-Yo Ma and Emmanuel Ax, or below by Rostropovich and Richter (cover photo by Aaron Burden) Prokofiev’s cello sonata in C major is not to be confused with the sonata for solo cello in C# minor. That’s a … Continue reading Prokofiev Cello Sonata in C major, op. 119
performed by Shlomo Mintz and Yefim Bronfman, or below by Oistrakh and Oborin (cover photo by Jace Grandinetti) Confusingly, Prokofiev’s violin sonata no. 1 was completed two years after his violin sonata no. 2, which originates from his flute sonata … Continue reading Prokofiev Violin Sonata no. 1 In F minor, op. 80
performed by the Emerson String Quartet, or below by the Pavel Haas Quartet (cover image by Tamara Menzi) Indeed, the material proved to be fresh and original… I settled on writing a string quartet, thinking that the combination of new, … Continue reading Prokofiev String Quartet no. 2 in F, op. 92
Lan Shui has featured in here and there in my experiences with concerts. He’s a respected conductor, and conducted what is currently the only live performance I’ve heard of Mahler’s magnificent second symphony (but that will change next year, as … Continue reading NTSO: Gil Shaham and Lan Shui
featuring cellist Pablo Ferrández and conductor Robert Trevino It’s been quite some time since I’ve paid the Taipei Symphony a visit, in fact more than four months. They spent a little time traveling down south for some concerts, and had one or two … Continue reading TSO’s Don Quixote
With the Evergreen Symphony Orchestra under 莊文貞 We have managed to get through three of Prokofiev’s five piano concertos here on the blog, the first a lighter, brief piece in contrast with the monstrously, heavy, immensely challenging second, and then … Continue reading Alexei Volodin and ESO: Prokofiev Piano Concertos
featuring Ray Chen More Russian music. Another violin concerto. But this time, it’s goodbye to the NSO, temporarily anyway. They’re off to Europe this weekend, and before they go jet-setting, they gave us a preview of some of the pieces … Continue reading NSO’s Pre-tour Concert
performed by Matti Raekallio, or below by Boris Berman It’s like a big, organized cadenza. In contrast with the second sonata, dedicated to Prokofiev’s friend who committed suicide, the third sonata interestingly seems to have less humor or sarcasm than its predecessor. Both … Continue reading Prokofiev Piano Sonata no. 3 in Am, op. 28
performed by Matti Raekaillo, or below by Boris Berman The second sonata of Sergei Prokofiev was first performed on February 5, 1914 by the composer in Moscow. It is dedicated to Maximilian Schmidthof, to whom the composer’s second piano concerto (which … Continue reading Prokofiev Piano Sonata no. 2 in Dm, op. 14
The actual music portion. Part one yesterday I suppose was more like a long preface or lead-in to the two concerts that will go down in my books as the most anticipated things I’ve ever attended. But yesterday, all we talked … Continue reading Concert Review: Vienna Philharmonic in Taipei- Part 2
Bear with me here. This concert (or the general experience of the evening) was far more outstandingly outstanding than I’d prepared for. There are some concerts you look forward to and know will be once-in-a-lifetime chances, like being able to hear Gurre Lieder live last year (quite a production), or The Philharmonia last month, and some you go to just because it’s a nice chance to hear a piece live again, with no real concern for the performer or real anticipation for the program…? Think of it this way. There are different kinds of dinner plans: I may make plans far … Continue reading Concert Review: Taipei Symphony and Karen Gomyo
performed by Yefim Bronfman https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/z2EDk2Zsdik&source=uds It’s funny how life is. I’d planned the writing of this piece at least a month ago as a lead-in to another set of works for piano (the actual lead in was last week’s Satie piece, but this one sets up for what is to come later), and it was for a few reasons that now seem… less important than some others that have since surfaced. This piece is perhaps not as exciting to many as his other, later, more substantial works, but in a lot of (perhaps intentional, contrived ways), may have a lot to say about … Continue reading Prokofiev piano sonata no. 1 in Fm, op. 1
Fugue for Thought 