This now marks the fourth time I’ve seen the BRSO. They came almost two years ago and held three concerts, thankfully all with Mariss Jansons himself. They presented three excellent programs then, and there were two exceptional programs lined up … Continue reading Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Zubin Mehta
featuring Rainer Honeck Undetermined, Unfinished, but Undeniably Excellent This is our second visit to Taipei this weekend from a member of a European ensemble, after Stefan Dohr Friday. Back in the day, a few centuries ago, a soloist leading the … Continue reading NTSO’s Unfinished
performed by The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields under the late Sir Neville Marriner, or in a superb recording with the Vienna Philharmonic under István Kertész (cover image by Patrick Baum) It’s also been a while since we’ve … Continue reading Schubert Symphony no. 6 in C, D. 589
featuring Gábor Boldoczki, trumpet; Oleg Caetani, guest conductor or The Concert Formerly Known as ‘Who Is Afraid of Shostakovich?’ It’s a goal of some devoted (or just geeky) concertgoers to ‘collect them all’, to attend live performances of all symphonies from … Continue reading NSO’s From Schubert to Shostakovich
performed by the Melos Quartet Quick on the heels of the young composer’s incomplete fifth quartet is his sixth, in D major. The composition of this work begun just days after the completion (or abandonment?) of the fifth quartet, and … Continue reading Schubert String Quartet no. 6 in D major, D. 74
performed by the Melos Quartet 1813 was a busy year for the young Franz Schubert. But then again, to have died at 31 and written as much as he did, perhaps every year was a busy year for Franz Schubert. … Continue reading Schubert String Quartet no. 5 in B flat, D. 68
performed by Fritz Wunderlich, tenor; Hubert Giesen, piano While we’ve addressed Schubert as the composer of symphonies and some solo piano works, his real fame and the bulk of his output comes from Lieder, songs for voice, and our piece today is one … Continue reading Schubert: Die schöne Müllerin, D. 795
It was almost six months ago to the day that I first knew that the Quatuor Diotima would be visiting Taiwan, and that was the same week I posted an article I spent a lot of time preparing for, only to share … Continue reading Quatuor Diotima in Taipei
performed by the Chamber Orchestra of Europe under Claudio Abbado (That’s the first movement. Here are the second and third/fourth.) “O Mozart! immortal Mozart! what countless impressions of a brighter, better life hast thou stamped upon our souls!” Schubert’s diary entry … Continue reading Schubert Symphony no. 5 in B-flat, D. 485
Truly in Schubert there is the divine spark. Ludwig van Beethoven His influence is interesting, and we’re not really going to be discussing his influence as much as his potential influence, or something. This article that I scanned quickly asks … Continue reading Influential People: Franz Schubert
performed by the Melos Quartet There don’t seem to be any portraits of the Young Franz, at least not that I could dig up in a lazy search. Let’s listen. “Wait… isn’t this in C major?” It’s the darkest C … Continue reading Schubert String Quartet no. 4 in C, D. 46
performed by the Melos quartet So, like the early days with Haydn, we’re still in an early phase of Schubert’s quartet writing. Schubert never lived to be the age Haydn was when he wrote his op. 20 quartets, where we … Continue reading Schubert String Quartet No. 3 in B-flat, D 36
I feel bad for being a bit lazy with writing a concert review, but to be honest, I’m being a bit concert-ed out. There’s another one tomorrow that I was debating whether to go to, since I have quite a … Continue reading Kun Woo Paik and Friends
performed by the Melos Quartet, or below (which I believe is the exact same recording, though uncredited and un-movement-ed) I’m not sure what to make of this work. I’ve found very little about it online, often referred to as a … Continue reading Schubert String Quartet no. 2 in C, D. 32
performed by the Melos Quartet This quartet is listed in some places as being in “various” or mixed keys. The Kalmus Study Score that I rented from the library (volume one of three) lists it as C minor. In any … Continue reading Schubert String Quartet no. 1, D. 18
performed by Mitsuko Uchida We’ll get around to the other incomplete sonatas and stuff later, but for now, we feature the first piano work of his that really blew me away, and the earliest completed sonata. I was fascinated with his Wanderer … Continue reading Schubert Piano Sonata no. 4 in C, D. 537
performed by Wilhelm Kempff If, as Messiaen stated and many others might agree, Mozart is ‘an extraordinary rhythmician,’ one of the most talented and gifted rhythmic composers, then Schubert must be one of the most lyrical. With Mozart’s first string quartet from a … Continue reading Schubert Piano Sonata in E, D. 157
I’m going to be saying this a lot this season, but this is a concert I’ve been looking forward to for months. The last concert I attended at our National Concert Hall was on May 28, over four months ago. … Continue reading Concert Review: NSO: A ‘Great’ Symphony
Tenor vocal recital In case you didn’t know, Austrians are intense people… In my write-ups on concerts, I do my best to address the concert and not the pieces themselves, but that’s hard to do in some ways, especially when you’re not super familiar with said pieces. In any case, last year, I went to see Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder performed by our very fine National Symphony Orchestra. As you dedicated readers will know, it demands some serious forces, and one of those is a tenor. The tenor’s performance (both musically and… acting-ly? dramatically?) was excellent, and I actually ended up making … Continue reading Concert Review: 4.27 男高音湯發凱獨唱會
performed by the ASMF under Sir Neville Marriner, or below by the Vienna Philharmonic under Nikolaus Harnoncourt at the Muskverein Mini-German part 3 I’ve never really cared much for nicknames or monikers for pieces… They are often not chosen by the composer, sometimes not even approved of, and sometimes not even coined until long after the composer is gone.At least in the instance of Schubert’s Tragische, the name was of his own devising. My other gripe with names like this is that I don’t always (in fact, rarely do I) agree with them. ‘Moonlight’ and ‘Titan’ come to mind. ‘From … Continue reading Schubert Symphony no. 4 in Cm, D. 417, ‘Tragic,
performed, as always, by Neville Marriner and the ASMF, or below by Marriss Jansons and the Concertgebouw (apologies for the anime image, but it’s a nice performance) Mini-German: Part 2(I know he’s Austrian) Now for a slight change of pace. Sort of. While this work came a decade after last week’s Beethoven piece, it is… at least to my ears, not as far ahead of its time. That’s no criticism at all. Let me explain.For one, Eroica was just kind of a phenomenal thing. Beethoven was already into his thirties when this piece was written. Schubert was about half that … Continue reading Schubert Symphony no. 3 in D major, D. 200
Fugue for Thought 