historic musical bits: David Oistrach plays Bruch’s-Scottish Fantasy in E-flat Major Op. 46, London Symphony Orchestra, Jascha Horenstein, conducting, 1962.

Bruch-Scottish Fantasy in E-flat Major Op. 46

Kanaal van viool7

Uploaded on May 20, 2011

David Oistrakh: violin-London Symphony Orchestra-Jascha Horenstein: conductor-1962

great compositions/performances: Yuja Wang plays Gershwin : Piano Concerto in F (1925)

Yuja Wang plays Gershwin : Piano Concerto in F (1925)

MrOsomatsu

Published on Apr 16, 2015

George Gershwin :
Piano Concerto in F (1925)

I. Allegro 0:39
II. Adagio – Andante con moto 14:13
III. Allegro agitato 26:40

encore
the third movement of Poulenc’s four-hand sonata 36:08

Yuja Wang, piano :
Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor :
London Symphony Orchestra :
http://lso.co.uk/michael-tilson-thoma…
http://concert.arte.tv/fr/le-london-s…

Yuja Wang: Dresses Up Chopin
http://www.redbull.tv/episodes/139869…

historic musical bits: Abbado conducts Prokofiev – Symphony No. 1 in D major ‘Classical’, Op. 25

Abbado conducts Prokofiev – Symphony No. 1 in D major ‘Classical’, Op. 25

ClassicalRecords

Uploaded on Nov 24, 2010

Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)

Symphony No. 1 ‘Classical’, Op. 25
I. Allegro 0:02
II. Larghetto 3:50
III. Gavotte: Non troppo allegro 8:09
IV. Finale: Molto vivace 9:40

Written in 1917.

Claudio Abbado, conductor
London Symphony Orchestra

Released in 1971.

ClassicalRecords is a Youtube channel where I upload some excellent performances from the LPs in my collection. I’m uploading these LPs because they are either not available on CD, out of print on CD, or just difficult to find.

historic musical bits: Arthur Rubinstein – Chopin – Piano Concerto No 2 in F minor, Op 21/ London Symphony Orchestra André Previn, conductor Classical Vault 2 Classical Vault 2

Arthur Rubinstein – Chopin – Piano Concerto No 2 in F minor, Op 21

Classical Vault 2

Published on Jul 22, 2013

Frédéric Chopin
Piano Concerto No 2 in F minor, Op 21

1 Allegro
2 Larghetto
3 Allegro vivace

Arthur Rubinstein, piano

London Symphony Orchestra
André Previn, conductor
***************************************
From Wikipedia

The Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21, is a piano concerto composed by Frédéric Chopin in 1830. Chopin wrote the piece before he had finished his formal education, at around 20 years of age. It was first performed on 17 March 1830, in Warsaw, Poland, with the composer as soloist. It was the second of his piano concertos to be published (after the Piano Concerto No. 1), and so was designated as “No. 2”, even though it was written first.

Structure

The work contains the three movements typical of instrumental concertos of the period: Maestoso, Larghetto and Allegro vivace.

In the finale, the violins and violas are at one point instructed to play col legno (with the wood of the bow).

Analysis

Kevin Bazzana states “Chopin’s concertos – indeed, all of his works in classical forms – have always suffered from comparisons with those of Mozart and Beethoven. It is an old cliché that the larger classical forms he had studied at the Warsaw Conservatory were incompatible with his imagination. As early as 1852, writers such as Liszt remarked that Chopin “did violence to his genius every time he sought to fetter it by rules.” But he was not trying to re-interpret the classical concerto. He was working in a different tradition called stile brillante, made fashionable by such virtuoso pianist-composers as Weber and Hummel. Chopin borrowed from their example a conception of the concerto as a loosely organized showcase for a virtuoso soloist, as opposed to a more balanced, cohesive and densely argued musical drama in the classical vein.

There is no denying that Chopin’s concertos betray a youthful want of formal sophistication but, as one observer wrote, they “linger in the memory for the poetry of their detail rather than the strength of their structures.” Those details are so bold and colourful, so imaginative and personal, that the concertos have become the only large-scale early works of Chopin to retain a place in the repertoire.

References

• Ledbetter, Steven (1994). Pro Arte: Piano Concerto #2 in F minor.^{[dead link]}
• Bazzana, Kevin “Programme Notes“.

External links

Book: Frédéric Chopin

• Piano Concerto No. 2: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project

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great compositions/performances: Claudio Abbado “Overture “The Fair Melusina” Mendelssohn

Claudio Abbado “Overture “The Fair Melusina” Mendelssohn

Addiobelpassato

Published on Jan 26, 2014

Overture “Zum Märchen von der schönen Melusine“,
op 32 by Felix Mendelssohn
London Symphony Orchestra
Claudio Abbado, conductor

• Music

  • “”Mendelssohn: Overture “”The Fair Melusine””, MWV P12, Op.32 – Allegro con moto”” by Claudio Abbado and London Symphony Orchestra (AmazonMP3)

today’s Holiday/celebration: Boston Pops Boston Pops 1812 July 4, 1976 Bicentennial (Rare footage of Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops)

Boston Pops 1812,  July 4, 1976 Bicentennial at Hollywood Bowl

(Rare footage of Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops)

tonyb21007

Boston Pops

Henry Lee Higginson, who established the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1881, believed that “concerts of a lighter kind of music” should be presented in the summer. People began to refer fondly to these summer concerts as “the Pops,” a name which became official in 1900. The Boston Pops tailors its programs around American music and musicians, medleys of popular songs, and familiar movements of classical works. Outside of its official concert season at Symphony Hall, where it performs through May and June, the Pops also tours the United States. More… Discuss

Brahms Serenade No. 2 in A, Op. 16 LSO / Kertesz

Trombone Keiji

Published on Jul 1, 2014

London Symphony Orchestra
Istevan Kertesz

Johannes Brahms
Serenade No.2 in A, Op. 16
for 10 wind instruments and lower string

First movement: Allegro moderato
Second movement: Scherzo: Vivace
Third movement: Adagio non troppoFourth
movement: Qusi menuetto
Fifth movement: Rondo: Allegro

Rachmaninoff Variation 18 Rhapsody on Themes of Paganini Valentina Lisitsa , Great compositions/performances

Rachmaninoff Variation 18 Rhapsody on Themes of Paganini Valentina Lisitsa

ValentinaLisitsa

Published on Jan 19, 2013

Live footage from the recording session. London Symphony Orchestra , Michael Francis conducting. The recording is available now on Decca. Get yours today! 🙂
iTunes: http://smarturl.it/paganinirhapsody
Amazon: http://smarturl.it/LisitsaPaganini

Dame Joan Sutherland. Pastorale. Igor Stravinsky.

Giovanni Bellucci

Published on Oct 18, 2010

Dame Joan Sutherland, soprano.
London Symphony Orchestra.
Richard Bonynge.

Rimsky-Korsakov – Fairy Tale (skazka), Op. 29 , great compositions/performances

Rimsky-Korsakov – Fairy Tale (skazka), Op. 29

DGatsby

Performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Yondani Butt.
Fairy Tale (skazka), Op. 29 by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, composed in 1880-81. It is a symphonic poem based on these lines from Pushkin’s prologue to “Ruslan and Lyudmila“: “One fairy-tale I do recall, I’ll tell now to one and all.”

From Rimsky-Korsakov’s autobiography “My Musical Life“, pages 245-46:

“While making up the programs of the Russian Musical Society, [Eduard] Napravnik addressed an inquiry to me, as to which of my compositions I should like to hear performed at these concerts. I indicated the recently written “Skazka” (Fairy-tale) and gave the score to Napravnik. Shortly afterwards the latter proposed that I conduct the piece myself. I consented. At one of the earlier concerts of that season the “Fairy-tale” was placed on the program. I conducted. The performance would have been quite successful if the concert-master, Pikkel (then growing morbidly nervous) , had not jumped out, without any reason, at the entrance of the violins divisi towards the end of the piece and by so doing confused the other violinists. However, the violins speedily recovered, and the mistake had hardly been noticed by the audience. Save for this episode, I was pleased with the performance as well as with the piece itself, which sounded colourful and brilliant. In general “Skazka” undoubtedly recalls in style “Snyegoorochka”, as having been composed simultaneously with it.
Strange to this day hearers grasp with difficulty the true meaning of the “Fairy-tale’s” program: they seek in it a chained up tom-cat walking around an oak tree, and all the fairy tale episodes which were jotted down by Pushkin in the prologue to his “Ruslan and Lyudmila” and which served as the starting point for my Fairy-tale. In his brief enumeration of the elements of the Russian fairy-tale epos that make up the stories of the miraculous tom-cat, Pushkin says

“One fairy tale I do recall, I’ll tell it now to one and all,”

and then narrates the fairy-tale of “Ruslan and Lyudmila.” But I narrate my own musical fairy-tale. By my very narrating the musical fairy-tale and quoting Pushkin’s prologue I show that my fairy-tale is, in the first place, Russian, and secondly, magical, as if it were one of the miraculous tom-cat’s fairy-tales that I had overheard and retained in my memory. Yet I had not at all set out to depict in it all that Pushkin had jotted down in the prologue, any more than he puts all of it into his fairy-tale of “Ruslan.” Let everyone seek in my fairy-tale only the episodes that may appear before his imagination, but let him not insist that I include everything enumerated in Pushkin’s prologue. The endeavor to discern in my fairy-tale the tom cat that had related this same fairy-tale is groundless, to say the least. The two above-quoted lines of Pushkin are printed in italics in the program of my “Fairy-tale”, to distinguish them from the other verses and direct thereby the auditor’s attention to them. But this has been understood neither by the audiences nor the critics, who have interpreted my “Skazka” in all ways crooked and awry and who, in my time, as usual, of course, did not approve of it. On the whole, however, the “Fairy-tale” won sufficient success with the public.”

Tchaikovsky – Romeo and Juliet, Fantasy-Overture | Valery Gergiev, London Symphony Orchestra , great compositions/performances

Tchaikovsky – Romeo and Juliet, Fantasy-Overture | Valery Gergiev, London Symphony Orchestra

Adagietto

Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky – Romeo and Juliet, fantasy-overture for orchestra in B minor, 1880. Maestro Valery Gergiev with the London Symphony Orchestra.

Numerous composers have responded to Shakespeare’s timeless drama of forbidden and youthful love, but Tchaikovsky’s response (along with Berlioz’s and Prokofiev’s) is at the top of the list. It is the only one of the three to be intended as a number in a symphony concert, and, hence is by default the most famous of the lot.

Tchaikovsky, a lawyer, was still developing as a composer at age 29 when Mily Balakirev (self-appointed father figure to Russian composers) persuaded him to write an orchestral work on the subject of the “star-cross’d lovers.” Balakirev outlined the form, planned the keys, and even suggested some of the actual music. After the 1870 premiere, he convinced Tchaikovsky to revise it. The work’s success in this form did much to transform the composer’s tendency toward crippling doubt into useful self-criticism. (Not that the transformation was ever total; Tchaikovsky suffered bouts of depression and self-doubt throughout his career.) The composer revised it again in 1880; this version is almost universally the one played. While the final version is probably the best one, the 1869 text is also a fine work and very much worth hearing. The earlier version begins with a charming tune that carries elements of the great love theme. In the first and second revisions Tchaikovsky eliminated this and replaced it with the benedictory theme representing Friar Laurence. The effect of this change on the overture’s structure is large. The first version seems to begin with Juliet still in a relatively childlike state, but with the potential for the great love present in the disguised premonitions of the love theme. The focus is, therefore, on the development of the drama as it unfolds. The later versions, beginning as it were with a prayer, seem to invite the hearer to look back on a tragedy that has already happened. Both versions proceed identically through depictions of the clashes between the houses of Montague and Capulet, and then unveil the great love music. After that, though, Tchaikovsky’s original idea seems to this writer to be superior: There is a great development, fugal-sounding and allowing for contrapuntal conflict based on the overture’s main rhythms and themes. It is tremendously exciting, more so than the music which replaced it. Justification for dropping it might be made along the lines that the original version has too much dramatic weight and overshadows the rest of the music. The main differences thereafter are in details of scoring, and in the finale, which in the original version is much too curt.

It is often instructive to see what a great composer has done at two different times with the same ideas and material. Whether or not it has greater musical merit, Tchaikovsky’s blessing of his final version served to ensure that it is the one that prevailed, and in that form it is accepted as one of the greatest programmatic pieces in the symphonic repertoire. The yearning love theme, in particular, is universally acknowledged as one of the greatest melodies ever written, while the exciting fight music and Tchaikovsky’s unfailingly clear and imaginative orchestration carry the listener through with hardly a misstep. But the original version is not far behind it in musical worth; it should be given more frequent revivals, if only for the sake of hearing the great fugato passage described above.

Mozart – Symphony No. 35 in D, K. 385 (Haffner) , great compositions/performances

Mozart – Symphony No. 35 in D, K. 385 (Haffner)

Am4d3usM0z4rt

Uploaded on Feb 23, 2012

Symphony No. 35 in D major, K. 385, was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1782 and is also called the Haffner Symphony. It was commissioned by the Haffners, a prominent Salzburg family, for the occasion of Sigmund Haffner’s ennoblement. The Haffner Symphony should not be confused with the eight-movement Haffner Serenade, another piece Mozart wrote on commission from the same family in 1776. The symphony is scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in A, 2 bassoons, 2 horns in D and G, 2 trumpets in D, timpani, and strings. Mozart’s choice of key for the Haffner Symphony is an aspect that catches one’s attention. According to Cuyler, “the key of D major, which was so felicitous for the winds, served Mozart more often than any other key, even C, for his symphonies,” including the Paris (No. 31) and Prague (No. 38) symphonies. The key is also indicative of the work’s serenade origins as all of Mozart’s orchestral serenades are scored in D major. Hence, it is not surprising that the Haffner Symphony was written in the key of D major. The symphony is in four movements:
1. Allegro con spirito, 4/4
2. Andante, 2/4
3. Menuetto, 3/4
4. Presto, 2/2.
The Haffner Symphony usually runs somewhere around 20 minutes in length. A recording by George Szell with the Cleveland Orchestra (Sony SBK 46333) runs 19.11; one by Iona Brown with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields (Haenssler CD 94.003) is 21.09; and one by Sir Neville Marriner also with the same ensemble (Philips 420 486-2) runs 21.34.
—————————————-­————————————-
FREE .mp3 and .wav files of all Mozart’s music at: http://www.mozart-archiv.de/
FREE sheet music scores of any Mozart piece at: http://dme.mozarteum.at/DME/nma/start…
ALSO check out these cool sites: http://musopen.org/
and http://imslp.org/wiki/

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Sviatoslav Richter – Liszt – Piano Concerto No 1 in E flat major, great compositions/performances

Sviatoslav Richter – Liszt – Piano Concerto No 1 in E flat major

Opus 21

Published on Apr 21, 2014

Franz Liszt
Piano Concerto No 1 in E flat major, S 124

00:00 Allegro maestoso
05:08 Quasi adagio – Allegretto vivace
13:49 Allegro marziale animato

Sviatoslav Richter, piano

London Symphony Orchestra
Kyrill Kondrashin, conductor

Beethoven, Piano Concerto No. 2 Op. 19 in B flat major. Evgeny Kissin , make music pat of your life series

Beethoven, Piano Concerto No. 2 Op. 19 in B flat major. Evgeny Kissin

Marco Veranda

Published on Apr 30, 2013

Performer: Evgeny Kissin
Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Colin Davis
Recorded: 2008

I. Allegro con brio [0-14:39]
II. Adagio [14:40–23:33]
III. Rondò. Molto allegro [23:34–29:19]

Great musical recordings: Brahms – Wilhelm Kempff 1950’s legacy (op. 10, 24, 76,79,116,117,118,119): Great compositions/performances

Brahms – Wilhelm Kempff 1950’s legacy (op. 10, 24, 76,79,116,117,118,119)

  On the Top of Damavand

Published on Oct 5, 2012

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

FOUR BALLADES, OP.10
0:00 : No.1 Andante (after the Scottish Border ballad “Edward” in Johann Gottfried Herder‘s anthology “Stimmen der Völker”) (4mn03)
4:03 : (28) No.2 Andante (6mn30)
10:33 : No.3 Intermezzo: Allegro (4mn00)
14:34 : No.4 Andante con moto (8mn19)
Recording: London, West Hampstead, 23 & 26 November 1953.

VARIATIONS AND FUGUE ON A THEME BY HANDEL IN B-FLAT MAJOR, OP.24
22:53 : Aria – Variations 1-25 – Fuga (24mn27)
Recording: Hanover, Beethovensaal, 3 January 1957.

8. PIANO PIECES, OP.76
Book I:
47:20 : No.1 Capriccio in F-sharp minor: Un poco agitato (3mn03)
50:25 : No.2 Capriccio in B minor: Allegretto non troppo (3mn32)
53:57 : No.3 Intermezzo in A-flat major: Grazioso (2mn33)
56:32 : No.4 Intermezzo in B-flat major: Allegro grazioso (2mn31)
Book II:
59:04 : No.5 Capriccio in C-sharp minor: Agitato, ma non troppo presto (3mn22)
01:02:26 : No.6 Intermezzo in A major: Andante con moto (3mn40)
01:06:07 : No.7 Intermezzo in A minor: Moderato semplice (3mn02)
01:09:08 : No.8 Capriccio in C major: Grazioso ed un poco vivace (3mn43)
Recording: London, West Hampstead, 23 & 26 November 1953.

9. TWO RHAPSODIES, OP.79
01:12:52 : No.1 in B minor: Agitato (9mn32)
01:22:26 : No.2 in G minor: Molto passionato, ma non troppo allegro (7mn30)
Recording: London, West Hampstead, November 1953.

10. FANTASIAS, OP.116
01:29:55 : No.1 Capriccio in D minor: Presto energico (2mn48)
01:32:45 : No.2 Intermezzo in A minor: Andante (3mn09)
01:35:54 : No.3 Capriccio in G minor: Allegro passionato (3mn00)
01:38:55 : No.4 Intermezzo in E major: Adagio (4mn06)
01:43:02 : No.5 Intermezzo in E minor: Andante con grazia ed intimissimo sentimento (3mn09)
01:46:12 : No.6 Intermezzo in E major: Andantino teneramente (2mn40)
01:48:52 : No.7 Capriccio in D minor: Allegro agitato (2mn36)
Recording: London, West Hampstead, 23 & 26 November 1953.

11. INTERMEZZI, OP.117
01:51:28 : No.1 in E-flat major: Andante moderato (5mn04)
01:56:32 : No.2 in B-flat minor: Andante non troppo e con molto espressione (4mn17)
02:00:50 : No.3 in C-sharp minor: Andante con moto (5mn06)
Recording: London, West Hampstead, October 1950.

12. PIANO PIECES, OP.118
02:05:56 : No.1 Intermezzo in A minor: Allegro non assai (2mn06)
02:08:03 : No.2 Intermezzo in A major: Andante teneramente (4mn28)
02:12:32 : No.3 Ballade in G minor: Allegro energico (3mn57)
02:16:28 : No.4 Intermezzo in F minor: Allegretto un poco agitato (2mn49)
02:19:18 : No.5 Romanze in F major: Andante (3mn46)
02:23:04 : No.6 Intermezzo in E-flat minor: Andante, largo e mesto (4mn53)
Recording: London, West Hampstead, 23-24 March 1950.

13. PIANO PIECES, OP.119
02:27:58 : No.1 Intermezzo in B minor: Adagio (3mn37)
02:31:35 : No.2 in E minor: Andantino un poco agitato (5mn01)
02:36:36 : No.3 in C major: Grazioso e giocoso (1mn47)
02:38:24 : No.4 in E-flat major: Allegro risoluto (5mn16)
Recording: London, West Hampstead, 23 & 26 November 1953.

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Maurice Ravel – Introduction & Allegro for Harp, Flute, Clarinet & String Quartet(1905) : Great compositions/performances|Art by Jean-Léon Gérôme

Maurice Ravel – Introduction & Allegro for Harp, Flute, Clarinet & String Quartet(1905)

    pelodelperro
******Stuttgart Chamber Music Ensemble******The Introduction and Allegro (1905) is one of the few pieces by Ravel that has remained more or less in the shadows — save in the minds of harpists — throughout the last century. While it is certainly not among the composer’s most striking works, it is nevertheless a pleasant enough showpiece that looks forward to the raw sensuality of Daphnis et Chloé while hearkening back with great affection to the music of Chabrier and, especially, Franck. The full title of the work is Introduction and Allegro for Harp, Accompanied by a Quartet of Strings, Flute, and Clarinet. Although it is often conveniently designated a septet, it is really a kind of miniature (10-minute) harp concerto, complete with virtuoso writing and an extended central cadenza for the instrument. Chamber performances of the work, in fact, are few and far between; it is far more frequently heard in the orchestra hall with a full complement of strings. The general simplicity of form and harmony have led some to conclude that the Introduction and Allegro might have originally been composed as a test piece for the Paris Conservatoire; certainly it did not stand out sufficiently in Ravel’s own memory for him to include it in his list of works.

The brief  Très lent introduction presents two themes, the first for the woodwinds in leaping parallel thirds, the second an inverted-arch-shaped gesture sung by the strings in octaves. Presently a shimmering texture of arpeggios and woodwind double-tonguing takes over, inviting the cello to explore another melody before the harp rejoins the lush musical fabric.

Twenty-six bars into the piece the Allegro commences. Now, as the harp makes an extended solo exploration of the melody presented earlier by the strings, a sonata form begins to take shape. A second, hemiola-ridden theme arrives in the woodwinds, accompanied pizzicato by the strings. The development of this material takes place in the usual fragmentary manner, building to an excited fff climax that breaks away abruptly as the harp assumes center stage with a cadenza. The recapitulation is quite straightforward, and the work ends without extensive fireworks or bombast of any kind. The Introduction and Allegro was first performed in late February 1907. [allmusic.com]

******Art by Jean-Léon Gérôme*****

Google Art Project works by Jean-Léon Gérôme

Google Art Project works by Jean-Léon Gérôme Google Art Project works by Jean-Léon Gérôme From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository (click to access and view the Art collection, or take a virtual museums tour! All available here at euzicasa!)

From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository

Media in category “Google Art Project works by Jean-Léon Gérôme”

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Rimsky-Korsakov – Mlada Suite, Procession of the Nobles – Svetlanov,: great compositions/performances

Rimsky-Korsakov – Mlada Suite, Procession of the Nobles – Svetlanov

Opus 21

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Mlada Suite, Procession of the Nobles

London Symphony Orchestra
Evgeny Svetlanov, conductor

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Carl Maria von Weber, Konzertstück f-moll für Klavier und Orchester, Op.79. Alfred Brendel & London Symphony Orchestra: great compositions/performances

Carl Maria von Weber, Konzertstück f-moll für Klavier und Orchester, Op.79. Alfred Brendel & LSO

  Czarmuzyki Ewa Chamiec

Carl Maria von Weber Konzertstück f-moll für Klavier und Orchester, Op. 79 – Alfred Brendel, London Symphony Orchestra, Claudio Abbado — https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list…

Schubert – 4 Impromptus, D. 899 / Op. 90, Maria João Pires,: great compositions/performances

Schubert – 4 Impromptus, D. 899 / Op. 90 (Maria João Pires)

MrPalika123

00:00 – No. 1 in C minor, Allegro molto moderato
11:05 – No. 2 in E-flat major, Allegro
15:50 – No. 3 in G-flat major, Andante
21:40 – No. 4 in A-flat major, Allegretto

Maria João Pires, 1996

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Barbirolli – Arensky: Variations on a Theme by Tchaikovsky,: great compositions/performances

[embes]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRKiE8o3NQU[/embed]

Barbirolli – Arensky: Variations on a Theme by Tchaikovsky (improved sound)

  2ndviolinist

London Symphony Orchestra
Recorded in 1947
*******************************************************************
John Barbirolli
Born: 12/2/1899 – Holborn, London, England
Died: 7/29/1970 – London, England
*******************************************************************
Anton Stepanovich Arensky (Russian: Антон Степанович Аренский) (12 July 1861 — 25 February 1906), was a Russian composer of Romantic classical music, a pianist and a professor of music.

Arensky was born in Novgorod, Russia. He was musically precocious and had composed a number of songs and piano pieces by the age of nine. With his mother and father, he moved to Saint Petersburg in 1879, where he studied composition at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. After graduating from the Saint Petersburg Conservatory in 1882, Arensky became a professor at the Moscow Conservatory. Among his students there were Alexander Scriabin, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Alexander Gretchaninov. In 1895 Arensky returned to Saint Petersburg as the director of the Imperial Choir, a post for which he had been recommended by Mily Balakirev. Arensky retired from this position in 1901, spending his remaining time as a pianist, conductor, and composer. Arensky died of tuberculosis in a sanatorium in Perkjärvi, Finland. It is alleged that drinking and gambling undermined his health.

Pyotr Tchaikovsky was the greatest influence on Arensky’s musical compositions. Indeed, Rimsky-Korsakov said, “In his youth Arensky did not escape some influence from me; later the influence came from Tchaikovsky. He will quickly be forgotten.” The perception that he lacked a distinctive personal style contributed to long-term neglect of his music, though in recent years a large number of his compositions have been recorded. Especially popular are the orchestral Variations on a Theme of Tchaikovsky based on one of Tchaikovsky’s Songs for Children, Op. 54.

Ravel – Daphnis et Chloé, Suite n°2 (Seiji Ozawa),: GREAT COMPOSITIONS/PERFORMANCES

Ravel – Daphnis et Chloé, Suite n°2 (Seiji Ozawa)

Wyndorel

***************************************************************

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

This article is about the Fokine ballet to Ravel’s music. For the original story, see Daphnis and Chloe. For the operetta by Jacques Offenbach, see Daphnis et Chloé (Offenbach).

Set design by Léon Bakst for the world premiere of the ballet Daphnis et Chloé (music by Maurice Ravel), Paris 1912.

Daphnis et Chloé is a ballet with music by Maurice Ravel. Ravel described it as a “symphonie choréographique” (choreographic symphony). The scenario was adapted by Michel Fokine from an eponymous romance by the Greek writer Longus thought to date from around the 2nd century AD. Scott Goddard published a contemporary commentary that discussed the changes to the story that Fokine made to prepare a workable ballet scenario.^[1] The story concerns the love between the goatherd Daphnis and the shepherdess Chloé. The ballet is in one act and three scenes.

Ravel began work on the score in 1909 after a commission from Sergei Diaghilev. It was premiered at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris by his Ballets Russes on June 8, 1912. The orchestra was conducted by Pierre Monteux, the choreography was by Michel Fokine, and Vaslav Nijinsky and Tamara Karsavina danced the parts of Daphnis and Chloe. Léon Bakst designed the original sets.

At almost an hour long, Daphnis et Chloé is Ravel’s longest work. In spite of the ballet’s duration, four discernable leitmotifs give musical unity to the score.^[1][2] The music, some of the composer’s most passionate, is widely regarded as some of Ravel’s best, with extraordinarily lush harmonies typical of the impressionist movement in music. Even during the composer’s lifetime, contemporary commentators described this ballet as his masterpiece for orchestra.^[3] Ravel extracted music from the ballet to make two orchestral suites, which can be performed with or without the chorus. The second of the suites, which includes much of the last part of the ballet and concludes with the “Danse générale”, is particularly popular. When the complete work is itself performed live, it is more often in concerts than in staged productions.

Structure

Part I

• Introduction et Danse religieuse
• Danse générale
• Danse grotesque de Dorcon
• Danse légère et gracieuse de Daphnis
• Danse de Lycéion
• Danse lente et mystérieuse des Nymphes

Part II

• Introduction
• Danse guerrière
• Danse suppliante de Chloé

Part III

• Lever du jour
• Pantomime (Les amours de Pan et Syrinx)
• Danse générale (Bacchanale)

In popular culture

Music

Trumpeter Harry James, in his 1942 arrangement of Eric Coates‘s By the Sleepy Lagoon, made use of the “Lever du jour” from Daphnis et Chloé for its opening theme.^[4]

The title song (“You can see forever”) from the musical On a clear day is based on the “Dawn” passage in the second Suite from Daphnis et Chloé.^{[citation needed]}

Sports

In 2002 American figure skater Sarah Hughes won an Olympic gold medal skating to selections from Daphnis et Chloé at the XIX Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City.

Rimsky-Korsakov – Christmas Eve: Orchestral Suite (1895): Great compositions/performances

Rimsky-Korsakov – Christmas Eve: Orchestral Suite (1895)

   musicanth

Uploaded on Dec 23, 2010/67,932 views

Christmas Eve (Suite)

I. Christmas Night
II. Ballet of the Stars
III. Witches’ Sabbath and Ride on the Devil’s Back
IV. Polonaise
V. Vakula and the Slippers

A thrilling orchestral suite by Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908), based on music from the 1895 opera of the same name. The plot of the opera follows the short story “Christmas Eve” from Nikolai Gogol‘s “Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka“. The same story also formed the basis of Tchaikovsky’s operas “Vakula the Smith” and “Cherevichki“.

A synopsis of Gogol’s short story is available on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christma…

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• Alexander Borodin In The Steppes Of Central Asia: make music part of your life series

Alexander Borodin In The Steppes Of Central Asia: make music part of your life series

Alexander Borodin In The Steppes Of Central Asia

bluekeith999 さんのチャンネル

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Three main themes from the composition

In the Steppes of Central Asia (Russian: В средней Азии, V srednyeĭ Azii, literally In Central Asia) is the common English title for a “musical tableau” (or symphonic poem) by Alexander Borodin, composed in 1880.

Background

The work was originally intended to be presented as one of several tableaux vivants to celebrate the silver anniversary of the reign of Alexander II of Russia, who had done much to expand the Russian Empire eastward. The intended production never occurred, but the work itself became, and has remained, a concert favorite ever since its first concert performance, on 8 April 1880 (Old style) in St. Petersburg by the orchestra of the Russian Opera under the conductorship of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.^[1] The work is dedicated to Franz Liszt.

Structure

This orchestral work idyllically depicts an interaction of Russians and Asians in the steppe lands of the Caucasus. A caravan of Central Asians is crossing the desert under the protection of Russian troops. The opening theme, representing the Russians, is heard first (see chart of themes); then we hear the strains of an ornamented eastern melody on English horn, representing the Asians. These two melodies eventually are combined contrapuntally. Amidst these two ethnic melodies is heard a “traveling” theme in pizzicato that represents the plodding hoofs of the horses and camels. At the end only the Russian theme is heard.

Instrumentation

The piece is scored for two Flutes, Oboe, Cor Anglais, two Clarinets, two Bassoons, four Horns in F, two Trumpets in F, two Trombones, Bass Trombone, Timpani and strings.

Somewhat unusually, the two scores available via the IMSLP link below show different tempo markings at the start. The Eulenberg score is marked “Allegretto con moto”, whereas the Russian Muzica score shows “Allegro con moto”.

Composer’s note

The composer provided the following description in a note to the score:

“In the silence of the monotonous steppes of Central Asia is heard the unfamiliar sound of a peaceful Russian song. From the distance we hear the approach of horses and camels and the bizarre and melancholy notes of an oriental melody. A caravan approaches, escorted by Russian soldiers, and continues safely on its way through the immense desert. It disappears slowly. The notes of the Russian and Asiatic melodies join in a common harmony, which dies away as the caravan disappears in the distance.”

Mozart – Symphony No. 39 in E flat, K. 543: make music part of your life series

Mozart – Symphony No. 39 in E flat, K. 543

Am4d3usM0z4rt

Family portrait: Maria Anna (“Nannerl”) Mozart, her brother Wolfgang, their mother Anna Maria (medallion) and father, Leopold Mozart (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Symphony No. 39 in E-flat major of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, K. 543, was completed on 26 June 1788. The 39th Symphony is the first of a set of three (his last symphonies) that Mozart composed in rapid succession during the summer of 1788. No. 40 was completed 25 July and No. 41 on 10 August. Around the same time, Mozart was writing his piano trios in E and C major, his sonate facile, and a violin sonatina. Mozart biographer Alfred Einstein has suggested that Mozart took Michael Haydn‘s Symphony No. 26, in the same key, as a model. It seems to be impossible to determine the date of the premiere of the 39th Symphony on the basis of currently available evidence; in fact, it cannot be established whether the symphony was ever performed in the composer’s lifetime. According to Deutsch (1965), around the time Mozart wrote the work, he was preparing to hold a series of “Concerts in the Casino”, in a new casino in the Spiegelgasse owned by Philipp Otto. Mozart even sent a pair of tickets for this series to his friend Michael von Puchberg. But it seems impossible to determine whether the concert series was held, or was cancelled for lack of interest. In addition, in the period up to the end of his life, Mozart participated in various other concerts whose program included an unidentified symphony; these also could have been the occasion of the premiere of the 39th. In modern times, the work is part of the core symphonic repertoire and is frequently performed and recorded. The symphony is scored for flute, pairs of clarinets, bassoons, horns and trumpets, timpani and strings. There are four movements:
1. Adagio, cut time — Allegro, 3/4
2. Andante con moto, 2/4
3. Menuetto: Trio, 3/4
4. Allegro, 2/4.
—————————————-­————————————-
FREE .mp3 and .wav files of all Mozart’s music at: http://www.mozart-archiv.de/
FREE sheet music scores of any Mozart piece at: http://dme.mozarteum.at/DME/nma/start…
ALSO check out these cool sites: http://musopen.org/
and http://imslp.org/wiki/

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Ottorino Respighi Brazilian Impressions (Antal Dorati/LSO): great compositions/performances

Ottorino Respighi Brazilian Impressions (Antal Dorati / London Symphony Orchestra)

  stradi cuatro

Ottorino Respighi Brazilian Impressions
1. Tropical Night
2. Butantan
3. Song and Dance
Antal Dorati and The London Symphony Orchestra
1957
****************************************­********
Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for fair use for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.

today’s birthday: Domenico Scarlatti (1685)

Domenico Scarlatti (1685)

Although he lived during the Baroque era, Scarlatti, an Italian composer and virtuoso harpsichordist, was extremely influential in the development of the Classical period of music. He is best known for his composition of 555 keyboard sonatas, written for the Spanish queen Maria Bárbara, whom he had tutored as a child and in whose service he remained for much of his life. Scarlatti is said to have engaged in a keyboard competition with what other composer as a young man? More… Discuss

Weber – Jubel Ouvertüre – LSO / Monteux: make music part of your life series

Weber – Jubel Ouvertüre – LSO / Monteux

incontrario motu

Carl Maria von Weber

Jubel-Ouvertüre op.59

London Symphony Orchestra
Pierre Monteux
Live recording, London, 24.IX.1963

Daniil Trifonov – Glazunov Piano Concerto No 2 in B major: great compositions/performances

Daniil Trifonov – Glazunov Piano Concerto No 2 in B major

  newTheDoremika

Royal Albert Hall, August 13, 2013 at BBC Proms
London Symphony Orchestra
Valery Gergiev conductor

MUSSORGSKY (arr. Stokowski) Night on Bald Mountain: great compositions/performances

MUSSORGSKY (arr. Stokowski) Night on Bald Mountain

Here is Leopold Stokowski‘s (1882-1977) transcription of Modest Mussorgsky‘s “Night on Bald Mountain”. This is the version most famously featured as the ending sequence of the Disney film “Fantasia” (1948), and that most famously caused quite an uproar among movie-goers due to the demonic imagery used in the aforementioned clip.

Stokowski was a prodigy along the lines of Maazel, entering into the Royal Academy of Music to study composition and conducting at the age of merely 13. During his long span as one of the most prominent and important conductors (not to mention one of the greatest) he was actually a very controversial figure. What many people probably don’t know is that Stokowski was a great champion of contemporary music, giving the U.S. and/or world premieres of works by Elgar, Vaughn Williams, Prokofiev, Schoenberg, Hovhaness, Copland, Barber, Berg, Feldman and other contemporary composers. He is also very important to the history of modern concert practice as well, popularizing the batonless technique of conducting, as well as inventing and popularizing the “pops concert” and the modern chairing of a symphony orchestra. He was able to produce what was then referred to as “the Stokowski Sound”, although what is now called “the Philly Sound” (one of the many, illustrious orchestras he was resident conductor for), and was the greatest influence on many conductors proceeding him, particularly Leonard Bernstein. His transcriptions and editing of works were considered uncoif at the time, a practice that had long since become outdated as printed music became more available, but they are now one of the things he is best-known for, particularly this and his orchestration of Bach’s Toccata en Fugue in D Minor BWV 565.

Performed here in 1966 by the London Symphony Orchestra.

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Aram Khachaturian – Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia: make music part of your life series

Aram Khachaturian – Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia

  pianushko

London Symphony Orchestra / Aram Khachaturian

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Edward Elgar – Allegro for strings, Op.47 & Serenade for strings, Op.20: make music part of your life series

Edward Elgar – Allegro for strings, Op.47 & Serenade for strings, Op.20

  Classical Music

1. Introduction and Allegro for string quartet & string orchestra in G major, Op. 47

Serenade for strings in E Minor, Op.20:
2. Allegro piacevole
3. Larghetto
4. Allegretto

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor, Barry Wordsworth.

Sir Edward Elgar’s Introduction and Allegro for Strings, Op. 47, was composed in 1905 for performance in an all-Elgar concert by the newly formed London Symphony Orchestra. Scored for string quartet and string orchestra, Elgar composed it to show off the players’ virtuosity. Though initial critical reception was lukewarm at best, the score soon came to be recognized as a masterpiece. The work, which is roughly twelve to fourteen minutes in length, is like a multi-layered symphonic poem for string orchestra, with several prominent themes.
The work is dedicated to Samuel Sanford, who had been instrumental in having Elgar awarded an honorary doctorate of music at Yale University on 28 June 1905, where the Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 was played for the first time at such a conferral ceremony.

Serenade for Strings in E minor, Op. 20, is a piece for string orchestra in three short movements, by Edward Elgar.
It was written in March 1892 and first performed in private in that year, by the Worcester Ladies’ Orchestral Class, with the composer conducting. It received its first public performance in Antwerp, Belgium on 21 July 1896.
Dedicated to the philosopher W. H. Whinfield, it is approximately 12 minutes in duration.
Although not formally published until 1892, the Serenade is believed to be a reworking of a suite Elgar had written some years earlier, before he had firmly set his sights on a career as a composer. Apart from the two suites called The Wand of Youth, it is therefore probably the earliest of his compositions to survive into the standard repertoire. Certainly, it has a youthful charm while at the same time displaying indications of the skills Elgar developed as he progressed towards musical maturity. It is reportedly the first of his compositions with which he professed himself satisfied.
The central Larghetto is generally accepted as containing the work’s finest and most mature writing. The work remains among the most frequently performed of all his music.

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• P. I. Tchaikovsky – Serenade for Strings in C major, Op. 48 (Fedoseyev) Erudite Music Channel: make music part of your life series
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Ludwig van Beethoven: Romance for Violin No.1 in G major, Op.40: great compositions/performances

Ludwig van Beethoven: Romance for Violin No.1 in G major, Op.40

  vivaldi369

Álbum: Beethoven: Edition Vol. 02 – Concertos (Disc 4) Violin Concerto, Op. 61, Movement, WoO 5 & Violin Romances, Op. 40 & 50
Interprete del álbum: Anne-Sophie Mutter, Berliner Philharmoniker, Gidon Kremer, London Symphony Orchestra & Gil Shaham, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
Compositor: Ludwig van Beethoven
Año: 1997
Genero: Clásico Romántico Alemán
Movimientos: Romance

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Modest Mussorgsky “Pictures at an Exhibition” Celibidache London Symphony Orchestra, conductor: Sergiu Celibidache: great compositions/performances

Modest Mussorgsky “Pictures at an Exhibition” Celibidache London Symphony Orchestra,  conductor: Sergiu Celibidache

  La Casa di Davide

Modest Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition orchestrated by Maurice Ravel
Sergiu Celibidache conducts London Symphony Orchestra

Movements:

No. 1 “Gnomus” 2:24
No. 2 “Il vecchio castello” (The Old Castle) 7:10
No. 3 “Tuileries” (Dispute d’enfants après jeux) 12:44
No. 4 “Bydło”(Polish, Cattle) 14:01
No. 5 “Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks” 18:29
No. 6 “Samuel” Goldenberg und “Schmuÿle” 19:52
No. 7 “Limoges”, le marché (La grande nouvelle) 22:53
No. 8 “Catacombæ” (Sepulcrum romanum) and “Con mortuis in lingua mortua” 24:22
No. 9 “The Hut on Fowl’s Legs (Baba-Yagá)” 29:43
No. 10 “The Bogatyr Gates (in the Capital in Kiev)” 33:41

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G. Holst – The planets Op. 32 – Venus, the Bringer of Peace – Berliner Philharmoniker- Karajan: great compositions/performances

G. Holst – The planets Op. 32 – Venus, the Bringer of Peace – Berliner Philharmoniker- Karajan (2/7)

  doramas67
The Planets, Op. 32, is a seven-movement orchestral suite by the English composer Gustav Holst, written between 1914 and 1916. Each movement of the suite is named after a planet of the Solar System and its corresponding astrological character as defined by Holst. With the exception of Earth (the centre of all yet influentially inert astrologically[1]), all the astrological planets known during the work’s composition[2] are represented.

From its premiere to the present day, the suite has been enduringly popular, influential, widely performed and frequently recorded. The work was not heard in a complete public performance, however, until some years after it was completed. Although there were four performances between September 1918 and October 1920, they were all either private (the first performance, in London) or incomplete (two others in London and one in Birmingham). The premiere was at the Queen’s Hall on 29 September 1918, conducted by Holst’s friend Adrian Boult before an invited audience of about 250 people. The first complete public performance was finally given in London by Albert Coates conducting the London Symphony Orchestra on 15 November 1920.

Instrumentation

The work is scored for an exceptionally large orchestra:
Woodwind: 4 flutes (3rd doubling 1st piccolo; 4th doubling 2nd piccolo and a “bass flute in G”, actually an alto flute), 3 oboes (3rd doubling bass oboe), an English horn, 3 clarinets in B-flat, a bass clarinet in B-flat, 3 bassoons and a contrabassoon
Brass: 6 horns in F, 4 trumpets in C, 3 trombones (2 tenor and 1 bass), a “tenor tuba” (euphonium in B-flat) and a bass tuba
Keyboards: a celesta, and an organ
Percussion: 6 timpani (2 players, 3 drums each except in “Uranus” having 4 drums for 1st and 2 drums for 2nd), a bass drum, a snare drum, cymbals, a triangle, a tam-tam, a tambourine, a glockenspiel, a xylophone, and tubular bells
Strings: 2 harps, 1st and 2nd violins, violas, cellos, and double basses
Voices: (“Neptune” only), 2 three-part women’s choruses (SSA) located in an adjoining room which is to be screened from the audience

The suite has seven movements, each named after a planet and its corresponding astrological character (see Planets in astrology):

1.Mars, the Bringer of War
2.Venus, the Bringer of Peace
3.Mercury, the Winged Messenger
4.Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity
5.Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age
6.Uranus, the Magician
7.Neptune, the Mystic

The Planets (Los planetas) op. 32, es la obra más conocida del compositor inglés Gustav Holst y fue compuesta entre 1914 y 1918. Es una suite de siete movimientos a cada uno de los cuales Holst le dio el nombre de un planeta (y su correspondiente deidad en la mitología grecorromana).

The Planets, como reza su subtítulo, es una suite “para gran orquesta”. Instrumentos nada habituales, como la flauta baja o el oboe barítono o bajo y unos nutridos efectivos de percusión (bombo, batería, platillos, Triángulo (instrumento musical), tambor militar, pandereta, gong, campanas, xilófono y glockenspiel, así como dos timbalistas) y metal (6 trompas, 4 trompetas, 3 trombones, tuba tenor y tuba bajo) forman, entre otros, la nómina de la suite. Es quizás la orquesta más grande empleada jamás por Holst.

Estructura

La suite está formada por los siguientes movimientos:
Marte, el portador de la guerra.
Venus, el portador de la paz.
Mercurio, el mensajero alado.
Júpiter, el portador de la alegría.
Saturno, el portador de la vejez.
Urano, el mago.
Neptuno, el místico.

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Frédéric Chopin – 24 Études Op. 10 & Op. 25 and 3 Nouvelles Études | Claudio Arrau, piano: make music part of your life series

Frédéric Chopin – 24 Études Op. 10 & Op. 25 and 3 Nouvelles Études | Claudio Arrau, piano

Frédéric Chopin – 12 Études Opp. 10 & 25. 3 Nouvelles Études. (Claudio Arrau, “The Philosopher of the Piano”, 1956) (2007 Digital Remastering)
Recorded: 15-22 & 29.VI. and 5.IX.1956, No.3, Abbey Road Studios, London. First issued in 1957 by Columbia Ltd. Mono/ADD
“Great Recordings of the 20th Century”. EMI Icons, EMI Classics, 2011 & Warner Classics, 2013.

I. Book No.1: 12 Etudes for Piano Op.10, 1830-32.
Before Chopin, there was a tradition of writing studies for the development of keyboard technique, but the pieces were primarily didactic. This set of 12 Études, dedicated to Liszt, represents a new form: concert pieces that serve a secondary function as development of advanced piano skills. Each étude begins with a pattern of pianistic figuration, which creates the specific technical problem for the étude and persists for the duration of the piece. That Chopin was able to create poetry in spite of such controlled and limited means of expression is a testament to his creative genius. The twelve Études published as Chopin’s Opus 10 are an indispensable tool of the modern pianist’s craft: they are a rite of passage that no serious pianist can ignore.
00:00 Nº 1 in C major. Allegro
01:59 Nº 2 in A minor. Allegro
03:23 Nº 3 in E major. Lento ma non troppo (Tritesse – L’intimite) – http://youtu.be/FKDir13g7ow
07:55 Nº 4 in C sharp minor. Presto (Torrent)
10:10 Nº 5 in G flat major. Vivace (Black Keys)
11:55 Nº 6 in E flat minor. Andante
14:49 Nº 7 in C major. Vivace (Toccata)
16:26 Nº 8 in F major. Allegro
18:51 Nº 9 in F minor. Allegro molto agitato
21:00 Nº 10 in A flat major. Vivace assai
23:14 Nº 11 in E flat major. Allegretto
26:17 Nº 12 in C minor. Allegro con fuoco (Revolutionary – Fall of Warsaw)

II. Book No.2: 12 Etudes for Piano Op.25, 1835-37.
This Op.25 collection bears a dedication to Liszt’s mistress, Countess Marie d’Agoult, a writer who used the pseudonym Daniel Stern (the Op.10 Études are dedicated to Franz Liszt). One reason Chopin attempted to capture Liszt’s sympathies with the dedications had to do with the performance design of the pieces in the two sets: each was written to highlight some facet of pianism.
28:57 Nº 1 in A flat major. Allegro sostenuto (Aeolian Harp – Shepherd Boy)
31:21 Nº 2 in F minor. Presto (Balm)
33:05 Nº 3 in F major. Allegro (Carwheel)
35:08 Nº 4 in A minor. Agitato
37:28 Nº 5 in E minor. Vivace
40:52 Nº 6 in G sharp minor. Allegro (Thirds)
43:00 Nº 7 in C sharp minor. Lento (Cello)
48:21 Nº 8 in D flat major. Vivace (Sixths)
49:30 Nº 9 in G flat major. Allegro assai (Butterfly)
50:35 Nº 10 in B minor. Allegro con fuoco
55:04 Nº 11 in A minor. Lento – Allegro con brio (Winter Wind)
58:41 Nº 12 in C minor. Allegro molto con fuoco (Ocean)

III. Trois Nouvelles Études for piano, 1839-40.
Chopin composed this set of etudes for the Méthode des methods, a publication of Ignaz Moscheles, a leading pianist and composer of his day who was not always in agreement with Chopin’s compositional techniques, and François-Joseph Fétis, a now largely forgotten Belgian musicologist.
1:01:26 Nº 1 in F minor
1:03:31 Nº 2 in A flat major
1:05:56 Nº 3 in D flat major

As always with Arrau, the Pianist takes a back seat to Music Making, are a prime example of how myth making regarding Arrau’s Recordings. Arrau approaches Chopin’s Etudes as a genuinely mature musician and sensitive interpreter. In Opus 10, No. 3, for instance, he infuses the music with a deep sadness that recalls its XIX Century title, “La Tristesse.” Incidentally, this record received the Grand Prix du Disque Frédéric Chopin from the Warsaw Chopin Society when it was re-released in 1990.

The 24 Études of Frédéric Chopin (divided into two separate opuses, 10 and 25, but actually composed almost simultaneously) remain the most significant entries in that particular musical genre. Chopin refers, in a letter dating from the fall of 1829, to having written a study “in [his] own manner,” and indeed, a great chasm stands between his achievements and the far drier études of his predecessors (one thinks of Moscheles, Czerny, and Hummel in particular). It was not Chopin’s intent, as it was with many nineteenth-century pianist-composers, to create studies of mere technique and raw dexterity; here, instead, are works with an inexhaustible array of textures, moods, and colors to explore. These are works meant for the concert hall as well as for the practice room

Despite the slightly cramped, airless sonics, Arrau’s characteristically warm and ample sonority makes itself felt in these 1956 recordings. The pianist uncovers layers of depth and disquiet in the slower Études that others merely prettify. The treacherous extensions in the E-Flat Étude, for instance, are distinctly projected and balanced, rather than strummed. Arrau’s spectacularly honest technique enables him to articulate Chopin’s sparkling figurations with a liquid legato unaided by the pedal.

Related articles

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• Arthur Rubinstein plays Frédéric Chopin Piano Concerto N.º 2 Op. 21 in F minor with London Symphony Orchestra conducted by André Previn
• Great Compositions/Performances: Liszt 3 Concert Etudes No 3 Un Sospiro Arrau Rec 1974
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Alan Hovhaness – Appalachian Symphony: make music part of your life series

FROM:  100yearoldWhiskey’s You Tube channel:

Alan Hovhaness – Appalachian Symphony

ALAN HOVHANESS – Symphony No. 60 (“To the Appalachian Mountains“)

In this 2005 recording, Gerard Schwarz conducts the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra. Naxos is the official owner of this recording.

First Movement (0:00)
Photo #1: Sunrise at Canim Lake, by werner22brigitte
http://pixabay.com/en/sunrise-canim-l…
Photo #2: Sea of Fog, by MartinStr
http://pixabay.com/en/hochlantsch-mou…
Photo #3: Sunrise, by Silvicultrix
http://pixabay.com/en/sunrise-morgenr…
Photo #4: Ring, by MartinStr
http://pixabay.com/en/sunrise-mountai…
Photo #5: Sea of Clouds, by DeltaWorks
http://pixabay.com/en/sea-of-clouds-a…
Photo #6: Morning Sun, by kcssm
http://pixabay.com/en/dawn-sunrise-su…

Second Movement (10:42)
Photo #1: Glacier National Park, by dbmcnicol
http://pixabay.com/en/montana-glacier…
Photo #2: Great Salt Lake, by werner22brigitte
http://pixabay.com/en/great-salt-lake…
Photo #3: Nosedive, by Aperture
http://pixabay.com/en/fly-heli-mounta…
Photo #4: New Zealand, by Simon
http://pixabay.com/en/new-zealand-mou…

Third Movement (20:15)
Photo #1: Canton of Uri, by wernj
http://pixabay.com/en/sea-of-fog-wint…
Photo #2: Carinthia Winter, by KleeKarl
http://pixabay.com/en/austria-carinth…

Fourth Movement (23:29)
Photo #1: Säntis, by nitli
http://pixabay.com/en/s%C3%A4ntis-sno…
Photo #2: Clouds, by titigraf
http://pixabay.com/en/sky-clouds-moun…
Photo #3: Mountain Goats, by Steppinstars
http://pixabay.com/en/mountain-goats-…
Photo #4: Chipmunk, by LoggaWiggler
http://pixabay.com/en/chipmunk-cute-n…
Photo #5: Kamloops, by Werner 22brigitte
http://pixabay.com/en/rollig-hills-mo…
Photo #6: Paragliding, by Simon
http://pixabay.com/en/mountains-parag…
Photo #7: Hot Air Balloon, by LoggaWiggler
http://pixabay.com/en/balloon-hot-air…
———————————
If you’re interested in buying the CD/MP3, it is available at ArkivMusic:
http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/N…

And at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Symphony-60-A-H…

The CD/MP3 also includes Hovhaness’s Guitar Concerto No. 1 and Khrimian Hairig.

Related articles

• make music part of your life series: Gioacchino Rossini – Silken Ladder Overture
• Pixabay

Carl Maria von Weber, Konzertstück f-moll für Klavier und Orchester, Op.79. Alfred Brendel & LSO (make music part of your life series)

Carl Maria von Weber Konzertstück f-moll für Klavier und Orchester, Op. 79 – Alfred Brendel, London Symphony Orchestra, Claudio Abbado — https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list…

make music part of your life series: Gioacchino Rossini – Silken Ladder Overture

[youtube.com/watch?v=fswuE-IBU7E]

Gioacchino Rossini – Silken Ladder Overture

In this 1978 recording, Claudio Abbado conducts the London Symphony Orchestra. RCA is the official owner of this recording.

Photo: http://pixabay.com/en/marian-column-p…

This recording is no longer available on CD, but you can find alternate recordings of this specific overture on ArkivMusic:
http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/D…

Related articles

• Rossini’s Life

Fabulous musical moments: Ottorino Respighi Brazilian Impressions (Antal Dorati and The London Symphony Orchestra 1957)

[youtube.com/watch?v=WQ0rqgWloQU]

Ottorino Respighi:  Brazilian Impressions (Antal Dorati/LSO)

Ottorino Respighi Brazilian Impressions
1. Tropical Night
2. Butantan
3. Song and Dance

Antal Dorati and The London Symphony Orchestra
1957

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Ottorino Respighi

Ottorino Respighi (Italian: [ottoˈriːno resˈpiːɡi]; 9 July 1879 – 18 April 1936) was an Italian composer, musicologist and conductor. He is best known for his orchestral music, particularly the three Roman tone poems: Fountains of Rome (Fontane di Roma), Pines of Rome (I pini di Roma), and Roman Festivals (Feste romane). His musicological interest in 16th-, 17th- and 18th-century music led him to compose pieces based on the music of these periods. He also wrote a number of operas, the most famous of which is La fiamma.

Biography

Ottorino Respighi was born in Bologna, Italy. He was taught piano and violin by his father, who was a local piano teacher. He went on to study violin and viola with Federico Sarti at the Liceo Musicale in Bologna, composition with Giuseppe Martucci, and historical studies with Luigi Torchi, a scholar of early music. A year after receiving his diploma in violin in 1899, Respighi went to Russia to be principal violist in the orchestra of the Russian Imperial Theatre in St Petersburg during its season of Italian opera. While there he studied composition for five months with Rimsky-Korsakov.

He then returned to Bologna, where he earned a second diploma in composition. Until 1908 his principal activity was as first violin in the Mugellini Quintet. In 1908-09 he spent some time performing in Germany before returning to Italy and turning his attention entirely to composition. Many sources indicate that while he was in Germany, he studied briefly with Max Bruch, but in her biography of the composer, Respighi’s wife asserts that this is not the case.^[1]

During the second decade of the twentieth century, Respighi was active as a performer and composer. His compositions began to draw attention, and in 1913 he was appointed as teacher of composition at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia in Rome, where he lived for the rest of his life. In 1917 his international fame began to spread through multiple performances of the first of his Roman orchestral tone poems, Fountains of Rome. In 1919 he married a former pupil, the singer Elsa Olivieri-Sangiacomo. From 1923 to 1926 he was director of the Conservatorio. In 1925 he collaborated with Sebastiano Arturo Luciani on an elementary textbook entitled Orpheus. He was elected to the Royal Academy of Italy in 1932.

A visit to Brazil resulted in the composition Impressioni brasiliane (Brazilian Impressions). He had intended to write a sequence of five pieces, but by 1928 he had completed only three, and decided to present what he had. Its first performance was in 1928 in Rio de Janeiro. The first piece, “Tropical Night”, is a nocturne with fragments of dance rhythms suggested by the sensuous textures. The second piece is a sinister picture of a snake research institute, Instituto Butantan, that Respighi visited in São Paulo, with hints of birdsong (as in Pines of Rome). The final movement is a vigorous and colorful Brazilian dance.

On the ship back home from Brazil, Respighi met by chance with Italian physicist Enrico Fermi. During their long conversation, Fermi tried to get Respighi to explain music in terms of physics, which Respighi was unable to do. They remained close friends until Respighi’s death in 1936.^[2]

Apolitical in nature, Respighi attempted to steer a neutral course after Benito Mussolini came to power in 1922. His established international fame allowed him some level of freedom but at the same time encouraged the regime to exploit his music for political purposes. Respighi vouched for more outspoken critics such as Arturo Toscanini, allowing them to continue to work under the regime.^[3]

Feste Romane, the third of his Roman tone poems, was premiered by Toscanini and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in 1929; Toscanini recorded the music twice for RCA Victor, first with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1942 and then with the NBC Symphony Orchestra in 1949. Respighi’s music had considerable success in the USA: the Toccata for piano and orchestra was premiered (with Respighi as soloist) under Willem Mengelberg with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in November 1928, and the large-scale theme and variations entitled Metamorphoseon was a commission for the fiftieth anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Respighi was an enthusiastic scholar of Italian music of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. He published editions of the music of Claudio Monteverdi and Antonio Vivaldi, and of Benedetto Marcello‘s Didone. His work in this area influenced his later compositions and led to a number of works based on early music, such as his three suites of Ancient Airs and Dances. In his Neoclassical works, Respighi generally kept clear of the musical idiom of the classical period, preferring to combine pre-classical melodic styles and musical forms (like dance suites) with typical late-19th-century romantic harmonies and textures.  He continued to compose and tour until January 1936, after which he became increasingly ill. A cardiac infection led to his death by heart failure on 18 April that year at the age of 56. A year after his burial, his remains were moved to his birthplace, Bologna, and reinterred at the city’s expense.

Works

Opera

• Re Enzo (1905)

• Semirâma (1909)

• Marie Victoire (completed in 1913, but not produced until 2004)

• La bella dormente nel bosco (1922)

• Belfagor (1923)

• La campana sommersa (1927)

• Maria egiziaca (1932)

• La fiamma (1934)

• Lucrezia (opera) (1937) opera in 1 act (completed posthumously by his wife, Elsa, and his pupil Ennio Porrino)

Ballet

• La Boutique fantasque (1918), borrows tunes from the 19th century Italian composer Rossini. Premiered in London on 5 June 1919.

• Sèvres de la vieille France (1920), transcription of 17th-18th century French music

• La Pentola magica (1920), based on popular Russian themes

• Scherzo Veneziano (Le astuzie di Columbina) (1920)

• Belkis, Regina di Saba (1931)

Orchestral

• Preludio, corale e fuga (1901)

• Aria per archi (1901)^[5]

• Leggenda for Violin and Orchestra P 36 (1902)^[6]

• Piano Concerto in A minor (1902)

• Suite per archi (1902)^[7]

• Humoreske for Violin and Orchestra P 45 (1903)^[8]

• Concerto in la maggiore, for Violin and Orchestra (1903), completed by Salvatore Di Vittorio (2009)^[9]

• Fantasia Slava (1903)

• Suite in E major (Sinfonia) (1903)

• Serenata per piccola orchestra (1904)^[10]

• Suite in Sol Maggiore (1905), for organ and strings^[11]

• Ouverture Burlesca (1906)

• Concerto all’antica for Violin and Orchestra (1908)

• Ouverture Carnevalesca (1913)

• Tre Liriche (1913), for mezzo-soprano and orchestra (Notte, Nebbie, Pioggia)^[12]

• Sinfonia Drammatica (1914)

• Fountains of Rome (1916)

• Ancient Airs and Dances Suite No. 1 (1917), based on Renaissance lute pieces by Simone Molinaro, Vincenzo Galilei (father of Galileo Galilei), and additional anonymous composers.

• Ballata delle Gnomidi (Dance of the Gnomes) (1920), based on a poem by Claudio Clausetti

• Adagio con variazioni (1921), for Cello and Orchestra

• Concerto Gregoriano for Violin and Orchestra (1921)

• Ancient Airs and Dances Suite No. 2 (1923), based on pieces for lute, archlute, and viol by Fabritio Caroso, Jean-Baptiste Besard, Bernardo Gianoncelli, and an anonymous composer. It also interpolates an aria attributed to Marin Mersenne.

• Pines of Rome (1924)

• Concerto in modo misolidio (Concerto in the Mixolydian mode) (1925)

• Poema autunnale (Autumn Poem), for Violin and Orchestra (1925)

• Rossiniana (1925), free transcriptions from Rossini‘s Quelques riens (from Péchés de vieillesse)

• Vetrate di chiesa (Church Windows) (1926), four movements of which three are based on Tre Preludi sopra melodie gregoriane for piano (1919)

• Trittico Botticelliano (1927), three movements inspired by Botticelli paintings in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence: La Primavera, L’Adorazione dei Magi, La nascita di Venere; the middle movement uses the well-known tune Veni Emmanuel (O Come, O Come, Emmanuel)

• Impressioni brasiliane (Brazilian Impressions) (1928)

• The Birds (1928), based on Baroque pieces imitating birds. It comprises Introduzione (Bernardo Pasquini), La Colomba (Jacques de Callot), La Gallina (Jean-Philippe Rameau), L’Usignolo (anonymous English composer of the seventeenth century) and Il Cucu (Pasquini)

• Toccata for Piano and Orchestra (1928)

• Roman Festivals (1928)

• Metamorphoseon (1930)

• Ancient Airs and Dances Suite No. 3 (1932), arranged for strings only and somewhat melancholy in overall mood. It is based on lute songs by Besard, a piece for baroque guitar by Ludovico Roncalli, lute pieces by Santino Garsi da Parma and additional anonymous composers.

• Concerto a cinque (Concerto for Five) (1933), for Oboe, Trumpet, Piano, Viola d’amore, Double-bass, and Strings

Vocal/choral

• Nebbie (1906), voice and piano

• Stornellatrice (1906), voice and piano

• Cinque canti all’antica (1906), voice and piano

• Il Lamento di Arianna (1908), for mezzo-soprano and orchestra^[13]

• Aretusa (text by Shelley) (1911), cantata for mezzo-soprano and orchestra

• Tre Liriche (1913), for mezzo-soprano and orchestra (Notte, Nebbie, Pioggia)^[14]

• La Sensitiva (The Sensitive Plant, text by Shelley) (1914), for mezzo-soprano and orchestra

• Il Tramonto (The sunset, text by Shelley) (1914), for mezzo-soprano and string quartet (or string orchestra)

• Cinque liriche (1917), voice and piano

• Quattro liriche (Gabriele d’Annunzio) (1920), voice and piano

• La Primavera (The Spring, texts by Constant Zarian) (1922) lyric poem for soli, chorus and orchestra

• Deità silvane (Woodland Deities, texts by Antonio Rubino) (1925), song-cycle for soprano and small orchestra

• Lauda per la Natività del Signore (Laud to the Nativity, text attributed to Jacopone da Todi) (1930), a cantata for three soloists (soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor), mixed chorus (including substantial sections for 8-part mixed and TTBB male chorus), and chamber ensemble (woodwinds and piano 4-hands)

Chamber

• String Quartet in D major in one movement (undated)

• String Quartet No. 1 in D major (1892–98)

• String Quartet No. 2 in B flat major (1898)

• String Quartet in D major (1907)

• String Quartet in D minor (1909) subtitled by composer “Ernst ist das Leben, heiter ist die Kunst”

• Quartetto Dorico or Doric String Quartet (1924)

• Tre Preludi sopra melodie gregoriane, for piano (1921)

• Violin Sonata in B minor (1917)

• Piano Sonata in F minor

• Variazioni, for guitar

• Double Quartet in D minor (1901)

• Piano Quintet in F minor (1902)

• Six Pieces for Violin and Piano (1901–06)

• Quartet in D major for 4 Viols (1906)

• Huntingtower: Ballad for Band (1932)

• String Quintet for 2 Violins, 1 Viola & 2 Violoncellos in G minor (1901, incomplete)

great compositions/performances: Edward Elgar – Salut d’amour Op 12 Ion Marin conduction the Berliner Philharmoniker

[youtube.com/watch?v=tYrj9jgxC8c]

Edward Elgar: Salut d’amour Op 12

Uploaded on Jul 3, 2011/94,152 views

Berliner Philharmoniker – Edward Elgar Salut d’amour op. 12 2010

von der Berliner Waldbühne, Dirigent Ion Marin

view more beautiful videos at fritz51117

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• Classical music: There is more to graduation and commencement – and to British composer Sir Edward Elgar – than “Pomp and Circumstance No. 1.” We need to hear more Elgar.
• Los Angeles Doctors Symphony Orchestra – June 5, 2011: Elgar – Salut d’amour (encore)
• Edward Elgar – Allegro for strings, Op.47 & Serenade for strings, Op.20

great compositions/performancesTchaikovsky – Romeo and Juliet, Fantasy-Overture | Valery Gergiev, London Symphony Orchestra

[youtube.com/watch?v=ZxOtYNf-eWE]

Tchaikovsky – Romeo and Juliet, Fantasy-Overture | Valery Gergiev, London Symphony Orchestra

Published by  Adagietto on Jan 13, 2013/ 108,521 views

From Adagietto:
“Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky – Romeo and Juliet, fantasy-overture for orchestra in B minor, 1880. Maestro Valery Gergiev with the London Symphony Orchestra.

Numerous composers have responded to Shakespeare’s timeless drama of forbidden and youthful love, but Tchaikovsky’s response (along with Berlioz’s and Prokofiev’s) is at the top of the list. It is the only one of the three to be intended as a number in a symphony concert, and, hence is by default the most famous of the lot.

Tchaikovsky, a lawyer, was still developing as a composer at age 29 when Mily Balakirev (self-appointed father figure to Russian composers) persuaded him to write an orchestral work on the subject of the “star-cross’d lovers.” Balakirev outlined the form, planned the keys, and even suggested some of the actual music. After the 1870 premiere, he convinced Tchaikovsky to revise it. The work’s success in this form did much to transform the composer’s tendency toward crippling doubt into useful self-criticism. (Not that the transformation was ever total; Tchaikovsky suffered bouts of depression and self-doubt throughout his career.) The composer revised it again in 1880; this version is almost universally the one played. While the final version is probably the best one, the 1869 text is also a fine work and very much worth hearing. The earlier version begins with a charming tune that carries elements of the great love theme. In the first and second revisions Tchaikovsky eliminated this and replaced it with the benedictory theme representing Friar Laurence. The effect of this change on the overture’s structure is large. The first version seems to begin with Juliet still in a relatively childlike state, but with the potential for the great love present in the disguised premonitions of the love theme. The focus is, therefore, on the development of the drama as it unfolds. The later versions, beginning as it were with a prayer, seem to invite the hearer to look back on a tragedy that has already happened. Both versions proceed identically through depictions of the clashes between the houses of Montague and Capulet, and then unveil the great love music. After that, though, Tchaikovsky’s original idea seems to this writer to be superior: There is a great development, fugal-sounding and allowing for contrapuntal conflict based on the overture’s main rhythms and themes. It is tremendously exciting, more so than the music which replaced it. Justification for dropping it might be made along the lines that the original version has too much dramatic weight and overshadows the rest of the music. The main differences thereafter are in details of scoring, and in the finale, which in the original version is much too curt.

It is often instructive to see what a great composer has done at two different times with the same ideas and material. Whether or not it has greater musical merit, Tchaikovsky’s blessing of his final version served to ensure that it is the one that prevailed, and in that form it is accepted as one of the greatest programmatic pieces in the symphonic repertoire. The yearning love theme, in particular, is universally acknowledged as one of the greatest melodies ever written, while the exciting fight music and Tchaikovsky’s unfailingly clear and imaginative orchestration carry the listener through with hardly a misstep. But the original version is not far behind it in musical worth; it should be given more frequent revivals, if only for the sake of hearing the great fugato passage described above.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – Romeo und Julia, Romeo y Julieta, Roméo et Juliette, Romeo e Giulietta, Romeo en Julia, Romeu e Julieta, Romeo and Juliet, Romeu i Julieta, Romeo a Juliet, Romeo og Julie, Romeo kaj Julieta, Romeo i Julija, Romeo e Xulieta, Romeo dan Julia, Rómeó és Júlia, Romeo și Julieta, Romeowan Juliet, Romeo dhe Xhuljeta, Romeo ja Julia, Romeo och Julia, Romeo at Julieta, Romeo un Džuljeta

Visit  this site for many more wonderful unique musical moments! I suscribed to this channel  Adagietto

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make music part of your life series: Serenata Española de Joaquim Malats Pepe Romero

[youtube.com/watch?v=we2csh9eaIc]

Serenata Española de Joaquim Malats Pepe Romero

read more about Joaquin Malats: Serenata Española @ takis konstantopoulos: for the promotion of rigour and rationality on BLOGGER! Check it out!

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pepe Romero (born March 8, 1944 in Málaga, Spain) is a world-renowned classical and flamenco guitarist. He is particularly famous for his outstanding technique and colorful musical interpretations on the instrument.

Pepe Romero
Pepe Romero in 2000
Background information
Born	March 8, 1944 (age 70) Málaga, Spain
Genres	Classical music, flamenco
Occupations	Guitarist, arranger
Instruments	Guitar
Years active	fl. ca. 1959 – present
Labels	Philips Records
Associated acts	The Romero Guitar Quartet
Website	www.peperomero.com
Notable instruments
Torres 1856

Biography

As a soloist Pepe Romero has appeared in the United States, Canada, Europe, China, and many countries around the world with the Toronto, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Chicago, Houston, Pittsburgh, Boston, San Francisco and Dallas Symphony Orchestras, as well as with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the New York, Bogota and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestras, the Boston Pops Orchestra, the Hong Kong Sinfonietta and the London Symphony Orchestra, the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, the Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra, I Musici, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia Hungarica, the Hungarian State Orchestra, the Spanish National Orchestra, the Spanish National Radio/Television Orchestra, L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, The New Moscow Chamber Orchestra, the Springfiled Orchestra, the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, the American Sinfonietta and the Bournemouth Symphony. He has been a special guest at the festivals of Salzburg, Israel, Schleswig-Holstein, Menuhin, Osaka, Granada, Istanbul, Ravinia, Garden State, Hollywood Bowl, Blossom, Wolf Trap, Saratoga and Hong Kong.

Since his first recording (at the age of 15) he has recorded over 50 solo albums and 30 albums as part of the famed guitar quartet The Romeros. He has played for Presidents Carter and Nixon, the Queen of the Netherlands, the Prince of Wales and Pope John Paul II. He has numerous international recording awards to his credit and has received an Honorary Doctorate in Music from University of Victoria.

His contributions to the field of classical guitar have inspired a number of distinguished composers to write works specifically for him, including Joaquín Rodrigo, Federico Moreno Torroba, Rev. Francisco de Madina, Lorenzo Palomo, Michael Zearott, Enrique Diemecke, and Celedonio Romero.

Pepe Romero is the second son of Celedonio Romero, who was his only guitar teacher. His first professional appearance was in a shared concert with his father when Pepe was only seven years old. In 1957 Celedonio Romero left Franco‘s Spain for the United States with his family.

On February 11, 2000, King Juan Carlos I of Spain knighted Pepe Romero and his brothers, Celin and Ángel, into the Order of “Isabel la Catolica.” The official ceremony of this high honor took place at the USC Thornton School of Music, and included a gala performance by The Romeros with the Thornton Chamber Orchestra. He is currently Adjunct Professor of Classical Guitar at the Thornton School, where he was named “Distinguished Artist in Residence” in 2004.^[1][2]

Although originally a classical guitarist, he is talented in Flamenco and a popular Flamenco performer. His most famous Flamenco-only album is called ¡Flamenco Fenómeno!

The Romero Guitar Quartet

The Romero Guitar Quartet

• 1960–90: Celedonio Romero, Celin Romero, Pepe Romero, Ángel Romero
• 1990–96: Celedonio Romero, Celin Romero, Pepe Romero, Celino Romero
• since 1996: Celin Romero, Pepe Romero, Celino Romero, Lito Romero

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Fabulous performances: Valentina Lisitsa Plays Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto #2 in c Op.18

[youtube.com/watch?v=uBpyjUd_8Qk]
Valentina Lisitsa – Rachmaninoff – Piano Concerto Nº 3 in D Minor, Op.30 (Part 1 of 5)
Orquesta de la Ciudad de los Reyes Director: Pablo Sabat
Auditorio del Colegio Santa Ursula Lima – Peru, 10 Diciembre 2009

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• Great Compositions/Performances: Valentina Lisitsa: Live from Sweden: Dress rehearsal Rachmaninoff Concerto #2 (NORRKÖPINGS SYMFONIORKESTER – Michael Francis conducting)
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• A wonderful encounter with Valentina Lisitsa

Prokofiev – Romeo & Juliet – Leningrad / Mravinsky

[youtube.com/watch?v=DXyv4SZmKyY]

Prokofiev – Romeo and Juliet

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Make Music Part of Your Life Series: Prokofiev – Romeo And Juliet – Juliet As A Young Girl

[youtube.com/watch?v=9ITSmOC2dS8]

Prokofiev – Romeo And Juliet – Juliet As A Young Girl

• Buy “Romeo and Juliet, Suite No. 2: Juliet as a Young Girl” on
  
  

  Google Play iTunes eMusic AmazonMP3

• Artist
  Sergei Prokofiev

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Make Music Part of Your Life Series – Enjoy: Spanish Guitar – Tárrega, Albéniz, Rodrigo

[youtube.com/watch?v=HbkdVpE-VEo]

Spanish Guitar: Tárrega, Albéniz, Rodrigo…

The Strings of Time
resound brightly today,
as they’re trying to say,
listen to Me, Soul of Mine.

Part 1 (Guitar Solo)
(00:00) 01. Capricho Arabe (Serenata, Tárrega) [Wulfin Lieske, guitar]
(05:09) 02. Lágrima (Prelude, Tárrega)
(06:46) 03. Maria (Gavotte, Tárrega)
(08:18) 04. Mazurka in G (Tárrega)
(10:04) 05. Recuerdos de Viaje Op.71, I En el Mar (Barcarola, Albéniz) [Julian Byzantine, guitar]
(15:45) 06. Recuerdos de Viaje Op.71, II Asturias (Leyenda, Albéniz)
(22:50) 07. Recuerdos de Viaje Op.71, V Puerta de Tierra (Bolero, Albéniz)
(26:23) 08. Andaluza (Danza Española No. 5, Granados) [Eliot Fisk, guitar]
(30:59) 09. Cancon del Lladre (Llobet) [Wulfin Lieske, guitar]
(32:31) 10. Romance (Anon, arr. Yepes) [Pierre Laniau, guitar]

Part 2 (Guitar and Orchestra)
(35:03) 11. Concierto Madrigal, I Fanfarre (Allegro Marziale, Rodrigo) [Alfonso Moreno & Deborah Mariotti, guitars – London Symphony Orchestra, Enrique Batiz]
(37:03) 12. Concierto Madrigal, II Pastoral (Allegretto, Rodrigo)
(40:44) 13. Concierto Andaluz, I Tiempo de Bolero (Allegro Vivace, Rodrigo) [Alfonso Moreno, Minerva Garibay, Cecilia Lopez & Jesus Ruiz, guitars – Mexican State Symphony Orchestra, Enrique Batiz]
(49:21) 14. Fantasia para un Gentilhombre, IV Canario (Rodrigo) [Ernesto Bitetti, guitar – Philharmonia Orchestra, Antoni Ros-Marba]

Music Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for non-profit purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.

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GREAT COMPOSITIONS/PERFORMANCES: Schubert Impromptu op. 142 No.3 B flat major

[youtube.com/watch?v=8YFX-XQLToE]
Schubert Impromptu op. 142 No.3 B flat major

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Valentina Lisitsa
Background information
Born	1973 Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Genres	Classical
Occupations	Classical pianist
Instruments	Piano
Website	www.valentinalisitsa.com

Valentina Lisitsa (Ukrainian: Валентина Лисиця, translit. Valentyna Lysytsya) is a Ukrainian-born and trainedclassical pianist who resides in North Carolina.^[1][2] Lisitsa is among the most frequently viewed pianists on YouTube and is often praised as a highly commendable pianist.^[3][4] Lisitsa followed a unique path to success, independently launching the beginnings of her career via social media, without initially signing to a tour promoteror record company.^[3][4]

Biography[edit]

Lisitsa was born in Kiev, Ukraine, in 1973. She started playing the piano at the age of three, performing her first solo recital at the age of four.^[5]

Despite her early disposition to music, her dream at that point was to become a professional chess player.^[6]Lisitsa attended the Lysenko music school for Gifted Children and, later, Kiev Conservatory,^[7] where she and her future husband, Alexei Kuznetsoff, studied under Dr. Ludmilla Tsvierko.^[8] It was when Lisitsa met Kuznetsoff that she began to take music more seriously.^[9] In 1991, they won the first prize in The Murray Dranoff Two Piano Competition in Miami, Florida.^[7][10] That same year, they moved to the United States to further their careers as concert pianists.^[3] In 1992 the couple married.^[3] Their New York debut was at the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center in 1995.^[8]

After the death of her manager, and with the thought that she was “just another blonde Russian pianist”^[11] Lisitsa almost gave up on her career as a concert pianist, and contemplated becoming a local worker for the government in Washington, D.C., but changed her mind at the last minute influenced by one of her new fans in England. Lisitsa posted her first YouTube video in 2007, gaining even more online attention after uploading her own set of Chopin etudes online for free (in response to an illegal upload of the same set beforehand). Her set of Chopin etudes reached the number one slot on Amazon’s classical video recordings, and became the most-viewed online set of Chopin etudes on YouTube.^[3]

Furthering her career, Lisitsa and her husband put their life savings in recording a CD of Rachmaninov concertos with the London Symphony Orchestra in 2010.^[3] In the spring of 2012, before her Royal Albert Hall debut, Lisitsa was signed on to Decca Records, who later released her Rachmaninov CD set.^[3] By mid-2012 she had nearly 50 million views on her YouTube videos.^[4]

Lisitsa has performed in various venues around the world, including Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Benaroya Hall, Musikverein and Royal Albert Hall. She is well known for her online recitals and practicing streams. She has also collaborated with violinist Hilary Hahn for various recital engagements.^[7]

Discography

Lisitsa has recorded six CDs for Audiofon Records, including three solo CDs and two discs of duets with her husband Alexei Kuznetsoff; a Gold CD for CiscoMusic label with cellist DeRosa; a duet recital on VAI label with violinist Ida Haendel; and DVDs of Frédéric Chopin’s 24 Etudes, Schubert–Liszt Schwanengesang.^[12]

Her recording of the 4 sonatas for violin and piano by composer Charles Ives, made with Hahn, was released in October 2011 on Deutsche Grammophone label. Her album “Valentina Lisitsa Live at the Royal Albert Hall” (based on her debut performance at that venue 19 June 2012) was released 2 July 2012.

Lisitsa has recently recorded several projects from the composers Rachmaninoff, Liszt, Chopin, and Beethoven. Her complete album of Rachmaninoff concertos was released in October 2012 by Decca Records.^[13] The most recent album of Liszt works was released in October 2013 on Decca label in 2 formats – CD and 12″ LP which was cut unedited from analog tape.

External links

• Valentina Lisitsa’s website
• Valentina Lisitsa’s videos on YouTube
• Review of Valentina Lisitsa’s September 30, 2010 recital at George Fox University

Related articles

• Simply…Unforgettables: Valentina Lisitsa – Schubert Impromptu Op. 142, No.3 B, flat major (“The impromptu ended, but its atmosphere will linger for a while in the air”)
• Classical Piano Virtuoso Sparkles in Portland Concert
• Schubert – 4 Impromptus, D. 899 / Op. 90 (Maria João Pires)
• Great Compositions/Performances: Beethoven Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13 “Pathétique” Live – Valentina Lisitsa
• Great Compositions/Performances: Valentina Lisitsa: Live from Sweden: Dress rehearsal Rachmaninoff Concerto #2 (NORRKÖPINGS SYMFONIORKESTER – Michael Francis conducting)

Great Compositions/Performances: Valentina Lisitsa plays Rachmaninoff’s Variation 18 Rhapsody on Themes of Paganini Valentina Lisitsa

[youtube.com/watch?v=yTyiwtfpO8s]
Live footage from the recording session. London Symphony Orchestra , Michael Francis conducting. The recording is available now on Decca. Get yours today! 🙂
iTunes: http://smarturl.it/paganinirhapsody
Amazon: http://smarturl.it/LisitsaPaganini

Rachmaninoff Variation 18 Rhapsody on Themes of Paganini Valentina Lisitsa

Live footage from the recording session. London Symphony Orchestra , Michael Francis conducting. The recording is available now on Decca. Get yours today! 🙂
iTunes: http://smarturl.it/paganinirhapsody
Amazon: http://smarturl.it/LisitsaPaganini

Related articles

• “Take One” – Rachmaninoff Concerto #3 Recording Session at Abbey Roads 2nd mov. Lisitsa
• A wonderful encounter with Valentina Lisitsa
• Rachmaninoff Concerto No.3 “Solo” Version 1st mov. (with ossia Cadenza ) Valentina Lisitsa
• Classical Pianist Valentina Lisitsa From D2F To A Record Deal

 

Make Music Part of Your Life series: Schumann – Symphony No. 2 in C Op.61 – Leonard Bernstein (live recording)

Robert Schumann (1810 – 1856) – Symphony n°2 in C major opus 61

I. Sostenuto assai (00:00) – Allegro ma non troppo (03:41)
II. Scherzo. Allegro vivace (12:26)
III. Adagio espressivo (19:20)
IV. Allegro molto vivace (32:46)

Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks), dir Leonard Bernstein
(live recording 1983)
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• Leonard Bernstein’s ‘Rite of Spring’ Thrill Ride