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Mozart - Schubert SONATA, K448 / FANTASIA, OP.103, D.940 Murray Perahia (piano) Radu Lupu (piano) CBS Masterworks 1985 Notes: "Mozart wrote the D major Sonata in Vienna in November 1781 to be played by himself and Josephine von Aurnhammer. Fräulein
von Aurnhammer was one of his most gifted pupils, and she often appeared with him in performances of his concerto in E-flat for two pianos and orchestra, K.365." Mozart:
Sonata for 2 Pianos in D Major, K.448/375a:
I. Allegro con spirito
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hlxrw1cpcIII. Andante
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kPbm80jf7AIII. Allegro molto
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WY1ZXcgJqJ0Franz Schubert: Notes: "Schubert himself gave the first performance of the Fantasia, with Franz Lachner in Vienna on May 9, 1828. The score is dedicated to Countess Caroline, a young piano student of the composer."
Fantasie in F Minor, Op.103, D. 940
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJhL-cFQh58Cheers |
Sergei Prokofiev
PETER AND THE WOLF
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Andre Previn
Telarc 1986
Notes: "When Prokofiev returned for good to his native Russia in 1933 from his years in the West, he quickly espoused the Soviet philosophy of promoting music that would appeal to the widest masses of the people. "It is the duty of the composer to serve his fellow men, to beautify life and point the way to a radiant future," he said."
I guess the West didn't impress him.
Peter and the Wolf, a symphonic fairy tale for children Op. 67 (1936)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQW30nE93QwCheers |
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Chamber Orchestra:
The perfect size.
Cheers |
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Sergei Prokofiev VIOLIN CONCERTO Maxim Vengerov (violin) London Symphony Orchestra Mstislav Rostropovich Teldec 1994 Notes:"When Stalin launched his second major attack against the composers of the Soviet Union in February 1948, two of the nation's most prominent composers were among the main defendants. One sat in the front row, the other in the last. In the front row was Sergei Prokofiev. Way in the back sat a nervous Dmitri Shostakovich, who left the room every few minutes to smoke a cigarette. No scene could better characterize the two contemporaries. The one self-confident, the other apprehensive..."
Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No.1 in D major Op.19
I Andantino
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jWNWfMzJQY
II Scherzo - Vivacissimo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9uN9IeEifU
III Moderato
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CDIgXyCcR0Cheers |
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Sound familiar?: More than familiar. I think David Hurwitz talked about this also, using the same music in both pieces. Thanks Cheers |
Sergei Rachmaninoff / Ludwig van Beethoven PIANO CONCERTOS Van Cliburn (piano) Chicago Symphony Orchestra Fritz Reiner RCA Victor Living Stereo 1961, 1962, 1994 Notes:"E-flat major was to Beethoven a heroic key by the evidence of the "Eroica" Symphony which has something of the same proud spirit. Beethoven seems to have been possessed by this tonality in 1809, the year of the concerto, for the piano sonata, Op. 81a, and the so-called harp quartet (op.74), both in E flat, were also composed in this year. It was a year of war; French troops occupied Vienna, and the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte made his headquarters in the palace of
Schönbrunn. These outward events had no effect upon the artist Beethoven and his seclusive domain of tones, except to annoy him and impede his work."
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18
I. Moderato - Allegro
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUrotc3cj-s
II. Adagio sostenuto
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv3NfWt6LzM
III. Allegro scherzando
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5GbS96-_xwBeethoven: Piano Concerto No.5 in E-flat, Op.73 "Emperor" I. Allegro
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5a2TmzBxuU
II. Adagio un poco mosso
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwXC4H60ZR8
III. Rondo - Allegro
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeGBUHYYWTICheers |
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Sergei Rachmaninoff
SYMPHONIC DANCES FOR 2 PIANOS Emanuel Ax (piano) Yefim Bronfman (piano) Sony Classical 2001 Notes: "The fact that Sergei Rachmaninoff was born in the St. Petersburg of czarist Russia and died amidst the palm trees of Beverly Hills, California is curiously apt. Rachmaninoff was what we like to call a "transitional figure"--one foot planted deep in Romanticism, the other reaching toward a somewhat idiosyncratic modernity, making the leap from almost-medieval Russia under the Czar to the flamboyant liberty of the Hollywood Hills."
Symphonic Dances, Op. 45 (Version for 2 Pianos)
I. Non allegro "Noon"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjhEPbjtJIU
II. Andante con moto "Twilight"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH_b5tJEKps
III. Lento assai - Allegro vivace "Midnight"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ORC19UnVUwCheers |
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Serge Rachmaninoff / Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky PIANO CONCERTOS Martha Argerich (piano) RSO Berlin Riccardo Chailly Symphonie-Orchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks Kirill Kondrashin Philips Classics 1995 Notes: "...But perhaps the last word should go to the late Eugene List who, after referring to Argerich's capacity, even as a child, to spin off octaves like single notes, went on to salute her as, quite simply, "one of nature's happenings."
Rachmaninov: Piano concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgMUgmri1JM
Tchaikovsky: Piano concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, Op.23
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHMsrELwaj4Cheers |
Maurice Ravel BOLERO - DAPHNIS ET CHLOE Orchestre de Paris Daniel Barenboim DG 1982 Notes: "The bolero was originally a brisk Spanish dance, and Chopin's op.19 retains this characteristic tempo. Ravel's piece is much slower than brisk and it may be regarded in two lights -- as a study in orchestration and an essay in the concept of crescendo." "The ballet Daphnis et Chole, which is probably Ravels's masterpiece, was commissioned by Diaghilev..... Ravel started work on it at least three years before the first performance, which was on 8 June 1912. The two orchestral suites, which contain the finest of the music, can be enjoyed without any reference to the scenario of the ballet."
Boléro, M. 81
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HI73PK06MQc
Daphnis et Chloé Suite No.2, M. 57b
1. Lever du jour
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_0fcMeJ-m0
2. Pantomime
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isddTbtxg6o
3. Danse générale
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E99aRfA-bcsCheers |
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Maurice Ravel THE PIANO CONCERTOS
Pascal Rogé
(piano) Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal Charles Dutoit Decca 1983 Notes: "The piano was Ravel’s instrument. When the G major concerto’s first performance was announced for Amsterdam in March 1931, the composer intended to be the soloist. But illness delayed the work’s completion, and by the time of the postponed premiere on 14 January 1932 in Paris, Ravel decided--despite many hours spent practising the studies of Chopin and Liszt -- that the task was beyond him. Accordingly, he asked Marguerite Long to fill the breach and dedicated the concerto to her." Ravel: Piano Concerto in G Major, M. 83 1. Allegramente https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqCKzFcE5CQ 2. Adagio assai https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_e4oBU-RoM 3. Presto https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOK3Y2oB96YCheers |
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Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov SCHEHERAZADE Chicago Symphony Orchestra Fritz Reiner RCA Living Stereo / BMG SACD 1960 / 2005 Notes: "Deems Taylor once wrote that thrice-familiar staples of the concert repertoire should periodically be placed under a five-year moratorium, during which time their existence would be conveniently be forgotten. The five-year ban elapsed, one would presumably return to them with ears refreshed and musical appetite eager to relish them again. There are those who argue that 'Scheherazade' merits a moratorium." It seems to have obtained "warhorse" status.
Scheherazade, Op. 35:
I. The Sea and Sinbad's Shiphttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKOAvPxpDu0
II. The Story of the Kalender Prince
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yx3keUuPGJ8III. The Young Prince and the Young Princess
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRSllaa15DU
IV. Festival at Bagdad - The Sea - The Ship Breaks Against a Cliff
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtZ-TlpqSnECheers
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Gioachino Rossini OVERTURES Orpheus Chamber Orchestra DG 1985 Notes: "...many of these masterpieces of wit and rhythmic vitality were performed in versions the composer would hardly have recognized as his own, The basic structure and spirit were still Rossini’s, but the musical details were often drastically transformed." "These overtures embody what Stendhal called Rossini’s "candeur virginale". And their special qualities are immeasurably enhanced when, as here, they are performed by a chamber ensemble using scores faithful to the composer’s intentions." L’italiana in Algeri - Overture https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ay9rjkgCmRUIl barbiere di Siviglia - Overture (Sinfonia) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRMpzy6GG4E Il Signor Bruschino - Overture https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLlA4SR8PVQA Rosette Recording: The penguin guide to Compact Disc. Cheers |
Gioachino Rossini
OVERTURES Chicago Symphony Orchestra Fritz Reiner RCA Gold Seal / BMG 1958 / 1990 Notes: Gioacchino Antonio Rossini--child prodigy, boy soprano, composer of almost 40 operas in about 20 years--was born on February 29 (leap-year day, as he was fond of pointing out), 1792 in Pesaro, Italy. Rossini wrote his first opera, 'Demetrio e Polibio', at the age of 16, although it was not produced on stage until four years later at the Teatro Valle in Rome. 'La cambiale di matrimonio' followed in 1810, and after that operas flowed from his pen, never fewer than one a year and sometimes two or three, ending with William Tell, a grand opera first produced in Paris in 1829. After that Rossini composed no more for the stage, although he was to live until 1868. Why a composer of such international fame chose to abandon opera while still in his 30s and at the height of his career is still one of the great mysteries of musicology.
La gazza ladra / The Thieving Magpie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JK7cLxxxWsLa scala di seta / The Silken Ladder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrugBmgKIIQ
La cenerentola / Cinderella
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxobxMdR1AA
Guillaume Tell / William Tell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJNGz0RL6qoCheers |
Franz Schubert 3 PIANO PIECES Mitsuko Uchida (piano) Philips 1998 Notes: "The Three Pieces D.946 were composed in May 1828 and were the last piano works Schubert wrote before embarking on his final three sonatas. Schubert's autograph lacks the finishing touches he gave his music when preparing it for publication; nor do we know if he intended the pieces to form a coherent group, along the lines of his two sets of impromptus. At any rate Brahms, who first edited them for publication in 1868, gave them the neutral title of
Drei Klavierstücke."
3 Piano Pieces, D.946
No.1 in E flat minor (Allegro assai)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-VLCaP0vQc
No.2 in E flat (Allegretto)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngsHbxQE5-I
No.3 in C (Allegro)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51LCccZqHVICheers |
Franz Schubert
PIANO SONATAS Mitsuko Uchida (piano) Philips 2000 Notes: "The Sonata in A minor, D784, dates from February 1823. It was Schubert's first piece of it's kind for several years, though just three months earlier he had composed his greatest and most important piano work to date--the "Wanderer" Fantasy. The sonata is as different in character from that work as could be imagined, yet the two have an important feature in common: both seem to be conceived without regard for the limitations of the piano."
Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 14 in A Minor, D. 784
1. Allegro giusto
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8mVi1pKNaY
2. Andante
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoM4Xs_yN9Y
3. Allegro vivace
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq5TJx2XZpQCheers |
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Franz Schubert
Symphony No. 8 Wiener Philharmoniker Carlos Kleiber DG 1979 Notes:"The ethereal quality Kleiber brings to the final pages of the ["Unfinished"] symphony gives his readings a very special poignance unmatched by any other performance I have heard." Stereo Review (1980) Those were the days. SR never steered you wrong on music. Symphony No.8 In B Minor, D.759 "Unfinished"
1. Allegro moderato
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHI9yCe8bVg
2. Andante con moto
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsxLHZ-Jz74Cheers |
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Ivan Fischer:
He does seem to be everywhere these days. I am about to introduce myself to Mahler and will start with his Mahler 2.
Cheers |
His Mahler 4 is superb , that is my go to reference nowadays. Superb recording too, very detailed.
Thanks. I will check it out. Cheers |
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Franz Schubert
WINTERREISE (Winter's Journey)
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau(baritone),
Gerald Moore(piano)
EMI 1955 / 2002
Notes: "When a singer has recorded the same music more than once, a critical formula comes conveniently to hand whereby the later version is recommended for the maturity of its artistry and the earlier one is complimented for freshness of voice. With 'Winterreise' such vocal freshness is not necessarily a virtue; and with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau his mature artistry has never been in question even if we go back to the first recordings of all. Though this was his first recording of the cycle, Fischer-Dieskau had already sung it many times, the first being at the age of 19 with an interval of three hours for an air-raid. The second in 1944 with the singer on leave from the Russian front..."
From EMI's 'Great Recordings of the Century' series.
Winterreise, D 911
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAvdaXMLRBQCheers |
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