For the month of October, the #ClassicsaDay team (of which I’m a part), decided to go with a Halloween theme. The idea is to share works marked in some way with the composer’s demise. It can be the last piece a composer completed before death, or one left incomplete at death. For my part, I […]
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
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#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalNine Week 4
September is the ninth month of the year. And so the #ClassicsaDay team decided to make the number the theme. For September 2018, the challenge is to post classical works that have to do with the number nine. I chose to alternate between nonets, opus nine compositions and works with a catalog number of nine. […]
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Mozart: Music for Harpsichord Four Hands – an unusual choice
This is a somewhat curious album. Not because of the repertoire — recordings of Mozart’s 4-hand keyboard works aren’t that rare. Some of the works represented here have over 40 different recorded versions currently available. No, what makes this collection unusual is the instrument itself. Most of the recordings of this music are done with […]
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Cavatina Duo at the Opera — Brilliante!
Cavatina at the Opera is one of those releases that works on multiple levels. Superficially, it’s a program of pleasantly familiar music, arranged for flute and guitar — something that might not be out of place at a wine and cheese reception. After all, a medley of operatic favorites lends itself to moments of comforting […]
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The Berlin Wall falls – and a celebration of Dame Joan too!
This Friday, Vivace begins with a delightful piano quartet by Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia and a symphony by Antonio Rosetti. At 7:30 am, we’ll do our part to mark the 25th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, which occurs next Sunday, including an excerpt from a rare recording of cellist Mstislav Rostropovich […]
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Mozart Series Continues with Marianna Shirinyan
Although this is the fourth volume of Bridge Records’ survey of the Mozart piano concertos, it’s actually the first to feature pianist Mariann Shirinyan. She replaces the previous soloist (who has since left the label) to continue the series with Scott Yoo and the Odense Symphony Orchestra. Not to worry, though. Shirinyan is more than […]
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Stuyvesant Quartet — Audio Treasures
The Stuyvesant Quartet was a group of talented musicians who left a remarkable legacy. Founded by by the Shulman brothers, Sylvan (violin) and Alan (cello) in 1938, the quartet consisted of preeminent musicians from broadcast network symphony orchestras. In 1950 they formed their own label — Philharmonia — with audio legend Norman Pickering as their […]
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Constantine Orbelian, pianist
Although this is a new release from Delos, it isn’t a new recording. Constantine Orbelian is best known today as the innovative conductor of the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, but initially he was primarily a concert pianist. This 1992-1993 recording happened at a pivotal point in Obelian’s career. He was working with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra […]
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Mozart Sonata Premiered 246 Years After Composition
t’s always big news when a previously unknown work by a major composer is unearthed — especially if that composer is Mozart. In this case, it was a short Allegro for piano, composed around 1766-1767 by a very young Mozart. According to the Mozarteum Salzburg Foundation, the work was discovered in a 1780 notebook kept […]