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February 2006

Chamber Music, Spanish Style

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Our evening tonight begins with some pleasant forays into a Spanish-infused chamber music program, including an arrangement for two guitars of Rossini's "The Barber of Seville" Overture played by Duo Tedesco. Bach's "Brandenburg" Concerto No. 6 with Jerzy Maksymiuk leading the Polish Chamber Orchestra brings our first hour to a royal resolution.

For our second hour, we witness two distinct approaches to composition during times pervaded by cultural turmoil. Lynn Harrell and Vladimir Ashkenazy perform Debussy's Cello Sonata in D minor, an ironically playful and exuberant piece written against the backdrop of World War I. Also, Sir Georg Solti conducts the London Symphony Orchestra in a work from the same tumultuous period, Bela Bartok's "Miraculous Mandarin" suite.

Horst Göbel and members of the Orchestra Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic lead us into uncharted territory with the Octet for Piano, Winds, and Strings by Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, considered by Schumann to be "the romanticist of the classical period." Rimsky-Korsakov's exotically symphonic "Scheherazade" brings our final hour to a close with majestic fanfare.


Virtuoso Fireworks

Monday, February 27, 2006

Fireworks of virtuosity abound tonight, beginning with a lively selection of pieces for solo guitar, including David Starobin performing Mauro Giuliani's "Six Variations on an Original Theme." Hot on Starobin's heels is violinist Akiko Suwanai, who tackles Sarasate's dazzling "Carmen Fantasy"; we'll also treat ourselves to an historic live recording of pianist William Kappell in Chopin's Piano Sonata No. 2 (the "Funeral March").

Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra dominate the middle portion of our evening in Beethoven's Eighth Symphony, topped off by a little musical sibling rivalry as Gil and Orli Shaham serve up a selection from Dvorak's lyrical "Romantic Pieces."

Later on, we'll bring the evening to an adulterous close as Charles Dutoit leads the Montreal Symphony Orchestra through the perils of Tchaikovsky's "Francesca da Rimini," Dante's tale of forbidden love which had much personal relevance to the composer. Quoted in the score are Dante's own words: "There is no greater pain than to recall happiness in times of misery."


Vienna in New York

Sunday, February 26, 2006

"All praise of the Vienna Philharmonic reveals itself as understatement"
— not a bad reference from no less than Richard Strauss. One of the oldest and most revered orchestras in the World, the Vienna Philharmonic appears at Carnegie Hall next week (under Riccardo Muti) performing works by Mozart, Schubert, Bartok, Ravel and others. Tonight, we'll enjoy a little concert preview with Mozart’s spritely "Haffner" Symphony.

The rest of the evening is filled out mostly with music from the 20th Century, save for the Baroque stopgap of Silvius Weiss’s Lute sonata in B–flat (featuring Lutz Kirchhof). Oboist Maurice Bourgue takes on Vaughan Williams’s Oboe concerto with the English String Orchestra, and as a nod to the last day of the Winter Olympics, the Philip Glass ensemble performs an excerpt from Glass’s concert work written for the Olympics in 2004, "Orion."

» The Vienna Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall:
   Friday, March 3rd
   Saturday, March 4th
   Sunday, March 5th


Spotlight on: Musica Sacra

Saturday, February 25, 2006

Tonight David will be joined by Spotlight Guest, Richard Westenberg, founder and Music Director of the choral and orchestral ensemble Musica Sacra. Since 1968, Musica Sacra has been performing throughout our fair city with a repertoire ranging from medieval chant to premiers of works by composers such as Charles Ives, Alan Hovhaness, and Dave Brubek. While the discussion will focus on the music of J.S. Bach, there is no telling where the conversation between these two esteemed music enthusiasts could lead.

Opening our musical portion of tonight's playlist will be Mr. Westenberg at the helm of Musica Sacra performing Robert Moran's "Seven Sounds Unseen," a work composed specifically for this ensemble. We'll also hear the Audubon Quartet performing the String Quartet No. 1 of contemporary composer Peter Schickele, also known for his satirical turn as the lively P.D.Q. Bach. Joseph Haydn's Piano Sonata No. 59 in E flat, as played by Gilbert Kalish, helps to bring the evening to its close.


Jordi Savall: Baroque Master

Friday, February 24, 2006

Tonight's program opens with two Baroque string sonatas: Parnassi Musici performs Domenico Gallo's Sonata No. 6 in D, followed by the duo of Jordi Savall and Ton Koopman in J.S. Bach's First Gamba Sonata. Also featured in our first hour is Vaughan Williams' charming "Three Preludes on Welsh Hymn Tunes," a work destined for those who — in the composer's words — find themselves "whiling away the waiting hours of war."

Three traditional Bulgarian folksongs lead us into our third hour, as we waft our way from late romanticism through contemporary minimalism via Gabriel Faure's Barcarolle No. 3 and a vocal selection from Philip Glass's opera "Akhenaten."

Our evening will wind to its 20th century conclusion with Sasha Matson's "The Fifth Lake." The Just Strings Ensemble teams up with guitarist John Schneider for this adventurous work, which employs the "Pythagorean tuning system of pure perfect fifths."

Finally, Jordi Savall fans, you're in luck: you'll have a few chances to catch the esteemed Baroque master in action around the city next month. As a preview sampler tonight, we'll be sprinkling the evening with a selection of 17th century vocal and orchestral works by Mateo Flecha, Matthew Locke, and Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber.

» Jordi Savall at the Miller Theater in March

» The Art of Jordi Savall at the Met Museum

» Jordi Savall in recital at Weill Recital Hall


Eve in the Evening

Thursday, February 23, 2006

Tonight, Margaret welcomes Eve Queler, music director and founder of the Opera Orchestra of New York, for a live, in-studio discussion. An influential conductor who has been internationally recognized as an eminent champion of the arts and patron of young musicians, Ms. Queler will provide commentary as we feature excerpts of previous OONY performances.

Also on tonight's playlist: pianist Helen Huang brings her own brand of brilliance to Mendelssohn's "Capriccio brillant in B minor." As a contrast, we'll enjoy Swiss composer Frank Martin's take on the Irish with his "Piano Trio on Irish Folk Tunes" (featuring the Primavera Trio).

The second half of tonight's program is dominated by Richard Strauss' "Also Sprach Zarathustra," that epic musical journey of spiritual transcendence from man's origins through all the stages of his development.

Trevor Pinnock and The English Concert serve up Handel, while clarinetist Richard Stoltzman concludes our evening with Gerald Finzi's Five Bagatelles, a fresh, mood-oriented piece composed during World War II.


Haydn the Younger

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Although Franz Joseph got most of the musical attention in the Haydn family, younger brother Michael wrote his fair share of quality symphonies. Tonight, we'll hear one that actually inspired Mozart to add his own musical introduction!

Although it was attributed to Mozart for many years, the Symphony No. 37 in G (K. 444) is actually largely the work of Michael Haydn (it seems Mozart only wrote the introduction to the first movement). We'll hear the Northern Chamber Orchestra under Nicholas Ward in our first hour.

Later on, soprano Anna Netrebko dazzles with an aria from Massenet's "Manon," while mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter crosses over with Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan's "Take it with me." We'll also hear a complete work by Mozart, the Bassoon concerto in B-flat (K. 191 with soloist Benjamin Kamins; Christoph Eschenbach leads the Houston Symphony in tow.

In our last hour, two works that are related by mood if nothing else: baritone Simon Keenlyside and pianist Graham Johnson perform Ralph Vaughan Williams' "Five Mystical Songs"; after that, Andrew Litton leads the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in Tchaikovsky's dark and mysterious Symphony No. 5 in E Minor.


Happy Birthday to Delibes

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Tonight, a birthday salute to French composer Leo Delibes; also, we'll enjoy a vintage recording of Respighi's salute to his favorite city: Leopold Stokowski leads the Symphony of the Air in the "Pines of Rome."

Douglas Bostock conducts the Chamber Philharmonic of Bohemia in Birthday Boy Delibe's lively ballet "Le Roi s'amuse" (The King Amuses Himself). Also in our first hour, Christian Tetzlaff pulls a double-shift as conductor and soloist in Mozart's First Violin Concerto with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie.

Another work for violin piggybacks the Respighi later on: Edvard Grieg's Sonata in G for Violin and Piano; Dong-suk Kang and Roland Pontinen do the honors. Speaking of violin and piano, we'll also hear from Belgian composer and violinist Eugène Ysaÿe, literally. Ysaÿe performs his "Rève d'enfant" (Child's Dream) with pianist Camille DeCreus in an historical recording from 1913.


The Golden Cockerl

Monday, February 20, 2006

Our first hour tonight features a suite from Rismky-Korsakov's last opera, the politically scandalous "Le Coq d'or," which had to wait until a year after the composer's death for its premier. Handel's "Water Music" performed by Riccardo Muti and the Berlin Philharmonic completes the first hour.

Chamber music enthusiasts will appreciate the structural smoothness of Schubert's 9th String Quartet in E flat major as well as child violin prodigy Henri Vieuxtemps's Elegie for Viola and Piano. Beethoven's "Waldstein" Piano Sonata, No. 21 in C major, follows with richly adventurous fanfare.

Our second half includes Branford Marsalis as saxophone soloist in Milhaud's "Scaramouche," as well as Dvorak's initial foray into dance form, with his Op. 54 Waltzes for piano, and Haydn's Mass in C, "In Time of War," composed during Austria's ill-fated hostilities with France and an ever more triumphant Napoleon. The Julliard String Quartet concludes the programming with Bartok's compact String Quartet No. 3.


Ravishing Ravel

Sunday, February 19, 2006

What 20th-century piano concerto has the most gorgeous second movement ever? Ravel's Piano Concerto in G has that honor. Stay tuned to see if you agree.

The Imani Winds bring us four of Paraguayan Paquito D'Riviera's "Aires tropicals" in hour one, which also features the music of Argentinian Astor Piazzolla and Cuban Agustin Barrios Mangore.

Our second hour brings you that totally fab Ravel Piano Concerto in G, featuring pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet and the Montreal Symphony under Charles Dutoit. And when is the last time you heard Arnold Schoenberg’s Cello Concerto? Soon you will be able to say, "Today!" Cellist Fred Sherry is ably supported by the Philharmonia Orchestra under Robert Craft.


Celebrating Alfred Brendel

Saturday, February 18, 2006

Alfred Brendel has been celebrating his 75th year with a series of lectures and concerts, one of which will be at Carnegie on February 27. But in the meantime…

Stay tuned to hear him here in our last hour, as he plays the Mozart Piano Sonata No. 13 in B-flat.

Much of this evening will feature conversation and musical examples from our Spotlight guest, Steven Osgood, of the American Opera Project.

Aaron Copland’s suite from his opera "The Tender Land" can be heard in the 9:00 pm hour, as James Sedares leads the Phoenix Symphony. Intended to be the first opera for television but rejected by Herman Adler and the NBC Television Opera Workshop, the opera was first given by the New York City Opera under conductor Thomas Schippers, premiering on April 1, 1954.


Contrapuntus--to the pont!

Friday, February 17, 2006

Les Violons du Roy will be at Zankel Hall on Sunday, February 26th, but you can hear them here this evening, counterpointing their way through selections from Bach's "Art of the Fugue."

Violist Kim Kashkashian, who plays at the 92nd Street Y on February 21st and 22nd, is joined this evening by pianist Robert Levin for a stunning performance of Brahms Viola Sonata No. 1 in F Minor. Another performer you might want to experience live at Carnegie Hall on the 23rd and 25th is pianist Andras Schiff: we give you his recording of the Mozart Piano Concerto No. 14 in E-flat tonight, as a goad for going to Carnegie Hall.

Lovers of the Wild West will enjoy our last hour, when the San Francisco Symphony plays Copland’s "Rodeo" under Michael Tilson Thomas, followed by pianist Richard Zankars' traversal of the "Streets of Laredo" by Roy Harris.


Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks!

Thursday, February 16, 2006

It’s a bit windy during our first hour: Consortium Classicum plays Haydn’s Divertimento for Five Winds in F, and Charles Neidich and Dennis Godburn provide the lungpower for Beethoven’s Duo for Clarinet and Bassoon in C.

Although Dvorak wrote his "American" String Quartet No. 12 during his stay in Spilleville, Iowa, it sounds more typically Bohemian than American, as this evening's second-hour traversal by the Vlach Quartet demonstrates.

A suite from Rameau's "Hippolyte et Aricie" dominates our third hour, while the Clarinet Concerto by Carl Nielsen brings us into the twentieth century at the top of our final hour. Then it's back to Bach, with his Cello Suite No. 2.


Toasting Haydn's "Tost"

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

The Endellion String Quartet Member negotiates Papa Haydn's "Tost" String Quartet Op. 54/3 with ease, despite exceedingly difficult writing for the violin, no doubt written for virtuoso Johann Tost.

Maurizio Pollini performs the only work for piano that Alban Berg ever wrote, his Piano Sonata, a work printed at his own expense in 1910, which he designated his opus 1. You'll notice chords built upon superimposed intervals of the fourth, used both the shape melody and create harmony, edging towards his later atonal style.

"Winter Dreams," appropriate to the season, is the nickname for Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 1 in G Minor. Kurt Mazur leads the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig in this musical evocation of the endless expanses and frightening beauties of the Russian landscape.


From Our Hearts to Yours

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

It's Valentine's Day! For the ultimate make-out music, listen during our first hour to Ravel's "Bolero," in a steamy performance by the Vienna Philharmonic under Lorin Maazel.

Faure's Piano Quartet No. 1 holds pride of place in hour two, as Emanuel Ax is joined by violinist Isaac Stern, violist Jaime Laredo, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma, in an all-star valentine to chamber music enthusiasts.

Ever since its first performance in 1881, Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings has tugged at the strings of the heart, enrapturing all who hear it. Robert Irving conducts the New York City Ballet Orchestra.

Wagner’s great outpouring of love, the 'Liebestod' from "Tristan and Isolde," receives a glorious reading by soprano Monserrat Caballe, with Zubin Mehta leading the New York Philharmonic.


Eileen Farrell Favorites

Monday, February 13, 2006

Soprano Eileen Farrell favors us with her presence via recordings in our third hour, when we hear Richard Rodger's "My Romance" and Verdi's "Ballo in maschera" second-act duet (with tenor Richard Tucker.)

The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, with Ton Koopman leading from his harpsichord, brings us J. S. Bach's Keyboard Concerto No. 2 in the early part of the evening. Schubert's Fantasie in C, D. 934, dominates our second hour, that savior of Carnegie Hall, violinist Isaac Stern being joined by Daniel Barenboim at the piano.

The last hour is devoted to things Scottish: Mendelssohn's "Scottish" Symphony (No. 3), Antal Dorati leading the London Symphony Orchestra; early lute music (c. 1620) from the land of the plaid, with Paul O'Dette playing an 8-course lute; and the Seattle Symphony under Gerard Schwarz offering Richard Strauss's tone poem after Shakespeare, "Macbeth."


Something's Fishy

Sunday, February 12, 2006

"Gone fishin'!" Well, sorta. It's time for some “Trout,” by way of Schubert's famous Quintet, played by pianist Alfred Brendel and friends. Plus Debussy’s "Goldfish," served up by pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard.

The fish are served in our second hour. The first hour main course, after an appetizer of Philip Glass's "Company," is Debussy's Trio Sonata, with harpist Sophie Hallynck joined by Barthold and Sara Kuijken on flute and viola respectively.


Musicians from Marlboro Celebrate 40th Season

Saturday, February 11, 2006

This evening features chat and music from members of Musicians from Marlboro; we’ll hear about forty years of music making at Marlboro in Vermont.

Every summer young and developing professional players gather at Marlboro College to receive encouragement, artistic advice, and a chance to play alongside some of the preeminent stars in the musical firmament. After some excerpts from a 40th-anniversary CD, we hear Beethoven’s "Choral Fantasy" in C minor, featuring Rudolf Serkin on piano and conducting the Marlboro Festival Orchestra and Chorus, plus a bevy of soloists.

Another outstanding offering this evening is the Emerson Quartet's performance of Bedrich Smetana’s String Quartet No. 1 in E Minor, subtitled "From My Life." Midway through the fourth and last movement, we hear the fatal whistling sound that assailed him as deafness attacked first one ear, then the other. Pessimism vies with repose in this most remarkable of autobiographic musical portraits.


Spain, via guitar and piano

Friday, February 10, 2006

We're having a Spanish-inflected third hour, with guitar and piano music from sunny Spain. Sharon Isbin plays guitar works by Albeniz and Albreu, while Alicia de Larrocha plays piano works by Granados. Olé!

In our second hour, a very short couple of minutes of Schubert as Claudio Arrau plays the third of his Moments musicaux, op. 94, are followed by his substantial Symphony No. 5 as Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducts the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.

We mustn't forget to tell you that Darius Milhaud's jazz-inflected 1923 take on the "Creation du monde" (a ballet score that set incensed critics of the time aflame) is performed by Hugh Wolff's band, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra in hour one. In the end is our beginning, so to say...


H Rules the Hour I, from Holborne to Haydn to Hummel

Thursday, February 09, 2006

An Anthony Holborne Lullaby starts us off, but soon we hear Haydn's Violin Concerto No. 4, performed by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, with Elizabeth Wallfisch conducting and fiddling in the starring role simultaneously. The Wanderer Trio is joined by violist Christophe Gaugue and bassist Stephane Logerot for Johann Nepomuk Hummel’s Piano Quintet in E-flat Minor.

Not often heard is Morton Gould's "Spirituals for String Choir and Orchestra," played this evening from a broadcast recording by the Boston Symphony under Dimitri Mitropoulos. Gould says that the five movements, with self-explanatory titles (Proclamation, Sermon, A Little Bit of Sin, Protest, and Jublilee), are meant to display a wide gamut of specifically American emotions, with the strings used as if they were a vocal choir.

In our final hour, we find finds David Golub at the piano, ably assisted by the London Symphony under Wyn Morris, as they bring us the ever-famous and highly beloved Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2.


Fine Fare with "Facade" and Faure

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Lynn Redgrave narrates the facile and fun 'Façade Suite" in our final hour. The poetry is Edith Sitwell's; William Walton's music is played by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

Gabriel Faure is twice represented in hour one: the song "Roses of Ispahan," with pianist David Breitman supporting baritone Sanford Sylvan; and "Dolly Suite," duo-pianists Laurence Fromentin and Dominique Plancade sharing the spotlight.

Some folks refer to Weber's Clarinet Quintet as "a concerto for clarinet and string quartet." The very front and center clarinet part is expertly negotiated in this case by Richard Stolzman, while the Tokyo String Quartet provides able backup.


Two pianos, two cellos, and a horn

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Schumann’s Op. 46 Andante and Variations, unusual in its scoring, is performed by pianists Martha Argerich and Alexandre Rabinovitch, cellists Natalia Gutman and Mischa Maisky, and hornist Marie-Louise Neunecker.

Haydn's Symphony No. 95 in C Minor, the second of twelve symphonies composed during his two happy stays in London, is given a lovely reading by the Collegium Musicum 90 under Richard Hickox.

George Solti and the Orchestre de la Societe des Concerts du Conservatoire (try saying that quickly, four times in a row!) perform with panache the "Little Russian" Symphony, or No. 2 in C Minor, by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. This just happens to be the anniversary of its 1873 first performance in Moscow.


Some flutes, but not for champagne

Monday, February 06, 2006

Johann Christian Bach, Sebastian's youngest, who spent most of his life living and composing in London, is represented by his op. 19/2 Quartet for two flutes, viola, and cello, played by Camerata Koln.

In our second hour, Schubert's "Grand Duo" Violin Sonata in A is given a grand reading by violinist Joseph Swensen and pianist Jeffrey Kahane. Our third hour features another sonata for stringed instrument and piano, this time Chopin's Cello Sonata in G Minor, featuring the absolutely gorgeous looking (and playing) cellist Ofra Harnoy and pianist Cyprien Katsaris, whose good looks is exceeded by his playing.

In our last hour, we hear Daniel Barenboim play Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 16 in G, composed in 1802, the year he wrote to a friend, "I'm not satisfied with my works so far; from now on I intend to take a different road." The differences may be discovered in the small surprises and strange turns that ruffle its deceivingly smooth surface.


Couperin Rules!

Sunday, February 05, 2006

Francois Couperin, the greatest composer of the mid-Baroque in France and a favorite of the "Sun King" himself, Couperin composed for and played in many a royal Sunday court concert.

We hear the “Concert Royal” No. 3 in A this evening, performed on original instruments by several members of the Kuijken family who are joined by a few like-minded enthusiasts of the authentic-performance movement.

Robert Bernhard conducts the double-bassist Gary Karr and the Louisville Orchestra in a performance of Paul Ramsier’s “Divertimento concertante on a Theme of Couperin,” a work made up of “six compact variations of subtlety, humor, and finesse,” as critic Roger Dettmer described it. The theme is taken from a Couperin harpsichord piece called “La Bandoline.”


World Premier of Marc Mellits' "Brick"

Saturday, February 04, 2006

WNYC takes you to Carnegie Hall for a live broadcast of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in concert. The program features the world premiere of a work by Marc Mellits entitled "Brick." WNYC co-commissioned this piece in partnership with the Cheswatyr Foundation, The American Music Center, NPR, and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, constituting the Cheswatyr New Music Initiative. John Schaefer will host.

» The American Music Center
» Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
» National Public Radio
» Marc Mellits

Also on the program are:
--Ravel: Le tombeau de Couperin
--Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 2, with soloist Vadim Repin
--Beethoven: Symphony No. 8

A self-governing organization since its inception in 1972, Orpheus is committed to illuminating musical works of art, both old and new, for discriminating international audiences in a profoundly unique manner. They have always worked without a conductor, and they do not have permanent section leaders. They are a uniquely democratic orchestra.

Throughout the years, the American Music Center has been the consistent leader in pioneering new programs and services to support and advance the field of new American music. Founded in 1939 by Marion Bauer, Aaron Copland, Howard Hanson, Otto Luening, Harrison Kerr, and Quincy Porter, the original mission, as created by these six composers, performers, publishers and educators, was:

"...[T]o foster and encourage the composition of contemporary (American) music and to promote its production, publication, distribution and performance in every way possible throughout the Western Hemisphere."


From Mermaids to Swales

Friday, February 03, 2006

Beth Anderson's " Dr. Blood's Mermaid Lullaby" and "Pennyroyal Swale" are featured in our first hour. This young American composer is one of the most interesting of contemporary composers.

Since Mendelssohn was born this day in 1809, we thought we'd celebrate by listening to violinist Gil Shaham play the heck out of his Violin Concerto, Giuseppe Sinopoli conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra.

Said John Cage: "The responsibility of the artist consists in perfecting his work so that it may become attractively disinteresting." His "String Quartet in Four Parts" achieves this goal wondrously. The LaSalle Quartet performs the four movements of Cage's work with the vibratoless, zen-like concentration required. Listen for it in our third hour.


By the light of the moon...

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Debussy's "Suite bergamasque" contains one of his most famous compositions, the 'Clair de lune.' But there are three other episodes, all equally charming, if not so familiar.

This evening we hear the entire suite as orchestrated by Gustave Cloez and Andre Caplet, in a performance by the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra under Emil de Cou.

Cellist Mischa Maisky joins the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra for Tchaikovsky's "Variations on a Rococo Theme." To remind you, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra will appear at Carnegie Hall on Saturday, February 8th, playing the premiere of a Marc Mellits piece co-commissioned by WNYC.

Can anyone resist Gershwin's "An American in Paris"? Hear Henry Lewis conduct the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra mid-evening. Our final hour feature is Papa Haydn's Symphony No. 84 in E-flat, Yehudi Menuhin conducting the Menuhin Festival Orchestra.


Graduating from Doctor Gradus to Golliwog's Cakewalk

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Whether listening to piano music or learning to play it, we find our hearts captured by Debussy's "Children's Corner," written with the composer’s beloved daughter Chouchou in mind.

The six enchanting episodes,'Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum,' 'Jimbo's Lullaby,' ; Serenade of the Doll,' The Snow Is Dancing,' 'The Little Shepherd,' and 'Golligwogg's Cake Walk' are played for us this evening by Aldo Ciccolini.

In the then burgeoning body of violin concertos, Locatelli's loomed large, influenced by both Corelli and Vivaldi, but foreshadowing in technical brilliance the writing of Paganini. Violinist Rudolfo Bonucci negotiates the Opus 3/12 Violin Concerto's difficulties with ease, belying its manuscript designation: "Facilis aditus, difficilis exitus"(easy to get into, difficult to get out of). The ending solo cadenza is astounding.

Mendelssohn was arguably even more a prodigious child wonder than Mozart. His first published composition, the Piano Quartet in C Minor, was completed when he was only thirteen. The charm of this early work is amply evidence in the performance by Domus (named in honor of the portable geodesic concert hall carted around by the group in its early concertizing days, facilitating appearances from hilltop to marketplace across Britain, Europe, and beyond).