Rachmaninov
Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 4 Two giants of the piano performing art are featured on this CD: Sviatoslav Richter Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Both of these pianists are now deceased. Yet...
View ArticleMichelangeli’s magic
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli plays Ravel and Debussy This recording is a tribute to the late Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, a very fine musician; a perfectionist with a highly selective concert...
View ArticleBerlin Philharmonic Concert
Berlin Philharmonic concert One of my ongoing pleasures is to be able to be in the comfort of my home, and to connect with the Berlin Philharmonic’s Digital Concert Hall . There is no need to wait for...
View ArticleDes horizons plus vastes de la musique Française - Vol. 2
Focusing on the major works by the great Belgian master, to sample but a few top performances of his irresistible Violin Sonata, his heroic Symphonie and the touchingly lyrical Piano Quintet. Reverting...
View ArticleRachmaninov: Piano Concertos 1 to 4; Paganini Rhapsody – review
Lisitsa/London SO/Francis (Decca, two CDs)Now in her early 40s, Valentina Lisitsa is an unusual pianistic phenomenon, one who could only have invented herself via the social media of the 21st century....
View Articleteachers and students: transmission versus copying
Gustav Leonhardt’s transcription of J.S. Bach’s Ciaccona Musical transmission is a well-explored topic in the history of Western music. In a rare filmed appearance, pianist Edwin Fischer recited, more...
View ArticleMichelangeli
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli plays Mozart Piano Concertos I always get excited when I hear young pianists of today, who “carry the torch” of music into the future. Still, there are artists of the past...
View ArticleEternal Recordings of my Classical Music Collection - Part 7
Emil Gilels plays Beethoven’s Piano Concertos Nos. 4 and 5 This CD is altogether excellent, but the 4th Concerto is what really stands out. An extraordinary interpretation by the great Emil Gilels,...
View ArticleEternal Recordings of my Classical Music Collection - Part 8
Maurizio Pollini plays Beethoven’s Late Piano Sonatas An altogether excellent set of Beethoven’s most mature and searching piano sonatas. Recommended with no reservation. David Hurwitz reviews this...
View ArticleCelestial Shades - Schubert Essentials #1
You don't just listen to Schubert's music, you surrender to its timeless beauty. The innocence, the depth, the sublime grace, the often sorrowful tones gently rocking between major and minor modes, the...
View ArticleRubinstein plays Bach-Busoni Chaconne
Listening to this touching piano transcription by Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924) on Bach’s Chaconne for unaccompanied violin (BWV1004), is always an inspiring experience. I just feel like listening to a...
View ArticleA coffee with … Mary Matz
I have one thing to say: launching a new project is always really exciting. And I’m excited to present the first opus of my “A coffee with …” series, a series of short interviews with people who...
View ArticleClaude Debussy.
Claude Debussy: “Music cannot be learned”, a Film by Georges Gachot Composer Claude Debussy was born in St. Germain-en Laye, a few miles outside Paris, in 1862. As a pupil at the Paris Conservatoire,...
View ArticleBrahms – Symphony No. 4
Let’s go back in time for this week’s Listen To This!. We are in 1884, in a small Austrian town called Mürzzuschlag . In fact we’re more in 1885 than 1884 because today we’re speaking of the 4th...
View ArticleOpen letter to musicians struggling in big cities
A week ago or so, my friend Meerenai Shim pointed me to a blog post written by Demetrius Spaneas about The need for struggle . I read the thing carefully and I thought that I would have agreed with it...
View Articleplastic desires
One semester into grad school and I’m already having moral issues with the art I want to do for the rest of my life – Sound Design for theatre and dance. Lately I’ve been on this green crusade to...
View ArticleCD Spotlight. Variety of Tone
Michelangeli's Beethoven and Debussy, heard by Robert Anderson. '... a sympathetic medium for Debussy's vision.' (c) Music and Vision - Reviews All the news about classical music and opera in press...
View ArticleDvorak's White Grand - The Saga of the Petrof Piano
Rummaging around in the proverbial shoebox of old photos from an old Euro vacation, i ran across a Throwback Thursday-worthy shot of me tickling the ivories on Antonín Dvořák’s own ivory-colored piano....
View ArticleMichelangeli’s Magic.
Michelangeli plays Chopin and Rachmaninov The Italian pianist Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli was a legend in his own lifetime. He was renowned for his beautifully polished sound, clarity of execution,...
View ArticleWhat music was broadcast on the day you were born?
That is Edmund Rubbra at the piano in the photo above. Mark Berry, who writes the authoritative Boulezian blog, has added a comment to my post about the first interview with designate BBC Radio 3...
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