~Program~
Claude Debussy: En Bateau from Petite Suite
Paul Lewis and Steven Osborne, piano
Twenty-seven tracks of French piano music for four hands performed by Paul Lewis and Steven Osborne make for a delightful listening experience.
Anton Bruckner: 3rd mvt (Scherzo) from Symphony No. 2 in C minor
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Andris Nelsons
From the liner notes: “‘In this symphony, Bruckner has formulated everything very clearly: the wonderful themes are clearly separated from each other by general pauses, and yet the result is a great whole. It is astonishing that this work is so rarely performed – in fact, it is an ideal introduction to the cosmos of Bruckner’s Symphony’, says Gewandhaus Kapellmeister Andris Nelsons about the second symphony.
John Dowland: Time Stands Still
Ensemble Amarcord, Daniel Hope, violin
Violinist Daniel Hope injects the right amount of pathos into this beautiful song by English composer John Dowland. Daniel records for Deutsche Grammaphon.
Erich Wolfgang Korngold: Piano Concerto in C sharp for one hand, Op. 17
The Orchestra Now, Leon Botstein
Orion Weiss, piano
This is one of several concertos for the left hand commissioned for Paul Wittgenstein, a young pianist who lost his right arm in World War I. Erich Korngold was 25 when he wrote this work.
Einojuhani Rautavaara: Serenade for My Love
Radio France Philharmonic, Mikko Franck
Hilary Hahn, violin
Earlier this year, Elizabeth Elliott interviewed renowned violinist Hilary Hahn about her album Paris. Hilary tells the story behind Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara’s Deux Serenades.
Our interview this evening features Rob Kennedy speaking with cellist Bion Tsang about his recording of the Bach Cello Suites.
J.S. Bach: Prelude from Cello Suite No. 6 in D, BWV 1012
Bion Tsang, cello
Bion Tsang is Professor of Cello and holds the Joe R. & Teresa Lozano Long Chair in Cello at the Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music at The University of Texas at Austin. You can find his performance of Bach’s Cello Suites on the Sony Classical label.
Richard Danielpour: Three Bach Transcriptions
Simone Dinnerstein, piano
Richard Danielpour created these transcriptions for Simone Dinnerstein. The first and third movements are from Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, and the middle movement is from the Mass in B minor. You can hear the music on An American Mosaic.
Franz Schubert: Night, D. 983c
Ensemble Amarcord; Daniel Hope, violin
Violinist Daniel Hope plays the song “Die Nacht“, arranged for violin and vocal ensemble by Wolfgang Heinzel. This is from a CD entitled “Hope”.
Ludwig van Beethoven: String Trio in C minor, Op. 9 No. 3
Trio Arnold
From the liner notes: “The “best of my works,” as Beethoven described his String Trios Op.9 when they were published in July 1798. Indeed, the young composer surpassed himself throughout a triptych of works combining beauty of sound, formal originality and a high degree of instrumental virtuosity.” Mirare released this recording in March 2021.
Bechara El-Khoury: Byblos, The Old City
Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Daniel Hope
Daniel Hope, violin; Patrick Messina, clarinet
Bechara El-Khoury is a Franco-Lebanese composer born in 1957. Byblos, on the coast of Lebanon, is one of the oldest continuously occupied cities in the world. You can find this selection on a 2021 Deutsche Grammaphon recording entitled Hope.
Johannes Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15
Basel Symphony Orchestra, Ivor Bolton
Alexander Melnikov, piano
The Petrucci Music Library notes that this work was “composed between 1854 and 1859 for piano with orchestra, using material intended for a projected symphony (1854) and sonata for two pianos (ca.1855-58), neither of which was completed.” Harmonia Mundi has it on a CD entitled Johannes Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1 / Tragic Overture.
Rob Kennedy
September 19, 2021