Sempre Molto Rubato

Gluck/Sgambati: Dance of the Blessed Spirits

noreply@blogger.com (Fernando) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 18:13:00 -0700

In a brief visit to Cambridge, UK, I managed to go to a concert at the University. One of the highlights of the concert was Rachmaninoff's second piano concerto, beautifully performed by Tom Poster who was asked to play an encore at the end of the night. He chose to play Giovanni Sgambati's piano transcription of Gluck's Dance of the Blessed Spirits from his ballet Orfeo ed Euridice.

Poster claimed that it was one of Rachmaninoff's favorite pieces. I actually did not know the piece, but I remember I loved his interpretation that night and it's been in the back of my mind since. Today I decided to do a search and was happy to find an interpretation by Rachmaninoff himself on YouTube.

Later I found another gem: Yevgeny Kissin's Fantasy album. I only include here the aforementioned melody, but I highly recommend the entire album.

Composer: Gluck. Piano transcription by Giovanni Sgambati
Performer: Yevgeny Kissin
Album: Fantasy

Camile Saint-Saëns : The Swan

noreply@blogger.com (Fernando) — Thu, 5 Mar 2009 20:56:00 -0800

After a long hiatus...

Saint-Saëns: The Swan

Performer: Yo-yo Ma
Album: Portrait of Yo-Yo Ma

Bach: Cello Suite #3, Bourree

noreply@blogger.com (Fernando) — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 22:13:00 -0700

I used to play this one in the violin.

Bach: Cello Suite #3 BWV 1009: Bourree I

Performer: Mtislav Rostropovich
Album: Rostropovich - Bach: Cello Suites Nos. 1-6

Beethoven - Appasionata Sonata

noreply@blogger.com (Fernando) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 22:21:00 -0700

Sorry for the delay between posts, I've been awfully busy.

More Beethoven! I like this historic performance of the last movement of the Appasionata:

Beethoven : Piano Sonata No. 23 In F Minor "Appassionata" - III. Allegro, Ma Non Troppo - Presto
Interpreter: Ernst Levy
Album: Ernst Levy, Vol. 3 - Beethoven, Schumann, And Brahms

Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 25 - Adagio

noreply@blogger.com (Fernando) — Sun, 3 Aug 2008 23:29:00 -0700

Beethoven : Piano Sonata No.25 in G, Op.79 - Adagio

Interpreter: Emil Gilels
Album: Emil Gilels: Complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas

Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1 - Adagio

noreply@blogger.com (Fernando) — Wed, 9 Jul 2008 11:54:00 -0700

This post is for a very special monkey :)

Brahms : Piano Concerto No. 1 - Second Movement - Adagio

Interpreter: Emil Gilels (piano), Eugen Jochum (conductor)
Album: Concertos for Piano No. 1 & 2, Fantasia Op. 116

Beethoven: Pathetique Sonata - Adagio Cantabile

noreply@blogger.com (Fernando) — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 08:14:00 -0700

I post this song for somebody very special to me :)

Beethoven : Piano Sonata No.8 in c, Op.13 Pathetique sonata - 2 Adagio Cantabile

Interpreter: Emil Gilels
Album: Emil Gilels: Complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas

Bach: Cello Suite #1 BWV 1007 : Prelude

noreply@blogger.com (Fernando) — Tue, 3 Jun 2008 18:54:00 -0700

Bach: Cello Suite #1 BWV 1007: 1. Prelude

Performer: Mtislav Rostropovich
Album: Rostropovich - Bach: Cello Suites Nos. 1-6

Vivaldi: Winter - Largo

noreply@blogger.com (Fernando) — Mon, 5 May 2008 12:49:00 -0700

Antonio Vivaldi : Concerto No. 4 in F minor, Op. 8, RV 297, "L'inverno" II. Largo

Orchestra: Berliner Philarmoniker
Conductor: Nigel Kennedy
Album: Nigel Kennedy: Vivaldi

Busoni/Bach: Chaconne

noreply@blogger.com (Fernando) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:24:00 -0700

Busoni's piano transcription on Bach's Chaconne, from Partita II In D Minor For Vn, BWV1004.

Brahm's also wrote a left-hand piano transcription of this piece. In a letter to Clara Schumann, he wrote:

On one stave, for a small instrument, the man writes a whole world of the deepest thoughts and most powerful feelings. If I imagined that I could have created, even conceived the piece, I am quite certain that the excess of excitement and earth-shattering experience would have driven me out of my mind.

Interpreter: John Ogdon
Album: Busoni: Fantasia Contrappuntistica; Fantasia after Bach; Toccata

Beethoven - Sonata Quasi Una Fantasia "Moonlight"

noreply@blogger.com (Fernando) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 12:46:00 -0700

I like very much Kissin's interpretation. I hope you enjoy it!

Ludwig van Beethoven : Sonata #14 'Quasi una Fantasia' Op. 27 No. 2: Andante sostenuto
Interpreter: Evgeny Kissin
Album: Evgeny Kissin: Beethoven, Franck, Brahms

I recommend reading this interesting study of the famous "Moonlight" sonata and its different interpretations.

Beethoven: Triple Concerto. Largo

noreply@blogger.com (Fernando) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 00:04:00 -0700

Because we can't have enough Beethoven :)

Ludwig van Beethoven : Beethoven Triple Concerto Op. 56 in C: 2. Largo

Interpreters: Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Berliner Philarmoniker, Barenboim.
Album: Beethoven - Triple Concerto ~ Choral Fantasy

Schubert: Notturno. Adagio.

noreply@blogger.com (Fernando) — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 21:48:00 -0700

Schubert : Notturno. Flat major D 897 op. 148. Adagio

Interpreter: András Schiff; Yuuko Shiokawa; Miklós Perényi
Album:
Schubert: Piano Trios

Beethoven - Violin Sonata #10

noreply@blogger.com (Fernando) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 08:07:00 -0700

Ludwig van Beethoven : Violin Sonata #10 In G, Op. 96, "The Cockcrow" - 2. Adagio Espressivo

Interpreter: Ann-Sophie Mutter
Album: Beethoven: The Violin Sonatas

Beethoven - God save the King - Variations

noreply@blogger.com (Fernando) — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 14:00:00 -0700

Let us continue the streak of Beethoven pieces :)

Ludwig van Beethoven : God Save the King

Interpreter: Unknown
Album: Complete Beethoven Edition Vol. 6 - Piano Works

Beethoven - Canzona di Ringraziamento

noreply@blogger.com (Fernando) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 07:18:00 -0800

This is one of the last compositions of Beethoven. He wrote this slow movement of his 15^th quartet as thanksviging for having survived a near-fatal illness. It's a deeply moving piece and widely regarded as one of his greatest masterpieces (as the rest of the late quartets). I recommend listening to this piece (and preferably the entire quartet, of course) in complete silence; if one listens carefully, one cannot help but to share the existential experience felt as communicated by the master.

This is a legendary recording by the Julliard Quartet.

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Ludwig van Beethoven : Quartet #15 Molto Adagio (Heiliger Dankgesang eines Genesenen an die Gottheit, in der lydischen Tonart).
Interpreter: Julliard Quartet
Album: Beethoven : Complete String Quartets.

Beethoven - Rage Over a Lost Penny

noreply@blogger.com (Fernando) — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 08:19:00 -0800

Although this work is not one of Beethoven's great masterpieces, it has personal value since it reminds me of some happy moments of my childhood. I hope you enjoy it!

Ludwig van Beethoven : Rondo: Rage Over a Lost Penny
(wikipedia)
Interpreter: Gianluca Cascioli
Album: Complete Beethoven Edition Vol. 6 - Piano Works

Beethoven - String Quartet # 13, Cavatina

noreply@blogger.com (Fernando) — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 21:57:00 -0800

This is one of Beethoven's most intimate confessions. He said himself that never did music move him so much. There is here sorrow without hope, sorrow for what is irrevocable, and for a longing for what has not been and never can be. -- J.W.N. Sullivan

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Ludwig van Beethoven : Quartet 13 Op 130 in Bb - 5th movement. Cavatina: Adagio Molto Espressivo.

Interpreter: Julliard Quartet
Album: Beethoven : Complete String Quartets.

Puccini - Vissi d'Arte

noreply@blogger.com (Fernando) — Sun, 3 Feb 2008 22:20:00 -0800

Puccini : Vissi d'arte (from Tosca)

Interpreter: Kiri Te Kanawa
Album: Kiri Te Kanawa - Verdi & Puccini

Primrose: viola transcriptions

noreply@blogger.com (Fernando) — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 13:15:00 -0800

Primrose : Viola transcription/arrangement on Liszt's La Campanella and Paganini's Violin Concerto No. 2
Performer: Robert Koenig, Roberto Diaz
Album: William Primrose: Viola Transcriptions

Bach-Stokowsky : Little Fugue

noreply@blogger.com (Fernando) — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 18:51:00 -0800

Stokowsky : Orchestral transcription of Bach's Little Fugue
Conductor: José Serebrier
Album: Stokowski: Bach Orchestral Transcriptions

Bach : Jesu, bleibet meine freude

noreply@blogger.com (Fernando) — Sun, 6 Jan 2008 17:53:00 -0800

Bach / David Qualey : Variation on Bach's Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring

Album: A Winter's Solstice

Beethoven : Choral Fantasy

noreply@blogger.com (Fernando) — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 21:38:00 -0800

Ludwig van Beethoven : Chorfantasie: IV. Allegretto ma non troppo - Presto

Conductor: Barenboim - Berlin Philharmonic and Staatsopera Chorus
Album: Beethoven - Triple Concerto ~ Choral Fantasy

Vivaldi - Gloria

noreply@blogger.com (Fernando) — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 17:51:00 -0800

Antonio Vivaldi : Gloria in excelsis Deo

Conductor: Jeremy Summerly
Album: Gloria RV 589 D major

Ravel: Aprés un rêve

noreply@blogger.com (Fernando) — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 08:32:00 -0800

Maurice Ravel : Aprés un Rêve

Interpreter: Joshua Bell
Album:
Joshua Bell: Voice of the Violin