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Audio post reblogged from Blogthoven with 21 notes - Played 81 times
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]1st movement of Vivaldi’s Oboe Concerto in A minor, RV 461. Performed by Hans Peter Westermann with Giorgio Fava conducting the Sonatori de la Gioiosa Marca.
Source: blogthoven
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Photo with 2 notes
I wanted to link to a short think I wrote about Landowska last week. This image, along with a stellar wartime recording, is what triggered it all. Hope you enjoy it (just click the image above.
Link with 2 notes
Landowska - J.S. Bach's Goldbergs →
A little nod to Landowska’s first, historic recording of the Goldbergs - with a first thought on Historically Informed Performance. Enjoy!
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Liszt - Last Night's Encore at the Toronto Symphony →
After a fantastic take on Liszt’s second piano concerto, Bronfman played this Paganini/Liszt number as an encore - last night at the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. He had wonderful on stage personality and presence; he and conductor Leonard Slatkin were clearly in tune with one another during the concerto. Encore? - it was all followed by this piece. And in the second half of the concert, we were treated to Saint-Saens’ Organ Symphony.
Photo reblogged from Bookshelf Porn with 1,102 notes
I’m right next door to this as I type - I go there regularly. Thanks & RB. Umberto Eco famously, if loosely, modeled the library in The Name of the Rose on this library, during his stay at the university many years ago.
Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at the University of Toronto (by 001FJ)
Source: Flickr / 001fj
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SHURA CHERKASSKY - ALBAN BERG, PIANO SONATA, Op. 1 →
I just love Alban Berg’s first and only piano sonata. If memory serves me right, Berg was about 25 years of age when it was first published. I’m not sure whose interpretation I favour most: Gould, Pollini, Uchida and Laurent-Aimard all have great renditions. I’m posting Cherkassky’s version here, since it’s great and I don’t happen to own it. Any thoughts from people out there?
Berg’s teacher, Schoenberg, once painted a portrait of the young composer. It dates from approximately the same time as the piano sonata. I’m including it above for good measure.
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Liszt - Totentanz (Michelangeli, piano) →
I saw this performed last night by Jean-Yves Thibaudet and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. My girlfriend and two other friends, none of whom is particularly into classical music, were completely excited by it. It’s no secret that this is a “show piece” - but it’s still so full of soul. Hell - why shouldn’t classical music be “fun” at times?
Anyone interested in hearing Thibaudet on disc should check out his recording of Liszt opera transcriptions (on Decca).
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Amsterdam Sinfonietta plays in KLM 747 →
Here’s some nifty footage of the Amsterdam Sinfonietta playing for their fellow passengers during a flight delay in Shanghai - busting out the instruments Arcade Fire style.
The Mozart / Clementi Battle →
This is a valuable discussion about the famous Mozart / Clementi piano duel. It was on this occasion that Mozart famously called Clementi a “mere mechanicus.”
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Pogorelich plays Scarlatti →
Here is Serbian pianist, Ivo Pogorelich, performing Scarlatti’s first (in terms of the Kirkpatrick number) keyboard sonata. Horowitz’s Columbia recordings of Scarlatti were the first to capture my interest; then came Pletnev, who equally brought them to new places with a fine pianist’s touch. Scherbakov on Naxos has released a volume in that label’s ongoing series of Scarlatti sonatas - and it’s simply stellar. I’ve yet to hear Evgeni Sudbin’s Scarlatti disc, but, as with anything that that young musician touches, I’m sure it’s gold. Pogorelich is sure and measured here - great pianism, and a fine video. Anyone have another favourite Scarlatti interpreter? What about the harsichordists out there?
Dvorak's Cello Concerto - The Legendary Casals Recording →
This was recently chosen as the ‘Top Choice’ performance of Dvorak’s Cello Concerto in a recent Gramophone magazine survey of some 80 (!) recordings. It’s a 1937 performance: Casals, Szell and the Czech PO. Despite the limited sonics, this is simply splendid. Dig!
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Michelangeli plays Debussy's "Reflets dans l'eau" →
One of my favourite Debussy interpreters, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, plays Reflets dans l’eau - Reflections in the Water. Highly recommending his later recordings for DG. 
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