I hadn’t even heard of this composer before a conductor friend suggested I listen to this piece, the Symphony No. 5 by Wilhelm Peterson-Berger (1867-1942). Peterson-Berger was a Swedish composer and music critic who was an anti-modernist. The Symphony No.
Shapero: ‘Nine-Minute Overture’ (Previn, L.A. Philharmonic)
Here’s a boisterous American work not often encountered: the “Nine-Minute Overture” (1940) by Harold Shapero (1920-2013). Andre Previn conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 3 (Oistrakh, Philharmonia)
Here’s a warm, full-bodied and irresistibly singing recording of Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3. David Oistrakh is the violinist and conductor with the Philharmonia Orchestra. Hear Pinchas Zukerman perform this same work with Carl St.Clair and Pacific Symphony on March
Audio: Klemperer conducts the Overture to ‘Cosi fan tutte’
Since you liked the last one so much, we thought we’d share another. Here’s Otto Klemperer conducting the New Philharmonia Orchestra in Mozart’s Overture to “Cosi fan tutte.” This was recorded in 1971, late in Klemperer’s life. The ensemble is
Audio: Klemperer conducts the Overture to ‘The Magic Flute’
Here’s one of my favorite recordings of Mozart’s Overture to “The Magic Flute,” with the Philharmonia conducted by Otto Klemperer. It’s stately but never heavy, and finely detailed. https://ia801709.us.archive.org/23/items/MagicFluteOvertureklemperer/1-01Mozart_DieZauberflteK620-Overture.mp3 Carl St.Clair and Pacific Symphony give three semi-staged performances of “The
Alexander Romanovsky plays Chopin
Alexander Romanovsky will perform Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Pacific Symphony on Feb. 1-4, in his California debut. Here he is playing Chopin’s Etude in G-flat, Op. 10, No. 5, taken from his newest album for Decca.
Playlist: Some British symphonic music
It was gratifying last week to see the audience’s response to Pacific Symphony’s first performances of Elgar’s Symphony No. 1 (and how well the orchestra played it, under the baton of guest conductor Michael Francis). We don’t get much British
Video: Monteux conducts ‘Le sacre du printemps’
I was listening to this recording again the other night for the first time in a while and was struck by not only how good the performance was but also by how it must be quite close to how this
Audio: Rossini: Overture to ‘Semiramide’
It’s Friday, time for another Rossini overture. Carlo Maria Giulini conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra in the Overture to “Semiramide.”
Playlist: Scherzos
A playlist of orchestral scherzos that I like. It might also make a good concert program, though you’d probably need to lose one or two.