1001 Classical Recordings

306. Mikhail Glinka - Ruslan and Lyudmila (1842)

2009-09-13T19:29:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Ruslan and Lyudmila
Performer: Anna Netrebko, Vladimir Ognovenko, Larissa Diadkova
Conductor: Valery Gergiev
Year: 1995
Length: 3 hours 23 minutes

Review

Let's start with the nitpicking here: this opera is not a particularly dynamic one in terms of setting and songs. It works basically by having one character doing his thing, leaving and another character doing his piece, sometimes for long periods of time. Even duets are a bit rare here, it works mainly as a succession of songs with little interactivity between the characters.

That being said the music is beautiful, really beautiful. The folk influences reveal an astounding depth of originality to the work and the birth of a whole new school of Russian music. In fact Glinka is the father of Russian music that will bring such joys to this list in the future. Much like Wagner creates the Teutonic music par excellence in Germany at this time so is Glinka doing the same for Russia.

The setting is an appropriately fairytaley pre-historic pagan Russia and there are giants, dwarves, sorcerers, witches, brave warriors and enchanted princesses. The whole thing has an air of the fantastic about it and the music is extremely evocative. The Russian obsession with "Orientalism" is already present in this work, the use of Eastern folk elements actually adds to the whole ambience of the album. A beautiful work and a majority important one. Also the DVD that corresponds to this recording is amazing to watch, even if Netrebko is a shit actress the production is so rich and beautiful that this is an essential Opera DVD.

Final Grade

10/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

he opera is based on the 1820 poem of the same name by Aleksandr Pushkin. The multi-authored Russian libretto was written by Valerian Shirkov, Nestor Kukolnik, and N. A. Markevich, among others. Pushkin's untimely death in the famous duel prevented him from writing the libretto himself as planned.

Anna Netrebko sings "Grustno mne, roditel dorogoy!" in the first act:

305. Robert Schumann - Piano Quintet (1842)

2009-09-02T12:40:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Piano Quintet
Performer: Martha Argerich, Dora Scharzberg, Lucy Hall, Nobuko Imai, Misch Maisky
Year: 1994
Length: 30 minutes

Review

While Schumann's string quartets did nothing for me, his piano quintet is a completely different story. This just comes to reinforce the idea of how much better he is at piano pieces than at other types of chamber music.

The piano is the driving force here, and the string play against it in a great way. All movements are memorable and touching be it the sprightly first movement or the funereal second movement.

So yes, that rarest of things, a chamber piece I really enjoy. The five instruments make the whole thing almost orchestral while retaining the delicate characteristics of chamber music. Good stuff indeed.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Schumann was the first romantic composer to pair the piano with the string quartet. "In the first happiness of reunion with the piano, his creative imagination took on a new lease of life," writes Joan Chisell. The ensemble was later used by many composers; some of the well-known quintets are by Johannes Brahms, Antonín Dvořák, César Franck, Edward Elgar, and Dmitri Shostakovitch.

Second movement, maybe a little too starry, album version is better:

304. Giuseppe Verdi - Nabucco (1842)

2009-08-30T15:51:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Nabucco
Performers: Tito Gobbi, Elena Suliotis
Conductor: Lamberto Gardelli
Year: 1966
Length: 2 hours 10 minutes

Review

Germans, Austrian and other central Europeans have, up until now, ruined opera for me... Frankly the Italian thing is never as good as great Mozart or Wagner. This is true even of Verdi... I might still be proven wrong, but I don't think so.

Nabucco is a perfect example of this, the action is too convoluted, the emotions too cartoony, the singing exagerated, the musical often too comedic for the situation, the libretto weak.

This is not to say that it isn't a good Opera, because it is that as well, it has great moments such as Va Pensiero and a couple of duets but too much of the action happens off stage between acts, the singing is way too prominent. There is little notion of Opera as a multimedia experience as a complete work of art, just as a more interesting way to play vocal music. Looking forward to Glinka soon, though.

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

The soprano role of Abigaille is unique in that it has been the downfall of a number of singers. Elena Souliotis and Anita Cerquetti sang it before they were ready, and its high tessitura ruined their voices. Maria Callas sang it only three times and only a live performance from 1949 was recorded. Leontyne Price and Joan Sutherland refused to sing it. While no soprano has become known as a "great Abigaille", Ghena Dimitrova (1941 – 2005) and Jadranka Jovanovic were a notable exponent of the role.

Va Pensiero:

303. Robert Schumann - String Quartets (1842)

2009-08-25T14:42:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: String Quartets Op. 41
Performer: Ysaÿe Quartet
Year: 2003
Length: 1 hour 30 minutes

Review

So we have here three string quartets by a composer better known for his piano, vocal and orchestral music. However, these quartets are quite lovely, which isn't to say that they are that spectacular.

Unfortunately they don't really get my juices flowing. They are really enjoyable, and they really shine on some lovely slow movements, but there has been plenty of Schumann which I've preferred on this list.

That being said, with a few exceptions, I am not a particular fan of the Chamber music genre, I am much more of an Orchestral, Vocal and Operatic type. These stand kind of next to the Mendelssohn String Quartets in my mind, in which they were clearly inspired, nice but nothing to write home about.

Final Grade

7/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Schumann exerted considerable influence in the nineteenth century and beyond, despite his adoption of more conservative modes of composition after his marriage. He left an array of acclaimed music in virtually all the forms then known. Partly through his protégé Brahms, Schumann's ideals and musical vocabulary became widely disseminated. Composer Edward Elgar called Schumann "my ideal."

no. 3:

302. Felix Mendelssohn - Symphony no. 3, "Scottish" (1842)

2009-08-23T19:59:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Symphonies no.3 & 4.
Performer: London Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Claudio Abbado
Year: 1989
Length: 42 minutes

Review

Another pretty great orchestral work on the list. However I cannot really compare Mendelssohn's orchestral skills with Wagner or Berwald, Mendelssohn shows himself again as the conservative type.

This is not to say that this symphony is not a step forward for Mendelssohn, because it is. He even uses folk tunes in the second movement! Astounding. Mendelssohn seems, interestingly to be tuning in to the epic feel of his contemporaries orchestral work. Which shows him as not completely removed from his time but trying to walk a thin line between classicism and romanticism.

This is the Mendelssohn piece where he is most clearly Romantic, at least up until this point on the list, the only other of his works which has been here which was undoubtedly romantic was the Hebrides, another work with a Scottish theme. So Scotland seemed to have done him some good.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

It is thought that a painting on a Scotland trip made by Mendelssohn had inspired the 33-year-old composer, especially the opening theme of the first movement. The emotional scope of the work is wide, consisting of a grand first movement, a joyous second movement of possibly Scottish folk music, a slow movement maintaining an apparent struggle between love and fate, and a finale that takes its components from Scottish folk dance. A pecularity lies in the coda of the finale, where he introduces a complete new German majestic theme to close the work in a completely different manner from the rest of the finale. It was conceived as early as 1829 during Mendelssohn's trip to Scotland, but was not completed until 1842, and was not published in full score until the following year. The symphony was dedicated to Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. Its premiere took place on 3 March 1842 in Leipzig.

First Movement, Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

301. Franz Berwald - Symphonies (1842-5)

2009-08-22T13:05:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: The Four Symphonies
Performer: Malmo Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Sixten Ehrling
Year: 1996
Length: 2 hours

Review

These are what makes this list so good. Those great discoveries that come seldomly but make it all worth it. Franz Berwald is a really interesting composer who made extremely exciting and innovative music and is sadly almost completely unknown.

These four symphonies are each and everyone of them a joy, all different but all of them pretty astounding. My personal favourite is number three a bombastic thing which almost reminds you of Wagner, and in terms of orchestral innovation there is a lot in common with Wagner here.

Berwald is capable of both rousing and extremely beautiful music, as can be seen in the two last symphonies. A really great set of works that really need to be listened to.

Final Grade

10/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Franz Adolf Berwald (July 23, 1796 – April 3, 1868) was a Swedish Romantic composer who was generally ignored during his lifetime. Due to this, he was forced to make his living as an orthopedic surgeon and later as the manager of a saw mill and glass factory.

From Wikipedia:

First Part of the First movement of the third symphony:

300. Robert Schumann - Piano Quartet (1842)

2009-08-19T07:55:00.003-07:00

Recording

Title: Fantasiestucke, Piano Trio No.3, Piano Quartet
Performer: Florestan Trio, Thomas Riebl
Year: 1999
Length: 28 minutes

Review

I think Schumann is really coming into his own lately. After a bunch of short piano collections which left me cold, his later piano work, songs, symphonies and in this case chamber works have left me much happier with him.

This quartet is a perfect example of what I mean, it is a shining example of romanticist composition while the use of a viola make the music sometimes harken back to a much older age.

The slow movement here, the third one, is a lovely piece of melodic composing, however the other movements really don't let the side down, and the highlight goes to the first movement. So it is a quite accomplished piece of work, none of the movements are that different in qualitative terms from any of the others, the piece flows marvellously. Getting married to Clara really helped his stuff.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Piano quartets for that standard lineup were written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Robert Schumann, Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Antonín Dvořák and Gabriel Fauré among others. In the 20th century, composers have also written for more varied groups, with Anton Webern's Quartet, opus 22 (1930), for example, being for piano, violin, clarinet and tenor saxophone, and Olivier Messiaen's Quatuor pour la fin du temps (1940) for piano, violin, cello and clarinet. An early example of this can be found in Franz Berwald's quartet for piano, horn, clarinet and bassoon (1819), his opus 1.

Third Movement:

299. Richard Wagner - Der fliegende Hollander (1841, rev. 1860)

2009-08-18T05:52:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Der fliegende Hollander
Performers: Herman Uhde, Astrid Varnay, Ludwig Weber
Conductor: Joseph Keilberth
Year: 1955
Length: 2 hours 20 minutes

Review

Ok, Wagner really is something else. In this, the first of his middle period, innovative operas, he really shows us something that we hadn't seen before. This is reflected in several points: the way in which the orchestra is so completely integral to the drama, the absence of recitatives, the way the whole thing is just one long song with no breaks, the use of leitmotifs.

But if Wagner was nothing but innovation he would surely deserve his place on history books but would hardly be enjoyable. The music is, however, completely amazing stuff, full of bluster and tenderness, immensely expressive and constantly shifting, not afraid to sound dissonant at times.

Then you have the story, which while it is not anything to write home about in this opera, is so completely integrated with the music that this almost feels like a different medium from Rossini's interchangable overtures and songs system. Wagner writes the libretto and the music and it is all one work. Good for him, an amazing opera.

Final Grade

10/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Wagner originally wrote Der fliegende Holländer to be performed without intermission — an example of his efforts to break with tradition — and, while today's opera houses sometimes still follow this directive, it is also performed in a three act version.

Senta's Ballad:

298. Robert Schumann - Symphony no.1, "Spring" (1841)

2009-08-13T14:50:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Schumann, The Symphonies
Performer: Wiener Philharmonic
Conductor: Leonard Bernstein
Year: 1984
Length: 34 minutes

Review

Ah! I missed a good symphonic work, we haven't had anything remotely approaching it since Berlioz's Romeo et Juliette, which was anything but a typical symphonic work. However with Schumann we return to a slightly more traditional format.

Just because the format is traditional it does mean that it isn't innovative. In fact Schumann is extremely effusive throughout in a way that ends up being pretty uncharacteristic of Symphonic productions. This is a bombastic work where even the slow movement is quite fast.

Schumann captures the idea of Spring and with it growing and exploding life pretty well here, the symphony is well developed and extremely attractive, so much so that you probably already know it by heart, even if you don't realise it.

Final Grade

10/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Although Schumann made some "symphonic attempts" in the autumn of 1840, soon after he married his beloved Clara Wieck, he did not compose the symphony until early 1841. Schumann sketched the symphony in four days from 23 January to 26 January and completed the orchestration within a month by 20 February. The premiere took place under the baton of Felix Mendelssohn on 31 March 1841 in Leipzig. The symphony was warmly received. Until Schumann composed this symphony, he was largely known for his works for the piano and for voice. Clara encouraged him to write symphonic music. The title of "Spring Symphony" was bestowed upon it, according to Clara's diary, because of the Spring poems of Adolph Boettger. However, Schumann himself said he was merely inspired by his Liebesfrühling (spring of love).

Bernstein conducts the finale:

297. Felix Mendelssohn - Variations sérieuses (1841)

2009-08-11T18:53:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Murray Perahia - Mendelssohn
Performer: Murray Perahia
Year: 1982
Length: 12 minutes

Review

Mendelssohn gives us a quite traditional musical format, the theme and variation for piano. So it is not particularly innovative there, and it does not sound very new at all, in fact it sometimes sounds like a throwback and you really seems to see tributes to older composers such as Bach and Beethoven in the playing.

Making little nods to these composers is quite natural taking into account the fact that they were probably the two most important composers of variations up until this time.

However there is expressiveness in this small piece that is definitely a part of the romantic period, in terms of sound however it is hard not to think back on other composers when listening to this.

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

This conservative strain in Mendelssohn, which set him apart from some of his more flamboyant contemporaries, bred a similar condescension on their part toward his music. His success, his popularity and his Jewish origins irked Richard Wagner sufficiently to damn Mendelssohn with faint praise, three years after his death, in an anti-Jewish pamphlet Das Judenthum in der Musik. This was the start of a movement to denigrate Mendelssohn's achievements which lasted almost a century, the remnants of which can still be discerned today amongst some writers. The Nazi regime was to cite Mendelssohn's Jewish origin in banning performance and publication of his works. Charles Rosen, in his book The Romantic Generation, disparages Mendelssohn's style as "religious kitsch", such opinion reflecting a continuation of the aesthetic contempt of Wagner and his musical followers.

Richter plays the Variations:

296. Robert Schumann - Liederkreis, op.39 (1840)

2009-08-09T15:21:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Eichendorff Lieder
Performer: Wolfgang Holzmair. Imogen Cooper
Year: 1999
Length: 24 minutes

Review

So we come to the final lieder recording in a sequence of four Schumann lieder collections. The problem with having four in a row is that they kind of get slightly mixed up in my head. It would have been better to have a bit more of spacing.

Still, that being said, I have quite enjoyed them. They generally have the very Schumannian thing of a calm/passionate alternance going on, and if the singer is great, this can work very well.

In this sense these lieder are more emotionally expressive than Schubert's. However, Schubert had a much bigger talent for melody than Schumann which is also reflected. In the end I much prefer Schubert's lieder, but Schumann is an interesting experience in itself. This album is another set of Liederkreis, quite similar to the themes in the previous album, I actually prefer Bostridge's register to Holzmair and that is what really marks the difference in grade to both albums.

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Schumann wrote two cycles of this name—the other being his opus 24—so this work is also known as the Eichendorff Liederkreis.

Herman Prey does Opus.39:

295. Robert Schumann - Liederkreis op. 24 (1840)

2009-08-08T08:16:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Liederkreis, Op.24, Dichterliebe op. 48 & 7 Lieder
Performer: Ian Bostridge. Julius Drake
Year: 1997
Length: 22 minutes

Review

More Schumann Lieder in what was clearly an immensely productive year for him. A phase where his love for Clara Wieck was expressed through these songs which reflect the fact that she had just become Clara Schumann.

This is another lovely collection of pieces, alternating quite short 1 minute pieces with longer ones rounding the 4 minute mark. Ian Bostridge is again an uncommon voice for lieder which are usually associated with the Baritone voice. Bostridge's very clean and young sounding tenor actually enhances the romantic feel of the pieces.

We are not done with Schumann Lieder yet, the next album is again more of the same. Fortunately the three recordings we have had until now are sufficiently different to always be interesting.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

This song cycle was one of the earlier products of Schumann’s Liederjahr (Year of Song), referring to his nearly exclusive devotion to song composition from 1840-1841, immediately after his marriage to Clara Wieck. A letter from Schumann to his wife likely places the date of composition in February.

Werner Gura sings Schone Wiege meine Leiden:

294. Robert Schumann - Frauenliebe in -leben (1840)

2009-08-07T07:55:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Baker, BBC Legends
Performer: Janet Baker, Geoffrey Parsons
Year: 1968
Length: 25 minutes

Review

Another set of lieder by Schumann, in what is a set of four records of Schumann lieder in a row on this list. In this case we have not the usual baritone singing it but a mezzo-soprano.

This gives an interesting variety to the lieder, the voice is not one you typically associate with German lieder, but Janet is expressive enough to really make it work. However, there are problems with the recording... a live recording has some of the same problems of live concerts.

In this case you can hear people coughing merrily through it, those people who take the wrong path to the sanatorium and end up in concert halls. They are everywhere, and they annoy me. Other than that it is a great recording.

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Frauenliebe und -leben (A Woman's Love and Life) is a cycle of poems by Adelbert von Chamisso, written in 1830. They describe the course of a woman's love for her man, from her point of view, from first meeting through marriage to his death, and after. Selections were set to music as a song-cycle by masters of German Lied, namely Carl Loewe, Franz Paul Lachner and Robert Schumann. The setting by Schumann (his opus 42) is nowadays the most widely-known.

Janet Baker sings three songs from Frauenliebe und -leben with Barenboim on the piano:

293. Robert Schumann - Dichterliebe (1840)

2009-08-05T18:26:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Schumann Dichterliebe
Performer: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Jorg Demus
Year: 1965
Length: 31 minutes

Review

I must be one of the only persons of my circle of friends who can bear lieder, in fact I kind of love them. The short bursts of song in a way almost prefiguring the pop-single often in what amount to collections of songs prefiguring the concept album.

Other than this though, they can be really beautiful and delicate pieces, for this to work you need to have a great singer behind them. And probably no lieder singer is more accomplished than Fischer-Dieskau. He fills his songs with a lot of emotion which never seems false or mawkish.

So this is a great collection of Schumann songs, some really beautiful pieces here and definitely worth listening. Romanticism at its best can be deeply moving and these songs are often that.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

The texts for the 16 songs come from the Lyrisches Intermezzo of Heinrich Heine, composed 1822-1823, published as part of the poet's Das Buch der Lieder. Following the song-cycles of Franz Schubert (Die Schöne Müllerin and Winterreise), those of Schumann constitute part of the central core of the genre in musical literature.

A selection of the pieces with Dieskau and Horowitz:

292. Franz Liszt - Paraphrases & Transcriptions (1840s onwards)

2009-08-04T07:31:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Masterpieces For Solo Piano Vol. 2
Performer: Earl Wild
Year: 1968
Length: 17 minutes

Review

Well this is really just one transcription, a transcription of parts of Mozart's Don Giovanni for the piano called, Reminescences de Don Juan. And it is a pretty great piano suite of themes from the opera.

Even if this isn't exactly Liszt's original work it still bears his strong mark, the way the various themes from the opera intertwine with no respect for the plot line makes the work pretty interesting.

It is fun, if you know the opera, going through it and identifying all the sections and getting fascinated by Liszt's variations, it is not only a great piano piece but it reminds you of just how musically great Mozart's opera is.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Liszt's composing music on music, being taken as such, was nothing new. Nevertheless, Liszt invested a particular kind of creativity. Instead of just overtaking original melodies and harmonies, he ameliorated them. In case of his fantasies and transcriptions in Italian style, there was a problem which was by Wagner addressed as "Klappern im Geschirr der Perioden". Composers such as Bellini and Donizetti knew that certain forms, usually periods of eight measures, were to be filled with music. Occasionally, while the first half of a period was composed with inspiration, the second half was added with mechanical routine. Liszt corrected this by modifying the melody, the bass and - in cases - the harmonies.

Many of Liszt's results were remarkable. The Sonnambula-fantasy for example, a concert piece full of charming melodies, could certainly not have been composed either by Bellini or by Liszt alone. Outstanding examples are also the Rigoletto-Paraphrase and the Faust-Walzer. The most delicate harmonies in parts of those pieces were not invented by Verdi and Gounod, but by Liszt. Hans von Bülow admitted, that Liszt's transcription of his Dante Sonett "Tanto gentile" was much more refined than the original he himself had composed.

Liszt was the second pianist (after Kalkbrenner) to transcribe Beethoven's symphonies for the piano. He usually performed them for audiences that would probably never have an opportunity to hear the orchestral version.

Lang Lang plays part 1:

291. Frédéric Chopin - Sonata no.2 in B flat minor, "Funeral March" (1839)

2009-08-02T09:46:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Rachmaninoff plays Chopin
Performer: Sergei Rachmaninoff
Year: 1930
Length: 18 minutes

Review

I usually have problems with very old recordings. The sound is not usually the best quality and some of the performances leave much to be desired. This is, however an exception. Rachmaninoff, as much as I have problems with him as a composer, was a great pianist.

It is also interesting to be able to get a performance which is less than a century distant from Chopin, it seems to bring some authenticity to the thing. The sound is not, of course the best, but in a piano piece this is actually quite charming, so it ends up not being a major problem.

The piece itself is a well known one, particularly the funeral march of the third movement, a track that everyone can sing along to... even if it is quite disturbing and is immediately associated with death. The rest of the sonata, for those who don't know it can be a revelation. The whole thing is quite strange and new, Chopin represents emotions beautifully even when they are terror.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

While the term "funeral march" is perhaps a fitting description of the 3rd movement, complete with the Lento interlude in D flat major, "Chopin's Funeral March" is used commonly to describe only the funeral march proper (in B flat minor). The "funeral march" has become well known in popular culture. It was also used at the state funerals of John F. Kennedy and those of Soviet leaders, including Leonid Brezhnev. It was transcribed for full orchestra by the English composer Sir Edward Elgar in 1933 and its first performance was at his own memorial concert the next year. It was played at the graveside during Chopin's own burial at Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris.

Rachmaninoff plays the Funeral March:

290. Felix Mendelssohn - Piano Trios No. 1 & 2 (1839, 1845)

2009-07-31T21:56:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Piano Trios 1 & 2
Performer: Florestan Trio
Year: 2003
Length: 54 minutes

Review

Mendelssohn gives us more of his immediately attractive music here. There is nothing much that is truly innovative here but it is very easy to like music. This is not always a bad thing.

I tend to prefer composers that really challenge me and my perception of what music sounded like at a certain age, however, I have a soft spot for Mendelssohn. He does anything but challenge and yet his music is just so goddamn likeable.

So he's not a Berlioz or a Wagner or even a Liszt, but he is a very competent composer of somewhat lighter music that just works really well from an harmonic point of view. Yeah it's nice.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

During the initial composition of the work, Mendelssohn took the advice of a fellow composer, Ferdinand Hiller, and revised the piano part. The revised version was in a more romantic, Schumannesque style with the piano given a more important role in the trio. Indeed, the revised piece was reviewed by Schumann who declared Mendelssohn to be "the Mozart of the nineteenth century, the most illuminating of musicians."

First Movement:

289. Frédéric Chopin - Preludes (1839)

2009-07-30T12:26:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: 24 Preludes Opus 28
Performer: Grigory Sokolov
Year: 1990
Length: 90 minutes

Review

Chopin's short preludes can sometimes be play in an overemotional way. This is actually generally true of all of Chopin's piano composition and much of Romantic music.

This is a recording, however, that opts to play down the somewhat maudlin quality of Chopin's pieces in a way that reveals the brilliance of the compositions in a more detached way. This actually makes the music considerably better.

This toning down really makes Chopin's preludes brilliant pieces that can be appreciated in a new way here... with less fear of getting your man-card revoked. And they are indeed brilliant and beautiful pieces.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Chopin's Op. 28 preludes have been compared to Johann Sebastian Bach's preludes in the Well-Tempered Clavier. However, each of Bach's preludes leads to a fugue in the same key, and Bach's pieces are arranged, in each of the work's two volumes, in ascending chromatic order (with major preceding parallel minor), while Chopin's are arranged in a circle of fifths (with major preceding relative minor). Harold C. Schonberg, in The Great Pianists, writes: "It also is hard to escape the notion that Chopin was very familiar with Hummel's now-forgotten Op. 67, composed in 1815 – a set of twenty-four preludes in all major and minor keys, starting with C major." As Schonberg says: "the openings of the Hummel A minor and Chopin E minor concertos are too close to be coincidental."

Sokolov plays prelude no. 15:

288. Hector Berlioz - Romeo et Juliette (1839)

2009-07-27T14:39:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Romeo et Juliette
Performer: London Symphony Orchestra, Daniella Barcelona, Kenneth Traver, Orlin Anatassov
Conductor: Colin Davis
Year: 2000
Length: 90 minutes

Review

Another Berlioz composition which is truly amazing, however I'm not so sure about the recording. It often sounds a bit too low even in the supposedly exciting parts the volume never seems to go high enough.

However, the composition is really amazing in its innovativeness. It is not hard to understand why Wagner admired Berlioz so much, in fact this sounds positively Wagnerian in bits.

So again Berlioz surprises in a positive way with his extreme flair for the dramatic. The composition even if it might at times sound operatic is most definitely symphonic, it represents scenes rather than tell a story and it does this beautifully. Amazing stuff.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Structurally and musically, Roméo et Juliette is most indebted to Beethoven's 9th symphony - not just due to the use of soloists and choir, but in factors such as the weight of the vocal contribution being in the finale, and also in aspects of the orchestration such as the theme of the trombone recitative at the Introduction. The roles of Roméo and Juliette are represented by the orchestra, and the narrative aspects by the voices. Berlioz's reasoning follows:

If, in the famous garden and cemetery scenes, the dialogue of the two lovers, Juliet's asides, and Romeo's passionate outbursts are not sung, if the duets of love and despair are given to the orchestra, the reasons for this are numerous and easy to understand. First, and this reason alone would be sufficient, it is a symphony and not an opera. Second, since duets of this nature have been treated vocally a thousand times by the greatest masters, it was wise as well as unusual to attempt another means of expression.

Finale:

287. Robert Schumann - Kreisleriana (1838)

2009-07-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Kresileriana, Fantasy Op. 17
Performer: Evgeny Kissin
Year: 2004
Length: 34 minutes

Review

Another pretty great set of piano pieces by Schumann, I think that for me the tide on Schumann is definitely turning now, I am enjoying this a lot more. Of course Evgeny Kissin's playing can only help matters.

Kresleriana almost constantly alternates between fast and ebulient and slow and lyrical movements and they are both very interesting. Schumann is still playing around with the Eusebius and Florestan characters, and for me here is where he most achieves good portraits of both characters.

Interestingly enough none of the pieces in Kreisleriana were attributed to either Florestan or Eusebius by Schumann, but their presence is quite obvious. The recording is crisp and perfectly executed, so really go with it if you are interested in listening to Kreisleriana, which I recommend you do.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

The work is intended to represent the fictional character Johannes Kreisler from the works of E.T.A. Hoffmann. Like Kreisler, each piece has 2 very different sections, resembling the imaginary musician's manic-depression, and perhaps recalling Florestan and Eusebius, the two imaginary characters created by Schumann himself, who said that they represented his impulsive and dreamy sides, respectively.

Arcadi Volodos plays the first movement:

286. Robert Schumann - Kinderszenen (1838)

2009-07-23T20:30:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Piano Music
Performer: Alex Slobodyanik
Year: 1999
Length: 21 minutes

Review

Finally something from Schumann which I really enjoyed. A set of very short pieces (which I don't usually enjoy) about childhood. The way this works better for me has to do with the fact that Schumann simply gets a good hook in each piece and runs with it for a short time.

So this is a collection of pieces which never tires and many of them are understandably famous, the delicacy of Traumerei for example could never go unnoticed by anyone.

Maybe I am just starting to warm up to Schumann, maybe it is just a particularly good subject for him, but this was almost a revelation in the context of the list. Some really beautiful stuff.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Träumerei is one of Schumann's best known pieces. It was the title of a 1944 German biopic on Robert Schumann. Träumerei is the love song for Robert and Clara Schumann in the 1947 Hollywood film Song of Love, starring Katharine Hepburn as Clara Wieck Schumann.

Horowitz plays Traumerei... maybe a a bit too fast:

285. Robert Schumann - Fantasy in C Major (1838)

2009-07-22T18:34:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Fantasy in C, Papillons
Performer: Sviatoslav Richter
Year: 1961
Length: 32 minutes

Review

Another Schumann piano piece, but this time there is an added layer of interest. This is a case of strong Beethovian influence, particularly obvious in the third movement sonata, but which pervades the work.

This is only natural as the piece was a commission for the erecting of a Beethoven statue in Bonn. So the tributes are natural but Schumann actually does something interesting by updating them for his time.

So as Schumann pieces go this is one of the best up until this time, here Schumann gives himself more time to develop his musical themes with longer movements allowing him to run freer.

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Schumann's interest in music was prompted as a child by the performance of Ignaz Moscheles playing at Carlsbad, and he later developed an interest in the works of Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert and Felix Mendelssohn.

First Movement:

284. Franz Liszt - Anées de Pelerinage (1837-77)

2009-07-21T19:01:00.001-07:00

Recording

Title: Annees de Pelerinage I-III
Performer: Alfred Brendel, Zoltan Kocsis
Year: 1986
Length: 2 hours 27 minutes

Review

Maybe my problem is not so much with disjointed piano pieces as it is with Schumann, that's what I immediately though when hearing this recording of Liszt's Annees de Pelerinage.

Actually Liszt's pieces are much longer on average than Schumann's and therefore they do have more space to develop. And when they do develop they are pretty amazing. There are moments where Liszt sounds astoundingly modern, although we can't forget that this work spans forty years, the first batch is already pretty astounding.

Au Lac de Wallenstadt, for example sound almost ambient-like, reminding me of composers of the second half of the 20th century in it's simple melodic line and effective emotional impact. Essential.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Liszt's complete musical style is evident in this masterwork, which ranges from virtuosic fireworks to sincerely moving emotional statements. His musical maturity can be seen evolving through his experience and travel. The third volume is especially notable as an example of his later style. It was composed well after the first two volumes and displays less showy virtuosity and more harmonic experimentation.

Kempff plays Au Lac de Wallenstadt:

283. Hector Berlioz - Grande Messe Des Morts (1837)

2009-07-17T20:50:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Grande Messe Des Morts, Symphonie Fantastique
Performer: Robert Tear, London Philharmonic Orchestra & Choir
Year: 1980
Length: 90 minutes

Review

At this moment on the list my favourite composer seems to be without a doubt Hector Berlioz. Even if his presence in the list is small and his albums are far between they always seem to be the ones I look forward to the most.

This was no exception. I was anxiously awaiting this great Requiem with its extensive orchestration including 4 different brass bands and 4 choirs! When it finally came around it was more subdued than I expected but by no means was it a disappointment.

Berlioz's orchestration is innovative throughout, he knows how to keep a mood going and how to reinforce or punctuate it using this extremely powerful orchestra. He is also amazing at using dissonance to reinforce feeling and few things in the 1830s have sounded as modern as the perfect lacrymosa. Amazing.

Final Grade

10/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

In relation to the number of singers and strings, Berlioz indicates in the score that, "The number [of performers] indicated is only relative. If space permits, the chorus may be doubled or tripled, and the orchestra be proportionally increased. But in the event of an exceptionally large chorus, say 700 to 800 voices, the entire chorus should only be used for the Dies Irae, the Tuba Mirum, and the Lacrymosa, the rest of the movements being restricted to 400 voices."

The work premiered with over four hundred performers.

Lacrymosa:

282. Robert Schumann - Davidsbündlertänze (1837)

2009-07-16T12:31:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Davidsbündlertänze, Waldszenen, Fantasiestucke
Performer: Andreas Haelfliger
Year: 1991
Length: 34 minutes

Review

Another sequence of short piano pieces by Robert Schumann. Again this is not my favourite kind of piano piece, I much prefer a more extended genre like the sonata or the concerto.

The problem with this is that Schumann seems to have some good ideas which don't really have time to develop. So it often seems like a missed opportunity. As little songs without words or dances they are quite good.

So another album by Schumann which I did not particularly like but in the end quite enjoyed. Still hoping for better stuff, actually I think this format will be quite good when it comes to the really big sequence of lieder that we will have here.

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Schumann named them after the imaginary Davidsbündler. The pieces are not true dances, but are characteristic pieces, musical dialogues about contemporary music between Schumann's characters Florestan and Eusebius. These respectively represent the impetuous and the lyrical, poetic sides of Schumann's nature. Each piece is ascribed to one or both of them.

First six:

281. Felix Mendelssohn - String Quartets, op. 44 (1837-38)

2009-07-14T19:22:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: The Complete String Quartets
Performer: Pacifica Quartet
Year: 2004
Length: 54 minutes

Review

Yes, this same recording has been on the list before with a different set of String Quartets by Mendelssohn. I do like Mendelssohn but this collection was really not the best stuff by him.

It feels a bit too backward looking, particularly taking into account the innovative things being done in the piano... in fact it often looks back beyond Beethoven's innovation in this genre.

Nonetheless, it is some pretty nice music to listen to. The whole thing is pervaded by Mendelssohn's trademark sunny disposition, sometimes to a fault. Some lovely stuff here but not much new.

Final Grade

7/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Mendelssohn's first two numbered quartets were published out of order, whilst his next three quartets were published together as Op. 44 and were all dedicated to Crown Prince Gustavus of Sweden.

Op. 44 no.3:

280. Giacomo Meyerbeer - Les Huguenots (1836)

2009-07-12T19:30:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Les Huguenots
Performers: Joan Sutherland
Conductor: Richard Bonynge
Year: 1969
Length: 4 hours

Review

Meyerbeer brings us one of the most musically interesting operas for a while on this list. The fact that he was filthy rich and therefore able to do what he wanted might factor heavily into this.

Gone are the populisms of Donizetti and Bellini, who, talented as they were, were catering for a very specific audience. Meyerbeer on the other hand is a freer spirit and the orchestration is often surprising.

Where it all falls flat is in the plot which is supremely uninteresting and cliched. Again this is a opera best heard and not seen, in that respect this recording is pretty great and highly recommended.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Following five years after Meyebeer's own Robert le diable and a year after Fromental Halévy's La Juive, Les Huguenots consolidated the genre of Grand Opera, in which the Paris Opéra would specialise for the next generation, and which became a major box-office attraction for opera houses all over the world.

Hector Berlioz's contemporary account is full of praise: with 'Meyerbeer in command at the first desk [of violins] [...] from beginning to end I found [the orchestral playing] superb in its beauty and refinement [...] The richness of texture in the Pré-aux-Clercs scene [act III] [...] was extraordinary, yet the ear could follow it with such ease that every strand in the composer's complex thought was continually apparent - a marvel of dramatic counterpoint'.

Aria:

279. Frederic Chopin - Ballades (1835-43)

2009-06-29T14:37:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: 4 Ballades
Performers: Krystian Zimerman
Year: 1988
Length: 38 minutes

Review

Chopin is that always reliable composer. He might by now be a complete cliché, but the truth is he got there by just being so good at what he did. These four Ballades, extensive single movement piano pieces, show off his skill at changing emotions in music.

So yeah I really liked this, the great highlights here are the first and fourth Ballades, maybe because they are longer and so Chopin has more space to develop his music.

Chopin is the distillation of Romantic piano music, at times he can be almost maudlin, but he never quite gets there, staying just on the right side of good taste. These pieces are perfect examples of the skill of Chopin at portraying constantly shifting emotions, the Ballade seems like a very free format and this just makes Chopin's exploration all that better.

Final Grade

10/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

The Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23 is the first of Frédéric Chopin's four ballades for solo piano. It was composed in 1835-36 during the composer's early days in Paris and is dedicated to "Monsieur le Baron de Stockhausen," Hanoverian ambassador to France.

The ballade was played twice by Janusz Olejniczak in the Roman Polanski film The Pianist. The first time, a few bars are heard when the pianist Władysław Szpilman "plays the piano" in the air in the abandoned German hospital. The second time, an approximately 4 minute-cut is heard in the film, while a full version is included in the film soundtrack.

In the 1944 Ingrid Bergman film Gaslight, the ballade was played by a pianist at the musical gathering she attends.

In the 80s series Beauty and the Beast it can be heard in the third season episode entitled Walk Slowly on Catherine Chandler's sound system.

In the film Thank You For Smoking, the 2nd variation on the andante section can be heard in the background during Heather Holloway and Nick Naylor's conversation in the restaurant.

Zimerman plays Ballade no. 1:

278. Robert Schumann - Piano Sonata no. 1 (1835)

2009-06-27T18:15:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Carnaval, Piano Sonata no.1
Performers: Evgeny Kissin
Year: 2001
Length: 31 minutes

Review

I must be a bit square when I come to classical music, but in general I much prefer more fixed structures such as the sonata than more freestyle stuff such as the previous Carnaval by Schumann. I think the longer formats help the music develop and really sink in.

So I enjoyed this sonata much more than the previous works by Schumann on this list. The first movement here is particularly great with a very interesting shift from a moody and beautiful introduction to a livelier and more passionate continuation.

The essential thing to understand about Schumann's music is the twin personalities that he described as Eusebius and Florestan, one more reserved, romantic and poetic and another one extremely passionate and extroverted. These two are very present in this sonata making for a very interesting listening experience.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Schumann has not often been confused with Austrian composer Franz Schubert, but one well-known example occurred in 1956, when East Germany issued a pair of postage stamps featuring Schumann's picture against an open score that featured Schubert's music. The stamps were soon replaced by a pair featuring music written by Schumann.

Sonata no 1, first movement:

277. Rober Schumann - Carnaval (1835)

2009-06-25T19:05:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Carnaval, Fantasiestucke, Papillons
Performers: Marc-Andre Hamelin
Year: 1999
Length: 30 minutes

Review

Schumann's Carnaval is slightly more interesting than his Etudes, this is good progress here Mr. Schumann. Still it is less than overwhelming music. It consists of a set of short portraits in a way almost reminiscent of programmatic Harpsichord music of yestercentury.

Some of the pieces are very successful, others not so much, but his music is generally quite expressionistic and shows the romantic movement in full swing, down to his twin personalities of Eusebius and Florestan.

So the fact that this is a mixed bag, with moments of brilliance permeating the music is its ultimate downfall. Still waiting for Schumann to really astound me, and I am sure that there will be works in the future where it will happen.... fingers crossed.

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Among those who have orchestrated Carnaval are Maurice Ravel.
It was choreographed for a ballet for a Diaghilev production, with orchestrations by Alexander Glazunov, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Anatoly Lyadov and Alexander Tcherepnin.

Arrau plays Carnaval:

276. Robert Schumann - Etudes Symphoniques (1835, rev. 1852)

2009-06-23T13:20:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Symphonic Etudes, Op.13; Piano Concerto, Op.54; Cello Concerto, Op. 129.
Performers: Murray Perahia
Year: 1976
Length: 20 minutes

Review

The first entry by Schumann on the list is not a very impressive one, however, it is a very competent one. This is a collection of Piano etudes, and much as in the work of Chopin, these are meant to be exercises in piano technique.

Like Chopin, Schumann also manages to make these etudes pleasant to listen to, beyond the simple utilitarianism that would be obvious for such exercises in piano technique.

Unlike Chopin, however, Schumann does not manage to be as expressive in his etudes, and even if the pieces are enjoyable to listen to, they never achieve the emotional charge present in Chopin's etudes. It is, of course, unfair to compare anyone to Chopin, but that's what you get when you come after him.

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

The first edition in 1837 carried an annotation that the tune was "the composition of an amateur": this referred to the origin of the theme, which had been sent to Schumann by Baron von Fricken, guardian of Ernestine von Fricken, the Estrella of his Carnaval Op. 9. The baron, an amateur musician, had used the melody in a Theme with Variations for flute. Schumann had been engaged to Ernestine in 1834, only to break abruptly with her the year after. An autobiographical element is thus interwoven in the genesis of the Études symphoniques (as in that of many other masterpieces of Schumann's).

Rubinstein plays the theme and etudes 1, 2 and 3:

275. Vincenzo Bellini - I Puritani (1835)

2009-06-22T12:07:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: I Puritani
Performers: Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti,
Conductor: Richard Bonynge
Year: 1973
Length: 3 hours

Review

Some of these Italian Romantic operas have the "gift" of often blending into each other. This one feels like an inferior Lucia di Lamermoor at times, from the very long mad scene and histrionics of the Romantic heroine to parts of the plot.

Bellini is just not as good as Donizetti, his great masterwork, Norma, does deserve all the praise it gets, however, his further career is much more checkered and this is a case of an opera where it doesn't come off that brilliantly.

The plot is unoriginal, even if it does end well, an uncommon event for this time. The singing is not as spectacular as that in Norma or in Donizetti's operas and really, while being nowhere near bad, there were much better things at the time, making this opera feel like a bit of a pointless addition to the list.

Final Grade

7/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Libretto by Count Carlo Pepoli based on Têtes rondes et Cavaliers by Jacques-François Ancelot and Joseph Xavier Saintine. First produced at the Théâtre-Italien in Paris, January 24, 1835. At the same time, Bellini composed an alternative version intended for the famous Maria Malibran, who was to sing it in Naples; in fact, this version was not performed on stage until April 10, 1986 at the Teatro Petruzzelli, Bari.

Credeasi, Misera!:

274. Gaetano Donizetti - Lucia di Lammermoor (1835)

2009-06-14T19:59:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Lucia Di Lammermoor
Performers: Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti,
Conductor: Richard Bonynge
Year: 1971
Length: 3 hours

Review

Another opera with a romantic heroin that goes a bit crazy and ends very badly. So yes, it is kind of a clichéd one, but it is also one of the best of its kind, so you have to give it props.

There is no mad scene like Lucia's mad scene, and only for that, as a great example of a huge genre at this time, the opera is worth its place in any collection. Donizetti, much like his contemporary Bellini, is a consummate composer and storyteller and the opera is a compelling one.

Of the two Opera composer's we've been listening to lately Donizetti is the best of the two, his operas are more consistently entertaining and musically engaging. Lucia is a great addition to any collection with some excellent moments of drama which are sure to test any singer. Sutherland rises to the occasion in this great recording.

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

For decades Lucia was considered to be a mere showpiece for coloratura sopranos and was a little-known part of the operatic repertory. However, after World War II, a small number of technically-able sopranos, the most notable of whom were Maria Callas and Dame Joan Sutherland, revived the opera in all of its original tragic glory. Sutherland's performances in the role at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in 1959 and repeated in 1960 established Lucia as her calling card.

Il Dolce Suono:

273. Hector Berlioz - Harold en Italie (1834)

2009-05-31T11:38:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Harold en Italie
Performers: Tabea Zimmermann, London Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Colin Davis
Year: 2003
Length: 41 minutes

Review

Berlioz is one of the true original composers, a case that comes around once in a blue moon, his originality is not only in conceptual terms but also in musical terms, and the two are intimately related.

As before in his Symphonie Fantastique, Berlioz inspires himself in literature to compose music, in this case Byron's Childe Harold's Pilgrimage. This allows Berlioz to be considerably more expressive in his music, sacrificing all nice things to serving the emotional requirements of the literary creation.

At moments this work is beautiful while in other it is brutal, at times epic and at other tender, and all of it might happen inside the same movement. When depicting emotion Berlioz finds the fast-slow-fast-fast idea quite against nature. This is a truly new approach in music and Berlioz is a master of it. Great recording.

Final Grade

10/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Lord Byron's poem Childe Harold's Pilgrimage inspired the mood of Harold. The poem is a fragment of an epic with a quintessentially Romantic hero. Berlioz wrote, "My intention was to write a series of orchestral scenes, in which the solo viola would be involved as a more or less active participant while retaining its own character. By placing it among the poetic memories formed from my wanderings in the Abruzzi, I wanted to make the viola a kind of melancholy dreamer in the manner of Byron’s Childe-Harold." That he had recycled some of the material from his discarded concert overture, Rob-Roy went unmentioned.

First Movement:

272. Felix Mendelssohn - Symphony no. 4, "Italian" (1833)

2009-05-29T19:41:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Mendelssohn: Symphony No.4 "Italian"; Brahms Symphony No. 3
Performers: Philharmonia Orchestra
Conductor: Guido Cantelli
Year: 1951
Length: 26 minutes

Review

Many of Mendelssohn's works might not be immediately recognisable by title, but as soon as you hear them you know you've heard them countless times before, such is the case with this Symphony. Mendelssohn made such immediately appealing music and such perfect incidental music that almost all movements here have been used time and again.

This Symphony is another product of Mendelssohn's trips around Europe, like the Hebrides overture before it. Here he uses themes taken from traditional Italian music, particularly in the first and last movement, and the whole thing has a very joyous power.

The slightly mournful second movement also has little gleams of light through it. One of the reasons for Mendelssohn's popularity among a wider audience is the same that has led critics to be disparaging: this very present happiness. At least by this time Mendelssohn was anything but tormented, and it shows. This is not to say however that he was not a great composer, he just proved that you don't need to be unhappy to produce great music.

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

he Italian Symphony was finished in Berlin, 13 March, 1833, in response to an invitation for a symphony from the London (now Royal) Philharmonic Society; he conducted the first performance himself in London on 13 May 1833, at a London Philharmonic Society concert. The symphony's success, and Mendelssohn's popularity, influenced the course of British music for the rest of the century.

First Movement:

271. Giochinno Rossini - Stabat Mater (1832, rev. 1841)

2009-05-28T12:44:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Stabat Mater
Performers: Luba Orgonasova, Cecilia Bartoli, Wiener Philharmonic
Conductor: Myung-Whun Chung
Year: 1995
Length: 58 minutes

Review

Rossini's Stabat Mater is a truly impressive piece of religious music, there is an innate sense of theatre to Rossini's music which is here perfectly applied to the theatre of Catholic ritual.

This being said there is nothing particularly original about it, Rossini is not the most original of composers and this Stabat Mater is looking back at religious music with some operatic moments which are very much Rossini's own as in the second movement for example.

It is in the great set pieces that begin and finish the Stabat Mater that Rossini's theatricality most impresses, this is music that knows perfectly well what it is doing and does it well. The lack of originality is not much of a set back for music which serves its purpose so powerfully and beautifully.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Stabat Mater is a thirteenth century Roman Catholic sequence variously attributed to Innocent III and Jacopone da Todi. Its title is an abbreviation of the first line, Stabat mater dolorosa ("The sorrowful mother stood"). The hymn, one of the most powerful and immediate of extant medieval poems, meditates on the suffering of Mary, Jesus Christ's mother, during his crucifixion. It is sung at the liturgy on the memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows.

First movement, Stabat Mater Dolorosa:

270. Gaetano Donizetti - L'Elisir d'Amore (1832)

2009-05-26T15:32:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: L'Elisir d'Amore
Performers: Luciano Pavarotti, Joan Sutherland
Conductor: Richard Bonynge
Year: 1970
Length: 2 hours 20 minutes

Review

Donizetti gives us a really fun opera. This is the kind of thing which could easily be adapted in terms of plot into a modern rom-com. There is not much depth to the story but it is thoroughly entertaining, and that is great.

Musically it is pretty good, it flows nicely with some stand-out moments in the doctor's aria or in the famous Una Furtiva Lagrima. It is not as great an opera as Anna Bolena, but it is still pretty good.

The fludity of the story coupled with some very attractive music makes the opera a joy to watch as well as listen to. Pavarotti is slightly suspect as a leading love interest seeing as he looks like an Ox even at this early stage, but his singing was then pretty great and so the recording with the great Joan Sutherland is more than recommended.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia
From Wikipedia:
L'elisir d'amore is one of the most frequently performed of all Donizetti's operas and there are a number of recordings. It appears as number twenty on Opera America's list of the 20 most-performed operas in North America.

Una Furtiva Lagrima:

269. Vincenzo Bellini - Norma (1831)

2009-05-21T10:05:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Norma
Performers: Joan Sutherland, Marilyn Horne
Conductor: Richard Bonynge
Year: 1964
Length: 3 hours

Review

After the slightly lacklustre Sonnambula Bellini gives us a truly great opera, Norma. Even if I might have some problems with the plot, where for such a strong female character Norma is a bit silly with men and her lover's conversion at the end is a bit too sudden, it is hard to fault it musically.

Musically it is a great opera indeed, from the truly impressive choirs to such beautiful arias as Casta Diva, Bellini does not put a foot wrong. It is also quite a good opera to watch, despite the plot faults it is never boring and there are enough points of musical interest to keep you paying attention throughout.

As Bel Canto goes, the title character of the opera is surely one of the most demanding in the repertoire and here Joan Sutherland does a great job of it... but she would. Recommended.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

The title role is generally considered one of the most difficult in the soprano repertoire. It calls for tremendous vocal control of range, flexibility, and dynamics. It contains a wide range of emotions: conflict of personal and public life, romantic life, maternal love, friendship, jealousy, murderous intent, and resignation. German soprano Lilli Lehmann once famously remarked on how the singing of all three Brünnhildes in Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen in one evening was less stressful than the singing of one Norma.[2] However, her less famous reasoning was that "When you sing Wagner, you are so carried away by the dramatic emotion, the action, and the scene that you do not have to think how to sing the words. That comes of itself. But in Bellini, you must always have a care for beauty of tone and correct emission."

Casta Diva with Monserrat Caballe:

268. Felix Mendelssohn - Piano Concerto no. 1 (1831)

2009-05-08T18:22:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: The Romantic Piano Concerto 17
Performers: Stephen Hough, City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Lawrence Foster
Year: 1997
Length: 18 minutes

Review

Another great piece by Felix Mendelssohn. It is weird to think how badly considered Mendelssohn was for such a long time, seen as a minor popular composer he is now finally coming into his own as a great early-romantic composer.

Maybe the fact that Mendelssohn's life was overall happier than that of many famous composer has put people against him. No one like a genius who is not extremely tormented. But hey, it's not his fault.

This quite short piano concerto is another example of great Mendelssohn music, the movements flow into each other perfectly with no separation between them, the music is very attractive and fluid and even if it isn't the best piano concerto around it shows Mendelssohn's composing talents beautifully.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

[The movements] use several relatively new formal techniques in their brief span — for example, the piano enters very soon after the opening of the first movement, with little of an orchestral tutti to contrast with. The concerto quickly obtained popularity, and contains many sections of improvisation, one of Mendelssohn's specialities.

1st movement:

267. Vincenzo Bellini - La Sonnambula (1831)

2009-05-06T19:15:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: La Sonnambula
Performers: Maria Callas, Cesare Valletti
Conductor: Leonard Bernstein
Year: 1955
Length: 2 hours 20 minutes

Review

Another opera and another recording with Callas. I hate Callas. That being said this is just not as good as Anna Bolena, the plot is bucolic to the point of boredom. It all hinges on what might have been an innovative plot engine at the time: A girl sleepwalks into the room of a man who is not her husband to be.

As you can imagine there are no surprises in the plot. Eventually it is discovered that she is a sleepwalker and all is solved. There are a couple of very good arias towards the end of the opera with some very good mixing of soloists, choir and orchestra.

From this we can see that Bellini has the potential to do great things when given a more interesting libretto. Norma is up the bend on this list so we'll see it then. The recording is another awful 1950s live recording. The lack of sound channels makes the choirs a horrible mess and the scenes that depend on the listener being able to distinguish the soloists from the choir even messier. That and Callas might have been pretty but has a voice which I can only consider annoying.

Final Grade

7/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Bellini's most pastoral work, it was an immediate success and is still regularly performed. The title role of Amina is renowned for its difficulty. Many great sopranos have tackled this role over the years. They include Adelina Patti, Maria Malibran, Lina Pagliughi, Lily Pons, Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland, Anna Moffo, Renata Scotto, Edita Gruberova, June Anderson, Luba Orgonasova, Natalie Dessay, Anna Netrebko, and Cecilia Bartoli.

Here's Callas singing Amina's sleepwalking scene:

266. Frederic Chopin - Etudes (1830-37)

2009-05-03T10:12:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Etudes for Piano Op. 10 & 25
Performers: Juana Zayas
Year: 1982
Length: 1 hour

Review

Chopin's Etudes are a phenomenal set of pieces designed to both teach and delight. They are imagined as exercises for the pianist in order to train different parts of the skills necessary to be a great pianist. Each movement focuses on a specific technical skill.

You would logically think that this would not make for the most attractive music, and such was the case in Etudes done before Chopin, but with him it all changes. Chopin manages to strike a great balance between utilitarianism and beauty.

Some of Chopin's most recognisable pieces are in fact part of these etudes, like number 3 and 12 of op. 10 and number 11 of op. 25. Quite admirable and beautiful stuff. It should be noted, however, that this Juana Zayas record is extremely hard to find, I couldn't find it and that I am basing my ideas on Murray Perahia's recording of the Etudes. Still Zayas' is the one recommended by the 1001 book.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Unlike most previous technical studies, which sought to cultivate an independence of finger action driven from the wrist, Chopin's require the engagement of the entire playing mechanism from the shoulder downwards. For example, Op. 10, No. 1 consists of a series of wide broken chords whose span is unreachable for all but the largest hands — it is therefore necessary to use the arm to guide the fingers from note to note. Similarly, Op. 25, No. 10 is a study in octaves in both hands that requires powerful and flexible movements from the shoulders.

Sviatoslav Richter plays Op.25 n 11:

265. Felix Mendelssohn - The Hebrides, "Fingal's Cave" (1830)

2009-05-01T10:59:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Overturen
Performers: London Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Claudio Abbado
Year: 1985
Length: 10 minutes

Review

Mendelssohn's Hebrides overture, which is really not an overture to anything but a piece of mood music designed to open all kinds of concerts , is a really great piece of music, not only in concept but in execution.

The concept is what is particularly interesting about it, in a way it is similar to programmatic works such as Beethoven's sixth symphony or Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique, it does not, however, have any kind of plot.

Mendelssohn substitutes narrative for a simple evocation of place, you hear the sea alternatively furious and placid beating against the rocks of Fingal's Cave. The whole point of the music is an evocation of place and the feeling that that place inspires. And it works perfectly.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Mendelssohn first travelled to England at the invitation of a German lord after the composer's twentieth birthday. Following his tour of England, Mendelssohn proceeded to Scotland, where he composed his symphony number 3, the Scottish Symphony. He was engaged on a tour of Scotland with his travelling companion Karl Klingemann when he sent a postcard to his family with the opening phrase of the overture written on it. In a note to his sister, Fanny Mendelssohn he said: "In order to make you understand how extraordinarily The Hebrides affected me, I send you the following, which came into my head there."

Here's the recommended recording:

264. Gaetano Donizetti - Anna Bolena (1830)

2009-04-29T20:47:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Anna Bolena
Performers: Maria Callas, Gianni Raimondi
Conductor: Giandrea Gavazzeni
Year: 1957
Length: 2 hours 20 minutes

Review

I sometimes get annoyed at the album selection in this list and never more so than when it is a really bad sounding recording of a cut opera just because it is sung by the insufferable Callas.

That is what happens here, while the opera is actually pretty great, Donizetti having managed to make the plot flow perfectly throughout with some great music attached to it, the recording recommended here is pretty bad. It is not even Callas' voice which annoys me much but the fact that the opera is missing some 40 minutes and the sound quality is terrible as is natural from a radio recording from the 50s.

I have watched the opera in its uncut form and it is a really great one, so I think that this is a great disservice to a great piece of music. You'd be better served with pretty much any other big name recording, Joan Sutherland's version being one example. Do watch and get this opera if you have the chance, but give this recording a miss.

Final Grade

10/10 (the opera itself)

6/10 (Recording)

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Anna Bolena was performed infrequently during the latter half of 19th century and early 20th century, but it was revived with more frequency in the post-war years. On December 30, 1947, the opera was performed at Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, celebrating the centennial of this theatre, which opened in 1847 with Anna Bolena. The cast was Sara Scuderi as Anna Bolena, Giulietta Simionato as Jane Seymour and Cesare Siepi as Henry VIII.

Here is Callas Singing Giudici, Ad Anna! You can see the poor quality of the recording:

263. Hector Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique (1830)

2009-04-23T19:57:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Symphonie Fantastique
Performers: Boston Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Charles Munch
Year: 1954
Length: 46 minutes

Review

Now this is something completely different from anything else on this list until now. It is a programmatic symphony, but there is nothing particularly new about that, Beethoven had done it before with the Pastoral, its originality lies in its psychological depictions.

This might be the first piece of truly psychedelic music, composed under the influence of opium, this symphony follows the changing mental states of an artist culminating in a nightmarish hallucination set at a witches Sabbath.

The music is extremely evoking throughout, caring much less about harmonious beauty than depicting altered mental states, but achieving both at the same time. A truly original piece of music which is a joy to listen to attentively throughout.

Final Grade

10/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Leonard Bernstein described the symphony as the first musical expedition into psychedelia because of its hallucinatory and dream-like nature, and because history suggests Berlioz composed at least a portion of it under the influence of opium. According to Bernstein, "Berlioz tells it like it is. You take a trip, you wind up screaming at your own funeral."

Final Movement:

262. Giochino Rossini - Guillaume Tell (1829)

2009-04-22T07:22:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Guillaume Tell
Performers: Monserrat Caballé, Nicolai Gedda, Mady Mesplé, Gabriel Bacquier
Conductor: Lamberto Gardelli
Year: 1972
Length: 4 hours

Review

It is hard to argue with the idea that this is Rossini's operatic masterpiece. If for nothing else he has to be commended for effort, four hours of music is very long for non Wagnerian standards. Surprisingly for Rossini these four hours sound much less recycled than in his previous operas, he actually put some effort into this one.

Now, this is an opera that you are probably better not watching, not only is it very long but the plot is pretty dull... it is set in Switzerland after all. Too much time is lost in the middle of the play, with ballets and the romantic side-plot, only to have it finish in a confused and too fast way. I have only watched the Italian version of the opera, and this recording is of the original French version, which actually sounds better. One of the few occasions when it is a better experience to listen to the opera without being particularly aware of what is happening.

So this is really a CD set you should get, as a piece of music it is pretty exciting, never more than in the "Lone Ranger" overture, but often exciting in less obvious and more rewarding passages which are seldom heard. So it is the best music that Rossini composed for an opera, pity that as a piece of theatre it is so dull.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Other, political, concerns have contributed to the varying fortunes of the work. In Italy, because the work glorified a revolutionary figure against authority, the opera encountered difficulties with the Italian censors, and the number of productions in Italy was limited. The Teatro San Carlo produced the opera in 1833, but then did not give another production for around 50 years. The first Venice production, at the Teatro La Fenice, was not until 1856. By contrast, in Vienna, in spite of censorship issues there, the Vienna Court Opera gave 422 performances over the years 1830-1907.

Overture in it's most famous incarnation:

261. Feliz Mendelssohn - String Quartets 1 & 2 (1829,1827)

2009-04-16T07:53:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: The Complete String Quartets
Performer: Pacifica Quartet
Year: 2004
Length: 54 minutes

Review

I really like Mendelssohn, his music always seems to have an extrovert quality to it that really shines through. These two early string quartets are no exception to that rule.

Even if they are clearly influenced by Beethoven's works they are also considerably brighter than Beethoven, reflecting Mendelssohn's personality. Interestingly Quartet number two was actually composed first, and it is in this one that Beethoven's presence is more apparent, in the first but later quartet Mendelssohn's own style is more in evidence.

All in all pretty enjoyable recording of these two string quartets, which also have the advantage of not being too well known, unlike much Mendelssohn music, which suffers from overexposure.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Quartet number 2:

Mendelssohn wrote the quartet two years after Ludwig van Beethoven published his last quartets, and months after his death. Beethoven's late quartets received a lukewarm reception at best, and many — including Mendelssohn's own father — agreed with composer Louis Spohr that they were an "indecipherable, uncorrected horror". Mendelssohn, however, was fascinated by them. He studied the scores, and included many quotes from Beethoven's quartets in opus 13.

Quartet no. 1 First movement:

260. Frédéric Chopin - Waltzes (1829-47)

2009-04-14T10:05:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: 14 Waltzes, Impromptus, Bolero
Performer: Arthur Rubinstein
Year: 1960s
Length: 50 minutes

Review

I have said before that Classical music often suffers from over-exposure and Chopin's waltzes are a perfect example of that. Despite them all being consummate works of art, we have heard them all so many times that the ear is completely jaded to their more subtle characteristics.

Waltzes, seen now as style of music for entertainment and dancing are particularly affected by this over popularisation. While this might be fair in the works of Strauss for example, Chopin's Waltzes are very clearly not made for dancing. Listen to any of them and imagine the scene. The Waltzes are, like everything Chopin did, too emotionally complex to serve as utilitarian music for dancing.

When a composer pushes a popular genre beyond its traditional boundaries the utilitarian aspect of it is often lost, look at Piazzolla's Tangos for example, undanceable as well. All the pieces here are too popular for their own good, but they are also fantastic.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Classical composers traditionally supplied music for dancing when required, and Schubert's waltzes were written for household dancing, without any pretense at being art music. However, Chopin's 19 waltzes (five he wrote as a child), along with his mazurkas and polonaises, were clearly not intended to be danced to. They marked the adoption of the waltz and other dance forms as serious composition genres.
Rubinstein Plays Op.64 No.2:

259. Frédéric Chopin - Piano Concertos 1 & 2 (1829,1830)

2009-04-08T15:32:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Piano Concertos Nos. 1&2
Performer: Murray Perahia, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Zubin Metha
Length: 1 hour 20 minutes

Review

Chopin's piano concertos combine his usual piano brilliance with quite competent orchestration. Frankly Chopin is all about the piano, the orchestral accompaniment does, however, work exceedingly well with the piano solo.

In the orchestral sections of the concerts Chopin is considerably more bold in sound than he often is with his piano compositions, this does serve to contrast with the exceedingly delicate sections on the piano.

It is in these delicate piano sections where the true brilliance of Chopin comes to the top. The orchestral sections are good but not recognisably Chopinesque, while the piano is unmistakably his. Still a pretty amazing pair of concerts, with maybe number 1 being slightly superior to the second one.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

About the first concerto:

Classical critics usually fall into one of two schools of thought concerning the piece. The first of these says that given that Chopin was a composer for the piano first and foremost; the orchestral part of this piece acts more as a vehicle for the pianist, with the individual instrumental parts being uninteresting to perform. The second suggests that the orchestral backing is carefully and deliberately written to fit in with the sound of the piano, and that the simplicity of arrangement is in deliberate contrast to the complexity of the harmony.

First movement of first concerto:

258. Frédéric Chopin - Nocturnes (1829-1847)

2009-04-05T17:47:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: The Nocturnes
Performer: Maria João Pires
Year: 1996
Length: 2 hours

Review

After a long interval we come back to Chopin, now that Schubert has left us. And we come back to some of his most famous pieces in a truly great recording by my countrywoman Maria João Pires. These are pieces meant to invoke the night, and the feeling that they give is actually quite homogeneous.

Taking into account the fact that the pieces were written through a long period of time, it is only natural that the listener will catch Chopin's evolution through the years, as each op. number changes so is the listener aware of a jump in Chopin's language.

This evolution does not, however, harm Chopin's congruity, the whole recording sounds like a unified piece. The merit if also of the pianist of course which is presenting these Nocturnes as consistent works. In the end, each of the 21 pieces, is pretty amazing in its own right, immensely expressive, sometimes almost to the level of being overly-emotional, but this is Chopin after all. Beautiful.

Final Grade

10/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

He took the new salon genre of the nocturne, invented by Irish composer John Field, to a deeper level of sophistication. Three of Chopin's twenty-one Nocturnes were only published after his death in 1849, contrary to his wishes.

Op.32 no.2 :

257. Franz Schubert - Piano Sonata in B flat, D960 (1828)

2009-04-02T15:56:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Mitsuko Uchida plays Schubert
Performers: Mitsuko Uchida
Year: 2004
Length: 45 minutes

Review

So we come to the end of the very strong Schubert presence on this list. One of the greatest composers of the beginning of the romantic era, one of the most honest depicters of emotion in musical history. Never maudlin or exaggerated, he managed to bring just the right amount of mood to his works.

This last piano sonata, one of the last things he composed before his death is a perfect example of this. The very long first movement is a slow one, but peppered with mood shifts, the work is not, however, without its lighter moments.

The last two movements have a kind of bittersweet happiness to them which is quite endearing. It is a great pity that, like so many great composers, Schubert died so early. His style is constantly sharpening itself, even now, in the end. We can only imagine what he would have gone on to do. Oh well.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Schubert's last sonatas mark a distinct change of compositional style from his earlier piano sonatas, with several important differences. The typical movement length has increased, due to the use of long, lyrical, fully rounded-off, ternary-form themes, the insertion of development-like passages within expositions, and the lengthening of the development section proper. Texturally, the orchestral grandeur of the middle-period sonatas gives way to a more intimate writing that resembles a string ensemble. New textures appear in the last sonatas – scale-like melodic elements, free counterpoint, free fantasia, and simple accompanimental patterns such as Alberti bass, repeated chords, and ostinati; the orchestral unison texture, abundant in the preceding sonatas, has disappeared. The harmonic language has also changed: more distant key relationships are explored, longer modulatory excursions, more major/minor shifts of mode, and more chromatic and diverse harmonic progressions and modulations, using elements such as the diminished seventh chord. In general, the last sonatas seem to enact a return to an earlier, more individual and intimate Schubertian style, here combined with the compositional craftsmanship of Schubert's later works.

Brendel plays the sonata:

256. Franz Schubert - Piano Sonata in A major, D959 (1828)

2009-04-01T05:19:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Klaviersonate D959
Performers: Leif Ove Andsnes
Year: 2001
Length: 39 minutes

Review

We come to Schubert's penultimate work on the list and to one of his most interesting sonatas. If there is a Schubert sonata where his internal turmoil is very clearly expressed, this is that sonata.

It starts off with a constantly shifting first movement only to give us one of the saddest slow movements of any of Schubert's sonatas. Now this slow movement explodes towards its end with what can only be the musical representation of frenzied frustration.

Schubert is perfectly aware of his imminent death, and has been for quite a while, syphilis being a long, drawn out disease. It is almost painful to listen to him, who started his career with such cheerful bonhomie as expressed by his earlier works, suddenly go deeper and deeper into depression. Well, maybe if he wasn't so cheerful he wouldn't have contracted syphilis in the first place.

Final Grade

10/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Schubert had been struggling with syphilis since 1822–23, and suffered from weakness, headaches and dizziness. However, he seems to have led a relatively normal life until September 1828, when new symptoms such as effusions of blood appeared. At this stage he moved from the Vienna home of his friend Franz von Schober to his brother Ferdinand's house in the suburbs, following the advice of his doctor; unfortunately, this may have actually worsened his condition. However, up until the last weeks of his life in November 1828, he continued to compose an extraordinary amount of music, including such masterpieces as the three last sonatas,

Alfred Brendel, Andantino:

255. Franz Schubert - Piano Sonata in C minor D958 (1828)

2009-03-30T17:35:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: 6 Moments Musicaux; Piano Sonata in C minor, D958
Performers: Radu Lupu
Year: 1981
Length: 31 minutes

Review

This is the first of the three last Schubert sonatas that we will have on this list. Then it's curtain for Schub. Syphilis is bad. These sonatas are well known for their introspective nature, for that same reason they are sometimes not as accessible as other works by Schubert.

The fact that the sonata takes a little bit of getting used to should not be taken against it, in fact it is nothing if not beautiful, it just doesn't really have a hook to it.

The four movements go through a great variety of emotions, often conflicting but always deeply felt much like in any other Schubert work. So very good, but not as great and perfect as the impromptus.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Sonata in C minor, D. 958

Allegro. The exposition shifts from the tonic to the relative major (E-flat major), touching midway upon its parallel minor (E-flat minor), all in accordance with Classical practice. The development section is highly chromatic, and is texturally and melodically distinct from the exposition. The recapitulation is once again traditional, staying in the tonic and stressing subdominant tonalities (D-flat, the lowered second degree – in the first theme). The coda returns to the material of the development section, but with stable tonality.

Adagio in A-flat major, A–B–A–B–A form. The unorthodox, chromatic harmonic structure of this movement is generated from a short progression that appears towards the end of the A section,leading to a plagal cadence in the subdominant key (D-flat), chromatically colored with its own minor subdominant chord (G-flat minor). This leads to the haunted atmosphere of the B section, which is full of chromatic modulations and 'frightening' sforzandos. In the second appearance of the A and B sections, almost the entire music is shifted a semitone up. The 'kernel' progression returns transformed at the end of the movement, with even subtler chromatic coloration and harsher modulations, leading from A-flat minor to C major. Throughout the entire movement, brisk modulations of a rising or falling semitone predominate.

Menuetto: Allegro – Trio. This is a somber movement, quite distinct from the typical atmosphere of dance movements. It is relatively conservative in its key scheme, moving to the relative major key and back to the tonic. In the B section, a sequence of hemiolas is interrupted by a dramatic interpolation in A-flat major. The second A section is a transformation of the first, interrupted every four bars by a silent bar, creating a mysterious atmosphere. The trio is in A-flat major, ternary form.

Allegro. This movement is written in 6/8 and in tarantella style, and is characterised by a relentless galloping rhythm. It employs the three-key exposition, a recurrent element in Schubert's style. The first theme shifts from C minor to C major – another Schubertian feature, and contains many allusions to D-flat major, which eventually becomes the key of the second theme. After a series of modulations, the exposition ends in the traditional relative major, E-flat. The development section begins in C-flat with a new theme, derived from the last bars of the exposition. Later on, additional material from the exposition is developed, gradually building up towards a climax. The recapitulation is also written in three keys, this time the second theme in B-flat minor and the closing section in the traditional tonic. The coda begins with a long anticipatory passage which stresses A-flat, the submediant, and then reintroduces the first theme, gradually building up tension towards the fortissimo ending.

Sviatoslav Richter:

254. Franz Schubert - Schwanengesang (1828)

2009-03-29T11:30:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Schwanengesang/Lieder
Performers: Diestrich Fischer-Dieskau, Gerald Moore
Year: 1972
Length: 51 minutes

Review

We're still with Schubert during his long drawn-out death. Now we get his last songs, which have been appropriately named "Swan Song", not by Schubert of course, these were published posthumously.

We had heard several of these before, right when Schubert first appeared on this list in a recording of his lieder. Interestingly some of his best songs are in this collection, such as Die Taubenpost or Der Doppelgänger, which make the death of Schubert all the worse, as he was just getting better at writing songs.

As always Schubert's songs are not the happiest of affairs, particularly at this point in his life, nonetheless they are each one beautiful. Unlike Die Schone Mullerin or Winterreise these songs do not form a cohesive narrative whole, at least they were never intended to, but this takes nothing away from the great works that they are.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Taubenpost ("Pigeon post"; the song that is often considered as a last lied that Schubert ever wrote. The song is included into a cycle by the first editor and is almost always included in modern performances too even though the song has no any relationship to others)

Fischer Dieskau, Die Taubenpost:

253. Franz Schubert - String Quintet in C Major (1828)

2009-03-28T15:07:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: The Hollywood String Quartet: Testament
Performers: The Hollywood String Quartet, Kurt Reher
Year: 1951
Length: 45 minutes

Review

We come to Schubert's last chamber work, a quintet which has lived on through time not only due to its quality but by being the last chamber work of the master of chamber music: Schubert.

In this way plenty of interpretations extraneous to the music have been made, trying to gauge Schubert's attitude before death, but that is material for other people, let's just talk about the music, as it is worthy without need for anything else.

This is yet another great chamber work by Schubert, the great highlight being the slow movement, a beautiful work of quiet desperation, so yet another Schubert essential to add to your classic music library.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Schubert's string quintet was inspired by Mozart's third string quintet and Beethoven's Quintet op. 29, written in the same key, as well as similar quintets by George Onslow. The instrumentation is reminiscent of Onslow, who used a double bass in some of his quintets. The opening theme of Schubert's work has retained many of the characteristics of the Mozart quintet's opening theme, such as decorative turns, irregular phrase lengths, and rising staccato arpeggios (the latter appear only in Schubert's recapitulation).

See it all on youtube, first part:

252. Franz Schubert - Symphony no. 9, "Great" (1828)

2009-03-27T13:41:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: BBC Legends: Boult
Performers: BBC Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Adrian Boult
Year: 1969
Length: 54 minutes

Review

Firsat two things: sorry about the tiny image, and the numbering of Schubert's Symphonies is very dodgy indeed, so it is possible to find this symphony with all kinds of numbers. The epithet of "Great" is constant however, and that is due not only to its length but first and foremost to the grandiosity of it all.

This is one of those symphonies which are effective in that most childish part of each of us which likes pomp, and excitement in their music, with its brass and percussion very prominent throughout and particularly in the grand finale.

That being said this is not a symphony solely made out of bombast, in fact it is its nuances that make it so good, the way that it goes down to more emotive subjects before jumping into powerful epicness and then returning to the softer parts. It is so contrasting at times that you keep fiddling with your sound volume, to listen to the quiet better and then not to wake up the neighbours. I hate neighbours.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

There continues to be some controversy over the numbering of this symphony, with German-speaking scholars sometimes numbering it as symphony No. 7, the most recent version of the Deutsch catalog (the standard catalogue of Schubert's works, compiled by Otto Erich Deutsch) listing it as No. 8, and English-speaking scholars often listing it as No. 9. Many American orchestras have dropped the numbering altogether since the mid-1980s and in printed programs merely title it the "Great" C-major Symphony.

The Finale part 1:

251. Franz Schubert - Fantasy in F minor for Piano Duet, D940 (1828)

2009-03-26T12:05:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Mozart: Sonata for 2 pianos in D Major, k.448, Schubert: Fantasy for Piano 4 Hands in f minor, D. 940
Performers: Murray Perahia, Radu Lupu
Year: 1984
Length: 19 minutes

Review

Another short piece by Schubert, who is now very near the end of his life. Schubert composed an immense amount of piano duets and these vary greatly in terms of quality, but this one is generally recognised as one of his best works for the genre.

It is a great work, in a single movement of 19 minutes, almost like a suite, Schubert travels the gamut of variations for the themes he selected for the fantasy. It starts very slow and builds up from there before eventually dwindling back down to the beginning theme.

This use of a single movement permits Schubert to make the work much more consistent throughout as a unified whole. This is something that he has been doing even in his multi-movement pieces and which is to me one of the great developments by Schubert, the notion of cohesion between several elements of a work. This is something that Beethoven had already done but which Schubert develops with great success.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Schubert began writing the Fantasia in January 1828 in Vienna. The work was completed in March of that year, and first performed in May. Schubert's friend Eduard von Bauernfeld recorded in his diary on May 9 that a memorable duet was played, by Schubert and Franz Lachner. The work was dedicated to Karoline Esterházy, with whom Schubert was in (unrequited) love.

Schubert passed away in November 1828. After his death, his friends and family undertook to have a number of his works published. This work is one of those pieces; it was published by Anton Diabelli in March 1829. The original manuscript resides at the Austrian National Library.

Maria Joao Pires and Ricardo Castro play the Fantasy (excerpt):

250. Franz Schubert - Fantasy in C, D934 (1827)

2009-03-25T13:41:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: The European Busch-Serkin Duo Recordings Vol. III
Performers: Adolf Busch & Rudolf Serkin
Year: 1931
Length: 22 minutes

Review

These very old recordings sometimes work better than others, but there is a constant in the violin playing: it is markedly different from more modern performances, it always sounds more gypsy-like, with a thinner sound.

This is particularly noticeable in the second movement of this recording, it gives the music an interesting flavour, however, and the muffled quality of the recording does give its own ambience to the music. In this sense it is not very faithful to Schubert's vision, he was surely not imagining the contingencies of recording technology when composing, but it is charming.

As a piece, this fantasy is not really in my top ten Schubert pieces, it is fun and all but it doesn't touch me in the way that Schubert so often does. Nonetheless it is a great bit of music with some quite flashy performances both in the piano and violin.

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

In 1897, the 100th anniversary of Schubert's birth was marked in the musical world by festivals and performances dedicated to his music. In Vienna, there were ten days of concerts, and the Emperor Franz Joseph gave a speech recognizing Schubert as the creator of the art song, and one of Austria's favorite sons. Karlsruhe saw the first production of his opera Fierrabras.

First movement:

249. Franz Schubert - Piano trio in E flat major, D929 (1827)

2009-03-24T18:20:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: The Piano Trios
Performers: Beaux Arts Trio: Menahem Pressler, Isidore Cohen, Bernard Greenhouse
Year: 1985
Length: 44 minutes

Review

Schubert's second piano trio is a thing of real beauty. Much like Winterreise it is not an untroubled beauty like in his earlier works, it is very much a piece about inner conflict, and while the sun shines through on occasion it is mainly a cloudy piece.

Nothing exemplifies this better than the theme introduced in the second, slow, movement, which is then repeated until the end of the piece, so full of delicate beauty and pain and at the same time extremely catchy. It stays with you.

Schubert manages that most supreme of feats, to be melancholy without being maudlin, his pain is not a mockery of pain but truly heartfelt, and he manages to pass that though with all of its complexities in his music. This is not Rachmaninoff's kitsch romanticism.

Final Grade

10/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

The Trio No. 2 in E-flat major for piano, violin, and violoncello, D. 929, was one of the last compositions completed by Franz Schubert, dated November 1827. It was published by Probst as opus 100 in late 1828, shortly before the composer's death. Unlike much of Schubert's late music, he actually heard this work performed before he died.

Scene from Barry Lyndon with the beautiful andante:

248. Franz Schubert - Winterreise (1827)

2009-03-22T12:24:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Die Schone Mullerin, Winterreise, Schwanengesang
Performers: Peter Schreier, Andras Schiff.
Year: 1991
Length: 71 minutes

Review

This is Schubert's most painful song cycle and also one of the hardest ones to listen to. It requires some habituation in order to really sink in. When I first heard it many years ago I profoundly disliked it. But you don't really like desolation as a child.

As time has gone on, each time I listen to it I like it a little bit more. The same has happened with most of Schubert's lieds, but none more so than Winterreise. Schubert is crossing a deep depression at this stage in his life, and it shows.

When the listener is able to do the epistemic shift from boring and desolate to beautiful desolation is when this album clicks in. It might take 100 listens but you get there, in this way it is a truly challenging set of songs to the listener, but one which pays off in the end.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

In his introduction to the Peters Edition (with the critical revisions of Max Friedländer), Professor Max Müller, son of the poet, remarks that Schubert's two song-cycles have a dramatic effect not unlike that of a full-scale tragic opera, particularly when performed by great singers such as Jenny Lind (Die schöne Müllerin) or Julius Stockhausen (Winterreise). Like Die schöne Müllerin, Schubert's Winterreise is not merely a collection of songs upon a single theme (lost or unrequited love) but is in effect one single dramatic monologue, lasting up to an hour in performance. Although some individual songs are sometimes included separately in recitals (e.g. Gute Nacht, Der Lindenbaum and Der Leiermann), it is a work which is usually presented in its entirety. The intensity and the emotional inflexions of the poetry are carefully built up to express the sorrows of the lover, and are developed to an almost pathological degree from the first to the last note. It has been claimed that it would be impossible to write this work without having experienced similar emotions in reality.

Gute Nacht with Ian Bostridge:

247. Franz Schubert - Impromptus (1827)

2009-03-21T06:27:00.000-07:00

Recording

Title: Le Voyage Magnifique
Performer: Maria Joao Pires
Year: 1996-96
Length: 71 minutes

Review

Schubert's Impromptus have been for a long time my favourite piano pieces, each sounds so perfectly whole and so modern as well as intricate that it grabs your attention throughout while not sacrificing a certain minimalism. In fact I would only compare them to Beethoven's sonatas in terms of greatness for the piano.

Like much classical music Schubert's Impromptus suffer from over-popularisation, making it harder for the aware listener to approach them with completely fresh ears, if some of that is achieved it is not hard to see them for the amazing pieces that they are.

Another bonus for me is to have a recording by Maria Joao Pires here, the greatest Portuguese pianist of all times which makes by Portuguese bones particularly happy. So I am back in Manchester for a while, finishing packing, I have got an amazing house in Portugal now and I can't wait to be back there settled in... being in the sun with 10 more degrees Celsius than here.

Final Grade

10/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

The Impromptus are often considered companion pieces to the Six Moments musicaux, and they are often recorded and published together.

It has been said that Schubert was deeply influenced in writing these pieces by the Impromptus, Op. 7, of Jan Václav Voříšek (1822) and by the music of Voříšek's teacher Václav Tomášek.

Pires Plays Op.90 no.3:

Hiatus

2009-02-04T19:39:00.000-08:00

There will be a hiatus on this blog while I go to Portugal to look for a house, might be a couple of weeks or more. See you soon.

246.Franz Schubert - Piano Trio in B flat major (1827)

2009-02-04T19:25:00.000-08:00

Recording

Title: Historical Recordings 1926 and 1927
Performers: Alfred Cortot, Jacques Thibaud, Pablo Casals
Year: 1926
Length: 31 minutes

Review

Talk about old recordings, this one is from the 20s, only 99 years removed from Schubert's composition, that is quite impressive in itself. Also all the members of this trio are real mythical characters of their time, and the playing is pretty good even with the different standards we have today.

The music is again some great Schubert chamber music. Each instrument really has its own voice and with such stellar performers it comes out beautifully even in such a muffled recording. In fact the muffling gives the album a certain charm, and while the clarity of sound might suffer the brilliance of the composition is perfectly discernible.

The great highlight for me here is the Andante. Schubert always seems to be at his consistent best in the slow movements, where his romantic spirit can come to full fruition. Not only a great piece but also a very interesting recording.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

The composer finished the work in 1828, in the last year of his life. It was published in 1836 as Opus 99, 8 years after the composer's death.

First five minutes:

245. Franz Schubert - Piano Sonata in G major, D894 (1826)

2009-02-03T19:11:00.000-08:00

Recording

Title: Solo Piano Works
Performers: Arcadi Volodos
Year: 2001
Length: 39 minutes

Review

A beautiful piano sonata by Schubert which really stands out for its slowly developing and very affecting first movement. The structure of the piece is also somewhat uncommon. Instead of alternating moods the piece seems to become increasingly cheery as it goes on. From the slow and melancholy first to the allegretto at the end.

A thing that Schubert manages to do unlike anyone before him is to give a sense of unity to his multiple movement pieces, and this one is another good example of it. The whole sonata seems to be one big developing work, and a great one as well.

Now that Beethoven is dead the crown of the Sonata has appropriately been taken by Schubert, as have many other crowns in fact, he is for a short time the greatest living composer in Europe.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

This sonata is often called the Fantaisie.

The first part of the very long 1st movement:

244. Felix Mendelssohn - A Midsummer Night's Dream (1826, 1843)

2009-02-01T17:56:00.000-08:00

Recording

Title: A Midsummer Night's Dream
Performers: Seiji Ozawa, Kathleen Battle, Frederica von Stade, Judi Dench
Director: Seiji Ozawa
Year: 1992
Length: 58 minutes

Review

There are few pieces as evocative and delightful as Mendelssohn's overture to Midsummer Night's Dream. Composed when he was only 17 it evokes the sound of fairies feet near the beginning and it's chorus incorporates a sound very much reminiscent of donkey braying as a representation of Bottom. And it is very catchy, I've had it stuck in my head all day long.

But the composition does not end here, Mendelssohn also produced his most famous composition for this work, the Wedding March which has been used endlessly in weddings since this was composed. Unfortunately it is hard to separate the music from the function it has been used in, still, it is a pretty powerful piece of music.

But a great highlight is the Notturno with its dreamy feel and its use of brass in a completely beautiful way. And it is all surprisingly cinematic. This is highlighted in this recording by having Judi Dench contextualising the music in hte relevant parts of the play, and what Mendelssohn managed in terms of evocation is splendid.

Final Grade

10/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Felix Mendelssohn composed an overture inspired by the play in 1826, intended for concert performance. In 1843, because of the fame of the overture, he was commissioned to write incidental music for a German stage production of the play. He added the Overture to it, and both were used in most stage versions through the nineteenth century. Among Mendelssohn's incidental pieces is his Wedding March, used most often today as a recessional in Western weddings. Between 1917 and 1939 Carl Orff also wrote incidental music for the play Ein Sommernachtstraum (performed in 1939). Since Mendelssohn was a Jew, his music had been banned by the Nazi regime, and the Nazi cultural officials put out a call for new music for the play: Orff was one of the musicians who responded.

Leibowitz conducts the overture:

Part 1:

Part 2: