Eugène Ysaÿe (1858-1931), Belgian violinist and composer.
Below he plays the Scherzo-valse by Chabrier in 1910.
Great moments in commercial music: iPhone 4S, did Philip Glass write this?
The music in this video has his fingerprints all over it. And if Glass didn’t write it, is it plagiarism?
related posts:
Great moments in commercial music: Air France
Classical recordings: New and noteworthy
I’ve put together a selected list of some of the more noteworthy recordings released today.
Click here to view the list. (It’s a slide show; my captions to the photos provide a short description of each release.)
Pacific Chorale celebrates 40 years with John Alexander
In today’s Orange County Register online, I review a gala concert performed by the Pacific Chorale in honor of its longtime director, John Alexander.
Click here to read my review. There’s a slide show too.
Classical birthdays, November 6
Born on this date from left to right, instrument maker Adolphe Sax, pianist and statesman Ignacy Jan Paderewski, and the king of the march, John Philip Sousa.
Click on the thumbnail photos for larger views.
Upcoming concerts: Lots of string quartets and Yuja Wang
New Zealand String Quartet
The much traveled New Zealand String Quartet will give the acoustics of the brand new Soka Performing Arts Center a test with a varied program spanning centuries. Haydn’s “Lark” Quartet opens the agenda, which also includes “Exitus,” written in 2009 for this group by the Wellington-based composer Michael Norris, Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 7 and Beethoven’s late masterpiece, the String Quartet, Op. 131. 8 p.m. Nov. 5. Tickets are $23-$33. Soka Performing Arts Center, Soka University, Aliso Viejo. 949-480-4000. soka.edu
Pacifica Quartet
The Grammy-winning Pacific Quartet, recently named quartet in residence at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, arrives at the Segerstrom Center for a make up appearance after a cancellation last season. The ensemble will perform Beethoven’s early String Quartet, Op. 18, No. 3, Shostakovich’s rarely heard String Quartet No. 2 and Beethoven’s great middle period String Quartet, Op. 59, No. 3, “Razumovsky.” 8 p.m. Nov. 8. Tickets are $60. Samueli Theater, Segerstrom Center for the Arts. 714-556-2787. scfta.org
Talich Quartet
The venerable Talich Quartet, established in 1964 and now headed by the founder’s son, has long been considered one of the great exponents of Czech music. The group arrives in Fullerton to perform Mendelssohn’s String Quartet in F minor, Op. 80, Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 8 and that classic of the Czech repertoire, Smetana’s String Quartet No. 1, “From My Life.” 8 p.m. Nov. 4. Tickets are $20-$25. Meng Concert Hall, Cal State Fullerton. 657-278-3371. fullerton.edu
Monteux conducts ‘The March to the Scaffold’
Pierre Monteux conducts the San Francisco Symphony in ‘The March to the Scaffold’ from Berlioz’s ‘Symphonie Fantastique.’
This is a typical Monteux performance in several ways — the strongly marked and energized rhythms, the crisp and compact phrasings and the clear and distilled instrumental textures (which you can hear despite the primitive sound quality of this 1951 recording) are hallmarks of his style. The orchestra isn’t always up to our present day standards, but they pull the piece off con gusto.
Incidentally, I’ve never heard the passage at the 2:14 mark of the recording (and again at 2:54), where Berlioz divides a single phrase between several parts of the orchestra, played better than here. It’s tricky.
Betty Zukov, singer, conductor, mother of a music critic and some other people, celebrates her 90th birthday
My mother, Betty Zukov, to whom I owe whatever musical talents I may possess, turns 90 today. We’re up at her place celebrating … with champagne, of course. And yes, she’s still conducting.
The photo above shows Mom in the late 1930s, possibly early 1940s, in costume for an opera or operetta of title unknown. She used to perform at the Pabst Theatre in Milwaukee.
Toscanini conducts ‘The Ride of the Valkyries’
Arturo Toscanini conducts the NBC Symphony Orchestra in The Ride of the Valkyries in March, 1948.
New page: Recommended Recordings
I’ve added a page to the blog: Recommended Recordings. You can see it above, just below and to the right of the Classical Life logo. Click on it.
There’s no rhyme or reason to the ten recordings I’ve chosen to start off — other than that they’re all recommendable.
I intend to add and subtract from the list fairly often. There will be new recordings and old, recordings of pieces coming up for performance in our area, and pieces recently performed here. Also, whatever I happen to feel like putting on the list.
For the most part, you’ll be able to get anything you feel like adding to your collection on Amazon.com. The website even has quite a few out of print recordings.
I used to work at a classical record store (Tower Records on the Sunset Strip) — so, you could say I once made my living recommending recordings. Well, sort of. It didn’t pay that well.
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