No matter what she’s playing, she seems never to touch the ground.
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937), Piano Concerto in G (1929-31); RAI National Symphony Orchestra (Claudio Abbado, cond.) with Martha Argerich (piano), live, Rome, 1969
1st movt.
2nd & 3rd movts.
Why not begin the week with something beautiful?
Lou Harrison (1917-2003), Second Symphony (“Elegiac,” 1988); BBC National Orchestra of Wales
**********
lagniappe
reading table
never growing old
Mr. and Mrs.
Butterfly—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827; translated from Japanese by David G. Lanoue)
passings
Lorin Maazel (mah-ZELL), conductor, violinist, composer
March 6, 1930-July 13, 2014
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), Symphony No. 41 in C major (“Jupiter”), Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia (Lorin Maazel, cond.), live, Spain (A Coruña), 2012
Charlie Haden, Tommy Ramone, Lorin Maazel: their differences are dwarfed by what, as music makers, they shared.
soundtrack for a dream
Marcos Balter (1974-), Frisson (2011); Chicago Composers Orchestra (Matthew Kasper, cond.) with Eric Lamb (flute), Chicago, 2011
**********
lagniappe
reading table
Speculative, imaginative writings—texts that ‘open possibility’—help us to live because the definitions by which we live are themselves productions of the cultural imaginary.
—Frances Richard, “Multitudes” (Poetry, May, 2014)
Yesterday this piece, by a composer often heard here, won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for music.
John Luther Adams (1953-), Become Ocean (2013); Seattle Symphony
*****
taking a break
I’m taking some time off—back in a while.
Something beautiful to begin the week.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, excerpt (2nd movt., Adagio); Hélène Grimaud (piano), Bavarian Radio Chamber Orchestra
**********
lagniappe
musical thoughts
It is music and dancing that makes me at peace with the world and at peace with myself.
—Nelson Mandela (July 18, 1918-December 5, 2013)
serendipity
Last night I was feeling glum. Then I happened upon this. Listen to this piano sing.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Piano Concerto No. 27 in B flat major; Maria João Pires (piano), Chamber Orchestra of Europe (Trevor Pinnock, cond.), live
**********
lagniappe
reading table
Why love what you will lose?
There is nothing else to love.—Louise Glück, “From the Japanese” (excerpt)
what’s new
I don’t understand a word of German. No matter. Commitment and passion don’t require translation.
Carolin Widmann (violin), playing and talking; Morton Feldman (1926-1987), Violin and Orchestra (1979); CM, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra (Emilio Pomarico, cond.), ECM Records, 5/13
music clip of the day 