This week includes only works by composers I’ve never heard of before, and we’re starting it with Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, an 18th century mixed-race, out of wedlock classical composer from the French colony of Guadalupe who was the conductor of the symphony orchestra in Paris.… Read more
A soothing beautiful nocturne.
IDAGIO and Amazon: Nocturne by Dobrinka Tabakova || Andrew Matthews-Owen (Piano)
In 1791, Mozart was penniless, in poor health, out of fashion, and believed he had been poisoned and was on the verge of death.… Read more
Date: 5 Sept 2019
Location: Grand Palace Hall
Category: Great Orchestras of the worlds
Georg Katzer “discorso” for orchestra; Brahms Violin Concerto în D major op. 77; Enescu Symphony no. 3 in C major op. 21
Vladimir Jurowski conductor; Choir of The „George Enescu” Philharmonic; Iosif Ion Prunner conductor of the choir; Romanian Radio Children’s Choir; Răzvan Rădos conductor of the choir; Julia Fischer violin
Katzer’s composition is pretty gimmicky, a mixture of sounds coming from all sorts of weird instruments, a fun work but not that impressive overall.… Read more
Date: 6 Sept 2019
Location: Romanian Athenaeum
Category: By Midnight Concerts
Gluck “Iphigénie en Tauride”, opera in concert version
Laurence Cummings conductor, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Anna Caterina Antonacci – Iphigénie (mezzo-soprano), Christopher Maltman – Oreste (baritone), Toby Spence – Pylade (tenor), Andrew Foster-Williams – Thoas (bass-baritone), Mary Bevan – Diane (soprano), Sofia Larsson – Greek Woman (soprano), Miriam Allan – First Priestess (soprano), Jessica Cale – Second Priestess (soprano), Dingle Yandell – Scythian (bass-baritone), Brian Mcalea – Minister (baritone)
Anna Caterina Antonacci has been the one that made me truly fall in love with opera, she’s one of my favourite opera singers and seeing her live has been a ten years old dream.… Read more
Date: 4 Sept 2019
Location: Grand Palace Hall
Category: Great Orchestras of the world
Vladimir Jurowski conductor, The Rundfunkchor Berlin, Benjamin Goodson conductor of the choir, Romanian Radio Children’s Choir, Răzvan Rădos conductor of the choir, Carmen Lidia Vidu multimedia director
Torsten Kerl the Emperor (tenor), Anne Schwanewilms the Empress (soprano), Ildikó Komlósi the Nurse (mezzo-soprano), Yasushi Hirano the messenger of Keikobad (baritone), Andrey Nemzer the Guardian of the Threshold, Artjom Vasnetsov, Christoph Oldenburg, Philipp A.… Read more
Date: 1 Sept 2019
Location: Romanian Athenaeum
Category: Recitals and chamber music
I so badly wanted to get tickets for this recital but unfortunately I didn’t catch any, as they were sold instantly. Damrau is an important name in the operatic world, so she was part of five artists I truly wanted to see live, the other ones being: Joyce DiDonato (no tickets left, but I’m not that sorry about it), Bryn Terfel (no tickets left – this is the one show I actually regret not getting tickets to, I love his voice), Rolando Villazón (I didn’t even try to buy one when I saw his program) and Anna Caterina Antonacci (she was, along with Kaufmann, among the artists that got me falling in love with opera so I’m super excited to see her live on the 6th of September).… Read more
Date: 31 Aug 2019
Location: Romanian Athenaeum
Category: By Midnight Concerts
This was the second performance from the first day and it dawned on me only several hours before the show, upon a more thorough checking of the program, that it’s an ensemble performing mostly baroque chamber music, with lutes (a theorbo) and harps and viola da gamba and flutes (a recorder).… Read more
Father of the Symphony, Father of the String Quartet, friend and mentor of Mozart, tutor of Beethoven, Joseph Haydn was an Austrian Classical composer too grand for words. Prolific does not even begin to describe his career: the man wrote over one hundred symphonies and 83 string quartets, 150 baryton duos and trios, over 40 piano trios (the development of which he also fathered), numerous concertos, trios and duos for various instruments, marches, dances, sonatas, 15 masses, a handful of songs, 13 operas and other musical comedies.… Read more
What do you do when your work is characterized as lacking feminine charm if it is too powerful and energetic, but less than the artistic standard of your male colleagues if it’s delicate and melodious? You get involved in the suffrage movement, you compose its anthem and even spend two months in jail for the cause (albeit, after doing some private property damage).… Read more
A short and beautiful chorus work by Jonathan Harvey.
IDAGIO and Amazon for: Nigel Short, Tenebrae
I adore fanfare music. It’s a soft spot of mine since I was a child and I would go and listen to the marching band on the bank of the Danube on Navy Day.… Read more