Also known as the Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, this work got Henryk Gorecki in the attention of the wide public, being before then known only to a restricted circle of 20th century modern music connoisseurs. Despite having sold over a million copies, it remains a controversial work, being loved by the public and rather dismissed by critics.… Read more
We start the week with a comical work, a madrigal by Claudio Monteverdi set after a poem by Ottavio Rinuccini, an Italian 16th century poet considered to be the first opera librettist. In this sonnet we hear a plea to Zephyrus, the bringer of spring in Greek mythology, to come and enliven the air, the branches, the mountains and valleys, everything around our hero who goes back and forth between singing and crying, being tormented by love .… Read more
The honourable mention of the week goes to “Consolations S. 172”, a set of six solo piano works by Franz Liszt, out of which I particularly like the first four ones. They are so serene that you are immediately transposed into the realm of dreams and because their rhythm is extremely slow, you need to be in the right mood, in search of peace and tranquillity, in order to fully enjoy them.