Roberto Alagna - Pagliacci

Tragedy, Beethoven and a Guitar | CBW21

3. Milonga by Jorge Cardoso

On third place we have the most famous work of the Argentinian guitarist and composer Jorge Cardoso, namely Milonga. Akin to its composer, who is also a teacher, a medical doctor and a researcher, Milonga stands for several things: it is a musical genre from Argentina and Uruguay, a dance similar to the tango, but faster and more relaxed in movements and a weekly event where people play and dance Argentinian tango, along with valses and milongas.… Read more

Jussi Bjorling

War and Love | CBW 19

3. “Spitfire Prelude & Fugue” by William Walton

We start the week with a man that left no important legacy, being considered more often than not as old-fashioned in his style: Sir William Turner Walton. Why are we doing this? Because I have a soft spot for wartime music, which is precisely what Spitfire Prelude & Fugue is: the score of the film The First of the Few, directed by Lesley Howard.… Read more

Austrian delights | CBW15

3. Concerto no. 7 in F major for three pianos, K. 242 (“Lodron”) by Mozart

No honourable mention this week, we dive directly in a concert for three pianos by Mozart, which he composed especially for a countess and her two daughters. The first movement starts in a pompous manner and then slides into a merry stroll of fingers over the piano keys with a lively tempo and ending symmetrically in the same energetic fashion.… Read more

Luciano Pavarotti

Operatic rule | CBW05

Peaceful, serene, soothing … this is how this week’s honourable mention makes me feel when listening to it: “L’heure excuse” by Reynaldo Hahn, a Venezuelan composer and a prodigy child (he entered the Paris Conservatoire when he was ten years old), best known for his songs. Naturally, when it comes to a voice composition, you need a great voice to portray the beauty of the song, and Susan Graham does this superbly.

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