Dudamel Mania continues, this week by way of a concert given at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome this past November. Leading his Orquesta Sinfonica Simon Bolivar, Dudemel whips up a feast that, if the audience is any indication, was a complete barn-burner.

Recorded by RAI in Rome (with the engineers going a little overboard on levels), November 23rd this past year, the concert runs the gamut from Beethoven and Verdi to Stravinsky, Ravel, Ginastera and Leonard Bernstein.

Here's a rundown of what you'll be hearing:

IL CARTELLONE
ACCADEMIA NAZIONALE DI SANTA CECILIA
Orquesta Sinfónica de Venezuela Simón Bolívar
direttore, Gustavo Dudamel

Ludwig van Beethoven
Sinfonia n. 3 in mi bemolle maggiore op. 55 (Eroica)
- Allegro con brio
- Marcia funebre (Adagio assai)
- Scherzo (Allegro vivace)
- Finale (Allegro molto)

Maurice Ravel
Daphnis et Chloe, seconda suite
- Lever du jour (Alba)
- Pantomime (Pantomima)
Danse générale (Danza generale)

Igor Stravinskij
L’oiseau de feu (L’uccello di fuoco)
Suite dal balletto op. 20 (versione del 1919)
- Introduzione
- L’Uccello di fuoco e la sua danza
- Variazione dell’Uccello di fuoco
- Ronda delle Principesse
- Danza infernale del Re Katschej
- Berceuse e Finale

Giuseppe Verdi
Sinfonia da La forza del destino
Alberto Ginastera
Malambo, dal balletto Estancia

Leonard Bernstein
Mambo, dalle Danze sinfoniche da West Side Story*

Registrato il 23 novembre 2011 al Parco della Musica di Roma

The Beethoven is on the top player and the rest of this 2 hour concert is on the bottom player.

*You know the audience is on your side when, during the Mambo from Bernstein's West Side Story, the entire crowd screams "Mambo" on cue. That's audience participation.

Not the most mellow of Anti-road Rage Wednesday concerts, but a pretty memorable one.

Enjoy.

Over to Barcelona this week for a concert recorded this past February 22nd by Radio Nacional Espana, featuring Pianist Miquel Villalba in music of Satie, Ravel, Poulenc and Montsalvatge.

Broken up between two players, the concert goes something like this:

Ciclo de Cámara. Concierto celebrado en L´Auditori deBarcelona el 22 de febrero de 2012.

Part 1: POULENC: 3 Mouvements perpétuels.
MONTSALVATGE:3 Divertimentos para piano.
MILHAUD: Saudades doBrasil, Op. 67.
MONTSALVATGE: Sonatine pour Ivette.

Part 2: SATIE: 3 Gymnopédies.
RAVEL: Sonatine.
MONTSALVATGE: 4 Diàlegs amb el piano.
Miquel Villalba, Piano.

Good concert and one that definitely ranks high in the Anti-Road Rage Wednesday lexicon.

Enjoy.

I always talk about how many concerts are broadcast any given day by the radio networks in Europe, and how many of them are live on-the-spot. Well, to prove that point, here is a concert that was recorded lived earlier today (8:00 pm Paris time - 11:00 am Los Angeles time) featuring Orchestre National de France led by podium superstar Daniele Gatti and featuring Antonio Meneses, cello in music by Faure`, Saint-Saens, Debussy and Ravel.

Both the orchestra and soloist are given rousing ovations and, as is customary, they play rousing encores.

Great concert all the way around, and to hear it live as-it's-happening is a bonus.

The concert is divided between two players and the intermission feature has been edited out (no interviews, just commercial recordings featuring Meneses) and the announcements have been edited down in order to take the concert down from its original three hours to a reasonable length.

Here's what's being played:

Part 1 - Gabriel Fauré

Pelléas et Mélisande, Musique de scène pour la pièce de Maeterlinck(1902)

Camille Saint-Saëns

Concerto N°1 en la mineur Op.33 (1869)

Part 2 - Claude Debussy

Jeux (1912)

Maurice Ravel

Daphnis et Chloé, Suite N°2 (1913)

Antonio Meneses, Violoncelle
Orchestre National de France
Daniele Gatti, Direction

Who says music is dead? Not around here.

Remember, it's Anti-Road Rage Wednesday so step away from the computer and turn the speakers up.

And enjoy.

Over to Austria by way of Spain this week for a concert given on May 21, 2011 by French Piano sensation Cedric Tiberghien in a recital of music by Beethoven, Schumann, Ravel and Debussy.

Tiberghiend has been getting great reviews over his U.S. debut with the National Symphony (of Washington D.C.) and is slated for a busy tour schedule of the U.S. this year.

But in the meantime, here is the recital from last year as recorded by ORF in Austria and relayed to Radio Nacional Espana. The concert is broken up into two parts - Part One has the Beethoven and Schumann and Part Two has the Ravel and Debussy.

Here are the notes:

17.00►Gran Auditorio
Concierto celebrado en la Sala Markus Sittikus de
Hohenems el 21 de mayo de 2011. Grabación de la ORF,
Austria. Schubertiadas 2011.

BEETHOVEN: Sonata para piano nº 14 en Do sostenido menor, Op. 27 / 2.

SCHUMANN: Kreisleriana, Op. 16.

RAVEL: Gaspard de la nuit.

DEBUSSY: Masques. D‟un
chaier d‟esquisses. L‟isle joyeuse.
Cedric Tiberghien (p.).

We're looking at almost perfect Anti-Road Rage music today. I think it's safe to operate heavy machinery while listening to this one.

Enjoy no matter what.

Back to Paris this week for a Chamber recital by the Takacs String Quartet. Recorded live at the Theatre de Ville on October 13th, the concert features music of Ravel, Bartok and Dvorak, with an encore by Haydn.

Here's the playlist:

Théâtre de la Ville : Récital du Quatuor Takacs

Maurice Ravel
Quatuor en Fa majeur (1902,1903)

Béla Bartók
Quatuor N°1 Op.7 Sz.40 (1908,1909)

Antonín Dvořák (1878,1879)
Quatuor N°10 en Mi bémol majeur Op.51 B.92, Slave

QUATUOR TAKÁCS
Edward Dusinberre violon
Károly Schranz violon
Geraldine Walther alto
András Fejér violoncelle

Concert donné le 13 octobre 2011.
en bis, 15h33
Joseph Haydn
Quatuor n° 53 en ré majeur op 64 n°5 Hob III 63 finale Vivace

The concert is broken up between two players - the top player is the Ravel and Bartok. The bottom player is the Dvorak and Haydn encore.

This fills the bill for a Wednesday Anti-Road Rage concert quite nicely.

No?

Over to Madrid this week for a live concert with Orquesta Sinfonica y Coro de RTVE (Spanish Radio and TV) guest conducted by Gunther Herbig (who seems to be guest conducting everywhere at once). The concert features a well-known batch of music by Ravel (Ma Mere l'Oye), Debussy (Nocturnes) and Beethoven (Symphony Number 7). The concert was broadcast live and recorded on February 4th.

As always, it's broken up into two players - the top player features the Ravel and Debussy and the bottom player features the Beethoven.

Announcements are in Spanish and, as always, they're cut down for time.

And the notes . . . .

Orquesta Sinfónica y Coro de RTVE Transmisión directa desde el Teatro Monumental de Madrid.

Part 1: RAVEL: Mi madre la Oca (suite).
DEBUSSY: Nocturnos.

Part 2: BEETHOVEN: Sinfonía nº 7 en La mayor, Op. 92. Orq.

Sinf. y Coro de RTVE. Dir.: Gunther Herbig.

Should fill the bill for Anti-Road Rage Wednesday quite nicely.

This week's concert comes via RAI Radio 3 in Rome with the RAI Radio Symphony conducted by Andrej Boreyko and featuring legendary pianist Martha Argerich. It's a rather short program. The first half (top player) opens with Cesar Franck: Le Chasseur Maudit, followed by the Ravel Piano Concerto featuring Martha Argerich. This concert was recorded on February 9, 2009. The second half (the player down there) also features the RAI Symphony, this time conducted by Juraj Valchua performing Anton Webern: Im Sommerwind and was recorded on November 27, 2008.

Great concert, no matter how you slice it.

Announcements are in Italian and here's what you'll be listening to:
STAGIONE 2008-2009 DELL'ORCHESTRA SINFONICA NAZIONALE DELLA RAI
Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai
pianoforte, Martha Argerich
direttore, Andrej Boreyko
César Franck
Le chasseur maudit, poema sinfonico dalla ballata di Gottfried August Bürger
- Andantino, quasi allegretto - Poco più animato - Molto lento - Più animato - Allegro
molto, quasi presto
Maurice Ravel
Concerto in sol per pianoforte e orchestra
- Allegramente
- Adagio assai
- Presto
Registrato all'Auditorium Rai "Arturo Toscanini" di Torino il 19 febbraio 2009
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Part 2 - STAGIONE 2008-2009 DELL'ORCHESTRA SINFONICA NAZIONALE DELLA RAI
Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai
direttore, Juraj Valčuha
Anton Webern
Im Sommerwind, idillio per grande orchestra
Registrato all'Auditorium Rai "Arturo Toscanini" di Torino il 27 novembre 2008

Enjoy.

(Voce Quartet - they even have their own MySpace page)

Back over to Madrid this week for a concert by Quatuor Voce (The Voce Quartet) of Paris performing works by Smetana and Ravel. The concert was recorded live by Radio Nacional Espana on May 8, 2010.

Los conciertos de Radio Clásica
Ciclo: Solistas del Siglo XXI. Transmisión directa desde el ILustre Colegio Oficial de Médicos de Madrid.
RAVEL: Cuarteto de cuerda en Fa mayor. SMETANA: Cuarteto de cuerda nº 1 en Mi menor “De mi vida”. Cuarteto Voce. S. Dayan (vl.), C. Roubin (vl.), G. Becker (vla.), J. Decoin (vc.).

Announcements are Spanish, the band is French, the music is good.

Another anti-road rage Wednesday.

Since it's still a holiday weekend, I thought I would post a Weekend Gramophone entry that was originally intended for yesterday. It comes via the Transcription Service of Radio Canada.

A piano recital by the legendary French-Lithuanian Pianist Vlado Perlemuter, given at the Jeuneses Musicales du Canada in 1964.

Perlemuter was one of the great interpreters of the music of Ravel, as well as Debussy. Having performed their works for them while they were still alive. With Ravel, Perlemuter developed a friendship and introduced several of the composer's works to an audience.

In this concert he plays, not only Ravel and Debussy but also the music of Faure and Chopin and gives three encores to a wildly enthusiastic crowd.

Since the discs were only good for one year before being destroyed, it's not too likely a lot of copies are around. It's a great concert by a highly influential pianist and I haven't seen it reissued anywhere.

So enjoy the rarity.

Something of a rarity tonight which I am not all that sure has been issued commercially. Two artists whose reputations have grown over the years, certainly in the years since their passings. Jeanne Gautier is probably more of a familiar name to record collectors of the 78 rpm and early lp era. She recorded very little, but her recordings are much sought after and her tiny handful of lp's go for stupid amounts of money. Yvonne Lefebure is probably more familiar to collectors since she was a celebrated Professor of Piano at the famed Paris Conservatory and many of the great names of French piano playing of the 1950's, 60's and 70's were taught and guided by her. Like Gautier though, she recorded comparatively little although many of her live recordings, including the famous Mozart K.466 Piano Concerto that featured her with The Berlin Philharmonic under Furtwangler are available as CD reissues in recent years.

This weeks recording comes by way of the French Radio Transcription Service, and as best as I am able to gather, this radio session comes from the circa 1949 period and features Gautier and Lefebure playing the Ravel Sonata for Violin and Piano.

Listening to this recording, I am under the distinct impression this is the way audiences heard it when Ravel first introduced it. It doesn't remind me of anybody else's recording of this, certainly nothing of recent vintage. I would say there is something distinctly unique about this interpretation of what has become a very familiar piece.

In any event, here it is and maybe here for the first time since it was first broadcast. It's this sort of thing that is the reason I love collecting and love sharing.

Enjoy and forgive the dings and scratches. The discs were not in the best shape and I've done what I could to make it listenable.