In Paris this week for a concert by the visiting Munich Chamber Orchestra with pianist Alexandre Tharaud in music of Bach, Mozart and Haydn. The concert was recorded by Radio France on November 23, 2009 at the celebrated Theatre des Champs-Elysees.
One of the main reasons I do these mid-week concerts is really to give you some idea of the great wealth of music performed live that's to be had throughout the world that's normally not available here in the U.S. - why that is, is a complete mystery to me. It could very well be the sheer magnitude of what's available throughout Europe on a daily basis is truly daunting. From Radio France Musique alone there are three daily concerts, just like this one. Some live and some recorded for broadcast earlier. All of them feature an amazing array of musicians and a staggering amount of repertoire. The BBC's Classical and Jazz channel Radio 3 features, not only at least two major concerts a day, but also features concert recordings from all over the world on their all-night program Through The Night. Put those together with the daily offerings from Spanish Radio, Italian Radio, Swedish Radio, German Radio and you get some idea of what is an embarrassment of riches for people who like Classical music in a live concert setting. If the concerts I'm putting on each Wednesday are in any way interesting to you, and they spark your curiosity about what else is out there, I urge you to go exploring. It's an amazing and free education for a form of music you may not be familiar with and it's a non-stop blast for those of you who are.

But beyond all that, it's a nice change of pace for what a lot of us are sadly used to.

Here's the rundown of this week's concert - it's broken up into two players because it's a long concert. But a really good one and it's perfect Anti-Road Rage Wednesday music.

Théâtre des Champs-Elysées : Mozart, Haydn, Bach

Part 1 (top player)Wolfgang-Amadeus Mozart
Divertimento N°1 en Ré majeur K.136

Joseph Haydn
Symphonie N°45 en Fa dièse mineur, Les Adieux

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Divertimento N°3 en Fa majeur K.138

Part 2 (bottom player) Jean-Sébastien Bach
Concerto en Ré mineur Bwv.596 d’après Vivaldi, Sicilienne
Concerto en Fa mineur Bwv.1056
Concerto en Si mineur Bwv.979 d’après Torelli, Andante*
Concerto en Ré mineur Bwv.1052

Alexandre Tharaud, Piano & transcripteur*
Orchestre de Chambre de Munich
Daniel Giglberger, Violon & direction
Concert donné le 23 novembre 2009. J. Roze Production

Enjoy.
and don't forget, if this appeals and you want to help keep it going . . .

In Paris again this week for a concert from Theatre des Champs-Elysees featuring violinist Isabelle Faust, Cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras and Pianist Alexander Melnikov in a program of music by Haydn and Schumann. It was recorded this past March by Radio France.

Another short concert this week with only two pieces at a little over 45 minutes with the Haydn Trio Number 45 and the Schumann Trio Number 2, so they both fit on one player. Announcements are in French - you know the drill.

Something mellow for your anti-Road Rage Wednesday.

Franz-Joseph Haydn
Trio N°45 en Mi bémol majeur Hob.XV:29 (1796)

Robert Schumann
Trio N°2 en Fa majeur Op.80 (1847)

Isabelle Faust, Violon
Jean-Guihen Queyras, Violoncelle
Alexander Melnikov, Piano

Turn the phone off and relax.

Over to Prague this week for a concert held this past Friday (the 15th), featuring winners of the Czech Radio International Competition in a program of Vivaldi, Bach, Mozart and Haydn. The concert features winners, Veronica Hrdovo, Guitar - Julie Svecena, Violin and Anastasia Vorotnaja, Piano with the Czech Radio Symphony conducted by Alfonso Scarano. As always, the concert is complete, with the first half (Vivaldi and Bach) on the top player and the second half (Mozart and Haydn) on the bottom. Announcements are in Czech, but not a whole lot.

Here's the program:
Live concert of laureates from the International Radio Competition Concertino Praga 2010 from the Bethlehem Chapel in Prague. Veronica Hrdovo soloists (guitar), Julie Svěcená (violin), Anastasia Vorotnaja (piano), Russia. Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor Alfonso Scarano. Margaret Vejvodová , announcer. 1. Antonio Vivaldi: Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra in D major. -2. JS Bach: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in A minor BWV 1041st - 3. WA Mozart: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 23 in A major K 488th -4. Joseph Haydn: Symphony No. 45 in F sharp minor, Hob I/45. Farewell. (134min.)

This concert definitely ranks high on the Anti-Road Rage Wednesday charts.

Enjoy.

(Wynton does the classics and the classics are glad)

Something a little different tonight. A live concert from the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York from 1985. This concert features Wynton Marsalis as trumpet solo with the Festival Orchestra conducted by Raymond Leppard.

Here's the rundown:
Part One (the player above): Mozart: Symphony Nr. 21 K. 134 - Torelli: Sonata for Trumpet and Strings (w/Marsalis) - Fasch: Trumpet Concerto (w/Marsalis)

Part Two (the player below) - Handel: Arias from Alcina - Handel: Samson Oratorio - Purcell: Sound The Trumpet (w/Marsalis) - Haydn: Symphony Nr. 77.

The concert is complete and it's a nice chance to hear one of the great Jazz trumpeters of recent vintage playing not entirely what he's known for.

Further evidence Wynton Marsalis is timeless.

(Martina Filjak - sensational sounds coming out of Croatia)

This week's concert heads up to the Basque region in Spain for a concert with the Orquesta Sinfonica de Bilbao lead by Manuel Hernandez Silva and featuring Croatian wunderkind Pianist Martina Filjak in a program of Haydn, Schumann and Dvorak recorded live by Radio Nacional Espana on November 26, 2009.

Here's the program:

21.15►Orquesta Sinfónica de Bilbao
Concierto celebrado en el Palacio Euskalduna de
Bilbao el 26 de Noviembre de 2009.
HAYDN: Sinfonía nº 59 en La mayor, HOB. I 59
“Sinfonía del fuego”. SCHUMANN: Concierto para
piano y orquesta en La menor, Op. 54. DVORAK:
Sinfonía nº 8 en Sol mayor, Op. 88. M. Filjak (p.), Orq.
Sinf. de Bilbao. Dir.: M. Hernández Silva.

The 90 minute concert is broken up into two players - Part one (the one up top) features the Haydn and the Schumann and Part two (the player down below) features the Dvorak.

Announcements are in Spanish but the music is universal.

(Christopher Hogwood - lending authenticity to the podium)

Today's concert is from earlier last week (April 1), live and direct from Torino, Italy and featuring the RAI Radio symphony, guest conducted by Christopher Hogwood leading a program of Haydn and Mozart. First up (the player just above) is a performance of Haydn's Symphony Nr.104. Second (the player below) is a complete performance of the Mozart Requiem K.626 with soloists Rachel Harnisch, soprano - Rosa Bove, contralto - Jorg Schneider, teno - Christof Fischesser, bass and Ruggero Maghini Chorus of Torino led by Claudio Chivazza.

A pretty nice performance all the way around. It's complete and the announcements (which I've edited down to a minimum) are in Italian.

giovedì 1 aprile 2010 20.30

IL CARTELLONE

In diretta dall'Auditorium Rai "Arturo Toscanini" di Torino

ORCHESTRA SINFONICA NAZIONALE DELLA RAI

Christopher Hogwood, direttore

Rachel Harnisch, soprano

Rosa Bove, contralto

Jörg Schneider, tenore

Christof Fischesser, basso

Coro Filarmonico "Ruggero Maghini" di Torino

Claudio Chiavazza, maestro del coro

Franz Joseph Haydn

Sinfonia in re maggiore Hob. I:104 "Salomon"

- Adagio. Allegro

- Andante

- Minuetto. Allegro

- Finale spiritoso

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Requiem in re minore KV 626 per soli, coro e orchestra (revisione di Richard Maunder)

- Introitus "Requiem aeternam"

- Kyrie

- Sequentia "dies irae"

- Offertorium "Domine Jesu - Hostias"

- Sanctus

- Benedictus

- Agnus Dei

- Communio "Lux aeterna"

Good for the mid-week hysterics or just Wednesday's anger management.