Over to Prague this week, by way of Madrid, for a broadcast concert featuring the venerable Czech Philharmonic, conducted by the equally venerable Jiri Belohlavek.

The program consists of music by Martinu, Novak, Ancerel (Karl Ancerel who was Music Director of the Czech Phil for many years) and Antonin Dvorak and is part of the 100 year anniversary celebration of the Czech Conservatory.

Here are the program notes from Radio Nacional Espana:

100 aniversario del Conservatorio de de Praga. Concierto celebrado en el Rudolfinum de Praga el 28 de abril de 2011. Grabación de la CR, República Checa.

(Top Player) MARTINU: Obertura (6‟18”).
K. ANCERL: Sinfonietta(19‟05”).
(Bottom Player) - NOVAK: Suite morava, Op. 32 (27‟51”).
DVORAK: La rueca dorada, Op. 109 (22‟02”). Orq. Fil. Checa. Dir.: J. Belohlavek.

Great concert, and the Czech Philharmonic certainly lives up to their reputation. Nice Anti Road-Rage Wednesday (Thursday) music.

Enjoy.

Even though the drive is more or less officially over, I know there are some who didn't get a chance to donate while we were in crisis mode. If you care to, that would be wonderful, as running Newstalgia is an every day effort. I'll leave the Donate button up until the end of the week so if you didn't get a chance before, now's your opportunity.

A celebration from Madrid tonight. In honor of the 75th anniversary of the founding of Radio Nacional Espana, the Orquesta Sinfonica de RTVE (Spanish Radio and Television) put on a special commemorative concert in which no less than Queen Sofia of Spain attended.

The concert was recorded live-as-it-happened on June 1st of this year and features the RTVE Symphony conducted by Garcia Asensio and Luis Fernando Pèrèz, piano in music of San Miguel, de Falla and Borodin.

Here's what they play:

Orquesta Sinfónica y Coro de RTVE

Concierto 75 aniversario de R.N.E. Transmisión directa desde el Teatro Monumental de Madrid.

Part 1:
1.SAN MIGUEL: Fantasía radiante (estreno y encargo de RNE).

2.FALLA: Noches en los jardines de España. L. F. Pérez (p.).

Part 2 -
BORODIN: Sinfonía nº 2 en Si menor.

Orq. Sinf. de RTVE. Dir.: E. García Asensio.

Since it's Anti-Road Rage Wednesday, you can certainly join in the celebration. Or just get horizontal.

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.

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.

Over to Madrid this week for a soothing blast of Chamber music as performed by Ruben Reinas, violin, - Javier Albares, cello and Cameron Roberts, piano. It was recorded and broadcast live a couple weeks ago (Feb. 4th) by Radio Nacional Espana and their excellent Radio Clasica outlet.

Featured are works by Montsalvatge, Debussy and Villa-Lobos and the concert is broken up over two players with the Montsalvatge and Debussy on the top player and the Villa-Lobos taking up the bottom player.

Here's the rundown:

Los conciertos de Radio Clásica

Música de Cámara de la Orquesta y Coro de RTVE.

Transmisión directa desde el Teatro Monumental de Madrid.

MONTSALVATGE: Trío para violón, violonchelo y piano.

DEBUSSY: Trío para violín, violonchelo y piano en Sol mayor.

VILLA LOBOS: Trío para violín, violonchelo y piano nº 3.

Ruben Reina (vl.), Javier Albarés (vc.), Cameron Roberts (p.).

I realized we haven't had any chamber music on the Mid-Week concert in a while - of all things, talk about perfect Anti-Road Rage music. I promise we'll do more in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, enjoy and put down the baseball bat.

Some meat-and-potatoes this week from Madrid. The Orquesta Nacional de Espana conducted by the great Rafael Fruhbech de Burgos and featuring piano icon Emanuel Ax in a program of Beethoven and Berlioz, recorded live in concert by Radio Nacional Espana on January 22, 2012.

Here's the rundown:

Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España
Transmisión directa desde el Auditorio Nacional de Música de Madrid.

BEETHOVEN: Concierto para piano y orquesta nº 5 en Mi bemol mayor, Op. 73 “Emperador”.

BERLIOZ: Sinfonía fantástica, Op. 14.

Emanuel. Ax (p.), Orq. Nacional de España. Dir.: R. Frühbeck de Burgos.

The Beethoven is on the top player and the Berlioz is on the bottom player.

Happy Anti-Road Rage Wednesday!

Over to Brussels this week (by way of Madrid) for a concert by The Belgian National Orchestra, guest conducted by Roberto Minczuk and featuring violinist Yossif Ivanov. The Orchestra start off with the overture to La Sfida by Belgian composer Luc Van Hove and then accompany Yossif Ivanov in a very nice performance of the Samuel Barber Violin Concerto (one we don't hear over in the States all the much lately . . hint-hint) followed by an encore by Eugen Ysaye of the second movement from his Sonata Number 2 for Solo Violin. Ending up with a so-so performance of the Tchaikovsky 4th Symphony. The concert was recorded live at The Palace Of Belle Artes in Brussels on May 7th of 2010 and relayed by Radio Nacional Espana.

Minczuk, you may recall, was at the center of a controversy in his native Brazil over the firing of musicians in the orchestra he was Music Director of because they refused to re-audition for him. It created a worldwide musician boycott and Minczuk was forced to relinquish his post earlier this year.

But politics aside, here is the music. It's a little over 90 minutes and so it's broken down into two players. The top player features the Van Hove, Barber and Ysaye works, while the bottom player features the Tchaikovsky. Ivanov is particularly worth listening to. Another up-and-comer on the concert scene, he tackles the Barber Concerto with ease and would have done Sam proud in the process.

Notes:

Concierto celebrado en el Palacio de Bellas Artes de Bruselas,
el 7 de mayo de 2010. Grabación de la RTBF, Bélgica.

Part 1: VAN HOVE:Obertura “La Sfida”, Op. 47 (18’41”).

BARBER: Concierto para violín, Op. 14 (23’). Yossif. Ivanov (vl.).

YSAYE: Finale de “Les Furies” de la sonata nº 2 para violín solo (3’07”). Yossif. Ivanov (vl.).

Part 2: CHAIKOVSKY: Sinfonía nº 4 en Fa menor, Op. 36

(42’07”). Orq. Nacional de Bélgica. Dir.: R. Minczuk.

A contribution to your Anti-Road Rage Wednesday. Enjoy.

(The del Valle Brothers, serving up very tasty Poulenc with a side of deFalla)

(believe me, if I didn't absolutely have to . . .)

This week's concert takes us back over to Spain to an Orchestra I'm not familiar with, a conductor I'm not familiar with, a Piano duo I'm not familiar with and one Spanish composer I'm not familiar with.

Well, what is life without adventure . . right? I was very pleasantly surprised by just how good this band sounds, Orquesta Sinfonica de la Region de Murcia and how good this conductor (Jose Miguel Rodilla) is and the piano duo of Luis and Victor del Valle really did some nice stuff to the Poulenc double Piano concerto, as well as an encore of pieces from La Vida Breve by deFalla. And I've got to do some research on Manuel Manrique de Lara, whose Symphonic poem Agamenon had me wanting to find out more about this composer.

All in all, what a good concert is supposed to be all about - pleasant surprises and discoveries.

It comes from Radio Nacional Espana from one of their daily matinee concerts recorded on November 6, 2009. I'm really rather blown away by the fact that RNE cranks out three of these concerts a day; one in the morning, one in the afternoon and one in the evening. And, even though some of the concerts are beamed from other parts of the world, most of what you hear is homegrown with mostly local talent. There is something to be said about the state of Arts and Culture in Spain right now and it's pretty high.

As always, the concert is complete - in addition to the de Lara and Poulenc pieces, the second half of the concert is the Tchaikovsky 4th Symphony. A familiar work, but with a fresh perspective.

So here's the rundown:

Matinés de Radio Clásica
Orquesta Sinfónica de la Región de Murcia.
Concierto celebrado en el Auditorio y Centro de Congresos Víctor Villegas de Murcia el 6 de Noviembre de 2009.

MANRIQUE DE LARA: Agamenón. POULENC: Concierto para dos pianos y orquesta en Re menor. CHAIKOVSKY: Sinfonía nº 4 en Fa menor, Op. 36. Luis y Victor del Valle (p.), Orq. Sinf. de la Región de Murcia. Dir.: Jose Miguel Rodilla.

Top player (up there) is the de Lara and Poulenc (and de Falla encore). Bottom player (down here) is the Tchaikovsky.

Announcements are in Spanish, so is the orchestra, so are the performers. The music is universal.

Something to take on the road with you.

(Esther Hoppe plays Mozart quite nicely, thank you)

Tonight's concert comes from the Joaquin Turina Chamber Music Festival in Spain this past September, 2009. It was recorded by Radio Nacional Espana and features the music of Mozart, Debussy and Shostakovitch with a variety of soloists. The program goes as follows:

Joaquin Turina International Chamber Festival
September 12, 2009

1. W. A. Mozart: Sonata for violin and piano, B-flat Major, KV 454
Esther Hoppe, violin, Benedicte Palko, piano

2. C. Debussy: Sonata for violin y piano, g-minor
Stephanie Gonley, violin, Daniel del Pino, piano

3. D. Shostakovich: Sonata for viola and piano, op. 147
James Dunham, viola, Benedicte Palko, piano

Announcements are Spanish and, as always, the music is universal.

(Felix Ayo and friends)

From Seville Spain tonight. From the 2009 International Festival of Chamber Music, a program of Beethoven, Turina and Brahms recorded live by Radio Nacional Espana on September 11, 2009. The program is listed below:

Festival Internacional de Música de Cámara
Joaquín Turina
Concierto “Sonidos de la Noche”. Celebrado el 11 de
septiembre de 2009 en la Fundación Cajasol de
Sevilla.
BEETHOVEN: Cuarteto con piano en Mi bemol mayor,
Op. 16. F. Ayo (vl.), W. Coleman (vla.), I. F. Martínez
(vc.), D. del Pino (p.). TURINA: El Poema de una
sanluqueña, Op. 28. E. Hoppe (vl.), D. del Pino (p.).
BRAHMS: Quinteto para piano y cuerda en Fa menor,
Op. 34. F. Ayo (vl.), S. Gonley (vl.), W. Coleman (vla.),
T. Tsutsumi (vc.), B. Palko (p.).

As always, the concert is broken up into two parts - Part 1 (above) features the Beethoven and Turina and Part 2 (below) features the Brahms.

Announcements are in Spanish and the music is guaranteed to take it all down a few notches.

Enjoy.