One of the wonderful things about the Festival season this past year in Europe is that there was no shortage of musical experimenting going on. If you were up for the ride, it was generally pretty exciting.

Take for example this one - from The Amadeus Festival just outside Geneva Switzerland during this past September 7th. A concert featuring Pianist and festival Music Director Alexandre Tharaud and Flamenco guitarist and singer Alberto Garcia in a combined program of music of Scarlatti and traditional Flamenco. It was recorded live by Espace 2 of Radio Suisse Romande.

On the face of it, it doesn't seem like a terribly good idea (granted, if you're not familiar with traditional Flamenco singing, it may take some getting used to), but ten minutes into it, you're hooked. As was the audience, since they asked for (and got) no less than two encores.

Pretty adventuresome and exciting stuff. And it's a little over an hour, so it all fits on one player.

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

07 Septembre 2011
Alexandre Tharaud, piano
Alberto Garcia, quitare et chanteur flamenco

Domenico SCARLATTI (1685 - 1757)
Sonates K64, K239 et K380
Malagueña y verdial*
Sonates K208 et K72
Solea*
Sonates K3 et K430
Vidalita*
Sonate K141
Toná*
Sonate K8
Siguiriya*
* chants traditionnels (Sous réserve de modifications)

I confess to being a big fan of Scarlatti and Flamenco anyway, so that instantly grabbed my attention. It may or may not yours.

If not, there's always last week if you missed it and next week if you'll stick around.

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 . . .

Over to Moscow this week, with the first of what will be many live concerts via Radio Orpheus. This one was recorded just this past week (the 4th) and features the Bolshoi Concert Orchestra, conduced by Vassily Sinaisky with French pianist Alexandre Tharaud performing the Ravel Piano Concerto for Left Hand.

Also featured is a spirited performance of Bizet's L'Arlesienne and a complete performance of Stravinsky's Pulcinella.

The concert is complete (with edited comments in Russian) and it's crammed on to two players. The top player features the Bizet and Ravel and the bottom player features the Stravinsky.

For you note takers:

20:00 Concert Hall of Radio "Orpheus"
Concert Orchestra and Chorus Bolshoi Theatre of Russia. Conductor Vassily Sinaisky, Alexandre Tharaud, piano.
The program includes works by Bizet (Arlésienne "), Ravel (Piano Concerto for left hand w/Alexandre Tharaud, piano), Stravinsky's" Pulcinella "
Recorded at the Concert Hall of the Tchaikovsky on October 4, 2010
21:00 Concert Hall of Radio "Orpheus"
Concert Orchestra and Chorus Bolshoi Theatre of Russia. Conductor Vassily Sinaisky
The program includes works by Bizet (Arlésienne "), Ravel (Piano Concerto number 2), Stravinsky's" Pulcinella "
Recorded at the Concert Hall of the Tchaikovsky on October 4, 2010

20:00 Концертный зал радио "Орфей"
Концерт симфонического оркестра и хора ГАБТ России. Дирижёр Василий Синайский
В программе произведения Бизе("Арлезианка"), Равеля (концерт для фортепиано №2), Стравинского "Пульчинелла"
Запись из Концертного зала имени Чайковского от 4 октября 2010 года
21:00 Концертный зал радио "Орфей"
Концерт симфонического оркестра и хора ГАБТ России. Дирижёр Василий Синайский
В программе произведения Бизе("Арлезианка"), Равеля (концерт для фортепиано №2), Стравинского "Пульчинелла"
Запись из Концертного зала имени Чайковского от 4 октября 2010 года

Thank God for Google translate. It would have taken me a month to translate that on my own.

Enjoy and remember, it's Anti-Road Rage Wednesday (yeah . . .right!)