Over to Austria this week for a concert from the 2011 Carinthian Summer Festival featuring Clarinetist Sabine Meyer, Cellist Heinrich Schiff and Pianist Martin Helmchen in a program of works by Beethoven, Berg, Shostakovitch and Brahms.

Here's the rundown:

Festival d'été de Carinthie : Beethoven, Chostakovitch, Berg, Brahms

Part 1 - Ludwig van Beethoven

Trio avec piano N°4 en si bémol majeur Op.11, Gassenhauer (1797)

1- Allegro con brio
2- Adagio
3- Tema con variazioni. Allegretto. Allegro

Dmitri Chostakovitch

Sonate pour violoncelle et piano en ré mineur Op. 40 (1934)

1- Allegro non troppo
2- Allegro
3- Largo
4- Allegro

Part 2 - Alban Berg (1885-1935)

4 Pièces pour clarinette et piano Op.5 (1920)

1- Mässig
2- Sehr langsam
3- Sehr rasch
4-Langsam

Johannes Brahms

Trio avec piano en la mineur Op.114 (1891)
1- Allegro. Poco meno allegro
2- Adagio
3-Andantino grazioso. Un poco sostenuto
4- Allegro

Sabine Meyer, Clarinette
Heinrich Schiff, Violoncelle
Martin Helmchen, Piano

Concert donné le 12 juillet 2011 en la Stiftskirche d’Ossiach dans le cadre du Festival d’été de Carinthie.

Great concert, relayed from Paris so the announcements are in French - but it's all Road-Rage Wednesday, if you ask me. And it is Summer Festival Season.

Enjoy.

Something special again this week. Even the announcer at Radio France Musique said so.

L.A.'s very own (we like to think so) Gustavo Dudamel leading Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France in an all-Brahms program (Symphony Number 3 and Symphony Number 1). Recorded live last week as it was happening, it's further evidence that Gustavo Dudamel is one of the greats and the brightest light to come along in a very long time.

The program is broken up between two players. The top player is the Brahms 3rd Symphony and the bottom player is the Brahms 1st Symphony. Announcements are in French and the audience is bonkers.

Here's the program:

Brahms:
Symphonie n°3 en fa majeur Op.90 (1883)
1- Allegro con brio
2- Andante
3- Poco allegretto
4- Allegro

Symphonie n°1 en ut mineur Op.68 (1876)
1- Poco sostenuto - Allegro
2- Andante sostenuto
3- Poco allegretto e grazioso
4- Adagio - Piu andante - Allegro non troppo ma con brio - Piu allegro

Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France
Gustavo Dudamel, Direction

Enjoy and see a live concert at some point soon.

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 Berlin via Paris this week for a concert featuring the legendary Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by the venerable Riccardo Chailly in music of Dmitri Shostakovitch, Nino Rota, Ottorino Respighi and Paul Lincke.

It was recorded on August 23rd 2011.

Here's the rundown:

Berlin : Chostakovitch, Rota, Respighi, Lincke

Dmitri Chostakovitch
Suite N°2 for Jazz Orchestra (1938)

Nino Rota (1911-1979)
La Strada, suite (1954) .

Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936)
Les Fontaines de Rome, Poème symphonique (1916)

Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936)
Les Pins de Rome, Poème symphonique (1924)

Dmitri Chostakovitch (1906-1975)
Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, Suite, Op. 29a (Ext.; 1930-1932)

Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936)
Belkis, reine de Saba, Danse guerrière (1930-1931)

Paul Lincke (1866-1946)
Berliner Luft (1899)

Orchestre Philharmonique de Berlin
Riccardo Chailly, Direction
Concert donné le 23 août 2011 à la Waldbühne de Berlin.

With a particularly excited audience and no less than three encores, the orchestra is in fine form making this an out-of-the-ordinary concert to go with your Anti-Road Rage Wednesday.

I try.

Something out of the ordinary, delayed-broadcast earlier today from a concert given on January 12th featuring the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France playing music of Edgar Varese and Pink Floyd.

Deserts by Edgar Varese and Atom Heart Mother by Pink Floyd. I told you it was unusual.

The Orchestra is led by Pierre-Andre Valade in the Varese and Jean-Jacques Justafre in the Pink Floyd.

I've split the concert up between three players with the second (or middle) player featuring an interview with Ron Geesin who provided the original orchestra scoring for the album as well as the 2008 revision and is featured on Piano during this concert.

Needless to say, the audience is enthusiastic and even the folks at Radio France Musique are having a good time.

Here's the rundown for the program:

mercredi 7 mars 2012
Théâtre du Châtelet : Passons le bac avec les Pink Floyd

(1st Player) Edgar Varèse

Déserts* pour orchestre et bandes magnétiques

14h36

(2nd Player) Interview de Ron Geesin par Didier Varrod

14h51

(3rd player)Pink Floyd
Atom Heart Mother**, Version révisée par Ron Geesin (2008)

Ron Geesin, Composition et piano
Jean-Claude Auclin, Violoncelle
Serge Munuera, Orgue Hammond
Amaury Filliard, Guitare électrique
Philippe Chayeb, Guitare basse électrique
Claude Salmieri, Batterie
Ensemble vocal Les Métaboles

Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France
Pierre-André Valade, Direction*
Jean-Jacques Justafré, Direction**

Didier Varrod, Présentation

Concert donné le 12 Janvier 2012 en partenariat avec le Ministère de l’Education Nationale.

I think this is one of those concerts you'll want to play loud. Just sayin'.

Anti-Road Rage nonetheless.

Enjoy.

Over to Toulouse, France this week for a concert featuring the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, led by the wonderful Spanish conductor Josep Pons and featuring the vocal talents of Raquel Lojendio, soprano, Gustavo Pena, Tenor and Joan Martin Royo, Baritone in music of Richard Strauss and Manuel de Falla. Recorded live in concert on January 6th of this year by Radio France Musique.

A short concert (the last piece, the Brahms Symphony No. 1 wasn't broadcast) but still on two players.

Here's the rundown courtesy Radio France Musique from their February 10th broadcast.

Un épisode de don Quichotte comme source d'inspiration, trois voix solistes, un petit orchestre et des marionnettes : avec ces moyens modestes, Falla a composé une œuvre pleine de charme et de vitalité, Le Retable de Maître Pierre, où passent tour à tour drame, bouffonnerie, réalisme et féerie.

Richard Strauss
Le Bourgeois gentilhomme, Suite pour orchestre Op.60 TrV 228c (1911, 1920)

1. Ouverture de l’acte I

2. Menuet

3. Le maître d’armes

4. Entrée et danse des tailleurs

5. Menuet de Lully

6. Courante

7. Entrée de Cléonte

8. Prélude de l’acte II

9. Dîner et danse des marmitons

Manuel de Falla (1876-1946)
Le Retable de Maître Pierre (1922) d'après le Don Quichotte de Cervantès (Episode du 26e chap. de la 2e partie)

1er tableau :

2e tableau : Melisandra

3e tableau : le supplice du Maure

4e tableau : les Pyrénées

5e tableau : la fuite

6e tableau : la poursuite

7e tableau : finale

Raquel Lojendio, Soprano
Gustavo Peña, Ténor
Joan Martin Royo, Baryton
Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse
Josep Pons, Direction

Great concert, wonderful orchestra, terrific soloists, not often heard music. Perfect Anti-Road Rage Wednesday.

Enjoy.

Over to the Angelika Kauffmann Hall, Schwarzenberg Austria during the 2011 Schubertiade Festival for a recital by British Piano virtuoso Paul Lewis in a program of, you guessed it, Schubert.

The concert was recorded by Radio France Musique on June 19, 2011. And for you note takers:

Schwarzenberg : Récital Paul Lewis, Piano

Franz Schubert

Valses Op.18 D.145 (1815, 1821)

Impromptu en ut mineur Op.90 N°1 D.899 N°1 (1827)
Impromptu en Mi bémol majeur Op.90 N°2 D.899 N°2 (1827)
Impromptu en Sol bémol majeur Op.90 N°3 D.899 N°3 (1827)
Impromptu en La bémol majeur Op.90 N°4 D.899 N°4 (1827)
Mélodie hongroise en Si mineur D.817 (1824)
Sonate N°18 en Sol majeur Op.78 D.894 (1826)

Concert donné le 19 juin 2011, Hall Angelika Kauffmann dans le cadre du Festival des

Schubertiade

The almost 90 minute concert is broken up between two players. The announcements are in French and somebody in Master Control forgot to flip the switch, so the first part of the concert is in Mono and the second half is in Stereo.

I know. You'd think . . . .

Still, France Musique runs two of these concerts a day and most of them are live-as-it-happens and off-the-cuff. So you can't really blame them for spacing out every now and then.

Besides, it's Anti-Road Rage Wednesday.

A special concert this week, recorded live and direct from the Salle Pleyel in Paris by Radio France Musique on December 21, 2011 and featuring Orchestre de Paris conducted by the legendary Pierre Boulez in music of Arnold Schoenberg and Bela Bartok.

Starting off with Schoenberg's Verklarte Nacht and then, after some stage arranging, a performance of the Bartok 2nd Piano Concerto, featuring Bertrand Chamayou as solo. And after intermission, finishing up with the Bartok Concerto For Orchestra.

A memorable concert with a suitably ecstatic audience.

The concert (originally over 2 1/2 hours long) was edited (since it was live there was a lot of padding) and it's on two players -- the top player features the Schoenberg and Bartok Piano Concerto. And the bottom player finishes up with the Bartok Concerto For Orchestra.

Notes:

mercredi 21 décembre 2011

En direct de la Salle Pleyel : Schönberg, Bartók

Part 1 - Arnold Schönberg

La Nuit transfigurée Op.4 (1899)

Béla Bartók
Concerto N°2 Sz.112 BB.117 (1937,1938)

Part 2 - Concerto pour orchestre (1943)

Bertrand Chamayou, Piano
Orchestre de Paris
Pierre Boulez, Direction

I understand this concert was also televised and video live-streamed - but I have no idea what it sounds like.

In any event, a great addition to your Anti-Road Rage Wednesday collection of soothing non-violent music.

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 Paris this week for a concert live and direct from the Theatre du Chatelet with Orchestre National de France, guest conducted by David Zinman and featuring the Georgian violin sensation Lisa Batiashvili in a concert of music by Charles Ives, Samuel Barber, Michael Torke and Igor Stravinsky. All recorded live and direct from the stage by Radio France Musique on October 20th.

Batisashvili plays the Barber Violin Concerto - promptly brings down the house and comes back to add some Bach for an encore. A great concert all the way around and the French seem to be having a really nice time with Charles Ives.

As always, the concert is broken up between two players - the top player features the Ives, Barber and Torke. And the bottom player features the Stravinsky.

Perfect Anti-road Rage Wednesday material.

Here's the program:

jeudi 20 octobre 2011

En direct du Théâtre du Châtelet : Ives , Barber, Torke, Stravinsky

Charles Ives
Three Places in New England (1908, 1914)
Samuel Barber
Concerto
Michael Torke
Purple
Igor Stravinsky
Symphonie en trois mouvements (1942, 1945)

Lisa Batiashvili, Violon
Orchestre National de France
David Zinman, Direction

Enjoy and stay sane.