Update: We are slowly inching towards the half-way mark. With gracious donations and your kind words about Newstalgia, we may have a shot at reaching our goal. But I still need your help. Half way is still half-way and unfortunately I can't talk the landlords into half the amount needed in order to take off the lien. And so, I keep appealing for whatever amount you can give - any amount at all, in order to save Newstalgia (and the archive) from extinction. I know these times are tough and the future is, at best, uncertain. And I don't want to cause anyone any hardship - if you can't afford to donate, you can't and I would rather have you use one of my posts for your history class than to have you leave and not come back. But if you can afford it, please consider making a donation. As I said, any amount is a great amount to me and to helping save something I hope you feel is worthwhile. We can do it - we're doing it. You're making a difference!

Over to Neuss Germany this week for a chamber concert featuring The Ebène Quartet in music of Mozart, Borodin and Schubert. It was recorded on December 4, 2011 by WDR.

Hard to imagine the Ebène Quartet have only been together since 1999, as they sound like an ensemble who have been together for at least twice that long. They have been characterized in the press as "taking the music world by storm" and gaining a huge audience in the process.

The concert has been broken up between two players - the top player fetures the Mozart and Borodin and the bottom player features the Schubert.

For you note keepers:

wdr 3 Kammerkonzerte in NRW

wolfgang amadeus mozart: Divertimento D­dur KV 136

alexander borodin: Streichquartett Nr.2 D­dur

franz schubert: Quintett C­dur für zwei Violinen Viola und zwei Violoncelli D 956

Quatuor Ebène
Pierre Colombet · Violine
Gabriel Le Magadure · Violine
Mathieu Herzog · Viola
Raphaël Merlin · Violoncello
und Nicolas Altstaedt · Violoncello

Aufnahme vom 4. Dezember 2011 aus dem Zeughaus, Neuss

Since it is Anti-Road Rage Wednesday, I think it's a safe bet this one works for that.

Relax, the week is almost over.

Over to the Louvre in Paris this week for a 2009 concert recital by French keyboard legend Brigitte Engerer in a program of music by Liszt, Schubert and Chopin.

Just a little over an hour, it all fits on one player - and here's what you'll be hearing:

Auditorium du Louvre : Liszt, Schubert, Chopin
présenté par Rodolphe Bruneau-Boulmier

Franz Liszt
Harmonies poétiques et religieuses S.173 (1845,1852)

Franz Schubert & Franz Liszt, Arrangeur
Am tage aller seelen D.343

Franz Schubert
Mélodie hongroise en Si mineur D.817 (1824)

Frédéric Chopin
Prélude en Mi mineur Op.28 N°4 (1838, 1839)

Brigitte Engerer, Piano
Concert donné le 2 décembre 2009.

As always, turn it up,turn off the phone and relax for an hour. It's Anti-Road Rage Wednesday again.

Peace of mind is what we're all about.

oh . . .and donating to keep Newstalgia up and running too if you can:

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.

Over to Berlin this week for a concert recorded live by RBB Berlin on December 20, 2011 featuring The Berlin Radio Symphony, conducted by its current Music Director Marek Janowski and featuring German/Japanese violinist Arabella Steinbacher in music of Schubert, Mozart and Brahms.

The concert is broken up into two players, and the notes are as follows:

Marek Janowski dirigiert das Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

Mit Werken von Franz Schubert, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart und Johannes Brahms

Top Player: Franz Schubert:
Ouvertüre D-Dur D 590 (Im italienischen Stile)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart:
Violinkonzert Nr. 5 A-Dur KV 219
Arabella Steinbacher

Bottom Player: Johannes Brahms:

Sinfonie Nr. 2 D-Dur, op. 7

Aufnahme vom 20.12.2011 in der Berliner Philharmonie

Announcements are in German and the audience is enthusiastic. Good concert. Great straight-ahead repertoire. Perfect Anti-Road Rage Music.

Enjoy.

Over to the Alsace region of France for a concert from the 2010 Colmar Chamber Music Festival (Les Musicales de Colmar), featuring the Atrium Quartet, assisted by a star-studded cast of friends (see list below). Since the theme of this festival was Music from The Viennese School, this concert is devoted to music of Schubert, Gustav Mahler (as arranged by his friend Arnold Schoenberg) and Arnold Schoenberg. The concert was recorded by Radio France on May 13th of 2010. As always, the concerts presented by Radio France are wonderful, not only for the repertoire but the great job the recording team do. A little over an hour, it's a rather short concert so it all fits on one player.

The list of pieces and the extensive list of players is posted below:

Les Musicales de Colmar : Schubert, Mahler, Schoenberg

Franz Schubert
Quatuor N°12 en Ut mineur D.703 (1820)*

Gustav Mahler & Arnold Schoenberg, Transcription
Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (1884,1896) **

Arnold Schoenberg
La nuit transfigurée Op.4 (1899) ***

Quatuor Atrium*

Clémentine Margaine, Soprano**
Sébastian Jacot, Flute**
Romain Guyot, Clarinette**
Stephan Fougeroux, Percussions**
Alexander Melnikov, Piano**
Jeremy Menuhin, Piano**
Ilya Gringolts, Violon ** ***
Hagai Shaham, Violon**
Maxim Rysanov, alto** ***
Marc Coppey, Violoncelle ** ***
Niek De Groot, Contrebasse**
Liana Gourdjia, Violon***
Sylvia Simionescu, Alto***
Antonio Meneses, Violoncelle***
Concert donné le 13 mai 2010 au Théâtre Municipal de Colmar dans le cadre du Festival de Musique de Chambre.

Since it is Wednesday (in case you forgot, since Monday was a holiday), it's your weekly dose of Anti-Road Rage. A great concert with a pretty spectacular batch of folks. So calming down is a given.

Enjoy.