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Post by Awesoman on Mar 17, 2024 13:56:48 GMT -5
Perhaps my all-time favorite classical piece remains "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2" by Liszt. It's a fairly well-known piece that has been used in classic Looney Tunes and Tom And Jerry cartoons. And it was utilized quite memorably during the dueling pianos scene in πβπ πΉπππππ π
ππππ π
πππππ‘ between Donald and Daffy Duck.
Check out this performance below from Valentina Lisitsa. The last half is utterly incredible as this woman must have superhuman fingers. And the comments section of the video is utterly hilarious.
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Post by jk on Mar 17, 2024 15:05:51 GMT -5
Perhaps my all-time favorite classical piece remains "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2" by Liszt. It's a fairly well-known piece that has been used in classic Looney Tunes and Tom And Jerry cartoons. And it was utilized quite memorably during the dueling pianos scene in πβπ πΉπππππ π
ππππ π
πππππ‘ between Donald and Daffy Duck. Check out this performance below from Valentina Lisitsa. The last half is utterly incredible as this woman must have superhuman fingers. And the comments section of the video is utterly hilarious. It's a stupendous performance, to be sure. But virtuosity alone is not enough in my book. Paganini has a lot to answer for! A simple piece by Satie or Glass can say so much more:
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Post by jk on Mar 30, 2024 7:41:22 GMT -5
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Post by jk on Apr 2, 2024 14:20:30 GMT -5
Until today I only knew the name of the German composer Louis Spohr from his Octet (op. 32). You might call it progress, as this afternoon I heard the finale of his Nonet, written a year earlier in 1813. It inevitably begs the question of when does a large chamber ensemble become a small orchestra. I see now the Octet is scored for the dark-hued combination of a clarinet in A, two French horns in E, a violin, 2 violas, a cello and a double bass. Not your average chamber group lineup then. The Nonet is somewhat brighter in tone, in that it requires one each of flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, violin, viola, cello and double bass. But both works are highly unusual as regards instrumentation. The members of the Nash Ensemble playing on this 1996 recording, the one I heard today, are Judith Pearce (flute), Robin Miller (oboe) *, Antony Pay (clarinet), Brian Wightman (bassoon), John Pigneguy (French horn), Marcia Crayford (violin), Brian Hawkins (viola), Christopher van Kampen (cello) and Rodney Slatford (double bass): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Spohr* Miller played oboe and cor anglais on side two of King Crimson's 1970 album Lizard
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Post by jk on Apr 27, 2024 15:56:53 GMT -5
This is the third of the five "desert island discs" Anna Lapwood was asked to choose in the interview posted here. Anna couldn't remember who played the version she owned of Richard Strauss's Metamorphosen, except that it had a yellow cover. This may possibly be the one, with Herbert von Karajan conducting the Berliner Philharmoniker in a recording first released in 1983. If I recall correctly, Anna was climbing a hill somewhere with this playing on her headset. Apparently she was so overcome that she sobbed her way to the summit! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metamorphosen
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Post by jk on Apr 28, 2024 4:37:50 GMT -5
This is the fifth and last of Anna's "desert island discs" (see above). Brahms's Intermezzo in A Major, Op. 118 No. 2 has a very personal meaning for Anna (it's in the interview). According to this source the A major intermezzo is "arguably the most famous and often-played composition of Brahms. Perceived as a secret love letter to Clara Schumann, this is one of the most tear-jerking pieces of classical piano repertoire, with love, reminiscence and sense of longing all constellated in one single piece of music. Compared to the explosive outbursts in the first Intermezzo, this piece displays more restrained emotions. The first section has a lyrical melody, containing such transcendental beauty. As it reaches the central section in F sharp minor, written in a canonic style, the music is pervaded by melancholy and yearning. Then, it transitions into a gentle, soothing chordal section, like a reverential chorale. The lingering at the end conveys a sense of eternity, together with a bittersweet taste." Here it is, performed by one of my all-time favourite pianists, Glenn Gould:
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