All The Right NotesWith this release, the Czech Philharmonic and Semyon Bychkov embark on purportedly the first Mahler cycle since Vaclav Neumann’s on Supraphon thirty years ago. This fact has been cited as an impetus to begin this cycle, along with the usual claim to the orchestra’s pedigree in Mahler (Mahler was Bohemian by origin and premiered the 7th symphony with this orchestra).Continue readingAn Elegant Mahler 4 from Bychkov/Czech
A flood of new and reissued Beethoven recordings have emerged in the past two Beethoven anniversary years, and riding on this celebratory bandwagon, the illustrious Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra has released this cycle of Beethoven symphonies, derived from radio recordings of live performances, on its house label. Continue readingRCO’s Live Beethoven Cycle
This was a release that I very much looked forward to, for two reasons. Firstly, there’s a dearth of Shostakovich’s light music on recordings, especially compared to the rate at which new symphony cycles have been issued in recent years, Continue readingLitton’s Long-Faced Light Shostakovich
This album is simply the embodiment of unadulterated joy. Here we have three of Debussy’s most accessible and evocative piano scores, orchestrated by two of his contemporaries Henri Büsser (Petite Suite) and André Caplet (La boîte à joujoux and Children’s Corner), gathered in one handy package. Continue readingDelightful Debussy Orchestrations
I decided to jump on the bandwagon with my own quiz on classical music. Yes, I know it’s been done already, but there can’t be too many classical music quizzes, can there? The title says it all. Try it out, and have fun doing it!Continue readingThe Ultimate Trivia Quiz for Omniscient Classical Music Gurus
These two live recordings of John Williams conducting the Vienna and Berlin philharmonics were hotly anticipated, and for good reason. Not only were these concerts the débuts of the world’s most famous film composer in the two musical metropolises respectively (and in Europe generally), the recordings were also documents of the rare forays of these two august orchestras into film music. Continue readingJohn Williams: Vienna vs. Berlin
It was the evening of 20th April, 2001. A bespectacled figure with a bushy beard mounted the podium of the Deutsche Oper Berlin to rapturous applause. The conductor was the controversial Venetian, Giuseppe Sinopoli; the opera, Verdi’s Aida. Sinopoli had quit as chief conductor of this very opera house in 1990 due to a rift with its artistic director, Götz Friedrich. They had since made peace, however, and Friedrich’s death in 2000 was the catalyst for Sinopoli’s return to the Opera’s podium. Sinopoli dedicated that night’s performance of Aida to Friedrich’s memory.Continue readingGiuseppe Sinopoli: Maestro Psychologist
Classical composers have never shied away from dealing with epic subject matter (Haydn’s The Creation, for example, or the numerous Requiems written by various composers). So it’s perhaps interesting to note how few works exclusively deal with the topic of the apocalypse — the destruction of the world and the…Continue readingSchmidt’s Eschatological Vision: Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln
A heartfelt welcome to my blog, All The Right Notes! I love classical music. I love listening to it, playing it, thinking about it, talking about it, and writing about it. Ever since I bought my first CD when I was 10 years old (Schubert’s Impromptus, played by Jenő Jandó),…Continue readingA note from the author
