Christoph Nichelmann (1717-62) - Concerto for Piano and Strings in c-minor, I. Allegro. Performed by Raphael Alpermann, fortepiano, and Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin on period instruments.
Schmitt - Suites from Antoine et Cléopâtre. For r/classicalmusic 's piece of the week. I haven't listened to much by Florent Schmitt, I know his symphonie concertante and some piano works. I liked his orchestration, like Debussy mixed with Strauss. Doesn't captivate me as much as the piano and chamber works but it is luscious.
Mendelssohn - Concerto in Ab Major for two pianos. Decided to listen through more of Hyperion's catalogue of "Romantic Piano Concertos", which were some of the works I listened to getting into classical music and were formative to my tastes. Mendelssohn's double piano concertos were written when he was a teenager for him to play with his sister Fanny, and they weren't published in his lifetime and apparently he thought they were immature. The concerto was charming and made me think of the early/classical Beethoven piano concertos
Moszkowski - Piano Concerto in E major. Another recording from the Romantic Concertos series, I hadn't listened to this one much before and wasn't that interested. Listening to it again now, I loved the exuberance and larger-than-life sounds
Schmidt - Symphony no.1. A less popular symphonist I was really into years back, late romantic and decadent. I didn't like this one as much at first, but listening now I'm surprised that I used to find it boring. It's very loud, grand, "majestic", and like a lot of romantic symphonies, long. It's great for blasting on speakers
Messiaen - Turangalîla. To break up the Romantic monotony, I was happy to see Marc-André Hamelin as the pianist for this masterpiece. Bombastic, "futuristic", otherworldly, fun and beautiful and sometimes mind-boggling.
I'll try to post the top favorites of music I listen to in a week to share some recommendations and act as my own listening diary, hopefully introduce some music to you guys or get recommendations in return!
OTD in Music History: Legendary composer, conductor, and virtuoso pianist Franz Liszt (1811 - 1886) plays his second concert in Kiev in 1847, at what will become the tail end of his famous decade-long European concert tour.
It is estimated that Liszt played well over 1,000 concerts in the decade between 1838 and 1848... So what made this particular concert notable?
Sitting in the audience on that fateful evening was a twenty-eight-year-old fabulously wealthy Ukrainian princess named Carolyne von Sayn-Wittgenstein. Princess Carolyne was married to (but separated from) Prince Nicholas von Sayn-Wittgenstein, a landowner holding vast estates in Central Ukraine with more than 30,000 serfs at his beck and call. She had actually travelled to Kiev for business, and she only attended Liszt's concert on a whim after hearing about the success of his first concert in the city -- but that chance decision would change both of their lives (and the course of musical history) forever.
Princess Carolyne was deeply struck by the flashy figure that she saw before her on the concert stage, and acting on impulse, she made a fateful gamble: Hoping to attract Liszt's attention, she left him an exceedingly large "anonymous" (but easily traceable) monetary gift at the theater. Like a moth to a flame, the curious Liszt quickly identified her and then came calling to thank her for her generosity -- and within a matter of weeks, he was making plans to abandon his touring life and take up with a (technically-still-married) princess...
PICTURED: A c. 1890s cabinet photo of the famous portrait showing the dashing young Liszt c. 1837 (shortly before he embarked on his grand concert tour), as painted by noted Dutch-French Romantic artist Ary Scheffer (1795 - 1858).
This particular cabinet photo is one of many that was handed out to visitors over the years by Pauline Apel, who served as Liszt's housekeeper for thirty years at his residence in Weimar. When it was turned into a museum the year after his death, Apel stayed on and served as the official tourist guide until her own death, forty years later, in 1926.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-91) - Concerto No. 20 for Piano and Orchestra in d-minor, KV 466, III. Allegro assai. Performed by Melvyn Tan, fortepiano, and Roger Norrington/London Classical Players on period instruments.
So, apparently I came to Bordeaux during the cultural festival and… they managed to have a guy playing the piano hanging from a construction site crane