April 11, 2011

Virtuoso Natasha Korsakova, of Russian-Greek decent, is one of the most popular violinists of her generation. The German Süddeutsche Zeitung describes her ability to play the violin as a "sinfully beautiful listening experience". The young violinist, who speaks five languages, is currently a coveted guest for national as well as international orchestras, music festivals and concert events.

Natasha Korsakova was born into a music family in Moscow and began playing the violin at the age of 5. She is a descendant of the composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Her first teacher was her grandfather Boris Korsakov. Natasha then studied with her father, the well-known Russian violin virtuoso Andrej Korsakov. Her mother is the pianist Yolanta Miroshnikova-Caprarica. After the early death of her father, Natasha Korsakova studied with Ulf Klausenitzer in Nuremberg and then later with Saschko Gawriloff in Cologne.

She has appeared in some of the world's most prestigious concert halls such as the Auditorium di Milano, Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, the Berlin Konzerthaus, the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, the Concertgebouw of Amsterdam, the Wigmore Hall in London, the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome. Upon invitation from Mrs. Irina Shostakovitch, Natasha Korsakova appeared in Paris as part of a festival concert honoring Dmitri Shostakovitch.

Natasha Korsakova has co-operated with a number of renowned conductors, including Mstislav Rostropovich. As an enthusiastic chamber musician, Natasha Korsakova plays together with musicians such as Uto Ughi, Kira Ratner, José Gallardo Giovanni Angeleri, and Simone Soldati.

In 1996, she was the first musician to receive the "Russian Muse" award in the Great Hall of Moscows Conservatory.  In 1998, she became "Artist of the Year" in Chile.

We'll hear several pieces Natasha recorded on her CD "Natasha Korsakova plays Gershwin and more." The playlist starts with the Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's Legend, followed by Romance by Antonin Dvořák. We'll then hear the first movement of Daniel Shnyder's Concerto Mozart in China. And we'll conclude with Porgy and Bess Fantasia, arranged by Igor Frolov. The North Czech Philharmonic Orchestra is conducted by Charles Olivier-Munro. To listen, click here.

April 3, 2011

The Swiss pianist Felix Buchmann was born in Basel, Switzerland, in 1958. At the age of eleven he made his first public performance with an orchestra (he played Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 20 in d minor with Hofer Symphoniker, a German orchestra). He went on to perform Mozart's Concerto no. 21 in C Major and Beethoven's first Piano Concerto. At the age of 14 he started playing public piano recitals. Among other pieces, his repertory included Beethoven's Waldstein sonata and Chopin's Fantasy in F-minor op. 49. At the age of 19 Mr. Buchmann entered the Basel Conservatory, where he studied with Peter Efler and received the Teacher's diploma. He then moved to Bern, where he continued his studies with the remarkable Swiss pianist Michael Studer, and acquired the Performer's diploma. Mr. Buchmann also attended master classes with Bernhard Ebert of Musikhochschule Hannover and was advised by Hubert Harry of the Lucerne Conservatory.

In our playlist we'll hear three performances by Felix Buchmann. First, Piano Sonata No 24 in F-sharp Major by Beethoven; then Robert Schumann's Romance in F-sharp Major, Op. 28, No. 2 and finally, the second movement (Adagio) of the Piano Concerto no. 2 by Beethoven. This live recording was made with the Orchestra of Gelterkinden, which was conducted by Meinrad Koch. To listen, lick here.

March 28, 2011

This week we celebrate three composers: Haydn, Busoni and , and Rachmaninov.The great classical composer and "father of the Symphony," Franz Joseph Haydn, who was born on March 31, 1732, doesn't need our introduction. The first piece in our playlist is a piano Sonata in A Major Hob. XVI:30, performed by Catherine Gordeladze. It was composed in 1767. At that time Haydn was the Kapellmeister (Music Director) in Esterháza, an enormous palace of the Esterházy family, one of the wealthiest families in the Austrian Empire. Haydn worked in Esterházy's employ for thirty years and produced a large number of compositions, including all the pieces that we hear in this playlist. We follow with the String Quartet op. 20, No. 4, performed here by Aeolus Quartet. It dates from 1772. We conclude the Haydn playlist with another piano sonata, in A-flat Major, Hob XVI: 46. As the sonata in A Major, it is performed by Ms. Gordeladze. To listen, click here.

Italian composer and pianist Ferruccio Busoni was born on April 1, 1866. These days he is best remembered for his transcriptions of the music of Bach, but he was an original composer in his own right. A brilliant pianist, he was also renowned as a teacher. Among his pupils were Egon Petri, Alexander Brailowsky, and Elena Gnesina, who started a music school in Moscow, which later became the famous Gnesin Music Academy. Here is Busoni's piano piece, Red Indian Diary. It's performed by Mauro Bertoli.

April 1 is also the birthday of Sergei Rachmaninov, who was born in 1873. Here is his probably most famous work, Piano Concerto No. 3 in d minor. It is performed by Eteri Andjaparidze, with the Tbilisi Symphony Orchestra led by the orchestra's founder, the conductor Djansug Kakhidze.

March 21, 2011

Johann Sebastian Bach. Today is the 326^th anniversary of Bach's birth. So much has been written about the great composer, from the magisterial work by Philipp Spitta in the 1870s to more personal accounts by Albert Schweitzer and on, that we'll confine ourselves to a bare outline. Bach was born in Eisenach to a family of musicians. After graduating from the famous St. Michael's School in Lüneberg, he took up his first post in 1703 as a court musician in the chapel of Duke Johann Ernst in Weimar. He then accepted a position of organist on Arnstadt. It was also during his time at Arnstadt that Bach made his famous journeys to Lübeck, 250 miles away, to hear the great organ master Dietrich Buxtehude. In 1708 Bach accepted the post of court organist and concertmaster at the ducal court in Weimar. Among the many compositions for keyboard and orchestra that came from Bach's Weimar period, quite possibly the most important are the preludes and fugues that ultimately would make up the Well-Tempered Clavier. From 1717 to 1723 Bach served as the Kapellmeister at the court of Prince Leopold of Köthen. Bach's most prestigious post came in 1723 when he accepted the position of Cantor of Thomasschule in Leipzig. He stayed in Leipzig till his death in 1750. It was during that period that Bach composed some of his greatest music, from cantatas to Mass in B minor to St. John and St. Mathew Passions to the incomplete but still magnificent The Art of Fugue.

We have a large number of works by Bach in our library and we hope that listeners will celebrate his birthday by browsing through some of them. For our playlist we selected several pieces written or arranged for different instruments. We start with the famous transcription of a chorale Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme from the eponymous cantata, made by Feruccio Busoni. It's played by the pianist Heidi Louise Williams. Then the cellist Fanny Nemeth-Weiss plays Suite for solo cello no. 3 in C Major. We'll then hear Adagio from Violin Sonata No.1 in G minor, which is performed by the violinist Ilya Dobrovitsky. We'll conclude with Concerto No. 1 in d minor for Keyboard and Strings, BWV 1052 (Allegro) 2602. It's performed here by the pianist Eteri Andjaparidze and the string players of the Round Top festival orchestra. To listen, click here.

March 14, 2011

Anna Serova. The Russian-Italian violist, Anna Serova is a unique figure on the international scene. She widely performs both as a soloist and a chamber musician. Several works were dedicated to her in recent years by some of the most important contemporary composers, such as the Italian opera composer Azio Corghi's dramatic cantata "Fero Dolore" and the operatic tragedy "Giocasta." In the latter she plays and acts on stage in the role of Destiny.

Anna studied with Vladimir Stopicev at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, with Bruno Giuranna at the Academy of Cremona and with Yuri Bashmet at the Academy of Chigiana in Sienna. Since then she has had a very successful career as a concert musician both in Italy and abroad.  Critics note the warm, shining beauty of her sound. She has collaborated with artists like Ivry Gitils, Bruno Giuranna, Salvatore Accardo, Rocco Filippini, Filippo Faes, and Toby Hoffman. As a soloist she has performed with many orchestras, such as Moscow State Symphony, Siberian Symphony, Krasnoyarsk Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto, Orchestra del Teatro Olimpico, Belgrade Philharmonic, and others. In 2002 she issued a CD of music from the twentieth century repertoire (on it she plays on the famous " Stauffer 1615" viola by Niccolò Amati); in 2004 she also recorded a CD of 18th century music. Her latest CD, "Schumann's Fairy Tales," was awarded 5 stars by the critics of Musica magazine.

Anna Serova is currently a Professor of Viola and Chamber Music at the Biella "L. Perosi" International Academy.

In our playlist, you can hear her play Robert Schumann's Maerchenbilder for viola and piano, and Capriccio in C minor "Hommage à Paganini" for Viola Solo by Henri Vieuxtemps. To listen, click here.

March 7, 2011

Maurice Ravel. One of the greatest composers of the 20^th century, Maurice Ravel was born on this day in 1875. He was expelled from the Paris Conservatory not once but twice; fortunately that didn't discourage him (his teacher, Gabriel Fauré, was a very supportive help). He composed for the piano – Gaspard de la nuit, Le Tombeau de Couperin, Miroirs, Ma Mère l'Oye, Pavane pour une infante défunte are among the most popular pieces, and also orchestrated many of them. He wrote two Piano concertos (one of the them, for the left hand, was composed for his friend Paul Wittgenstein, who lost his right hand during the first World War). His chamber music (violin sonatas, the string quartet) is played the world over. He also wrote wonderful songs. And of course, he's famous for being one of the most interesting orchestral composers of that century.

We'll hear three large compositions: the Second suite from the ballet Daphnis and Chloé, performed by the Peabody Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Hajime Teri Murai; the rhapsody Tzigane, played by Andrew Kohji Taylor (Judith Gordon on the piano); and Le Tombeau de Couperin played by the pianist Alon Goldstein. To listen, click here.