Afternoon Classics - Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009

Today I am doing my A, B, C's - well, only those three.  For some reason every composer was falling into either the A's, B's or C's so I just finished out the program that way.  The only stretch was in the A field. I chose the work by Hugh Aitken because of its obscurity partially (that usually means it was written by a 20th Century American composer (check) and also it was dedicated to the Aspen Festival (cool). Ernest Bloch comes easily, I have long been found of Schelomo and this is a good recording of that piece. Piano fillers today are courtesy of Mr. Chopin (Murray Perahia assisting). 

The Concert piece by Ernest Chausson is a unique one in that the composer has designated it as a "concert" but the composition of the group is actually a sextet. No matter the unusual size this recording is a rare one on which Lorin Maazel is not conducting but rather he is playing the lead violin part. (He might also be conducting but as an aside.) Eric Korngold sneaks in as an anniversay (first performance in 1947) but one could also claim a misspelling! Either way his violin concerto is legitimate anywhere. 

The program is finished out with two more beeee's - Bantock & Bloch again. Granville Bantock is another composer whose works have an idiosyncratic side to them and he loves the mythology of the Celtic.

So here they are in order of appearance:

Beethoven: Creatures of Prometheus Overture, Yoel Levi, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92, Bruno Weill, Tafelmusik Orchestra

Aitken: Aspen Concerto for Violin & Orch., Elmar  Oliveira - violin, Gerard Schwarz, The Seattle Symphony Orchestra

Chopin: Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52, Murray Perahia - piano

Chausson: Concert, Op. 21 for Violin, Piano and String Quartet, Lorin Maazel - violin, Israela Margalit - piano, the Cleveland Orchestra String Quartet

Chopin: Grande Valse brillante in E flat major, Op. 18, Murray Perahia - piano

Korngold: Violin Concerto in D, Op. 35, Jascha Heifetz - violin, Alfred Wallenstein, the Los Angeles Philharmonic

Bantock: Celtic Symphony for String Orchestra & 6 Harps, Vernon Handley, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Bloch: Suite hébraïque, Miriam Kramer - violin, Simon Over - piano

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