Schumann: Cello Concerto (Diary 2016-05-03)

Robert Schumann’s Cello Concerto in A minor, op.129, in the new recording with Jean-Guihen Queyras and the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, directed by Pablo Heras-Casado, compared to legacy recordings with Gregor Piatigorsky & Sir John Babirolli / London Philharmonic Orchestra (1934) and Mstislav Rostropovich & Gennadi Rozhdestvensky / Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra (1961)

Schumann: Violin Concerto (Diary 2016-05-01)

Robert Schumann’s Violin Concerto in D minor (WoO 1 [H/K WoO 23]), in the new recording with Isabelle Faust and the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, directed by Pablo Heras-Casado, compared to a recording with Christian Tetzlaff and Paavo Järvi / RSO Frankfurt

Mendelssohn: Lieder ohne Worte (Diary 2015-10-26)

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Songs without Words (Lieder ohne Worte) played by Ilse von Alpenheim, in her complete recording from 1980 — there’s more to this than mere encores! Also included are two interesting sets of variations (opp.82 & 83), and the Andante cantabile e presto agitato in B major

Brahms: Violin Sonata No.2 (Diary 2015-10-17)

Johannes Brahms, Violin Sonata No.2 in A major, op.100, in 3 interpretations: Henryk Szeryng & Arthur Rubinstein (1960) / Leonidas Kavakos & Yuja Wang (2013) / Isabelle Faust & Alexander Melnikov (2015)

Richard Strauss (Diary 2015-10-03)

Richard Strauss, Violin Sonata in E♭ major, op.18 in three interpretations: Haifetz / Sándor (1934); Spivakov / Bezrodnyi (2001); Frang/Lifits (2010) — and memories only (sadly) of an LP recording with Ulf Hoelscher and Michel Béroff (1978)