Schubert: Impromptus op.90 (Diary 2015-10-31)
Franz Schubert’s Four Impromptus op.90 (D.899), in interpretations by Arthur Rubinstein (1928, 1949, 1950, 1958, 1961) and András Schiff (1990)
Listening Diary
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)
Debut CD: Croisé, Shevchenko (Diary 2015-08-31)
The debut CD of the young cellist Christoph Croisé, accompanied by Oxana Shevchenko (piano), featuring compositions by Sergei Prokofiev (Cello Sonata in C major, op.119), Johannes Brahms (Cello Sonata No.1 in E minor), Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Pezzo Capriccioso), Niccolò Paganini (Variations on a theme from Rossini’s “Mosè in Egitto”), and David Popper (Dance of the Elves, op.39)
Harnoncourt — Monteverdi: Operas (Diary 2015-08-04)
Harnoncourt / Ponnelle’s legendary Zurich Monteverdi cycle on DVD — and memories of getting addicted to its live performances at the Zurich Opera in the late 1970’s