Playing Music From the Masters

Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto Played on a Chinese Erhu

...sounds devastatingly lyrical

By Daniel Ross, Classic FM London

Tchaikovsky’s gorgeous violin concerto has long been one of the instrument’s greatest melodies. But it also works for other instruments…

image: http://assets6.classicfm.com/2016/33/tchaikovsky-violin-concerto-erhu-1471427558-article-0.jpg

The Erhu is more commonly used for traditional Chinese music and only occasionally ventures into Western music - but this exception is utterly beautiful.

For some reason, the lyrical themes of Tchaikovsky’s classic violin concerto in D lend themselves perfectly to the wispy tones of the Erhu, as this excellent rendition proves:

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The Hardest Piano Piece Ever Written

Stop what you’re doing and listen to the hardest piano piece ever written

By Elizabeth Davis, Classic FM London

Sorabji’s Opus Clavicembalisticum is thought by many to be the most difficult piece ever written for piano – it’s well beyond most pianist’s abilities.

image: http://assets9.classicfm.com/2016/33/opus-clavicembalisticum-sorabji-1471449566-article-0.jpg

Oh and it lasts for FOUR HOURS. So there’s that.

But one pianist, the legendary and unique John Ogdon, made this piece his calling card.

Here's John, deep in concentration at the piano:

image: http://assets.classicfm.com/2016/33/john-ogdon-1471449746.jpg

One YouTuber has combined John’s legendary recording of Sorabji’s completed ridiculous work with the score – so you can both see and hear the number of notes actually involved.

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Vittorio Monti - His Music and His Life

Vittorio Monti (6 January 1868 – 20 June 1922) 

was an Italian composer, violinist, and conductor. Monti was born in Naples where he studied violin and composition at the Conservatorio di San Pietro a Majella. Around 1900 he got an assignment as the conductor for the Lamoureux Orchestra in Paris, where he wrote several ballets and operettas, for example Noël de Pierrot.

His only famous work is his Csárdás, written around 1904 and played by almost every gypsy orchestra. It is played by many people today.

Vittorio Monti - His Music and His Life

Vittorio Monti (6 January 1868 – 20 June 1922) 

was an Italian composer, violinist, and conductor. Monti was born in Naples where he studied violin and composition at the Conservatorio di San Pietro a Majella. Around 1900 he got an assignment as the conductor for the Lamoureux Orchestra in Paris, where he wrote several ballets and operettas, for example Noël de Pierrot.

His only famous work is his Csárdás, written around 1904 and played by almost every gypsy orchestra. It is played by many people today.

Csárdás - Vittorio Monti (Violin & Piano)

Vittorio Monti, Csardas

Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen (piano cover)

Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen

Watch Adorable Evan Le Flawlessly Perform Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 8

By Rosalind Arnell , Classic FM London

Toddler Evan Le has only been learning the piano for less than a year, but can already smash out virtuosic concertos from memory.

image: http://assets7.classicfm.com/2016/30/evan-le-piano-1469453964-article-0.png

Are you ready to feel inadequate? Evan Le is only five, but is already charming audiences with his performance of this Mozart piano concerto, even writing his own complex candenzas for the piece.

Evan is not from a musical family, but has shown a pure instinct for music performance and composition. At the age of three he would listen to nursery rhymes and pick them out on a toy keyboard, and by four it was clear he had perfect pitch and an uncanny knack for memorising complex piano pieces. He has already featured on the NBC talent show Little Big Shots .

Concerto No. 8 was written by Mozart in 1776 for the Countess Antonia Lutzow, a fine pianist in her day. It requires high agility, and Mozart often used it for his own teaching.

Watch Evan Le play here:

Though he is obviously a future piano superstar Evan’s main passion is composing his own masterpieces, which have already amazed his teachers. Evan Le is a name to remember for the future - but for now you can see him perform greats such as Bach, Beethoven and Clementi on his Facebook page.

Music for reading / Musik zum Lesen: Chopin, Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Debussy, Liszt, Sch...

Music for reading.Musik zum Lesen.
Enjoy. Viel Spass.

Saturday Night at the Movies - 

Andrew delves into the murky world of film noir.

image: http://assets7.classicfm.com/2016/26/spellbound-hitchcock-1467280849-article-0.png

Tonight Andrew shines the spotlight on film noir, as suggested by listener Nicholas Nicoll.

The term, which is French for 'dark film', was first given to a style of films by a French critic Nino Frank in 1946, but the name wasn't used in Hollywood till many years later. The genre embraces a wide variety of plots and characters but all have a distinctively suspenseful mood about them.

Tonight Andrew has music ranging across the decades of this mysterious genre, including Spellbound by Miklos Rosza, The Maltese Falcon by Adolph Deutsch and Chinatown by Jerry Goldsmith.

Maybe the Hardest Piece of Piano Music Ever Written

We think this might be the hardest piece of piano music ever written

By Daniel Ross, Classic FM London

Pianists everywhere, prepare yourself for possibly the most demanding piece of piano music ever written. *gulps*

image: http://assets1.classicfm.com/2016/25/kaikhosru-shapurji-sorabjis-opus-clavicembalisticum-1466433188-article-0.jpg

This is a section of the score from Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji’s Opus clavicembalisticum. It’s hard to pronounce, but even harder to play.

image: http://assets.gcstatic.com/u/apps/asset_manager/uploaded/2016/25/kaikhosru-shapurji-sorabjis-opus-clavicembalisticum-1466431796-custom-0.png

For a start, it lasts for over four hours in total, spread across 12 movements. That would be bad enough if it was dead easy to play, but of course, it’s much worse. It’s  a fiend.

Don’t let the first bar fool you - here’s the opening movement:

And here’s the final one, about which the composer himself wrote: “The closing 4 pages are so cataclysmic and catastrophic as anything I've ever done—the harmony bites like nitric acid—the counterpoint grinds like the mills of God.”

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More fun with pianos

Read more at http://www.classicfm.com/instruments/piano/features/hardest-piano-music-ever-written/#9gefP6ORJuuh3Vam.99

Einaudi Plays Piano on an Iceberg ...

... as an Arctic glacier crumbles around him

By Tim Edwards, Classic FM London

Italian pianist premiered a new piece in Svalbard to publicise Greenpeace’s battle to save the Arctic.

image: http://assets8.classicfm.com/2016/25/einaudi-performs-on-iceberg-in-arctic-1466422462-article-0.png

Greenpeace has persuaded Italian composer and pianist Ludovico Einaudi to play on a specially built ‘iceberg’ within 100m of a crumbling glacier as part of their campaign to save the Arctic.

Listen to the best of Einaudi on Composed >

In the video, Einaudi is seen performing his minimalist music in the breathtakingly beautiful surroundings of Wahlenbergbreen glacier in Svalbard, Norway. As he plays one descending scale, huge chunks of ice calve off the glacier. To get to the spectacular location, Einaudicaught a ride with the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise (you can see how the film was made in the video at the bottom of the page): 

Einaudi premiered his new composition, Elegy for the Arctic , as governments gathered in Tenerife to consider a proposal to protect 10% of the Arctic Ocean.

According to Greenpeace, three countries - Norway, Denmark and Iceland - oppose the measure. The Arctic is becoming vulnerable to exploitation for fishing and oil drilling because the extent of sea ice covering the ocean has fallen to record lows in recent years.

Einaudi performs 'Elegy for the Arctic' on 'iceberg'

Best Movie Adaptions of Books

 Andrew Collins showcases the best films inspired by literature.

This Saturday, Andrew Collins will be marking Independent Bookshop Week, which aims to celebrate independent booksellers in the UK and Ireland.

Andrew will be playing music on Saturday Night at the Movies from great film adaptations of books. And he'll be including many of your suggestions of works of literature that you think have most successfully made the transition to the big screen.

Among the classics, such as Rebecca , there's a chance to hear music from the recent Jane Austen movie, Love & Friendship . And modern literature gets a look in too, including Atonement , The English Patient and High Rise .

And then there's the whole world of fantasy literature to choose from, including a certain boy wizard and the exploits of the Bagginses of Bag End.

Giacomo Puccini - Opera Medley Instrumental

13-year-old Laura Bretan's NESSUN DORMA raises deep concerns

13-year-old Laura Bretan’s Nessun Dorma ‘raises deep concerns’ says singing teacher

By Elizabeth Davis, CLASSIC FM LONDON

A 13-year-old singer has wowed audiences with her performance of Puccini’s iconic aria – but some in the classical world have a very different view. Now opera singers and music specialists have voiced concerns over a promising young singer forcing herself to mimic much older voices

Since the clip of Laura Bretan singing Puccini’s famous ariaappeared online a few days ago it has been viewed millions of times. But it’s fair to say it has divided the classical music world.

Laura this weekend won Romania's Got Talent and is still in the running to win America's Got Talent.

Here's the clip that has caused such controversy:

While some cheered to see classical music reaching a mass audience – and to see millions of people sharing and enjoying Puccini’s music, others raised concerns over Laura’s technique and her choice of repertoire.

An open letter from an opera singer

Opera singer Heidi Moss wrote an open letter to the young singer on Facebook saying: “There are things I heard in your sound that concern me. True classical training takes years of hard work, and forcing a sound that isn’t truly your own is dangerous.

“Over time, the irritation of singing that way can cause swelling or even worse, nodes or popped vessels.”

 

A singing teacher's point of view on Laura Bretan

Claudia Friedlander, a voice teacher from New York, took a more positive approach in an article on her blog and soon to be published in Classical Singer Magazine . She said: “Bretan delivered an earnest, authentic outpouring of passion, and she allowed it to flow through her voice with steadfast courage and commitment…

“But a young singer’s instrument is not yet even a fair facsimile of the voice they will late access as an adult. Thus there can be no true operatic prodigies. The young voice simply has not physiologically matured to the point that it is capable of projecting a healthy, balanced sound over an orchestra.

“This is why Bretan’s performance raises such deep concerns for experienced opera singers and voice teachers. She possesses both a promising voice and strong musical instincts, but most of the sounds she is producing are the result of effortful, unsustainable manipulations of a body that is not yet mature enough.”

Are they just jealous?

But Claudia goes on to say that jealousy may partly account for the classical world’s knee-jerk negative reaction to Laura’s performance – after all, this clip has made the news around the world precisely because it's rare to see an audience react so enthusiastically to a performance of an opera aria.

She asks: “Does our desire to correct Bretan’s fans about the nature of opera make us snobs?”

Meanwhile, one opera fan has started a crowd-funding campaign to raise money to ‘Send Simon Cowell to the Met’ …