Hector Berlioz: Le damnation de Faust, op.24: Rákóczi march (1846)

Lucerne Festival Orchestra and Chorus / Wilhelm Furtwängler cond (wire rec. 1950-08-26, Eklipse EKR 60)

Johannes Brahms: Sonata for violoncello and piano in F major, op. 99 (1886)

Jacqueline DuPre vc / Daniel Barenboim pf (EMI CDM 7 63298 2, rec. 1968)

Witold Lutosławski: Muzyka żałobna / Funeral music for string orchestra (1954–1958)

Hamburg Symphony / Arthur Gruber cond (Vox Candide CE 31035)

Franz Schubert: Der leiermann, from Winterreise, D911

Hans Hotter bass / Gerald Moore pf (EMI Classics 0724356700024)

Johannes Brahms: Piano quintet in f minor, op. 34

Quintetto Fauré di Roma (Maureen Jones pf / Pina Carmirelli vn / Federico Agostini vn / Massimo Paris, va / Francesco Strano vc) (Claves 50-8702)

Franz Schubert: Gute nacht, from Winterreise, D911

Hans Hotter bass / Gerald Moore pf (EMI Classics 0724356700024)

Antonín Dvořák: Trio for piano, violin & cello, op. 65, B. 130 (1883)

Emanuel Ax pf / Young Uck Kim vn / Yo-Yo Ma vc (CBS MK44527)

Ned Rorem:Book of hours for flute and harp (1975)

Fenwick Smith hp / Ann Jobson Pilot hp (ETCETERA 1184)

Sergei Prokofiev: Piano sonata no. 5 in C major, op. 135

György Sandor pf (VOXC 3500)

Béla Bartók: Piano concerto no. 1, Sz 83 (1926)

György Sandor pf / Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra / Rolf Reinhardt cond (VOXC 25506)

Gustav Holst: A Somerset rhapsody, op. 21b / H 87 (1906)

North Texas University Wind Ensemble / Eugene Corporon cond (Gia 655)

With a huge backlog of playlists accumulated while the posting mechanism was broken (several months now), it may be a while before we’re current. We may go ahead and install a completely new site in the hope of preventing a recurrence (or, as 99% of the populace now apparently believe is the word, “reoccurrence”). Don’t let it throw you! For now, though, we’re in catch-up mode.

Henryk Gorecki: Symphony No. 3, Op. 36 (1976), Symphony of sorrowful songs

Dawn Upshaw sop / London Sinfonietta / David Zinman cond (Elektra Nonesuch D100110)

“Many people came to the first performance ready to whistle on their house keys (the traditional Viennese method of expressing public displeasure), but the house keys were not used: people wept and cheered, and Schoenberg received an ovation that lasted a quarter of an hour.”

CHARLES ROSEN on the première
of Songs of Gurre, February 23, 1913

M. Theo’s mixed-media presentation of Arnold Schönberg’s Songs of Gurre returns to Berkeley on the last Sunday of March, courtesy of composer Bill Ludtke’s splendid ORG Salon Concerts series. Some consider this immense song cycle (calling for orchestral, choral, and solo resources well beyond those of Mahler’s symphony “of a thousand”) the pinnacle of Romanticism in music. I am one of them. I also consider it the great critique of, and antidote to, Romanticism. Since this work is so rarely performed, I’ve made a practice of presenting it every few years in recorded form, under conditions as close to ideal as I can muster: comfortable hall, excellent sound system, with synchronized German text and updated translation on screen – legibly! – synchronized to the music. I’ll introduce the cycle with plenty of little-known background that will enhance the encounter with the music for first-timer and old hand alike. For further information please contact me by email or phone (see the flyer thumbnailed above). The ORG is at 2601 Durant Avenue, at the corner of Bowditch Street – right across the street from Hotel Durant and Henry’s Publick House. Hope to see you there!

Eric Felten has a splendid piece on the abhorrent farce of an “all-star quartet” going through the motions at the inauguration last month. I find it pretty dang hard to maintain any respect for these eminent folks, but my distress isn’t going to make a dent in the cash that just keeps rolling in.

Classics without walls has joined the estimable roster of programs archived at the estimable kusf-archives.com. Whether the show itself is estimable is known only to you. Check out the variety of KUSF New Music programming as well as a sampling of cultural shows, all characterized by a high degree of nift.