Saturday Night Classical

[Totentanz]

In the spirit of this thread; I put some older music on and figured I'd share. Feel free to add to if you have something interesting in mind.

To be historically accurate, all of the composers below are actually from the Romantic Era, not the Classical (Beethoven is said to span both eras), but let's not let that stop us.

And we'll end with a well-known classic (sorry, you get Lang Lang instead of Bugs Bunny):

 

[x SF med]

I actually got to see both Fedorova and Lang compete at the Van Cliburn Competition... If you are a fan of 'classical' Piano... make sure you go once in your life.


Here is an amazing Baroque Piece, cello, instead of piano:

...and a guy I have known for our entire lives (he's a couple of months older than me - classical guitar playing jazz:

 

[Totentanz]

Haven't seen the Van Cliburn competition directly, but Rochester was a frequent stop for Jon Nakamatsu - a German teacher and amateur pianist until he won the competition in 1997 and set aside teaching to turn pro. VERY humble guy with absolutely mindblowing talent. If the rest of the field is anywhere close to his skill, it's definitely a bucket list item.

I can't find the full details, but if this was from the summer of 2007, I saw him play this with RPO at FLPAC at the same time.

It's a bit of a departure from the 'classical' theme, but I think it's appropriate:

And a bit back to the classical with Chopin (I actually just found this one looking for examples of Jon's playing... really digging this piece):

 

[x SF med]

an odd pairing - semi classical... Mostly for CQB...

 

[Ooh-Rah]

Wow . Just wow. Watching Anna Fedorova play is something special. The scenes where you can see her hands play in reverse because of the piano reflection are something to watch - there are times I was convinced that there were two pianos in play. Thank you for sharing. There is something mesmerizing about the piano, and those who can not 'just play', but play in a way that conveys emotion. I'm not ashamed to admit I welled up a bit at the end of her performance - breathtaking.

 

[CQB]

Thanks P, Simon Le Bon must have been game to have a crack next to The Pav. What a great sound, had to get the 'phones for that one.

 

[x SF med]

Emerson Lake and palmer doing Mussorgsky (the studio album Pictures at an exhibition is outstanding):

Keith Emerson (ELP) composed and arranged this one for Works Volume 1:

 

[CQB]

Yep, know Pictures, used to have the LP way back when. I was going down the ELP road but the FZ track turned up on a newie of his so...
I also have a preference for three piece bands as there's nowhere to hide. Cream, the aforementioned ELP, Hendrix, & if you must, The Police.
Ian Underwood is good but I didn't realise he was that good.

 

[x SF med]

Yep, know Pictures, used to have the LP way back when. I was going down the ELP road but the FZ track turned up on a newie of his so...
I also have a preference for three piece bands as there's nowhere to hide. Cream, the aforementioned ELP, Hendrix, & if you must, The Police.
Ian Underwood is good but I didn't realise he was that good.

think about all of the bands that came out of The Mothers - in all genres... Tower of Power Horns, Little Feat, Missing Persons, Flo n Eddie.... the list is much much longer and if you take it to secondary levels... Robert Palmer (a Lowell George protégé) et al.... Zappa was a hell of a musician and surrounded himself with musicians who could keep up with him, his jazz and classical guitar stuff in the Shut up and play yer Guitar series is complex as hell, and he could play vibes, piano and stand up bass among other instruments. Zappa was a force to be reckoned with in the music world.

 

[CQB]

True, his raisin d'être was "come for the smut & you might get the music."My fave all time track is Inca Roads. There's so much going on it, it's like Mozarts Jupiter.
Oh, and if Peaches en Regalia doesn't make you smile you've one foot in the grave.

 

[x SF med]

True, his raisin d'être was "come for the smut & you might get the music."My fave all time track is Inca Roads. There's so much going on it, it's like Mozarts Jupiter.
Oh, and if Peaches en Regalia doesn't make you smile you've one foot in the grave.

@CQB to follow on... Joe's Garage, all 3 acts, contain such classics as; "Catholic Girls", "Why does it hurt when I pee?", and "Watermelon in Easter Hay" among the many other tunes in the nearly 2 hours of politically charged music.

Oh, does the Central Scrutinizer remind anybody else of @Freefalling ?

 

[Blizzard]

A little more on the "crossover" side but...

Classical tenor and soprano duet...

Classical take on modern songs...

And...

 

[CQB]

@CQB to follow on... Joe's Garage, all 3 acts, contain such classics as; "Catholic Girls", "Why does it hurt when I pee?", and "Watermelon in Easter Hay" among the many other tunes in the nearly 2 hours of politically charged music.

Oh, does the Central Scrutinizer remind anybody else of @Freefalling ?

a) Joes Garage...imaginary guitar notes exist only in the imagination of the imaginer. Ha!
b) thanks mate, every time I read one of @Frees comments now his voice will have a certain imaginary timbre.:-"

 

[CQB]

Dame Kiri Te Kanewa

 

[ThunderHorse]

The girl I'm dating took me to the Phoenix Symphony on Saturday, this was the set:
Finding Rothko-Adam Schoenberg

Concerto No 1 in G Minor for Violin-Bruch

Symphony No 1 in D Major- Mahler

 

[Totentanz]

Billy Joel is another unlikely one... while it's not surprising that he can throw down on a piano, I was a little caught off guard when I heard one of these on a compilation album:

He's no Franz Liszt, but the man can hold his own beyond just his pop hits.

I heard this one on the radio the other day. I've never listened to much of Vivaldi's work, but this one jumped at me and I really like the way he keeps the tempo up with a solid beat over a minor theme.

And a follow-up with this little guy. I may need to start paying more attention to Vivaldi's work:

And I'll close with something a little more modern - Tarja Turunen, the original singer from Nightwish, demonstrating her classical training:

 

[Salt USMC]

Today I'm headed to a small group chamber music performance, who will be playing Tchaikovsky's "Serenade for Strings". The venue is kind of unique: it's the catacombs of the Church of the Intercession in northern Manhattan. Supposedly the acoustics are incredible.

 

[Totentanz]

@Deathy McDeath that looks absolutely wicked. I'm jealous.

 

[x SF med]

@Deathy McDeath ... the catacombs at the Church of the intercession are awesome, as is the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. St John's ahs one of the best pipe organs in the world, and if a great organist is doing Bach there, it is definitely worth it. St Pat's is ok, but St. John the Divine is AWESOME.

 

[Salt USMC]

@Deathy McDeath ... the catacombs at the Church of the intercession are awesome, as is the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. St John's ahs one of the best pipe organs in the world, and if a great organist is doing Bach there, it is definitely worth it. St Pat's is ok, but St. John the Divine is AWESOME.

I've yet to see any performances at St. John, but last year they hosted an incredible pair of sculptures from Chinese artist Xu Bing. I was lucky enough to see them before they were removed, definitely a great experience. The Cathedral is only a short hop from my apartment so I'm definitely going to make an effort to get down to it more often.

By the way, the performance was AMAZING.