Rachmaninoff: Isle of the Dead [Netherlands Philharmonic, Lorenzo Viotti]

Conducted by Lorenzo Viotti, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra performs Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Isle of the Dead, Op. 29, a symphonic poem inspired by Arnold Böcklin’s painting, Isle of the Dead, which the composer saw in a black-and-white reproduction in Paris in 1907. This performance was recorded during the AVROTROS Friday Concerto on October 20, 2023, at …

Pavarotti sings Ave Maria [Schubert]

The legendary Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti sings Franz Schubert’s “Ellens dritter Gesang” (“Ellens Gesang III”, D. 839, Op. 52, No. 6, 1825, English: “Ellen’s Third Song”), popularly known as “Ave Maria”. From the Three Tenors concert in Los Angeles, 1994. Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta.

Debussy: La Mer [Orchestre de Paris, Esa-Pekka Salonen]

Conducted by the Finnish composer and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen, the Orchestre de Paris performs La mer, trois esquisses symphoniques pour orchestre (English: The sea, three symphonic sketches for orchestra), or simply La Mer (i.e. The Sea), an orchestral composition (L 109) by the French composer Claude Debussy. Recorded at the Salle Pleyel (Paris) on 8 …

Canaletto: The Grand Canal and the Church of the Salute

A beautiful painting by the Italian painter Giovanni Antonio Canal (17 or 18 October 1697 – 19 April 1768), better known as Canaletto: “The Grand Canal and the Church of the Salute” (completed in 1730, Italian: Il Canal Grande e la Chiesa di Santa Maria della Salute). It is a Rococo (or “Late Baroque”) landscape …

Rachmaninoff: Isle of the Dead [hr-Sinfonieorchester, Gardner]

Conducted by Edward Gardner, the hr-Sinfonieorchester (Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra) plays Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Isle of the Dead, Op. 29, a symphonic poem inspired by Arnold Böcklin’s painting, Isle of the Dead, which the composer saw in a black-and-white reproduction in Paris in 1907. Recorded live at Alte Oper Frankfurt on September 25, 2015.

The Wedding at Cana [Paolo Veronese]

The Wedding at Cana (or The Wedding Feast at Cana) is a massive oil painting (666 cm × 990 cm – 262 in × 390 in) by Paolo Veronese, the Italian late-Renaissance or Mannerist painter. He is most famous for large history paintings of both religious and mythological subjects. The painting is on display in …