Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue [Hayato Sumino]

Accompanied by the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, the Japanese pianist Hayato Sumino performs Rhapsody in Blue, a 1924 musical composition written by George Gershwin for solo piano and jazz band, which combines elements of classical music with jazz-influenced effects. Conductor: Kanade Yokoyama. In addition to piano, Sumino also plays melodica. Recorded on February 3, 2021, at …

Piovani: La Vita è Bella (Life is Beautiful) [Videnoff, Mannheimer Philharmoniker]

Conducted by Boian Videnoff, the Mannheimer Philharmoniker (Mannheim Philharmonic Orchestra) performs Italian composer Nicola Piovani’s 1998 Academy Award-winning score for La Vita è Bella (Life Is Beautiful), a 1997 Italian comedy-drama film directed by and starring Roberto Benigni. Concertmaster: Stefan Tarara, the German violinist. Recorded at the Rosengarten Mannheim on January 1, 2019.

Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 4 [Noa Wildschut]

Accompanied by the Concertgebouw Kamerorkest (Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra), the Dutch violinist Noa Wildschut performs Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 4 in D major, K. 218. As an encore, Wildschut plays the third movement from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Violin Sonata No.2 in A minor, BWV 1003. Recorded during the Sunday Morning Concert on October 13, …

Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue [Khatia Buniatishvili]

Accompanied by the Orchestre National de Lyon, the Georgian classical pianist Khatia Buniatishvili performs Rhapsody in Blue, a 1924 musical composition written by George Gershwin for solo piano and jazz band, which combines elements of classical music with jazz-influenced effects. Conductor: Leonard Slatkin. Recorded on February 11, 2017.

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 “Emperor” [Alina Bercu]

Accompanied by the Hochschule für Musik FRANZ LISZT Weimar (the Orchestra of the Liszt University), the Romanian classical pianist Alina Bercu performs Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73, popularly known as the “Emperor”. Conductor: Nicolás Pasquet. Recorded at the Weimarhalle, Weimar on November 16, 2017.

Schubert: Arpeggione Sonata [Martha Argerich, Mischa Maisky]

Great Argentine pianist Martha Argerich and the Soviet-born Israeli cellist Mischa Maisky perform Franz Schubert’s Sonata in A minor for Arpeggione and Piano, D. 821, also known as the “Arpeggione Sonata”. The sonata is originally written for arpeggione, a six-stringed musical instrument, fretted and tuned like a guitar, but bowed like a cello, and thus …