Conducted by Herbert von Karajan, the Berliner Philharmoniker (Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra) performs the “overture” from Gioachino Rossini’s last opera, William Tell (French: Guillaume Tell, Italian: Guglielmo Tell). It is an opera in four acts, with a French libretto by Étienne…
Conducted by Guillermo Garcia Calvo, the Orquesta Sinfónica de RTVE performs Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg‘s Peer Gynt Suites, Op. 23 (1895). It is the incidental music to a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet Henrik Ibsen’s (20 March…
The Gnossiennes are several piano compositions written by the French composer Erik Satie (born Éric Alfred Leslie Satie; 17 May 1866 – 1 July 1925; he signed his name Erik Satie after 1884 in the late 19th century). Satie composed…
Spanish tenor José Carreras sings “En Aranjuez con tu Amor” in the studio, a song by Alfredo Garcia Segura (1929 – 2003), based on the second part (Adagio) of Joaquín Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez. The song title means “In Aranjuez…
The legendary cellist Mstislav Rostropovich plays Johann Sebastian Bach’s Cello Suites, The Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello, probably the most frequently performed and recognizable solo compositions ever written for the instrument. This performance was recorded in 1991.
A beautiful aria, three different times, three great tenors. Lawrence Brownlee (2016), Luciano Pavarotti (1982), and Enrico Caruso (1904) versions of “Una furtiva lagrima” (A furtive tear), a romanza from act 2, scene 8 of the Italian opera L’elisir d’amore…
Spanish classical guitarist Paola Requena plays Mauro Giuliani’s “Sonata Heróica”, op. 150. Mauro Giuseppe Sergio Pantaleo Giuliani (27 July 1781 – 8 May 1829) was an Italian guitarist, cellist, singer, and composer. He was a leading guitar virtuoso of the…
San Francisco-based early music ensemble Voices of Music performs Pachelbel’s Canon in D Major with period instruments. The piece remained forgotten for centuries like most other works by Pachelbel and other pre-1700 composers, and was rediscovered only in the 20th…
Russian operatic soprano Anna Netrebko and Latvian operatic lyric mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča sing German-born French composer Jacques Offenbach’s Belle nuit, ô nuit d’amour, commonly known as Offenbach’s Barcarolle. It is a duet for soprano and mezzo-soprano from The Tales of…
One of the best versions of Georges Bizet’s famous opera Carmen, Vienna Opera, 1978. Carmen, the gypsy girl is played by Russian mezzo-soprano Elena Obraztsova and Don José, Corporal of Dragoons is played by Spanish tenor Plácido Domingo. Conductor: Carlos…
Two beautiful Celtic pieces for Harp, Flutes, Oboe, Violin, and Orchestra: it is played in Kazan (the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia). Natalia Antonova (harp), Venera Porfirieva (flutes), Eugene Sidorov (oboe), Lilya Akhmetova (violin). Conductor:…
That’s beautiful… A little girl drops a coin in a musician’s hat, then the magic starts to happen: the orchestra starts playing an excerpt from the last movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No 9 in D minor, Op 125 in the…