Max Reger was a great admirer of J.S. Bach's music. He was one of the leading Bach interpreters of his time, and strove to maintain Bach's conventions of harmony, counterpoint and structure. Like Bach, Reger was an organist, and like Bach, he composed beautifully for the solo cello. Sergei Antonov plays a movement from one of Reger's Solo Suites, and then the beautiful "Melodie" by Tchaikovsky.
***
Reger: Prelude from 2nd Suite for Solo Cello, Op. 131c; and
Tchaikovsky (arr. Antonov): Melodie, Op.42.
Sergey Antonov, cello; Fedor Veselov, piano
+++
More information about Sergey is at his website: http://sergeyantonov.com/

Recorded in a live broadcast at WGBH's Fraser Performance Studio on July 9th, 2008.
©2008 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.wgbh.org/classical email: classical@wgbh.org

Brahms was just one of many composers who were inspired by the captivating melody in Caprice No.24 for Violin by Nicolo Paganini. Hung-Kuan Chen performs the variations in a different order from the original, retaining all the emotional depth, but giving it a slightly more exciting ending.
***
Brahms: Variations on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 35
Hung-Kuan Chen, piano
+++
Recorded in a live broadcast at WGBH's Fraser Performance Studio on August 14th, 2008.

©2008 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.wgbh.org/classical email: classical@wgbh.org

Brahms's Third Violin Sonata is as wild and virtuosic as the musicians it was written for - the great violinist Joseph Joachim, and the brilliant pianist and conductor, Hans von Bülow. We hear it played by the Boston virtuosa Irina Muresanu and the Romanian pianist Dana Ciocarlie.
***
Brahms: Sonata No. 3 for Violin and Piano in D minor, Op. 108
Irina Muresanu, violin; Dana Ciocarlie, piano
+++
More info:
Irina - http://www.irinamuresanu.com
Dana - http://www.andoverchambermusic.org/biodanacarlie.html

Recorded in a live broadcast at WGBH's Fraser Performance Studio on February 14th, 2008.

©2008 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.wgbh.org/classical email: classical@wgbh.org

Helene Wickett is tackling all the piano sonatas of Beethoven, and she's
come to the second last one, Op. 110 in A flat. Helene thinks the piece may
have been intended for Antoni Brentano, Beethoven's "Immortal Beloved" - He marked it "con amabilita", "with affection, warmth, softness". She played
it live on Cathy Fuller's "Classics in the Morning".
***
Beethoven: Sonata No. 31 in A flat major, Op. 110
Helene Wickett, piano
+++
More info: Look up "Helene Wickett", at http://www.promusicis.org/
Recorded in a live broadcast at WGBH's Fraser Performance Studio on March
25th, 2008.
©2008 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.wgbh.org/classical email: classical@wgbh.org

No, no, not THAT Mancini! I'm talking about Francesco Mancini, the early 18th century Italian, not Henry Mancini, the Academy-award-winning 20th century American. Francesco's music was featured in Newton Baroque's live performance of music written for orphans.
***
Mancini, Francesco: Concerto in F major
Newton Baroque
+++
Recorded in a live broadcast at WGBH's Fraser Performance Studio on June 24th, 2008.
©2008 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.wgbh.org/classical email: classical@wgbh.org

Strauss was only twenty years old when he wrote this Piano Quartet, so you can hear all the evidence of his early influences: Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms. But you can also hear the beginning of an original talent. We hear it played by performers from the Rockport Chamber Music Festival.
***
Strauss, Richard: Piano Quartet in C minor, Op. 13 (1884)
David Deveau, piano; Irina Muresanu, violin; Yinzi Kong, viola; Emmanuel Feldman, cello
+++
More information about the Rockport Chamber Music Festival is at their website: http://rcmf.org/

Recorded in a live broadcast at WGBH's Fraser Performance Studio on June 4th, 2008.
©2008 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.wgbh.org/classical email: classical@wgbh.org

Last year's Tchaikovsky Competition Gold Medal winner, celllist Sergey Antonov, stopped by the Fraser Performance Studio the other day. He played Franck, together with a colleague from the Moscow Conservatory, pianist Fedor Veselov.
***
Franck: Sonata in A major (1886)
Sergey Antonov, cello; Fedor Veselov, piano
+++
More information about Sergey is at his website: http://sergeyantonov.com/

Recorded in a live broadcast at WGBH's Fraser Performance Studio on July 9th, 2008.
©2008 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.wgbh.org/classical email: classical@wgbh.org

In Antonio Vivaldi's Venice, the orphanage was more than just an orphanage. It was a convent, a school and a conservatory of music as well. As the master violin tutor and chief composer from 1713 to 1740, Vivaldi taught and wrote music for some of the finest young players in the city. Here are two of the pieces he composed, played by Newton Baroque.
***
Vivaldi: Concerto for recorder in C minor, RV 441 and Concerto for violin in F major, Op. 4 No. 9
Newton Baroque
+++
Sarah Cantor, recorder; Lisa Brook, violin, Sarah Darling, violin; Jason Fisher, viola; Daniel Rowe, cello; Andrus Madsen, harpsichord

Recorded in a live broadcast at WGBH's Fraser Performance Studio on June 24, 2008.
©2008 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.wgbh.org/classical email: classical@wgbh.org

Mozart had a busy social life. He loved to spend evenings with his friends, Gottfried and Fanziska von Jacquin - making music together, having discussions, and playing games like skittles, or "Kegelstatt". One of the pieces he wrote to be performed at the Jacquin house was this Trio, originally for clarinet, viola and piano, with the composer himself playing the viola. In Ensemble Schumann's performance, the clarinet is replaced by an oboe.
***
Mozart: Trio in E-flat major, K.498, "Kegelstatt"
Ensemble Schumann
+++
Tom Gallant, oboe; Steve Larson, viola; Sally Pinkas, piano

Recorded in a live broadcast at WGBH's Fraser Performance Studio on June 10, 2008.
©2008 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.wgbh.org/classical email: classical@wgbh.org

J.S. Bach's Flute Sonata in G minor is one of the best-loved works for the flute. But it turns out he wasn't even the composer of this piece! It was probably written by his son, C.P.E. Bach, harpsichordist in the court of the flutist and king, Frederic the Great. Our second work, "Parabasis", is very clearly identified as the work of Jeremy Gill, the pianist on this program.
***
Bach, C.P.E. (attrib. J.S. Bach): Sonata in G minor for flute and continuo (BWV.1020), and Jeremy Gill: Three Dances from "Parabasis".
Mimi Stillman, flute; Jeremy Gill, piano
+++
More info: http://www.mimistillman.org/

Recorded in a live broadcast at WGBH's Fraser Performance Studio on June 9, 2008.
©2008 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.wgbh.org/classical email: classical@wgbh.org

Dvorak's radiant String Quartet in E-flat exudes joy, coming from the pen of a contented composer. Things were going well for the Czech master in 1851: his daughter was born that year, and he had just had great success with his first set of Slavonic Dances. There's a Slavonic feel to this quartet too, and the Parker Quartet captured it perfectly in this performance.
***
Dvorak: String Quartet in E-flat major, Op.51
The Parker String Quartet
+++
I. Allegro ma non troppo;
II. Dumka: Andante con moto - Vivace
III. Romanze: Andante con moto;
IV. Finale: Allegro assai

Recorded in a live broadcast at WGBH's Fraser Performance Studio on June 6, 2008.
©2008 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.wgbh.org/classical email: classical@wgbh.org

Schubert wrote his C major violin Fantasy for a young Bohemian virtuoso, Josef Slavik, who became one of his most trusted chamber music partners. We'll hear it played by the modern-day French virtuoso Nicolas Dautricourt, with Michael Mizrahi at the piano.
***
Schubert: Fantasia in C major for violin and piano, D.934
Nicolas Dautricourt, violin; Michael Mizrahi, piano
+++
I. Andante molto;
II. Allegretto;
III. Andantino;
IV. Tempo I;
V. Allegro vivace;
VI. Allegretto;
VII. Presto;

Recorded in a live broadcast at WGBH's Studio One on January 13th, 2004.
©2008 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.wgbh.org/classical email: classical@wgbh.org

"The two Jons" each have successful solo careers, but when they come together as a clarinet and piano duo, it's really something wonderful. They play the lyrical Clarinet Sonata, composed by Camille Saint-Saëns in 1921.
***
Saint-Saëns: Clarinet Sonata in E-flat major, Op.167 (1921)
Jon Manasse, clarinet; Jon Nakamatsu, piano
+++
More info at http://www.parkerartists.com/NewPages/manasse-nakamatsu-duo.html

Recorded in a live broadcast at WGBH's Fraser Performance Studio on May 23rd, 2008.

©2008 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.wgbh.org/classical email: classical@wgbh.org

The Ying Quartet started out its professional career in Jesup, Iowa - a town of 2000 people - as its String Quartet in Residence, integrating music into small town community life. Today they are continuing their tradition of community music-making at the Eastman School of Music and at Harvard University. On their visit to WGBH they brought this exuberant D major Quartet by Mendelssohn.
***
Mendelssohn: String Quartet No. 3 in D major, Op. 44 No. 1
Ying String Quartet
+++
I. Molto allegro vivace;
II. Menuetto: Un poco Allegretto;
III. Andante espressivo ma con moto;
IV. Presto con brio.
Timothy Ying and Janet Ying, violins; Philip Ying, viola; David Ying, cello.

More information about the Ying Quartet at http://esm.rochester.edu/faculty/?id=19 or http://www.ying4.com/.
Recorded in a live broadcast at WGBH's Studio One on February 15th, 2002.

©2008 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.wgbh.org/classical email: classical@wgbh.org

The Moet Trio is the first ensemble to participate in the New England Conservatory's Professional Piano Trio Training Program - this is quite an honor for the group, and it's well-deserved, as you'll hear in this performance of Ravel's Piano Trio in A minor.
***
Ravel: Piano Trio in A minor (1914)
Moet Trio
+++
Yuri Namkung, violin; Yves Dharamraj, cello; Michael Mizrahi, piano

More information about the trio at
https://www.newamsterdamrecords.com/#Moet_Trio

Recorded in a live broadcast at WGBH's Fraser Performance Studio on April
15th, 2008.

©2008 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.wgbh.org/classical email: classical@wgbh.org

The Canadian early music group Ensemble Caprice has been exploring "Gypsy Music" as collected by European scholars and composers in the 17th and 18th centuries, and they've come up with a lively mix! Here's music by Diego Ortiz, Johann Heinrich Schmelzer, and Andrea Falconieri.
***
Ortiz: Recercada primera; Schmelzer: Balletto La bella zingara; and
Falconieri: La Suave Melodia and La Follia.
Ensemble Caprice
+++
Matthias Maute, recorder and flute; Sophie Larivière, recorder and flute; David Jacques, baroque guitar
More information at http://www.ensemblecaprice.com/

Recorded in a live broadcast at WGBH's Fraser Performance Studio on April 24th, 2008.

©2008 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.wgbh.org/classical email: classical@wgbh.org

Leslie Howard is one of the foremost interpreters of late romantic piano music, and we were thrilled that he could come to play at WGBH. We'll hear music by Borodin and Rachmaninov.
***
Borodin/Howard: Scherzo from Petite Suite (1885); and Rachmaninov: Three Pieces (1917).
Leslie Howard, piano

Recorded in a live broadcast at WGBH's Fraser Performance Studio, January 29, 2008.
WGBH Classical Performance is a production of WGBH Radio Boston.

http://www.wgbh.org/classical.
email: classical@wgbh.org

Leslie Howard brings us the dramatic background to Rachmaninov's "Three Pieces" of 1917, in conversation with "Classics in the Morning" host Cathy Fuller.

Recorded in a live broadcast at WGBH's Fraser Performance Studio, January 29, 2008.
WGBH Classical Performance is a production of WGBH Radio Boston.

http://www.wgbh.org/classical.
email: classical@wgbh.org

This is the lighter side of Beethoven: a delightful serenade, adapted by the composer from his own Serenade for Flute and Strings. Stephanie Jutt and Jeffrey Sykes are presented in their Boston recital this week by the Pro Musicis Foundation, http://promusicis.org/.
***
Beethoven: Serenade for Flute and Piano, Op.41
Stephanie Jutt, flute; Jeffrey Sykes, piano
+++
More information: http://www.bachdancinganddynamite.org/artists/

Recorded in a live broadcast at WGBH's Fraser Performance Studio on April 17th, 2008.

©2008 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.wgbh.org/classical email: classical@wgbh.org

Maurice Ravel was a great admirer of Franz Schubert's music, and the "Valses nobles et sentimentales" are his tribute. Nonetheless this work has Ravel's unmistakable signature sound. The pianist in our live broadcast is Hélène Wickett.
***
Ravel: Valses nobles et sentimentales
Hélène Wickett, piano
+++
More info: Look up "Hélène Wickett", at http://www.promusicis.org/

Recorded in a live broadcast at WGBH's Fraser Performance Studio on March 25th, 2008.

©2008 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.wgbh.org/classical email: classical@wgbh.org