Here’s my list of recommended listening sources (at least as available on iTunes) for this weekend’s upcoming Classical 6 subscription series.
If you’re interested in reading the program notes for this concert in the comfortable lighting of your home rather than squinting as the lights dim at the Schnitz, click here.
I doubt many of you have heard Elgar’s In the South. I only know of it from hearing it at a Philadelphia Orchestra concert in 1991 or 1992. It stuck in my mind because it features a pretty extensive (and beautiful) viola solo in its middle section. It’s a big, sprawling piece which is a showpiece for the OSO’s not inconsiderable chops. Lots of big tunes that you expect from Elgar, and a pretty nice evocation of Italy, too, much in the vein of Tchaikovsky’s sprawling string sextet Souvenir de Florence [thanks, Troy]. This recording with the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by John Eliot Gardiner is sonically excellent, and the VPO lives up to its stellar reputation in a work by a composer with whom they are not normally associated.
The Vivaldi Four Seasons recording is a recent issue by the Dutch violinist Janine Jansen. It’s a modern performance with nods to the performance practice of the day. This particular recording uses only single solos strings and harpsichord in addition to the solo violin, rather than the full string orchestra that the OSO will use (but cut down in numbers). Her performance is similar to that you will hear from the excellent violinist Elina Vähälä (who also wins a special prize for having a surname with the most umlauts in it!) who will be performing these pieces with the OSO. You’ll hear some nice surprises at her performances with us – it won’t be a “business as usual” performance of this suite of chestnuts.
