THE MUSIC SALON: classical music, popular culture, philosophy and anything else that catches my fancy...
Some of the finest chamber and solo concerts consistently come from Wigmore Hall in London. Here is a very fine example of an extraordinary program for chamber orchestra by 12 Ensemble:
EINOJUHANI RAUTAVAARA, STRAVINSKY, IISABELLA GELLIS, MESSIAEN, RAVEL, what's not to like?
The first part of this concert is devoted to the Sonata for Solo Violin by Bartók played by Barnabás Kelemen. This is so rarely performed that I didn't even know it existed! Why do composers so rarely compose pieces for solo violin? Because it is so bloody hard, for both composer and performer. This is a wonderful performance and a very interesting piece.
This string quartet concert from Wigmore Hall was just streamed yesterday. Very interesting program avoiding the usual clichés. I have not heard of the quartet before. They are based in Frankfurt am Main.
The performers are Russian cellist Anastasia Kobekina and Swiss pianist and composer Jean-Sélim Abdelmoula. The music is by Debussy, Paul Juon and Franck.
One of the brightest lights in this rather dark season of shuttered concert halls has been London's Wigmore Hall that has consistently offered us high quality programming under whatever restrictions were in effect. Often the hall held only the artist, a BBC commentator and a sound engineer. Thankfully the Wigmore is back to full capacity concerts as we can see in this recital streamed today by cellist Alisa Wellerstein in a program of solo works by Osvaldo Golijov and J. S. Bach.
