Yesterday marked the 80th birthday of the great pianist and conductor, Daniel Barenboim.
In celebration Arcana has compiled a playlist from just a fraction of his many, many recordings. There is so much from which to choose, as Barenboim’s discography runs from early days at EMI, and recordings with his late wife, cellist Jacqueline du Pré, through a substantial body of work for Warner Classics to his current ‘home’, Deutsche Grammophon.
Our small but perfectly formed playlist includes an extract from his most recent release of Schumann symphonies, with the Berlin Staatskapelle, but also some of those early recordings, including a Beethoven piano trio with du Pré and violinist Pinchas Zukerman:
Today marks the 80th birthday of the distinguished Russian cellist Natalia Gutman.
A pupil of Mstislav Rostropovich, Gutman has performed and recorded with legendary conductors Kirill Kondrashin, Yevgeny Svetlanov, Gennadi Rozhdestvensky and Yuri Temirkanov among many others. Alfred Schnittke wrote a number of pieces for her, including his first Cello Concerto.
In the biography on her website, Elizabeth Wilson writes that ‘as an enthusiast of chamber music she formed an important musical relationship with the exceptional violinist Oleg Kagan, who became her husband. Together they formed a trio with Sviatoslav Richter, who also frequently acted as Natalia’s duo partner.
You can enjoy her artistry through the Spotify playlist below, including recordings of concertos by Shostakovich and that dedication from Schnittke:
With it being Guy Fawkes Night tonight, Arcana has decided to put on a quick fireworks display – in the form of two pieces from two of the 20th century’s standout composers.
The first is from Claude Debussy’s second book of Préludes for the piano, published in 1913. His firework display is set for the evening of 14 July, Bastille Day, but the depiction of the mini explosives is brilliantly done – as is the interpolation of snippets of the Marseillaise:
The second depiction of fireworks is through the orchestra, by Igor Stravinsky. His work predates Debussy’s by five years, and is for orchestra – described as ‘a short orchestral fantasy’. It was apparently a wedding present to his teacher, Rimsky-Korsakov:
Today we learned of the sad news that conductor Libor Pešek has died at the age of 89.
A tribute to him has been posted on social media by his management company IMG, while the artist page they held for him contains details on his conducting career.
Libor Pešek made some particularly fine recordings with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra when Virgin Classics was in the ascendancy in the 1990s. They include a cycle of the symphonies of Dvořák but also a rather wonderful disc introducing us to the music of Vítězslav Novák, and in particular his Slovak Suite. The recording became extremely popular with Classic FM listeners, and has led to something of a revival for the composer.
The playlist enclosed here is almost exclusively of Czech music, including works by Suk and Smetana, but we also include a nod to some extremely fine recordings of British music the conductor made, notably Britten’s Young Person’s Guide.
Any listener to classical music from the 1980s onwards will surely have encountered Libor Pešek’s art, and we can appreciate it here:
It gives us great pleasure to welcome Mark Peters (above) for the latest Arcana playlist guest turn.
Mark has recently released a new album, Red Sunset Dreams, through the rather wonderful Sonic Cathedral label, complementing his previous release Innerland. Where that album painted pictures of the windswept countryside in the north of England, the new opus reports from across the Atlantic with a set of weather-beaten, dusty portraits.
Peters – whose interview with Arcana will be published soon – has given us a snapshot of his listening habits while the album was being made. They show a form of ‘ambient country’ along the lines of his own blissful achievement.
Among the many highlights are slow burning tracks from Cowboy Junkies (a smoky, harmonica-infused Powderfinger), a layered treat of vocals and slide guitars from Nancy Sinatra, in sorrowful mode with When It’s Over, and a rich set of strings setting the scene for Lee Hazlewood to sing Your Sweet Love.
Other high points include the beautiful Optimistic from Skeeter Davis and the airy Dreaming My Dreams, showcasing the sonorous voice of Waylon Jennings. Dolly Parton also appears, In The Good Old Days, while you should definitely take time for gems from Ry Cooder, Gene Clark, Floyd Cramer and a breezy final song from Michael Nesmith, Two Different Roads.
Our grateful thanks to Mark for his selection. Give yourself an hour, turn off all distractions, kick back and enjoy:
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