For Your Listening Pleasure

"Mozart 2-3-4" From Mozart’s catalog, this listener guide is a sampling of Mozart’s many concertos for solo instrument and orchestra, featuring three instruments – the horn, the violin and the piano. As I often do, allow me a little numerical fun as the works follow the numerical sequence 2, 3 and 4. Details on our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/pcast271

"Viviana Sofronitsky & Mozart" The 2005-06 11CD box set featuring Viviana Sofronitsky and Musicae Antiquae Collegium Varsoviense constitutes the first-ever complete cycle of Mozart’s works for keyboard and orchestra performed on “original” instruments. In today’s montage I have retained four of these concerti; the first (no. 2) is performed on the harpsichord and the remaining three (nos. 5, 6 and 11) are performed on the fortepiano. Details on our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/pcast262

"Walter Gieseking Plays Mozart" Wolfgang Mozart left us with a rich catalog for the solo piano as well as 27 “numbered” piano concertos and chamber works that place the piano in a predominant role. The Mozart catalog features 18 “numbered” sonatas for solo piano, as well as a handful or more of sonatas for piano four hands or two pianos. Today, we offer a six Mozart sonatas to add to your music collection (from the “front nine” of the series, nos. 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, and 9) composed between 1774 and 1777. Details at our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/603Sonate6EnReMajeurDurnit [First Time on our Podcasting Channel]

"HB Frédéric Chopin [* 1810]" The idea of the piano étude conjures up one of two things – a study in composition and harmony or a study in piano performance. We can safely say that Chopin hits both of these objectives. Chopin's études formed the foundation for what was then a revolutionary playing style for the piano. They are some of the most challenging and evocative pieces of all the works in concert piano repertoire. Details at our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/ChopinCompleteEtudesFullAlbum [First Time on our Podcasting Channel]

"Leap Day" Hpy 57th birthday to Gioacchino Rossini, born OTD in 1792. In the 1940s, composer Alfredo Casella discovered a set of six string sonatas written by Rossini in 1804, when he was still quite young. The pieces were written for his friend, Agostino Triossi, who was an accomplished amateur bassist. Details at our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/16SonateNo6 [First Time on our Podcasting Channel]

[Project 366 Listener Guide # 327] Many great works have in common the number 104. Read our fresh take on February 28 @ https://itywltmt.blogspot.com. Details @ https://archive.org/details/pcast057playlist (ITYWLTMT Podcsat # 57 - 01 June 2012)

"Joze Kotar, clarinet" Jože Kotar is born in Trbovlje and became principal clarinetist of the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra in 2007 after serving in that role at the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra for 12 years. He is also a tenured professor at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana. Kotar is a member, co-founder and artistic director of the Slovenian Clarinet Orchestra and a member of the Ariart Wind Quintet and the MD7 Contemporary Music Ensemble. As a clarinetist, he collaborates with the Slovenian Chamber Orchestra, the Academie Ars Musicae Orchestra, etc.) Since 2007 he is a conductor and artistic director at the Trbovlje Workers Band. Details at our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/01IntroductionThemeEtVariations [First Time on our Podcasting Channel]

"Ash Wednesday" The 1801 ballet music for Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus (The Creatures of Prometheus), following the libretto of Salvatore Viganò, is the only full length ballet by Beethoven. The original scenario of the ballet is lost, making it difficult to establish the precise context of many of the sixteen numbers of the score and leading to different treatments of the music by various choreographers since. Details at our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/TheCreaturesOfPrometheusBallet [First Time on our Podcasting Channel]

"Mardi Gras" Shrove Tuesday is the day preceding Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent), which is celebrated in some countries by consuming pancakes. In others, especially those where it is called Mardi Gras or some translation thereof, this is a carnival day, and also the last day of "fat eating" or "gorging" before the fasting period of Lent. Pétrouchka tells the story of the loves and jealousies of three puppets. The three are brought to life by the Charlatan during the 1830 Shrovetide Fair (which we would equate to Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras) in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Details at our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/StravinskyPetrouchka1911Rev. [First Time on our Podcasting Channel]

"Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826)" Carl Maria von Weber, like Beethoven and Schubert, is a transitional composer trained in the Classical era but whose work launches the Romantic school. There is an interesting family connection between Weber and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; Weber;s uncle (his father’s half-brother, Fridolin) had four musical daughters, Josepha, Aloysia, Constanze and Sophie, all of whom became notable singers. Mozart attempted to woo Aloysia, composing several pieces for her. But after she rejected his advances, Mozart went on to marry Constanze. Details on our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/pcast269

"Weber: Der Freischütz (Part 2)" A Freischütz ("freeshooter"), in German folklore, is a marksman who, by a contract with the devil, has obtained a certain number of bullets destined to hit without fail whatever object he wishes. As the legend is usually told, six of the magic bullets (German: Freikugeln, literally "free bullets"), are thus subservient to the marksman's will, but the seventh is at the absolute disposal of the devil himself. Resembling the Faust legend, Der Freischütz is a story of two lovers whose ultimate fate is decided by supernatural forces, a story which Weber brings to life by masterfully translating into music the otherworldly, particularly sinister, aspects of the narrative. Details at our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/weber_der_frei_ke_31_und_ob_etc [First Time on our Podcasting Channel]

"Weber: Der Freischütz (Part 1)" A Freischütz ("freeshooter"), in German folklore, is a marksman who, by a contract with the devil, has obtained a certain number of bullets destined to hit without fail whatever object he wishes. As the legend is usually told, six of the magic bullets (German: Freikugeln, literally "free bullets"), are thus subservient to the marksman's will, but the seventh is at the absolute disposal of the devil himself. Resembling the Faust legend, Der Freischütz is a story of two lovers whose ultimate fate is decided by supernatural forces, a story which Weber brings to life by masterfully translating into music the otherworldly, particularly sinister, aspects of the narrative. Details at our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/weber_der_frei_ke_01_prelud_etc [First Time on our Podcasting Channel]

"Schubert: Symphonies nos. 4 & 6" When we think of Schubert, we think lieder and other intimate settings and not necessarily of symphonies. That having been said, Schubert did leave us 12 works (many of them fragmentary) that are in the symphonic form, and eight of them (including the "Unfinished") are part of the repertoire. Details at our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/04SymphonyNo.6InCMajorLittl [First Time on our Podcasting Channel]

A montage of wind concertos – horn and flute – by both Leopold and Woldgang. Read our commentary on February 21 @ https://itywltmt.blogspot.com/, details @ https://archive.org/details/pcast334-Playlist

"Classical Keyboard" The piano sonata occupies a large portion of the podcast, and for good reason. Like many “formulaic” works – the symphony comes to mind – the sonata finds its well-recognized structure under composers like Mozart, Haydn and later Beethoven and Schubert. Prior to the classical period, we can point to the many keyboard sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti as indicative of the sonata “in one movement” Another champion of the genre was Padre Antonio Soler, a Spanish composer whose works span the late Baroque and early Classical music eras. He was an important contribution to the harpsichord, fortepiano and organ repertoire. Details at our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/pcast272