Tonight, I will say goodbye with the final part from Mahler's Symphony No. 2, Resurrection, directed by Claudio Abbado, with Eteri Gvazava, Soprano, and Anna Larsson, Alto. So beautiful!

One of the first pieces of classical music that I remember from my childhood, Herbert von Karajan and a 17-year-old Evgeny Kissin performing Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1. 1988, Salzburg, Austria

For this lunch break, I chose Arthur Rubinstein playing Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22. This video is from 1975, when he was 88 years old, and while almost blind, this might have been one of his best performances. As a side note, he played this Concerto since 1904, when it was in front of Saint-Saëns. I added the YouTube link for the longer version.

A peaceful morning with Iva Kosić playing El Sueño de la Muñeca by Agustín Barrios Mangoré.

I want to close the day with Yunchan Lim playing Chopin's Variations on “Là ci darem la mano”, Op. 2. And with this, I wish you all a beautiful evening!

My street is quiet right now, with dense fog, and Daniel Barenboim playing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata feels just right. It still amazes me that it has over 200 years.

Lunch break with Narciso Yepes and Concierto de Aranjuez.

In Vienna, starting December 20, Thierry Malandain’s Marie Antoinette will have its premiere at Volksoper, with Elena Bottaro as Marie Antoinette and Andrés Garcia Torres as Ludwig XVI.

A good morning starts with joy from the Philharmonic of Munich. Anastasia Kobekina plays Schubert‘s Arpeggione Sonata arranged for Violoncello. Have a wonderful day!

I want to end the day on a peaceful note, so I'll wish you good night with Khatia Buniatišvili playing the second movement of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major (K. 488), Adagio. From the Paris Concert at the Eiffel Tower, July 14, 2019.

I decided to add the second movement too. Because why not? View quoted note →

A short peaceful moment with Camille Thomas and Beatrice Berrut playing Schubert’s Ständchen. Bruxelles, 2011

For this lunch break, we have the first movement from Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, conducted by the legendary Gustavo Dudamel. Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar, Barcelona, 2017

You will listen to what I listen to, so here's Murray Perahia performing Mendelssohn's "Scottish Sonata". (Tokyo, 1988)

Good morning with Hilary Hahn playing Bach's Violin Concerto No. 2 in E Major, BWV 1042, accompanied by Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. Have a great day!

Today I will say goodbye with Mariella Devia singing "Com’è bello!" from Donizetti's "Lucrezia Borgia".

One more post off the beaten path, Nina Simone performing "Strange Fruit" at Jazz à Juan, the International Jazz Festival from Juan-les-Pins, France, in 1965. (The festival still takes place every year.) Nina appears alongside Lisle Atkinson (bass), Rudy Stevenson (guitar & flute) and Bobby Hamilton (drums).

A small detour with Es Devlin's Library of Light in Pinacoteca di Brera, Milano. It was available this spring, and every evening at 8 o'clock, there was a recorded reading of extracts from "The Order of Time" by Carlo Rovelli, read by Benedict Cumberbatch, and preceded by an extract from "Il Cielo Mistico" by Maria Gaetana Agnesi. It’s underscored by Polyphonia with extracts from Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D, Op. 61. In the second video, her newest installation, "Library of Us," is located on the beach in Miami.

I will say goodbye today with a special page of music's history, Arthur Grumiaux’s magnificent interpretation of Ernest Bloch’s Baal Shem, the second movement, Nigun. (Nobody seems to know who the pianist is, only that the recording is from the 1970s.) He really makes it feel like a prayer. As a side note, Yehudi Menuhin, who knew Bloch since childhood, described him as “a musician like an Old Testament prophet, with a divine fire that could scorch the bystander". And with this, I wish you all a great evening!

Happy 2nd Sunday of Advent! ”O du fröhliche“ with the Philharmonic of Vienna.