Classical Music Appreciation Thread

[papermoon.lady]

 I love classical music, and I know the Countess likes it too. Maybe there are also lurkers who like it. 🙂

Anyway, maybe some will like to post classical music here (or listen to it).

You can post opera arias, piano recitals, orchestra concerts... - anything you like. Classical music is used in its broader meaning in this thread.

Please post links rather than embedding videos because sometimes the videos won't load.

Let's start...

Luciano Pavarotti - Una furtiva lacrima/lagrima (from L'Elisir d'Amore by Gaetano Donizetti)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2J7JM0tGgRY

[papermoon.lady]

Jules Massenet - Méditation (from Thaïs)

(played by Perlman)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=718UdiQh0CQ

[papermoon.lady]

Tchaikovsky - Waltz of the Flowers (from the Nutcracker Suite)

Choreographed by George Balanchine

New York City Ballet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKcZL8q1eBw

[myoclon1cjerk]

Dutch harpist Lavinia Meijer plays Metamorphosis II by Philip Glass.

https://youtu.be/hV2-zFh3tAU

[myoclon1cjerk]

Arvo Part - Salve Regina.

https://youtu.be/f1CNNf9iU9Y

[myoclon1cjerk]

18 year old South Korean sensation, Yunchan Lim, wins the prestigious Cliburn Piano Competition and leaves the conductor in tears. Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No.3

https://youtu.be/DPJL488cfRw

[papermoon.lady]

I absolutely love Arvo Part. Probably my favourite composer of our time.

Here is another piece - Silentium.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHJ5qleyzyk

[papermoon.lady]

An extremely demanding Concerto, beautifully played by Yunchan Lim, who most definitely has a very bright future ahead. It's amazing he is only 18.

This Concerto reminded me of David Helfgott, who also won a competition with it, but sadly then collapsed and had a mental breakdown. This Concerto was quite pivotal in his life (for many reasons).

[papermoon.lady]

Ralph Vaughan Williams - The Lark Ascending

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZR2JlDnT2l8

[countessalmirena]

Bach: Cello Suite No. 1 in G major, played by János Starker.

https://youtu.be/QN42ge5UwZA?t=17

This holds a very deep place in my heart, for personal reasons.

This particular performance is one of the best I have ever heard. In terms of technique, depth and style, it touches heaven.

For a more overtly emotional, more passionate in style (but not Romantic - I disagree with some critics) as opposed to the impassioned baroque style, here's another beautiful version played by Mischa Maisky:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGQLXRTl3Z0

[countessalmirena]

Hugo Wolf: Auf eine Christblume I (from the Mörike Lieder)

(This is the Lied that starts with "Tochter des Walds, du Lilienverwandte", as opposed to Auf eine Christblume II.)

One of my favourite Lieder, sung by the baritone Olaf Bär, with Geoffrey Parsons accompanying. This is so perfectly and tenderly sung... It has an even greater appeal for me than Fischer-Dieskau's performance of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G09mYvL9EmA

But just for contrast, here's F-D singing this with Geoffrey Moore on piano:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJEZr619BMc