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

[myoclon1cjerk]

Samuel Barber - Agnus Dei.

https://youtu.be/AiuC_CaObbI

[countessalmirena]

Ohhh, Samuel Barber…

What an astonishingly beautiful and powerful piece that is. It seems to speak of the tragedy of loss while also extending a comfort of weeping, an infinite compassion.

[countessalmirena]

Speaking of Barber…

Samuel Barber: Give me my robe (from Antony and Cleopatra) sung by one of the greatest sopranos the world has known… Leontyne Price

https://youtu.be/JUhXmwkJqxg

[countessalmirena]

Luzzasco Luzzaschi: I’ mi son giovinetta (duet from Concerto delle donne). Sung by sopranos Sophie Junker and Sherezade Panthaki.

https://youtu.be/51g464g16AE

Also by Luzzaschi from Concerto delle donne: T’amo mi vita. Sung/performed by Concerto di Margherita.

https://youtu.be/jRoJZSRBGmo

Another by Luzzaschi from Concerto delle donne: O dolcezze amarissime d’amore. Performed by Dorothéa Ventura (soprano), Marie Magistry (soprano), Ghislaine Deschambault (mezzo), and Sara Lackie, harp.

https://youtu.be/UBYwDfRzEYc

These are intricate and vocally difficult, but all three performances are beautiful and agile.

[papermoon.lady]

Johann Strauss - Wiener Blut (Viennese Blood)

Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

Conductor: Zubin Mehta

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCuB6KxXb58

[myoclon1cjerk]

Andre Caplet - Suite Persane.

https://youtu.be/UcjOAq-Ssk8

Caplet died after being gassed on the battlefield during WWI. ☹

[countessalmirena]

---

@myoclon1cjerk wrote:

Andre Caplet - Suite Persane.

https://youtu.be/UcjOAq-Ssk8

Caplet died after being gassed on the battlefield during WWI. ☹

---

Too many amazingly talented and brave men were killed in that horrible way. It makes me sick to think of it.

Caplet's music strongly reflects the influence of Debussy; I love its elegant yet theatrical arabesques... very much fairy-tale music.

Superb live performance of the Suite Persane as well: https://youtu.be/M88n_HZxsi0, https://youtu.be/psUTiB5vpVQ, https://youtu.be/NQl8Mu-mDV4. Performed by Ensemble Excentrique.

The first Caplet that I encountered was in a recording of French mélodies by Jaroussky.

[countessalmirena]

I'm just listening to that Wiener Blut performance, papermoon. It's beautifully done, lighthearted and graceful. The lilt is so intoxicating...

I had a masked ball with waltzes for my 18th birthday. Most of my friends thought it was a crazy idea, but they did end up getting into the spirit of it, hiring or making costumes and practising waltzing beforehand. I keep thinking it would be lovely to have a similar costume ball with waltzes etc for New Year's Eve, but so far I've just not had the energy or time or opportunity to organise it. One of these days...

[papermoon.lady]

It has already been posted, but as we mentioned the horrors of war today... here it is again...

Gorecki - Symphony No. 3 Op. 36 (Symphony of Sorrowful Songs), Second Movement

Conductor: Gilbert Levine

Soprano: Zofia Kilanowicz

London Philharmonic Orchestra

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MkjkoNo92I

[countessalmirena]

Hard to listen to that without crying...

(I'm particularly weeply at the moment anyway - very recent 2-year anniversary of the death of beloved family member.)

Here's some Stravinsky to fit the mood.

Igor Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms. Perf. by Berliner Philharmoniker with the Rundfunkchor Berlin, conducted powerfully and with wonderful clarity by Simon Rattle.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOLbLjxOu7tbbEk1d7_YTCsjRGQMwx8L3