Britten: Les Illuminations, Op. 18, sung by one of the loveliest lyric sopranos, Susan Gritton. (She's wonderful in Mozart and Handel, as well.)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlXZAjpjPg8

 

Gorécki: Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, Op. 36, with soprano Zofia Kilanowicz.

 

I have every recording of this work, and even though some wonderful sopranos have sung this, including Susan Gritton and Dawn Upshaw, the recording with Zofia Kilanowicz is something apart from those others. This live version with her (I could only find 2nd mvt) is as good as the CD recording; it has exactly the same combination of beauty, grief, purity, hope, despair, fragility, otherwordliness, sharp depths and waterfalls of emotion. I hope you will fall headlong into the music and the meaning, just as I did.

 

This is the second movement, live.

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

 

Here's the whole thing. It's purely instrumental until about 15 minutes in. Superb orchestral playing - it shimmers and weeps to heaven.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWzZ77EwhZA

 

 

I was just going to post Gorecki's Symphony of Sorrowful Songs this very minute, Countess. Speak of telepathy! Actually I wanted to post it a bit earlier, but I wanted to listen to the performance first to make sure I was satisfied. It is such a powerful Symphony!

I have always loved this piece (and the movie too): John Williams - Schindler's List Theme (violin played by Itzhak Perlman)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLgJQ8Zj3AA

 

 

 

Jacqueline's illness and early death were such a tragedy...

Elgar's Cello Concerto (First Movement) - Jacqueline Mary du Pré playing the cello, Daniel Barenboim conducting the London Philharmonic (1967)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUgdbqt2ON0

Schubert - Trout Quintet in A Major, D.667

Daniel Barenboim - piano

Jacqueline du Pré - cello

Pinchas Zukerman - viola

Itzhak Perlman - violin

Zubin Mehta - double bass

 

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

 

 

 

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

Gustave Charpentier - Didon.

https://youtu.be/X5A15GIjlao

Phenomenal playing by Murray Perahia. Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata 3rd Movement. 🥰

https://youtu.be/352qLWqKN-U

That’s electrifying - playing of the highest calibre.

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf singing

 

   Wolf: Mausfallen-Sprüchlein

   https://youtu.be/_zFLpxLklQw

Hear how she’s taken the weight from her voice and made it full of childish mischief. The incomparable Gerald Moore accompanies her.