Show Notes
February is Mendelssohn's birthday month, and it's also the month of Valentine's Day. Felix wrote the Andante and Rondo Capriccioso for a girl he was smitten with, and his 2nd String Quartet is based on a gorgeous love song, "Ist es wahr?" ('Is it true?')!
Felix Mendelssohn: Andante and Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 14
Benjamin Grosvenor, piano
Felix Mendelssohn: String Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 12
Pacifica String Quartet: Simin Ganatra, violin; Sibbi Bernhardsson, violin; Masumi Per Rostad, viola; Brandon Vamos, cello
Recorded at WGBH's Fraser Performance Studio on November 5, 2013, and October 18, 2007 (string quartet).
More from Classical Performance
Robert Schumann was born in this month in 1810, so we have Krista River and Judith Gordon performing Schumann's great song-cycle, "Frauenliebe und Leben", "A Woman's Love and Life", composed in 1840, the year Schumann married Clara Wieck. Also on the program, Schumann's Three Romances for Oboe and Piano, played by oboist Keisuke Wakao with pianist Christoph Eschenbach.
We're celebrating Rachmaninov's birthday! Ya-fei Chuang's virtuosity and passion are front and center in this live performance of his Piano Sonata No. 2.
Ravel once said: “We should always remember that sensitiveness and emotion constitute the real content of a work of art.“ Canadian pianist Janina Fialkowska brings his art to life in "Jeux d'Eau". Also, the Moet Trio was the first ensemble to participate in the New England Conservatory's Professional Piano Trio Training Program - and they did a great performance for us of Ravel's Trio.
Mozart's birthday is January 27th, and we're celebrating with a couple of great performances from our studio.
It's Beethoven's birthday on December 16th! We celebrate with a studio performance featuring some of his more out-of-the way pieces.