Good call!!!

Mendelssohn : Ye people, rend your hearts…If with all your hearts (Elijah) | Andrew Haji YouTube video by Concours musical international de Montréal

Here’s the tenor as Obadiah singing “If with all your hearts ye truly seek me, ye shall ever surely find me.” (The aria starts after a short recit at about 1’00” on this video.) 3/3

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Elijah is a large and dramatic work and contains some of Mendelssohn’s most attractive music. It was well received at its premiere and has never lost its place in the repertoire since. 2/3

Mendelssohn’s great oratorio, Elijah premiered 180 years ago in 1846 in Birmingham. It was inspired in part by the composer’s work in reintroducing JS Bach’s music to the public, especially his St Matthew Passion. 1/3

Khatia Buniatishvili - Schubert: Impromptu No. 3 in G-Flat Major, Op. 90, D. 899 YouTube video by KhatiaBuniatishVEVO

The gently rippling broken chords of the first section give way to a darker, heavier middle section. As ever with Schubert, the tears are not far away, especially in the radiant stillness. 2/2

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Khatia Buniatishvili - Schubert: Impromptu No. 3 in G-Flat Major, Op. 90, D. 899 YouTube video by KhatiaBuniatishVEVO

I’m offering Schubert’s G-flat Impromptu played by Khatia Buniatishvili this morning, to wish you a serene start to the new week.

The Impromptus were written in 1827, near the end of Schubert’s short life. The G-flat is the third of the set, and probably the best known. 1/2

The story has Nero wanting to marry his mistress Poppea. There’s all sorts of intrigue and unpleasantness and suicide. In the end, Nero and Poppea get their way. Their love duet at the end is stunningly gorgeous (Pur ti miro) but seems to critics to be a celebration of lust and violence.

One of my bigger claims to fame is having sing Pur ti miro with James Bowman. 😃❤️🎶

I know!!!! Always feel a bit grubby and confused enjoying that one.

Thanks - I was a bit hasty in my typing!

Sorry - I got a bit trigger happy in typing! As someone else has said, “homai” or “omai” is the extra word I missed after pace.

Lemieux, Jaroussky - Carissimi - Rimante in pace YouTube video by quodsciam

“For I long in vain to see you again. I depart, my love, farewell! Ah! rest in peace now, my idol!
Good night, my sun, my life, farewell.” 3/3

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This beautiful madrigal for two voices reminds me of Monteverdi’s Pur ti miro and is every bit as beautiful. But whereas the Monteverdi celebrates a coming together, this is a song of permanent separation. 2/3

If you need five minutes of soothing listening, try this: Rimante in pace by Giacomo Carissimi.

Carissimi was an Italian composer of the early baroque and yesterday, April 18th, was probably his birthday (in 1605.) 1/3

I had such a lovely day today with this. Nobody knew it before we started and they all loved it by the end. What a fabulous piece it is - give it a listen if you like romantic piano concertos with a big finish.

Mystical archway at dawn. The view from St Michael's tower on Glastonbury Tor this morning.

Amy Beach Barcarolle Op.28 No.1 - Yifan YouTube video by Yifan

To get in the mood, here’s another lovely piece of hers - a piano solo, Barcarolle. 4/4

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She would later resume her performing career after her husband died but the composing never stopped and she became a model and a mentor to a new generation of young American female composers. 3/4

She was an astonishing child prodigy whose career as a concert pianist was interrupted by marriage to a kind, but socially conservative doctor who couldn’t countenance his wife performing in public. That’s when she really turned to composing, an activity in which she was largely self-taught. 2/4

We’re listening to Amy Beach today in the first Discover class of the term. We’ll be listening to her fabulous piano concerto.

Amy was born in the same decade as European giants Mahler, Debussy and Sibelius - but in New England. 1/4

A beautiful day here in Bristol. Clifton Suspension Bridge in the distance spanning the Avon Gorge. You can see for miles today.

[EXTRAIT] ALCINA by Haendel "Tornami a vagheggiar" (Sabine Devieilhe) YouTube video by Opéra national de Paris

The would-be seducer here doesn’t realise that the object of her attentions is not a man, but a woman who in turn is engaged in a rescue mission to find her own true lover. It’s complicated! But a delicious aria.
3/3
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Opera often exaggerates situations to heighten our emotions and thoughts about particular ideas and emotions and this one is no exception.

The opera contains the impressive aria for soprano, Tornami a vagheggiar - just listen to the vocal acrobatics involved here! 2/3

April 16th 1735 saw the premiere of Handel’s opera Alcina at London’s Covent Garden. There’s a lot of sorcery involved. Lonely, unhappy people, innocents being tricked into falling in love, women dressed as men, daring rescue missions from faithful lovers. 1/3

I read another of his: What to listen for in music and enjoyed that.

Bargain, it seems!!

I hope you didn’t pay £90 for it which is how it’s listed on Amazon 😱

W.A. Mozart: String Quintet in G minor, K.516 from Concert 22nd August 2015 YouTube video by Michel Camille

The first movement is a marvel of somber intensity. The final movement initially continues the sorrow of the third but throws it off in favour of sunshine.

Happy Wednesday everyone. ☀️
3/3
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W.A. Mozart: String Quintet in G minor, K.516 from Concert 22nd August 2015 YouTube video by Michel Camille

If you’re in a melancholy mood, skip to the third movement which starts at 16’23. But ideally, listen to the whole piece because of course, it’s a journey of changing moods and colours. 2/3

I’ve shared quite a bit of orchestral music recently, so today I’m paring it down to the beautiful G minor string quintet by Mozart.

Two violins, two violas and a cello - together producing a warm sound that shimmers in the lighter moments, and resounds deeply for the dramatic. 1/3