2/22/2013

The Spirit of Schubert - BBC Radio 3

 A collection and reflection of everything Schubert to accompany the BBC Radio 3 Spirit of Schubert season, taking in coffee and culture and everything in between.

2/21/2013

В поисках Гайдна / In Search of Haydn (2012)

 Этот фильм рассказывает о величайшем австрийском композиторе - новаторе, "Почётном Докторе музыки" Франце Йозефе Гайдне (1732 - 1809), который до сих пор остаётся в тени двух гениев: В.А.Моцарта и Л.Бетховена. Кстати, его брату Микаэлю Гайдну вообще не повезло: о нём почти совсем не вспоминают, хотя музыка его тоже красивая, интересная, лёгкая, живая и её много. Й. Гайдн имел серьёзную профессиональную подготовку, играл почти на всех духовых и струнных инструментах, клавесине, органе. Писал во всех существующих в то время жанрах и писал много. Был оригинальным, блистательным, позитивным, имел чувство юмора. Манера письма у него понятная, точная, ни одну ноту не хочется заменить другой. Его музыка слишком хороша, ничем не омрачена, в ней нет особых драматических коллизий, чего в обычной жизни, просто, не бывает. Может быть, поэтому она не столь популярна в наше время. Фильм "В поисках Гайдна" хочет ещё глубже познакомить зрителей с этим композитором, его биографией и музыкой. Он должен понравиться не только музыкантам, но и любителям музыки.

2/17/2013

Discover Music of the Romantic Era - Naxos Audiobook - 2009

Amidst a background of wars and revolution, the 19th century produced many of the world’s best-loved composers. Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin and Tchaikovsky are just some of the many familiar names whose music was shaped by the events of the period: Discover Music of the Romantic Era charts the course of music through these turbulent but exhilarating times. This light-hearted but authoritative audiobook tells the fascinating, often scandalous, life-stories of the 19th century’s greatest composers.

Life and Works: TCHAIKOVSKY - Naxos Audiobook - 2002

Tchaikovsky is one of the most popular composers of all time. His melodies are known to many people who may never have heard his name. They crop up on mobile telephones, alarm clocks and answering machines as often as on records and concert programmes. Like his music, the man himself was widely loved, but his inner life was fraught with sufferings, confusions and a deep vein of self-doubt. The drama of his emotional life is vividly reflected in his music, letters and diaries, all of which play a major part in this intimate portrait-in-sound.

Life and Works: BRAHMS - Naxos Audiobook - 2002

Brahms is one of the best-loved yet most controversial of all the Romantics. Almost uniquely, his works have never suffered the slightest period of eclipse. Profoundly emotional yet governed by an iron discipline, the music, like the man, is a fascinating, entertaining, often deeply moving blend of opposites. He had a gift for friendship and a capacity for love far beyond the ordinary, yet no man could be ruder or more hurtful. Though humble, he was consumed by a sense of destiny, and his inner life, coloured by his adoration and fear of women, found expression in some of the greatest music ever written.