canariasesmusica

This is probably my favorite set of Beethoven's Violin Sonatas along with Menuhin/Kempff. Undervalued in favor of his trios and string quartets, the sonatas for violin and piano reflect Beethoven's compositional transition from classicism to romanticism. These works are not just accompaniments, it is a conversation between two powerful voices. The early ones, Opus 12, show influences from Mozart but we have the first innovative structures and harmonic progressions. His middle sonatas are a more profound dialogue between both instruments in terms of tonality, rhythm and form. The late ones, Opus 96, anticipates de romantic era and demands great technical skills.  If you want this recording send me an email to canariasesmusica@gmail.com and I will send you the link.

Chinese soprano Ying Huang studied at the Shangai Conservatory of Music winning the second prize at the Concours International de Chant de Paris and came to international attention when she sang the tittle role in Frederic Mitterand's film Madama Butterfly in 1994. Her success on the film led to Conlon to invite her to perform in several concerts with the Kölner Philharmonie and to her operatic debut as Nanetta in Verdi's Falstaff in Köln in 1996. It is a pleasure to listen to such beautiful voice. Enjoy it. If you want this recording send me an email to canariasesmusica@gmail.com and I will send you the link.

Leontina Vaduva was born in the Romanian city of Rosiile. She attended the Bucharest Conservatory where she studied with Ileana Cotrubas, debuting the role of Manon with the Toulouse Opera in 1987. She received the Lawrence Olivier Opera Award for her marvelous performance of Juliette in Gounod's Romeo et Juliette at Covent Garden in 1994. Her discography includes Rigoletto, Les contes d'Hoffmann and La Bohème. Highly recommended Puccini's La Bohème conducted by Antonio Pappano for EMI and Gounod's Romeo et Juliette conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras on DVD for Pioneer.  If you want this recording send me an email to canariasesmusica@gmail.com and I will send you the link.

Back in 1994 stage director Frederic Mitterand decided to film Puccini's Butterfly. The result was an extraordinary movie that I highly recommend to see. In fact it won a Cesar Award for the best production design. I remember to read how exhausted was the casting to select the perfect Cio-Cio-San but when the 27 Chinese soprano Ying Huang appeared everything was clear: her light, silvery lyric voice could never meet the role's demands on stage, but on film it's lovely, and with her delicate girlish beauty and sincere expression she offers and ideal characterization, understated and reserved yet heartfelt and tender. Maybe you will prefer other sets more "adequate": my favorite are both by Karajan (Callas and Freni) and Barbirolli, but I have to add two recordings sang in German (unfortunately just highlights) one with Anneliese Rothenberger and Nicolai Gedda and other one with Pilar Lorengar and Fritz Wunderlich, the first one conducted by Giuseppe Patanè and the ...

I have to confess I love Elgar's music, and his violin concerto in B minor is one of the most difficult in the violin repertoire. It was composed for Fritz Kreisler who performed its premiere in London in 1910 with the own Elgar conducting. Elgar's music was considered for many years out of fashion but fortunately it was at the end of the last century that it was restored to the general repertoire and actually every single violinist has recorded this beautiful concerto. The Japanese violinist Kyoko Takezawa started his studies following the Suzuki method program. In 1989 she graduated at Juilliard. She played a Stradivarius loaned by the Nippon Music Foundation until it was sold by 3.5 million $ at auction in 2006.  She possesses not merely a terrific technique but also the right temperament for Elgar. On the one hand she is not afraid of letting her imagination run away with her, and is well aware that Elgar includes virtuoso passagework for musical as well as technical reason...

Werther is probably the opera by Jules Massenet that I like the most. From George Thill to Matthew Polenzani (the most recent recording) every tenor wants to sing their own portrait of the young man created by Goethe. Alfredo Kraus has been always my top choice. His studio recording with Tatiana Troyanos conducted by Michel Plasson has been celebrated since then. Recently I have discovered this amazing set conducted by Jésus Etcheverry with a magnificent cast leaded by the excellent Australian tenor Albert Lance. Complete the cast the great Rita Gorr as Charlotte, the exquisite Mady Mesplé as Sophie and Gabriel Bacquier as Albert. The recording took place in Paris at the Salle Wagram during June of 1964. This is my top choice of this beautiful opera. Enjoy it! If you want this recording send me an email to canariasesmusica@gmail.com and I will send you the link.

Noel was born in Melbourne on the 20th of Novembre, 1922. He entered the Melbourne Conservatory at the age of 7. A year later he visited Wilhelm Backhaus thanks to a fund that was created to help him to study in Europe where he based in London and later admitted to Artur Schnabel's masterclasses in Italy. His debut was on the 31th of March of 1940 performing Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto under Sir Thomas Beecham who described him as "the best talent I've discovered in the British Empire for years". He was an exceptional interpreter of 20th century music including Bartok, Stravinsky, Shostakovich, Busoni and Prokofiev. He used to collaborate with Bliss and Britten: Bliss dedicated his Piano Sonata to him and he played the premiered revised version of Britten's Piano Concerto with the composer conducting at the Cheltenham Festival on the 2nd of July of 1946. In late 1953 his partner, William Fredrick, had complains about stomach pains, but nobody took it seri...

It is always a pleasure to listen to Jennifer Larmore, an exquisite singer with I had the privilege to work many years ago. She already recorded L'italiana in Algeri for Teldec under Jesús López-Cobos and you can enjoy her live on DVD conducted by Bruno Campanella. In this occasion the conductor is Brad Cohen who leads the forces of the Philharmonia Orchestra for Chandos with Jennifer Larmore as Isabella, Alastair Miles as Mustafà, Barry Banks as Lindoro and Alan Opie as Taddeo. To the purists: it is sang in English which does not bother me at all. For the rest: enjoy it!. If you want this recording send me an email to canariasesmusica@gmail.com and I will send you the link.

Estonian cellist Marcel Johannes Kits is one of the most promising young cellists of his generation, having won the 3rd prize at the Queen Elisabeth Cello Competition and 1st prize at the George Enescu competition in Romania. His most recent concerto highlights are a tour in Belgium with the Belgian National Orchestra under conductor Eivind Aadland (Schumann concerto), tour in Estonia and South Korea with the Estonian Festival Orchestra under conductor Paavo Järvi (Brahms Double concerto), Elgar concerto with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra under Antoni Wit and Haydn concert in C with Glasperlenspiel Sinfonietta under Neeme Järvi. He has performed as soloist with many orchestras such as the Brussels Philharmonic, Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Kymi Sinfonietta, Jyväskylä Sinfonia, Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie, Tallinn Cha...

Born in Szeged, Ilona Tokody began her music education in her home town with Valéria Berdál before enrolling at Budapest's Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music, where she was taught by Dr. Jenő Sipos. She won the Kodály Singing Competition in 1972 and the Erkel Singing Competition in 1976. In that same year, she joined the Opera as a contracted member. As a young artist on the cusp of her career, her initial debuts in works by contemporary Hungarian composers were highly acclaimed. She has collaborated with numerous great directors – including Franco Zeffirelli, Otto Schenk and Götz Friedrich – and conductors, such as Claudio Abbado, Giuseppe Sinopoli and Giuseppe Patané. Over the course of her career, she has primarily sung the leading roles in Italian and French operas, but she has also been engaged for oratorios and for song and aria recitals. Her talent was also quickly noticed abroad. In 1979, her Wiener Staatsoper debut as Mimì in  La bohème  was such a triumph that she then w...