The Oddest Bach: Wilhelm Friedemann
Evening Music | May 6, 2010
Wilhelm Friedemann, J. S. Bach’s oldest son, was also the oddest. The Overture in G Minor was once catalogued as Bach’s own, but its bizarre characteristics point to W. F.
The weird chromaticism, strange homophonic textures, and angularity of line of the W. F. Bach Overture (or suite) demonstrate why music composed after the height of the Baroque era and before the Classical period is so hard to pinpoint, so fascinating, and so delightful. Never mind who wrote it; it’s a joy to listen to as performed by Bernard Labadie and Les Violons du Roy.
Upon hearing how the first movement of Paganini’s Violin Concerto No. 1 unfolds in such a deliciously cantabile manner, it’s easy to understand why Rossini said that if Paganini (born this day in 1782) were an opera composer, he would have “knocked out all of us.” And violinist Ilya Gringlolts’ playing of the concerto will knock your socks off!
Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E Minor is a perennial favorite of cellists and audiences alike. This evening we enjoy Steven Isserlis in the starring role, with Richard Hickox conducting the London Symphony Orchestra. Donizetti, perhaps best known for his operas, also wrote a good many (20!) string quartets. No. 9 in D Minor has been expanded to accommodate the twenty strings of the Orchestre d’Auvergne by its conductor, Jean Jacques Kantorow.
The weird chromaticism, strange homophonic textures, and angularity of line of the W. F. Bach Overture (or suite) demonstrate why music composed after the height of the Baroque era and before the Classical period is so hard to pinpoint, so fascinating, and so delightful. Never mind who wrote it; it’s a joy to listen to as performed by Bernard Labadie and Les Violons du Roy.
Upon hearing how the first movement of Paganini’s Violin Concerto No. 1 unfolds in such a deliciously cantabile manner, it’s easy to understand why Rossini said that if Paganini (born this day in 1782) were an opera composer, he would have “knocked out all of us.” And violinist Ilya Gringlolts’ playing of the concerto will knock your socks off!
Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E Minor is a perennial favorite of cellists and audiences alike. This evening we enjoy Steven Isserlis in the starring role, with Richard Hickox conducting the London Symphony Orchestra. Donizetti, perhaps best known for his operas, also wrote a good many (20!) string quartets. No. 9 in D Minor has been expanded to accommodate the twenty strings of the Orchestre d’Auvergne by its conductor, Jean Jacques Kantorow.
