Aug 5, 2009
Hear two newly discovered Mozart pieces here.
Discovered compositions were played for public using Mozart’s own piano forte in Salzburg, his hometown.
[link: Spero News]
Nov 28, 2006
Don’t ask. Just read this, this (also this and this) and don’t forget to take a look at this.
I don’t even know what to say.
Nov 3, 2006
Today, we have Horace telling us why he loves Mozart's Requiem. Now, who else?
We welcome Horace to the "K. 626 club"!
Oct 14, 2006
The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir invites you to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with a performance of his final choral work, Requiem (ed. Robert Levin). Mozart’s Requiem remains one of his most popular compositions and the topic of romantic exaggeration and wild speculation.
Friday, November 3, 2006 at 8:00 p.m.
7:15 p.m. pre-concert chat with Rick Phillips
Yorkminster Park Baptist Church
- Ivars Taurins, guest conductor
- Sookhyung Park, soprano
- Anita Krause, mezzo-soprano
- Eric Shaw, tenor
- Thomas Goerz, bass-baritone
- The Festival Orchestra
The concert will also feature choruses and incidental music from two of Mozart's relatively unknown oratorios, Davidde Penitente and Thamos, König in Ägypten. The TMC welcomes guest conductor Ivars Taurins, founder and director of the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir for this performance.
Order Tickets Here.
Apr 29, 2006
Well, I think my mom is protesting by sending me this email in regard of not asking her to attend the Requiem concert last week:
Subject: Fw: Mozart’s 250th Birthday Concert in Hong Kong
Edmund,
Enjoy !
Mom.
—– Original Message —–
———————-
Sorry mom, I don’t know you are a Mozart’s fan too! (Well even now, I still don’t know if you are……)
But thanks anyway. It is good to hear what are some of Hong Kong’s favorites Mozart pieces.
Apr 25, 2006
Since 2001 release of the Complete Mozart Edition under the Philips label, no one thought another edition will make available in distant future. Surpisingly, Brilliant Classics dare to take up the task and produce another Complete Mozart Edition! And unlike the Philips’ edition, most of the pieces under the same musical category are recorded by the same group of musicians, hence interpretation are more consistent and stable.
Another good thing about this edition is the price! Arkiv is selling the whole thing for $250US for 170 CDs! That’s less than $1.5/CD! But of course, there is a catch: the featured performers are relatively less well-known than those top-guns you know of. But as far as I can tell, most of them are rising stars from the Europe Classical scene. Take for example the CCE and Nicol Matt, I think their Complete Scared Music is just as good as (if not better) than any major choir/orchestra I have heard of. Yes, their strings can never match the freshness of ASMF, but their choir is well-balanced and the words are crystal clear compare to many muddled and echo-y recordings from the well-known choir/orchestra (one complain I do have is that the soprano uses too much vibatro consider the period which the music is written).
So for those of you working in Downtown Toronto, go to HMV or Sam and listen to them. I am sure you will be pleasantly surprised by them!
Apr 23, 2006
剛從音樂會回來。時間不早了，還是明天才寫10年來再次聽音樂會的經驗。
update:
———————-
本來就沒有帶甚麼祈望，始終這是個免費音樂會，演出的也不似是正規樂團。去是因為想聽K.626，沒有其他原因。
演出可說是中規中矩。值得一讚的是Choir的女聲部，及獨唱的女高音和中音。我得別喜歡女中音那位，聲線十分圓潤，沒甚麼做作。女高音的清澈和她十分配合。
版本是Sussmayr的那個，整個演譯用了比一般快的tempo。不明的是男聲部份，是甚麼關係男聲部這麼少人，並且是安置在左面的一角，女聲部卻滿了右面和整個後排？如此缺乏男聲，Confutatis的震撼便大減。另外男聲獨唱的兩位也不是十分穩定。男高音的聲線若嫌微弱，高音區也見牽強。男底音那位其實應屬Baritone，聲線不足亦不厚。合上那兩位出色的女音實在遜色得很。
樂團部份woodwind是比較好的， strings（尤其是viola）不時出現拍子不準，常常好像聽見echo一般！Brass中規中矩，雖然偶然也有錯音。
整體來說，consider這不是一隊正規樂團，這已經相當不錯，特別奏的是Requiem，非一般曲目。合唱團比樂團出色，相信是因平日的合作性比較好。
對我來說，能聽見K.626已經夠興奮，這些缺點沒有甚麼大不了。
K.626的魔力在於你永遠不知道在Mozart腦中的安魂曲全貌是怎樣的。每次聽見現有的版本，就只會叫你慨嘆說：「可惜他活不過35歲，單聽這樣的殘本已經如此驚人，真不能想像在他腦海裡的那完整的版本是怎樣的不得了。」
Annie你的評價如何？