Sweet dreams!

I don't know how or why, but during an evening with friends this trio popped up in my Spottify and charmed everyone. A sweet, romantic lullaby for you!

Story of an old Cossack

Taras Bulba and his two sons, Andrei and Ostap, join the Tsar troups in Ukraine and go to war against Poland. This symphony is the unfortunate tale of three deaths - Andrei in the 1st Movement, Ostap in the 2nd and Taras Bulba in the third - immersed in and surrounded by high ideals of love for the homeland, of orthodox faith and of family ties.

Taras Bulba (Janàček), RSO and Santtu-Matias Rouvali

Home sweet home :-)

Today I heard the RSO play, and as much as I enjoyed it, they woke a dormant nostalgia for my friends in Orchestra di Santa Cecilia in Rome. Just as well, when he wrote this Cello Concerto, Antonin Dvorak had been living in the U.S. for quite a while, and put his attachment to the "old continent" into music. The melodies you hear, in fact, are from popular slavic, mediterranean, russian music...but (fun fact :-) also from gospel and cotton-fields songs. Enjoy!

http://pappanoinweb.telecomitalia.com/racconti/23gennaio

Sorry, no words :-S

I might have said this already, but this is one of my favorite pieces :-) I tried to think of a few introductory lines for you, but no, sorry: this time I am just full of Music and empty of words. I don't know if a recording drags your heart beat along with its rhythms as much as a live performance, or if the fourth movement makes you just wanna jump restlessly like as if you had to get rid of the devil that took you over...but while we wait for this quartet to be scheduled in some concert-hall nearby, let's give it a try here ;-) Just make sure you don't miss the last movement, ok?

II. Intermezzo. Allegro ma non troppo. Trio. Animato. (= Intermission. Cheerful but not too much. Trio. Lively)

III. Andante con moto (="On the go with motion")

IV. Rondò alla zingarese. Presto (="Roundabout at the Gipsy way. Quickly")

"E lucevan le stelle" (=And the stars were shining)

Try to imagine the following scene: Mario Cavaradossi is a painter, and he's in love with Tosca, the protagonist of the namesake opera. Our painter is imprisoned at the heart of starry Rome, waiting for his execution to be performed. He is so full of love that his last words reflect no other regret than spoiling the chance to stay with Tosca. He concludes: "I die despairing! And never was life so dear to me, no never!". Apart from the expressiveness and melodramatic content, I just would like you to notice the conductor and to recall our embarrassing adventure within the walls of Musiikkitalo today :-P

This one you'll have fun conducting :-)

It took Beethoven the longest period in his career to ultimate the 5th Symphony. It was a turbulent time, innerly and historically (still Napoleonic wars, couple years before the Egmont). "Here is the destiny, knocking at the door", he said to interpret the first four lapidary notes. And it is a destiny that, within this very piece, he fights and wins in the name of the human reason.

II. Andante con moto (1st part)

II. Andante con moto (2nd part)

III. Allegro (1st part)

III. Allegro (2nd part) and IV. Allegro (1st part)

IV. Allegro (2nd part)

Hero against oppression

"Egmont" is a sequence of pieces written by Beethoven during Napoleonic Wars - this is the Overture (="Opening"). Napoleon had just crowned himself Emperor, and this was such an outrage to the eyes of Beethoven, that he put his disappointment into music: Count of Egmont's story exalts a nobleman who sacrificed himself by taking a valiant stand against oppression. Fun fact of this overture, it became an unofficial anthem for the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.

What you unfortunately missed tonight :-)

Mendelssohn in his late 20s was traveling Europe, and he pit-stopped in Italy. He loved the country so much that he didn't leave until 2 years later. During that time, he absorbed the extroverted Italian character, its carnival's colored insanity and its warm loving soul. I was curious to see how a Finnish orchestra would do in conveying all of this, and I must say I wasn't disappointed at all :-)

Mendelssohn Italian Symphony

Sweet Child O' Mine

I bet you never heard it like this, you rocker :-)

"To roar it all out"

Ever had a painful tangle of inextricable knots inside of your stomach? We think we're so strong, but then all of a sudden a word, a happening, our own sensibility puts us to not sleeping, hardly breathing, wishing we were a lion to roar it all out. I think Prokofiev knew this feeling very well when he wrote his Sinfonia Concertante.

Second Part

Third Part

Fourth Part

Tales from the East

"The Sultan Schariar, convinced that all women are false and faithless, vowed to put to death each of his wives after the first nuptial night. But the Sultana Sheherazade saved her life by entertaining her lord with fascinating tales for a thousand and one nights. The Sultan, consumed with curiosity, postponed from day to day the execution of his wife, and finally repudiated his bloody vow entirely", writes the composer as an introduction to this symphonic suite. I hope you enjoy its Arabian magic :-)

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Personally, today I need to laugh...

...so there you go, Igudesman & Joo: the kings of musical funniness!

Not only they are exceptional musicians, but also actors and...figure it out yourself :-)

Breathe...

Let's have a break from the troubles and sorrows of life, and lie calm in this surreal athmosphere. Nothing else to say about this Beethoven Sonata but...enjoy!!!

Part 2 (2. Scherzo. Allegretto vivace & 3. Menuetto. Moderato e grazioso)
4. Presto con fuoco (="Quick with fire")

Chaaaaaarge!!!

I believe there's no better piece to match our animated souls, my dear warriors, so make sure you listen to this masterpiece at the loudest possible volume, while you jump up and around your apartment with wild hair and your faces painted like a redskin. Why? First of all it's one of my very favourites :-) and second it brings you to places and it shows you feelings that you didn't even believe humanly possible! Warning: if somewhere in the the Second Movement you find yourself crying like a fountain, it's totally ordinary :-P

First Movement: Allegro (Second Part)
Second Movement: Andante con Moto
Second Movement: Andante con Moto (Second Part)
Third Movement: Scherzo - Allegro Molto
Fourth Movement: Presto

Smoothly going

After this long silence, here's what makes my current days (as a worker!) light, happy and smooth. Octets are real challenges for composers, as they include 8 strings, each one with an independent part. You can think of an inflamed team discussion of 8 colleagues with different skills, characters and backgrounds. Can you imagine how uneasy an ordered coordination is to achieve?


Second Part
Third part
Fourth Part