Wednesday, March 21

It's Bach's birthday (he's a fit 322). Today is also the start of spring and, in related news, the Persian New Year. The Humoresque/Humorestless pair is just in there for fun.

11 AM

  • Bach: Cantata No. 34, "O Ewiges Feuer, O Urpsprung der Liebe." Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, soloists, Gardiner (SDG 121)
  • Thuille: Sextet for Piano and Winds. Otaki, Warsaw Wind Quintet (independent)
  • Mussorgsky: Khovanshchina: Dance of the Persian Slaves. Minnesota Orch, Oue (Reference 71)
  • Schumann/Liszt: Fruhlingsnacht. Frederic Chiu (Harmonia Mundi 3957054)
12 N
  • Adams: Short Ride in a Fast Machine. Bournemouth Sym, Alsop (Naxos 559031)
  • Bach: Keyboard Partita No. 3 in A minor. Cedric Tiberghien (Harmonia Mundi 901869)
  • Guedron: "When the faithless one"; "Although cruel suffering." Boston Camerata, Cohen (Erato 3984-21656)
  • Copland: Appalachian Spring. Nashville Chamber Orch, Gambill (Naxos 559069)
1 PM
  • Dvorak: Humoresque, Op. 101/7. Vengerov, Virtuosi, Papian (EMI 57164)
  • Confrey: Humorestless. Richard Dowling (Klavier 11164)
  • Purcell: Distressed Innocence or The Princess of Persia: Overture; Hornpipe. Chatham Baroque (Dorian 90309)
  • Danielpour: In the Arms of the Beloved, double concerto inspired by Rumi. Laredo, Robinson, Iris Chamber Orch, Stern (Arabesque 6767)
  • Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 6. Concerto Italiano, Alessandrini (Naive 30412)
A blogger's dilemma: To provide exhaustive recording details? Or keep info to a compact minimum? I'll keep toying with the formats. Write middaymusic@gpb.org and let me know what would be most useful to you.

As for concerts: The Vega String Quartet concludes its six-concert Bach-'n'-Bartok cycle at Emory's Schwartz Center this Friday. Clayton State pianist Michiko Otaki and the Czech Graffe Quartet play Schumann, Mozart and Smetana Saturday in Spivey Hall. The Augusta Choral Society offers Mozart's Coronation Mass, Saturday at the Sacred Heart Cultural Center. On the other side of the state, the LaGrange Symphony plays its Annual Pops Concert, also Saturday. And there's gobs happening at the Savannah Music Festival right now; I mentioned Boston Camerata, the marital-musical duo of David Finckel and Wu Han, and Bach's St. Matthew Passion in particular.

Happy spring!

Posted by Sarah Zaslaw at 11:53 AM