Classical music and stuff on the YouTube

[windhoek]

There's a thread in off-topic for interesting YouTube content, but it's in off-topic and, er, it's in off-topic. So I thought we should have our own YouTube thread for classical music and stuff over here in the classical part of pink fish. Here's a starter for 10:

I recently came across this excellent documentary on Shostakovich 5 by Michail Tilson Thomas. The symphony is performed in full after the documentary but I'll save that for another time (apparently, you can buy it on DVD and blu ray - link). Fwiw, the performance is from the 2007 Proms and MTT conducts the Sanfrancisco SO as you'd expect. Even if you don't watch the concert, MTT does an excellent job at providing context to the symphony's origins, as well as how the finale might have sounded had Mahler scored it!

 

[Le Baron]

Bizarre that this has no replies. I actually use YT quite a lot for discovery or just casual listening.

One of my favourite casual listening channels is Gamma1734 who uploads lots of lesser-known and unknown piano works which he plays himself. He also does a live requests stream. I got him to sight read the first movement to Ornstein's 4th piano sonata. Anyone who knows that will take their hat off to that attempt.

Here is his performance of 'Ballade' by Belgian composer Jef Tinel:

 

[windhoek]

Bizarre that this has no replies. I actually use YT quite a lot for discovery or just casual listening.

One of my favourite casual listening channels is Gamma1734 who uploads lots of lesser-known and unknown piano works which he plays himself. He also does a live requests stream. I got him to sight read the first movement to Ornstein's 4th piano sonata. Anyone who knows that will take their hat off to that attempt.

Here is his performance of 'Ballade' by Belgian composer Jef Tinel:

That's excellent, and I could easily have enjoyed it as a longer piece or even as part of a suite

 

[windhoek]

Here's another fascinating breakdown of a major piece of work: Bernstein on Das Lied von der Erde (his introduction begins at 5 minutes following some rehearsal footage).

 

[Del monaco]

Here's another fascinating breakdown of a major piece of work: Bernstein on Das Lied von der Erde (his introduction begins at 5 minutes following some rehearsal footage).

I love his early recording with King and Fischer Dieskau. A white hot performance. Perhaps not the finest, but it’s the one I return to again and again. Nice video.

 

[Le Baron]

I watched this video a few years ago. Though it's not one of them I watched it when I was ploughing through a lot of the Christopher Nupen films. Around the same time I'd recently attended a performance of Das Lied von der Erde at Utrecht concert hall and about three weeks later Kindertotenlieder programmed with Stravinsky's Petrushka. It would have been nice to have watched the film before I saw Das Lied.

I think Bernstein was a bit dismissive of Christa Ludwig at the start when she's trying to explain she can't sing cleanly under the circumstances. Saying 'no-one can hear what you're singing anyway, but they know that you're singing..' There are some good videos of Bernstein on YT though and his passion for explaining works is contagious.

 

[marshanp]

If this is a "Gems of YouTube" sort of thread...

Babadjanian: Piano Trio
played by the composer in partnership with its dedicatees - a wonderful work, deservedly popular in the ex-Soviet sphere

Nurymov: Symphony no. 2
...was going to be played by Karabits and the Bournemouth SO, until the Dreaded Lurgy struck... in the meantime this (a Soviet LP which demands a certain amount of tolerance) is the only way to hear it - and it's worth your time.

 

[TheDecameron]

I couldn’t stop watching this till the end though it was late and I told myself I would come back to it.

A pianist I deeply regret not having heard perform. Self effacing, very down to earth and a master technician. The scene where he’s telling the piano tuner exactly the type of sound he wants and where he claps his hands above the strings to hear the hall signature (then asking the venue manager where his piano will rest overnight) is fascinating.

 

[windhoek]

I couldn’t stop watching this till the end though it was late and I told myself I would come back to it.

A pianist I deeply regret not having heard perform. Self effacing, very down to earth and a master technician. The scene where he’s telling the piano tuner exactly the type of sound he wants and where he claps his hands above the strings to hear the hall signature (then asking the venue manager where his piano will rest overnight) is fascinating.

That's excellent! I've only managed to watch the first 28 minutes as I need to leave for work shortly but it's just excellent listening to someone who has unequivocal mastery of their chosen subject and can speak with passion and eloquence as well as an endearing degree of humility. Just excellent!

 

[TheDecameron]

By coincidence our tuner arrived this morning after a long Covid gap and piano in storage for a year. Remarkably in tune on arrival but away with it after only a week in central heating.
The tuner, Robert does all sorts of significant domestic pianos in central Scotland- inc Steven Orsbourne’s mum’s.

 

[windhoek]

I couldn’t stop watching this till the end though it was late and I told myself I would come back to it.

A pianist I deeply regret not having heard perform. Self effacing, very down to earth and a master technician. The scene where he’s telling the piano tuner exactly the type of sound he wants and where he claps his hands above the strings to hear the hall signature (then asking the venue manager where his piano will rest overnight) is fascinating.

I just watched the rest of the documentary there and the whole thing was truly excellent. I can only imagine how great a performance you'd get when he was playing a piano concerto with Abbado as the conductor. And it was fascinating to him strolling along some street towards the end and no-one batting an eyelid as to who he was. Indeed, I'd never heard of him before. But he sounds like a truly great human being. Grazie, grazie

 

[tones]

Some of the most interesting are the 1973 Bernstein Norton Lectures. This is the first:

 

[Elephantears]

Barbara Hannigan's amazing Lulu is on Youtube, but this is the last day (I think it's been on for a week or so). I'm watching it now.

 

[Adiel]

All masterclasses by Schiff are really good.

 

[Le Baron]

Here's a video from just a couple of hours ago. Nahre Sol, who'll be pretty familiar to classical music fans who go to YT. Here she's reinterpreting jazz standard Autumn Leaves through the styles of 10 classical composers. The Liszt and Ravel are completely on-point harmonically as is the hilarious Shostakovich. I also loved her video on sounding like Debussy.

 

[windhoek]

Here's a video from just a couple of hours ago. Nahre Sol, who'll be pretty familiar to classical music fans who go to YT. Here she's reinterpreting jazz standard Autumn Leaves through the styles of 10 classical composers. The Liszt and Ravel are completely on-point harmonically as is the hilarious Shostakovich. I also loved her video on sounding like Debussy.

I'd buy the Phillip Glass version!

 

[Le Baron]

I'd buy the Phillip Glass version!

I thought that was good and I normally don't really go for Glass's music. It's also a really good appraisal of his style. I think I underestimated him, because he clearly had an influence on particularly minimalistic film music.

 

[windhoek]

I thought that was good and I normally don't really go for Glass's music. It's also a really good appraisal of his style. I think I underestimated him, because he clearly had an influence on particularly minimalistic film music.

Yeah, Glass is an acquired taste, but in the right hands, his music is sublime:

 

[Le Baron]

Hypnotic performance in all senses.

 

[windhoek]

Come Out with some cool choreography: