Tag: classical

Pekka Kuusisto on music

After hearing him interviewed on LyricFM this afternoon, I just had to investigate this guy more. I love how he talks about music and performance, and the value of music.

Here’s this afternoon’s interview:
[audio:http://www.rte.ie/podcasts/2011/pc/pod-v-08021118min30seclyricbestpekka-pid0-1110072.mp3]

And a great video interview with Britten Sinfonia violinst Lizzie Ball where he “explains his unique outlook on music, performance and life in general.”

Interview with Pekka Kuusisto from Britten Sinfonia on Vimeo.

Both interviews are well worth spending the time listening to if you’re passionate about music – classical or not. There’s a great random impromptu hotel room fiddle session in the middle of that video above. Fantastic folk music and an absolute gem.
One little gem of advice that made me smile at the same time:
“If you’re hungry, you should play more chamber music. If your television is broken, you should play more chamber music.”

An evening with Bach

I’ve been having an evening of classical music tonight, swopping youtube links with a friend via IM. He’s thrown some wonderful suggestions my way, from this movement from Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 21, Movement III, to this beautiful alto aria from J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion:

Both are very different and well worth a listen.

J.S. Bach : B Minor Mass : John Elliot GardinerFor my part, I suggested this astonishing piece of music from Bach’s B minor Mass: [Gloria] Cum Sancto Spiritu, which is one of my favourite pieces of music ever. We started on a Bach binge, so my other two favourites are both from the St Matthew Passion, which I was lucky enough to sing as part of a choir when I was in university. These are two of my favourite parts of that work: Wir setzen uns & Erbarme dich.