String CD Project
CD No. 1
1) Title of the CD: Violinissimo
2) Composer/s: Gioachino Rossini
3) Performing artist/s: Mengla Huang, violin
Siheng Song, piano
4) Briefly discuss one major work on the CD and give your opinion of the work and the performance thereof on this particular CD
The “Theme From Rossini’s ‘Mose in Egitto’” is based on the opera, “Mose in Egitto”, which is a love theme, in which the Pharaoh’s son Amenophis (tenor) plans to prevent their departure, since he loves the Israelite Anaïs (soprano). The opera opens with a darkened stage, as the plague of darkness is dispelled by Moses’ prayer, and it ends with the parting of the Red Sea and the drowning of Pharaoh’s host. I like how it starts off peacefully because it really calms the audience. Then, the notes get really high, transitioning into a new melody. After a few more bars of calmness, it suddenly dives into an energetic “movement”. It brushes off the dreamy picture and gives the audience a mysterious kind of feeling. There’s lots of staccato in this section, which makes it sound jumpy and cheerful. The tempo speeds up, hooking the audience. Occasionally, there’s a few ritardandos. The quick bowing with the help of the piano makes you tap your feet to the beat. The violinist also uses harmonics, and slides her finger towards it to make a cool effect. I like the ending a lot because the violinist plays an arpeggio before it really ends. It’s like saying “Okay, I’m about to finish so give me your full attention.” This performing artist really exaggerates everything. ”Music is what feelings sound like.” (Author Unknown) Ever since I heard this piece, I agree.
CD No. 2
1) Title of the CD: Cello Concerto in B minor OP.104
2) Composer/s: Antonin Dvorak
3) Performing artist/s: Janos Tarker – cello soloist – Berliner Philharmoniker Conductor – Herbert Von Karajan
4) Briefly discuss one major work on the CD and give your opinion of the work and the performance thereof on this particular CD
Antonin Dvorak (September 8, 1841 – May 1, 1904) was a composer in the romantic period. Antonin Dvorak’s works included operas, symphonies, choral, and chamber music as well. One of his most famous pieces is the Cello Concerto in b minor. Dvorak was born in Prague, and he spent most of his lifetime there. His father was a butcher, innkeeper, and a professional zither player.Therefore, Dvorak’s parents recognized his wonderful talent in music very early. So, at age of 6, Dvorak started to get music lessons at the village organ school. Though he only studied in Prague’s only Organ school, he gradually became a successful violin and viola player. At about 1873, Dvorak was quite well recognized as a great composer.
This cello concerto is a very well known concerto, so it’s performed and recorded much more then any other cello concertos composed. This piece is scored for a full romantic orchestra containing two flutes (second doubling piccolo), two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, three horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle (last movement only), and strings. The romantic orchestra gives a full sound as a base, and a supporting harmony to the soloist.
In the first movement (allegro) of this concerto, the orchestra always does the grand entrance before the soloist, and then the soloist repeats the melody in different beats and formations.In the second movement (adagio), there were more solos for the cello, and less following. Though, the orchestra always started out the piece with a main melody that the cellist started to follow when starting the piece. Over all in this movement, it was played very sorrowfully and beautiful but still with sudden dramatic points.The third movement (Allegro moderato) of course started out with the orchestras announcing the main melody, then the cellist repeated the melody again. Through out the rest of the piece, the soloist introduced little short main melodies then the orchestra played supporting harmonies for him. In the middle of the piece, the main melody kept on appearing as the soloist announced a new melody. Over all, this movement was very fast and confusing, but had a great harmony of the cellist’s trills and complicated bow techniques with the orchestra’s supporting melodies.
This piece always started out with a certain melody, that we could hear all through out the piece. The cellist had a long moment of solo at some point, and then started to follow the melody of the orchestra again. I think there was a good mixture of following and leading between the soloist and the orchestra through out this piece, which made this concerto confusing and interesting, but had very stable harmony, as well.
CD No. 3
1) Title of the CD.jpg)
: Mozart- EMI Classics
2) Composer/s: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
3) Performing artist/s: Yehudi Menuhin, violin Rudolf Barshal, viola
Bath Festival Chamber Orchestra
4) Briefly discuss one major work on the CD and give your opinion of the work and the performance thereof on this particular CD
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Violon Concert No. 1 in b Flat Major K. 207 has a common three movement structure. The movements are:
- Allegro Moderato
- Adagio
- Presto
The concerto is full of brilliant passagework with running sixteenth notes and is generally characterized by high spirits. Allegro Moderato starts off energetically, with lots of quick, sharp notes that would cheer anybody up. Mozart pieces are always like that- happy, quick, and energetic. Occasionally, there are a few depressing parts, but it would always end up happy. The precise articulation plays an important role in this concerto. Adagio starts off relatively calm, slowing down the tempo of the previous movement. The dynamics in this movement makes sure no one falls asleep. I like the orchestra in the background in this movement because you can really hear them. In the Allegro Moderato movement the soloist had all of the attention, and you could barely here the orchestra. Presto is the most cheerful sounding of all. It makes you think of bright blue skies, beaches, and the sun. The color of the movement is like bright yellow. It’s a little like Allegro Moderato, but I think Allegro Moderato is more intense, whereas Presto is more relaxed but ecstatic and bliss at the same time. Overall, I think I like the last movement, Presto, the best because I like happy, relaxed music. It makes you feel the same way, too.
CD No. 4
1) Title of the CD: Sinfonia Concertant, K.364
2) Composer/s: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
3) Performing artist/s: David Oistrach – Violin Rudolf Barshai – Viola and Moscow Chamber Orchestra
4) Briefly discuss one major work on the CD and give your opinion of the work and the performance thereof on this particular CD
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a composer back in the classical era. He composed over 600 works and many of them were symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music. His musical talents were found at very young age. Already quite skillful at the keyboard and the violin, Mozart started to compose at five. Sinfonia Concertante in E flat major, K.364 is one of the best concertos/symphonies that Mozart composed.Mozart always had interest in composing a concerto for 2 or more instruments. It’s all a very fine result of Mozart’s interest and passion to compose something different. Mozart was very good at the violin, but sometimes he played in the viola parts in chamber orchestras. Sinfonia Concertnate is scored in three movements for solo violin, solo viola, two oboes, two horns, and strings. Not only Mozart used viola as a solo, he split the viola part in two, because he wanted more of the violas deep but high tune, used as a base and a melody. Though, the solo viola part is written in D major instead of E flat major, and the instrument was tuned a semitone sharper (scordatura technique) to give it a more brilliant tone. This piece let me realize another good harmony of 3 different instruments. It was like discovering a whole new world of music, listening to the deep middle low voice of the viola and another differently tuned viola playing the melodies and the base back and forth.
CD No. 5
1) Title of the CD: The Best of Strauss (Disc 2)
2) Composer/s: Johann Strauss II and his brother, Josef
3) Performing artist/s: Artists within Universal Music
4) Briefly discuss one major work on the CD and give your opinion of the work and the performance thereof on this particular CD
The Pizzicato Polka was composed in the post romantic period (1870-1909). Strauss and his brother composed this piece in 1869-70 for one of Strauss’s visits to Russia. The genre is polka. The origins of this piece are unknown. Some of the characteristics appear around 1800. It was certain that it first appeared in Prague in 1837, and then found its way to Vienna. It later became quite popular because Strauss included it on his tours. This was originally scored for plucked strings and glockenspiel, but later was scored for the orchestra.
The dynamics used in this piece are expressed very clearly by Universal Music. After the Coda, the dynamics seemed to be more extreme and the piece was slightly faster. The glockenspiel was played so that it accented it the crescendos, third melody, and introduction. First, the pizzicato in the introduction was piano and then there was a crescendo to forte and then decrescendo to piano. The first melody was generally crescendos and decrescendos from Mezzo Forte or piano to Forte and then back again. The Second melody was basically piano and crescendo to Mezzo Forte. The third melody was Mezzo Forte accented with horns and glockenspiel. The fourth melody was Forte then piano and then back again. The ending was Fortissimo, decrescendo to Mezzo Forte, and then forte again. After that, it was piano and then ended in Fortissimo.
