Cello moments (Dec 1, 2023)
Music for the holidays
Happy holidays to you and your family! Join us for festive music for the joyous season! First up in Paris is Corelli's "Christmas Concerto" featuring Sharon Roffman and Cécile Agator on violins, alongside Nadine Pierre on cello, with conductor Rinaldo Alessandrini and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. Next stop is The Greene Space in New York for "Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah" at a 2019 WQXR holiday concert played by cellist Julian Schwarz and pianist Marika Bournaki. And finally to Berlin rounding off the celebration is a rendition of "Jingle Bells" by the 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic!
Cello moments (Nov 3, 2023)
Music of sorrow and hope
Shocked and appalled by the October 7 terrorist attacks and deeply saddened by the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, join us for music of sorrow and hope with some of the most beautiful melodies starting with Ravel's "Kaddish" performed by cellist Pieter Wispelwey and the Amsterdam Sinfonietta, followed by Bloch's "Prayer" played by our 11th Listeners' Choice Award nominee Cosimo Carovani and Orchestra Milano Classica under the baton of Michele Brescia, and finally Offenbach's elegy "Les larmes de Jacqueline" performed by cellist Camille Thomas with Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine and conductor Diego Matheuz.
Photo: The 9/11 Memorial in autumn.
Cello moments (Oct 3, 2023)
Pablo Casals 50th anniversary commemoration
For the 50th anniversary commemoration of Pablo Casals (29 December 1876 – 22 October 1973), let's watch three videos in celebration of his legacy and his music. First, presented by the United Nations Film Board is a historic film featuring Casals performing "Song of the Birds" in 1958 in New York at the UN Headquarters with pianist Mieczysław Horszowski. Next is Casals' "Sant Martí del Canigó" played in 2016 in Wrocław by our 10th Listeners' Choice Award nominee Jakob Kullberg with the International Cello Academy Orchestra. And finally is Casals' five pieces for cello and piano—Pastoral, Rêverie, Full d'àlbum, Romanza, Poème—performed by Lluís Claret and Claire-Chung Lim in 2020 in Bloomington, IN.
Photo of Pablo Casals © Fundació Pau Casals.
Cello moments (Sep 5, 2023)
Moon legends from Bohemia to America
As we look forward to the beginning of fall and the most beautiful and longest full moon of the year (Sep 28–30), join us for a special Harvest Moon celebration with moon myths and legends from Bohemia to America! First up is Dvořák's "Song to the Moon" from his opera "Rusalka" performed by cellist Edgar Moreau and pianist Jérémie Moreau in 2020. Next is Vakhtang Kakhidze's "Moon Dances" (I. Blues – II. Valse – III. Scherzo – IV. Rondo) played by cellist Zurab Shamugia and the Tbilisi Symphony Orchestra under the baton of the composer in 2009. And finally is "MoonStrike" by Chickasaw composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate, featuring moon legends from three American Indian tribes, premiered by Apollo Chamber Players alongside narrator and former NASA astronaut John Herrington in 2019.
Image: "The Harvest Moon" by Samuel Palmer, circa 1833.
