NATURAL INFORMATION SOCIETY – Moonlight Chorus / Is

Natural Information Society is a music ensemble described as “ecstatic minimalism”. The group formed in 2010 and is led by multi-instrumentalist and composer Joshua Abrams. NPR called the group a "staple" of the underground music scene in Chicago. Their performances often include the paintings of Lisa Alvarado. Wikipedia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCxoynJgi9k&list=OLAK5uy_nwQgVnmHEilPOrIew0-IarPo1vl-g6E1M According to Musicworks, Natural Information Society's performances…

ENRICO CARVSO – Una Furtiva Lacrima (1911)

“Una furtiva lacrima” had been the only really beautiful thing in Macabea's life. Wiping away her own tears she tried to sing what she heard. But her voice was as crude and out of tune as she was. When she heard it she started to cry. It was the first time she’d ever cried, she…

BIDÚ SAYÃO – Bachiana no. 5 (Cantilena)

Balduína "Bidú" de Oliveira Sayão (1902-1999) was a Brazilian opera soprano. One of Brazil's celebrated musicians, Sayão was a leading artist of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City from 1937 to 1952. Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos had an artistic partnership with the diva that lasted many years. He made a number of recordings of…

ENSEMBLE INTERCONTEMPORAIN – Steve Reich’s Jacob’s Ladder (2023)

Composer's notes: The entire text for the piece is Genesis 28:12. At first thought, a musical equivalent to a ladder might well be a scale or mode. The messengers (the Hebrew word also means "angels") ascending and descending then become notes on that scale or mode. Of course, one sometimes only goes up a few…

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma performs 100 metres underground at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN

On a recent visit to CERN, the world-famous cellist, Yo-Yo Ma played in a unique music hall – 100 metres underground in the tunnel of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). This video shows Yo-Yo Ma playing the Prélude from Bach’s Cello Suite No. 6 in D Major. Yo-Yo Ma is an American cellist. Born and…

VICTORIA DE LOS ÁNGELES – Songs of Andalusia: Middle Ages and Renaissance (1967)

Victoria de los Ángeles López García (1923–2005) was a Catalan Spanish operatic lyric soprano and recitalist whose career began after the Second World War and reached its height in the years from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s. She was born Victoria de los Ángeles López García in the porter's lodge of the University of Barcelona,…

JORDI SAVALL & LE CONCERT DES NATIONS – Les Fêtes Royales in Baroque Versailles (2022)

Jordi Savall (born 1 August 1941) is a Spanish conductor, composer and viol player. He has been one of the major figures in the field of Western early music since the 1970s, largely responsible for popularizing the viol family of instruments (notably the viola da gamba) in contemporary performance and recording. As a historian of…

ANNA VON HAUSSWOLFF – Dolore di Orsini (2020)

Following the release of her acclaimed album, All Thoughts Fly (2020), through Southern Lord in September, Swedish composer ANNA VON HAUSSWOLFF presents the new video for the track “Dolore di Orsini.” Anna von Hausswolff explains that "’Dolore di Orsini’ is a song about profound sadness and finding freedom in grief. It’s inspired by the idea…

VÍKINGUR ÓLAFSSON – Bach’s Goldberg Variations | Live from Seoul, South Korea (2023)

The ideal: to be able to repeat oneself, like. . . Bach. CIORAN Víkingur Ólafsson's new recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations is without doubt one of the most eagerly anticipated releases of 2023: a long-awaited follow-up to his award-winning 2018 Bach album and a project that fullfils a long-held ambition for the Icelandic pianist. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQPUvQVXw58 As part…

CONSTANTINOPLE – Bach in dialogue with poems of Omar Khayyam (fvll concert)

Even if more than 600 years separates the life of John-Sebastien Bach (1685 -1750) and Omar Khayam (1048 -1131), these two genius were made to meet each other. Their visions of the world, as a perfect match of mathematics mastery and a super high level of spirituality, bring these two men in a delightful dialogue…