63. A mixture of old and modern.

SPEAKER_00 0:15

Do you think that classical music is not for you and you don't know where to start? Or maybe you're a fan already and would welcome a fresh approach. You've come to the right place. Perfect pitch is for everyone. Beginners or experts, whatever your age. Lend Nick Healy Hutchinson your ears for his weekly dose of classical music that will enrich your life.

SPEAKER_01 0:41

After more than 60 episodes, I'm conscious that Alice's delta introduction needs revising and updating. For those of you who are kind enough to irregular this. So we're working on that. Many of you have commented on her melliferous voice, so I promise you it's not going away. Music and information is so easily accessible these days that it's sometimes easy to forget that back in the late 18th century, the only way you could get to listen to the likes of Beethoven and Mozart was to actually turn up at the concert. So maybe we should have a little sample of how it might have sounded. If you had been around for its first performance when Mozart himself was a soloist, you would have heard a very different instrument, the one we are used to hearing today. An instrument then called the Forte Piano. Let's listen to the first movement, the Allegro, here played by Robert Levin, accompanied by Christopher Hogwood and the Academy of Ancient Music, and about halfway through, I'll do my best to conclude the movement by attempting to seamlessly morph a more modern recording with Mallory Pariah and the English Chamber Orchestra. And I'm sure you'll agree with me that the softer impact which the hammers make on the piano strings are considerably easier on the ear. A few weeks ago I spoke about how Handel had written some 60 operas and 30 oratorios. His most famous oratorio is probably Samson, first performed in 1743. And in it, the Aria Let the Bright Seraphim is a piece which is often sung as a standalone number. Many of you will recognise it as being sung at the wedding of Diana Spencer and the then Prince Charles in 1981. The Aria is about an Israelite woman who is governing the heavens to celebrate Hampton's victory over the Philistines. This recording of Let the Bright Terraform features Kathleen Battle with winter marked palettes on the trumpet adding an extra flair. They are joined by the Orchestra of St. Luke's conducted by John Nelson. She had endured a particularly virulent strain of multiple sclerosis, a conditioner I have carried for some 20 years. It's a pretty miserable thing, there's no denying that. But at the same time, there are moments of real humor and fun which are furniture as a direct consequence of it. Nigel Bartram, who also has M, has spoken to plenty of others to hear their amusing anecdotes, and has collated these stories in his book called Emma's A Funny Thing. Well, sometimes. Exactly what they say about laughter being the best medicine. So if you want to get an alternative insight into this condition and know that all the proceeds go to Emmett Charities, the book is available in audio format or paperback on Amazon. To commemorate this anniversary, I want to return to Beethoven's third cello sonata, the first movement of which we heard in a recent podcast, and to its last movement. It opens with a slow introduction before launching into a boisterous finish with both cards working their socks off. Once again, it's Daniel Darren Baum with his wife. Let's finish today's podcast with a boisterous mood by moving forward about a hundred years to Jean Sibelius and one of his most famous and loved works. It's the Corelia Suite and the Ala Marcia in the style of a march. It's a great tune and a fabulous pick me up. It's played here by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Charles McCarras.

SPEAKER_00 34:36

And you can subscribe to this podcast by clicking on the link below.