Two familiar faces on the concert stage and recording studio this week, playing familiar pieces on opposite sides of the musical spectrum. The London Symphony, making a guest appearance at Paris’ Salle Pleyel for a series of concerts in June of 2011. At the podium is Bernard Haitink, longtime cornerstone of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw since the 1960s, and at the keyboard, the legendary Portuguese Pianist Maris Joaõ Pires, playing what she is acclaimed for; Mozart.
The concert, recorded by Radio France Musique on June 18, 2011 and broadcast on that date, features only two works: Beginning with Mozart’s Piano Concerto Number 27, featuring Pires. The concert concludes with Bruckner’s Symphony Number 4. The concert comes in at just over 90 minutes.
Maria Joaõ Pires has recorded considerably since the early 1970s. Many of her recordings have been critically acclaimed and Bryce Morrison of Gramophone Magazine once proclaimed her series of Chopin Nocturnes to be “the best version available” going on to call Pires “a pianist without a trace of narcissism—among the most eloquent master-musicians of our time.”
Bernard Haitink, long associated with the Amsterdam Concertegouw, had been with that orchestra since 1959 and remained its Principle conductor until 1988. During that time, he was responsible for a vast number of critically acclaimed recordings of the symphonies of Mahler and Bruckner and a wide range of others primarily for the Philips label.
Haitink has been associated with The London Symphony since around 2004. During that time he recorded the complete Brahms and Beethoven Symphony cycles for the LSO Live label.
All in all, two highly regarded and very busy performers, together in concert, in what constitutes the perfect Anti-Road Rage combination for a Wednesday.
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