Music! Classical Music!

Music is a magic. I love classical music, especially compositions by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and Chopin. I tried to expand my taste, but not yet sucessfully. Perhaps that will happen naturally some day in future. By the way, I think my taste of scientific work is very similar to my musical taste.

I started to learn playing the piano since primary school, and the violin since high school. Recently I also found recorder a beautiful instrument! (the figure below is from Yamaha’s website)

Below, I list some recordings I was listening recently and love so much. I hope my readers who come across this page will resonate. I will update this list regularly.

Arrau’s beethoven sonata. So convincing! Somehow I feel there is a similarity between this one and Mozart’s A minor sonata.

Wow! This is amazing! Mozart string quartets by Juilliard SQ. The phrasing, tone, colour, rythms, and harmony, everything is performed so convincing and so much like Mozart speaking to me!

Finally, I started to listen to Brahms, as I found this performance by master Schiff and a light and transparent orchestra.

Chopin, Mozart, and Schubert, played by the legend and one of my favourite pianists, Fou Ts’ong(傅聪)!! Several years ago, I was lucky enough to attend his concert in Beijing, where I heard Schubert’s D.894 for the first time and started to love Schubert’s sonata.

Mozart’s symphony No.33, played by Josef Krips and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Netherlands). This is one of my favourite symphony of Mozart, for its liveliness and loveliness! All the four movements are quite interesting. After all, music is not just sound; it is the sound from Muse!

Bach played by Glenn Gould. I also just watched a documentary about Gould, which is so inspiring and encouraging.

Mozart’s piano concerto played by Maurizio Pollini, with Karl Bohm and the Wiener Philharmoniker. I bought a CD of this performance in Japan ten years ago. I’m surprised I can find its video on youtube!

Bach played by András Schiff.

Bach played by a brilliant Chinese pianist, Yuan Sheng (盛原, once studied with Rosalyn Tureck in the US).

Beethoven piano concerto (“Emperor”, No. 5) played by Glenn Gould, Leopold Stokowski, and the American Symphony Orchestra. I first listened to this recording in junior high school, and (fortunately or unfortunately) it became my stereotype of this concerto.

Schubert piano sonata (D.960) played by Sviatoslav Richter.