In Paris this week for a concert by the visiting Munich Chamber Orchestra with pianist Alexandre Tharaud in music of Bach, Mozart and Haydn. The concert was recorded by Radio France on November 23, 2009 at the celebrated Theatre des Champs-Elysees.
One of the main reasons I do these mid-week concerts is really to give you some idea of the great wealth of music performed live that's to be had throughout the world that's normally not available here in the U.S. - why that is, is a complete mystery to me. It could very well be the sheer magnitude of what's available throughout Europe on a daily basis is truly daunting. From Radio France Musique alone there are three daily concerts, just like this one. Some live and some recorded for broadcast earlier. All of them feature an amazing array of musicians and a staggering amount of repertoire. The BBC's Classical and Jazz channel Radio 3 features, not only at least two major concerts a day, but also features concert recordings from all over the world on their all-night program Through The Night. Put those together with the daily offerings from Spanish Radio, Italian Radio, Swedish Radio, German Radio and you get some idea of what is an embarrassment of riches for people who like Classical music in a live concert setting. If the concerts I'm putting on each Wednesday are in any way interesting to you, and they spark your curiosity about what else is out there, I urge you to go exploring. It's an amazing and free education for a form of music you may not be familiar with and it's a non-stop blast for those of you who are.

But beyond all that, it's a nice change of pace for what a lot of us are sadly used to.

Here's the rundown of this week's concert - it's broken up into two players because it's a long concert. But a really good one and it's perfect Anti-Road Rage Wednesday music.

Théâtre des Champs-Elysées : Mozart, Haydn, Bach

Part 1 (top player)Wolfgang-Amadeus Mozart
Divertimento N°1 en Ré majeur K.136

Joseph Haydn
Symphonie N°45 en Fa dièse mineur, Les Adieux

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Divertimento N°3 en Fa majeur K.138

Part 2 (bottom player) Jean-Sébastien Bach
Concerto en Ré mineur Bwv.596 d’après Vivaldi, Sicilienne
Concerto en Fa mineur Bwv.1056
Concerto en Si mineur Bwv.979 d’après Torelli, Andante*
Concerto en Ré mineur Bwv.1052

Alexandre Tharaud, Piano & transcripteur*
Orchestre de Chambre de Munich
Daniel Giglberger, Violon & direction
Concert donné le 23 novembre 2009. J. Roze Production

Enjoy.
and don't forget, if this appeals and you want to help keep it going . . .
[gordon-donate]