Dear Music Lovers and Supporters, This week’s musical offering is the 4th Movement or Allegretto grazioso—Un poco più presto of the Piano Concerto No. 2 (1881) by Johannes Brahms. The recording is from a concert by the BSO in May 2019 and is on YouTube: BSO plays Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2, 4th Mvt. The piano soloist is Nadia Azzi, with support of the Prodigy Project. About the music, Maestro Fred Devyatkin writes, “Don’t let the carefree atmosphere of this morsel conflate simplicity with lack of profundity. Brahms was at the height of his powers and gave no respite...

Dear Music Lovers and Supporters, Happy Thanksgiving! This week’s musical offering is the Second Movement, or Adagio, ma non troppo, of the Cello Concerto by Antonin Dvořák. The recording is from a concert by the BSO in February 2017 and is on YouTube: BSO plays Dvorak Cello Concerto, 2nd Movement. The cello soloist is Irena Josifoska, who was 20 years old then. We heard the First Movement of the Cello Concerto earlier this year, in the newsletter of July 3. About the music, Maestro Fred Devyatkin writes, “Dvorak hesitated composing his Cello Concerto for many years. Then, upon hearing Victor...

Dear Music Lovers and Supporters, This week’s musical offering is My Fair Lady (1956). The music was composed by Frederick Loewe. The recording is from a concert by the BSO in February 2019 and is on YouTube: BSO plays My Fair Lady. About the music, Maestro Fred Devyatkin writes, “Based on the George Bernard Shaw play, Pygmalion, My Fair Lady was one huge success among several for composer Frederick Loewe and lyricist, Jay Lerner. Premiering on Broadway and in London in 1956, they won a Tony for the year’s best musical. The film adaptation was released in 1964, winning...