Dear Music Lovers and Supporters, This week’s musical offering is the 2nd Movement, or Romanze, of the Piano Concerto No. 1, composed by Frédéric Chopin (1830). The recording is from a concert by the BSO in May 2017 and is on YouTube: BSO plays the Chopin Piano Concerto No 1, Romanze. The piano soloist is Nadia Azzi. About the music, Maestro Fred Devyatkin writes, “Chopin’s masterwork, the 1st Piano Concerto, 2nd Movement. But for reserving the overwhelming bulk of his compositions exclusively for the piano, the Pole turned Frenchman would be considered a composer of the first rank. This,...

Dear Music Lovers and Supporters, This week’s musical offering is the 1st Movement (Allegro maestoso – Tempo giusto) of the Violin Concerto No. 1, composed by Niccolò Paganini. The recording is from a concert by the BSO in March 2016 and is on YouTube: BSO plays the Paganini Violin Concerto in D, 1st Movement. The violin soloist is Tamás Kocsis. About the music, Maestro Fred Devyatkin writes, “Four years ago Tamás Kocsis performed the Paganini Violin Concerto in D with the BSO. A groundbreaking technical achievement, the Paganini continues to be a violinist’s tour de force and a vehicle...

Dear Music Lovers and Supporters, This week’s musical offering is the 1st Movement, or Allegro con brio, of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. The recording is from a concert by the BSO on October 13, 2019, and is on YouTube: BSO plays Beethoven Symphony No. 5, Allegro con brio. About the music, Maestro Fred Devyatkin writes, “Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 debuted along with the 6th Symphony at the same concert. The 5th is one of the most recognizable pieces in the whole repertoire. Built of a short fragment, layering and intensifying into great majesty and beauty, this masterwork earns its acclaim...