White Angel - from Michael Cunningham's novel A Home at the End of the World, read by James Naughton at Symphony Space, New York City.

WHITE ANGEL - MICHAEL CUNNINGHAM - JAMES NAUGHTON READER

2 BALAKIREV - ISLAMEY - SIMON BARERE, PIANO - 10 - 15 - 1935

Stravinsky - The Rite of Spring.  Recorded on Pianola ca. 1920.  Aeolian Instrument.

STRAVINSKY - THE RITE OF SPRING - PART 2 - REC. 1920

STRAVINSKY - THE RITE OF SPRING - PART 1 - REC. 1920

Rachmaninoff Cello Sonata 4th Mvmt - Allegro Mosso. Mp3

Rachmaninoff Cello Sonata 3rd Mvmt - Andante. Mp3

Rachmaninoff Cello Sonata 2nd Mvmt - Allegro Scherzando.mp3

Rachmaninoff Cello Sonata 1st Mvmt - Lento - Allegro Moderato. Mp3

Debussy - Children's Corner, Claude Debussy, piano.  (1913)  These recordings were made by the Welte & Soehne system on 1 November 1913.

4 DEBUSSY - THE SNOW IS DANCING

Ravel: Bolero.  L'Orchestre de l'Association des Concerts Lamoureux, Maurice Ravel, conductor.  recorded ca. January 1930 in Paris.

RAVEL - BOLERO, LAMOUROUX ORCH - MAURICE RAVEL, COND.  Rec. 1930 - PARIS

STRAVINSKY - BERCEUSES DU CHAT - CATHY BERBERIAN, ms, STRAVINSKY, Cond.  NET BROADCAST 12 - 1964

Nikolai Medtner (1880-1951): Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor. Op. 50  Nikolai Medter, piano, Philharmonia Orc., Issay Dobrowen, cond.  Recorded May 4-9, 1947

MEDTNER PIANO CONCERTO NO. 2 - 1st Movement

Leonard Bernstein - Clarinet Sonata.  David Oppenheim, clarinet, Leonard Bernstein, piano.  recorded Nov. 23, 1943

BERNSTEIN - CLARINET SONATA, 1st Mvmt.  Oppenheim, Bernstein 1943

Schoenberg: Piano Music Complete (rec. 1957)

4 SCHOENBERG - 6 KLEINE KLAVIERSTUECKE Op. 19

7 STRAVINSKY DUO CONCERTANT - 3 EGLOGUE II

2 BOULEZ - ANTHEMES - FOR VIOLIN AND COMPUTER - WORLD PREMIERE - 1997

1 BOULEZ - ANTHEMES - FOR SOLO VIOLIN 1991 rec. 1993

Sessions - Concerto for Orchestra 1981.  Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa, cond.  Live performance following world premiere on 30 January 1981 in the composer's presence.  It's amazing to think that such a vital work was written by a composer who was 84 years old.

SESSIONS - CONCERTO FOR ORCHESTRA - January 30, 1981 - Boston Symphony, Ozawa

Berg: Funf Orchesterlieder nach Ansichtskartentexten von Peter Altenberg Op. 5.  Bethany Beardslee, soprano, Columbia Symphony, Robert Craft, conductor

BERG - ALTERNBERG LIEDER - BETHANY BEARDSLEE

Bartok: Sonata No. 1 and Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano. Robert Mann, violin, Leonid Hambro, piano. rec. 1950s

1 - BARTOK - VIOLIN SONATA NO. 1 - 1st Mvmt.  Robert Mann, Leonid Hambro

2 - BARTOK - VIOLIN SONATA NO. 1 - 2nd Mvmt.  Robert Mann, Leonid Hambro

4 - BARTOK - VIOLIN SONATA NO. 2 - Robert Mann, Leonid Hambro

3 - BARTOK - VIOLIN SONATA NO. 1 - 3rd Mvmt.  Robert Mann, Leonid Hambro

Romanian Folk Dances - (1) arranged by Bartok, played by Zoltan Szekely, violin, Bela Bartok, piano; (2) Sources played by Janosi Ensemble

ROMANIAN FOLK DANCES 2 - JANOSI ENSEMBLE - BARTOK SOURCES

Prokofiev Scythian Suite - Curtis Orchestra, Sergiu Celibidache, cond.  Feb. 27, 1984.  This was the last work on the concert and, as an encore, the orchestra reprised the work's second movement, which brought down the house.  The orchestra and conductor got a standing ovation that lasted nearly a half hour.  In the 80s, NYC audiences were STILL knowledgeable enough to be able to distinguish among mediocre, good, and great and respond accordingly.  This evening's performances were outstanding by any measure, and the audience was most likely more knowledgeable than most.  I can't imagine that such a performance as this by a conservatory orchestra had been heard of - at least to my knowledge - by anyone and I'm sure the folks 10 minutes away at Juiliard felt, for once, distinctly second in line.

01 PROKOFIEV - SCYTHIAN SUITE - MVMT 1 - 1984 - 02 - 27 - CURTIS - CELIBIDACHE

Schoenberg - Piano Concerto, Op. 42.  Maurizio Pollini, piano, Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Pierre Boulez, conductor.  Live Performance September 16, 2004.

11 Schoenberg - Piano Concerto - I - Pollini

03 Bruckner - Symphony No. 9 - 3.WAV

02 Bruckner - Symphony No. 9 - 2.WAV

Stravinsky - Petrouchka (vers. 1911).  NY Philharmonic, Pierre Boulez, conductor.  Live performance at the Berlin Philharmonie as part of the 25th Berlin Festwochen, September 8, 1975

STRAVINSKY - PETROUCHKA 1911 - NY PHIL - BOULEZ 1975-09-08

Bartok - Miraculous Mandarin - Complete.  Berlin Philharmonic, Pierre Boulez, Live Performance on March 19, 2004

BARTOK - MIRACULOUS MANDARIN - BERLIN PHIL, BOULEZ - 2004 - 03 - 19

MAHLER - SYMPHONY NO 6 - 4th Movement

Every one of us who came from small town America to New York City on the cusp of adulthood ready to start their life has a story to tell. I have mine.  But this story, about David Sedaris' experience coming to NYC during the Christmas season to have a life as a writer, is one of my favorites.  It's certainly one of the funniest.  Although years later I had read a number of collections of his stories and attended one of Sedaris' readings in person, this was my first encounter.  I heard the first broadcast of this quite by accident one morning on NPR.  The following year, I was ready to record it off the air when it was rebroadcast.  This story was what began his public career and for many years it was yet another tradition on NPR.  Sedaris captures so much of what it was like to find oneself in New York for the first time and be in the midst of all those things you grew up reading about.

The Santa-Land Diaries by David Sedaris.  Read by the Author on NPR

Honegger: Excerpt from Hamlet (with introduction).  Pierre Boulez, Ondes Martinot, Maurice Jarre, Timpani.  Recorded by the INA, 1948.

BOULEZ PLAYS THE ONDES MARTENOT   1948 - Honegger: Hamlet excerpt

Mahler: Symphony No. 8, BBC Symphony, Pierre Boulez, conductor.  Edda Moser, Linda Esther Gray, Wendi Eathorne, sops; Elizabth Connell, ms; Beradette Greevy, alto; Alberto Remedios, tenor; Siegmund Nimsgern, bar; Marius Rintzler, Bass.  BBC Singers, BBC Choral Society, Scottish National Orchestra Chorus, and the Wandsworth School Choir.

Daniel Plante

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