Classics

Vivaldi:  Four Seasons; Summer - III. Presto

The Ride of the Valkyries is the second of the four opera, "Ring Cycle" by Richard Wagner.  It was written in 1851 and is one of Wagner's best known musical compositions.

Photo:  "In Old Norse mythology, the maiden attendants of Odin, who, at his command, rode over battlefields and bore the souls of the bravest of the slain to Valhalla, Odin's great hall." -Foster, 1921

The Ride Of The Valkyries by Richard Wagner

MAURICE RAVEL ~ Bolero
(Radio Symphony Orchestra Ljubljana - Direttore Samo Hubad)

Boléro
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Boléro is a one-movement orchestral piece by Maurice Ravel. Originally composed as a ballet commissioned by Russian ballerina Ida Rubenstein, the piece, which premiered in 1928, is Ravel's most famous musical composition.[2] Before Boléro, Ravel had composed large scale ballets (such as Daphnis et Chloé, composed for the Ballets Russes 1909–1912), suites for the ballet (such as the second orchestral version of Ma Mère l'Oye, 1912), and one-movement dance pieces (such as La Valse, 1906–1920). Apart from such compositions intended for a staged dance performance, Ravel had demonstrated an interest in composing re-styled 
dances, from his earliest successes (the 1895 Menuet and the 1899 Pavane) to his more 
mature works like Le tombeau de Couperin (which takes the format of a dance suite).

Boléro epitomises Ravel's preoccupation with restyling and reinventing dance movements. It was also one of the last pieces he composed before illness forced him into retirement: the two piano concertos and the Don Quichotte à Dulcinée song cycle were the only compositions that followed Boléro.



MAURICE RAVEL ~ Bolero

This is "March", the third track from this album and it is taken from the collection of "The Nutcracker" by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

In this 2SACD album, you can enjoy the Bolshoi Experience when listening to Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker performed by the Children’s Choir of the Bolshoi Theatre and Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre Moscow conducted by Alexander Vedernikov.
The musicians of this album are:
Children’s Choir of the Bolshoi Theatre,
Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre Moscow,
Alexander Vedernikov - conductor,
Julia Molchanova - chorus master,
Dmitry Khakhamov - concert master.

You can listen and buy this album at:
http://www.pentatonemusic.com/tchaikovsky-nutcracker-vedernikov

Tchaikovsky – The Nutcracker, Swan Lake and Eugene Onegin

The Nutcracker, Op. 71, TH 14: March

Alexander Vedernikov & Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre perform Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker (March)

Johann Strauss II - The Blue Danube Waltz

Leo A. Kempinski (German/American 1891-1958) composed “Heavy (con moto) Tension” in 1922 as part of the "Incidental Symphonies - Half Reel Dramatic Illustrations" series for the Photo Play Music Company, 1520 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 

The cover sheet explains that the Incidental Symphony series was "compiled with the purpose of solving the difficult problem of eliminating Monotony when accompanying Dramatic and Agitated Scenes of unusual length" and modestly proclaims the series to be "Master Compositions that may justly be called THE ACME of Perfection."

The piano part was "Fully Cued" and could be used alone or as a simplified score. The composition is in 12/8 time, a compound quadruple time signature sometimes used in classic rock (think R.E.M.'s 'Everybody Hurts'). The tempo is "Allegro ma non troppo" - fast but not too much. To achieve intensity but avoid a rushed, frenetic feel we've recorded it at 124 BPM. 

Kempinski's career extended well into the audio recording age, and in the 1940s he led the "Leo Kempiski Continental Orchestra" at Columbia Records - https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/mastertalent/detail/108230/Kempinski_Leo_A

This recording of Kempinski's "Heavy (con moto) Tension" was produced by @MLucas in North Judson, Indiana USA in April 2025 using OMR. The OMR process begins with a digital scan of the original theater orchestra sheet music. The scans are converted into music xml using SoundSlice and then assembled into a score in a professional music notation program. The resulting score was imported into Logic Pro as MIDI. In Logic, each part was assigned a sampled sound and then the project was edited and mixed. All the notes in our recording are in the original music, but we've arranged the piece to add more dramatic variation by silencing some instruments in selected passages.

Cover art by MLucas using his photograph of a rainy night time street.

Public Domain, No Rights Reserved.

Heavy Tension (Leo A. Kempinski)

Il Divo - Adagio

BIZET: Gypsy Song from "Carmen" Act 2 (Instrumental)

SAINT-SAËNS: Dance Macabre (Waltz)

For his popular early work inspired by Oscar Wilde’s fractured take on the Bible, master orchestrator Richard Strauss wrote music that would inspire generations of film composers, when operatic orientalism came to Hollywood. 
Gerard Schwarz conducts the orchestra of Seattle Opera. Photo by Gary Smith. 
To learn more about operatic orientalism, go to http://www.seattleoperablog.com/2015/10/western-fantasies-of-east-orientalism.html

Dance of the Seven Veils from “Salome”

Piano Rachel Ortiz  . INDIE Co Production . Studio de la Grande Armée . 

Francis Poulenc - Mélancholie

Antonin Dvorak~ Symphony No. 9 in E minor op. 95 "From the New World" 

Antonin Dvorak ~ Symphony No. 9, 4th movement - Allegro Con Fuoco

This is one of my favorite pieces. This is one of Debussy's most famous pieces. The piece does not technically belong to the classical genre; it was composed during the Impressionistic period. Debussy weaves the numerous parts together with a continuously sustained pedal to create a murky, blended sound without distinct borders.

Debussy's Clair de Lune

George Bizet - Carmen - Habanera - Instrumental

Georges Bizet [ L'Arlésienne: Farandole ]

Bizet  [ L'Arlésienne: Farandole ]

A live recording from the Memphis Repertory Orchestra's debut CD release concert on March 2, 2013. The concert was given in the brand new Nancy Crosby Theater in the Salvation Army Kroc Center in Memphis, TN. 
Will Haapaniemi - Violin
William R. Langley - Music Director

http://memphisreporchestra.bandcamp.com
http://memphisreporchestra.com

Night on Bald Mountain

Founded in 1963, Seattle Opera is a leading American opera company. The company presents the classics of the European repertoire as well as new works of American opera. Frequent productions of Wagner's RING, beginning in 1975, established the company's worldwide reputation. Seattle Opera usually presents five opera productions each year.

Dance of the Seven Veils from “Salome”

Seattle Opera

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