Happy birthday to Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan (1908-1989), born on this day in Salzburg. He was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic from 1955 to 1989, longer than any other conductor in the orchestra's history.

Building corner decoration in downtown Antwerp, Belgium, a statue of Mary with the infant Jesus. Happy Easter to all who celebrate.  Photo - April 2022. 

Happy Easter, Passover, and Spring weekend. Relax and enjoy the season of promise and hope with Van Gogh, Innes and Gauguin.

Happy Friday, friends. On this Good Friday and Passover, time for another cup of coffee. More than just a beverage, a cherished ritual that feeds connection and contemplation, alike. Art: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's Coffee Drinking Women (1907)

During the 1980s, pianist and scholar Pietro Spada recorded the complete transcriptions that Busoni made of works by Bach, including the Chaconne. These were re-issued on CD by Arts in 2007. They are available on streaming services.

The complex piano music of Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924) is played infrequently. It is challenging to pull off. Those who have include Egon Petri (1930s-50s), John Ogdon (1951 & 1967), Paul Jacobs (1970s), Pietro Spada (1988), and, quite convincingly, Marc-Andre Hamelin (1999 & 2013).

The continuing popularity of the transcriptions Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924) wrote of chorale preludes of Bach and Brahms is due in part to the pianist Paul Jacobs (1930-1983). He recorded them on two legendary Nonesuch LPs in the 1970s, reissued by Arbiter on this CD in 2000.

Celebrating Rachmaninoff's birthday with Vladimir Ashkenazy: "He speaks to me very clearly and his unparalleled generous expression is very essential and insightful to me. He was not only extraordinarily professional but also extremely serious, eloquent and substantial." (Presto Music, 2017)

Happy birthday to Russian-born composer-pianist Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943), whose Romantic music had an identifiable style. Listening to recordings by his supreme advocate in my lifetime, Vladimir Ashkenazy (b.1937), whose affinity for the emotional core of Rachmaninoff’s music was absolute.

Celebrating the birth of life-enhancing composer J. S. Bach (1685-1750). There is mathematical precision in his music, yet – even more – emotional depth and joy. It captures the scope of human existence. I return often to his music by Steven Isserlis, Eleonor Bindman & Lorraine Hunt-Lieberson.

Happy to see Justin Verlander back in the Detroit Tigers starting rotation. Today marks his first start for us in 8-1/2 years.

Appropriate that Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) was born this day. He loved Spring, with its fragrant blossoms and spirit of renewal. He applied his thick, vibrant brushstrokes to sturdy irises and blossoming fruit trees. These were among his favorite subjects. @gettymuseum.bsky.social

Happy Positivity Monday, friends. Think. Say. Do.

The April issue of Gramophone has my review of the new 20 CD box of live concerts performed by Herbert von Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker in the 1970s. Expensively priced but some of Karajan's finest performances, and the remastering of the original radio recordings is outstanding.

World Piano Day – To celebrate it, I want to revisit one of the pure joys for me as a music collector. It was the series “Great Pianists of the 20th Century” by Philips and Steinway in the 1990s. It featured 100 2-CD sets, and I acquired most of them: 72 of the great pianists of the 20th century.

Late Brahms piano pieces - rich and lyrical works - can bring out the best in a pianist. A fine new example comes from Piotr Anderszewski, yet we have an embarrassment of riches in this music on record. Here are my three favorites from years of collecting: Hough, Goode, and Lupu.

This Man!

Yesterday was the birthday of the great German pianist Wilhelm Backhaus (1884-1969), who felt closest to Beethoven. “I try to play Beethoven as I feel it, as I try to imagine the man – not what story he is telling me, but what he is feeling […] I want to make Beethoven alive." He did.

Happy Friday, friends. Have a cup of coffee and a croissant. And maybe a peach while you're at it. Art: Coffee and Croissant, 2022, and Peaches in a Silver Bowl, 2018, both oil on board, Postcard from Provence paintings by British artist Julian Merrow-Smith.

This fine Sergio Fiorentino set received the 2026 International Classical Music Award for historical recordings. Kudos to Brilliant Classics. They’ve done us a great service pulling it all together.

Today is the birthday of the intense and authoritarian Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini (1867-1957). He had a reputation for artistic integrity throughout his career at La Scala, the Metropolitan Opera, New York Philharmonic, and NBC Symphony. His complete RCA set here is a treasure.

Happy birthday to Hungarian composer Béla Bartók (1881 - 1945). I have music writer Christian Hoskins to thank for my love of this recording and work, which reflects Bartok’s love of folk music. @hoskinschris.bsky.social

Here is one hill I am prepared to die on. Glenn Gould (1932 - 1980) J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations in 1981 for Columbia. Pure genius, reflecting a lifetime of thought on this work and recorded with great care and vision.

Celebrating the birthday of the great American pianist Byron Janis. Color. Poetry. - “He belongs in that great Romantic tradition.” Without question! youtu.be/X_VxCjnTM5g?...

March 23 was the 145th anniversary of Egon Petri's birth. The Busoni disciple left us many hours of recordings, and while some studio accounts are a bit detached, the best of them - and his live recordings - feature some truly sky-opening pianism. Check the link in the comments.

1851 – Greatly enjoying the Moscheles and Schumann as played here by cellist Steven Isserlis and pianist Connie Shih, who draws beautiful tone from the vintage Erard piano. Isserlis and Shih remain as completely simpatico as Ma & Stott had been as a duo. Bravo! @hyperionrecords.bsky.social

Let’s go to Lake George, New York, to celebrate the recent birthday (3/22) of its best-known painter, John Frederick Kensett (1816-1872). The Connecticut-born Kensett was one of the second generation of Hudson River School artists that included Sanford Gifford and Frederic Church.

Happy Positivity Monday. Shine on!

Happy Friday. You know what that means. It's time to take a sip - of the first day of Spring!

Yes, Jazz. This spectacular late-career book of paper cutouts from 1943–44 by artist Henri Matisse will be at the Art Institute of Chicago until June, accompanied by other works by the artist.

Get cosy with a nice tea!.. ..And the latest womensart book- REFRAMING WOMEN PRINTMAKERS - pioneers, art, nature, city, home, protest, illustrators, future.... via Bookshop.Org. Waterstones. Amazon, AwesomeBooks etc (Art below right by Leah Gardner)

A reminder of all the warmer days to come. Art: “Woman with Parasol in a Garden,” 1875, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Museo Thyssen- Bornemisza, Madrid

Happy Positivity Monday. Nothing restores you quite like a short walk in nature. Take one.

Sacred Mozart is my Sunday listening – During the 1990s, conductor William Christie and the vocal ensemble Les Arts Florissants recorded Mozart’s two great sacred choral works: the Great Mass in C Major K. 427 and the Requiem K.626. Convincing and moving, both.

Posted today by cellist Janet Horvath.

Happy Friday. Let's have a sip of coffee and a piece of fruit with Henri Matisse, who painted this in 1898.

My latest column in International Piano magazine features Robert Lortat, whose Chopin Etudes & Waltz cycles predate Alfred Cortot's (the Waltzes were the world premiere set). Unavailable for over 6 decades, these readings are extraordinarily imaginative. Details & audio linked below.

Happy birthday to Scottish pianist Steven Osborne, OBE. Love the range of his artistry. If he records nothing else, he’s made the world a brighter place with these French duets with pianist Paul Lewis on Hyperion Records.

When celebrating Maurice Ravel‘s birthday recently, I realized I had never collected this storied Nimbus recording. Fixed. Your ears quickly adjust to the reverberant acoustic. What emerges is his lyricism, warmth, and humanity in music others often play like carved ice.

Today's musical birthday belongs to Astor Piazzola (1921-1992), the Argentine tango composer and virtuoso bandoneon player. His musical vision reshaped traditional tango into the nuevo tango style incorporating jazz and classical music. Playing these Piazzola CDs will make you want to dance.

Violets – A March Postcard from Provence by Julian Merrow-Smith. Happy Wednesday.

Baroque-era chamber music fascinates me. Ensemble Diderot is my latest obsession, thanks to a tip from my friend Lisa. Led by violinist Johannes Pramsohler, the group has released a fascinating city-themed series of recordings of little-known trio sonatas from Europe's musical centers. Next? Paris.

"I just go on doing, as they say, ‘my thing’. I believe this takes a certain courage." – Samuel Barber

Happy Positivity Monday for the win! P.S., what time is it?

Twilight, those magical, evocative moments as the sun dips below the horizon, arrive an hour later now. John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) was fascinated with the delicate light quality at twilight and captured it in his painting "Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose” of 1885-86 (Tate Britain).

It’s great that we are still discovering the talents of musical women women of centuries past. Here is one I did not know about with thanks to Continuo Connect. Elisabetta da Gambarini: A musical force of nature in Georgian London www.continuoconnect.com/features/aca...

It’s that time again. “Only the government would believe that you could cut a foot off the top of a blanket, sew it to the bottom, and have a longer blanket." - Folkloric quote on Daylight Savings Time

“The only love affair I have ever had was with music.” Maurice Ravel was born 151 years ago today. Here's my Gramophone cover story from last year's 150th celebrations! www.gramophone.co.uk/content/feat...

Today is the 151st anniversary of the birth of French composer Maurice Ravel (1875-1937). I am celebrating by listening to recordings of his two piano concertos I have grown to love from French pianists Samson Francois (1959) and Vlado Perlemuter (1955).

Happy Friday, friends. Have a sip and enjoy the view. Café, January 2014, oil on board, and Morning poppy field, May 2018, oil on board - Both by Julian Merrow-Smithfrom Postcard from Provence.