#213 The Smell of Suffering

The beginning, that's real pain. I wonder if somewhere else a composer was so successful in translating his suffering to music. However, there's also a fight, a majestic sound keeping us up, filling us with hope.

Buchbinder and Harnoncourt in what might be the best recording of this concerto ever (yet not your typical Brahms). Highly spirited, infiltrating and completing each other.

Composer: Johannes Brahms
Work: Piano Concerto No 1, I. Maestoso
Recording: Rudolf Buchbinder, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Nikolaus Harnoncourt

#119 The Smell of Dominance

Figaro, pretending he's obliging and ready to please, shows his prevalence here. It's an accepted challenge: Oh, you would like to dance (read: sleep with my wife)? My pleasure! But be prepared, my dear, because I'm the cat and you're the mouse in this game.

D'Arcangelo is a great Figaro (and Leporello). He's combining satire and menace into an amusing mix. All for fun!

Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Work: The Marriage of Figaro, "Se vuol ballare, signor Contino"
Recording: Ildebrando D'Arcangelo, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Nikolaus Harnoncourt

#62 The Smell of Softness

One would say it's brisk, sharp music. But I smell a special softness in this recording. Round tones, lyricism. And with a modern touch, no rampant over-romanticizing.

Even in the most animated moments, it's not rigorous. Harnoncourt makes it breathe. This is C Major at its best.  

Composer: Antonín Dvořák
Work: Slavonic Dances Op. 72, No 7
Recording: Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Nikolaus Harnoncourt

#53 The Smell of Heat

One can hardly forget that this symphonic poem has a program, beat by beat. It's wild, dirty, abrasive. You can smell fear and abandonment. "Give me the child!" in trombones is pure horror.

But I really stare in consternation when Dvořák forms the heat of a summer day with all its terrible compactness and unfulfilled expectations. The combination of idyll and terror is unbeatable.

Composer: Antonín Dvořák
Work: The Noon Witch
Recording: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Nikolaus Harnoncourt