Frederic Chopin
Pianists create highly personal playing styles for Chopin, so listening to the same piece with different performers is especially enlightening.

Polonaise in A flat Major performed by Vladimir Horowitz

Barcarolle performed by Pollini, Zimerman, Kissin, Horowitz, Argerich

Nocturne op. 27 in D flat major performed by Arthur Rubinstein

Nocturne op. 27 in D flat major performed by John Browning

Nocturne op. 27 in D flat major performed by Evgeny Kissin

Nocturne op. 27 in D flat major performed by Maurizio Pollini

Nocturne op. 48 in C minor performed by Arthur Rubinstein

Nocturne op. 48 in C minor performed by Claudio Arrau

Nocturne op. 48 in C minor performed by Martha Argerich

Nocturne op. 48 in C minor performed by Vladimir Ashkenazy

Nocturne op. 48 in C minor performed by Emil Gilels Nocturne op. 48 in C minor performed by Maurizio Pollini Nocturne op. 48 in C minor performed by Garrick Ohlsson

Pieces I played in our session:

Preludes op. 28 live performance by Martha Argerich Preludes op. 28 live performance by Maurizio Pollini

Nocturne op. 9 in B flat minor performed by Arthur Rubinstein

Berceuse in D-flat major, Op.57 (Michelangeli, Rubinstein, Moravec, Ashkenazy, Pollini)

Etude No. 2 in A flat major (from Trois nouvelles études) performed by Jasmin Fors

Finally, I didn’t have the chance to play this extraordinary late mazurka that points the way to Wagner’s Tristan! First listen to Ashkenazy’s so subtle and beautiful interpretation that is the standard form we know the work:
Mazurka in F minor op. 68 no. 4 performed by Vladimir Ashkenazy
Now hear Rubinstein’s earlier performance that includes two completely different sections of music! Chopin only left sketches for this work, but many people have attempted reconstructions.
Mazurka in F minor op. 68 no. 4 performed by Artur Rubinstein

You can read about the issues here:
Deciphering Chopin’s shorthand in the posthumous Mazurka in F minor

Richard Wagner

Famous portrait of Cosima, Richard, and Franz Liszt

Judaism in Music—probably the most hateful and repugnant musical essay of all time

Love Duet from Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde" Pt. I (English Subtitles)

Ride of the Valkyries, Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Daniel Barenboim

Das Rheingold (the opening prelude with its 4 minute E flat major chord!)

Tristan und Isolde Prelude (with score)—the work that explores the last frontier of the tonal system

Richard Wagner - Tristan und Isolde: Act III (opening sets up the extraordinary shepherd tune in the English Horn

Tristan und Isolde, Liebestod (the finale, end of Act 3)Parsifal, Act 1 Prelude with score

Parsifal, interlude end of Act 1—we didn’t get to this in the session, but listen to the extraordinary harmonic progressions set off by the proclamation, “Here time becomes space.”

Johannes Brahms

Two extraordinary songs:
Text: Von Ewiger Liebe (On Eternal Love)

Von Ewiger Liebe sung by Brigitte Fassbaender

Text: Es Hing der Reif (The Hanging Frost)

Es Hing der Reif sung by Robert Holl

Piano Trio No.1 in B major Op.8, Katchen, Suk, Starker

Symphony No. 1 (Los Angeles Youth Orchestra)

Symphony No. 2 (Carlos Kleiber, Vienna Philharmonic)

Piano Quintet in F minor (Amadeus Quartet with Christoph Eschenbach)

Horn Trio in E flat Major Gilels, Kogan, Shapiro

Intermezzo in E-flat minor, Op. 118, No. 6 (Glenn Gould)

Intermezzo in A major, op. 79 #6 (Richard Goode)

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture

Trepak from Nutcracker

Arabian Dance from Nutcracker

Arabian Dance Fantasia version

Piano Concerto No. 1 mvt. 1 Van Cliburn

Piano Concerto No. 1 mvt. 2 Martha Argerich

Symphony No. 2 “Little Russian”

Symphony No. 4 conducted by Gennady Rozhdestvensky

Symphony No. 4 Finale Los Angeles Youth Orchestra

Symphony No. 5 Los Angeles Youth Orchestra

Symphony No. 6 Marinsky Theater Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev

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RUSSELL STEINBERG