Compiled by our Classical Music-desk. Famous pianist and composer Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837) settled in Weimar. He lived almost next door to Goethe and often played at his home. Other celebrities also performed there, for instance pianist Maria Szymanovksa, one of the first female travelling virtuoso pianists. She liked to play Hummel’s music, but was also a composer herself. We will hear a few of her melodious pieces. Next is a piano quintet by Hummel with a spectacularly virtuoso piano part and a potpourri of opera melodies for viola and orchestra, written for a viola player who was a friend of his.
- Maria Szymanowska: Mazurka no 17 – Alexander Kostritsa, piano
- Idem: Nocturne in B flat Major – Slawomir Dobrzanski, piano
- Idem: Nocturne ‘Le Murmure’ – Slawomir Dobrzanski, piano
- Johann Nepomuk Hummel: Piano quintet in E flat op. 87 – The Schubert Ensemble of London
- Idem: Potpourri in g minor op. 94 for viola and orchestra– James Ehnes, viola; The London Mozart Players conducted by Howard Shelley
