Today's Birthdays in Music: December 28 (Kennedy, Sessions)

1956 - Nigel Kennedy, Brighton, England; violinist and violist

Wikipedia

Nigel Kennedy with Aisling Casey and the Irish Chamber Orchestra plays J.S. Bach's Concerto for Violin and Oboe, BWV 1060, 1st mvt.



1896 - Roger Sessions, Brooklyn, NY, U.S.A.; composer

Wikipedia
Biography

Duo for Violin and Piano, 2nd mvt. (Carlos Bernales and Chris Christopher, Queen's College, 2008)

Today's Birthdays in Music: November 22 (Britten, Nagano)

1913 - Benjamin Britten, Lowestoft, England; composer, conductor, violist, pianist

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Biography and more

"To hell with all your mercy": finale of Peter Grimes (Peter Pears as Peter Grimes, Heather Harper as Ellen Orford, London Symphony Orchestra and Ambrosian Chorus, conducted by Benjamin Britten.  1969 TV production)


"Playful Pizzicato" from Simple Symphony (Ensemble Instrumental de Corse)



1951 - Kent Nagano, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.; conductor

Biography (Orchestre symphonique de Montréal)
Homepage
The Nagano Mystique (La Scena Musicale, January 2007)

Kent Nagano conducts the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in Mozart's Symphony No. 41 (Jupiter),1st mvt.


Kent Nagano, Robert Charlebois and l'Orchestre symphonique de Montréal

Today's Birthday: October 27 (Paganini)

1782 - Niccolò Paganini, Genoa, Italy; violinist, violist, guitarist, composer

Wikipedia
Legendary violinists

Jascha Heifetz plays Caprice No. 24 (accompanist Emanuel Bay)


Leonid Kogan plays Paganini's variations on the theme "Di tanti palpiti" from Rossini's Tancredi

Today's Birthdays in Music: August 27 (R. Clarke, E. Coates)

1886 - Rebecca Clarke, Harrow, England; composer and violist

Wikipedia
Rebecca Clarke Society

Rebecca Clarke's Sonata for Viola and Piano (Igal Braslavsky- viola , Luba Barsky-piano; Jerusalem, 2007)



1886 - Eric Coates, Hucknall, England; composer and violist

Wikipedia
Short biography

Eric Coates's Knightsbridge March (Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg, Potsdam, under the direction of Scott Lawton)

Today's Birthdays in Music: August 23 (Krenek, Primrose)

1900 - Ernst Krenek, Vienna, Austria; composer

Wikipedia
Biography

Späte Zeit, op.114 for Cello, Piano and Tenor



1904 - William Primrose, Glasgow, Scotland; violist

Wikipedia
Biography

William Primrose plays Walton's Viola Concerto, 1st mvt. (William Walton conducting)

Today's Birthdays in Music: July 16 (Zukerman, Ysaÿe)

1948 - Pinchas Zukerman, Tel Aviv, Israel; violinist, violist, conductor

Wikipedia
A Gift for Music (La Scene Musicale, March 2002)

Schubert's "Trout Quintet", 4th mvt., played by Itzhak Perlman (violin), Daniel Barenboim (piano), Jacqueline Du Pré (cello), Zubin Mehta (bass) and Pinchas Zukerman  (viola) (1969)



1858 - Eugène Ysaÿe, Liège, Belgium; violinist, composer, conductor

Wikipedia

Ysaÿe plays "Mazurka" by Wieniawski (1912 recording)

Valeriy Sokolov plays Ysaÿe's Sonata No. 3 for solo violin (filmed by Bruno Monsaingeon at the Yehudi Menuhin School, 2003)