Rimsky Korsakov Scheherazade Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5

New York Diary (20-23): Be The Conductor of Your Own Life
Streaming Classical Music (1): Full Concert Pieces in HD, Scheherazade, Tchaikovsky Symphony No.5

Elim Chan Conductor Elim Chan's meteoric rise to stardom is amazing. Born and raised in Hong Kong, she became a music professional almost by accident (see The Guardian Interview). After she won the 2014 Donatella Flick LSO Conducting Competition, she apprenticed as Assistant Conductor of the LSO. She is now Principal Guest Conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Chief Conductor of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, two very good orchestras. "Be the Conductor of Your Own Life" is her motto.

Since my good fortune of having heard her in Hong Kong in 2017 (here), I have become a fan. Imagine my delight when I found on youtube two (HD 1080p) full performances of warhorses, recorded in one f the world's greatest halls, the Concertgebouw of Amsterdam. I sat transfixed watching them and so am relaying these to you here. Note that despite being in the same hall, the two orchestras sound quite different. I am going to do more of this in a new series, as titled above.

Rimsky Korsakov Scheherazade This is one of the top warhorses, and beloved by audience and musicians, for good reason. It is approachable even to a layman, and we tend to foget it really is a masterpiece. NPR here has conductor Marin Alsop introduce this piece. For even more info, see the wiki entry.



Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5 Tchaikovsky is such a great composer that everyone knows a few melodies of his. Most people who are not into classical music do no know the tumultuous part of his life, as reflected in his Symphonies No. 4 to 6. In these pieces, the dark currents shall surprise those who think of his ballets. I'll let WQXR introduce the great Symphony No. 5.


If you have never heard these pieces but enjoyed the videos, drop me a word!