For the Record, Op. 221: Gustavo Dudamel's Beethoven Cycle; Anthony Marwood plays Steven Mackey; Sonic Apricity

December 9, 2022, 12:56 PM · Welcome to "For the Record," Violinist.com's weekly roundup of new releases of recordings by violinists, violists, cellists and other classical musicians. We hope it helps you keep track of your favorite artists, as well as find some new ones to add to your listening!

Conductor Gustavo Dudamel.

The Complete Beethoven Symphonies
Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, Gustavo Dudamel conducting

Gustavo Dudamel's performances of the complete Beethoven Symphonies with the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela will be available free of charge, starting today on Dudamel’s YouTube channel, which will release one symphony per day from December 9 through 17, culminating in the release of the Ninth Symphony for Beethoven’s birthday. The videos capture Dudamel’s performances with the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, at the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, Spain in March 2017. "The opportunity to make music with my beloved friends of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra is one of the greatest gifts of my life, and so I am deeply honored to now be able to offer these unforgettable performances as a gift to everyone this holiday season," Dudamel said. "The music of Beethoven is universal – his vision for a better future was rooted in a celebration of joy and shared humanity, and that spirit of kinship flows through each note of these concerts." You can view the symphonies either on Gustavo Dudamel's webpage or on his Youtube Channel. BELOW: Trailer for the project:

Beautiful Passing: Steven Mackey
Anthony Marwood, violin
Steven Mackey, composer
Sydney Symphony Orchestra, David Robertson conducting
Click here to purchase the score

This album includes GRAMMY-winning composer Steven Mackey’s violin concerto Beautiful Passing (2008), with soloist Anthony Marwood, and his symphony, Mnemosyne’s Pool (2014). The concerto was inspired by Mackey’s experience watching his mother pass away from esophageal cancer. "During this time, I was working on a violin concerto which was intended to be a flashy show piece, but I lost my mojo for that and could not stop thinking about the three states of being that this experience had drawn so expressively: First, my mother’s serenity and strength as she assumed control of her destiny. That calm stood in sharp contrast to, second, the frantic, albeit benign, chatter around her...Third and finally, my insomnia and the flickering consciousness between wakefulness and sleep." BELOW: Mackey talks about his inspiration for "Beautiful Passing":

Sonic Apricity: New Music for Violin & Viola Duo
Jacob Tews, viola
Eric Rohde, violin

Violist Jacob Tews and violinist Erik Rohde have put together an album consisting of works they have either commissioned or championed, including new pieces from contemporary composers Augusta Read Thomas, Erzsébet Szonyi, Elliott Miles McKinley, Christopher Walczak, and Michael-Thomas Foumai. It's an engaging program of works influenced by poetry, notable tales from pop culture, the passage of time, and more. BELOW: Scrumdiddlyumptious: I. The Everlasting Double-Triple-Quadruple Stopper

If you have a new recording you would like us to consider for inclusion in our "For the Record" feature, please e-mail Editor Laurie Niles. Be sure to include the name of your album, a link to it and a short description of what it includes.

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For the Record, Op. 221: Gustavo Dudamel's Beethoven Cycle; Anthony Marwood plays Steven Mackey; Sonic Apricity

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