Valentina Lisitsa: Rachmaninoff/Warenberg Piano Concerto #5 2nd Movement

Now Listen to this!

Valentina Lisitsa plays the theme of the Rachmaninoff/Warenberg ‘5th’ Piano Concerto’s 2nd movement, recorded in Amsterdam. A very beautiful interpretation, that imho combines and fuses a poetic delicacy with soulful temperament and powerful passion that only Valentina can bring out to the listener. I’m sure you’ll enjoy her playing here as much as I do.
This piano concerto is an arrangement by Alexander Warenberg of Rachmaninoff’s 2nd Symphony. The recording presented here is used with permission and part of video-material shot by Alexei Kuznetsoff (Valentina’s husband) in Amsterdam, May 2010, that features Valentina playing piano solo parts of the Rachmaninoff/Warenberg Piano Concerto #5.
Valentina was performing in The Netherlands in May 2010. On 29 May 2010 I did a video-interview with Valentina in Rotterdam on the Rachmaninoff/Warenberg 5th Piano Concerto after she played the concerto with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra on 28 May 2010.

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Me and Valentina after the interview in Rotterdam

I will present this interview in a video-report later on this year combined with the video-material, shot in Amsterdam, of Valentina playing piano solo parts of the ‘5th’ concerto.

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Bulgarian band Artery: article radio-portrait in 2001 + clip from that period

In 2001 I made a radio-portrait of Artery, a Bulgarian band -led by bouzouki player and singer Yanko Brekov- that plays what one could call ethno-metal, a refreshing mix of hardcore metal (what made them famous in Bulgaria in the nineties), Greek rebetica and several styles from the Balkan region.
I wrote this short introduction to my documentary ‘Balkan Underground in Amsterdam’, it’s in dutch. Below this short article you’ll find a YouTube-clip of Artery from the period around 2000 when I made the radio-documentary on the band. I wonder how these guys are doing these days 🙂

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A song from the Artery-album ‘Balkan Underground’, released in 2000.

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Kaushiki Chakrabarty – Een vocaal wonder uit India (artikel uit 2007)

In april 2007 gaf de jonge Indiase zangeres Kaushiki Chakrabarty in Nederland en België een serie concerten. Vlak voor de start van deze tournee sprak ik in Amsterdam met deze winnares van de BBC World Music Award 2005 (voor haar album ‘Pure’) en enkele dagen later bezocht ik haar concert in het Amsterdamse Tropeninstituut.
In het wereldmuziekmagazine Mixed (no.1, zomer 2007) gaf ik in een artikel, Kaushiki Chakrabarty-Een vocaal wonder uit India, mijn indrukken van dit concert, aangevuld met achtergrondinformatie over haar muziek. Klik op de foto hieronder (en daarna nog een keer om verder te vergroten) om het artikel te lezen.

artikel Kaushiki Chakrabarty

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Kaushiki Chakrabarty radio-special, 25 July 2009, with me as studio guest

Hey, that picture… looks like… is it…?… YES! …it’s Kaushiki-ji !!

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On Saturday 25 July 2009, dutch national channel Radio 6 featured a special on Kaushiki Chakrabarty in VPRO’s world music programme De Wandelende Tak. The programme’s host Walter Slosse interviewed me on Kaushiki’s career and music.
I also selected the music that was played in the programme, great music of course! The programme is still available for listening on demand.

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The programme was highligted as ‘radio programme of the day’ – with a photo (see above) of Kaushiki added and with additional info elsewhere on the same page (see below) – in the VPRO-guide (no.30, 25-31 July 2009), Holland’s best TV&Radio Guide.

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The picture shown in the VPRO guide is a cutout from this picture, showing me and Kaushiki in Leicester, during the Darbar Festival 2008.

Two years ago I portrayed Kaushiki in my radioprogramme Gharana and this episode is still ‘on demand’ available on the Concertzender website and I’ve also published a Youtube-portrayal of Kaushiki and some clips of her great Amsterdam concert in April 2007. Check it out, it’s great to hear and see her in performance!

You can still listen online to the special on Kaushiki.

Don’t miss Kaushiki at her best in this radio-special!

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