Johannes Brahms Serenades Nos. 1 & 2 —Philharmonia Baroque/Nicholas McGegan (PBP 5)
Conductor Nicholas McGegan was in town last summer to conduct The Cleveland Orchestra in one of the ‘Summers at Severance’ concerts. He dropped by WCLV for an interview, and I was lucky enough to catch the assignment. I had known him since my days in San Francisco in the 1990s, and we had a nice chat. About two weeks later I received a parcel from Nick with five Philharmonia Baroque recordings on their in-house label, and we’re featuring two of them this month. This set of the Brahms Serenades was issued in 2012—No. 1 was recorded live in 2010—and they reflect a perfect match of temperaments between repertoire and conductor: both the music and the musician are light-hearted, charming and witty! --Bill O'Connell
Featured Mon 11/2, Wed 11/11, Fri 11/20