If, like me, you always seem to be dancing an intimate pas de deux between music and literature, you probably read some of the (too rare) novels featuring musicians. Among the most memorable ones, Zsolt Harsanyi’s Immortal Franz: The Life and Love Affairs of Franz Liszt (between fiction and biography) and Anne Rice’s Cry to Heaven, on the fascinating world of castrati. Here are two more.

Ketil Bornstad, To Music. Oslo, end of the 1960s. Piano student Aksel Vinding falls head over heels in love with Anja Skoog, another pianist who will soon make her debut at the age of seventeen. For Aksel, his relationship with Anja appears to be part of his destiny. However, the enigmatic piano teacher Selma Lynge, has a great amount of influence on the young student, and Aksel feels that a catastrophe is drawing near. In this novel, the Danish pianist, composer, playwright and poet writes about an environment that has been a large part of his own life. The Independent describes it as “an enchanting tale of love and death, desire and loss, about how parents and mentors manipulate and ultimately fail the young people entrusted to them. Above all, it’s a story of music written by a master in the field. Bjornstad’s style is staccato, except when talking about music; then he’s in his element, with beautifully honed long sentences that flow and halt, soar and dip just like the classical pieces he is describing … ” (more…)

You are already fully exhausted from your Christmas shopping sessions and still don’t know what you could get music lovers on your list? Of course, Analekta albums! But also? If this person likes to read, why not give her a novel in which music plays an important role? A few suggestions for you…

Vikhram Seth, An Equal Music. Novels that treat music or musicians with finesse are scarce and deserve to be shared. With An Equal Music, Vikram Seth (who came into the limelight a few years back with A Suitable Boy) writes what could be described as an addictive novel. Set in London, Vienna and Venice, three European musical capitals, the book tells the story of Michael, the second violin in a quartet. Written as a personal recollection, the narrator shares his love for music – and certain repertoire milestones along the way – but also some of the uneasiness any true artist faces one day or another. Love, friendship, family-life, unresolved relationships but mostly music, stand at the core of this journey of self-discovery. “Music, such music, is a sufficient gift. Why ask for happiness; why hope not to grieve? It is enough, it is to be blessed enough, to live from day to day and to hear such music – not too much, or the soul could not sustain it – from time to time.” (more…)

The snow has covered the city with its white blanket. The heart of the meanest grinches among us is slowly starting to melt away and nostalgia softly invades our mind. Memories of Christmas past, when everything seemed simpler, quaint…

In this time of rejoicing, Alain Lefèvre holds wide open the gates to his Jardin d’Images. This time he treats us to a “Petit Noël”, an exquisite reminiscence of yesterday’s Christmas.  Commissioned by Espace Classique Radio-Canada, in collaboration with Analekta, this new piece is a tender prologue to the holiday season.

Download it for free here…

Fifty dancers from the Paris Opera Ballet, including the four stars Marie-Agnès Gillot, Aurélie Dupont, Jérémie Bélingard and Mathias Heymann, astounded museum-goers on November 29th when they suddenly emerged from the crowd under the Louvre’s glass pyramid entrance and started dancing to the Blue Danube before being joined by 250 people who had earlier signed up to the “flashmob” performance, and jiving to the sounds of pop groups OutKast, Queen and Daft Punk.

After just three minutes the dancers melted back into the crowd after leaving behind them dozens of pairs of ballet shoes marked with the web address of the children’s charity for which the event was organized : www.24enfants.org The charity called La Chaine de l’Espoir (The chain of hope) provides medical care for poor children in developing countries.

Talk about the spirit of giving this holiday season…

A very rich day today, when one looks at musical anniversaries. Indeed, two important composers were born on December 8: Jean Sibelius (in 1865) and Bohuslav Martinu (25 years later, in 1890). You can listen to works by both composers on Angèle Dubeau’s latest album, Virtuoso, here…

Also, a masterwork of the symphonic repertoire was premiered on this date, almost two centuries ago: Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony. It was heard at a rather odd gala benefit concert for wounded soldiers on December 8, 1813 in the Great Hall of the University of Vienna. This was the same concert at which Beethoven’s patriotic Wellington’s Victory (or the “Battle” Symphony) was introduced, amidst wild excitement and special effects (cannonades, mechanical trumpets, etc.). The symphony was considered merely a “companion piece” to the real showstopper, yet in spite of the circusy atmosphere, the symphony was well received.  In fact, the second movement was encored, an unprecedented occasion for a “slow” movement.

The Dionysian energy that infuses the finale has caused many listeners, in the words of Klaus G. Roy, to “come away from a hearing of this symphony in a state of being punch-drunk. Yet it is an intoxication without a hangover, a dope-like exhilaration without decadence.”

To listen to the symphony, as performed by Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra…