Sunday Classics preview: Encore, encore!

by Ken

We've had a generous helping of encores sprinkled through the Sunday Classics programs. I always thought that one of these weeks we'd take a neatly organized, carefully rehearsed tour through the kinds of music and musicians inhabiting the world of concert "bonuses." That could still happen, but probably not this week.

No, I happened to find myself staring at the volume from Les Introuvables de János Starker -- from EMI France's often-valuable Introuvables (literally "unfindables") reissue series -- which includes the 1958 pictured above, which seems to me not so much a "recital" as a collection of fairly short pieces mostly of the type we would generally consider encore material. (I can't believe Starker would ever have given a recital made up of this material. One tip-off -- not conclusive, but a strong hint -- is the number of selections with "arranger" credits.) Including stuff like, you know, this:

DEBUSSY: Préludes, Book I: No. 8, "La Fille aux cheveux de lin" ("The Girl with the Flaxen Hair") (arr. Feuillard)


SCHUBERT: Moment musical in F minor, D. 780, No. 3
(arr. Becker)


MUSSORGSKY: The Fair at Sorochinsk: Gopak
(arr. Stutchevsky)


János Starker, cello; Gerald Moore, piano. EMI, recorded in London, June 4-7, 1958


IN THIS WEEK'S SUNDAY CLASSICS POST --

Yes, it's all encores!

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