Blackbirds

$20.99
Label
Alpha
Release Date
April 10, 2026
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      Grazyna Bacewicz, The Beatles, Benjamin Britten, Morton Feldman, Sandor Veress
    • PERFORMER
      Nicolas Altstaedt, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Maxim Emelyanychev
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      April 10, 2026
    • UPC
      3701624512135
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      ALPHA1213
    • LABEL
      Alpha
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      1
    • GENRE
      Classical
    Works ⌄

    1. I. Allegro (fantastico)

      Composer: Grażyna Bacewicz

      Ensemble: Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra

      Performer: Nicolas Altstaedt

      Conductor: Maxim Emelyanychev

    2. II. Adagio

      Composer: Grażyna Bacewicz

      Ensemble: Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra

      Performer: Nicolas Altstaedt

      Conductor: Maxim Emelyanychev

    3. III. Allegro

      Composer: Grażyna Bacewicz

      Ensemble: Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra

      Performer: Nicolas Altstaedt

      Conductor: Maxim Emelyanychev

    4. Durations II

      Composer: Morton Feldman

      Performer: Nicolas Altstaedt, Maxim Emelyanychev

    5. I. Dialogo

      Composer: Benjamin Britten

      Performer: Nicolas Altstaedt, Maxim Emelyanychev

    6. II. Scherzo-pizzicato

      Composer: Benjamin Britten

      Performer: Nicolas Altstaedt, Maxim Emelyanychev

    7. III. Elegia

      Composer: Benjamin Britten

      Performer: Nicolas Altstaedt, Maxim Emelyanychev

    8. IV. Marcia

      Composer: Benjamin Britten

      Performer: Nicolas Altstaedt, Maxim Emelyanychev

    9. V. Moto Perpetuo

      Composer: Benjamin Britten

      Performer: Nicolas Altstaedt, Maxim Emelyanychev

    10. I. Dialogo

      Composer: Sándor Veress

      Performer: Nicolas Altstaedt

    11. II. Monologo

      Composer: Sándor Veress

      Performer: Nicolas Altstaedt

    12. III. Epilogo

      Composer: Sándor Veress

      Performer: Nicolas Altstaedt

    13. Blackbird (arr. for voice, cello and lute)

      Composer: John Lennon, Paul McCartney

      Performer: Nicolas Altstaedt, Thomas Dunford


Nicolas Altstaedt's starting point for this recording was the magnificent Second Concerto for Cello and Orchestra by Polish composer Grazyna Bacewicz (1909-1969): "On reading through the work for the first time, I immediately thought: why is this never played? Astonishing, how with just a few notes she can make a whole world appear." Pianist and conductor Maxim Emelyanychev conducts the Swedish Radio Orchestra and accompanies his friend in a work composed two years earlier: Benjamin Britten's Sonata for Cello and Piano, as well as a work by Morton Feldman from 1960, Durations II... Next comes a sonata by Sándor Veress, one of Altstaedt's favourite composers, this time for solo cello: composed in 1967, this landmark work in the solo cello repertoire completes this overview of music from the 1960s, which concludes with a live recording of John Lennon and Paul McCartney's famous Blackbird, recorded with Thomas Dunford on lute and vocals, in a church in Portugal as the bells strike midnight.