For lunch break, I propose a moment with Ramona Zaharia singing Acerba voluttà, an aria from the Italian opera Adriana Lecouvreur by Francesco Cilea.

Today, we begin with Anne-Sophie Mutter's violin performance of Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61, together with Herbert von Karajan and Berliner Philharmoniker. I also attached the YouTube link for the whole performance. (1984) Side note: Mutter was discovered by Karajan when she was only 13 years old, but he recognised the talent and kept her under his wing. This specific recording is Karajan's last, and due to his deteriorating health, it remained unpublished until after his death in 1989, and it went unnoticed for many years before becoming a symbol of the German music school.

I never refer to someone's nationality or whatever personal details unless it's absolutely relevant to the plot. This time, I will make an exception. Mezzo-soprano Anja Mittermüller, from my beautiful adoptive country, Austria, won the SWR contest for young opera singers, on January 17. And she's magnificent! 👏👏👏👏👏 I uploaded the trailer and added the YouTube link for the (small and friendly) contest. [Ruperto Chapí y Lorente's "Al pensar en el dueno de mis amores" from "Las Hijas del Zebedeo"]

Probably the last jazz post for today, Lester Young's "Pennies from Heaven". (1950) "Originality is the thing. You can have tone and technique and a lot of other things, but without originality you ain't really goin' nowhere. Gotta be original." (Lester Young) Lester Young (tenor sax) Bill Harris(trombone) Hank Jones (piano) Ray Brown (bass) Buddy Rich (drums)