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Respighi visits the Trevi Fountains at midday:
Liszt – who was, apparently, a regular visitor at the Villa d’Este – does the astonishing feat of liquifying the piano:
More fountains and gushes of notes by Ravel:
Szymanowski, with a little help from Ovid, transforms the nymph Arethusa:
The three myths, a complete performance
Debussy in deeply reflective mood; helping us forget that the instrument has hammers:
More from Ovid; this time it’s Britten, who translates Narcissus from boy to flower:
I. Pan – 0:00
II. Phaeton – 1:50
III. Niobe – 3:22
IV. Bacchus – 5:19
V. Narcissus – 7:45
VI. Arethusa – 10:37
… more Britten – in collaboration with Tennyson – painting a Sublime landscape of castles, mountains, lakes and cataracts:
II. Nocturne: text
all of the Serenade for tenor, horn & strings
A love song by Messiaen: Le lac comme un gros bijou bleu…
II. Paysage: text & translation
Poèmes pour Mi, the whole cycle
Two lakes of tears. Tchaikovsky, from Swan Lake…
Fonteyn & Nureyev: Swan Lake complete
… and Bartók, from Bluebeard’s Castle:
Bluebeard’s Castle in its entirety
… and finally, Lyadov‘s enchanting Enchanted Lake:
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The Art of Listening 