For Austria's National Day, my final post will be Gustav Mahler's Adagietto. Sehr langsam, Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor. Restored footage of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Leonard Bernstein, 1973. A heartwarming detail is that Bernstein loved this piece so much that he was buried with a copy of the score over his heart.

I want to present you with something new for me, the Millennial Choir & Orchestras, singing a Spanish Christmas carol from the 1500s.

Vivaldi's Concerto in B minor for 4 Violins and Orchestra, Op. 3 No. 10 RV 580, The Huberman Festival, 1983. It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime concert, with four of the greatest violinists on one stage. Ivry Gitlis, Isaac Stern, Ida Haendel, and Shlomo Mintz, with Zubin Mehta as Conductor. As a side note, Pinchas Zukerman and Itzhak Perlman also played that day, on the same stage.

Yesterday, Austria celebrated 200 years since Johann Strauss II was born, while today is Austria's National Day. For this occasion, Strauss's Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka seems optimal with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Wiener Philharmoniker).

I saw this ad for Daniel Harding conducting Verdi’s Requiem, but what caught my attention was the place, namely the Basilica di San Paolo fuori le Mura from Rome, Italy. Absolutely impressive.

Beethoven's String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 131, conducted by Leonard Bernstein It's mind-blowing to think Beethoven wrote it when he was completely deaf, and heart-melting to know that he wasn't able to hear the applause anymore. We don't have words to properly tell this story, but maybe ironically, this is why we have art, to express what words can't.

Let's start the weekend with Nikolai Lugansky performing Sergei Rachmaninov's Musical Moment No. 4 in E minor. This footage is from a concert recorded in La Roque d'Anthéron, France, in 2002.