It's this week in classical music, an update on what's happening in the classical music world, I'm Randy Kinkel.

Conductor David Robertson and the St. Louis Symphony has just released their first download-only recording. The release is the first of a planned series that will include Stravinsky's Symphony in C, to be unveiled in September. This first download is American Composer John Adams' "Harmonielehre". The recording can be Dowloaded from amazon.com and itunes. "It's fitting that both the depth of musicianship and sense of musical adventure that are hallmarks of our orchestra," commented the SLSO's president and executive director, Fred Bronstein, "are brought together in a series of live recordings presenting the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra to the world via the Internet."

The Most expensive violin in the world was played for the first time in 70 years to guests of it's owner, Lawyer Maxim Viktorov, who lives in Moscow. Pinchas Zukerman played the 250-year-old violin, a Guarneri del Gesu in a concert for 160 people at a private concert. Viktorov paid a record-breaking 3.9 million dollars for the instrument at a Sotheby's auction. "I tried out the instrument a little in London before I bought it," said Viktorov, 35, a violin collector. "But since then, I haven't been able to touch it. This instrument cannot bear any agitation. I want the maestro, who lives by his art, to be the first to play it so that the violin feels it is receiving the respect it deserves. Then I might find the strength to play it myself because it's a great source of energy." Zukerman played a program of Bach, Mozart, and Bruch.

For the second year in a row, 100,000 listeners to classic FM in Britain have chosen Ralph Vaughn Williams' "The Lark Ascending" as their favorite classical piece. On the list of 300 favorites were 22 pieces by Mozart, the most favored composer, followed by 20 pieces by Beethoven and 14 by Bach. Vaughn Williams himself had 12 pieces on the list. Darren Henley, of Classic FM, said: "The British public has spoken and declared Vaughan Williams their champion. Vaughan Williams has cemented his position as among the best-loved English composers of all time."

For more information on these and other items and events, go to the website, kbaq.org; be listening every week at this time for another update, and join me each weekday at noon for the Mozart Buffet, and hour of music by Mozart and his contemporaries. I'm Randy Kinkel, For KBAQ's "This week in Classical Music", on listener-supported 89.5 KBAQ Phoenix, a service of Rio Salado College and Arizona State University.

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March 28, 2008 by Randy Kinkel courtesy of KBAQ.

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Title: March 28, 2008
Author: Randy Kinkel
Publisher: KBAQ 89.5 FM
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