If you would like to refresh your slumbering need for music to soothe a fevered brow (be it low or high) you could do no better than obtain a copy of the Summer Night Concert 2025 with the Wiener Philharmoniker being conducted by Tugan Sokhiev in an eclectic selection of composers ranging from Bizet to Tchaikovsky. Released by Sony on 10 July in various formats under catalogue ref. LBM040

The sound of water movement in cascades and fountains delights and inspires my writing so I have five of such in the vicinity of my garden table! In Les Grands Eaux Musicales de Versailles famous conductor/director Jordi Savall has compiled no less than thirty-one fanfares and dances which were composed exclusively for performance within the fabulous gardens of French kings Louis XIII and Louis XIV. Played to perfection by Le Concert de Nations using instruments of the baroque (cat. AV9842).

Merry it is while Summer lasts is a compilation of mostly anonymous mediaeval and traditional European music by St. George´s Canzona (cat. CRD3412). This was released in year 2009 but includes recordings from 1982 onwards. In sharp contrast is Music for a Summer evening by ultra-modern composer George Crumb (cat. LBM040) and performed by the Hanson quartet plus contemporary performance artists who intersperse sparkle with silence!

The Seasons is the ever-popular title for bellwether works by both Vivaldi (Summer) and Tchaikovsky (July, August and September) but it seems they have never been recorded together. Instead, you may trace many fine interpretations by selecting from on-line catalogues and then downloading the tracks which appeal most to you.

There is a profusion of recordings in various formats for which you may follow the same procedure and thus expertly thread together a sequence to impress your guests for your impeccable taste while they enjoy your choice of refreshing Portuguese wines and canapés / petiscos! Here are some suggestions:

1, The luscious Summertime from Gershwin´s Porgy and Bess.

2. Fado gems from the digitalised ancient LPs of Amalia Rodrigues

2. Les Nuits d´Été by Berlioz – usually in harmony with Harold en Italie

3 Concierto de Aranjuez – Rodrigo and Cantos de España - Albeniz

4. Love duet from Tosca – Puccini (which may inspire).

5. Water Music by Handel and Wassermusik by Telemann

6. Last but not least, the music and tableaux from A Midsummer Night´s Dream by Mendelssohn from which I hope you will awake to the joy of a colourful Portuguese dawn.

Tomar. 12 July 2025