Awesome Classical

The accordion may not have the range of an Electone, but accordion virtuoso Alexandr Hrustevich shows us that it’s enough to stand in for a string section in this 2013 performance of Vivaldi’s Summer and Borodin’s Petite Suite.

Members of the Canadian Brass let their fingers go flying at breakneck speeds in this classic footage from one of their performances of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s high-speed orchestral interlude. A more recent incarnation of the group shows off their chops here.

Musician Chris Thile performs a wonderful rendition of J.S. Bach’s Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, BWV 1001 on his mandolin. The entire 15 minute piece is impressive, but the bit starting at 11:42 is simply spellbinding.

The Piano Guys mash up the sounds of Johann Sebastian Bach with the Jackson 5’s I Want You Back – which is now permanently intertwined in our minds with Dancing Baby Groot – who should now be wearing a powdered wig.

While Nicolo Paganini’s compositions were largely played on string instruments, Nicola-Frank Vachon figured out a way to play each and every note of this concerto using only his goofy facial expressions. (Thanks OrionFyre!)

A street musician in Copenhagen rocks out an amazing performance of Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik using a bunch of water (or possibly liquor) filled bottles as his instrument of choice.

Anna and Arkadiusz Szafraniec, the Glass Duo made Tchaikovsky’s Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies all the more dreamy with this impressive glass harp rendition.