Saturday 30 June 2007

The Beano Album

The Beano album, aka Bluesbreakers by John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers featuring Eric Clapton and so called because of the cover photograph, in which Clapton is reading the children's comic the Beano. This was the album that launched the era of the guitar hero, in the UK at least. The album is on one level a basic blues band album, Mayall throughout his career has been a champion of the blues. A competant but limited multi - instrumentalist himself, Mayall's claim to fame has been his ability to talent spot up and coming stars. He hit pay dirt with Clapton who arguably has rarely played since with the fire and originality that he does on this album. The actual sound and tone of the amplified guitar is simply more "electric" than anything heard before, adding youthful aggression to the sound of his inspirations, the various Kings of the blues ( BB, Freddie and Albert ). Mayall himself plays creditably with a Mose Allison impersonation on Parchman Farm, there's a tedious drum solo but the disk is really all about Clapton. Listen to Double Crossing Man, All Your Love and especially Have You Heard as well as the pure instrumentals.

How Many Do You Want To Take ?

Many in the jazz world are a bit sniffy about the album Time Out by the Dave Brubeck Quartet. The main reason being of course that it committed the cardinal sin of selling a lot of copies, mainly because of the inclusion of the track Take Five which seemed to catch the public imagination way back when. It does what it sets out to do in an exemplary fashion however. Accurately described as chamber jazz, it certainly relies a lot on composition and arrangement and there's not much wild blowing or improvisation. A lot of early swing was heavily arranged though and Brubeck just updated that concept into what at that time in 1959 was called "modern jazz". There's much to admire in the musicanship, Paul Desmond's sax tone and control, Joe Morello's rim shot drumming and a solid bass from Eugene Wright. Brubeck's not a virtuoso fireworks kind of pianist but he fits the overall cool concept and it is his project.

One Track Album

Shall I put this one up on eBay ? To be honest, it isn't the greatest. The title of the cd is Before The Dream Faded by the Misunderstood. It was never a "proper" album, this is just a cobbled together selection of what the record label calls rarities, obscurities and never before released tracks. I bought it because of one track that had been engrained in my memory since my youth, I Can Take You To The Sun. This track was championed by the disc jockey John Peel in his early days and he tried at that time to help the band get their career off the ground. It never happened for whatever reasons, shambolic organisation, shambolic personal lives. But that track was emblematic of the late sixties hippy dream and I was hoping the rest of the album might have a couple more like it. Sadly, all we get on the rest of it is a fairly blatant Yardbirds rip off. Steel guitarist Glenn Ross Campbell went on to some kind of success in the British based band Juicy Lucy but really this is a tale of what might have been.

Spanish Tinge

The album Caravanserai marked a change of direction for Santana from "blues/rock band with bongoes" towards a more jazzy and spiritual direction. Even over such a long career as they have had, I think it remains a peak. The band has weaknesses, they never seem to have thought it worth trying to recruit a decent singer for instance. But it can be quite a joyful experience when they are on song. Carlos has his cliches that keep recurring in his playing but there is always a pleasing melodic undertone provided by the Spanish tinge that characterises the band. What was side one of the original vinyl version of Caravanserai is a more or less continual segue representing some kind of daybreak or sunrise. There's an effective cover of the Antonio Carlos Jobim song Stone Flower too but it is the two closing tracks, La Fuente Del Ritmo and Every Step Of The Way, where the jazz influence really takes off and which give the album its' status. They are two impressive pieces of music by any standards.

Eurovision And Beyond

This is a lovely disk of the music of Charpentier. The performers are the Choeur de Chambre de Namur, Les Agremens and La Fenice under the direction of Jean Tubery. There are two works featured on the disk, the famous Te Deum and a Messe pour plusieurs instruments au lieu des orgues. As you can see it is all very French. Theya re two quite contrasting pieces from 17th century France. The Te Deum is famous these days because of the appropriation of the opening thems as the signature tune for Eurovision and the rest of the piece tends to continue in that ceremonial very public guise with a lot of pomp and circumstance. The Messe however is a much more sober liturgical piece with almost gregorian style chanting of the sacred texts interspersed with instrumental interludes of a reflective nature. All recorded in a wonderfully resonant and atmospheric church acoustic. The perfomances are beautifully played and sung. An intriguing mix of the archaic and modern.

Friday 29 June 2007

Not The Supersonic Jet

Back in the days when Warner Classics still made new recordings ( 2004 in this case ! ) it was possible to come up with cd's such as this, combining the talents of two of the artists on their roster. The cd is of music by Charles Ives and features the pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard. The main work is the mammoth Concord Sonata but the cd also features Aimard accompanying the mezzo-soprano Susan Graham on 17 of Ives's songs. Like much of Ives's output, these songs deal with the area of New England where he grew up. Some are serious settings of literary works, others playful childlike ditties and Graham throws herself whole heartedly into the characterisations. The Concord Sonata also aims to portray the spirit of New England, the four parts being named after and inspired by notables from the town of Concord Mass, namely Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Bronson Alcott and Henry Thoreau. Such inspiration was obviously there for Ives but the music isn't noticeably programmatic. Much of it is dissonant and abstract with occasional typical Ives touches of marching bands and ragtime. The final section has optional small parts for flute and viola and that option is taken here with the playing of Emmanuel Pahud and Tabea Zimmermann. Aimard is something of a specialist in this intense kind of repertoire and succeeds here in doing justice to an arduous piece.

Big Tunes

A bit of a heavyweight blockbuster of a cd this one. Martha Argerich playing Rachmaninoff Piano Concert No 3 and Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No 1. Both live recordings, the Rach with RSO Berlin and Riccardo Chailly and the Tchaik with Kirill Kondrashin and the Symphonie Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks.These are the big two romantic piano concertos and are ideally suited for Argerich's tempestuous style. The pieces are perenially popular, not much to be said about them in the context of a blog like this really. Except that even after listening so many times to so many performances, I still keep expecting the glorious opening theme from the Tchaikovsky to make a comeback in the first movement which it never does. Rachmaninoff isn't so profligate with his opening movement "big tune".

Thursday 28 June 2007

Might As Well make It a Good One

I guess if you are only going to write one symphony, you may as well make it a good one and I think it's fair to say that Cesar Franck did. Memorable tunes, intelligent development and fine orchestration. Franck was Belgian but is looked upon as "French" and the symphony reflects a Germanic influence. It deserves a solid place in the repertoire. although maybe it's a shame some of his other works don't get a little more exposure. This disk features the conductor Lorin Maazel and the Franck is performed with the Radio Symphonie Orchester Berlin. The other work on the disk sees him conducting the Berliner Philharmonicker in Mendelssohn's Symphony No 5, Reformation. A contrast, in that Franck was in his sixties when he composed his symphony and Mendelssohn only 21 when he wrote the Reformation. Not as obviously tuneful as some of his other orchestral works, it nevertheless has a sense of freshness and vitality. To be honest, I had forgotten that I had any recording of it, since this disk in my mind was thought of only as "the Franck".

Ethical Questions

This is an interesting and, by its' nature, controversial cd. Titled Edward Elgar The Sketches for Symphony No 3 Elaborated by Anthony Payne, it raises the ethical question of "completing" works unfinished at the time of a composer's death. There are many examples, Mahler's 10th symphony and Mozart's Requiem spring immediately to mind, but the specific controversy here transcended purely musical considerations since Elgar had specifically requested just prior to his death that the sketches not be "tinkered" with. Without going into great detail, the story is that Anthony Payne became aware of the sketches and worked on them for some time knowing of the family's embargo on them ever being performed or published. They were finally persuaded to change their minds when it became clear that the sketches would be out of copyright by 2005 and so they might as well have the sympathetic treatment of Payne rather than a free for all. As a piece of music, played here by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra conducted by Paul Daniel, it holds together very well to my ears but I don't have the musicological knowledge to get into the intricacies of how faithful it is to Elgar's intentions, how much is Elgar and how much is Payne etc. It does seem to have taken on a performing life of its' own but how long lasting that life will be once the novelty wears off remains to be seen.

Rock Me Amadeus

This is the kind of cd that I wouldn't buy these days but it was one of my first purchases when I began to get interested in classical music. A double cd called Amadeus The Essential Mozart Collection, it features what are now commonly called "bleeding chunks", or a sort of greatest hits. The sort of thing that would be owned by people who maybe only have one or two classical recordings. Having said that, it is reasonably sensibly put together and the performances are good. Much of the orchestral work is from the Academy of St Martin in the Fields under Neville Marriner and there are soloists of the quality of for instance pianist Mitsuko Uchida. The first cd is subtitled Orchestral and Instrumental Treasures, with the tuneful bits from various piano concertos and sonatas, horn, clarinet and oboe concertos, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, the tedious Musical Joke, a couple of movements from symphonies etc. Disk two is called Operatic and Choral favourites and has excerpts from for example the Requiem, Magic Flute, Don Giovanni, Marriage of Figaro etc plus a couple of overtures. The sort of album to put on while occupied with preparing a meal or something similar.

Wednesday 27 June 2007

New Generation Artists

Next up of the free covermount cd's from BBC Music magazine circa 2001. This one is a fine recital by members of the BBC New Generation Artists scheme, or at least artists who were current on the scheme back then. I think young performers get co-opted onto the scheme for a period of two or three years, during which they get recital exposure on BBC Radio 3 and occasionally some of them on these magazine cd's.This one features three fine performances. First up is violinist Elisabeth Batiashvili playing Partita No 1 in B minor for solo violin by Bach. Her recording career hasn't really taken off since her spell as an NGA, I think because she has chosen a sensible work / life balance, I believe she is now a mother for instance. She is too talented a performer not to reappear more frequently on disk I'm sure. The second piece features pianist Alexander Melnikov playing Chopin's Piano Sonata No 1 in E minor in an accomplished performance. Closing out the disk are the Belcea Quartet playing Debussy's only String Quartet in a performance that I think was later released commercially as part of their debut album. If I remember my previous post re. the Belceas disk of Brahms, I think I questioned the fact they seemed to have gone quiet on the recording front. I now believe that too is down to motherhood and that they are now active again.

You Can't Sit Still

In another of the coincidences that this process has been throwing up, we move from the bayan , or accordion, as featured by Sofia Gubaidulina to the totally different utilisation of the same instrument by Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas on an album called Hang It High, Hang It Low. Zydeco is the dance music of the creole people of Louisiana and it drives forward like a steam train. It reaches way back to before the British displaced the French as the colonial influence in the region. The distinguishing feature of the music is the use of accordion as the main lead instrument and rub board in the rhythym section. Other instrumentation is the same as any blues or r 'n' b band. The influence of blues is obviously there, as is that of the more countryfied cajun music of the French speaking white population. But zydeco remains distinctive as the ultimate good time dance music. Like all black US styles, it has to cope with loss of the older generation of innovators but the musicians in Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas span generations and offer hope for continuity. Whilst not being the most profound music you will ever hear, it sounds totally of the moment and remains relevant.

Tuesday 26 June 2007

Sparse And Reflective

A typical ECM New Series release, this one if of music by Sofia Gubaidulina. Gubaidulina struggled under the Soviet regime because of her Orthodox Christian beliefs but with the fall of the USSR has been able to relocate to Germany and continue to produce distinctive and personal work. Her music incorporates elements of both Russian Orthodox chant and folk elements with her own take on modernity. The main work on this cd is Seven Words for cello, bayan ( accordion by any other name ) and strings. The performers are Boris Pergamenschikow on cello, Elsbeth Moser on bayan and the Munchener Kammerorchester conducted by Christoph Poppen. Seven Words was inspired by the last seven words of Christ on the stations of the cross. This topic has been tackled before of course but this is a sparse and reflective take. It is the most recent piece on the cd, in some ways the other two pieces can be seen as leading up to it. Ten Preludes is for solo cello and was written to provide a practice piece showcasing the various techniques of cello playing. De Profundis is for solo bayan. The extraordinary sounds from the bayan in some parts of the piece reminded me of the way Peter Sculthorpe has used the didgeridoo.

Thoughtful Recital Programming

This is a very intelligent programme put together by pianist Helene Grimaud. The cd takes its' title Credo from the closing piece on the disk by Arvo Part for piano, mixed choir and orchestra. The same forces are required for Beethoven's Choral Fantasy and on this disk they are the Swedish Radio Choir and Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Esa-Pekka Salonen. The other two works on the cd are for solo piano, Fantasia on an Ostinato by contemporary American composer John Corigliano and Beethoven's Piano Sonata No 17, The Tempest. The two choral pieces are both redemptive, celebrating light and faith. The Choral Fantasy was a precursor of the 9th Symphony and the famous themes from the final movement of that are here in embryo. Part's Credo is one of his earlier works and takes a Bach prelude as one of its influences, in amongst loud dissonant passages. Corigliano also takes inspiration from the past for his piano piece, in this case Beethoven and the alegretto from the 7th Symphony. Grimaud plays with tact and restraint in the ensemble pieces and really stands out with her perfromance of the Tempest sonata. She is to be commended for attempting to reach beyond the normal confines of a recital.

Monday 25 June 2007

Benefitting From The Period

The music of Biber has now finally begun to take a rightful place in the hierarchy of baroque music progression. The catalyst for this is in the period instrument music because more than some others of his contemporaries, Biber's music only really makes sense played on a baroque violin. This is mainly because of his methods of tuning and the technique of scordatura. The cd for consideration here is by the performing group Sonnerie lead by violinist Monica Huggett. The works played here are four sonatas for violin, viola da gamba, harpsichord and theorbo, a Passacaglia for solo violin and a setting of Nisi Dominus sung by the bass Thomas Guthrie. This is music of great character, especially the Passacaglia. Competition among recent recordings is quite fierce but Monica Huggett acquits herself very well. I do have a further cd of the Rosary Sonatas which I'll consider when it is next off the shelf and the playing on that does manage to surpass her but hey, it isn't an Olympic sport.

Sunday 24 June 2007

Rare Rorem

This is a rewarding cd of chamber music by Ned Rorem, another issue on the Naxos American Classics series. The three pieces featured are for unusual combinations. Well ok, clarinet, violin and piano is common enough which is what End of Summer is written for. But the piece Book of Hours is written for flute and harp and Bright Music is for a chamber ensemble comprising flute, two violins, cello and piano. The performers are the Fibonacci Sequence. Rorem is most celebrated for his art song compositions, both with orchestral and solo piano accompaniment. but in fact his compositions are much more wide ranging. Another American with a strong Paris connection, it is not a surprise that he had some contact with Poulenc. The works here are basically tonal but also clearly of the 20th century and are the work of a confident secure composer who knows his own mind. The Fibonacci Sequence are a British ensemble whose various members do full justice to the interesting music presented here. The pieces are vaguely programmatic with Book of Hours following the prayer cycle of a typical day from matins to compline. The programme is not imposed to a stifling or obvious degree however.

American Dean

This is one of the more difficult posts to make because if I am honest, just about the only things I know of the composer concerned come from the cd booklet notes and I am loathe to simply reproduce a precis of those. It is part of Naxos's American Classics series and the budget price makes it tempting to sometimes take a flyer on things you don't know. The cd in question is of music by Walter Piston, his 4th Symphony, Capriccio For Harp and String Orchestra and Three New England Sketches, by the Seattle Symphony under Gerard Schwarz. The harp soloist is Therese Elder Wunrow. Piston was a 20th century conservative musically but there is no harm in continuing to be proficient in forms that have survived well over the years. Like Copland, he studied with Nadia Boulanger and subsequently gained a teaching post at Harvard where his own pupils included Carter and Bernstein. An enjoyable record, as might be expected Gerard Schwarz is perfectly at home with this repertoire. I have to admit that I would need to hear more to begin to get a handle on Piston as anything more that a skilled craftsman but even that has its' own worth and isn't intended to be faint praise.

Saturday 23 June 2007

Trawling

Not sure how to categorise the cd I Trawl The MEGAHERTZ ( the capitals are used on the cd ) by Paddy McAloon. McAloon was the main man in the band Prefab Sprout. During a prolonged spell of ill health, he was unable to work and spent time recording various pieces of found sound from late night phone ins and citizens band radio. An insight into a strange, melancholy world. His artists instinct then took over and the found sounds and conversations were refined into the lengthy title track, spoken by an American actress weaving an intriguing and involving tale. The musical backdrop is built over a repeating refrain, mainly played by a small string ensemble but also appearing as whistling and on trumpet / flugelhorn with slowly evolving developments. There is another shorter track containing some genuine pre-recorded phone in soundbites which is equally affecting, especially the male voice intoning "I'm 49, divorced". The remaining tracks are instrumental, utilising the string players and the jazz colours of Rick Standley, Gerard Presencer and Julian Arguelles on trumpet, clarinet and keyboards. They are minimalist in feel and suggest that McAloon had been listening to people such as Philip Glass and Michael Nyman. I checked up on the net to see what McAloon's current activities were, since this cd dates from 2003. According to Wikipedia ( so treat with care ) it seems that he has had further debilitating health problems which only adds to the poignant feel of much of this record.

Exercises In Orchestration

I bought this cd of Ravel Orchestral Works for the selection of repertoire that it contained rather than for the performers. Bernard Haitink and the Boston symphony Orchestra might not be considered to be Ravel specialists but they perform perfectly adequately. The main piece on the cd is the ballet suite Ma Mere L'Oye ( Mother Goose )Also included are the early work Menuet Antique, Rhapsodie Espagnole and La Valse. The Spanish piece is often considered alongside similar pieces by Chabrier and Rimsky Korsakov but Ravel's basque background gives him an advantage in producing a more convincing and musical evocation of Spain. La Valse is programmed so often on radio and in the concert hall ( probably simply because the length and forces required are so suitable for a filler ) that it is easy to forget what a subversive take on the waltz it is. The Mother Goose work began as a piano piece that Ravel later used to demonstrate his considerable orchestrating skills. It shows the childhood innocence of a fairy tale but there are interesting oriental gamelan influences too.

Operatic Mozart

Simply titled Mozart Arias, this cd by Cecilia Bartoli is one of those cobbled together compilations that can surface when an artist changes record labels. In this case though, it has been easy to put together a sensible and coherent package. There are four arias from the early Mozart work Lucio Silla, two Cherubino arias from Le Nozze de Figaro and six from Cosi Fan Tutte in the character of Dorabella. The accompaniment for the Lucio Silla and Nozze arias is from Concentus Musicus Wien under Nikolaus Harnoncourt and for the Cosi arias from Daniel Barenboim and the Berliner Philharmoniker. It's a good cd compilation for me to have, since I don't think I could handle the complete operas, certainy not on audio cd, maybe dvd at some point. It's always easy to let Mozart just wash over you but it repays careful listening too in spades. Bartoli is one of the most thoughtful and musicianly of the superstar soloists of her particular generation, tending to serve the music rather than be self serving towards her career. Which ironically has helped to drive her career forward anyway.

Friday 22 June 2007

Arctic Birds Not Monkeys

I've already dealt with a few pieces of music that have had the influence of bird song to a greater or lesser extent. Cantus Arcticus by the Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara goes a step further and is actually a concerto for birds and orchestra, using pre-recorded tapes of bird song from the Arctic Circle and the Finnish marshlands. It is a wonderfully evocative piece which immediately conjures up the frozen northern vistas. Strange then that on listening, I was struck by similarities to some of the pieces by the Australian Peter Sculthorpe that I had recently written about and which of course were inspired by landscape at the opposite end of the spectrum. This cd of music by Rautavaara features the Royal Scottish National Orchestra conducted by Hannu Lintu. The other works on the disk are the Piano Concerto No 1 with soloist Laure Mikkola and Symphony No 3. The piano concerto pre-dates Cantus Arcticus but similarities in some of the themes can be discerned and the solo style is representative of Rautavaara's own percussive style of playing. The third symphony is written in a twelve tone method but remains a tonal piece that could be said to be vaguely Brucknerian with a 20th century twist.

Thursday 21 June 2007

Not Just a Famous Tune

The period instrument band Europa Galante under Fabio Biondi playing String Quintets by Boccherini. Boccherini was a contemporary of Haydn and Mozart but the most prolific part of his working life was spent in the court of the Infante Don Luis in Spain. His position at court was similar to that of Haydn with the Esterhazy court but he was not under so much pressure to compose in any particular style and to any particular order. The quintet line up here is of two violins, two cellos and viola and was governed by resources available at the time and the music is elegant chamber music recognisable as coming from the classical period. Don Luis sent copies to Frederick William II of Prussia who was an enthusiastic cellist, so Boccherini's work was known outside Spain. The cd concludes with a performance of Boccherini's famous minuet. If you don't think you know the tune.....you do ! For a long time it seemed the general view was that the minuet amounted to Boccherini's entire output. Good to see that situation being rectified. Europa Galante are always committed and lively performers with a biting edge that ensures the music here never becomes saccharine.

Young Bob

Majestic soul blues on Heavy Picks - The Robert Cray Band Collection. Robert Cray made a cycle of superb albums through the middle to late eighties that threatened real mainstream success, Strong Persuader actually hitting the top twenty album chart in the US. Tagged as a blues man because of his outstanding and distinctively individual guitar style, he was always more than that. With those eighties albums his songwriting, featuring the thinly disguised Young Bob character, conjured up a dark world of unfaithful lovers, motel rooms, late night liaisons and messy consequences. The characters actions were decidedly adult but reckless and the mellow soulful voice managed to convey this world together with some scorching guitar. The chart success proved a mixed blessing when the record company became disappointed that it couldn't be repeated despite the continued excellence of subsequent releases. Constant touring, often supporting unsuitable acts, also took a toll. Robert Cray still plays and records but somehow seems to have lost his songwriting mojo and is in danger of settling into the role of respected bluesman trundling out boogie shuffles, which is a shame. He could come again though and in the meantime, this collection represents shows how special he could be.

Ah - Hum

I really should have a genuine Charles Mingus recording in my collection but what I have instead is the Essential Mingus Big Band. The Mingus Big Band is a touring and recording group that keeps going performing the music of Charles Mingus under the auspices of his widow Sue. Whatever doubts there might be about this being a somewhat sterile approach, keeping a never changing form in aspic, are removed by the drive and spirit of the performances and the quality of the musicians such as Randy Brecker and Kenny Drew. Sue Mingus also ensures that the standard never drops, they have just finished touring the UK and reports are that they were excellent. As far as this cd is concerned, it consists of performances recorded during the 90s and includes some of Mingus's stand out compositions such as Haitian Fight Song, Fables of Faubus, Moanin', Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting and Goodbye Pork Pie Hat. I guess the nature of the project is that it concentrates on the more straight ahead blues based grooves than some of the more left field aspects of his output but that doesn't detract from a fine album of jazz blowing.

Wednesday 20 June 2007

What Are We Fighting For ?

The Collected Country Joe and the Fish. I never saw the band live but judging from the way that English bands such as the original Fleetwood Mac never succeeded in transferring the electricity of their stage act onto record, I'm willing to believe that Country Joe and the Fish must have been a blast. This "best of" cd has five or six standout tracks, including probably the best known Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine and the ubiquitous Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die Rag, amongst some pretty disposable stuff. A certain nostalgic charm though and a political establishment bashing approach that seems sadly lacking these days with young bands. Also Barry Melton has that curious trembly San Francisco guitar sound that was also displayed by Jorma Kaukkonen with the Jefferson Airplane and John Cippolina with the Quicksilver Messenger Service. Be the first one on your block to have your boy come home in a box.

Broooooce

Does the world really need a blog posting from me about Bruce Springsteen ? The pretty obvious answer to that rhetorical question has to be no ! But since the box set Essential Bruce Springsteen has dropped off the shelf to be played, I'll venture a few thoughts. Springsteen's probably the closest to a mainstream megastar in my collection and over the years there have been a few things I've been less comfortable with, such as the stadium rock era and all that "The Boss" stuff. I do however think that he has always been a genuine and thoughtful artist in amongst the crowd pleasing epics and even most of those are a lot of fun. His heart is in the right place and there is an intelligence and sense of place to his lyrics that honour the ordinary. Another thing that has drawn me to him particularly is that we are virtually the same age ( he's eleven days older than me ) and a feature of his writng is that he has always moved forward and written songs that are applicable to the time of life in which he found himself. And I've been able to relate to that too as I've gone along. As to this collection, it's a triple cd set, the first two being selections from all albums from Greetings From Asbury Park to The Rising and the third a bonus album of unissued rarities. The selections are sensible, although The River gets short changed a little. With this age thing, I can appreciate that Springsteen may not have that much more left in his locker, certainly as far as filling stadiums goes. Last year's Seeger Sessions showed a certain scaling down. But on past evidence, he may well still surprise with something valid and meaningful.

Tuesday 19 June 2007

Master of the Viol

Paris in the second half of the 17th century. The acknowledged master of the viol was Monsieur de Sainte Colombe. But such are the vagaries and chance of history that information about this character is extremely sketchy. Which hasn't stopped this cd having extensive and erudite booklet notes which I won't regurgitate here. Suffice it to say that Sainte Colombe was a skilful teacher and founded a school of viol playing that led on to Marin Marais. But he lived in a time and place when hardly any music was written down in manuscript, so much of the music on this album Pieces de Viole is partially improvised from sketches by the very proficient team of Paolo Pandolfo on viola da gamba and Thomas Boysen on theorbo and baroque guitar. These sketches were probably made by pupils of Sainte Colombe. The music is grouped into four suites, some for instance predominantly in the minor, others in the major. Dance forms of the time are liberally represented such as the gigue, sarabande, courente and chaconne.

Different Strokes

This one is a cd of music by Steve Reich performed by the Orchestre National de Lyon conducted by David Robertson. The featured work is Different Trains in a form for string orchestra and pre-recorded tape. One of Reich's more well known pieces, the pre-recorded tape features snippets of speech relating to the idea of two very different kinds of train journey made in the early 1940s, one by the boy Reich from New York to Chicago commuting between his estranged parents and the other by the Nazi oncentration camp victims. The voices are of Reich's nanny, a pullman train porter and of holocaust survivors. The musical content has a driving train rhythym that is typical of Reich's minimalist approach and the whole is a thought provoking piece. Of all the early minimalist composers, Reich has stayed closest to that approach and has been the most successful in championing it as a valid concept. The cd features two other driving string pieces, Triple Quartet and the Four Sections. While more abstract and lacking the programmatic features of Different Trains, they are no less interesting and draw the listener in.

Monday 18 June 2007

"A Major Figure of 20th century Music"

There really shouldn't be a need any longer to defend Ralph Vaughan Williams from the charge of merely being a member of some English pastoral school. but I will make an exception to my rule of not quoting too much from the cd booklet notes and repeat some of what the conductor here of the London Philharmonic Orchestra says ( Sir Roger Norrington ) "In these performances, I want to portray a major figure of 20th century music. A marvellously individual composer who just happened to be English, who chose his tonalities as freely as Debussy and Ravel and his unique rhythms as deftly as Stravinsky or Bartok. He may have worn tweed and enjoyed cream buns but his soul was ablaze with glory, pity and anger." The symphony in question on this particular disk is no 2, the London Symphony. It must be remembered that the London of 1913 was a massively different place to the London of today but no less vibrant and the music reflects that. Also on the cd is the wonderful Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis for double string orchestra and solo quartet. Another good quote concerning the premiere of this piece from the composer Herbert Howells, "It all seemed so incredibly new at the time but I soon came to realise how very, very old it actually was." Although sometimes programmed in the US, VW remains little known in Europe. I recall hearing that when the Tallis Fantasia was programmed quite recently for the Vienna Philharmonic, the strings fell in love with the piece and wondered where this music had been all their careers. Finishing off this cd is a performance of Serenade to Music, setting words by Shakespeare and with a very strong cast of English singers such as Felicity Lott and Anthony Rolfe Johnson.

One of "Les Six"

It is sometimes hard to work out why some composers and some works retain a much higher profile than others. While not unknown, Arthur Honegger is not exactly a staple name in the contemporary concert hall. This cd is of his 2nd and 3rd Symphonies, played by the Berliner Philharmoniker under Herbert von Karajan. Honegger was in occupied Paris during WW2 and the timing effects the content of these two symphonies. The 2nd was written during the war and is lightly scored for string orchestra and solo trumpet. It has a suitably melancholic feel and the unusual foces required to perform it perhaps explain why it is seldom heard in concert. The third however ( written just after the war ) is a powerful piece written for a very large orchestra and would not be at all out of place being programmed instead of Shostakovich once in a while. There are some superficial similarities with the sound world. Karajan isn't one of the most fashionable conductors these days, having suffered a backlash since his death, but he is even now considered to be an excellent advocate for Honegger's music. As a makeweight, the cd finishes with the brief Concerto for String Orchestra by Stravinsky in his neo classical mode. This makes a good fit with the Honegger works.

Sunday 17 June 2007

Quiet Beauty

A beautiful recital by Anne Sofie von Otter called Music For a While - Baroque Melodies. Although not a baroque specialist, von Otter is versatile and a sensitive enough musician to do justice to the project. The programme divides between Italy and England with a small band of musicians accompanying as appropriate to each song. Some just have harpsichord or chamber organ, some a solo lute, others include continuo from theorbo and baroque guitar. Composers with songs featured are Ferrari, Frescobaldi, Monteverdi, Barbara Strozzi, Purcell and Dowland. The programme is also broken up by a few instrumental interludes, a harpsichord piece by Storace, a couple for theorbo by Kapsberger and a lute solo by the English composer Robert Johnson ( wonder if he went down to the crossroads ? ). The entire programme is fairly restrained and quiet but it is cleverly paced so that it starts in the bright sunshine of the Mediterranean ( Ferrari ) and eventually winds down to the melancholy of an English autumn ( Dowland ). There is much beauty through the entire disk however.

That Old "Cathedrals In Sound" Cliche

When I first started to listen seriously to classical music, my first purchases were of works that I knew at least a little about and in which I thought I might recognise some of the themes. Maybe my first foray outside that comfort zone was this double cd of Bruckner symphonies, no 3 and no 4, by the Wiener Philharmoniker under Karl Bohm. I was captivated by the sound world, particularly of the 4th ( romantic ) Some irony in this being a recording by the Vienna Phil when they treated the premiere performances so badly of much of Bruckner's work. A lot of cliches attach themselves to his symphonies, cathedrals in sound etc. But these do serve perhaps as a way in to the music for a novice. A victim of the prejudices and conservatism of Viennese society and of music politics surrounding the competing camps of Wagner and Brahms, it is interesting to now see the central place in the performing repertoire that many of his symphonies have and how the Bruckner / Mahler axis could be said to be more popular than Brahms with current orchestras and conductors.

Saturday 16 June 2007

Norwegian Wood ( wind ) But it's Danish !

The next one up of the vintage BBC Music magazine cover disks from about six years ago. A worthwhile coupling of music from Nielson, the Clarinet Concerto and Symphony no 4 ( The Inextinguishable ) The performers are the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Tadaaki Otaka conducts the concerto, soloist Robert Plane, and the symphony is conducted by Petri Sakari. I have another performance of The Inextinguishable as part of the complete symphonies on two double cd's by the San Francisco Symphony and Herbert Blomstedt, so will talk about it more when they roll around. This is the only recording I have of the Clarinet Concerto however. A late work by Nielson, it is very sparsely scored and although maybe not immediately attention grabbing, it repays close listening and is considered one of, if not the, major clarinet concertos since Mozart. As a totally off the wall observation, what do we thing of hairstyles ? All the photgraphs I've seen of Nielson show a surprisingly modern looking spikey cut for a guy whose youth was at the back end of the 19th century ! Symbolic of the forward thinking of his music maybe ?

Another Storm Has Come

This cd was recorded in rural Louisiana shortly after the devastation of hurricane Katrina. By Irma Thomas, the title of the cd is After The Rain, the closing track is a ballad, Shelter In The Rain. So, is it all about Katrina ? Well, not really. The album was planned and the material decided upon prior to the storm. One track was subsequently added, the old country blues song Another Man with amended storm related lyrics. Irma Thomas is a soulful singer of immense experience and the songs were specially selected to highlight her mature interpretative skills and to reflect her time in life. The impact of the storm must have had an effect ( Irma's home was destroyed, although she was working out of town at the time Katrina hit ) but she says that she had already put it behind her by the time of this recording. Part of putting it behind her though has become inextricably linked with the fight to restore the city to what it should be, especially musically. With Dr John, Allen Toussaint and in a slightly different context Wynton Marsalis, Irma is the public face of New Orleans music as is strives to continue while many of the musicians are scattered. Listening to this album would convince anyone why that is important.

Friday 15 June 2007

A Touch of Romany

A very nice programme of music for piano and violin by Ravel and Enescu put together by violinist Leonidas Kavakos and pianist Peter Nagy. Ravel and Enescu were friends in Paris and the concept of the programme to some extent relies on the French penchant for the exotic influence in amongst the normal cool Gallic purity of their music. The perceived exotic influence here is the gypsy influence but the counterpoint to that is that Enescu shied away from what he saw as the kitsch of many gypsy representations of the time, preferring to stress what he saw as the true Romanian folk music in his compositions in much the same way as Bartok did with Hungary. The two pieces featured by Enescu are Impressions d'Enfance and Sonata Number 3 for violin and piano, the latter subtitled "pour le caractere populaire roumain". The Ravel pieces are Sonate Posthume, so called because it was not published until after his death despite being an early composition, and the familiar showpiece Tzigane. Kavakos and Nagy are a regular perfoming duo and play superbly throughout.

Cinderella Symphony

Beethoven's 8th Symphony can be considered the Cinderella amongst his late symphonies. On the most superficial level, it is relatively short. It doesn't have a name that has stuck to it, although the first edition did title it "Eighth Great". It maybe doesn't have so many memorable themes. But Beethoven himself thought it fgatr better than the seventh and Berlioz wrote that is was "brilliant, novel and lavishly developed". Sadly, the under appreciation continues to this day when it is much less likely to get programmed than the 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th and 9th, normally only featuring if a cycle is being embarked upon. It's clear that it is a major composition in Beethoven's catalogue, however. This recording by the Berliner Philharmoniker and Herbert von Karajan more than does it justice. Because of the short length of the symphony, the cd also includes three overtures, Coriolan, Fidelio and Leonore III. The overture is another interesting form, one of the major money spinners for composers in the 19th century but now somewhat ignored.

Thursday 14 June 2007

Edwardian Romance

Sir Granville Bantock was a contemporary of Elgar and at the time was considered to be no less a figure. It is history that so far has treated them differently. Elgar himself said that Bantock had "the most fertile musical brain of our time" and his music was considered more modern than Elgar. I think the dates of his life are significant here, 1868 - 1946, a period when changes in society at large and certainly in music were overwhelming. So to be writing still in a romantic vein at the outbreak of WW2 was looked upon as being anacronistic. This cd by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vernon Handley features three works, including one written in 1939 to which the anachronistic tag could be applied. It was his third symphony but had the programmatic title of The Cyprian Goddess. Bantock didn't write any film music but there is a visual feel here and a nostalgia that is understandable in a man of his age at the time. The other works are Helena, a set of variations on the theme of his wife's initials and a reply to Elgar's Enigma written just after at the turn of the century, and a poem for orchestra based on Dante and Beatrice. Music of a time and place but not to be criticised for that and certainly standing comparison with Elgar.

More 20th Century Baroque

I've already posted about Leopold Stokowski's transcriptions for full symphony orchestra of music by J S Bach. This second cd in the same vein is called Stokowski's Symphonic Baroque by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra under Matthias Bamert. The composers given "the treatment" here are Handel, Buxtehude, Cesti, Purcell, Victoria, Byrd, Corelli and Vivaldi. Again, I would say that the art of transcription is an honourable one although I certainly wouldn't want to hear this repertoire performed in this style too often. But if you are going to play it on a full modern symphony orchestra, then the transcription route would be the way to go. As might be expected, some things work better than others but it is never less than interesting. The most curious must be the Buxtehude transcription featuring the ondes martenot as the solo instrument. The BBc Phil obviously enjoy luxuriating in the scores and the oboe deserves to be mentioned in despatches ( Christopher Blake )

Wednesday 13 June 2007

Des Knaben Wunderhorn

The collection of German romantic poems titled Des Knaben Wunderhorn ( the youth's magic horn, no giggling at the back ) was a source of inspiration to many composersincluding Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms and Zemlinsky. But in a musical sense they are most closely associated with Mahler. He used extracts in his second, third and fourth symphonies but also set many others for lieder recitals but with orchestral settings. This excellent cd is by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Chailly with soloists Matthias Goerne and Barbara Bonney. There are cheerful settings of poems devoted to nature and young love but there is throughout a darker undercurrent with tragic military tales and a hint of the supernatural. Chailly uses pared down chamber orchestra resources which is in line with Mahler's original intentions that the songs be played in a small hall. He did not write much chamber music and maybe these songs in some way stand in for that.The Concertgebouw is a fine orchestra and both solists are in fine form, especially Goerne.

Tuesday 12 June 2007

The Colour Purple

An album by Paris based Vietnamese jazz guitarist Nguyen Le celebrating Jimi Hendrix, entitled Purple. The style is very much jazz rock, sort of Weather Report meets Hendrix. Le's guitar playing is suitably virtuosic and only occasionally veers more towards Ernie Isley than the sainted Jimi. The female drummer Terri Lynne Carrington handles some vocal duties and there are also occasional solo contributions on piano that enhance the jazzy feel. A smattering of world music percussion and samples too, particularly effective when taking Voodoo Child back to Africa. Otherwise, the tracks that work best are Hendrix's more left field compositions such as Third Stone From The Sun, A Merman I Should Be and Are You Experienced, rather than the more straight ahead Manic Depression and Purple Haze.

End of a Cycle

I've already dealt with the Triple cd of late Beethoven string quartets by the Takacs Quartet and also the double cd of the early ones. Completing the cycle here with the double cd of what I guess are the "middle" quartets, the three Razumovsky quartets and the Harp quartet. Not much more to be said about the performances, I think it is generally accepted that the Takacs cycle is one of, if not the best currently available. As to the progression of Beethoven's music, the Razumovsky quartets mark the first radical shift from the string quartet tradition that had gone before, contemporaneous really with the Eroica in the field of the symphony.

Monday 11 June 2007

One Hit Wonder

As with pop music, there are some classical composers who have been fated to be remembered by just one notable work. A case in point is Canteloube and Songs of the Auvergne. This particular recording features a selection of 17 songs from the various books he composed of settings of folk songs from the Auvergne region of France, an area of the country that remains off the beaten track even today. The performers are soprano Jill Gomez and the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vernon Handley. Often looked upon as an English music specialist, Handley and the LPO seem equally at home with the more dreamy Gallic arrangements of Canteloube and Jill Gomez acts the songs delightfully. This reissue cd also has a filler of four short orchestral pieces by Faure, including the lovely Pavane Op 50 and more lightweight Masques et Bergamasques.

Finnish Tone

Sibelius Tone Poems performed by the Lahti Symphony Orchestra under Osmo Vanska. This combination have completed a fine cycle of all of Sibelius's orchestral music but with my policy of avoiding unnecessary duplication of material, this is the only cd of theirs that I have. There are seven tone poems included, the most substantial of which are En Saga, Pohjola's Daughter, Night Ride and Sunrise and The Oceanides. They cover a period from 1892 to 1914 in terms of composition, which is from the beginning of Sibelius's orchestral writing to the height of his early success. Several of the pieces take their inspiration from Finnish folk tales, although Sibelius always manages to evoke a certain Finnish feel without quoting directly from folk tunes, in a similar way to Dvorak with Czech themes. The Oceanides is the exception since the story is taken from classical mythology and the music has more of an impressionist feel. Despite the title, there isn't anything particularly nautical in the representation and any temptation to compare with Debussy's La Mer should be resisted. The Lahti Symphony, as would be expected, are totally at home in this repertoire.

Sunday 10 June 2007

Neopolitan Baroque

More baroque sacred music on a cd from Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques called Miserere - Music From the Royal Chapel Naples by Leonardo Leo. Leo was involved in Neoplolitan opera as well as sacred music and some of the pieces featured on the cd do have an operatic feel to them. There is great depth and sincerity to the music however, using the gifts of fine singing to illuminate the liturgical texts. The instrumental forces of Les Talens Lyriques are pared down to a small chamber group for these works, while amongst the singers is the beautiful soprano voice of Sandrine Piau. This is comparetively obscure music that is well worth getting to know.

A Blues Life

More deep blues from north Mississippi on an album by Robert Belfour called What's Wrong With You. Unlike the R L Burnside album discussed earlier, this one is stripped right back to basics. There are rudimentary drums on two of the tracks but otherwise it is Robert Belfour and his resonator guitar going solo. Now aged 67, his life story is one of hard times, having to earn a living for his family from an early age after the death of his father and working construction for 35 years. Late in life he has now had the opportunity to become a full time musician. The songs are concerned with the staples of the blues but the riffs are memorable and the playing crisp and articulate. It is a treat to hear such playing in state of the art modern recorded sound. We'll never know exactly what Robbert Johnson or Charlie Patton sounded like without the hiss but records like this and performers like Robert give us some idea and are to be treasured.

Cocktail Trane

What happens when you take the cocktail lounge jazz gentre and place a genius on tenor saxophone in the middle of it ? Something pretty similar to this compliation cd, Coltrane for Lovers. Obviously put together as a marketing ploy to garner sales from some kind of yuppie market ( there are still yuppies aren't there, even if they no longer go by that name ) the musicianship still makes it a worthwhile listen. Eleven ballads, with Coltrane's standard quartet including McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones etc on most of them, augmented on three tracks by the velvet baritone vocals of Johnny Hartman and on two others Duke Ellington is the pianist. Even when Coltrane is just stating the melody more or less straight, the tone and control of the playing is wonderful. Since the tracks are ballads, he can't be said to "cut loose" on any of them but the improvisations show great taste and imagination and you realise that what you are listening to is more than just run of the mill.

Saturday 9 June 2007

Can It

The Very Best of Canned Heat, does what is says on the tin. In many ways, Canned Heat were just a glorified bar band and a lot of this album is good natured boogie and retreads of standard blues repertoire. The possibility that the band could aspire to something a bit more significant rested mainly with Al "Blind Owl" Wilson who was responsible for the two standout tracks here, On The Road Again and Going Up The Country, the latter memorably featured on the movie of Woodstock. He was also a fine harmonica player and was knowledgeable in both the blues and Indian music fields. There's some beginnings of using Indian modes in the somewhat meandering pschedlic workout Parthenogenesis. Sadly, Wilson committed suicide in 1970 and the bands creativity dried up. They continued to be ill starred and the other lead singer and blues expert Bob Hite also suffered an early death from a heart attack in 1981. I believe the Canned Heat franchise continues to do gigs with the drummer the one surviving original band member.

Does Spoonful Really Have To Be Played for Twenty Minutes ?

Nostalgia from my formative years, I Feel Free - Ultimate Cream Triple CD Boxset. As I mentioned when considering the Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac cd, Cream are another band that never really succeeded in putting down on record a definitive statement of how good they were. In those days, all the effort seemed to focus on never ending touring, particularly in the States, and recording had to be fitted in as an afterthought. The three cd's on this box set comprise one of selections from their four studio albums, one of live concert recordings and one of BBC radio sessions which is pretty disposable. Having seen the video from the 2005 reunion concerts at the Albert Hall, it was interesting to notice how the dynamic of the band had changed. When they formed in the sixties Clapton was the fan focus but nobody had told Baker and Bruce who in fact were often the dominating and driving forces. By the time of the reunion however, it was clear that it was only taking place with the sanction of the established member of rock aristocracy and Clapton was the man in charge. But even with this dynamic, he was pushed by the others to performances that he had rarely if ever produced in the intervening 35 or so years.

Friday 8 June 2007

Sephardic Diaspora

This is quite a special album entitled Ayre, which is one of the pieces on the cd written by Osvaldo Golijov for voice and small chamber ensemble ( Dawn Upshaw and the Andalusian Dogs ) The industry wants to push Golijov as the new big thing in classical music, although to me this work is more of a form of world music fusion taking for its' inspiration as it does Sephardic melodies, Semitic electronica and Arabic poetry. There is a clear political statement being made too, relating back to the time in Andalucia when Jewish, Arabic and Christian communities co-existed. Golijov wrote the piece to be a companion to Folk Songs for voice and seven instruments by Berio which makes up the rest of the cd. I think the whole works very well but see it more as an isolated, albeit excellent, project rather than a whole new direction for classical music to take. I even wonder how much of a performing life his recent work in this vein will have, relying as it does on the tour de froce interpretations of Dawn Upshaw. She is currently battling illness from which it is to be hoped she makes a complete recovery. I wonder how many other sopranos would take the risks to their voice with the distortion and emotion she puts into the ethnic songs. I suppose in that respect, comparisons could be drawn with Berio and Cathy Berberian for whom he wrote the Folk Songs among many other pieces.

Pacific Rim

A fascinating cd of music by Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe. I was going to title the entry Ozzie Rules but realised that Sculthorpe's interests rang wider than Australia itself and take in much more of the whole Pacific rim. For a start, he was born in Tasmania which while being politically a region of Australia retains a distinct island identity. The music is very melodic and programmatic, often conjuring up vivid images. The cd is performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra conducted by James Judd, with soloists Tamara Anna Cislowska in the piano concerto and William Barton on didgeridoo in the title piece Earth Cry. The virtuosic didgeridoo playing is far removed from that of Rolf Harris and the whole piece reflects the outback and the fierce aboriginal connection to the land, as does another piece on the disk, Kakadu. Environmental concerns seem pertinent here also. The piano concerto is one continuous work and has elements of Balinese gamelan music and the other two pieces further reflect the wider Pacific rim with From Oceania taking ideas from Japanese percussion and Memento Mori a lush orchestral soundscape reflecting on the fate of the native inhabitants of the isolated Easter Island.

Thursday 7 June 2007

Sacred Offerings From the Red Priest

Sacred music from Vivaldi on a cd by the countertenor David Daniels and the period instrument ensemble Europa Galante led by Fabio Biondi. There are three pieces on the cd, settings of the Stabat Mater and Nisi Dominus plus a motet Longe Mala. The music written for the orphans in the Ospedale della Pieta in Venice would probably have been sung by a contralto, so the fit with David Daniels' voice is a good one. The Stabat Mater is probably the first piece of sacred music that Vivaldi wrote and is a suitably sombre setting. The Nisi Dominus is more advanced Vivaldi and much more of a musical than emotional tour de force while by the time we get to the motet, it is clearly in an operatic style that may well have served as an advertisement for a forthcoming commercial production. Daniels sings splendidly and Europa Galante are fiery accompanists.

Quintessentially Viennese

Brahms 4th symphony turned out to be his final one but it doesn't carry the kind of baggage that attaches to some other final symphonies, Beethoven, Bruckner and Mahler for instance. Possibly because Brahms didn't write so many, possibly because he wrote his 4th some years before his death, there isn't that same sense of mortality and valediction. It has been called tragic but it is a noble kind of tragedy and far from signalling defeat. I don't belong to the camp that finds Brahms dry and boring and this symphony possibly marks the end of the direct links back to Beethoven and before in Vienna, with Mahler following a much different line. This performance of the 4th is about as good as it gets, by the Vienna Philharmonis conducted by Carlos Kleiber. Kleiber did not make many recordings and had quite a snall repertoire but those works he did undertake, he mastered completely. This is a short cd, the only piece featured is the forty minute symphony. But I don't feel the need for any fillers.

Wednesday 6 June 2007

Just Call it Spem

The 40 voice part motet Spem In Alium by Thomas Tallis tends to be known in the choir world simply as Spem. As if maybe reducing it to this familiar level makes it somehow easier to get a handle on it and perform it. There is nothing else quite like it, certainly in English repertoire. This cd by the group Magnificat directed by Philip Cave is called Spem In Alium - Lamentations - Mass & Motets. Apart from Spem, which despite its' grandeur is only nine minutes long, there are as the title suggests settings of other liturgical texts as well as a full mass for four voices ( to contrast with Spem's 40 ) The peacefulness and serenity of the music contrasts with the turbulent times in which Tallis was writing. He wrote for four monarchs of varying religious persuasions at a time when religion was the main cause of conflict and to be on the wrong side courted disaster. Thought to probably have Catholic allegiances, he nevertheless managed to walk the tightrope and please his Church of England masters too.

Three Old Warhorses

This is another of the very early cd's I picked up when I first became interested in classical music. It contains three works that I was aware of eeven in my state of ignorance and now see as candidates for the status of tired old warhorse. That is more the fault of popular programming in the concert hall and on radio though, rather than any intrinsic fault of the works themselves. Which are, La Mer by Debussy, Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussorgsky orchestrated by Ravel and Ravel's Bolero with the Berlin Philharmoniker and Herbert von Karajan. As far as the performances are concerned, Bolero and La Mer are fine. Pictures is a bit laboured and stately and I'm sure I could find a more dynamic version but given that it can so frequently be heard through other avenues, it isn't a priority for me to purchase one. It's good to have these in the library but I'm more likely these days to hear them in some other context than in taking this disk down very often.

Tuesday 5 June 2007

More Coincidences

Another coincidence thrown up by the next one off the shelf project. A few entries back, I considered the free cd I have just received from this month's edition of BBC Music magazine which was music from a chamber music festival in California. Now, the next off the shelf BBC freebie form six years ago also features music from a chamber Music festival in California, this time SummerFest La Jolla. even some of the players are the same. The two pieces featured on this disk are the Trio in E Flat K498 ( Kegelstatt ) by Mozart and Souvenir de Florence by Tchaikovsky. Mozart in a more serious mood than is often the case while this is one of Tchaikovsky's less angst ridden offerings. The trio is Todd Palmer, clarinet, Cynthia Phelps, viola and Wu Han, piano. The ensemble for Souvenir de Florence is Kyoko Takezawa and Benny Kim, violins, Lawrence Dutton and Paul Neubauer, violas, with David Finckel and Andres Diaz, cellos. Another of these covermount cd's that is well worthwhile in its' own right ( the quality does occasionally drop a little, especially when the BBC orchestras are involved )

Flamenco Sketches

An album called Zyryab by the Spanish guitarist Paco de Lucia. Zyryab is the name of a Syrian who lived in the 8th century at the Moorish court of Cordova and is considered to be the inventor of the guitar, adapting it from the lute. The album mixes fairly straight flamenco with jazz. There are small touches of flute, soprano sax, electric bass and drums, plus orchestration on one track and flamenco vocals on another. Unfortunately the sleeve notes are decidedly uninformative on the copy I have, the only musician credited apart from Paco de Lucia being Chick Corea who adds typical contributions to a couple of tracks on both electric keyboards and piano. The album is a showcase for guitar however, so the absence of information isn't crucial and the playing is soulful, melodic and virtuosic.

Echoes of Armenia

This is a fine album, in many ways typical of ECM new series. Another one that comes as two cd's, although the music is barely over 80 minutes in total. The album is titled Monodia and features music by the contemporary Armenian composer Tigran Mansurian. The first cd contains a viola concerto entitled "..and then I was in time again" performed by Kim Kashkashian and the Municher Kammerorchester conducted by Christoph Poppen and a Concerto for Violin and Orchestra with the same orchestral forces and soloist Leonidas Kavakos. This cd highlights one of the aspects of Mansurian's music, taking techniques long established in western Europe such as serialism but which were unknown to Soviet composers until the fall of the USSR. The second cd shows more the other aspect of his music, the rediscovery of Armenian folk traditions and orthodox Christian faith and chant. The two pieces featured on this disk are Lachrymae for soprano saxophone and viola with Jan Garbarek and Kim Kashkashian ( who both make their instruments resemble the Armenian duduk ) and Confessing with Faith for viola and four voices with Kim Kaskashian and the Hilliard Ensemble.

Religiously Instrumental

A fine album of solo piano from Steven Osborne playing Harmonies Poetiques et Religieuses by Liszt. Comes on two cd's since it is a little over 80 minutes in length but priced as a single cd. The question of how much purely instrumental music can convey feelings of religious conviction is difficult. People also had trouble reconciling the hedonistic side of Liszt's character with his religiosity but there seems little real doubting his faith, certainly as time went on. These pieces certainly avoid the flamboyant fireworks that some may think of when considering Liszt and Steven Osborne is the sort of thoughtful player who excels in this kind of repertoire. The longest piece, Benediction de Dieu dans la Solitude, is central to the collection and does begin to illustrate that sense of thankfulness for and peace with the world.

Monday 4 June 2007

Latin American Baroque

There has been considerable interest in the last few years in music from the baroque period in Latin America. Imported from Spain, the music for mass took on certain native aspects in countries such as Mexico, Peru and Bolivia. There were also some secular works that were adapted to try and entice the native population into the church. I am aware of at least four ensembles who have been investigating this sub genre, Florilegium, the Harp Consort, Hesperion XXI and Ex Cathedra whose cd is up for discussion here, entitled New World Symphonies, Baroque Music From Latin America. There is some overlap in the material recorded since sources are still being discovered. Ex Cathedra's take is probably the least idiomatic, at times their Englishness is a little too apparent. Nevertheless, their enjoyment is clear and it is fascinating to trace the greater and lesser extent of the new world influences on the various pieces.

A Logical Pairing

Continuing with the idea of dealing with any new cd's as I acquire them, this time around it is the latest freebie from the BBC Music magazine. Chamber music by Brahms , piano quintet in F minor, and Dvorak, piano quartet in E flat. Brahms and Dvorak make a logical pairing, Brahms giving much needed support to Dvorak early in his career and both espousing the same musical values and similar influences. This cd is a live recording from the Music@Menlo festival in Silicon Valley California. It is a chamber music festival of a few years standing, I guess the @ sign is used to enhance the Silicon Valley connection. The players on the disk got together for the festival rather than being part of a regular performing group. They include Ralph Kirschbaum, Jorja Fleezanis, Ian Swensen, Cynthia Phelps, Wu Han, Geraldiine Walther, Colin Carr and Gilbert Kalish.

Sunday 3 June 2007

Another Coincidence

I've mentioned before about the coincidences thrown up by this "next one off the shelf" method. Yesterday, I received the latest copy of BBC Music magazine which features an interview with Maxim Vengerov paying tribute to Mstislav Rostropovich. And today, the next cd in line is Maxim Vengerov accompanied by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Rostropovich in Britten's Violin Concerto and Walton's Viola Concerto. Rostropovich was a great friend of Britten and also knew Walton and has an empathy for these pieces. Also, both concertos have moved away from romantic concepts and show a particular awareness of Prokofiev and in Britten's case, Shostakovich. And of course, the LSO provide the English connection, although neither work has what might be termed a typical English feel to it.

Saturday 2 June 2007

Late Works

Schubert's last three piano sonatas played on a double cd by Murray Perahia. It is always tempting to read things into the late works of composers, especially those who died young. Do they represent any intimations of death etc. Or is there a calm resignation ? I think if there were any such thoughts, they are to be found more in the contemporaneous song cycle Winterriese, although the overall feel of the sonatas is more down than upbeat. What is not in doubt is the stature of the work. Murray Perahia's performances are deeply felt. He has experienced problems with injury that have interrupted his career but seems to be touring again, although recordings seem to have dried up for now. Possibly a mixture of his recovery and Sony's current attitude to classical music being the reason.

Venturing Out Into the World

I have many cd's that fall into the record company marketing category of world music and this is the first one to take its' turn off the shelf. And a little gem it is too that I was pleased to be reminded of. The title is Kambara Music in Native Tongues and I guess you would call it a fusion project incorporating English folk, blues, Mexican and Indian influences. The musicians are the English slide guitarist Martin Simpson, David Hidalgo from the Californian Mexican band Los Lobos on bajo sexto and accordian, Viji Krishnan on Indian violin and Puvalur Srinivasan on a double headed Indian drum. It's a fairly short cd of six tracks, the Richard Thompson song Waltzing's for Dreamers is played more or less straight but the old Jim Reeves hit He'll Have To Go gets a Tex Mex feel that follows in Ry Cooder's footsteps and a Merle Haggard song gets an Indian style makeover. The meat of the cd lies in the three instrumental tracks though, all of which combine the influences but from different starting points. One is is predominantly Indian, one starts from a blues base and the final one is latin flavoured.

Friday 1 June 2007

Not Strictly Liturgical

Janacek's Glagolitic Mass is a unique piece. It follows something of a traditional liturgical pattern but isn't designed for any denominational church service, rather being a celebration of nature and all creation with pagan and folk influences buried in the music. It is most definitely a piece for the concert hall and requires large forces. This performance is by the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas. There are long instrumental stretches and a prominent organ part, played here by John Scott, and parts for four solo singers. The mass was written in Janacek's productive twilight years as was the accompanying piece on the disk, the Sinfonietta. This is a famous orchestral showpiece, much more often performed than the mass and sharing the same brass heavy orchestration.

Shouldn't Really Include This One But.....

....it's a free cd sampler that came with a magazine ( not like the complete works BBC music mag freebies ). But unlike the snippets from the gramophone mag cover cd, this one hangs together as a coherent cd and I do continue to play it. It comes from Naim who are pedominantly hi-fi equipment manufacturers but who also operate a small scale record label to produce demonstration standard sound for their equipment.This cd is mainly of chamber music. The Allegri Quartet play pieces by Betthoven, Schubert and Bruch ( one movement in each case ). Pianist Havard Gimse plays Scherzo No 2 by Chopin and violinist Yuval Yavon plays the Devil's Trill by Tartini. Some Veracini by the Trio John Holloway and Grieg by the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra round the cd off, plus there is a movement from a string quartet by Philip Gates played by the Eberle Quartet.