More Than Just Britten's Teacher

The Piano Trio No 2 by Frank Bridge is one of those works which did not receive a favourable critical reception when premiered but which with the passage of time has been shown to be a masterful work of great merit. It was written in 1928 and the criticism directed against it was for leaning too far in the direction of modernism. It is certainly a work that is aware of the developments in Paris and Vienna post WW1and is also a reflection of the extreme upheaval of that period when compared to the earlier Bridge chamber works included on this disk from more innocent times circa 1907 / 08. The trio on this recording, Jack Liebeck violin, Alexander Chaushian cello and pianist Ashley Wass, play superbly and give the piece the status and respect that it deserves. There seems a growing respect for Bridge's chamber music among a younger generation of British players. Of the early works, the Phantasie Trio in C Minor is impeccably crafted in a single span and is well worth hearing in its' own right. Not so profound but joyful and exuberant music that certainly has a place. The contemporaneous Nine Miniatures for Piano Trio can be described as charming and if that seems close to damning with faint praise, then I would admit that they grabbed me less than the other two works on the disk. Well worth exploring though, especially at super budget price.

Sleaze, Misogyny And Signs Of The Times

For a band with such a very long career and such elevated status ( I don't like to overuse terms like legendary and iconic ) The Rolling Stones are an odd case as far as recordings are concerned. Ostensibly a blues rock band, they lack the virtuosity that others with those roots exhibit and the ego of Keith Richards has tended to inhibit more talented soloists who have passed through the band such as Mick Taylor. What Richards does offer of course is rock star attitude to the nth degree and a masterclass in the underrated art of the rhythm guitar. This is on show throughout Let It Bleed, one of the trio of albums made as the sixties merged into the seventies that represent the very best of the Stones's patchy recorded output. It holds together very well as a coherent album with a consitent feel both musically and in lyrical content. Preoccupations seem to be a glorification of the slightly sleazy bad boy image of the Stones, with the misogyny that the band is often accused of being much to the fore. For all that, there is a drive and energy that is irresistible and those preoccupations were very much of the time and could apply to much in blues history. Musically, Jagger offers telling harmonica breaks, there is fine mandolin work from Ry Cooder on the Robert Johnson song Love In Vain and distinctive and invaluable work from the two pianists on board, Ian Stewart and Nicky Hopkins. One of the other highlights is the bold use of the London Bach Choir on the inexorably building You Can't Always Get What You Want.

From The Archives

This month's edition of BBC Music magazine is the annual one that ties in with the upcoming season of Proms concerts. One of the two items on the free cover disk is a vintage live recording from the Last Night way back in 1953. It features the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Chorus conducted by Basil Cameron performing Serenade To Music by Vaughan Wiliams. The text is taken from Shakespeare's Merchant Of Venice when Lorenzo extols the virtues of music. It was commissioned as a celebration piece and is a little soft centred, maybe the closest that Vaughan Williams came to an establishment work in an Elgarian vein. The orchestral playing holds up very well for the vintage but the singing by the BBC Chorus is almost as period in style as the contemporary plum voiced BBC continuity anouncer introducing the disk from the archives. The other work on the disk is another live recording but from Maida Vale not from the Proms. This has Sir Adrian Boult conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra in Vaughan Williams's Pastoral Symphony. I already have a commercial recording of this major symphony which I have already posted about, suffice it to say that I don't think that these days there is any need to explain and defend Vaughan Williams against cowpat charges. Anyone listening to the work and hearing a simple evocation of English rural bliss clearly isn't listening closely enough.

Seperating The Music From The Diagnosis

There is always a tendency to look for hints of his oncoming depressive illness when considering Schumann's late music. Wise heads try to ignore this and focus on the music itself and I intend to follow that course ! This is a superb disk of the three violin sonatas played by violinist Carolin Widmann and pianist Denes Varjon. The recording is wonderfully clear and perfectly balanced and the playing exquisite and finely judged. The violin sonata was a form that Schumann came to late, it being fair to say that he was more comfortable composing for the piano than for the violin. Although I am among those who love his earlier string quartets. The composition of the violin sonatas was prompted by the well documented friendship with the renowned violinist Joachim, although in the end they were first played by Clara and another violinist Wasielewski. I value all three sonatas but they do vary with the first being more traditional, following established patterns and the third being to some extent cobbled together ( it was originally written as a salon amusemnent with a first movement by Dietrich and the third by Brahms while Schumann supplied the other two and subsequently rewrote those of his colleagues ) This disk re-orders the sonatas to finish with the second which is the most profound and Schuman's masterpiece in the genre which stands alongside any by other composers.

But I Ain't, So I Won't

When posting recently about Emmylou Harris, I mentioned the decision to choose one definitive album release rather than some career retrospective. I have gone the other way with Chicken Shack : The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions. My motivation was purely financial, this three disk box set was as cheap as buying their definitive first album, Forty Blue Fingers Freshly Packed And Ready To Serve. That is included in its' entirety anyway and is undoubtedly their finest hour, together with both sides of their first couple of single releases. The other two disks contain a smattering of fine tracks, together with some dubious attempts to take this masterful blues band down the road of hard rock / heavy metal that are much more disposable. But at their best Chicken Shack were fighting for the position of the foremost British blues band. While Fleetwood Mac edged that live, it could legitimately be argued that Chicken Shack recorded better, especially that first album. The rhythm section rivalled that of Fleetwood Mac and Christine Perfect ( later McVie and later of Fleetwood Mac ) provided fine blues piano and occasional distinctive vocals that were not in the shouting Janis Joplin vein but which had their own attractive winsome quality. But it seems somewhat perverse that I have got this far into a post about Chicken Shack before mentioning Stan Webb. Essentially, Stan was Chicken Shack and was a very distinctive front man, singer, humourist and blazing guitarist. Edgy, spiky guitar playing which combined both BB and Freddie King's styles with touches of the simpler and more menacing John Lee Hooker and Howling Wolf. Vocally indebted to Buddy Guy he also showed a wry humour, try the track King Of The World. Still going strong around the circuit, catch him if you ge the chance.

An Accidental Diversion

I acquired this disk as a freebie since someone had it as an unwanted gift. It is certainly not something that I would have bought but it has interest and is worth hanging onto. It is titled Piano Music Volume Two : 1966-2007 and features compositions by Americam Composer Phillip Ramey. The performer on the disk is pianist Mirian Conti. I have to admit to never having heard of Ramey until being offered this disk. There are first recordings of many of the works here which suggest that his music is not widely performed but he seems an interesting character. There seem dual American and Russian links to his music which dabbles in atonality and serial techniques as well as pianistic colour effects and tone-clusters. The American links are through associations with more famous colleagues such as Copland and Barber, while he studied with the Russian Alexander Tcherepnin and wrote works featured here with titles such as Leningrad Rag ( Mutations on Scott Joplin ) and Homage to Prokofiev, one of his set of Diversions. Ramey also spent much time in Morocco although there is no eveidence in this music of the influence of North African modes. Overall, there is a bit of a dry academic feel to this disk but it is not without interest.

Life Affirming Exuberance

El Sistema, the music scheme for young people that has as its' flagship the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, is beginning to show the way for similar such schemes around the world. The Simon Bolivars under conductor Gustavo Dudamel are without doubt a very good orchestra. Whether they deserve the major label releases for core repertoire that have been afforded them is a matter for debate perhaps but this disk, Fiesta, featuring their speciality Latin American programme is a constant delight and a wonderful feelgood disk in every way. It features very pleasant orchestral showpieces from fellow Venezuelans Inocente Carreno, Antonio Estevez, Aldemaro Romero and Evencio Castellanos. The orchestra obviously have a great patriotic pride concerning these pieces but I think that it is undeniable that the outsatanding music on the disk and what makes it special are the works by the non Venezuelans. There are two works by Mexicans. Revueltas's Sensemaya is decribed with some justification as a latin Rite of Spring. Danzon No 2 by Arturo Marquez is almost the orchestra's signature tune, a melody that gets right under the skin. The other standouts are the perennial encores. Argentinian Alberto Ginastra's dances from the ballet Estancia are irresistable especially the dynamic Danza Final ( Malambo ) which is accompanied live by flowing movements and showmanship from the band. The disk finishes as do many performances with Bernstein's Mambo from West Side story. A great disk and fine souvenir for anyone who has seen them live. I just wonder how they manage to move away from the expectation that every concert will end with these showpieces and how they overcome any disappointment when they fail to perform their "greatest hits". But the squeals from the obviously very young audience at the end of Mambo which comes from a live concert recording are evidence of their ability to bring new audiences to classical music.

Tracing Missing Links

Several ensembles have recently been investigating the common heritage from medieval times of music around the Mediterranean; from Gregorian chant and early Christian church music, the troubadours of southern France, the Arabic influences of Al-Andalus in Spain and the music of the middle east proper to Sephardic Jewish contributions. I have already posted about some of these and one of the most impressive is the Nour Ensemble and this exceptional disk, Alba. The core of the ensemble originates from Iran and the influence here is of classical Persian music and Kurdish folk music. But vocalists have joined from Europe to portray also the links with Gregorian plainsong and Spanish cantigas. It is fascinating to contrast the pure modal vocal lines from the European side with the more embellished and melismatic Iranian style. The instrumental contrasts are no less vivid, the oud and dazzling percussion interweaving with tin whistle like sounds and often using clearly western melodies as a jumping off point for improvisations. Another attraction of the disk is the quality of the recording, made in the wonderful acoustic of the Ardeshir Babakan Castle in Iran. The disk is lavishly packaged in a booklet that is informative and beautifully illustrated.

Watching The River Flow

This is another of NMC's enterprising 25 minute "singles". It features two orchestral pieces by Martin Butler performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra. The conductor for Fixed Doubles is Martyn Brabbins and for the title piece of the disk, O Rio, it is Arturo Tamayo. Fixed Doubles is an energetic piece, rhythmically active with contrasting lines evolving in a repetitive nature over static harmony ( the "fixed" part of the title of the work )O Rio began with a desire to explore Latin American dance rhythms but these end up fairly deeply subsumed in the orchestral soundscape, with a subsidiary idea taking over involving an indigenous indian creation myth and the onward progress of a giant river to the sea, with the meandering and delta formations reflected in the music. Both pieces have an irresistable forward momentum and rhythmic drive that remains a constant in Butler's orchestral work as shown in a recording I have acquired of the premiere of his Saxophone Concerto given last year at the Prestaigne Festival by Australian saxophonist Amy Dickson. Written for soprano sax and string orchestra, there are jazz and North African elements interwoven with the riffing strings.