New Kids On The Block

This BBC Music mag cover disk brings me back to the point where I began this blog just under a year ago, completing the backlog and just leaving the new issues to come to be considered in their turn. This one goes under the title French Chamber Classics and is one of those featuring BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists. The disk begins with Debussy's Syrinx, a short virtuosic piece for solo flute played here by Sharon Bezaly and occupying the same sound world as the Prelude De L'Apres-Midi. Bezaly is the coming voice of the flute in classical music and negotiates the piece wonderfully. Next up is Franck's Sonata for Violin and Piano in A major played by violinist Alina Ibragimova and pianist Cedric Tiberghien. One of my favourite chamber pieces, full of melody and invention and again the young performers are up to the task of presenting it in its' best light. Written as a wedding present for Ysaye, the glowing finale is an appropriate gift to a great violinist at a time of happiness. The least successful works on the disk follow, tenor Andrew Kennedy ( accompanied by pianist Julius Drake who is just a little too mature for the Young Artists scheme but makes a guest appearance ) singing songs by Faure. Kennedy is in good voice and the songs are passionate but his French isn't yet that of a native and he doesn't seem so comfortable as he is in English repertoire. The disk concludes with Tiberghien again, solo this time playing Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit. Based on lurid prose poems about a seductive nymph, a corpse swinging on a gibbet and a malevolent dwarf, the three piano pieces are full of impressionistic and occasional pre-echoes of jazz and it is obviously repertoire that tiberghien has grown up with.

Sacred Links

Probably the best disk that I have of choral music by Arvo Part and the second by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, this time directed by Paul Hillier and with the participation of Christopher Bowers-Broadbent on organ on some tracks. This selection is titled Da Pacem and is a collection of motets. It can be listened to strictly as chill out music, there is certainly a feeling of peaceas the title would imply but it is also more deeply spiritual and even those who find Part's "holy minimalism" too simplistic can't doubt his sincerity. If anything the choir is in even better voice under Hillier, I would love to hear them in work other than that from their fellow Baltic composers. Listening to this disk having just been exposed to the BBC tv documentary series on sacred music, I was struck by the connection between Part and early practioners in the Notre Dame and even English Tudor styles. That same sense of the transcendent is there and I don't see why in this cynical age it should be felt that such writing is inappropriate or even opportunistic. These Estonian recordings are the ones of Part that I will frequently be returning to, at least as far as his vocal music is concerned.

It's A Chicken, Boy

Another album of contemporary blues from the southern USA by Guy Davis entitled Skunkmello. Nothing to do with drugs, Skunkmello refers to a legendary chicken thief from around 1900 and the fact that he was eventually hanged for his misdeeds somehow looses its' tragic nature when aligned with the delightfully silly track Skunkmello's Dance of the Chickens, with fiercely plucked banjo giving the best chicken impersonation this side of Rameau. The album is in the main free of any electronic gimmickry while retaining fine modern production values. Musically, the album alternates between classy blues band settings with the help of musicians such as guitarist John Platania and keyboard player Mark Naftalin and country blues stylings that feature Davis alone or with sparse acoustic rhythm section. The band songs are fine but the albums distinction revolves more around the older country blues type tracks which develop something of a theme around such diverse topics as soul food and the tyranny of slavery days. Plenty of double entendres too. Davis has a warm if not outstanding voice and his banjo picking and blues harmonica playing is exemplary. The bonus track, Uncle Tom Is Dead, features a conversation between Davis and a cynical youth who dismisses blues as a dead old man's music. While the track is reasonably light hearted, let's hope at least a few black kids might realise the cultural legacy that it in fact holds.

Darkness Into Light

I'm very happy to have this BBC Music mag cover disk of works by Shumann. The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martyn Brabbins play the Piano Concerto with pianist Lars Vogt and the BBC Philharmonic under Gianandrea Noseda perform Symphony No 2. As is often the case with Schumann, there are many subtexts and background stories to the Piano Concerto concerning his mental health and wife Clara. The first movement was written prior to a periodic bout of severe depression and the other two movements during subsequent recovery. A mix between intimacy and display, it is a deservedly popular piece and Vogt is an emerging soloist who gives a fine live performance. Schumann's symphonies have a reputation for not quite being of the first rank and for his struggle to "do" orchestration but to my inexpert ears these opinions are unduly harsh. Symphony No 2 has a repeated motif that I find powerful rather than overdone and written as it was during another bout of despair, it is another example of the classic Beethovenian symphonic concept of a journey from darkness back into light. The playing of the BBC Phil confirm their current status as the BBC's top band, with Noseda proving an inspiring principle conductor.

King Of The Oratorio

Another of the recordings of Handel oratorios made by Paul McCreesh and the Gabrieli Consort and Players, a three disk set of Theodora this time.These are very fine recordings and the cast is as usual of high quality. The title role is sung by Susan Gritton, while other roles are taken by Susan Bickley, Robin Blaze, Paul Agnew, Neal Davies and Angus Smith. The work is a story of early Christian persecution in Rome and the stance of death before dishonour taken by the heroine. It is also quite a convoluted story involving Roman converts, near escape and ultimate sacrifice. As usual, Handel has written some ravishing music, although because of the sheer length of the work there is an element of recycling going on too. McCreesh interestingly includes an alternative take of part two scene two which is included as a bonus at the end of disk two. The period informed playing of the Gabrielis is a perfect backing for the drama, the chorus is excellenbt and all the soloists acquit themselves very well. Susan Gritton conveys the piety of her role without making it bloodless and Robin Blaze and the convert who seeks to rescue her makes the most of his countertenor showcases. With the current climate amongst the "majors" in classical music recording, it is to be hoped that McCreesh and the Gabrielis are able to continue with their various ventures.

Back Porch Session

I posted way back about a two disk "best of" compilation that I have of Bruce Springsteen. I was also persuaded to buy the fairly recent We Shall Overcome - The Seeger Sessions, where a largely acoustic outfit performs back porch style a number of vaguely folky songs somewhat associated with the career of Pete Seeger. The overall feel of the album ( and certainly of the live gigs that accompanied its' release ) is that of a good time party, with plenty of opportunity to sing along and dance around to extended choruses and instrumental breaks. The band is a mix of folk elements ( violin, mandolin etc ) and a kind of Dixieland horn section. Springsteen's voice has become gruffer with age but is well suited to most of the tracks, only becoming more exposed in the slower numbers like We Shall Overcome itself and Shenandoah where he needs the support of several back up singers to carry them off. These are also the least successful songs on the disk, those that work best being the extended singalongs like Pay Me My Money Down and Oh Mary Don't You Weep. There's also a slight incongruity to the upbeat settings being applied to some less than upbeat lyrics ( My Oklahoma Home, Erie Canal, John Henry and Mrs McGrath ) but all in all it's a worthwhile venture. Possibly just a one off, since Springsteen is now back reunited yet again with the E Street Band for another round of stadium touring with a new album.

Got These Already

Very little to say about this BBC Music mag other than to note it, since the repertoire duplication that it contains is total. Music by Respighi, Fountains Of Rome and Pines Of Rome played by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Tadaaki Otaka and The Birds performed by the BBC Philharmonic under Patrick Thomas. All respectable live concert performances from a few years back.