What are you listening to and WHY might anyone be interested? (Vol.IX)

Meijer adapted several works by Philip Glass for modern harp, and it's become a brilliant record. Highly recommended!

Cheers,

EJ

From the complete concertos set - Lupu and De Waart in Brahms #1.The performance of the first and third movements fall into the very good category - sufficiently varied, powerful, good sense of the long lines, but lacking the ideal balance between piano and orchestra that Zimerman/Rattle or Ashkenazy/Haitink achieve. But the slow second movement is unique - there is nobody who digs up the poetry like Lupu. For this, a must hear for admirers of this work.

Cheers,

EJ

On yellow vinyl.

Another album bought for the wife that i'm really enjoying 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9Tsv4wRy-I

Wonderful recercars from the collection 'Musica Nova' in 1540.

Recorded  in Milano; performance is excellent.

Unfortunately, clavichord-organ pair appears on CDs very occasionally.

Highly recommended.

From Cd.

Astrud Gilberto:  This Is Astrud Gilberto

Rush - Farewell to Kings

Ian Brown - Greatest

On vinyl, prompted by a post yesterday. Good stuff.

Great album Kevin-W.

Regards,

Elkman

Yep, great guitar work from Marr. Love "Good Morning Beautiful", which was always superb live.

Three late string quartets by Franz Xaver Richter separated by brief contrapuntal study by Mozart. 

Edvard Grieg: Dmitrij Sitkovetskij (violin), Bella Davidovich (piano)

Sonata Nr. 2 in G major Op. 13

Sonata Nr. 1 in F major Op. 8

Sonata Nr. 3 in C minor Op. 45

Orfeo Recording from 1982 (120g Vinyl)

On FM radio. Aston Villa v West Ham.

Not, thus far, a game for football purists

great stories from a much under-rated band.

Hi Richard -

Feb 18 was the date I had seen, but much to my surprise, one of my local record shops had it on the shelf yesterday.  After a couple of spins through, I like it better than anything he's done since Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus.  

Also, not too many songwriters can get away with rhyming "Hannah Montana" and "African savannah"!  :-)

ATB.

Hook

Didn't realise you was in to self inflicted torturer Kevin    

Olaf Dressler (piano)

Sergei Rachmaninov: Études tableaux op. 39

1) c minor (Allegro agitato)

2) a minor (Lento assai)

3) f-sharp minor (Allegro molto)

4) b minor (Allegro assai)

5) e-flat minor (Appassionato)

6) a minor (Allegro)

7) c minor (Lento)

8) d minor (Allegro moderato)

9) D major (Allegro moderato)

Franz Liszt: Réminiscences de Boccanegra de Verdi -Paraphrase

Orfeo Recording from 1981 (120g Vinyl)

I must have that melancholy Slavic blood running through my veins but then again music is music.  I receive the same benefit from Bach as I do any great composer, such as Rachmaninov.  It is sad that so many great composers are often misunderstood mostly due to misinformation and a general slagging by individuals who continually keep innuendo alive to suit their agenda.  There is more to Rachmaninov than the ubiquitous Prelude in c-sharp minor.  Rachmaninov himself thought the popularity of this piece was a curse.

Like most great music (that I like anyway) it really needs a one on one effort.  It isn't music you can really fully understand in a group setting and as with any composer you should listen to all there music before you write them off based on one incident or a shallow, uninformed opinion.  True, it isn't party music but rather music that forces you to look inward and maybe this scares some people.  It is music that one thinks about in solitude whether in the early hours of the morning or on a hike somewhere in the wilderness.  Remember, Beethoven worked out and created most of his ideas while on walks in the countryside or forest.

For me personally, Rachmaninov's études tableaux are simply essential along with his Preludes and complete output for that matter and is very relevant to understanding the human condition.  The Op. 33 (1911) and Op. 39 (1916-17) études total eight and nine, respectively and you might notice that of the Op. 33, 6 of the 8 are in minor keys and of the Op. 39, 8 of the 9 are in minor keys.  This may turn many off for some but for me it is paradise found.   For myself, I find that music written in minor keys has so much more depth, soul, and meaning as well as it seems more interesting overall.  This ration is totally the opposite of say Haydn who might have written the same proportion of major music compared to minor.

This music isn't often pretty as many so often incorrectly ascribe to the character of Rachmaninov's music.  You may also note that the Op. 39 set was written during WWI and so it is understandable that many of us have no idea about life as we now walk around endlessly with our heads down, smacking ours thumbs around with skilled dexterity, so self absorbed in our meaningless lives.  Yes, much of this music is dark and sad music with lugubrious references to death and funeral marches.  Rachmaninov was also fascinated with church bells ringing in the distance.  His music is full of life, character and fascination with the unknown.  

One example of the character of this music is found in the opening étude in c minor.  Buried in a mélange of triplets, a clear bass riff of the first four notes of the Dies irae sequence comes out.  This literally means "day of ire or wrath" and this has significant meaning in what Rachmaninov was trying to convey.  We can feel death, damnation, evil and finally judgement bursting through.  I find it remarkable that a composer can sit down at an instrument and translate what they are feeling and that we too can experience this decades or centuries later.

An example of the Dies irae melody:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsn9LWh230k

Day of wrath, day that will dissolve the world into burning coals, as David bore witness with the Sibyll.

Monteverdi Choir/ English Baroque Soloists

Cantatas BWV 91, BWV 121, BWV 40 & BWV110

Excellent album

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1f4nI7Jhco

Outstanding music from 17c.; outstanding Ricercar record from 2010.

Scherzi Musicali - the new generation of Early Music performers; although strict and straight - freer a lot. Their musical and singing ornamentations - 'de luxe' category.

Highly recommended.

I love these lounge/exotica records. They are often just so weird. Often, like this one, the recording quality is amazing...

You have to have masochistic tendencies to support WEst Ham sometimes Steve.

On vinyl - exotica (recorded in a kind of geodesic dome in Hawaii) from Martin Denny's great pupil...