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

Listened to Keith Jarrets Hamburg 72. I think this one is overhyped, I don't appreciate Keith Jarret trying to play the saxophone .....

You have confirmed my reservations.

Dave

When it comes to bluegrass, give this young lady a listen.  I child prodigy on the mandolin, she also plays guitar and clawhammer banjo, as wellas the octave mandolin.  She used to jam on stage with Skaggs as a teen, and recently graduated from the New England Conservatory.

Brendel playing Haydn four piano sonatas and Fantasia in C.

IMHO this is her best album.

No brainer for me, EJ, since the only thing I had before of Zimerman from this disc is a much later performance of the Brahms second piano concerto. At times I am just in a mood to hear a certain pianist, not having in mind a particular piece and not caring if it is a complete cycle or not. There and then these 20th century discs serve their purpose perfectly.

Edna Stern

"Schumann"     mp3

 Cued up [Song In Her Head] and listening on Qobuz - opening track sounds interesting - a sort of cross between Krauss and Scruggs 

Simon

Great album! I have both of her solo efforts, all of the B Good Tanya's stuff and all Po Girl (side project of Trish Klein). Also seen B Good Tanyas live 3 times.

Christian Sinding:  Jerome Lowenthal, Klavier

Sonata in B minor, Op. 91

Piano Pieces:

Con Fuoco

Melodie

Marche Grotesque

Serenade

Irrlicht

Capriccio

Caprice

Alla Marcia

Pomposo

Frühlingsrauschen

The attraction here for me was to find a recording of a lesser known (at least, today) Norwegian composer Christian Sinding.  More of a novelty for me and probably of no interest to anyone who is not fully seeking a challenge of the unfamiliar.  Far from Grieg, this is not the Lyric Pieces but more along the lines of hardcore romanticism.  You are more likely to hear remnants of Liszt, Schumann, or Brahms.

The program notes by Jerome Lowenthal, again, are very illuminating.  The following is a section that I found particularly interesting.

Nature-evocation is common in romantic music; the German woods are as present in Schumann and Brahms' music as are the Swiss mountains and valleys in Liszt's Années de pélerinage.  In the twentieth century, both Bartók and Messiaen have given magical voice to, respectively, insects and birds.  But the sounds of nature have gradually receded from our music, and today's largely urban audience tends to be indifferent or even hostile to such extra-musical implications.  Perhaps, too, the aspiration towards post Wagnerian nobility and the triumphalism tat is latent in this music have come to seem out-dated and irrelevant.

The comment about today's urban society for me is very apt in my opinion.  I have said this in less articulate ways many times before where I pointed to the fact that we have no great music or composers today as we live in ugly urban areas with little inspiration for anything.  We think of ourselves as smarter than we ought to (googling everything doesn't mean you are smart) and we think of ourselves as larger than the universe as a result.  Humbleness comes before greatness.  Most of the great composers of the past were in my opinion mostly humble in there outlook.  They were questioning there existence and paid respect to God and nature.  This in itself spawned the greatness we still can hear today (for those who look and seek).

So, Christian Sinding is interesting to me but I wouldn't recommend him if you are only looking for the top ten hits.  It will disappoint you then and is would be secondary to the regular mainstays of classical music.  His style is mostly about creating effects through coloration and expressiveness.  Sinding lived from 1856 - 1941 and was very popular in his day.  According to Lowenthal, it was his association with and love of all things related to German culture that has lead to his decline in popularity.

Harold in Italy (Berlioz/Liszt):  Jennifer Stumm (viola), Elizabeth Pridgen (piano) 

Here again is another conceptual program that is not your run of the mill type of program.  Stay away unless you have a penchant for Liszt or Berlioz and the ideals of the romantic period.  I love the viola (along with the cello, of course).  Both are leagues ahead in the beauty of a voice (closest to a human voice) over the violin in my opinion which is not a humble instrument and way to arrogant for my liking.

Besides this, my primary reason for getting this disc is the arrangements Stumm & Pridgen made for Nuages Gris, Oh! quad je does and Schlaflos" Frage ind Antwort as well as Liszt's own Romance Oubllee.  Stumm's playing is soft, warm, and perfectly suited here.  

To sum up the album, I would agree with Stumm, who ended her program notes with a quote by T.S. Eliot's Little Gidding:

"The end of all our exploring

will be to arrive where we started

And know the place for the first time."

This is an album for those who have more questions than answers and those who search for meaning. 

The Innocence Mission -  my room in the trees. Found on a spotify playlist called "The Most Beautiful Songs in the World" Great vocals, guitars and layers and layers of sound

Sibelius | Khachaturian: Violin Concertos 

Sergey Khachatryan (violin), Sinfonia Varsovia, Emmanuel Krivine

I do like the violin too.  Especially if your name is Sergey Khachatryan but here you do have to know the difference between your 'turian's and your 'tryan's.  As expected, wonderfully played here with the depth and darkness required in the Sibelius.

Ivo Pogorelich

Ravel, Prokofiev     (1990)    mp3

And you've both just saved me £12!

Bought this 3rd press copy after hearing SteveJ 1st press... Now the owner of a redundant 2014 reissue

On Vinyl:-

On Vinyl:-

Since it is turning white outside.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=768bB1v2Nh8

This band where so 

Vinyl

Jerry Joseph

"Cherry"     (2004)     mp3

The Jess Roden Band and Keep Your Hat On from 1976.

Anybody know what is Jess is up to these days?

Richard