What are you listening to? (Vol VII)

Inspired by Floid's "For Earth Below"

Playing now. What do you think Dave?

On CD

OK, maybe I'm just in a Franz Liszt mood at the moment but I'm always in this mood along with any of my other favourite composers like Bach or Beethoven.  If there were time in the day to spend with everyone, I certainly would.  

There also was a time I swore I wouldn't buy a Lang Lang disc. But over the past few years I have noticed a change or growing maturity and never have any problem being proved wrong.  No, I still do not care for some of his mannerism (the flailing arms and body) but this has largely been toned down as he ages.  I really like this album and also his last Live in Vienna disc very much. 

By the way, I've really want to return to vinyl as well but have apprehension due to difficulty of building a quality library of what I listen to.  I see that Lang Lang has released this album and a few others on vinyl.  That is great (despite the high cost).  If all artists would do this and the price would be similar to CD I would probably only buy the vinyl.  Oh, I wish the old days/ways would not have changed) !

Liszt was a prolific composer and you would have to listen to about 100, 80 minute long CD's alone to hear all his music for piano to get a sense of who he is.  I have a complete Liszt collection, so I often tell people that say they don't like Liszt to be more specific.  I don't like it all either nor could I claim that I like every last thing Bach wrote either.  Like any interesting human being you would soon discover how multifaceted they are overall when you give them a chance though.  To generalize, you could group the piano music of Liszt into an early (virtuosic), middle (romantic) and last (philosophical).

On this album, Lang Lang basically sticks to a mix between the romantic and virtuosic Liszt with only a handful of pieces.  If your ear is into such things you will hear the differences between a New York and a Hamburg Steinway.  To me, I believe the softer, more romantic pieces are all played on the Hamburg Steinway and the virtuosic pieces are played on the New York Steinway.  My choice for the number one (Hamburg) and number two (New York) pianos ever.  To many, they may look the same and have the same name on them but there are very clear differences between them.  The company itself tries to downplay the differences and avoids even talking about them.  A good piano technician could tell you thought the major differences in design (German philosophy vs American philosophy)

Unfortunately, someone has decided within there infinite wisdom that North Americans are this way and Germans are this way and British are this way.  It makes me angry because I don't like the guy who is making the decisions for the North American team.  For instance, he seems to think that chocolate or every other food has to be sugared to the max.  Bleachh....oh oh....

<I feel a possible rant developing :-)> Now, and I'm not talking about this album specifically anymore but I've said it before that in general that I keep seeing evidence of how a very strong younger generation is emerging and are really giving top quality music for us all to hear.  I buy a lot of it because I think it is especially important to support the arts and young artists (otherwise it dies).  I still appreciate the great musicians from the golden years but it doesn't have to stop there.  Not everyone from the past was great and not everyone from the present are great either.  But there is room for a greater crop of musicians now than the handful from the early part of the 20th century and they stand shoulder to shoulder in depth and quality as far as I'm concerned and in many cases really exceed their earlier peers.  Trouble is that within a digital world many have stopped buying albums or download but with this it seems to be more a short term venture.  With an album that I buy, I may forget about it but I can still pull it off the shelf in 20 or 40 years again and bring some memories back.  For me, out of sight is out of mind.  I have 14,000 songs in my i-Tunes today but most of that is out of sight.  I only seem focused on what's a week or two old and then it gets lost in the digital abyss.  I find it annoying to search through an i-pod to find something to listen to.  But I run my hand over a section of my physical library at home and I know exactly what I want and I can go through the booklet notes etc. <OK, Rant Over> 

Piano Magic - Ovations; feat... Brendan Perry &  Peter Ulrich from DCD

RhinoVinyl 180gram

Cheers

Flettster

RhinoVinyl 180gram

Grimaud's "Resonances" includes two of the great piano sonatas: Mozart's a-minor sonata, and Liszt's b-minor. Having read what she had to go through and how this album specifically came to fruition, I feel bad for not liking it. I tried, and listened to it regularly since it came out last year.

My take is that Grimaud gives both works very individual but ultimately undercooked readings. The Mozart starts powerful, hurried and explosive, but by the second and third movements, it all sounds precious and superficial. The Liszt sonata fares worse: hurried, monochrome and without the music's characteristic ebb and flow or its use of the sound of silence (which Hamelin captured so well on his recent recording). The overall impression that sticks is 'shoddy'.

Cheers,

EJ

I had a CD copy of this album but gave it away.

Nothing against the music but I found the playing far too florid and showy for my taste. It ruined everything to the extent that I couldn't be bothered with it.

steve

.....and earlier

...and before that

...and to start the evening

Lloydy,

that's a really good start, can't see how it can get any better though...

on vinyl : )

And so you should!  Penance is due now :-)  

Seriously though, is it just this album?  How do any other Grimaud albums fair with you EJ?

Doug

Doug,

She's a bit of an outsider in my library - I have five of her albums. Except for this one, I quite like all of them, without going as far as rating them as my favorites (her powerful Beethoven #5 possibly excerpted). I was very taken with her Rachmaninov #2 as well, but that particular disc was scratched beyond repair when the jewel case broke. (My own rant: I don't like jewel cases). 

Her habit of combining familiar and unfamiliar works on an album is interesting at first listen, but I find does not promote repeated listening to the entire album.

EJ

That's OK Steve.  I guess horses for courses, right?  Did you have the deluxe edition with the extra Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde and short DVD?

I've only listened to this twice since yesterday.  Like I said earlier, I have previously never been a  Lang Lang fan in general, but for myself I am starting to see more maturity in his playing and so far I think this is a really good album.  Not very many people can play Liszt like this.  Believe I've heard much worse.  I can fully understand how some Liszt could be over the top for many.  Honestly, if I didn't play the piano I would be in that camp too.  As a pianist though, it is hard to ignore what Liszt has done for the piano.  Playing his music gives one a sort of high and it is very invigorating.  It also has something for every emotion that exists.  It is very interesting to see and watch how music can effect a young child who is essentially taking the stimulus and reacting naturally to it (especially before his opinions get influenced by the world).  I can see the fascination in my 7 year old son as he hears something like the Romance O pourquai donc and can react one way or the other end of the scale in La campanella which is quite fun.  For me, the lesson is to have an open mind and also to be able to let your imagination run wild.  This afternoon, I watched my son try to move his body to try to demonstrate what he was hearing in La Campanella.  You simply can't shake fast enough to keep up to what 10 fingers can do on an instrument : )

In earlier recordings of Lang Lang I did sense a more showy shallowness.  That was a given considering his age.  It was a turn off for me too.  With this one and the Vienna album I see a new course being taken.  Yes, he has a tremendously wide dynamic range but it is laced with ideas now.  He takes time with developing the plot and is starting to show a wonderful sense of timing.  I really sense a genuine person sincerely making music from the heart.  This is all one can ask for I think.

For now, this recording has caused me to resurrect the Romance S 169 and the Un sospiro S144/3 on the piano myself.  A possible conflict of interest perhaps in generating my opinions I suppose?

Who knows?  As of today, I am very happy.  Maybe I'll change my mind with subsequent listens.

Doug

Pollini's WTCI is austere, without frills, occasionally hard driven. Don't look here if you like your Bach kaleidoscopic and playful, but I find Pollini's razor-sharp focus and commitment bring their own rewards. The recording quality is not to the same level: the full bodied sound of the Steinway is compromised by some congestion.

Cheers,

EJ