What are you listening to and WHY might anyone be interested? (Vol. XIII)
Posted by: Richard Dane on 01 January 2017
2017 has arrived today, so time to start this thread afresh.
Last year's thread can be found here;
1st run, have become addicted to the albums of the criss cross jazz label...
Rip of new SACD release by Audio Fidelity. First bought the Dutch triple vinyl release of this back in the late 70s. The Caravanserai to Borboletta era of Santana is one of my favourites.
I've heard a rumour of a Japanese multichannel version becoming available with 7 additional tracks. Now that would be something!
A change to Kompact Label sees a return to more Ambient with a capital A. Less noodle, more stock and mushrooms.
Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943): Daniil Trifonov (piano) | Gidon Dremer (violin) | Giedrė Dirvanauskaitė (cello)
1. Preghiera (Arrangement after the Adagio sostenuto from Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2)
2. Trio élégiaque No. 2 in D minor, Opus 9
3. Trio élégiaque No. 1 in G minor
This is pretty good. At least that was my first impression.
What's not to like with Trifonov who is fully capable technically like few others? Kremer - well he has a lifetime of experience? Dirvanauskaitė matches Kremer quite well as the other string voice.
The problem is that this d-minor piano trio and especially the 1st movement has its very powerful grip on me. It has from the first time I heard it. So unfortunately I have some pretty strong views about it and its conception and outcome. My overall impression is that this is still very well put together. The devil is in the details. My sense is that their is an uneasy subservience between the players - ie. the pianist and cellist follow the wishes of the violinist. Part of this is to do with the fact that they only came together recently to do this project so they do not play as a full time chamber team. The other part is just shear respect for Kremer. He is the senior member of the group and so rightly or not he wields the big stick (no pun intended).
All three players do need to be on the same page emotionally but as with all Rachmaninov, the pianist has the most important role; he is (has to be) the conductor.
I do not like being critical, especially when something is this good but in my mind it could be better? So I am picking on a pianist whom I like but wonder who made the decisions in this interpretation?
The first problem I have is with the lack of rhythm or specifically a solid sense of a beat. What you have to know if you don't know what to listen for in this piece is that this is a funeral dirge. You can imagine a slow march to the burial site. All Russian chamber music is about death, mourning, or something bitterly painful. That is why it is so good. In this case, Rachmaninov wrote this 2nd trio to mourn the death of Tchaikovsky - the dedication at the top of the score simply says "A la memoire d'un grand artiste" with the knowledge that this was to Tchaikovsky. Actually, on Tchaikovsky's on Piano Trio in A minor, Tchaikovsky was the first to use these words although his were a eulogy to Nikolai Rubinstein on his death. Later Alexander Goldenweiser wrote a Piano Trio in e-minor and used the same dedication, "A la memoire d'un grand artiste" with the attribution directed back to Rachmaninov on his death.
Back to the sense of rhythm. The opening theme is one of an eerie march to a grave site. You have a circular downward drive in each bar. Low d octave on beat one and a four note downward pattern always on the second most important beat of the bar - on the 3rd beat. Although this is all in piano (soft) it should be clear and stand out. The whole piece is framed around this motive and 45 or 50 minutes later it ends very strongly on this pattern. So my complaint is that I feel Trifonov mostly disappears. There is not a clear sense of this important drive.
There are some very virtuosic places in this piece that the piano just goes wild (on its own) and this is to drive up the ugliness content which signals that in direct contrast something very, very beautiful is about to come. In literature you might say that this is the point where we advance the plot / tell some of the details etc. In opera this may be the recitatives prior to the arias. OK, no one can technically outdo Trifonov here. He is perfect. So you can see he goes from hiding behind the grandfather clock (when playing with the strings) to being Jack the Ripper (when he is soloist at a fff section). It is only my opinion, but he seems unable to assert himself as the dominant force against the string players.
That being said I wish the strings & piano would together show a little more pain and sorrow. Again, I think this is a philosophical question in the interpretation (ie. Kremer). I am not suggesting anything tasteless or overdone but just be in character of the music. Celebrate the imagery and let a few tears drop while your at it. When you ignore this and the music tends to the colder side it is hard to understand or appreciate the beautiful pain and sorrow that is found in this music. This is especially important in the contrasting theme section that has as its only purpose to tug at our heart strings.
By way of contrast, the 3rd movement is mostly good since it is nearly all a solo piano cadenza. Near the very end, Rachmaninov returns to the glorious first theme. He even marks that downward four beat drop (starting on the 3rd beat) with a tenuto. They are now chords rather than single notes. So it is obvious that Rachmaninov wants some attention paid to this. All is good for the first two bars until the strings join in. Then Trifonov disappears again.
The only other thing that bothers me about Trifonov is his insistence on playing the right hand beat and the left hand follows a split second later.
So, an excellent recording that I really do love (because of the music). I won't give up on it. Secretly though I wish it would lean a little more to the passionate / expressive side of interpretation.
Florestan posted:
Thanks, Doug. A very interesting writeup but you failed to tell us who in your vast musical collection performs these works more to your liking.
Anyway, I am getting into a (partial) Russian mood:
Haim Ronen posted:Florestan posted:Thanks, Doug. A very interesting writeup but you failed to tell us who in your vast musical collection performs these works more to your liking.
Haim, this is always the question of the day? There is nothing wrong with the Kremer/Trifonov/Dirvanauskaitė. I was maybe a little to severe? A little smooth/understated in character maybe but otherwise it is technically a nice recording if you don't have opinions and a score. Probably the best in my collection?
Not as polished but I find any of the following very satisfactory. A little rougher and maybe not as polished on the piano side but very satisfying and more on target for me but ultimately the version I have in my head is the most preferred (maybe a little of this or a little of that - not one recording hits it with a bullseye.) Problem is that I do not have any of the following recordings but I would like to have each one of these. I seem to like what the Russians did in the 1950's - 1970's. I think also that it is important that you have suffered in your life. Then playing and listening to this music takes on the proper amount of meaning.
Pavel Serebryakov
Mikhail Vaiman
Mstislav Rostropovich
Leonid Kogan
Fiodor Luzanov
Evgeny Svetlanov
Studio recording, 19.V.1973
David Oistrakh
Sviatoslav Knushevitsky
Lev Oborin
Studio recording, Moscow, 1958
A + 3 | WAV
(1971| 2011 remaster)
Berlin School kosmiche music on this Esoteric Recording's 24 bit digital remaster that includes these three bonus tracks:
Oszillator Planet Concert 8:02
Ultima Thule Part One 3:22
Ultima Thule Part Two 4:23
During my workout. I am not such a Marillion fan, but this is pretty ok...
Every morning I start with breakfast with classical piano, now I have Einav Yarden after some recommendations on the forum, it's pretty nice....
An album that has musically stood the test of time and a superb recording (not surprising given its origins) too. This is one album that i'd like to hear on a good vinyl system as the somewhat tight and dry recording would benefit a tad from the warmth of that medium.
The Blue Nile - A Walk Across The Rooftops
Blues music and great sound
Great interpretation of Ellington songs by Dick Hyman. The sound quality of this recording is very good as well.
A + 3 | WAV
(2010)
2 hour double CD live sets 1997 from WXXI Radio Rochester New York State and 1998 from Tampa Florida. Featuring Train to Nowhere, Little Red Rooster and a 22 minute version of Louisiana Blues, going for CD 2:
2-01 Little Red Rooster
2-02 Mississippi Steam Boat
2-03 Lookin' In
2-04 Louisiana Blues
2-05 Little Wheel
Now it's time for some modern jazz.
CD RIP:-
Rag 'n Bone Man - Human.
Having another listen to this one, and it's growing on me, though I do still feel certain songs are somewhat overproduced .......... but, blimey, he can't half sing.
This has been on my personal system most of the day. An album i'd not discovered musically until a few years ago when a friend brought one of the tracks over to demo his amp and i got to like it so bought the album. I remember first seeing the album cover in the record section of Woolworths a very(!) long time ago when i must have been about 8. Apart from being intrigued by the cover (fascinated by Power Stations at that age) i was rather bemused by the flying pig...
A great album especially the track 'Pigs'
Pink Floyd - Animals
CD rip:-
RUSH - Test For Echo
I simply love Arrau playing Debussy...
A + 3 | WAV
(2005)
An old one from Beth Hart that arrived today for ripping and is now getting a play... sounding good. Apparently the album got its name because it was recorded and mixed in 37 days. "It was recorded live at Center Staging in Burbank CA with high-def cameras recording video as well. Beth and band worked with Danish producer Rune Westberg to capture the raw live sound and produced the album like a live album."