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;
On vinyl...
Sahib Shihab - Sahib's Jazz Party (aka Conversations) . Rec 1963 at the Jazzhus Montmartre in Copenhagen. CD rip
on Nonesuch...
Opera Rara's latest production features Bellini's first opera, a comedy-drama that isn't tragic or very funny, but with some great music. There are already some of Bellini's signature very singable long melodic lines for which are Norma's and I Puritani have become famous, mixed in with a good bit of Rossini-like agility that is emphasized by Bellini's use of spoken dialogue (recitativo secco) between the musical numbers. Performance is exemplary and I am happy to finally have a good studio recording of this work.
Cheers,
EJ
The album's design concept, with Kam dressed up in 18th-century finery, would seem pretentious were it not for the fact that her playing is so beautiful she seems to have stepped right out of Mozart's world. The recording was made in two sessions in different locations; the acoustic of the Beethovensaal at the Hannover Congress Centrum, where the Clarinet Quintet was recorded, is superior for Mozart to that of the Paterskirche in Kempen, a clear enough but somewhat dull-sounding venue. (AllMusic)
Stan Getz & J.J. Johnson - At The Opera House. CD rip. Rec 1957
Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849): David Fray (piano)
Interpretation? Who knows what it should be for each composer? Everyone makes it into their own, I guess?
I was recently at a recital with Jan Lisiecki and he claimed that Chopin Nocturnes should be more muscular (rather than softer/poetic). He said many of these dreams were more in line with nightmares? Well, where appropriate but I don't particularly care for "muscular" Chopin. Loud & bangy just doesn't appeal to me.
Fray, for the most part has taken another approach. I like his overall approach in that he tends to the softer side but I think it is in an unbalanced way. He seems to have put all his eggs in a one line bel canto basket. This means that he generally focuses on a strong single line in the treble that is dominantly in the foreground and everything else is in the background. In my view this becomes monotonous rather quickly.
In my opinion, their is so much richness and beauty in the lower voices that just seem to be muzzled and needed to be more in balance? Remember, Chopin revered Bach and Bach was into counterpoint. In general, this was my only beef. Nicely recorded, however.
I'm positivly impressed. Much better as expected. Some nice "lod style" DM sounds inside.
A very good album during my workout. A nice balance of material from the Cream and the later phase. A good band behind the man...
A + 3 | WAV
(2017)
Ambient electronic music, this one unsurprisingly sci-fi inspired.
Playing this a breakfast music in anticipation of this evenings concert...
Marie-Nicole Lemieux is a real contralto and a treat to hear in Rossini, native territory to her voice. Her approach is quite modern (technically proficient, with added emotional touches that weren't fashionable for a long time and probably not historically correct - but I actually like the added colour to belcanto). She sounds rather frayed at the start of the recording (close miking), but improves as the recital gets underway. The album closes with the humorous duet for two cats - which could be read as a critical contemporaneous commentary on the perception of Rossini's music (it was not actually written by him).
From 16/44 download; live, no applause included.
Cheers
EJ
Tina Brooks - "True Blue" (1960)
Jeff Anderson posted:
Tina Brooks - "True Blue" (1960)
I have the recent Music Matters all analogue mastered pressing of this, love it!
Milt Jackson - "Sunflower" (1973)
From one great OST to another. Stevee_s.
Kenny Kirkland - "Kenny Kirkland" (1991) wonderful pianist, plays on Wynton Marsalis four earliest releases, this was his only release under his own name, he died of congestive heart failure in 1998 at the age of 43.
Thee best album I've heard ... ( within an ancient traditional main blood vein )