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

Yoshio Otomo Quartet With Tsuyoshi Yamamoto ‎– Moon Ray

Alto Saxophone – Yoshio Otomo
Bass – Tamio Kawabata
Drums – O. "Jess" Kurata
Piano – Tsuyoshi Yamamoto

Nice music for the end of the day. 

A+  Tidal.   Not bad at all supermodel's 1st album.

A+ Tidal.

A+ Tidal.  Motivated by Kuma. He's waiting for very long time a new vinyl edition of this album which is coming soon.

Next up .....

Sam Bush - Ice Peaks - Peaks of Telluride

..... a little blue grass this evening.

Recorded over the same three-day stretch in May 2002 as Waltz Red Side, this Steve Kuhn trio date covers the same nine standards and originals, though with one important difference: Gary Peacock replaces Eddie Gomez on this CD, with drummer Billy Drummond present on both releases, sticking mostly to brushes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7sqmcBRQ3E

Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909):  Alexander Boyd (Piano)

I always have a problem with minor composers and compilation discs.  Where to file these and later how to find anything later? In this case, it has to do with Albéniz.  He didn't write enough music and so now I am faced with the issue of where to put him in my physical library among the rooms full of the giants such as Bach, Beethoven and Brahms.  Of course, I have the Alicia de Larrocha recording which was like finding a needle in the haystack.  I have the Hamelin and of course until you remember that he actually recorded Albéniz, I would never find this unless I was looking through the Hamelin section.

This new recording may just force my hand at adding an Albéniz section?  Maybe I need to spend the next year changing my library to reflect a true alphabetical library A-Z?  Such are the problems the streaming crowd doesn't have anymore.  Certainly while listening to this wonderful music is no time to ponder such things anyway.

A + 3 | WAV

(1975 | 1995 remaster)

Some gentle early period Tangerine Dream, one of their Virgin period albums that helped frame the Berlin School sound. 

giving this a listen on Tidal at the moment following a recommendation over the weekend. A bit Cowboy Junkies-like, slightly retro sound but liking this....

A + 3 | WAV

(1974 | 1995 remaster)

As the sun breaks through, some more early TD is required.

During workout. 

Delicate...

On CD:-

Radiohead - Kid A

On CD:-

Anathema - Distant Satellites

Franz Liszt (1811-1886):  Chiyan Wong (piano)

Franz Liszt was a master at taking human emotion and translating these to a musical expression.  I do not know anyone else in history who was as prolific and effective at doing this.  As a result, I can honestly say that most of the time I would rather listen to a symphony or some lieder or some operatic fantasies solely through a piano.  It may just be my own view but I find that Liszt not only found the message of the music but he amplified this message and so the two (the original supplemented by a transcription) really brings me closer to the music.

The operatic transcriptions are story telling at its best with snippets of twisted plots and love gone wrong.  It is hard not to be moved by the magnitude of this music.

Chiyan Wong has his hands in editing and / or completing all four of the works on this disc.  I also see that Daniel-Ben Pienaar assisted in editing but I believe this refers to the recording itself rather than the score.  A fine recording overall but I felt this Linn recording suffered somewhat with an overly blunt recording outcome. 

Jeroen20 posted:

Started this morning with Hopkinson Smith.

Thanks very much for this. After seeing this, I did some research and discovered it on offer on Qobuz (it still is) along with some of his other CDs.

Absolutely excellent in every way.

Peet posted:

Florestan posted:

EJS posted:

---

Pollini's Chopin remains about precision, with limited fluctuations to the basic tempo, a steady left hand and a calculated, deliberate right,  and virtually no rubato. He is nowadays letting some freedom creeping into his playing yet even after weeks of listening to try and 'get it', I find all the performance here sound somewhat samey and unvaried. Hate to say this - as an admirer - but I find this to be a somewhat dull record.

EJ

Thanks EJ for your usual insightful candor that I can always trust and rely on.  After struggling with this one too I feel somewhat better knowing it was not just my ears that came to the same conclusion.

No judgement from me on Pollini.  I am sure that some people want Chopin played in this way and that is fine.  Variety is a good thing.  For me to hear the extremes and everything in between plus interpretations that I never could have imagined on my own is educational.  It allows me to grow as well as become more sure and grounded in what I believe in.

Unfortunately, for my own views in how I feel currently, I would use this recording as an example of how not to play Chopin.  Music for me has to have some emotional value and speak to me.  I guess this automatically puts me at odds with the view of those that believe you (as a player) should only let the notes/music speak for themselves and not inject anything (artificial) further in to the interpretation.  Sometimes this is appropriate but certainly not in this case. 

Which recording of the late Chopin would you two EJ and Florestan recommend.

Peet, hard for me to recommend just one recording.  No one player aces everything.  My comments though were aimed more at the overall approach to Chopin.  I tend to favour a less masculine sound and a more imaginative approach.  I am pretty sure that whatever Pollini plays and records he is very intentional about his style and it seems to me that lately he favours robotic exactness over musicality.  What is strange is that there are occasional departures from this but they do come off as contrived and confusing.  One example is in the c-sharp minor waltz where the opening is marked with the Italian term Tempo giusto.  I'm sure Pollini understands Italian?  This term means to play in "strict time" yet he puts a ritardando in a downward passage of the opening.  I wouldn't comment on this but it seems odd for someone who is consciously giving us the impression that he wants to play Chopin very straight (strict tempo and no added emotion).  I think this style is not appropriate for me and is mostly evident in the larger works such as the Barcarolle or Polonaise-Fantaisie.

Again, sorry I could not be more specific for you.  It is difficult as their is a radical difference to playing a Nocturne to a Mazurka to a Polonaise and so on.  I can't explain it beyond this but I found it difficult to sit through this entire disc as it just grates me the wrong way.  Come to think of it though I think I am very critical of Chopin interpretations in general and I was not just picking on Pollini.  It is very hard to please me in this category and when I come across some recordings of the late works I will be sure to highlight them.  But what suits me may not suit your tastes?

In the meantime, I will keep searching for those perfect recordings and this explains why I collect multiple copies of the same music by the same composers.  We keep searching for that one holy grail example of how a piece should be played while knowing that perfection does not exist.

Art Pepper - Smack up

Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809):  John O'Conor (piano)

Piano Sonata Nos. 47, 38, 31, 33 & 58

I have always admired John O'Conor with his complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas and so now it is a good thing to add this Haydn disc to the mix.  The recording is made using a Steinway exclusive Spirio technology which I believe is the same or similar to their player piano option.  Sounds good to me.  Maybe a little too good as I sit here and wonder how to duplicate this in my home the old fashioned way.

Just giving this a spin on the LP12. I didn't like this so much at first, but it's actually a jolly fine folk album.

came across this mentioned on another forum (I know, it's not cheating) also referencing Simon Posford so knew that this needed a listen - via Tidal - absolutely mad and gives the speakers a fair workout so now have to catch up with the back catalogue (if only for the mad artwork!). 

On CD:-

Bonnie Raitt - Nick Of Time