Carpenters - Only Yesterday [Richard & Karen Carpenter's Greatest Hits]

Back in the early seventies, i would listen to the radio [i don't do that now], plus i would buy vinyl singles [and i certainly don't do that either], this takes me back to those formative years, before Classical music even crossed my path [and Jazz], where i was learning to love music, the pop charts was my musical kindergarten, and i still have some loves left behind from those years.

The Carpenters ended in 1983 after Karen's death, but of course they live on in the hearts of many, during their time at the top they received criticism for being too 'kitsch', and even though some of their effects are a bit dated, real talent is everlasting, i still enjoy listening to this album, it brings back pleasant memories.

On this listening i really enjoyed tracks 1, 4, 6, 10, 16 & 18-20, my favourite song is track 19 'Only Yesterday', but this time i was really touched by track 16 'For All We Know', it's the oboe intro that has a wonderful effect, and Richard Carpenter was clever at creating atmosphere [0:00-0:14, +1:18-1:32 & 2:08-2:32], Karen's voice is so pure, partly due to an excellent mix in the recording, the unobtrusive piano in the background just adds that touch of variety and colour [0:43, 1:01 & 1:51], the lyrics are no great shakes, short and sweet at under 3 minutes.

Here's Karen singing 'For All We Know', live at the BBC on YouTube, ...err the hairstyle is certainly kitsch!, ha ha.

Bruckner - Symphony 8 [Barenboim-Berliner Philharmoniker]

Last year i seriously started to listen to this Symphony, and fell in love with it, now i have a handful of recordings of this great work, it's amazing that a work can go from being relatively unknown in my collection, to suddenly one of the two or three best Symphonies Bruckner has written, within a year.

The Symphony usually lasts from 70 to 90 minutes, many recordings spill over onto a second disc, this is a one disc version, a live recording made in the mid nineties by the Argentinian Daniel Barenboim, lasting 77 minutes.

The heavenly third movement Adagio, is very spiritual, the best slow movement that Bruckner ever wrote, every time i hear it i'm amazed at Bruckner's sheer vision, and his concentration in writing a 25 minute movement that holds the listener in it's grip from first to last, it starts off with the utmost serenity, and that lovely aching tune comes in [0:16-0:40], this is almost an idee fixe, it keeps coming back again and again, i'm always straining my ear to hear that beautiful melody again [3:03, 8:46 & 15:30], a second idea slowly rises out of the mists to the summit, where a beautiful harp plays [2:26-3:00], a glorious moment, i really notice how Bruckner makes excellent use of the violas in this Symphony, giving it a darker edge, a wonderful horn call gives a tender moment meaning [6:43-7:03], it's little touches like this that makes Bruckner a genius, and then out of nowhere the strings play high and loud, with the brass joining in exultantly, with the strings throbbing away [7:31-7:52], there's some nice work that builds up and up into a mighty crescendo [10:46-11:37], the strings soar and the brass growl, a real headlong rush, the horn call comes back, but this time it's joined by a second horn [13:47-14:09], out of the original tune played at the start of the Symphony, this time played with tremendous forte on the brass, there steals this sweet pleading respite on the strings with woodwind [17:26 onwards], and then a wistful moment on the strings [18:18 onwards], that becomes more agitated, again the fortissimo builds up to one almighty blast of glory [19:53-20:28], then... comes the coda, it's the most achingly beautiful part of this symphony [21:43 to the end], it has those sorrowful touches, the fading light at the end of the day, sorrow mixed with a bittersweet nostalgia, like two people who can't bear to say goodbye and part, there's this phrase, first called out on the clarinet [22:19], but then repeated again and again on the strings, with the horns joining in [23:21-23:56], this is the moment of moments in this Symphony, is there anything so gut-wrenchingly emotional as the ending of this movement?.

Here's Karajan conducting the Vienna Philharmonic in the great Adagio on YouTube.

Tchaikovsky - Violin Concerto [Josefowicz/ Marriner-Academy Of Saint Martin In The Fields]

Born in Canada, but has lived virtually all her life in America, a child prodigy, even a Catwalk Queen, she was only 17 when she recorded this Concerto, she's now almost twice that age.

Don't get the idea that this is some whizz kid let loose with an ancient Strad, she really creates a mature performance, but one that's also red hot with passion too, this is a technically difficult Concerto, but she really pulls it off.

I so much enjoyed the fire of the first movement, it's full of Slavic wit and bravura, it's hard to pinpoint some truly inspired passage over other passages, and memorable bits fly at you thick and fast, in trying to write how i feel, it makes me realize what a feast this movement truly is, i find it so hard to just single out one passage, in the slow passages Josefowicz has playing of supreme pathos [3:02 to roughly 4 minutes], and tremendous virtuoso fast bowing [5:06-6:11], i like the way Tchaikovsky has some nice nationalistic almost Marche Slave forte moments [6:11-6:44 & 8:40-8:56], Josefowicz traverses the difficulties of playing almost two ideas simultaneously with ease [7:30-8:39], on a piano you've got two hands to play bass and treble at the same time, the same must be so hard for a Violinist, for me this is probably the highlight of this listening, towards the end of the movement, there's some exciting high tessitura playing [14:09-15:22], and added on the end of that, tremendously fast bowing too [15:22-15:38], it's hard to explain the last couple of minutes of this movement, except that Tchaikovsky pulls out all the stops in one last exultant showpiece, fragments [sparks?] fly left and right, it's a real showstopper Sarasate and Paganini would have been proud of, what a piece of music!.

Here's Leila Josefowicz playing the First movement on YouTube.

Dvorak - Symphonic Variations [Kosler-Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra]

Zdenek Kosler is Czechoslovakian, he's a new name to me, he actually died 15 years ago, and he made this recording in the early eighties, i bought these discs on Ebay, i really like the booklet cover, a lovely shot of the sun through the leaves on a tree, that's why i put a bid on and won.

Of course i love the music too, basically it's Dvorak's Symphonic Poems, but it also has room at the end for the lovely Symphonic Variations, the magic of this composition is that there are 27 variations in only roughly 20-25 minutes, this makes each one quite short, sometimes as short as 20 seconds, other times almost 2 minutes long, but gives a wide range of variety, and quantity too.

So most of all i enjoyed variations 9, 11, 14-15 & 18, and i especially love variation 14 [8:23-9:41], it actually starts off as if it's going to break forth into the Largo from his Ninth Symphony, it's a soft ambling gait on the strings [8:23-8:34], the flute joins in on this amble, with what sounds like a very soft echo on a horn in the background [8:34-9:16], and then the bassoon plays a short melody to finish things off, with the flute playing in the background [9:16-9:41], wonderfully serene, this is just one of the many flavours to taste in Dvorak's ever changing Symphonic Variations, a bit like a 27 course meal, where you only get a small spoonful of something, then it's off to the next variation where you get something else!, the next time i play it i'm sure to notice and fall in love with another variation.

Here's the Symphonic Variations played on YouTube.

Verdi - 'Heroines' Soprano Opera Arias [Gheorghiu/Chailly-Orchestra Sinfonica Di Milano Giuseppe Verdi]

The Romanian Soprano Angela Gheorghiu must be one of the most famous Divas performing today, she has a very distinctive 'fruity' voice, no doubt from her Eastern European dialect, plus she's got the looks to go along with her talent.

This is a nice collection of Arias, entitled 'Verdi Heroines', Chailly is very much an Opera Conductor, and of course the Italian Orchestra with Verdi's name to it is ideal.

I enjoyed tracks/Arias 2, 4-5 & 9, especially track 5, the aria 'Tacea La Notte Placida' [The Calm Night Was Silent] from Il Trovatore [The Troubadour], the Aria is a discussion between Leonore and Ines, where Leonore recounts her meeting the dark stranger Manrico at a jousting contest, and eventually being serenaded by him beneath her window late at night, the best bits of the Aria are the two chorus's by Leonore [2:47-3:27 & 4:11-5:30], that both break out into a waltz/song,

dolci s'udiro e flebili [when the sweet plaintive sound]

gli accordi d'un liuto [of chords from a lute was heard]

e versi melanconici [and a troubadour]

un trovator canto [sang melancholy verses]

gioia provai che agli angeli [the joy i felt was such]

solo e provar concesso! [as only the angels are allowed!]

al core, al guardo estatico [to my heart, to my ecstatic gaze]

la terra un ciel sembro! [the earth seemed a heaven!]

Gheorghiu/Leonore works her way up into an ecsatic desire of love and passion, an Aria that goes waltzing around your brain long after it's finished, Verdi certainly had a way with marrying words and music.

Here she is singing this Aria on YouTube.

Lucinda Williams [Car Wheels On A Gravel Road]

As the picture shows, this is one of those dirt road albums, full of American roots music, the booklet cover is just right for the music, a cheaply built wooden house built down a dirt road, i've been in a self-built house like this in Maine, no electricity or running water!, what an adventure that was.

Lucinda Williams is now 57!, isn't anyone getting younger anymore? ha ha, this is really her breakthrough album, necessarily about the major things in life like love, death, friendship etc, but more about incidental things like tattoos, screen doors, taking up serpents, graffiti, barbed wire etc, it's amazing how Williams can paint these pictures of real life, with real issues, the drab really is exciting!, those singers who talk of the big things, like 'everyone hold hands' and world peace, end up being so superficially about nothing.

Well the track i enjoyed the most is track 9 'Metal Firecracker', the lead guitar of Gulf morlix really makes this track, it has a slight National Guitar resonance about it, also he sings harmony on the chorus, 'All i ask' is so powerful, and Lucinda Williams' emphasis on certain words, really makes it sound like she means what she singing about,

'Once you held me so tight

i thought i'd lose my mind

you said i rocked your world

you said it was for all time

you said that i would always be your girl'

i just sense a real emphasis on lose, like it's said with a little craziness [like she's lost her mind!], it's stuff like this which makes the album, she's not just a Singer, and a Poetess, but she's an Actress too!, plus if i might add my own take on it, 'fire' means on fire with love, and 'cracker' means crackers or going crazy, and even 'metal' is ZZ Top turned up real loud, she's on fire with love and going crazy with love.

Here's a group fronted by Lori Behrman singing Metal Firecracker on YouTube.

Blogs = An Unwelcome Return.

Paul Simon [Graceland]

What can i say about Paul Simon that hasn't already been said?, the American will be 70 next year!, how time creeps up on people, he recorded Graceland in 1986, when he was a sprightly 45!.

This is a real turning point for Simon, and his best solo album, all those African rhythms were 'collected' [stolen some might say!] by him and melded into music and words, and then credited with 'words and music by Paul Simon', how much it's 'him' and how much he's just trawling the music library of the world, and picking ideas here and there, like a person would fill their plate at a buffet, well i don't know, but one thing's for sure, the final result is a great album.

I went out for a walk late in the evening, and i played this album on random, the songs that really hit me this time were 2, 5, 9 & 11, i was especially moved by track 2 'Graceland', regarded by Simon as the best song he's ever written, the magic of the song comes from the complex overlaying of different instruments into a heady mix, the percussive side of things are tremendous [Makhaya Mahlangu], a couple of slaps on what sounds like the tambourine, and then moments later a couple of hits on resonant woodblocks, and it's this teasing percussion that has these nice silences in between, like broken-field drumming, over this is played a guitar, constantly playing tremolo, and then in the background an off stage pedal steel guitar adds to mix intermittently, it's this cloth that Simon sews his vocals/words on,

The Mississippi delta was shining

like a national guitar

i am following the river

down the highway

through the cradle of the civil war...

The three verses create a mesmerising tease, and increase in intensity the longer you listen to it, his best song?, hmmn, certainly his best song as a soloist, i love listening to this.

Here's Paul Simon singing Graceland live in Zimbabwe on YouTube.

Various Composers - Guitar Canarios [Lafasciano]

Domenico Lafasciano is certainly not a household name, but i believe he's quite big in his native Italy, i've never heard of him before, but i saw this disc in a second-hand shop for i think £5, the compositions looked off the beaten track, so i gambled my money, and it paid off!, there's some nice discoveries hidden on this disc.

I really enjoyed track 11 'Danza Mora' [Moorish Dance?] by Seigfried Behrend, the piece is quite doleful, there's this lazy chuggish march in the bass, that permeates throughout the piece, of which the melody plays over, very much full of dissonances, there's this fast tremolo episode in the middle [1:38-1:56], which gives the piece some nice variety, the second half of the piece has some slight variations, even a changing of key episode, it actually sounds like a lament rather than a dance, if you love Classical Guitar, then this piece is worth checking out, it's something you want to hear again and again.

I couldn't find the Behrend piece on YouTube, so here's Per-Olov Kindgren playing the Bach Prelude [BWV999] on YouTube, he plays it about half a minute slower than Lafasciano, and this actually adds to the piece, nice perfect speed.

Joshua Redman [Freedom In The Groove]

What a truly funky album this is, rather than mere BeBop, Redman takes Jazz music into an R&B flavour, ideas abound which make this album bubble with funk, truly as the title says, he uses acres of freedom to groove.

Joshua Redman is now in his forties, and he never stays still, always experimenting with new line-ups and personnel, i guess a bit like Miles Davis did.

The booklet shots are clever, by Dana Lixenberg, who's an incredible Photographer, the notes by Redman himself could be a great introduction to the 'Bible of Music', he endorses the same musical aesthetic i do, that you should listen to music over the whole spectrum of genres, it's all music, never stunt your ears by denying yourself cross-fertilization with every form of music.

On this listening i really enjoyed tracks 1, 6, 8 & 10, i suppose i liked track 8 'Cat Battles' the most, Sax and Guitar [Peter Bernstein] get us into the groove right away, they're a great partnership, and their sound is nice and flexible, they start off as a duet [0:00-0:30], then they start weaving in and out of each other [0:31-1:13], the Pianist Peter Martin has a great solo [1:14-2:29], developing a lovely intensity, Redman's own solo is a slight touch straightforward, the group reprise the opening theme [4:21-5:37], and it's a nice moment to hear that groovy tune again, the whole thing comes to an abrupt halt, very nice indeed, you can easily dance to this album.

Here's a Quintet playing 'Cat Battles' on YouTube, very faithful to the original.

Blogs = 100 Greatest Jazz Albums.

James Moody & Mark Turner - The Two Tenors [Warner Jams Volume 2]

Here's another disc i bought second hand in a shop, really cheap [i think £2], looked good, plus it's got Mark Turner on it, and i know he's good, and i wasn't disappointed.

In some ways this is a jam session, but the tunes seem really well thought out, and it's certainly not a bunch of musicians merely jamming.

The booklet is covered with photographs by Larry Fink, and especially the black & white shots of the five musicians in the inner pages of the booklet are really good indeed.

Most of all i enjoyed tracks 2 & 5, especially track 5 'Alone Together' was very inspiring, a tune by Arthur Schwartz, this happens to be a track featuring Larry Goldings in a Jazz Piano Trio setting, so James Moody and Mark Turner sit this one out, the track starts with a false start!, the Drummer Clarence Penn coming in too late [0:00-0:17], some good humoured laughing over the mistake, and it starts again, and now you can see how doing it right really adds to the intro [0:18-0:27], i'm glad they left the mistake in, the piano has this lopsided jiggy intro, and the drums have this mesmerizing tap tap with the drumsticks [0:23+], with some delicious hard offbeat cracks on the drum at random [0:36, 0:51 & 0:55], Goldings sends the thing swinging [1:07-1:15], but it keeps breaking up/down, and then nicely swinging again and again [1:54-2:03 & 2:12+], what a tease!, it's all over the place, start/stop, Goldings makes it complex and lots of Monkish out of tune notes, Goldings must have two independent brains to work it all out, i really love this disjointed track.

Here's a Jazz Quartet playing 'Alone Together' on YouTube, gives you some idea what it sounds like.

Various Composers - 'Nuit Resplendissante' French Mezzo Soprano Opera Arias [Kasarova /Chaslin-Munchner Rundfunkorchester]

A few days ago my 'disc of the day' was another French Opera Arias disc [17th March 2010], and here's another, with only one Aria duplicated.

Vessalina Kasarova is Bulgarian, she's a Mezzo-Soprano, so a bit darker/heavier, she's got a great sense of drama about her, and a distinctive voice, it's surprising she's nearly 45, she looks a lot younger.

I was mightily impressed with the aria 'O Ma Lyre Immortelle' from Gounod's Opera Sapho, about the Poetess Sapho who commits suicide at the end of the Opera, by throwing herself into the sea, the aria on this recording is preceded by a 2 minute recitative intro, the aria starts of course with the Harp [Lyre] that Sapho is strumming [2:02 onwards], and then this gorgeous Cor Anglais lament comes in [2:04-2:25], and this same Cor Anglais tune keeps making appearances [3:03-3:11 & 3:58-4:20], the Horns / broiling sea starts to growl [4:27+], while Sapho/Kasarova sings,

Farewell, light of the world

Descend into the ocean!

I shall sink beneath the waves

into eternal rest

The Orchestra sing a saddened and troubled version of the Cor Anglais tune, this time punctuated with dissonant flutes [5:57-6:24], while Kasarova sings,

Open up, briny deep, open up!

I shall sleep forever under the sea!

She throws herself off the cliff, a very dramatic Aria, full of imagery and power, very effective at welling up all sorts of emotions.

Here's Kasarova singing 'O Ma Lyre Immortelle' on YouTube.

Blogs = Smorg.

Sting - Fields Of Gold [The Best Of Sting 1984-1994]

Wow, Sting will be 60 next year!, seems like a short time ago i got a 'Message In A Bottle' and was 'walking On The Moon', this compilation comes from his first four albums, and i feel that some of those individual albums didn't have enough quality to justify having, and yet there's some nice individual tracks that are, so this is one of those discs that collect the best bits of an Artist.

Well i really enjoyed tracks 3, 5-6 & 12-15, but most of all track 3 'Fields Of Gold', it's his best song ever, so full of nostalgia, a romantic moment years ago, remembered years later, it aches with bittersweetness, there's this 'tick tock' throughout the song played by the drumstick, representing the inevitable/inescapable passing of time, the lovely strumming/picking of the spanish guitar makes the song so sunny, at the end of the song Sting sings of the passing years,

'Many years have passed since those summer days

Among the fields of barley

See the children run as the sun goes down

Among the fields of gold'

sounds so much like they both had children and grew old together, but... they still look back on fondness to their earlier years... in the fields of barley.

Here's a clever/creative video of Sting performing Fields Of Gold on YouTube.

Delius - Piano Concerto [Lane/Lloyd Jones-Ulster Orchestra]

The Delius Piano Concerto is truly underrated on disc, which is a real shame, as this Concerto is one of the best things he wrote, and it's hard to fathom why it isn't better known, it's a real find if you love Piano Concerto's.

Hyperion's 'The Romantic Piano Concerto' series is a great idea, and even though the series is a mixed bag, certain individual recordings are gems, i would not wish to collect the whole lot, just dip into single discs that are appealing.

This concerto had a long gestation period, this is the original version recorded here, although i have a recording of the revised version, also played by Piers Lane, but with Vernon Handley conducting, i feel that the revised version is superior, but i really need to listen to both more before i can pinpoint why, the revised version is roughly six minutes shorter.

The first movement really got to me this time, there are two themes running through it, the first one heard at the outset, nice and pastoral, heard on the strings [0:00-0:19], but soon turns more exuberant, and then the second tune, more lovelier, first heard on the horns [1:40-2:03], but followed by an exquisite dreamy piano solo [2:03-2:39], the feel and mood of this Concerto is most like Schumann's Piano Concerto, the two themes intertwine back and forth, maybe in places it might sound somewhat disjointed and pasted together, and maybe that's where the revised version comes in, near the end of the Concerto, there's a lovely episode, where the second gentle tune appears on the flutes/woodwind [8:44-9:09], in anticipation for the piano serenading away [9:09-10:01], with flute/recorder? in the background, which turns to solo violin, Delius surely knows how to spin a wonderful tune.

Well i have not lived long with this Concerto, i'm still in the process of discovering it, but so far what i hear is a forgotten masterpiece.

Here's the first movement played on YouTube.

Prokofiev - Piano Concerto 3 [Krainev/ Kitaenko-Radio Sinfonie Orchester Frankfurt]

This is a lovely set of the Prokofiev Piano Concertos, i don't think Vladimir Krainev is very well known, born in 1944 in Russia, now lives in Germany, but mainly has worked in the East.

The booklet cover is by Ernst Kirchner, a surprisingly good painter, his painting Nollendorfplatz is really powerful.

The third Concerto is probably the most famous, i love the wonderful variations in the middle movement, full of quirky surprises, endless variety, and clashing instrumentation, this is Prokofiev at his best, the movement is jam packed with so much drama, i will just mention my favourite moments, variation 2 [2 :11-3:01] has this fanfare by muted trumpet, sharp and brittle, nicely clashing with everything else, as the piano runs up and down the keyboard, in variation 3 [3:01-4:14] the piano stamps out chords, with an out of tune lumbering gait, this for me is the best moment of the whole Concerto, in the middle of variation 4, there's this fluttering by the high woodwind [5:44-6:06], from treble down to bass, as if a bird has flown down from a tree to the ground, or a leaf has fallen, very effective, there's something new to find every time i listen to it.

Here's Yuja Wang playing the middle movement Theme and Variations on YouTube, with Dutoit conducting.

Various Composers - French Soprano Opera Arias [Kanawa/Tate-Orchestra Of The Royal Opera House Covent Garden]

Kiri Te Kanawa has a very distinctive voice, you can tell it's her singing, although her voice sometimes gets in the way, maybe it's too distinctive!, sometimes you want to get into the character of the role, but her voice remains the same.

This recital of French Opera arias is special, i remember playing this disc extensively on a holiday in Cornwall, and i really got to deeply know some of these arias there, the booklet is nice, a lovely blue-tinged photo by David Scheinmann.

I love the Massenet aria from Le Cid, 'Pleurez pleurez mes yeux' [weep weep my eyes], the Heroine is Chimene, she is torn between her love for Rodrigo, and for her Father [whom Rodrigo has killed in a duel], she laments her deep sadness, the aria starts off with an introduction by the clarinet [0:00-0:44], very reminiscent of a Bellini aria, those smooth clarinet lines keep coming back later in the aria [1:18-1:38 etc], and are a wonderful feature that make this aria justly famous, there's a happier episode in the middle, where Chimene reminisces on earlier days, with a caress of the harp, and the clarinet as backing [3:16-3:59], and Chemine gets more passionate, and so do the strings, a lovely sad aria.

Here's Angela Gheorghiu singing this aria on YouTube.

Beethoven - Piano Concerto 3 [Perahia/ Haitink-Concertgebouw Orchestra]

Here's the Perennial Beethoven again, his last three Concertos are masterpieces, the third was one which i fell in love with right away, this boxset is ideal, Murray Perahia is a great interpreter.

So what of Bernard Haitink?, some people think he's a genius, others i've heard don't think he's anything special, i guess the jury's out in my corner, i don't particularly 'listen' to a Conductor, maybe a soloist, i prefer listening to the Composer instead, maybe Haitink can be a little slow, he's now over eighty years old!.

The first movement is full of drama, very Mozartian? in it's intro, the Maestro is still somewhat under the shadow of Mozart, written in a minor key [C Minor], i suppose it has its double with Mozart's Concerto 24 in the same key [which i also love], it has that edge of 'conflict' about it, it's hard to pinpoint a certain passage which made me 'sit up and take notice', it's the whole thing that i got into, ok maybe half way through there's this little woodwind 'intro' [7:35-7:40], which leads into the piano playing the main theme, while the strings chug in the background [7:42-8:21], a nice intense moment, the Concerto is very satisfying indeed.

Here's the first movement played by Perahia on YouTube, this time with Marriner conducting.

Bantock - Tone Poem 5 'The Witch Of Atlas' [Handley-Royal Philharmonic Orchestra]

Granville Bantock seems to have been a forgotten composer, until the early nineties, when Hyperion Records started to record his works, and it's a wonder that he has remained unearthed for so long, because he should be much better known, and surprisingly he has a wonderful way with a tune, deft at using the orchestra to paint literary works with lovely tone colours.

I bought this disc in the early nineties, because everyone was raving about it, i quickly learned what all the fuss was about, i have nearly 1600 discs now, and this gets in my all-time top five!, yes it's that good, i haven't heard a lot of Bantock, but i would urge anyone to acquire this disc.

Bantock wrote six Tone Poems, this is the fifth, and it's gloriously rich in the most exquisite musical sonorities, Bantock has a thing about creating a soundworld to immediately fall in love with, it starts off with a solo violin, pleading [track 6 0:03-0:22], and then an oboe mirroring the tune [track 6 0:20-0:56], and then what sounds like a bass clarinet also mirroring the tune [track 6 1:01-1:37], this is the wonderful intro, really sets the scene, the music changes with horn calls, and Bantock begins to weave his magic with some very atmospheric woodwind & strings [track 7 0:41-2:17], mysterious and ghostly in places, again with a soft clash of the cymbal, it changes with some chattering piccolos [track 8 0:05-0:20], readying for the surge of the strings, who enter with such heartwrenching passion [track 8 0:21-0:49], this is the very best moment of the piece, it sounds like a Tchaikovsky waltz, it quietens down but becomes more impassioned again, a truly breathtaking moment, towards the end there's this short section where the piccolos chatter like birds, and then the chattering ripples down through all the woodwinds to the bassoons [track 12 0:38-1:11], a nice touch!, in the coda the opening is reprised [track 13 1:08-2:43], with some glockenspiel & harp tinkling to end things, if this was a Tchaikovsky or Sibelius Tone Poem it would justly be world famous, do yourself a favour and acquaint yourself with a masterpiece of mood.

Here's the piece played on YouTube.

Mahler - Symphony 5 [Jarvi-Scottish National Orchestra]

Mahler's Fifth Symphony is my favourite among his Symphonies, it breaks from the traditional four to a five movement work, and this works a treat, it has a real cohesiveness to it, even though it must be noted that Mahler composed it with only three distinct parts to it, both the first two movements are in a minor key, and the last three are in the major, which shows turmoil coming to a resolution, and even glory.

I've listened to this Symphony countless times, but this is the first time i've listened to Jarvi with Mahler, and the jury is out, i really need to listen to this some more before i can properly give an informed opinion, but it's certainly not bad.

The movement that hit me this time was the second movement, full of very agitated brass, it seems this movement is based on variations of the opening fanfare at the very beginning of the Symphony, very nice clear recording, the brass sounding loud and crisp, and inner voices coming from the woodwind can be heard very clearly, some very nice low muted string work early on [2:33-3:15], followed by some equally nice rumblings from the timpani, punctuated by stabbings from the brass [3:26-3:36], and in the middle of the movement there's this serene string serenade [6:30-7:14], then changes start to happen, there's a glorious brass fanfare [7:47-8:31], which makes it sound like the piece is turning into a Brass Symphony, near the end the whole thing erupts in a brass blaze of glory [11:16-12:30], a real resolution and untying of the knots made earlier, damn!, that Mahler knows how to give you goosebumps.

Here's Gergiev conducting the second movement on YouTube.

Brahms - String Quartet 1 [Melos String Quartet]

It took Brahms until he was 40 years old before he wrote a String Quartet that he felt worth keeping, a sure sense of the shadow of Beethoven hung over the critical Brahms, he composed this Quartet while on holiday in Ziegelhausen.

The String Quartets of Brahms have also come late to me in my own life, and i'm only beginning to get to grips with them, but they are certainly worth getting to know.

The Melos Quartet have been around since 1965, but these Germans decided to end the Quartet in 2005 after the death of their lead Violinist, they have made some wonderful recordings for Deutsche Grammophon over the years, and this three disc boxset is very collectible.

The first movement is full of power and vigour, written in a minor key, it certainly has an anger in fortissimos, and a sadness in the quieter moments, there's this fast bowing device that is used throughout this movement, it creates a nice tension, also another device that Brahms uses, is to throw this fast bowing technique around all of the strings, it gets swapped around between one player, and then another, also it's a stop/start type of music, it alternates back and forth between fast and slow, the agitated tone just won't go away, there's this exciting little moment about two thirds into the movement, where all the strings are involved in this exclamation from treble to bass, which passes through all the players in quick-fire succession four times [6:44-6:50], this must defeat amateur Quartets, a real tour-de-force, with hardly a breather, but tremendously exciting though.

Here's the Eclat Quartet playing this work on YouTube.

Beethoven - Violin Sonata 5 [McAslan/ Blakely]

Here's Lorraine McAslan again, i mentioned her Kreutzer Sonata last month [8th February 2010], and here's the companion piece, with the title 'spring' it may seem a fairly youthful work, but Beethoven was in his early thirties when he wrote it, and the Kreutzer was only composed no more than two years later, hardly making it a mature work, but it sounds like a work of pure genius.

I enjoyed so much the second movement Adagio by McAslan, it's such a gentle piece, the piano starts off with this almost metronome pulse in the left hand [0:05-0:40], while the right hand plays the tune, and the violin plays in the background, and then the violin takes over the tune [0:44-1:20], but the left hand piano stills marks time with that lovely pulse, which comes to an end on [1:23], but the whole thing nicely starts up again [2:20-4:19], and the same trades happen, but this time with the tune transformed to something more complex, it all stops and starts, but it's this constant 'beat' in the background, which acts as a canvas for the melody to be painted on, nice and dreamy, McAslan & Blakely both get it right.

Here's Shoji Sakaya playing this movement on YouTube.

Beethoven - String Quartet 7 [Tokyo String Quartet]

The Tokyo String Quartet are still going strong, albeit with a couple of personnel changes, they made these recordings at the end of 1989/beginning of 1990, i believe they're making new recordings of the Beethoven Quartets.

I just love the start of this String Quartet, it has that phenomenal momentum to it, there's no 'intro', straight in off the cuff it takes wing, and it pulls you along, and pulls you in!, the endearing tune is introduced by the cello, with throbbing strings in the background [0:00-0:13], but soon everyone joins in, the reprise of the initial cello theme is wonderful [2:50-3:01 & 6:51-7:02], and the lead up to it is clever and well thought out by Beethoven, towards the end of the movement this same theme is presented with real power by all of the strings in unison [9:22 onwards], again the lead up to it is presented quietly at first, but quickly gets louder and louder [9:06-9:22], a great preparation for the joyous outburst, this leads into some poignant moments in the coda, where previous themes are presented as touching memories, a revelatory performance by the Tokyo Quartet, which edges more towards sweetness than power, a great experience.

Here's the Alban Berg playing this Quartet on YouTube.

Schubert - 8 Impromptus [Brendel]

Alfred Brendel is a God, recently retired from the concert hall, he is now nearly 70, and if anyone has deserved their retirement it's Alfred.

This is my all-time favourite disc, bought in the early nineties, it's appeared in my daily highlights 47 times, and been a monthly highlight 5 times [yes i keep stats], this of course would be my desert island disc if i could only take one.

I loved listening to all these Impromptus, but this time i was bowled over by number 3 [D899], it's probably the most famous of these pieces, Brendel has a wonderful legato in the right hand in this piece, soft and gentle, all those black keys, i can get so lost in this piece, the tune is just divine, it has a touching melancholy to it, it ebbs and flows with passion and lyricism, and Schubert's way of marrying up the voices of the two hands is perfectionism, Brendel gets the speed just right, it can easily be played too slow, i like the coda and ending, it has that sad end-of-the-day feel to it, that note on [5:41] and the gentle rumblings at the close, perfection in a piano tune, and what it does to the soul!.

Watch Alfred get ecstatic playing Impromptu 3 [from the first set] on YouTube, it's so good to actually see him play.