Britten - War Requiem [Gardiner-NDR Sinfonieorchester] 

I must admit that these discs were not a phenomenal musical experience, but rather an interesting one, i consider Britten's War Requiem a masterpiece, so i was troubled by the lukewarm feelings for this work on listening to these discs today, is it me?, i own the Chandos Richard Hickox set, it's the only version of the War Requiem i've ever heard, so i thought i would acquire a new set, a second opinion of the work if you will, there's gains and losses [mainly losses], but also new insights too, first off i feel that this is a happier version, it's certainly quicker, and more upbeat, as well as possibly being lighter, however the Requiem is meant to be a dark foreboding lament, so it doesn't work very well, in the Hickox version we have Heather Harper, who for me is the star of that set, she sings with a real demonic bent, wailing and screaming as it were, nicely 'out of tune' in the best possible meaning, Luba Orgonasova by comparison is almost a sweet tame Soprano, not what i think Britten had in mind, i must admit some of the words are clearer, especially by the Tenor, also i don't like the way this set splits up each of the sections into further tracks, it actually makes it harder to know where you are, plus this set is recorded at a low volume.

John Eliot Gardiner is English, now 68 years old, he made this live recording in 1992 in Germany, the front cover picture is of fallen church bells, caused by an air raid during the second world war, i can see Gardiner's vision and copying to some degree the original premier, three international Artists as the soloists, and a damaged church, though this time in Germany, certainly the front cover is a far better picture than the Chandos / Hickox, it's awful.

The movement i like the most is the Sanctus, but as that isn't quite a success, i must admit that the Agnus Dei worked the best for me, it's the shortest movement at three and a half minutes, it's a doleful dirge on the strings, as the Tenor sings high and slightly boyish, it really works, it's a movement which rocks back and forth, from English words by Wilfred Owen, to the Latin of the Agnus Dei, there's a nice agitation from the percussion [2:12+], i like the way the Tenor soloist at the end sings Dona Nobis Pacem [3:16-3:32], with almost a humming chorus in the background, i'll seriously have to listen to my Hickox / Chandos version to see if it's still the masterpiece i remember it as.

Here's the Agnus Dei being played on YouTube.

Saint-Saens - Violin Concerto 3 [Bell/ Dutoit-Orchestre Symphonique De Montreal] 

A really nice disc, i had a great experience with this coming back from Southend on the motorway a few years ago [2006], while playing this on the disc player, it was one of those moments where i truly fell in love with this Concerto, and i remember the first time i heard this work [Perlman], i was a Postman out on my rounds, and there's was this tremendous downpour, and i took refuge in a phone box, and played a cassette of this, and i must admit i didn't get it, it sounded bland to me, well this time i certainly enjoyed it.

Joshua Bell is American, born in 1967 and now 43, he made this recording early in his career in 1988 at just 21, the front cover shows a picture of Bell with his cornerless Chanot-Chardon Strad, a strange instrument, which he has sold and upgraded to a $4 million dollar Strad.

Surprisingly i enjoyed the opening movement the best, i am very endeared to the middle movement, it has an achingly beautiful main melody to it, so i was surprised how wonderful i found this first movement, Saint-Saens sends this movement all over the place, lots of variety, lots of ideas, and yet at the same time congeals it into a coherent whole, here's some of the highlights, i like the way it starts off with a low and ominous pulsating string backdrop [0:00-0:09], it gives a real flavour and mood, there's a nice section early on [1:21-2:15], where the violin soars sweetly [1:21+], and with the soloist on a tremolo, the strings play pizzicato [1:34+], the orchestra have dark foreboding fortes [1:48+], a nice passage full of interesting ideas, superbly welded together by Saint-Saens, the main melody appears from the violin [2:57-3:56], and it's certainly rapturous, and this same section returns with slight variation later on [5:40-7:12], about halfway through there's this lovely quicksilver violin part [4:27-4:47], where the violin sounds so impish [4:29], and the violin shoots up high into the treble [4:43+], right at the end the violin plays some nice gymnastics [8:03-8:31], with double notes [8:03+], and lightning speedy bowing [8:25+], really thrilling, i'm glad i focused in on this movement today.

Here's Silvia Marcovici playing the first movement on YouTube.

Albert Beger [This Life] 

This is one of my most favourite Jazz discs, i played this last year, and wrote about it in my Blog [9th February 2010], it's now at No28 in my all time favourite list, Albert Beger is an Artist i almost discovered by accident, i found this disc in the bargain basement of a second hand record shop, going for £1, it looked so good, and it's turned out to be one of my best ever bargains, this is how i got into a lot of new music at the time [must be about 2000], picking things off the shelf and taking a risk.

Albert Beger was born in Turkey in 1959, but emigrated to Israel, he is far from a big well known Saxophonist, which is a shame because he's really good, he recorded this disc in 1997.

The 3 tracks i really loved this time were 2-3 & 6, and like last time it's track 6 'Love' that so impressed me, and really the hero of the whole album just has to be the drummer Asaf Sirkis, he is so clever and inventive, and so superbly recorded too, his drumkit is nicely terraced for different sounds, the resonance is so well caught, i just love a superbly recorded set of drums, if you can just change your ears to hear the drums as the main instrument, and the Saxophone in the background, such discipline will bring great aural rewards, just listen to Sirkis's opening intro [0:00-0:07], it's mesmerizing, Beger comes in with an eastern mysticism on his Tenor [0:07+], and the sheer complexity and variety of Sirkis is stunning, how he keeps up that level of monotonous similarity, yet infuses it with subtle yet significant uniqueness is delicious, both Beger and Sirkis keep this up for over 4 minutes [0:07-4:40], and then the Pianist John Bostock comes in [4:40-6:07], subtle and low key, Beger returns with the opening tune [6:06+], and it's a lovely moment to revisit again, but it's Sirkis throughout the whole track, that never gives up his singular rhythm, and it's his beat that teases and gets on your joyous nerves, right at the end Sirkis takes the outro [8:08-8:38], and it's a superb solo, equally compelling for the sheer musicianship, as it is for the stunning auralness of his lifelike drums, a stunning album that should be more well known.

Here's Albert Beger playing track 2 'Fishermen' on YouTube.

Joni Mitchell [Ladies Of The Canyon] 

Well this is obviously not the cover to Joni Mitchell's 'Ladies Of The Canyon', it's another one of those albums that i amalgamated together, two discs in a slimline case, and i posted the track listing on the back, though certainly not as good as Mitchell's Hejira [26th December 2010], but individual tracks have that stamp of genius that Mitchell can bring, she has the ability to transport you into her own world, a perfect lyricist, and the music's great too!.

Joni Mitchell is of course Canadian, born in 1943, now 67 years old, i can't believe she's 3 years away from 70!, she recorded this album in 1969-1970.

I'm surprised at how much of this album really moved me, tracks 1-3, 5, 7-8 & 10 are excellent, this time around i really appreciated the less well known tracks [5 & 7-8], there's some deep introspection in there, especially the complexity of 'The Priest', i've never listened to this track so intently before, how she conjures up feelings out of thin air, like some magician, but on this listen i have to fall back on my favourite track, track 2 'For Free', it's a tender story about a Clarinetist that plays for free on the sidewalk, while Joni Mitchell plays in stadiums for fortunes, and yet... she found his music so beautiful, even more so considering it's for free, it's a piano driven track, or rather just Joni and her piano, only towards the end a cello joins in [Teresa Adams], and the outro is naturally a jazzy clarinet solo [Paul Horn] [3:57-4:29], it's a touching song about the real world of music, rather than the commercial one which we seem to live in.

Here's Joni Mitchell singing 'For Free' on YouTube.