Bruckner - Symphony 8 [Wand-Kolner Rundfunk Sinfonie Orchester]

Well this is the first time that these discs appear in my Blog, i've had this set for roughly 4 years, it's an exciting acquisition, wand is almost a Bruckner specialist, he just tips over the 80 minute mark here, creating the need for a second disc, i don't know why, but single disc versions of this Symphony seem like they're not substantial, whereas a nice boxed set like this feels chunky and significant, i can't shake off the feeling, that of all Bruckner's Symphonies, this should be the only one that should show it's immense depth by demanding a second disc, don't whizz through this Symphony, take time to unfurl its treasures.

Gunter Wand was born almost 100 years ago in Germany, and died in 2002, a Conductor that was meticulous in rehearsal, usually requiring lots of rehearsal time to 'get it right', he recorded this work a number of times, this set was recorded in 1979, the front cover is tremendously inspiring, a colour picture that is almost black and white in appearance, taking up half the front cover, the rest is black background, which makes the picture stand out in even more starker contrast, lovely lettering in the box, and a dash of red colour with the logo, and of course Bruckner's signature at the bottom, a set which is a pleasure to own.

I played this while out for a long walk, again i must mention it's the very end of the Autumn here [tomorrow will be December, and that's a Winter month in my book!], so this was a final goodbye to Autumn, kicking my way through the fallen leaves, the third movement Adagio was extra poignant here, and it was this movement that i enjoyed the most, however there were highlight moments throughout the whole Symphony, and i would like to give a synopsis of each little 'event' here,
Movement 1 [5:22-6:22], the horn and oboe have a dialogue lasting a minute, where the oboe echoes the horns call. 
Movement 2 [6:56-7:15], one of the great things about this Symphony, is the way Bruckner employs a harp, and he uses it like a soloist at times. 
Movement 3 [2:26-2:56], the harp and violins play a tender duet together, very touching, and a little later it reappears, Bruckner is the king of slowing the music down to lighten on something truly stunning, a real breath of fresh air.
Movement 3 [6:27-6:51], a horn call, serenades us almost out of the mists as it were, over shimmering tremolo high strings in the background.
Movement 3 [18:15+], what a strong lyrical yet sweet string passage, sad and yet wistful, Bruckner seems to be the master at plucking out of the air, something extra sweet after a sour episode.
Movement 3 [22:03+], and then begins the long gut wrenching coda, soothes as well as saddens, that after 20 minutes Bruckner is bringing arguably his greatest movement to a close, it's like saying goodbye to a dear friend that we will never see again!. 
Movement 3 [23:41-24:14], those horns and strings!, the very best part of the coda, it's so heartbreaking and heartwrenching.
Movement 4 [0:00-0:57], the last movements opening is inspired, those brass fanfares on the lower brass, topped off by the higher brass, what an announcement!.
Movement 4 [6:13-6:54], out of nowhere the brass shocks and startles, with the timpani in a march like mode, almost like the drums on an ancient attack ship, the galley slaves rowing for their lives!.
Movement 4 [7:25-7:53], wow!, those horns really are the top brass, how wonderfully Bruckner can burnish things.

Here's Gunter Wand conducting the opening 3 minutes of the fourth movement on YouTube.

The Eagles [Their Greatest Hits]

So obviously the booklet / back insert doesn't fit with the title, and it's another one of these albums that i have consolidated together with another, so that i've added the disc in question with Hotel California, makes space on my shelves, plus gets rid of that rubbish eagle skull cover, you can see the track listing on the back, in the white box with transfers that i made, on the whole a good job i think.

The Eagles were formed in 1971, and broke up in 1980, but then surprisingly reformed in 1994, and are still going, though i certainly don't think they're the force they used to be, they were cutting edge Rock revolutionaries in the mid seventies, now they're really Soft Rock oldies, but before Hotel California came a compilation album of their hits up to that point, bringing together a few short years in the early seventies 1971-1975, ten hits in America, i played this vinyl LP to death at the time, and there's lots of old memories involved with them, i thought they were so cool in those days, even the Asylum Records logo [a door in the sky] i thought was a fantastic esoteric statement.

It's been a long time since i played this album, but the memories came flooding back, the tracks i loved the best were 1-3 & 5-9, i guess that's all but two of them, and the one track that stands above the rest is the opener 'Take It Easy', a song written by Jackson Browne, and finished off by Glenn Frey,

Here's The Eagles playing Take It Easy on YouTube.

Various Composers - Violin Encores [Vengerov/Brown]

A good selection of Violin & Piano pieces, some virtuosic, some lyrical, some long, some short, a good mix, and Vengerov has a certain way with the violin, an exuberance, maybe a showy style to some degree, he's quite a 'jester of the violin', i love these 'encore' albums, short pieces that fill a void, and it's so good to have a nice selection of different Composers with different ideas, it's like a musical buffet!, so many good things to choose from, last year i enjoyed another of these discs with Vengerov [28th June 2010], i like that one even more, a better selection of pieces.

Maxim Vengerov is Russian, lately he seems to have stepped out of the recording spotlight, maybe to concentrate on other things, he's now 37, still young for a superstar Violinist, he recorded this disc in 2004.

I guess i gravitate towards the shorter pieces on this disc, the longer pieces outstay their welcome to some degree, and i certainly enjoyed tracks 2-3 & 6-8, with track 2 the gorgeous Paganini Cantabile towering head and shoulders above everything else, Paganini certainly isn't a Composer that i shine to, i don't like his Violin Concertos, and his 24 Caprices are mere exercises to me, but this is a little gem tucked away in his oeuvre, it's short at under 4 minutes, it's a gorgeous tune, the piano is reduced to a true accompaniment, there's this gentle rolling of a hypnotic beat from the piano, but it's the violin that takes centre stage, Vengerov's violin yearns and serenades at the same time, there's a superb zenith of emotion reached fairly early on [1:17-1:26], with the penultimate high treble sweetly hitting the dizzying heights of ecstasy at [1:23], that really hits my soul, what a perfect moment, it even comes with a nice coda, which slows things down to a close [2:34+], and even a little cadenza at the end!, it's like a mini-Concerto!.

Here's Vengerov playing the Cantabile by Paganini on YouTube.

Heather Nova [South]

I delved into Heather Nova when i bought her album Siren, i listened to it twice and really didn't get much out of it, and then on the third listen... wham! it hit me, like it all came together and i got it, well this is my second dip into heather Nova, and this is the second time i've listened to this album, and again it doesn't easily reveal up its secrets, maybe the third listen it will hit me!, can't say i'm a fan of hers either, but someone who's exploring, and giving the lady a chance.

Heather Nova [real name Heather Frith], is from Bermuda, she's now 44 years old, with roughly 10 studio albums behind her now, she's got a great following, on Last FM she has a super similarity with Melissa Etheridge and Natalie Merchant, she recorded this album in 2001, i bought this after the Siren and Oyster albums, i wanted to get the U.S. version of the album, because it has a much nicer front cover picture [by Simon Fowler].

This is only the second time i've listened to this album, so i'm certainly still getting to know it, but already i feel the album has made a big improvement over the first listen i gave it, so it bodes well for the third listen!, most of the tracks sounded pretty much the same, it takes a while to differentiate the individuality of it all, but that will come, i suppose the track which i liked the best was track 4 'Heaven Sent',