Beethoven - Piano Concerto 5 [Grimaud/ Jurowski-Staatskapelle Dresden]

This is another disc that is relatively new to my collection / library, and it's a stunner, i really admire Helene Grimaud, she's got a sure direction in life, and a love of a wonderful variety of the old and the new, her latest discs attest to her wandering spirit, she seems into everything, and this disc along with her Brahms Klavierstucke Op116-119 on Erato, and her Rachmaninov Teldec discs, are the peaks of her recordings, i really enjoyed the sheer spirit and fun of this work, it's one of the best Beethoven Fifths i own.

Helene Grimaud is French, she's now 42, and really at the peak of her powers, she recorded this work in 2006, the front cover is truly sublime and astonishing [photo by Mat Hennek], a portrait of Grimaud dressed in black, with black hair on a white background, a wonderful symmetry about it, elbows out and hands interlocked in the middle, the lettering and colours add to the whole feel, this is one of the very best 'visual' discs that i own.

This was a sublime experience, revolutionary in the first movement, touching, even spiritual in the second, and then leap for sheer joy in the third, i have a two disc version, which comes with a DVD, and it's so good to see Grimaud in action, especially her raptures in the sublime slow movement, and i was going to write about those tender feelings i had, but the third movement blew me away, 

Here's Helene Grimaud playing the third movement on YouTube, with Paavo Jarvi conducting.

Saint Saens - Violin Concerto 3 [Dumay/ Yazaki-Orchestre Philharmonique De Monte Carlo]

Here's Saint-Saens beautiful Violin Concerto again, and a really superb recording to boot, it was a joy to listen to this, i played it near the beginning of my Blog last year [30th January 2010], again i must make mention of Ebay, this is where i found this disc, i hadn't seen this disc before, and i haven't seen another copy since, i'm so glad i was able to snap this up, plus i guess i need to delve into the other two Concertos as well.

Augustin Dumay is French i think, possibly Belgian, he used to record for EMI, as on this disc, but now he has switched to DG, i get the idea he's married to Maria Joao Pires, but maybe they're just performing partners, he made this recording in 1982, the front cover is a truly excellent photo [by Roberto Estrada], an excellent portrait of Dumay with his violin, those dark backround greens, offset by the red sweater, and the lettering is nicely placed too, it's a real joy to own this recording.

Various Composers - Overtures / Intermezzi / Preludes [Gavazzeni-Orchestra Del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino]

This is a lovely disc, only the second time i've played it, i last played just over a year ago [17th November 2010], what's so great about this disc, is that it contains music that i wouldn't otherwise have, a really clever mix of some unknown items, it's discs like this that introduce me to new pieces, as well as giving me a smattering of the more well known.

Gianandrea Gavazzeni is Italian, he died about 15 years ago, and this disc was recorded in 1957-1958, the sound isn't perfect, a bit of analogue hiss, and maybe a bit sharp, not enough warmth and bass, but still great for its age, the booklet front cover is truly lovely, and excellent portrait of Gavazzeni [by Leonardo Cendamo], nice pose looking up, and i love the hat!, nice colours too, as well as the lettering, a great product all round.

Well this was an enlightening listen, i enjoyed very much those pieces which were unfamiliar to me, probably my favourite piece is the last item on the disc, Ponchielli's 'Dance Of The Hours', tremendous rhythms and ideas, and great orchestration too, with some excellent use of unusual sounds, but on this listen i found myself drawn to Catalani's La Wally Prelude, like i said, this is only the second listen to this piece, 

Here's Catalani's Prelude to Act 4 of La Wally being played on YouTube, and conducted by Gavazzeni.

Beethoven - Symphony 9 [Marriner-The Academy Of Saint Martin In The Fields]

Another disc that makes it's first outing in my player, i bought this on Ebay, and i've never seen this disc before, or since, it's amazing that within the Philips catalogue there's many desirable discs that i don't even know exist, so it's good to snap these up while i have the chance, who knows if they'll ever appear again, it was good to hear this symphony again today, i like late Beethoven, but mauch rather prefer mid Beethoven, i feel that was his prime.

Neville Marriner is now 87, an English Conductor, he recorded this work in 1989, the front cover booklet is excellent [photo by Richard Holt], a nice sharp picture of Marriner, a tan background, there's lots of interest from the bow tie to the hands, nice lighting too, showing light and shade.

On this listen the heavenly slow movement Adagio Molto E Cantabile was very moving, it slowly worked its magic on me, Marriner paces it really well, it lasts almost 15 minutes, it starts rather plainly and unassuming, but Beethoven builds it up in layers, in some ways it's like a bunch of subtle variations, where the beginning and end of each is fused in, the same tune is played over and over again, about halfway through there's a slight lull which leads to a short horn solo [8:04+], and from there the second half seems to take off, the strings play with real lyrical power and feeling [8:21+], and that's where Beethoven builds up its intensity, it's gentle, not forceful, but like the warm rays of the sun, it makes you bask in its splendour, there's a slight angry episode [10:38-10:55], and it comes back a little later, but it's only a slight ripple on the calm waters, towards the end there's some nice dialogue between the strings and the woodwinds [12:54-13:31], right at the end the strings have a rhythmic chug [14:03+] slowing things down, very captivating, maybe Marriner plays the movement slightly fast, and if he milked it even more, some extra beauty would have been found, but i loved this today.

Here's Gustavo Dudamel conducting the third movement Adagio on YouTube.