Beethoven - Piano Trio 7 'Archduke' [Kempff/ Szeryng/Fournier]

This is a gem of a disc, this performance was my first exposure to this work, and i remember a moment on holiday on the south coast i played this, and its opening bars are so incredible, usually Chamber Music is played on a smaller scale, representing smaller themes, but Beethoven is so universal, that he produces Chamber Music that is on a par with the Symphony / Opera, this is what i like about Beethoven, his music never seems to be mere entertainment, but rather something deeper and spiritual instead, how can you get something so universal with just three people?.

Wilhelm Kempff is only a third of these performers i know, and yet he has such a commanding presence, his playing is stamped all over these two Trios, he was born in Germany over a hundred years ago [1895], and he died just over ten years ago [1991], he made this recording in 1970, the front cover is a painting by Matti Vartto called 'Wasserlauf' [watercourse].

This Trio is so sublime at times, i feel that i've drifted to another world, and even with Beethoven's high standard, he surpasses himself in the heavenly Andante Cantabile third movement, where he uses the theme and variations to a dreamy perfection, 

Here's the John Gould Piano Trio playing the third movement on YouTube.

Elgar - Enigma Variations [Menuhin-Royal Philharmonic Orchestra]

My favourite version of Elgar's Enigma Variations, and another disc i played early last year [12th January 2011], Elgar's short little vignettes of his friends really hits home with his ingenious theme, Elgar seems to visit every possibility of throwing this original theme around, and creates a delightful 14 visual pictures, it's easy to have your favourites [Nimrod for most people], but the trick of really listening to music is to find new things to hear in the most unexpected places.

Yehudi Menuhin is American i guess, but lived here for the last part of his life, it almost seems that he's British by birth, he was born in 1916, and dies in 1999, he made this recording in 1985, the front cover photograph is superb [by Richard Holt], a picture of a bust of Elgar himself, with Menuhin and Lloyd Webber either side, wood panelling in the background, with a lovely use of light to show the woodwork contours, i just love the symmetry of it all, a great pic.

One after another, i just loved these variations, especially the Theme, 1, 4, 7, 9-11 & 13-14, it'a hard to pick a winner, variations have a great tendency to build on each other, therefore the previous variation anticipates the next, and you're forever stuck in a wonderful present, while enjoying the glow of the variation before, and the next variation that is appearing on the horizon, i guess i just loved the opening variation, that of Elgar's Wife,

Various Artists [The Power Of Love]

This is one of the very first things i bought on Ebay when i first registered, i was very naive at first, and i bid up to £20 for it i think, in a bidding war with someone else, when in fact there were other copies for sale at far less!, now i get things cheaply, this is a great two disc set, it's got some great songs on it, and it's a well chosen variety that all fit together under a basic theme, i played this disc just over a year ago [3rd March 2011].

This is well presented in a 'fatbox' double disc plastic housing, i really love these, the front cover photograph is excellent, of a guy and a girl, with a biker theme, a pic which focuses on the foreground, and nice out of focus background, nice lettering for the title too, also the background tracklisting is well laid out, many good compilations forget the basic need to be clear and easy to read, a great product.

The tracks i liked the most were 7, 11 & 14, all from the first disc, here's a synopsis of each,
7 Bee Gees - You Win Again, 
11 Deacon Blue - Your Swaying Arms, 
14 Kate Bush - Hounds Of Love, 

Brahms - 6 Klavierstucke Op118 [Ax]

This is a superb Brahms Recital, one of the very best i own, and i've certainly listened to it a lot, but recently i've heard that Emanuel Ax isn't a very good Pianist from certain quarters, and when talking about Brahms, he's one of the one's to avoid, have i got it wrong, is he really not that great really?, so i listened to this disc extra careful to maybe find if it's true, and the reason why, and this was an enlightening experience for me, it's true!, there are certain mannerisms that Ax has, that are not wholly to the musics benefit, especially in the Handel Variations, his rubato at times, his left hand prominence, his staccato exaggerations, and sometimes simply he can get a bit muddled, but in saying all that, there's certainly moments of brilliance, and he also makes you see things anew, there's gains and losses, he really got me thinking, and... if this recital is anything to go by, he made me see new things in the music that i didn't realize were there, this was a tremendously enlightening hours listen for me.

Emanuel Ax is American, but was born in a part of Russia that is now in the Ukraine, he is now 62 years old, he made this recording in 1991, the front cover [by Ludwig Schirmer] is a nice picture of Ax, sitting at his piano, nice sharp in focus, with background and foreground out of focus, nicely spotlights his portrait, and it's certainly recorded very well indeed, and again i can't believe that this is the first time a disc like this makes its debut in my Blog, it's a disc that gets into my all time top 50, it's a major statement.