Saint-Saens - Violin Concerto 3 [Vengerov/ Pappano-Philharmonia Orchestra] 

Of the 7 entries for Saint-Saens in my Blog, this Concerto features 5 of those times, i guess my favourite Saint-Saens work is his Symphony 3, so why does this feature so highly?, i must admit that it's a lovely work, full of sweetness and passion, and it's a perfect coupling for the Lalo work.

Maxim Vengerov is Russian, he was born in 1974 [he's 37 now], he recorded this in 2003, i admit that there's an 'overconfidence' in Vengerov, almost a pride, like a tightrope walker who feels he'll never fall, the front cover is excellent [photo by Sheila Rock], Vengerov in his chair, a monotone shot, the emphasis on the face, but i like the shirt as well.

What can i say, this isn't one of those Concertos that has one phenomenal movement, but the others are not in the same league, every movement inspired me, but the slow Andantino Quasi Allegretto second movement was extra special,.

Here's Maxim Vengerov playing the second movement on YouTube.

Mahler - Symphony 4 [Ameling/Previn - Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra] 

Another truly sublime performance, it actually had me in tears during the last two movements, it's so moving, i played it over the park, a real sense of nature with the trees and grass, it's the first Mahler Symphony i ever heard, took me a little while to get into Mahler's soundworld, but it became the springboard to all other Mahler Symphonies, i played this just over a year ago [29th March 2011].

Andre Previn is originally German, but moved to the United States when he was young, and became a citizen there, he's now 83 years old, he made this recording in 1978, i really like these EMI Studio Plus recordings, and there's some beauties in this series, all the booklets show a close up of the Artist, with a colourful box for the lettering, almost a colour code, this one is blue and yellow, i like the photo and the whole package.

Like i said above, it was the last two movements which moved me deeply, the long [23 minutes] third movement develops a powerful intensity on the high violins towards the end, but all this sets the scene for the last movement, a simple and rustic view of heaven from the perspective of an innocent child, now i don't know how to speak German, and i only know a few words, but i got the gist of what was being said,.

Here's Elly Ameling singing the fourth movement on YouTube, this time with Bernard Haitink conducting.

Bruckner - Symphony 8 [Sinopoli-Staatskapelle Dresden] 

This Symphony is becoming somewhat of a regular in my Blog, there's a certain love affair going on between me and it, in my Blog it appeared 3 times in 2010, 2 times in 2011, but already in 2012 this is its appearance number 4, while less than halfway through the year, it's certainly a work which i've grown to appreciate immensely in the last three years, this original 2 disc fatbox set cost me a fortune on Ebay, over $100 dollars!, those were the days when i didn't care about a bargain, if i saw something i wanted, then bid high and win it, now i'm more careful, another copy will come along in the months to come, i played these discs early last year [28th January 2011].

Giuseppe Sinopoli was an Italian Conductor, he died in 2001 of a heart attack while conducting Verdi's Aida, he was 54, he made this recording in 1994, the front cover depicts the bombed out ruins of the Staatskapelle Dresden Opera House above, and the building rebuilt anew below.

This was a wonderful experience, i played it in the park while i wrote my daily Journal, it lasts 86 minutes here, and i have to admit that it's yet again the great Adagio third movement that moved me the most, however tmthr album again.

Here's on YouTube.

Donald Harrison [Free Style] 

An album that i bought ages ago [probably 5 years!], and i never got round to listening to [this is somewhat usual!], but wow!, what a gem, if i had known it was going to be this good, i would have been a rash all over it sooner, Harrison sounds a cross between Joshua Redman and Kenny Garrett, this album is in effect a Trio setting [sax, bass & drums], with Glen Patscha on piano for tracks 1, 3 & 5 only, Harrison is superb in a Trio, reminds me of Kenny Garrett's album TrioLogy [3rd March 2010], and it would have probably been better to play the whole album as a Trio, Vicente Archer [bass] and John Lamkin [drums] play throughout, except for the last two tracks, with famous names Ron Carter [bass] and Billy Cobham [Drums] filling in, it's superbly recorded, the bass is to the fore, and instead of being lost in the mix, you can hear the ideas of the Bassist clearly, a real revelation, as he's not merely there to make up the numbers, and especially in a Trio setting he becomes a bigger percentage of the group, the drums have that crisp attack and snap, as well as a gorgeous resonant echo, drums should become a foreground instrument, they're not merely in the background to keep the beat!, a well recorded disc doubles the joy for me, notice also it's called Free Style, rather than Freestyle.

Donald Harrison he made this recording in 2002, the front and back cover is a great idea [photo by Frank Nagel-Heyer], a black and white shot, with a yellow background, the yellow lettering all down his front, notice white lettering for himself, on the back there's a silhouette of Harrison, with the track listing clearly laid out in yellow and white, a great visual product, i like it a lot.

The sheer invention of the opening ideas of each track are a joy to behold, there's inspiration aplenty, and i'm sure i will love this album much more deeply on subsequent listens, well on this listen i really liked tracks 2-7 & 10-11, with track 5 'So What' the best of the bunch, a Miles Davis creation, a superb intro, a drum and cymbal solo by John Lamkin [0:00-0:10], and it's nice to hear Harrison go off on a funky solo [0:51+], slurring his notes at times like a drunk man, playing in extreme registers, really high and right after low [2:34-2:47], and some more high squealing [3:44-4:01], Patscha's solo break is a welcome deviation [4:16+], Harrison takes the track out in style [6:12-6:42], fluttering away as it were on the wind, a great invention, and i can't wait to hear this album again.

Here's on YouTube.

Beethoven - Piano Concerto 5 'Emperor' [Lupu/Mehta-Israel Philharmonic Orchestra] 

I would put Classical Pianists into two categories, 'Staccato Pianists' and 'Legato Pianists', Lupu is definitely Legato, and that's the way i lean in my love, someone who knows how to shade and blend ideas, and from one section to another, Lupu doesn't do anything to spoil the spell that he weaves, with strange personal musings, rather he gives us straight Beethoven, i'm sure that the Master himself woild have exclaimed 'now that's exactly what i meant!', even though this disc has no coupling, and only lasts for 38 minutes, yet i feel i got my moneys worth more than lots of 80 minute filled discs.

Radu Lupu is Romanian, he's now 66, yet with that shock of unruly white hair he now has, he certainly looks older, he's a fairly shy Pianist, he doesn't make many recordings these days, but what he has recorded is quality, he made this recording in 1979, the front cover shows Lupu seated at his piano, reflection in the underside of the lid, fists on thigh and cheek, looks too serious i guess, but he's framed nicely in a triangle, a nice idea.

This was a great experience, a performance that i enjoyed beginning to end, but more especially in the first movement, a 20 minute span of pure unbridled joy, couched in Beethoven's heroic key of E Flat Major [the key of the Third Symphony Eroica], Lupu is fleet fingered in the opening phrases [0:00-1:12], not ruminative, and likewise Mehta doesn't slow down into meditative gush, there's a headlong rush of joyous Allegro, maybe the recording shows its age somewhat [33 years old], the treble can have a slight shrillness in the orchestra, but the piano is well caught, just over halfway through the first movement, the opening returns, and it's with a lovely exuberance from Lupu [12:39-13:22], the restatement is stronger than at the opening, and it really shows, the way he can shade volume in and out of the orchestral soup is lovely, it's as if certain phrases can come out of nowhere, like someone's entrance into a room is only noticed after they're in the room, and at the end, the way in which Lupu chimes trills in the treble, and then slowly makes his way down the keyboard [19:45-20:00], it's paced so well on so many levels, i'm not a Lupu aficionado, i just haven't heard enough of him, but on this listen i want to hear more.

Here's Claudio Arrau playing the first movement on YouTube.

Tchaikovsky - Piano Trio [The Moscow Rachmaninov Trio] 

This is the third time this disc appears in my Blog [28th January 2010] & [10th September 2011], and what a lovely disc it is too, each of the members of this Trio are no superstars, and outside this Trio i've never heard of them before, but their interpretation of the Tchaikovsky Trio is excellent, and it's good to hear this wonderful work yet again.

The Moscow Rachmaninov Trio are from Russia, they began in 1994, and of course have mainly been active in Russia, but they've recorded 3 discs on the Hyperion label, this one was recorded in 2000, the front cover is fantastic, it's a painting by Nikolai Sergeyev entitled 'The Secret Garden', a lovely piece of art couched in dark greens, depicting a lake in a forest, the half lights produce a sense of mystery, and the highlights in the water are gorgeous, Hyperion have chosen a truly excellent painting for this disc.

Usually the highlight of the whole work is the individual variations, but on this listen i just so loved the Variazione, Finale e Coda, it's played with such passion, and it's such a great culmination to everything that's gone before, it's those heavy chords that the Piano plays that get me every time,  

Here's the Variazione, Finale e Coda being played on YouTube.

Schubert - Piano Sonata 21 [Kovacevich] 

This is the eleventh time this Piano Sonata makes it into my Blog, it's my favourite Piano Sonata of all time, and it's a joy to listen to every 2 or 3 months that i get round to it, here's my top six favourite discs of this work,

 1 - Alfred Brendel

 2 - Mitsuko Uchida

 3 - Stephen Kovacevich

 4 - Murray Perahia

5 - Paul Lewis

 6 - Maurizio Pollini

Kovacevich comes in third, it's a great searching performance, not the best recorded, a bit too resonant, but the depth of the reading makes up for any limitations in recording, i played this disc in the second month of my Blog [5th February 2010], albeit it was the Hyperion version of this performance last time.

Stephen Kovacevich is American, his surname comes from his Croatian Father, he's now 71, and he made this recording in 1994, the front cover portrait [by David Thompson] is a wonderful study, showing Kovacevich leaning on the piano, mirror image in the varnish, a stark black and white photo, it's a really nice image.

The first movement has that sublime poetry about it, cast in B Flat Major, it sounds at times as if it's in the minor, Kovacevich plays the exposition repeat, which makes the first movement last 20 minutes, and with the whole Sonata lasting 42 minutes, this now tips the balance of the whole work almost into this first movement, 

Here's Alfred Brendel playing the first movement on YouTube.

Jean Michel Jarre [Oxygene] 

I don't get to play this disc all that often, but when i do i just think it's simply stunning, i really get into it, i always get an idea what it's going to sound like, but when i put it on the realness of the sounds always outdo my expectations, like a firework that explodes louder than you can ever imagine it, and on this record Jarre creates the perfect blend of eerie sounds, with the hummable melodies of Pop, without falling into sillyness, after all this time it still sounds very 'adult', and yet is a length which can easily be digested in one listen.

Jean Michel Jarre is of course French, he's now 63 years old, doesn't seem possible, he was only 28 when he composed this masterpiece, this is a digitally re-mastered copy i have, and certainly the sound is absolutely fantastic, also the album art is re-done to a high standard, the album even came free with a newspaper recently, the front cover is a painting by Michel Granger, of the planet earth, seemingly a living tissue, and underneath a skull [what does it mean?], but it's an iconic picture that conjures up a hidden world beneath the one we're living on.

The opening is just tremendous, like rotating worlds, over ghostly mystery, really affecting, but on this listen i found Part 5 to be very special, and part 5 can be split into two halves, the first sounds like something out of Bach's Organ Music, or Albinoni / Tomasi's Adagio, but it's the second half which i found stunning, it fades / blends in with the first half [5:17+], a very bubbly dance track, starts of with a catchy rhythm, sounding like woodblocks, but it's the swirling synthesizer that comes in a minute later that makes the track [6:38+], like an organ played high in the treble, especially those high swirls, it's quite mesmerizing, until the wave breaks and the seagulls come in for Part 6, the whole album is groundbreaking, i don't believe Jarre ever bettered this masterpiece. 

Here's Jean Michel Jarre playing Oxygene 5 on YouTube.