Mozart - Piano Concerto 21 [Schiff/ Vegh-Camerata Acedemica Des Mozarteums Salzburg] 

Now this was a sublime experience, out of these two Concertos on this disc it's number 20 i like the best, however today the 21st just blew me away, especially the slow movement, i would say this is my favourite version of this coupling of these two Concerti on disc, Mozart wasn't someone who used a huge Orchestra like Mahler or Bruckner would, and it's great that this is a chamber orchestra playing this, there's something more intimate about the whole thing, nicely recorded and superbly communicated, i played this on the way to Church today, the weather is getting colder, but this warms my heart.

Andras Schiff is Hungarian, He's now 58, he recorded this disc in 1989, Schiff has done a whole series of discs covering the Mozart Concertos, the photographs of Schiff [by Phil Sayer] are all slanted at an angle, i actually like this, all of them looking up from low angles, with some nice architecture in the background, i love the silhouette leaves in the foreground, and his face is well lit / shadowed, the theme of the blue band for the lettering is great also, it gives each photo a very tall and narrow perspective.

The second movement is the one that really got to me, this can be overdone and full of gush, but here it's presented in all innocence and simplicity, and it really benefits from that, it's only 6:42 long, this movement is played in F Major, very dreamlike in flow, it's the high violins that play the sweet melody, while the other strings play the rhythm, both bowed and pizzicato, the intro is short [0:00-1:26] but you don't want it to end, it would have made a gorgeous purely orchestral piece, the melody is one of the greatest things that Mozart ever wrote, and the piano comes in to play it very simply indeed [1:29-2:10], Schiff plays the second version of the tune more complex, and a shade darker [2:18+], it's just so simply irresistible, the woodwind jump on the bandwagon at times, giving some great sonorities, and i can hear a wonderful bassoon in there [3:38+], like a gliding swan, there's only a slight ripple here and there which might ruffle the feathers, the original opening piano tune starts up again [4:34+], and it's so good to hear that melody in its pureness again, Schiff throws in the slight changes, towards the end Mozart echoes the main tun on the piano with the lovely melody in the bass [5:57-6:09], and it ends on a slowing rhythm of calm, now that really touches the soul.

Here's Murray Perahia playing the second movement Andante on YouTube.

Various Composers - Road To The Sun 'Latin Romances For Guitar' [Isbin] 

I bought this disc in 1995, from a second hand shop in 1995, at the time i was deeply into solo Classical Guitar music, Classical music certainly fits perfectly within the guitar medium, however the real Classical greats [Beethoven, Bach, Schubert, Chopin etc] really didn't know the Guitar [ok maybe Bach with the Lute], it almost comes across as a modern instrument, only used by later Composers, harps are part of the orchestra, but never guitars, and of course it has the Folk, Blues, Rock idiom attached to it, no wonder it seems unwelcome, Rodrigo changed that with his Guitar Concerto [Aranjuez], but solo it's still something which many people avoid, who love say solo Piano Music, i can't understand peoples reticence of this genre, Composers like Tarrega, Ponce, Barrios, Sor, Pujol, Villa-Lobos etc compose marvellous music for this instrument, it cannot sustain the sheer time lengths that a piano can, that's why it's perfectly suited to the miniature, and yet when searching possible discs to buy, there's a dearth of recordings to satisfy my thirst, this disc goes some way towards getting me excited again, i haven't played this disc for ages, but it was good to delve into it again, and there were surprises too, makes me want to explore things further.

Sharon Isbin born in America, she's now 56, and she recorded this disc in 1988, the front cover picture [by Stuart O'Shields] is a nice portrait, i like the bodice she is wearing, however the rose is quite obtrusive, but the gentle grey-green background is very nice, i recommend her Bach Lute Suites [15th June 2011].

Here's Alexia Knopp playing Barrios's 'La Catedral' on YouTube, the second part Allegro Solemne starts at 1:48.

Various Artists [Afrodisiac 'Forty Original Soulful Classics] 

This is a wonderful double disc album of real Soul classics, a well chosen bunch of songs, that border also on Disco, Motown, and Pop, some of these tracks i have nowhere else in my collection, so this makes these disc all the more welcome, virtually all of the music comes from the Seventies, what a great decade that was, and i personally remember many of these tracks in the charts when i was younger, but sadly i wasn't into this type of music at the time, mainly leaning towards Glam Rock and Punk, with some New Wave chucked in also, now this stuff really gets to me as i'm older, even tracks that i don't think are great, and i could easily live without, i'm now developing a real fondness for, nothing sounds out of place, everything fits together, it's not just about the individual songs, but how all together they make a lovely bigger picture, i've wrote about these disc in my Blog twice before [17th January 2012 & 30th November 2010].

Well a whole bunch of songs blew me away, tracks 5-6, 10, 16-17, 19, 28, 30, 32-33, 37 & 40, too many tracks to talk about individually, so it would be nice to pick just two, and talk about them both more extensively, but giving the discs another little sample, wow that's a hard task, there's so many moments within tracks that really got me going, however here they both are, with a more extended synopsis,

16 Lou Rawls [You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine] - What a voice!, as smooth as butter, and so soulful, he's able to turn small phrases into large pleadings, the way he can change the meaning of words just by the way he sings them, almost perfection, in the intro it's that click click click from the percussion that deliciously gets on your nerves in a nice way [0:01-0:18], and when Rawls comes in, the voice blows you away, and the piano echoes the voice, a great and satisfying technique, Rawls can really sing with power in the chorus, and it's good to hear the click, click, click again, that merges the chorus and the second verse [1:02+], and when the chorus comes back again, this time it adds female backing singers [1:54+], the piano now uses a lovely down the keyboard glissando to bridge the chorus and the third verse [2:15], ha ha very nice, such a nice beat throughout, the epitome of a Soul song.

30 William De Vaughn [Be Thankful For What You've Got] - I had to put this in, this was one of those tracks i spoke about at the beginning that i can easily live without, yet now i find a real fondness for this, it has a gorgeous bongo solo at the beginning, and then the Hammond swirls just come in, now that's real soul [0:00-0:25], and the guitars and voice come in [0:17+ & 0:25], the twangy guitar makes a real vibe to it, and then later a very inauspicious Vibist [Vince Montana] comes in [1:08+], what a tremendous instrument it is, it makes such a difference to the song, the lyrics are fairly repetitive, the original version lasted just over seven minutes, and on this disc it cuts two minutes off the instrumental in the second half of the song, the vocals end and there's some of the instrumental on this version [3:43+], i love the way the Vibist gets a lovely solo in [4:35-5:23], which takes the track into the fade, it's a real joy to fall in love with this song.

Brahms - Piano Quintet [Schiff/Takacs String Quartet] 

Now this is a nice set of the Brahms String Quartets / Piano Quintet, notice that the booklet is a single disc of only the first two String Quartets, but the back insert is for a Decca Double re-issue, i used this booklet instead because it's so much nicer than the other, Brahms's String Quartets are very underrated as far as i'm concerned, yes they are 'stodgy' to some degree, it takes time to delve into them, the first movements are generally excellent, but... though i would very much like to talk about one of his wonderful String Quartets, it's actually the Piano Quintet that really moved me this time, what a work of genius it is, i played this work / disc a couple of years ago, a wonderful performance [22nd August 2010].

The Takacs String Quartet are a Hungarian Quartet, formed in 1975, they are still going strong today, though with two newer faces, they recorded this work in 1988, the front booklet photo is great, showing the Quartet on the balcony of an Opera house i take it, the column nicely separating the players, the shot looking up into the faces is a good idea, nicely shows the architecture of the place, and he box with the lettering is well done, all those browns and golds are nicely offset by the blue of the back insert.

The opening movement is wonderful, very memorable, couched in Brahms's troubled and sad / angry minor key [F Minor], full of all sorts of expressive ideas, however it was the third movement Scherzo i liked the best, an agitated but strongly noble movement, almost military in its theme / execution, a slow build up explodes into the main theme of the movement [0:21+], i like the way Brahms uses agitation by both the piano and the strings separately, both slowly building up the music [1:05-1:45], before another explosion of the main theme, also i love the way the piano cranks up the franticness [2:32-2:49], there's a more lyrical and sweeter central section [3:05-4:22], which breaks the headlong surge of the first part, the opening returns as a sort of exposition repeat of the beginning [4:23+], a nice whirlwind of a movement.

Here's the third movement being played on YouTube.

Lalo - Symphonie Espagnole [Perlman/ Previn-London Symphony Orchestra] 

A real favourite of mine, along with the Sibelius and Bruch Concertos, for Lalo to dispense with a three movement Violin Concerto, and instead give us a five movement 'suite', all but in name it's a Violin Concerto, each and every movement is a delight, no duds here, and it certainly has a Spanish 'gypsy' element to it, plus it never outstays its welcome, being only 33 minutes long, there seems to be something for everyone in the five movements, each very different from the other, i played this same work / disc in the fairly early days of my Blog [9th April 2010].

Itzhak Perlman is now 67, born in Israel, but live in America, he recorded this work in 1966 when he was 21, now i must admit that the front cover is a peach, Perlman with a bright deep pink shirt, really stands out, the lettering is in a box to the right, but is opaque, and the background can be seen through it, i like the pose and the strong colours, a lovely front booklet [photo by Bette Marshall].

Wow what a thrill this was, both the first and third movements were real stunners, Perlman / Previn put some real fireworks in there, the recording is bright, maybe slightly brittle, not quite enough warmth [it is 1966 mind you], it's all nicely driven, with strong emphasis on fortes when needed, it was the third movement which i found to be the stronger, i must admit i soon got used to the age of the recording, the woodwind are nicely caught, easily being delineated in the orchestral melee, the orchestra start with an almost angry stamping theme, interspersed with the woodwind / high strings giving a soft reply [0:00-0:55], the violin comes in with a Gypsy melody, with the soft percussion / string pizzicato almost mimicking a strumming guitar [0:56+], i like the way the violin takes the tune up a notch [1:11+], and then comes out of staccato mode and plays more legato [1:26+], and then surely Perlman really does the Gypsy stuff, playing all sorts of whoops and fiddling [2:21-2:53], all the while the background keeps up the guitar rhythm, there's virtuoso aplenty [3:15+], all the while there's stamping rhythms that abound, the opening gambit of the violin returns [4:03+], and that's a lovely moment to hear the same tunes all over again, there's a sort of wistfulness in the cor anglais coda [5:31-5:49], and right at the end Perlman has quiet pizzicato notes, with the orchestra having the last word in the very last forte note [5:50-5:58], a superb movement of music.

Here's Silvia Markovici playing the third movement Intermezzo on YouTube.

Mendelssohn - Violin Concerto [Ughi/Pretre-London Symphony Orchestra] 

I always thought this work was very popular with me, however this is the first time it appears in my Blog this year, this is such a common coupling, and each Concerto works so well with the other, the genius of Mendelssohn shines through, in one of his greatest works, i love the way it's both innocent / simple, and yet there's something more darker / complex about it, probably because it's in E Minor, at first it may seem a sunny work, but really there's an underlining sadness throughout, it's irresistible.

Uto Ughi is Italian, a strange name i guess, he's now 68, and he made this recording in 1982, the recording is only in two long tracks for each work, hmmm strange, it's good for things to be cued individually, the front and back booklet / insert are lovely [photos by Clive Barda], nice and colourful with interesting backgrounds, the RCA logos are especially colourful.

It was the first movement that was so full of flair and excitement, Ughi / Pretre take it slightly fast [nearly 13 minutes], and it gives off a serious momentum of virtuosity, straight from the go Mendelssohn brings in the Violin, there's no Mozart type orchestral introduction, the main theme is one of sadness, a beautiful tune that the Violin plays through with the orchestra [0:00-0:59], and then the orchestra copy without the violin [0:59-1:29], after only three minutes a more tranquil section appears, not unlike a slow movement [2:53-4:09], and Ughi gets in some very tender playing, there's still this air of sadness, yet it's sweeter [in G Major], .

Here's Julia Fischer playing the first movement of the Mendelssohn on YouTube.

Bach - Goldberg Variations [Schiff] 

This is a truly inspired work, and yet it's not greatly represented in my Blog, this is its fourth appearance, and Schiff on Decca was a version i grew up with, i really love the way Schiff interprets this work, he has a newer Goldberg Variation that he recorded for ECM, and i bought this disc also, and not wanting to have two separate discs kicking around, i amalgamated them into one case here, and it's this newer ECM recording that i listened to and i'm reporting here, i find it very much the same, very slight differences in fact, they are about 20 years apart, Schiff was 30 and 50 respectively.

Andras Schiff is Hungarian, he's now 58, he recorded this disc [ECM] in 2003, it's a live recording, the Decca front cover [by Peter Schaaf] shows Schiff leaning on the side of his piano, hands clasped, white bow tie, half of the photo covered by the piano lid, which conveniently makes a place for the lettering, i like the shadows of dark and light on Schiff, one other thing, the Decca recording has only six tracks, of roughly five variations each, so i rubbed some transfers on the back inlay so that i know where i am, the ECM recording has separate tracks for each variation.

I must admit i enjoyed this interpretation very much, but i also admit that it's not as great as his Decca recording, the variations i enjoyed the most were 5, 8, 19-20 & 29, and here's a short synopsis of these variations,
Variation 5 [7:13] - A nice rolling yet chugging Variation, it has a lovely flow to it, the hands must be going mad, fast passagework in sixteenths.
Variation 8 [0:00] - A nice loud variation, not unlike the Fifth, yes it is in fact the twin of the Fifth, fast passagework again, with hand crossings and large octave leaps, Schiff plays it fast, and it's really thrilling.
Variation 19 [0:00] - A nice Morse code Variation, fairly muted, nice and lyrical, Schiff uses some clever little touches which brightens things up on the piano that wouldn't work on the Harpsichord.
Variation 20 [1:02] - This is where Schiff gets quite individual, and quite different in some ways to his Decca recording, but i like it, he is more staccato, especially in the repeat of the opening [0:26-0:39], a sort of staccato boogie of the original!, further on in the Variation there's some tremendous virtuoso runs up and down the keyboard.
Variation 29 [0:00] - Almost to the end, and there's a sort of finality about the last couple of Variations, and here the virtuosity is absolutely brilliant, Schiff really gives it a send off, fast arpeggios and runs, all those notes on the page must be very daunting for lesser Pianists, and the longer the Variation goes on the more and more notes that come screaming at you, now that's very satisfying musically, probably the best Variation of all on this listen.

The links are to YouTube with Glenn Gould playing the Goldberg Variations, the timings after each Variation is where in the YouTube video the Variation starts.