Elton John [The Very Best Of Elton John] 

One of the best two disc Best Of / Greatest Hits i own, only a few duds , but most Artists have a fair number of duds even with one disc compilations!, i got to know Elton John in the mid Seventies, buying some of his singles [vinyl 45's!], he's very varied, and Artists of course change over the years, a lot of times they change for the worse, they're so famous they can put any old music out and it would sell well enough, and even though Elton has had his commercial moments, he's been pretty consistent, the two discs follow a vague chronological order, songs like 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road', and 'Candle In The Wind' were Seventies favourites, but then he had great hits a decade later with 'Nikita' and 'Sacrifice', i have to admit he's probably now considered 'easy listening', but his songs of the Seventies / Eighties are timeless Pop / Rock, i played this set just over a year ago [13th August 2011].

Elton John is now 65, he was born in England, this compilation came out in 1990, yes more than 20 years ago!, and yet apart from a few songs, it still represents Elton John's very best stuff nicely, i don't feel that i need to buy some updated package to replace this, the front cover photo [by Greg Gorman], is a great portrait, lovely lighting indeed, all couched in blue, with lighting from above, the jacket literally glows in the dark!.

Well on this listen, the songs that i really enjoyed were tracks 6, 8, 24, 26 & 28, which are the four i mentioned above, plus 'Sad Songs', these five are his great handful, and they were the five i really loved last time i listened to these discs, so i thought i would concentrate on this fifth song, and give my feelings about it,

24 Sad Songs - It's a song that i didn't get to know when it came out in the charts, i stopped listening to the charts in the very late Seventies, probably 1979, and this came out in 1984, not a song i knew until i bought this compilation, and it's slowly worked on me, it has a great rhythm and forward momentum to it, i guess it's keyboard driven, even though the keyboard isn't a piano, the chorus is a nice powerhouse, and Elton sings so strongly, halfway through there's a very special 'sad songs they say' repetition [2:40-2:58], nicely sung in a different key, and right after Elton really explodes 'so turn them on, oh turn them on', with a great emphasis on 'oh' [3:01], and at the outro 'when every little bit of hope is gone' [3:43+] is an extra little bit of bite, the whole thing is really terrific.

Saint-Saens - Symphony 3 'Organ' [Priest/Mehta -Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra] 

First of all, there's many discs that are selling today claiming to be the 'Best of Beethoven', or the 'Greatest hits of Bach' etc, these 'Essential' Composer discs from Decca do not fall into that same category, these double discs aren't made up of the best little bits, but rather whole works, with an Overture or Aria thrown in for good measure, two well filled discs [149 minutes], by well known Conductors / Soloists, a great little compilation of one Composer.

Zubin Mehta is from India, he's now 76, he recorded this work in 1970, now the front cover picture [by Michael Banks] is very inspiring, showing a close up of a sunflower, look at those rich yellows and blues, as with these 'Double Decca' discs, the photo is spliced in two, with a more opaque picture at the top, with all the lettering, it's great the way it's all composed, i like the whole thing.

I enjoyed all of these discs, i especially enjoyed listening to Danse Macabre again, what a great and inventive piece of music it is!, but the pride of place has to go to Saint-Saens Symphony 3, dubbed his 'Organ Symphony', notice it's not an Organ Concerto, every movement of this Symphony was scintillating, the key is in C Minor, but rather than a dull and foreboding work, it's actually full of sprightly rhythms and virtuoso writing, and yet in the heavenly slow movement there's tender pathos aplenty, but it was the first that i found simply tremendous, a slow thoughtful introduction [0:00-1:01], but it soon branches out into something so much more animated, Saint-Saens really knows how to throw some rhythms together to excite the ear and heart, nicely jagged string writing, and a great use of the woodwind instruments, and there's this headlong surge to the whole movement, it's really going somewhere, it's surprising how Saint-Saens can use the opening Allegro Moderato in so many different guises, i love the way that he brings the tune to a glorious forte [4:06-4:33], string working away furiously, and then the brass to create a fanfare of sorts, staccato is the name of the game in some of the rhythms right after, notice the frantic woodwinds about two thirds of the way through [6:19-6:24], nicely chattering, and that builds up to one of the best forte passages of the whole work [6:34-7:03], nice and complex, the whole orchestra throwing their voices into the stew, and right after the strings and brass create a nice duet [7:03-7:38], the strings working away feverishly, while the brass create a real foreboding, the thing slows down into a coda of sorts, readying itself for the truly beautiful Poco Adagio that is to follow, my favourite movement, but today i loved the first movement.

Here's Myung-Wha Chung conducting the first movement on YouTube.

Various Artists [Drive On '36 Classics For The Open Road'] 

I originally bought the double cassette for this is the now defunct Woolworth's, these were the days when High Street shops actually had a selection of CD's, and i must have bought the double disc set in London i guess, there's definitely poorly chosen compilations, and then there's more inspired ones like this, disc one has a tendency to be Indie Rock, while disc two is more Classic Rock, i'm surprised how many of the tracks i really got into, there's a few duds, but on the whole it's crammed full of good rocking songs, a good variety and selection.

This compilation came out in 1997, the front cover is fairly hard hitting, i guess possibly artwork rather than a photo, but it's certainly realistic, the back inlay is great, i love it when each Artist and song are differentiated in coloured lettering, it makes it so much easier to read, plus it looks great.

The best tracks were 3, 5-6, 13, 15, 19, 22, 24, 27, 29, 31-32 & 36, now that's a lot of tracks, if i was pushed to whittle it down to just three to talk about, it would be 6, 24 & 29, and here's a detailed explanation as to why they really got me rocking,

6 Iggy Pop - The Passenger, a surprise inclusion, usually i think this song is fairly average, but today it just rocked, the constant chugging guitar actually works really well, the vocals sound as if they've been poorly recorded, but the whole thing has this 'trashy' feel to it, the song i guess is about a guy travelling as a 'passenger' throughout a city, and sees the underbelly of the bad side, seeing the city's 'ripped backsides', a good description, Iggy Pop gets quite intense towards the end, but it's that constant guitar chug that makes the song, i'm glad that i now don't find this an average song.
24 The Doobie Brothers - Long Train Running, a really funky track, excellent twangy guitar work, the band employ multiple guitars, and they're nicely layered, all working a different groove, but all unified into the song, and there's a nice bubbly use of bongos, the Vocalist [Tom Johnston] is so Bluesy, there's a central harmonica solo [also played by Tom Johnston], his solo is really quite intense and complex, building up quite a steam [1:30-1:53], a nice slice of funky Southern Rock.
29 The Cult - She Sells Sanctuary, for me the best of the three, and the track that hit me the hardest, a spacey intro, with delicious twangy guitar [0:04-0:17], so when the track explodes into action, it's a tremendous kick [0:17], now that's one of the most superb 'transitions' between an intro and the start of a song, it really gets me going, i guess it's a Goth track, and in that sense it's out of place, but it gives the album a real variety, Vocalist Ian Astbury has a certain angry delivery, perfect for the song, lyrics are fairly monotonous, there's no real story there, but it's the delivery that makes the song, a hard hitting simple beat on the drums, there's this gorgeous refrain near the end [3:03-3:17], where the instruments go quiet, so that the opening twangy guitar comes to the fore again, slightly sounding like a sitar, a great idea, the song ends not really on a fadeout, but on some more of that twangy guitar [4:05-4:17], getting nice and lazy, you know i really ought to get into some more of The Cult.

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

I've looked forward to playing this again for ages, there's something about Helene Grimaud, this disc also comes with a DVD, and it shows Grimaud discussing Beethoven, and shows a few snippets of the recording rehearsals, and it's great to see her in action, the way she plays is poetry in itself, plus this is a near perfect rendition of this Concerto, i don't hear any unusual ideas, it's really about giving us straight Beethoven, not diluted with crazy personal interpretations, and a lovely recorded sound to boot, this is another treasured DG disc, i hope she goes on to record Schubert's Impromptus at some time, now that really would be heaven!, here's the entry for my last Blog post about this disc [30th December 2011].

Helene Grimaud is French, she's now 43, and she made this recording in 2006, the front cover picture [by Mat Hennek] is absolutely fantastic, a treasurable portrait, all dressed in black, probably a black & white photograph expertly tinted, and the idea to place the lettering over the black of her body is inspired, nice colours too, it really works so well, one of the best things DG have ever done, along with Hilary Hahn's Bach Violin Concertos.

I was really taken aback by the first movement, i just forget how revolutionary it is, i have a disc in my collection called in German 'Die Funften' [the Fifths, or the Fives], which has Beethoven's Fifth Piano Concerto alongside his Fifth Symphony, i think it's a great idea to couple the two together, they are similar in their strong revolutionary statements, and i felt that today, the start of Beethoven's Concerto is almost as revolutionary in concept as his Symphony, it startled me today, such powerful music, in analysing this first movement again today, i feel Grimaud / Jurowski take it slightly too fast, and too sweet, a more darker and grandiose feel to the music would show the greater universal-ness of the work, but there's a tremendous amount of music making going on here, deep down it's a happy work, i can hear laughing in the music, especially the last movement, the first movement is vast [just over 20 minutes], and a vast conception to go with it,.

Here's the DVD that comes with the disc, being played on YouTube, a nice teaser for the whole thing.

McCoy Tyner [Remembering John] 

After delving fairly deeply into Keith Jarrett, i wondered 'what other Pianist would be good to explore in the Piano Trio idiom?', and i came up with McCoy Tyner, unlike Jarrett, he can be a fairly complex and thick textured Pianist, he can play lots of notes fast, sometimes he smothers his ideas with too many notes, but once you get used to him you can see the overall structure of what he's trying to do, of course he was the main Pianist for John Coltrane, and that's where the title comes from, in essence this is a Coltrane-less Trio, stuff that Tyner played with Coltrane, and two thirds of the tracks are written by Coltrane, i bought this disc way back in 1998, and in August of that year it was my 'Disc of the Month', it helped me see that there was life beyond Jarrett, into a world of many different Pianists, i still need to explore the Piano Trio idiom a lot more.

McCoy Tyner is American, he's now an old man of Jazz at age 73, one of the greatest Jazz Pianists ever, and extremely influential, he recorded this disc in 1991, the front cover [by Gene Martin] is a portrait of Tyner, looking down from above, and onto the keyboard, though a better background would have worked, i like the way the lettering is sideways on a red / brown background, the Artist / title in different colours, the whole thing works well.

Out of all these tracks, it track 3 'In Walked Bud' that i so much like, it's a Thelonius Monk tune, and what a great tune it is, here it lasts for nearly 7 minutes, .

Here's McCoy Tyner's album on the All Music website, you can play the first 30 seconds of each track.

Schumann - Cello Concerto [Harrell/ Marriner-The Cleveland Orchestra] 

As far as Cello Concerto 'compilations' go, this is a real favourite of mine, three great Cello Concertos on one disc, and if you leave behind probably the greatest two Cello Concertos [Dvorak & Elgar], then these are the three main candidates in the Romantic era, and what a great instrument the cello is, it's a shame Composers like Beethoven / Vaughan Williams / Sibelius etc didn't write Cello Concertos [i guess the same applies to Guitar Concertos], with Lynn Harrell in great form, and a superb booklet picture, this is a disc to play again and again, and a disc to treasure, starting to develop a regularity in my Blog, appearing twice before [21st November 2011 & 6th July 2010].

Lynn Harrell is American, he is now 68, he recorded this Concerto in 1981, and like i've said before, the Decca Eclipse issue is one hell of a stunning picture, i'm sure there's a warm filter to enhance those field of poppies, over half of the picture is of the field, and a small part of the picture is of the farmhouse, but it all works perfectly, one of the most stunning disc booklet pictures, and enhances the music no end.

Out of these three Concertos on this disc, it was the Schumann which got me the most excited, it's not as good as his Piano Concerto, but i believe it's very underrated, the beautiful slow movement is gorgeous, a lovely meditation, on this recording the whole Concerto is given one track on the disc, roughly the first movement is the first half of the work, and the movements are roughly split up as 12 / 4 / 8, and it's this short four, maybe five minutes that is a treasure, it starts at [11:12], the cello singing a melancholy low tune, while the strings are a slow pizzicato [11:12-12:06], i love the way the cello plays so entrancingly, bowing more than one string at once [13:02-13:54], the opening slow movement theme comes back, and then with slightly faster and louder music, it creates a bridge which leads into the third movement [15:51+], a lovely short central section of this very inventive Concerto.

Here's Mischa Maisky playing the slow movement on YouTube, Leonard Bernstein conducting.

Schubert - Piano Sonata 21 [Uchida] 

This was an enlightening experience listening to this disc again, i played it earlier this year [2nd February 2012], each Pianist is obviously different, with different ideas, the 'ideal' Pianist makes you forget about the interpretation and just concentrate on the beautiful music, this time listening to this disc, i find that Uchida doesn't do that, there's moments where i think 'Schubert wouldn't approve of that!', she can be clumsy in certain areas, too slow here maybe, too fast somewhere else, i'm not entirely convinced by her speeds, in other places she's too much staccato / jagged, where a smoother line would have benefited, Schubert's bubbly and lyrical, and even though there's dance rhythms in there, there's always this legato / linking line, Uchida can stagger at times, and other times she blurs things, where to pronounce would have been much better, don't get me wrong, there's certainly more things she does right than wrong, but as i get to know a certain work really well, i can be more critical when things go wrong, as i notice them more, and certainly on this listening my critical ear was more sharpened than ever before, this just goes to show how much i've progressed in truly listening to things, i'm still a fan of Uchida though, also i must say the recording doesn't help, a warm bass recording, that can blunt things somewhat, which adds to Uchida's idiosyncrasies, however this is still one of my favourite interpretations of this work.

Mitsuko Uchida is originally from Japan, but now she's living in England, she's now 63, and she made this recording in 1997, the front cover photo is by Walter Schels, a portrait with Uchida with her eyes closed, dark background and clothing makes the face stand out, and white lettering, the whole thing's devoid of colour, but i still believe it works well, the back inlay works even better, as the lettering works very well indeed, very nicely laid out.

As almost always, it's that first movement which gets me every time, Schubert's Piano Sonata 21 is my favourite Sonata amongst all Composers, and the first movement is head and shoulders above the other three, .

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