Szymanowski - Mythes [Suwanai/Moll]
This is a lovely disc, a Japanese version of a Philips European release, the European disc is called 'Souvenir', and has a different cover, but is also very nice, but this is even better, i just love the pose / photography of Suwanai here, it's a disc of a nice mix, taking in four Composers, Tchaikovsky / Szymanowski / Rachmaninov / Wieniawski, so a Russian / Polish mix, this is actually the discs only second outing, even though of course i know many of the pieces from multiple playings on other discs, Suwanai's discs are fairly hard to come by, and now fetch quite a lot of money, i think i bought this disc for a small fortune from someone in Taiwan or Hong Kong [on Ebay], and an excellent quantity of music too [79 minutes].
Akiko Suwanai is Japanese, she's now 40, and she recorded this disc in 1996, the front cover picture [by Christian Steiner] is absolutely gorgeous, a stark almost black & white mono shot of Suwanai, the flowing black dress making a sort of pyramid she sits atop of, the lettering is wonderful, a really great visual product, it's a shame the back inlay isn't of an equal high standard, but it's still very good indeed, a wonderful disc to own.
Well i must admit that i was taken aback by the Rachmaninov 'Danse Hongroise', it's new to me, and i would like to get to know it better, but ultimately it was Szymanowski's Mythes that i found so compelling, evocative and otherworldly, they sound like they appear out of eerie mists, i usually find the opening 'The Fountain Of Arethusa' the best of all, however on this listening i was so taken by the last Mythe 'Dryads and Pan', Dryads are female tree nymphs, while Pan is a wild God with the lower body of a goat, and of course the fame of Pan is with his prowess with the pan pipes, and that's basically what's happening in this Mythe, Pan 'singing' to the tree nymphs, and the nymphs dancing / singing in reply, the branches rustle with the wind, and as the pan pipes are a wind instrument, the trees can 'sing',
Here's Janine Jansen playing Mythes on YouTube, Dryads and Pan starts at [14:00].
Akiko Suwanai is Japanese, she's now 40, and she recorded this disc in 1996, the front cover picture [by Christian Steiner] is absolutely gorgeous, a stark almost black & white mono shot of Suwanai, the flowing black dress making a sort of pyramid she sits atop of, the lettering is wonderful, a really great visual product, it's a shame the back inlay isn't of an equal high standard, but it's still very good indeed, a wonderful disc to own.
Well i must admit that i was taken aback by the Rachmaninov 'Danse Hongroise', it's new to me, and i would like to get to know it better, but ultimately it was Szymanowski's Mythes that i found so compelling, evocative and otherworldly, they sound like they appear out of eerie mists, i usually find the opening 'The Fountain Of Arethusa' the best of all, however on this listening i was so taken by the last Mythe 'Dryads and Pan', Dryads are female tree nymphs, while Pan is a wild God with the lower body of a goat, and of course the fame of Pan is with his prowess with the pan pipes, and that's basically what's happening in this Mythe, Pan 'singing' to the tree nymphs, and the nymphs dancing / singing in reply, the branches rustle with the wind, and as the pan pipes are a wind instrument, the trees can 'sing',
Here's Janine Jansen playing Mythes on YouTube, Dryads and Pan starts at [14:00].
