Billy Joel [The Ultimate Collection] 

Again i'm surprised in listening to these two discs, how Joel can create an even bunch of hits over a long period of time, and fill up two discs without resorting to the dreaded 'filler', even the lesser known songs have a tendency to be gems, Joel has a knack of knowing what musical devices in the composing stage, create musical satisfaction in the hearing stage, plus Joel sings about some off the beaten track themes, Russian Clowns, Vietnam, Fishing Boats etc, of course there's lots of love songs, but his lyrics still touch a nerve, plus the tunes really are smart and memorable, and Artist full of satisfaction, this got into my Blog in 2010 also [13th October 2010].

Billy Joel is American, he's now 63, and this compilation came out in 2000, the front cover image shows Joel as somewhat of a blur, a black & white shot that's more full of greys, not the greatest pic they could have used, but the lettering is actually quite smart, the inner booklet has all the lyrics to all the songs, one of the surprising things is that all of the tracks were written by Joel, no covers, no collaborations, and amazing feat.

Well, of all the tracks it was 2-3, 5, 12-15, 19, 23-24 & 32-34 that i liked the best, and the real cream of the crop was two songs, one on each disc, tracks 14 & 34, and here's a synopsis of both,
14 She's Always A Woman - 
34 The Downeaster Alexa - 

Beethoven - Piano Sonata 14 'Moonlight' [Kovacevich] 

I hate these huge boxed sets of the complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas, which i only have a tendency to listen to a few Sonatas from, the other end of the scale are these one disc surveys, which are kicked out to cover all the Sonatas, and again i hate filling up my disc racking with a dozen single discs to be some sort of completist, there's a fine middle ground which suits me, and that's to buy the odd disc from the odd Artist, it works for me, it frees up collecting Beethoven's early Sonatas, which i find are really quite weak, and allows me to delve into Sonatas i like, collecting the more exciting Sonatas in abundance, this is one such disc, some famous works, alongside some middle period Sonatas that may seem like trifles, 19 & 20 are really short, but there's something about their brevity which is really appealing, this is one of the better issues from Kovacevich.

Stephen Kovacevich is American, he's now 72, and he recorded this disc in 1999, the images throughout have the theme of the moon [using the idea of the 'moonlight' Sonata], of course Beethoven never named his Sonata the 'moonlight', so of course it's got nothing to do with the music, but i like the visuals, the actual disc itself is a complete moon, the booklet cover shows a grainy shot of the moon, the colour theme is all dark / light blue, even on the white areas of the back inlay, you can see a sort of 'map of the moon', i like the layout, the small blue lettering is great, and of course the EMI logo adds a dash of colour to the whole thing.

The first movement is tremendous under Kovacevich's hands, it's easy to get the tempo wrong, too slow and it drags, too fast and you lose the heavenly poetry, i think Kovacevich gets it about right, maybe just a tad slow in places, the opening sounds just right, full of gravitas, it's very hypnotic, it's halfway through that close attention to speed and volume has immense paybacks, towards the end there's a section where some of the most delicious accidentals descend down the keyboard [4:59-5:26], and then the bass plays the melody like some grief laden tolling [5:30+], a great finish, and an inspired close, listening to this again was so good.

Here's Daniel Barenboim playing the first movement on YouTube.

Schubert - Violin Fantasie D934 [Koh/ Uchida] 

A nice disc, with some interesting things on it, the gist of this disc is Fantaisie / Phantasy / Fantasy, starting off in early 1800, and finishing 200 years later, quite a varied journey, plus each piece gets shorter and shorter, i'm pretty well versed in Schubert's late String Quartets / Piano Trios / Piano Quintet / String Quintet, but the Violin & Piano works i'm certainly less familiar with, so it was good to listen to this disc, and familiarise myself with one of his other chamber works.

Jennifer Koh is American, she's now 36, she made this recording in 2003, the front booklet cover is fantastic, showing Koh sitting in a doorway, a nicely ornate door as a background, and the doorposts nicely frame the picture, Koh is in a great pose, violin in hand, and the low level shot creates a great perspective as the doorframe seems to rise above Koh, the lettering is great too, a nice list of the works on the door, and i just love the free lettering of the title, and the light green colour is inspired too.

Schubert's Fantasie D934 lasts nearly 25 minutes, cast in one big movement, and yet it's built up of different sections, the opening is the most gorgeous [0:00-2:58], starting with the most inspired rippling piano, it sets the scene for the whole piece, while the violin plays more longer and singing lines, just listen to the way the piano warbles its way up the keyboard [0:55+], and strays into some great areas / ideas in the treble, delicious trills follow later [1:38+], and this opening three minutes is so superb, it's a shame that the rest of the piece can't sustain this level of invention, but it's still superb, there's a six minute freewheeling dance episode next, and then Schubert uses one of his Lieder tunes as a theme [8:40+], with a bunch of variations on this theme afterwards, each one taking some aspect of the original theme, as this is only my first ever listen, these variations haven't had time to really penetrate into my heart, the third variation is one of quite strong virtuosity [14:56-17:19], both violin and piano challenging each other, it's hard to know where these variations end, and Schubert delves into some sort grandiose conclusion, there's certainly a major statement of intent after what seems to be a restatement of the theme [20:01-22:55], i guess a finale of sorts, it's very good, and then Schubert throws a spanner in the works by giving a fifth variation before a short final ending, yes i admit it seems somewhat to be all over the place, but i think this is the whole point, there's some great stuff in there, certainly not Schubert at his very best, but if you're patient and observant, then you can squeeze the goodness out of this piece.

Here's Andrej Bielow playing the Fantasie on YouTube.

Schubert - Arpeggione Sonata [Stoltzman/Ax] 

Another disc that is new-ish to my collection, this is only the second time i've played it, consisting of two less heard clarinet works [ok the Schubert is a 'transcription'], but it's good to widen my clarinet repertoire discs, i love the clarinet, and i'm surprised it isn't given greater prominence in the Classical world [or even the Jazz world], it has a fantastic range, and a fantastic sound, how come there aren't more Clarinet Concertos around?, both of these pieces are in the three movement sonata form, and lasting 20-25 minutes in length, another work could have been accommodated on the disc, but it's just great to hear the clarinet as a 'solo' instrument.

Richard Stoltzman is American, he's now unbelievably 70 years old, of course the disc comes from back in 1983 when he was 41, the photographs are excellent, the front cover shows Stoltzman / Ax seated at the piano, a very dark picture, all of the lettering is at an angle, the quality of the photograph isn't immensely high, the skin tones come out very orange, and the whole thing isn't quite in focus, but it's still a great front cover.

Sting [Mercury Falling] 

My favourite Sting album, i notice lately he's gone downhill, but this album was a real surprise, he's had an up and down career, it was only because of the excellent photography that i thought i'd give it a go, and it's amazing how Sting blends many genres of music together on one album, whether it's Reggae, or Country, or Folk, or whatever, i found myself enjoying all the tracks, even those that i feel are a little below par [Valparaiso & Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot for instance], one of the joys of compact discs, is the ability to just press 'random / shuffle', and enjoy a stream of tracks where you just don't know what you're going to get next, i played this at the end of 2010 [27th December 2010].

Sting [Gordon Sumner] is English, he's now 61, how time flies, i remember when he hit 50, he recorded this album in 1996, the photography throughout is fantastic [by William Claxton & Febrizio Ferri], the front cover picture is a great pose, black & white really says something, an atmospheric and grainy pic, and yet really sharp too, the back inlay photo is great too.

Well it was tracks 2, 4, 6 & 8-9 that i loved the best,  and again like last time it was track 2 that really moved me, here's a synopsis,
2 I Hung My Head - The song has this tremendous drum clap throughout, a nice sharp crack, and yet earthy and a dull thud at the same time, Stings vocal is nice and lyrical, i love the moment that the brass kicks in [1:46+], the whole thing livens up, and the way the organ really swirls in a solo [2:58-3:19], the lyrics are great too, and the morale of the story is touching, about a guy he accidentally shot, and condemned to die for, but the ending is one of real forgiveness, as the very guy he shot dead comes to collect him once he's dead, a truly great song.

Bruch - Violin Concerto 1 [Udagawa/Mackerras-London Symphony Orchestra] 

Bruch's Violin Concerto is a real regular in my Blog, though this is the first time i've played this actual disc, Udagawa is not exactly teeming with discs to buy, but i don't know why she hasn't made more discs, it's good to get yet another angle on this work from two Artists, and it's a good solid performance, the Bruch has a nice searing intensity to it, it's a work that never outstays its welcome, i never get bored of it, even if i do listen to it fairly often.

Hideko Udagawa is Japanese, though she now makes her home in England, she made this disc in 1989, the front cover [photo by Hanya Chlala] shows Udagawa seated with her gown spread out, a nice photo.

I was in heaven listening to the central Adagio, there's a real intensity of passion there, slowly building up and up, quite a straight reading at first, but Udagawa breathes more and more drama into it, and towards the end there's a passage of full blown passion [5:17-5:46], and then right at the end there's a meek and simple rendering of the main tune [6:57-7:55], which rises for a while, but ends subdued into pathos, the acoustic has a slight tendency to sound a little far away.

Here's Joshua Bell playing the middle slow movement on YouTube.

Paul Weller ['Modern Classics' The Greatest Hits] 

A traverse through the early back catalogue of Paul Weller, this disc is now getting a bit old [a 1998 compilation consisting of his first four solo albums], since then he's brought out another seven studio albums, so i guess the title 'The Greatest Hits' is now questionable, it must be time for another 'best of', probably a double disc compilation, although there's a certain something about early solo Weller, some of his middle period albums missed the mark, even though it's considered he's back to his best, i really need to discover his present self, when Sonik Kicks gets cheap enough i'll get it, so here's 55 minutes of 16 tracks of Weller, there's a consistency there, it really sounds like this could all be one album, and yet a great variety of music, i'm really warming to him, and this disc has appeared in my Blog twice before [5th April 2012 & 16th March 2011].

Paul Weller is an English Singer / Songwriter, he's now 54, a free man to pursue almost any musical creative spark or experimentation he wishes, this compilation came out in 1998, and consists of his first four solo albums 1992-1997, the front / back cover photography is by Lawrence Watson, and the booklet has some wonderful photographs within its pages [also by Watson], showing Weller in the studio and in a more relaxed mood, excellent photography throughout, the front cover shows Weller almost cut in half, as if it's the top half of a snap, enlarged that makes the pic somewhat low quality, but i love the blue of it, and the squashed lettering at the top is excellent, the wheatfield theme is a good one, and even though he's always worked with a Band, really he's a loner as a composer, and certainly a 'solo' Artist.

On this listen, i enjoyed how consistent Weller is, there really isn't a dud on the album, but most of all i liked tracks 2-3, 9 & 14-15, and here's a synopsis of each,
2 Peacock Suit - A hard chugging song, with Weller in some sort of angry mode.  
3 Sunflower - A love song, and yet sung hard, with a nice bubbly beat to it, best lyric 'You cloud my days, messing up my nights'.
9 The Changingman - A clangy rhythm, again there's this sense of anger, and about the song, Weller readily admits to using the vibe of ELO's 10538 Overture throughout, you get that feel of cellos that they have, right at the end there's a bang of finality, but then right away it starts up again to immediately fade [3:18+], a nice and effective idea, best lyric 'Too in touch with myself, i light the fuse'.
14 Mermaids - More of a lyrical love song, reminiscent of the Style Council, but also Beatlesque in its jangly sort of way, the singing is really heartfelt, best lyric 'I often hide in her magic hair'.
15 Broken Stones - Probably my favourite on this listen, the beat at the beginning is really nice, a nice combination of drum and cymbal, Weller sings as a Soul Singer, towards the end some instruments stop, so the drumming beat comes to the fore [2:41+], i like minimalistic feel.

Schubert - Piano Sonata 21 [Rubinstein] 

In the early days of buying compact discs, i demanded that all discs should be digital [DDD], well later i somewhat relaxed that as 'well recorded' discs that were analogue were acceptable as long as they 'sounded as if' they were digital!, and that's been relaxed further, as long as it's well recorded and it's not mono, it's taken me a long time to delve into some of the 'older guys' in the Classical world, certainly Szeryng / Kempff / Magaloff / Arrau / Curzon / Richter, but also i need to delve into Oistrakh / Heifetz / Grumiaux and others [yes big omissions!], so here's my first foray into Rubinstein, and it's good to get to know him, i hear his Chopin Nocturnes are the definitive set, so maybe i ought to go there next, but it's wonderful not just my musical love is branching out into all sorts of areas, but now i'm delving into a wider range of interpreters as well.

Arthur Rubinstein [1887-1982] was Polish, but later became an American citizen, gifted with a photographic memory of scores, he preferred not to practice on the piano heavily, rather relying on the moment of performance to take wing, he recorded this work in 1965 at the age of 78, the sound is very good considering the age of the recording, the front cover picture is by Eva Rubinstein [his Daughter], showing Rubinstein seated at the piano at home, a nice intimate picture, i like the way it has a light blue green border, the composer and works lettering at the top and bottom of the photograph, but the Pianist lettering could have been better done, but all told a great issue.

As this is a first listen, i always get a general vibe of what i think, i certainly find Rubinstein in the 'staccato' pool of Pianists, in fact very much so, he loves to bring out the percussive elements of piano playing, and yet... he has such a way with line and forward thinking, that there's still the bigger picture of legato throughout even his staccato episodes, of course the great work that this is, it's so hard to beat the first movement, and i always talk about it, it's the 'perfect' Piano Sonata movement, and it's so sublime, it's almost an Impromptu in nature, Rubinstein plays the movement without the exposition repeat, which cuts the movement down by 5 minutes to 14 minutes, also he plays it quite flowing, keeps it moving, i hear others who almost come to some sort of standstill, Rubinstein plays the opening gambit very straight [0:00-0:50], not hanging on notes, or letting 'silence' do some of the talking, i would have preferred taking a little more time to let the beauty of the melody sink in, i've always felt that timewise this opening melody works best if it takes 1 minute, but then Rubinstein uses this straightforward approach to his benefit later, as he doesn't treat the piece as some soppy happy song, rather there's a serious and sombre virtuosity there, Rubinstein gets the fortes right [1:26+], and i like the way he keeps busy in the bass hand, some Pianists use the left hand as accompaniment, but here Rubinstein makes things more like an equal voice, after where the exposition repeat would be, we delve into a more Minor key melody [4:48-5:21], now that sounds so wonderful, and a little later here's where Rubinstein comes into his own with using a great degree of staccato [6:00-7:15], where others smooth out the notes with more of a legato, this is so different than ive heard others play, it's like he's extra emphasising what's not really there, but i actually like the effect, i like those morse code jagged lines, the more i hear Rubinstein, the more i like, also i had a look at the score online, and it's enlightening following along.  

Here's Arthur Rubinstein playing the first movement of Piano Sonata 21 on YouTube.