Beethoven - Violin Concerto [Chung/ Kondrashin-Wiener Philharmoniker] 

This is only the third time that Beethoven's great Violin Concerto appears in my Blog, there seems to be a consensus that it's the greatest ever written, it doesn't resonate that way with me, i like it a lot, but i find so many other Violin Concertos better, today i enjoyed this performance more than i usually do with Beethoven,

The Jam [The Sound Of The Jam] 

I got interested in The Jam when i heard The Eton Rifles on the radio, however even though i bought a few vinyl 45 singles, i never delved into an album until much later, and i soon found out that the best way of a disc representing The Jam was in a compilation album, i've always felt that The Jam have a handful of great songs, but then quickly fall away to 'filler', but in listening to this disc today, i find some of the lesser liked tracks to be quite good, probably 'Ghosts' is a good representation of this, a nice disc full of social observation and working class feelings.

The Jam were formed in Woking in the late Seventies, and split up at the end of 1982, they were at the top of their game for five years cruising the singles and album charts, Paul Weller was the brainbox behind the band, being lead singer / songwriter, this compilation brings together a one disc collection of their best material, released in 2002, the front cover [photo by Pennie Smith] is fantastic, a punchy black and white shot, with lettering in shocking pink across the front in a band, the strong colour is at odds with the colourless photo, but these opposites really make a visual statement, The Jam dressed up in their Mod attire, a striped blazer, snake scarf, tartan trousers,  a cravat?, they were smart, not like their Punk cousins who wore ripped jeans an T shirts, Bruce Foxton at the front frames the piece nicely, with his light Jacket and elbows out, but Weller has a scowl on his face, a great visual statement.

The tracks that i liked the best were 3, 5 & 11, and here's a little synopsis of each,
3 The Modern World - Nice and Punky, with an underlying anger in the voice, especially on the words 'nothing / noffing' [0:16 & 0:54], i like the harmony when Bruce Foxton sings [0:33-0:42], the track really explodes into anger when Weller shouts 'this is the modern world!' [1:14-1:30], and the hard guitar instrumental afterwards, and further along the line 'i don't give two fucks about your review' [1:48-1:51], the outro is excellent, 'this is, this is, this is' [2:05-2:10].
5 Down In The Tube Station At Midnight - Probably my favourite Jam song, another song of violence, starts of with a recording of an approaching tube train, and a little girls voice 'the train's coming', or something like that, i like the way that the Drummer Rick Buckler shimmers the cymbals [0:20-0:42], something i haven't noticed before, but really great, Weller is superb in his visualizations, 'Hey boy, have you got ant money?' [1:45-1:49] the gruffness on 'money' is telling, 'they smelt of pubs and wormwood scrubs, and too many right wing meetings' [2:22-2:29], nice rhyming, it's in the third verse where it's sheer genius 'the last thing that i saw, as i lay there on the floor, was Jesus saves by an Atheist nutter, and a British Rail poster read, have an away day, a cheap holiday, do it today' [3:05-3:16] now that's poetry in the highest sense of the art, the reference to the 'Atheist nutter' is a gem, one thing i've never noticed before is the words 'i... thought about my wife, cause they took the keys, and she'll think it's me' [3:16-3:22], sounds like they're going round his house to do his woman violence too, an unsettling but poignant song, really meaningful.
11 The Eton Rifles - 

Schubert - 8 Impromptus [Barenboim] 

This was the very first Schubert Impromptus that i originally listened to, i think i wore the cassette tape out, but when i changed to compact discs, i selected Alfred Brendel's disc instead, i was really delving into him at the time, it's taken another 14 years to eventually getting round to re-acquiring these performances on disc, i remember one memorable episode in Cornwall or possibly Devon, walking on a deserted beach, the tide far out, the wet sand criss-crossed with patterns, and enjoying the visuals of the beach, with the criss-crossing patterns of Schubert's music, it was a lovely moment, and of course it was Barenboim, i now have different feelings for these interpretations, not so perfect as i at first thought, Barenboim seems to meander here and there, some things are not very convincing, but Schubert's music shines through so strongly, Barenboim is a sound guide, and there's some excellent ideas too.

Daniel Barenboim is Argentinian, he was born in 1942, and he's now 69, he recorded these pieces way back in 1977, the front over isn't great, but it's the music that counts.

The 3 pieces i enjoyed the most were all from the first set, numbers 1 & 3-4, and it's this first of the set that really got me going, it's in C Minor, 

Here's Krystian Zimerman playing the First Impromptu from the first set on YouTube.

Brahms - Symphony 1 [Chailly-Concertgebouw Orchestra] 

And yet another Brahms disc, three in a row, as far as favourite Composers go, it's definitely Beethoven No1, and Schubert No2, and then Chopin No3, before Brahms comes in fourth, but the frequency of entries in my Blog means that Brahms leapfrogs them all into first, maybe i need re-assess how important Brahms really is, his First Symphony is one of the earliest things i heard from him, and i fell in love with it immediately, those opening timpani blows always get me, what a wonderful way to start a Symphony, there's a lovely darkness there in its C Minor, Brahms's best Symphony by far, i listened to this in the park on the way home from Church.

Riccardo Chailly is Italian and now 59, he was the Chief Conductor at the Concertbouw for 16 years [1988-2004], and he recorded this in 1987 before his appointment, he made a cycle of these Symphonies at the same time, each front cover has Chailly in a similar pose [photography by Paul Huth], 

Brahms - Handel Variations [Ashkenazy] 

Another Brahms disc, he's racked up more entries than any other Composer, 86 now to Beethoven's 79, i'm sure he'll hit the 100 mark first, it's good to have Ashkenazy playing some solo Brahms, i don't think he's a great piano soloist, he works better in Chamber music, or of course in Concertos, where his real strength lies, and even though he's very good here, i notice the 'cracks' in his playing when he doesn't have others to back him up, there's a certain sense of fumbling and becoming confused in the more taxing passages, but on the other hand he has some clever ideas in some of these variations, and it's good to hear the possibilities that this music can produce.

Vladimir Ashkenazy is Russian , now 74, he recorded this work here in 1990 or 1991, the photo is by G Neri, it shows Ashkenazy in a flowery shirt, leaning up against his piano, the background is darkened enough to give the subject prominence, i actually like the pose, even though he isn't smiling, the red lettering is strangely appealing.

Lots to enjoy here, the individual variations are not cued separately on this disc, rather they're clumped together in bunches, in 2-6 variations at a time, trying to give each clump it's own family of links, and when the work comes to a sort of rest, or goes off in another direction, then another cued link starts, my favourite variations were 1, 6-7, 18 & 21-22, like i said, Ashkenazy seems to give a new twist to certain variations, he can certainly be interesting, and it's good to hear individual variations that are not my very best favourites, some treatment which makes me sit up and reconsider their greatness, the two variations that i found most compelling were 21 & 22, nicely juxtaposed against each other,
Variation 21 - [starts at 2:13 on the YouTube video],
Variation 22 - 

Brahms - Violin Sonata 3 [Znaider/Bronfman] 

Here's Znaider again, i played this work / disc just over a year ago [5th March 2011], and it's good to play this disc again, the weather has improved so much here that i decided to venture out to the park, to write my Journal, drink an icy Coke, and listen to this disc from beginning to end, a lovely experience, it seems all four have a tendency to mesh into one beautiful experience, in listening to this disc, i find myself agreeing with Znaider in certain areas, and then disagreeing with him in others, he seems of the old school, Szeryng for instance, a certain degree of sweet calm and assurance rather than hotheaded fire, Bronfman is an accomplished partner.

Nikolaj Znaider is Danish, still only 36, he recorded this disc in 2005, the front cover photograph [actually the back of the booklet] is by Vanessa Lenz, i found the original front cover boring, but the back cover is a lovely little shot, i rubbed some white transfers on it, and hey presto! it's a great cover, full of an array of browns, the piano and violin nicely shown, the transfers make  great difference, i love this booklet now.

The highlight must be the beautiful second movement Adagio, only 4:29 long, but packed full of emotion, the sound is terrific, you hear Znaider breathe just before he starts, the mikes pick up every sound, he plays with passion, the piano is almost a mechanical beat, but that's juxtaposed with Znaider's playing, almost a heartbeat, the first minute is just simply gorgeous, just sit back and wallow in it, Bronfman plays some delicious treble notes [1:27-2:04], and then Znaider launches into the opening melody again [2:05+], this time with greater intensity and volume, also this time around Bronfman has a more human line to accompany, i love the way Znaider builds up the climax near the end [3:14+], this was heaven in the park today, a sky of blue without a cloud in sight, and sunshine in my soul too!.

Here's Leonidas Kavakos playing the second movement Adagio on YouTube.

Various Composers - Piano Nocturnes [Oppitz] 

An intriguingly titled disc, 'noctune' suggests a recital of Chopin sound-alikes, but rather the theme is probably more 'the night', as some pieces are far from gentle, it's good to have a nice variety, 13 pieces and 13 Composers, working vaguely from earliest composed to latest, a generous 77 minutes of music, ranging from nearly 3 minutes to over 9 minutes, but no Brahms, Prokofiev or Schubert, i like these 'compilations', a disc full of only one Composer can stretch the quality of certain Composers, but it's easy to accommodate the less obvious if you only choose one piece, and it's ideal to play on 'random', never quite knowing what you're going to get next.

Gerhard Oppitz is German, now 59, he recorded this disc in 1993, the front cover photograph [by Alfred Steffen] is excellent, a stunning black and white portrait, especially notable for its deep blacks in the darker end of the spectrum, nice sharp enough picture, and the face caught superbly in one half light, and the other dark, nicely going with the theme of night / day, the left eye is not altogether blacked out, and a nice highlight gives an impression in the gloom, a great visual statement.

Tracks 1, 4-6, 8-9 & 11-13 were the highlights, with track 12, Faure's Nocturne 4 as the standout track, like a Chopin Nocturne, and yet more towards composed by Satie than anyone Polish, there's a gentle simplicity to the piece, 

Here's Faure's Fourth Nocturne being played on YouTube.

Chico Freeman [Groovin' Late] 

This was great to listen to a decent disc of Jazz, i spent some time in the library, and listened to this on my player, and i thought that i just don't listen to Jazz enough, so i made a note to regularly search for Jazz discs under £5 on Ebay, this was an early disc i bought in some second hand shop in London, then i just threw my money at almost anything cheap, and hoped that some things would stick, and this was one of those discs.

Chico Freeman is an American Saxophonist, now 62, this is a live album at Ronnie Scott's in London, recorded in 1986, you really wouldn't know this was a live album, maybe no one turned up!, you don't get to hear an audience,