Schubert - 8 Impromptus [Leonskaja]

She's a Russian from Georgia, recorded a lot of discs on the Teldec label, most of them are now reissued on their budget Apex label, the original discs are hard to come by, especially the late Schubert Sonatas.

I've lived with Schubert's Impromptus for a long time, so i can usually tell what's really good, but i haven't lived with Leonskaja's recording for very long, so a thorough assessment is hard, i find she's quite slow, she takes over 70 minutes for all eight Impromptus [Brendel takes 10 minutes less], but she has a tendency to sustain this speed nicely, she can also 'sniff' during her playing, an inability to control her breathing maybe, but yet a very satisfying account of the Impromptus.

I especially enjoyed her Fifth Impromptu [D935/1], it's my favourite, and quite possibly my favourite piece of Classical music of all time, it's so very difficult to pinpoint a piece of magic in this work, as it's all magic, one thing i feel about this Impromptu, is that it weaves a tapestry which is so seamless, i remember a few years ago i played this while walking barefoot along a beach, where the waves meet the sand, the tide was going out, it left patterns in the sand, ridges glistening in the sun, plus the rhythm of waves always make me think of this Impromptu [or the other way round], it has such a build up of repetition, and yet nothing is really uniform, it's such a pliable piece, it goes all over the place, and yet is so faithful to the whole mood it creates.

It's good to have Leonskaja's take on this piece, another facet viewed from another angle, gives a truer perspective of the whole.

Here's Andras Schiff playing the First Impromptu of the second set on YouTube.

Prokofiev - Piano Concerto 2 [Krainev/ Kitaenko-Radio Sinfonie Orchester Frankfurt]

Two Russians, Vladimir Krainev & Dmitri Kitaenko work together perfectly, both fairly unknown by western audiences, this boxset of the Five Concertos is a very nice addition to my collection.

Prokofiev's Second Piano Concerto is superb, full of sardonic wit, jarring melodies, and always the unexpected and the welcome lingering around the corner, it's also full of the most intense variety, how does Prokofiev string it all together into a cohesive whole?.

I love the quirky third movement Intermezzo, it has so many instruments doing strange things, you can almost imagine each instrument is an animal, in some bizarre circus come to town, the 'laughing bassoons' [0:21-0:32], truly a moment of sheer genius, and they come back to laugh some more [2:12-2:22], the piano makes its entrance by this quirky lop-sided hand over hand tune [0:44-1:12], superb to watch as well as hear, there's a whole section in the middle that goes from a string waltz punctuated by flutes [3:54-4:15], and then the piano stutters a tune [4:16+], it slowly builds up by the brass filling the gaps [4:37+], and dissonant string stabbings [4:47+], ending in the piano going into forte mode [4:55+], a nice minute of controlled madness, towards the end it becomes a lumbering giant out of control [5:57-6:22], the more you listen to it, the more you discover that you want to hear next time round, this is the essence of discovery, and Prokofiev is a drug that you get hooked on for life.

Here's Yuja Wang playing the third movement Intermezzo on YouTube, with Charles Dutoit conducting.

Brahms - Clarinet Sonata 1 [Guyot/Guy]

Romain Guyot is a name new to me, i take it he's French, these Harmonia Mundi 'Les Nouveaux Interpretes' [The New Interpreters] series is wonderful, like the 'Debut' series that EMI does, this showcases some new talent in Classical music, that otherwise might not get a chance to make a recording, plus this booklet has a nice black & white shot by Eric Larrayadieu of the Artists.

I have a real 'thing' about the clarinet, it is a wonderful instrument, it's lovely as a solo instrument, as well as a group instrument, equally at home in Classical as well as in Jazz, portable and inexpensive, something that can be satisfyingly played on my own, at my own pace, i'm seriously thinking of getting one.

The First Clarinet Sonata has that 'autumn' feel about it, easy going chamber music, very lyrical indeed, even though the work is in a minor key, i loved listening to the third movement, a short-ish scherzo in a way, it opens with a lovely tune, showing off the creaminess of the clarinet, just beyond the introduction, the clarinet and piano play this delicious gentle section [0:38-1:02], quiet and refined, the opening is repeated at the end, and this little section satisfyingly closes this movement [3:55-4:22].

Here's the third movement Allegretto played by Robert Yaple on YouTube.

Rimsky Korsakov - Scheherazade [Ozawa-Wiener Philharmoniker]

Just recently i seem to have had a nice dose of Scheherazade, earlier this month [5th April 2010] i enjoyed Maazel playing this work, i really do like this work, i bought this disc as it had such a wonderful cover shot on the booklet [by Fernando van Teylingen], this is a major factor in my disc buying!.

I've heard good and bad about the conducting of Seiji Ozawa, the jury's out in my corner, Ozawa is not a youngster anymore, he will be 75 this year, and at the moment he is out of action receiving treatment for cancer, this is a live recording from 1993, applause at the start and end of the work, [and coughing in between!].

The second movement, 'The Story Of The Kalander Prince', teems with all sorts of orchestral colours, like a flashy bird of paradise on display, one of the things i notice about this movement, is the extensive use of the piccolos/high woodwind, halfway through the piece there's this chattering of the piccolos/woodwind [6:24-6:30 & 6:53-6:59], a very nice device, before and after this there are two wonderful episodes where the strings throb in low pizzicato mode, the first is with an atmospheric solo cor anglais [4:38-5:18], and the second is probably the highlight of the movement, this time with piccolos making a blast on a few notes, and the bassoon replying in an extended tune [7:04-7:54], this is done three times, each time the piccolos sound more anxious, a wonderfully mesmerising flash of storytelling by Scheherazade.

Here's the start of the 2nd movement, conducted by Kurt Masur on YouTube.

Various Composers - Soprano Opera Arias [Vaduva/Domingo-Philharmonia Orchestra]

I bought this disc ages ago, and only just now got round to listening to it, this is one of my quirky habits, buy a disc and put it in my collection, two or three years later i listen to it!.

Leontina Vaduva is Romanian, she hits the big 50 at the end of this year, this is a nice collection of mainly 'hits', there's nothing spectacular about her voice, it's a very nice Soprano, she isn't a superstar, maybe at the top of her voice it quivers somewhat, what may be seen as a 'warble' to some, i think she's very listenable.

The Aria that really 'got' to me this time was track 12 'Teneste La Promessa...Addio Del Passato', i've certainly heard this done better, starting with the lovely quiet tremolo strings, which the solo violin plays the main Traviata theme over, and then Violetta/Vaduva reads the letter in singspiel over this [0:00-0:51], there's an enchanting oboe solo that introduces the main Aria [1:44-1:55], the Aria is a beautiful tune, Violetta sings goodbye to her past happy life, she can feel herself dying, and reminisces on Alfredo's love, which once comforted her.

Addio, del passato bei sogni ridenti

[Adieu, sweet happy dreams of the past]

A tragic Opera scene, but Operas are either about Love or Death, or both!.

Here's Angela Gheorghiu singing this Aria on YouTube.

Beethoven - Symphony 5 [Simon-Philharmonia Orchestra]

Geoffrey Simon is an Australian Conductor, to my knowledge he has extensively recorded with Chandos Records [a number of Respighi discs], and with Cala Records [which i believe is his own record label].

On this Cala disc, it's very much presented as a Concert, an Overture, a Concerto, and then a Symphony, even though these aren't live recordings.

Well Beethoven's Fifth Symphony is so inspiring, the opening of the first movement is the most revolutionary utterance from any Composer, maybe on this recording the opening notes aren't quite as powerful as some, plus the recording sounds on the treble heavy side, but Beethoven's genius shines so brightly, that even a good performance sounds great, two parts of this Symphony really inspired me this time, the first is the oboe solo [4:31-4:56], first heard as accompaniment to the orchestra, but then is left completely naked, a magical respite, the second is a fervent variation of the opening notes, striking more and more passionate, especially emphasised by the brass at the end [6:02-6:18], Beethoven surely knows how to keep you on the edge of your seat.

Here's Herbert Von Karajan conducting the first movement on YouTube.

Rory Block [Ain't I A Woman]

Well here's a Blues disc, i only have about 8 Blues discs in my collection, at one point i purposely tried buying a number of Blues discs to try to get more into this genre, i must admit it's a hard area to get into, there's so many poor or average Blues albums out there, my disc collection is so Classical heavy, i would love to balance it out by getting into this genre more, but i waste oodles of money on trying to find a decent Blues album.

Aurora Block is in her sixties now, she's made many albums, but to my ears each album has hits and misses on it, this in my mind is her best album, it certainly isn't great but definitely good, there always seems to be a gem worth mining.

One of the things you soon find out about her own compositions, is that she has a tendency to not use rhyming in her words, this can throw you a bit at first, but it shows a deeper maturity at being able to really say something, while not propping it all up on this age old device.

I really like track 6 'Rolling Log', it's acoustic, with just another guitarist, a song by Lottie Beaman, it has two memorable devices, one introduced at the beginning, a high guitar jingle that starts to decend down the strings [0:00-0:08], and the other is this mmmmm hum from Block, that is really passionate [0:11-0:15], both come back again and again, a touching song about drifting, and a husband in jail,

I've been drifting, rolling along the road

i'm looking for my room and board

i've got the blues

while my sweet man's in jail

and the judge won't let me call his bail

Here's Buffy Sainte-Marie singing 'Rolling Log' on YouTube, fairly different, there's no mmmmm factor, but a nice cover version.