Rimsky Korsakov - Russian Easter Festival Overture [Maazel-The Cleveland Orchestra]

Well here's the Russian Easter Festival Overture again!, only two days ago was i writing about Ozawa conducting it [29th May 2010].

Here's how i got into the overture, i heard it for the first time while i was waiting in someone else's parked car for a couple of hours, with nothing else to do, i found a cassette tape, and played it [the radio did not work!], it was this overture, i immediately liked it, and played it four or five times in succession, never getting bored of it, but actually getting more excited by it, this overture still sounds fresh and vigorous as the first day i heard it anew.

Maazel is a minute slower than Ozawa, and in certain places [usually the more reflective], Maazel seems to hang around a little too long, there is however a nice bloom on the recording, so that resonant sounds come out wonderful, the deep pizzicato bass, and the timpani too.

What i loved in the Ozawa performance i loved here too, about a third of the way through there's some nice deep brass playing, and those busy frantic strings, and the timpani can't keep quiet [4:59-6:34], with a nice surge at [5:58], likewise two thirds of the way through the timpani have some nice hits [9:28-9:48], and then it explodes into brass v strings [9:48-11:48], the last part is near the end, the bells come out, especially the glockenspiel [12:59-13:48], at the very end the Overture is trying to copy the 1812, it's a lovely piece of music that should be better known.

Here's Gregory Carreno conducting this Overture on YouTube.

Various Composers - French Soprano Opera Arias [Pollet/Diederich-Orchestre Philharmonique De Montpellier]

I can't find much information about Francoise Pollet, apart from she's French, and is now 60.

This is a lovely recital, every time i play it i really enjoy it, one of the good things about this disc is the fact it has some less known arias on it, when you dig deeper beyond the obvious, you find some treasureable arias in the French repertoire.

The arias i found most enlightening were 2, 4-5, & 7-10, with track 9, the Verdi aria from Don Carlos 'Toi qui sais le neant des choses de ce monde', sung by Elizabeth to be the most satisfying and enlightening.

It begins with a long orchestral introduction [about two and a half minutes], starting with soft horns that grow louder into full brass [0:00-0:35], the same horns/brass return, but now are accompanied by the violins [0:59+], a lovely start to the Aria, which sets the scene so well, Elizabeth sings of all nature in the garden might sing of her love for Don Carlos [6:49-7:47],

Beaux jardins espagnols [Fine Spanish gardens]

a l'heure pale et sombre [now pale and dark]

Si Carlos doit encore [If Carlos once again]

s'arreter sous votre ombre [were to stop in your shade]

Que vos fleurs [May all your flowers]

vos gazons, vos fontaines [lawns, and fountains]

Chantent vos souvenirs [Sing your memories]

avec toutes leurs voix [with all their voices]

There's a climax at Chantent [Sing], very powerful, the Aria is nice and varied, lots of different things to enjoy.

Here's Kiri Te Kanawa singing this Aria on YouTube.

Rimsky Korsakov - Russian Easter Festival Overture [Ozawa-Wiener Philharmoniker]

This is a very neglected overture, along with Rachmaninov's Isle Of The Dead, and Glazunov's Stenka Razin, when anyone thinks of a Russian overture, it's always Tchaikovsky's 1812, which is overplayed and overrated.

The booklet shot is great, i love colours, and the rainbow 'Scherazade' is wonderful, plus an imaginative photo by Fernando Van Teylingen.

Well the Russian Easter Festival Overture is a kaleidoscope of varied sounds and colour, the whole orchestra is used to paint a wonderful palette of noise, there's lots of stop/start and change of direction and speed, in essence the overture is like a huge set of loose variations on a couple of themes, it starts off with a soft chant by the wind [0:00-0:18], with pizzicato strings coming in [0:13+], and the violins coming in with the main melody [0:19-0:30], a beautiful and atmospheric start, which conjures up religious chanting monks, i seem to like the more robust moments, and a third of the way in the brass have a loud fanfare, while furious strings are busy in the background [5:19-5:55], likewise two thirds of the way through, low brass chant and the woodwind reply, while the same furious strings play [9:46-11:11], towards the end the Easter bells come out to play, while the growling brass chant again [12:30-13:20], i loved this overture the very first time i heard it, and it's still thrilling all these years later.

Here's Ozawa conducting this piece on YouTube.

Dvorak - Symphonic Poems [Kosler-Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra]

Here's a great set of Dvorak's 5 Symphonic Poems, i have other sets as well, but this set includes the Symphonic Variations, a very underestimated set of Orchestral Variations, i spoke about these in March [28th March 2010].

I really like the Noon Witch, it's the shortest of the five at 15 minutes, it's a sad but sober tale of child that just won't be quiet, so the Mother threatens the child with 'if you don't keep quiet, the Noon Witch will take you away', well it works for a while, but eventually the Noon Witch appears in the doorway, 'give me your child!', it's very nice the way the music fits the poem.

It starts with a Mother happy in her chores, but the child's cries keep interrupting her [0:00-1:05], the mother scolds her child [1:06-2:01], in a nice lively section, and the child quietens down, but the whole thing repeats itself [2:50-4:45], this time the Mother threatens the child with the Noon Witch [5:17-6:21], a nice eerie piece of disquiet, with the bass clarinet [Witch] menacingly in the background, but the Noon Witch actually turns up at the door outside! [6:22-6:57], the door is flung open [6:58+] 'give me your child' the Witch demands on trumpet and trombone, this section is stated twice, there seems to be a soliloquy for the dead/dying child [12:06-13:02], mourned by the child's cor anglais, right at the end the Father comes home from work, only to find his wife collapsed with the child in her arms, which turns out to be dead, at tremendous forte they grieve [13:46+], but you can hear the Witch theme [14:01+], as the Witch gets the last laugh, 'ive got you child!', the best bit is the eerie appearance of the Witch and her demand [5:17-9:31].

Here's Akira Mori conducting The Noon Witch on YouTube.

Brahms - Violin Sonata 1 [Weithaas/Avenhaus]

This a new set of the Brahms Violin Sonatas that i bought recently, just because they looked really good, i like the booklet cover photos, nice black and white shots.

Well the name Antje Weithaas is new to me, and she's recorded on a small but enterprising label, but don't let that put you off, she's good, the disc was recorded in 2006.

The recording can seem a little bass heavy, but the engineers have done a wonderful job, a very lively clear recording indeed, especially the piano is caught superbly, and the treble registers are a delight.

I enjoyed the first movement, just to give you a flavour of Pianist Silke Avenhaus treble right hand playing, try a section near the beginning [0:28-1:33], the violin turns to pizzicato as the pianist runs up and down the keyboard [3:38-4:23], the violin joins in those runs in a game of catch and chase [4:02+], the music turns more passionate [5:13-5:53], with both violin and piano having a great intensity, towards the end there's more lovely treble work by Avenhaus [7:16+], which culminates in a deep passion by Weithaas [7:45+], which include four lovely descending bass notes on the piano as the violin muses [7:54-7:58], a very magical moment, i'm glad i noticed this, this was the highlight for me!, there's a nice slow quiet coda at the end, which quickly bursts into one more impassioned bravado to the end [10:00-10:57], a movement bustling full of interest.

Here's Maxim Vengerov playing the first movement on YouTube.

Bantock - Celtic Symphony [Handley-Royal Philharmonic Orchestra]

Here's the phenomenally underestimated Granville Bantock in what he calls his Celtic Symphony, for String Orchestra only [plus 6 harps!], it's in one movement, and lasts about 20 minutes, in my own mind it just doesn't fit the 'Symphony' mold, it's more like a Tone Poem, or a Fantasia, and its nearest cousin would be Vaughan Williams's Tallis Fantasia, it's gorgeous and should be just as well known as the VW work.

Vernon Handley died a couple of years ago, he was a staunch promoter of English Composers, and we have him to thank for this disc.

It opens with the most enchanting and astonishing string melisma [track 1, 0:00-0:38], which is repeated again so delicately and raptly [track 1, 1:20-1:56], if this doesn't tug your heart, then you ain't got one, track 2 is a more lively section, but it's built on variations of the opening, the opening comes back to wonderfully haunt us [track 2, 5:19-6:15], a solo violin and delicate strings play on our hearts in a slow section [track 3], the opening theme comes back in forte glory towards the end [track 5, 0:00-0:43], but it's the opening that you keep wanting to hear again and again, it's something very beautiful and special.

Here's excerpts of this Symphony played on YouTube.

Iris Dement [My Life]

This album was a purchase from Our Price back in 1994, who were doing a promotion called 'No Risk Disc', buy the disc, and if you didn't like it, you could return it and get your money back, well i never returned it, a winner for Our Price, and a winner for me.

At first i would pigeonhole her as Country music, but on closer inspection i feel she's American Folk, or more towards old Gospel, you know you're onto a winner when you just can't slot someone into a neat category, she'll hit the big 50 early next year.

The disc can seem depressing in a way, about death, love lost, sinning, boredom, tragedy, a life that adds up to nothing, but between the lines there's a stoic energy, that life can teach you great lessons, personally i find this album tremendously heartwarming and positive, it doesn't pretend life is a fairy tale.

On this listen, the middle track 4-6 are impressive, and it's track 6, an old Gospel song called 'Troublesome Waters' that really hits the mark, i guess it's a hymn, and one of only two tracks on the album not written by Dement, it's nice and gentle, but each verse gains in intensity and Dement's drawl starts to crack, the third verse is meaningful,

When troublesome waters are rollin' so high

I lift up my voice and to heaven i cry

Lord i am trustin', give guidance to me

and steady my boat on life's troubled sea

punctuated by dobro and piano etc, the song weaves a lovely magic.

Here's John Robert Mallernee singing Troublesome Waters on YouTube, he sings in a different key, plus he's got a good voice, he intro-talks for the first minute.