Diane Birch [Bible Belt] 

Early last year i posted this album on my Blog [15th January 2010], that was the first time i listened to this disc, now here's my second listening experience, and yes i really do let things stew on the back burner for a year, you hear about these people who say 'the disc hasn't been out of my player for weeks', well this disc has been out of my player for months [in fact over a year], that doesn't mean i'm very lukewarm over it, in fact i've been looking forward to playing this again for ages, when you have over 1600 treasurable discs in your collection, you just can't keep any on 'heavy rotation', playing a disc often for me is three times a year!, music works it's way into my heart over decades, and stays there.

Diane Birch is American, born in 1983, now 28 years old, this album was released in 2009, the front cover picture is fantastic [by Melodie McDaniel], showing a close up head shot of Diane Birch, lower face out of focus, but those eyes... with the fringe, i delved into this album because of that shot, plus the name of the album was intriguing, and i got my copy cheap on Ebay for £1, a nice bargain, i was not disappointed.

Well on this second listening, i must admit i was a little less wowed, but still wowed nonetheless, she's so hard to pigeonhole, certainly she's Gospel influenced, some tracks seem a little rough around the corners, but i certainly enjoyed tracks 2, 5, 8 & 10, with 8 & 10 the real highlights, and here's a short synopsis of each,

2 Valentino, lovely percussive intro [Stanton Moore], Birch is so good at Chorus's, with a small Gospel choir, i like the lyrics 'playing piano in that pink hotel, just like you said i would', and right at the end the way she vocalises down to a stop is brilliant [2:43-2:47]. 

5 Rewind, a sad and introspective song, much more gentle than most, the chords stamped out by the piano at the start really makes the song [0:00-0:26], and keep coming back throughout, a song of loss and regret, the lyrics 'oh stupid pride it just can't hide, the holes inside my heart'.

8 Don't Wait Up, probably the most gospel drenched song, with Birch playing organ and wurlitzer too, lovely Gospel choir in the chorus, and it's that chorus where she just takes off [0:46-1:02] with the piano just hammering up in the treble, very infectious, i love the lyrics right at the beginning, 'i said to the river running through my heart, you got a long way to go until the waters part', very religious and appropriate.

10 Ariel, pronounced R-E-EL, is the track that i find the best, she plays piano, she has a real soulful gospel voice, it's an upbeat track, the acoustic guitar [Anna Wayland] at times can slightly sound like a vibraphone [1:48+], and it would have been wonderful to have used one, the chorus is just simply stunning, everything just comes together in perfection, i love the lyric 'ive been crying on the pillow where you lie', she gets more emotional towards the end, and there's a delicious little abrupt piano ending to boot.

Here's Diane Birch singing a live version of 'Ariel' on YouTube. 

Schubert - Piano Sonata 21 [Lewis] 

Paul Lewis is the new Alfred Brendel, well at least he had lessons with Alfred Brendel, and in many ways he has taken on the mantle of his master, first and foremost there is a great love of Schubert and Beethoven, and this shows in his recordings so far, i never tire of this work, every time i hear it, it keeps its freshness and purity, it never gets stale on me, it's good to have this wonderful recording in my possession.

Paul Lewis is English, now aged 39, this i believe was his debut recording, made in 2002, and what a great choice to start off your recording career with, the front cover booklet photo is excellent [by Alvaro Yanez], with a shot of Paul lewis seated at the side of the piano, arms folded, it's very much a dark shot, apart from the face, hands, and piano keys, the three real elements of what's going on here [brain, hands, instrument], i like it very much.

It's the first movement which always touches me deeply, here Lewis plays gently with a delicious gravity, very nicely weighted, i've heard Pianists play this opening too fast, and it loses some of its majesty in the process, or too loud and it loses its poetry, Lewis virtually gets it right, maybe even a shade slower would have been perfect, there's lovely legato in the right hand [1:19-1:34], and right after the piece explodes in a grand forte [1:34-2:09], listen to the left hand bass of Lewis, lovely sustaining of the rhythm and beat on the same note [2:08-2:32], and like Brendel, Lewis dispenses with the first movement repeat, he nicely leaves a beautiful note hanging that fraction of a second to superbly weight it [5:30], 

Here's Alfred Brendel playing the first movement on YouTube.

Lalo - Symphonie Espagnole [Bell/Dutoit] 

Here's the companion piece to Saint-Saens Violin Concerto 3 i played last month [30th May 2011], i'm not quite sure what my favourite Violin Concerto is, it's either out of Bruch 1, Sibelius, or this Lalo work, and this disc by Joshua Bell is an excellent coupling, last year this work featured in my Blog five times.

Joshua Bell is American, now 43 years old, he made this recording in 1988.

Lalo's Symphonie Espagnole is a wonderful work, 5 movements of extreme variety, each of the 5 pieces seems to explore the five opposite corners of the Spanish idiom, and each of them were terrific today, but again i seem to settle on that middle third movement, the 'Intermezzo', 

Here's Sylvia Marcovici playing the third movement on YouTube.

Brahms - Violin Sonata 2 [Belkin/Dalberto] 

Early last year i played this disc, and i wrote about my experience with it on my Blog [14th January 2010], and here i am again, this disc has come round in rotation to be played again, originally the 2nd Violin Sonata straightway became my favourite, though i now admit that the other two are now equally as good, there really is something i could call 'triplets' about these three works, even though they were conceived and born apart, they make a perfect trio on disc, and fill up a disc to perfection [68 minutes here], and this disc seems to be rising towards the top of my roughly 10 discs of these Sonatas.

Boris Belkin is Russian, born in 1948, he made this recording in 1994, the visuals [booklet front and back inlay] are excellent [photography by Xavier Voirol], showing monotone blue and white pictures of Belkin and Dalberto in action, very well laid out, Denon really do some wonderful discs.

It's the middle movement i like the best, it alternates between a lyrical legato, and a more agitated staccato, switching back and forth many times, Belkin and Dalberto adopt sensible speeds here, Dalberto's piano is warm, maybe a little too smooth, it would have been nice to have some icy treble in the recording, and i feel Belkin is given prominence being louder, it's after the lyrical opening that the players get down to business with the first agitated staccato section [1:14-2:15], with the piano's bubbly and jerky rhythm, which the violin quickly mimics, the main central lyrical staccato section [2:15-4:06] is longer than the others, and it's where the violin gets its most passionate towards the end [3:33-3:53], the second staccato section [4:06-5:03] is now made up of lots of pizzicato from the violin, with great effect, right at the very end there's one last short staccato pizzicato burst to finish things off! [6:09-6:20], a superb movement of variety.

Here's Anne-Sophie Mutter playing the second movement on YouTube.