Scarlatti - Keyboard Sonatas [Schiff]

And yet again another Composer making his debut in my Blog, i just can't stand this music on harpsichord, but a clever Pianist that can transcribe these works with aplomb is very welcome, i must admit that Scarlatti isn't anywhere near a favourite Composer, just an acquaintance really, but it was good to delve into these short works.

Andras Schiff is Hungarian, born in 1953, the repertoire he plays is pretty extensive, he made this recording in 1987, the booklet cover photo [by Hanya Chlala] is a wonderful black and white study, hands inventively posed, and that lovely light and shadow!, brings a great focus onto the eyes, the logo gives a great sense of colour, i really like it a lot.

Scarlatti wrote over 500 Keyboard Sonatas, and how anyone can truly get to know them all makes the mind boggle, most discs are a recital of a selection of them, on this listen the Sonata i enjoyed the most was K115 [track 6], it's in C Minor, so there's a degree of sour dissonance, and it's near the beginning that the music has a more sweeter episode after the opening storm [0:37-0:58], with lovely delicate treble notes, sounding cannily like mimicking a harpsichord, when the troublesome opening returns again [1:27+], Schiff brings an extra slight degree of anger to it, there's a middle section which is agitated in nature [2:54-3:16], mid keyboard trills, and repeated later with great effect [4:58-5:19], themes and tunes keep coming round again and again in a merry-go-round carnival, well i'm not some Scarlatti devotee yet!, but i did enjoy this disc, and i want to explore this Composer some more.

Various Composers - 'Bel Sogno' Italian Soprano Opera Arias [Gallardo-Domas/ Barbacini-Munchner Rundfunkorchester]

I love these Opera Aria recitals, this one is dedicated to the Italian repertoire, maybe a bit too much Puccini, and it would have been good to have some more Bellini, but it's still a good variety, one of the best Opera Arias recital discs i own. 

Cristina Gallardo-Domas was born in Chile, at the moment she seems to be a Puccini specialist, and she sings the lighter Bel Canto roles, she has a versatile Soprano voice, easily reaches the high notes, and is lovely and sweet, she recorded this recital in 2001, she certainly isn't a household name, i'm surprised, she's actually really good, the booklet front cover shows a cropped head and shoulders shot [photo by Kasskara], a sepia toned shot, very very nice, and the white lettering in the darker areas really stands out nicely.

I enjoyed every single one of these arias, and it's hard to pick out a highlight, but track 3, the aria 'Ebben, ne andro lontana' from Catalani's La Wally is such a heartfelt gorgeous aria, so full of yearning, about a girl who contemplates moving far away from home, and all the sorrow that that will bring, after a loaded intro of expectant strings and fluttering flutes, Gallardo-Domas / Wally starts to sing her aria with a somewhat monotonous beat, and so it's all the more memorable when she sings 'there, amid the white snow' [0:33-0:43], to a glorious high and sweet tune, the highlight of the whole aria, i like the short woodwind phrase after the first verse [1:19-1:25], a nice dissonant touch, the middle section is sung with a gentle passion [1:34+] where Wally contemplates leaving her Mother, possibly never seeing her again, very loaded with touching regret, the tune at the start comes back, and the high and sweet phrase is now 'like the church bell's echo' [2:53-3:04], the whole thing is short and sweet.

Here's Cristina Gallardo-Domas singing 'Ebben, ne andro lontana' from Catalani's La Wally on YouTube.

Nanci Griffith [Flyer] 

This is my first reference to Nanci Griffith in my Blog, she used to be a fairly major influence in my music of the past, but over the years i've reassessed her, and some of the albums which i used to own, i have now sold, this is actually the very last disc i own of hers, and i feel it's her best, well how do you define the genre of music that Nanci Griffith sings?, i suppose i would have to plump for Country, but she certainly leans more toward contemporary American Folk, and a great Singer Songwriter, she has a number of greatest hits packages, but they're all filled with lots of her least inventive music, if only i could pick a greatest hits package for her, it would be a fantastic album.

Nanci Griffith is American, now 58 years old, she has recorded 19 studio albums, and this roughly sits in the middle, she recorded this in 1994, when she was for me at her peak, and the booklet front cover is an endearing shot of Nanci [by Rocky Schenck], showing her coy smile, nice sepia toned soft pic, i really like it a lot, the album title 'Flyer' refers to Nanci's penchant for travelling the world as a live singer, living out of airports, and the people she meets between flights, a great concept idea.

Well on this listen it was track 1, 7 & 15 that i liked best, and i would like to give my thoughts on each of these three tracks,
1 The Flyer - the opening and title track, appropriately stuck as the leading song, it introduces the theme of the album, in a sense it's a sad song of lost / possible love, it was inspired by a real life situation from Nanci, stuck in a snowstorm at an airport, she passed the time by befriending another passenger on a different flight, i like the way the second verse starts with an extra kick [0:50+], and what sounds like a digeridoo, lovely effect, the third verse quietens down somewhat for a more acoustic effect [2:35], a nice moment.
7 Don't Forget About Me - blessed with tremendously fantastic background percussion [by Larry Mullen Jr, yes him of U2 fame!], very inventive and varied, creating a superb drum and mandolin intro [0:00-0:08], and as the chorus kicks in, so does Larry Mullen Jr [0:39+], one inspired drummer can turn a song of silver into a song of gold, and it's good to hear him repeat the trick at the start of the second chorus too [1:41+], and yes it's Mark Knopfler [him of Dire Straits fame!] with his atmospheric twangy guitar at the start of the second verse! [1:12+], the mandolin [played by David Mansfield] opening comes back in power [2:44-2:57], and it's this that finishes the song in a satisfying ending.
15 This Heart - this is the song i liked the very best, and a very appropriate closer, with again Larry Mullen Jr playing the cowbells at the start [0:01-0:09], a nice intro, and with powerful strumming guitars, it creates a real danceability to it, Mullen comes back with his cowbells [1:58-2:14], Nanci Griffith sings the last verse with an extra ounce of verve [2:30-2:42], and right at the very very end, yes it's Larry 'lastword' Mullen Jr that has a final drumstick toss to end the whole album on a superb piece of genius! [3:23].

Brahms - Piano Quartet 1 [Domus] 

Brahms's chamber music contribution is huge, and he has turned his hand to most expressions within this form, i'm still coming to terms with some of his compositions [the String Quartets for one], but others have been long favourites [the Violin Sonatas for instance], the Piano Quartets reside somewhere in the middle, i'm certainly familiar enough with them, and yet they're still elusive as firm friends, so it was good to delve into this work today, to cement this more deeply in my heart.

Domus was formed in 1979, and disbanded in 1994, there are String Quartet ensembles in abundance, and Piano Trio ensembles aplenty too, but Domus almost had the Piano Quartet medium to themselves, and they recorded Brahms, Faure, Dvorak, Mendelssohn, and Mozart to name their major works, the front cover for this re-issue is a painting by Henri Le Sidaner called 'Le Dimanche' [The Sunday], the original is an oblong painting of twelve girls in discussion after Church i take it, and a middle square is reproduced here of the main group of five girls, and in the link i have provided, you can see the truncated pieces left and right, which create a greater artistic balance, a wonderfully backlit piece, looks like the evening sunshine, i don't usually like conventional artwork on front cover booklets, much preferring photographs, but this really is lovely, this work was recorded in 1987, originally recorded as two separate discs, but conveniently brought together as a much prized set here.

This whole Piano Quartet is wonderful, very symphonic in many ways, no wonder Schoenberg made an Orchestral version of it, i liked the third movement Andante con Moto the best, its opening is achingly beautiful, full of Brahms's autumn / evening glow, the movement is written in E Flat Major, creating a certain nobility, the very opening is repeated to wonderful effect [1:19+], the movement is slow, but not necessarily always serene, there's outbursts aplenty too, Brahms completely changes tack a third of the way in, with a skippy march like rhythm [3:43-4:33], the piano in the treble, while the strings play a jumpy morse code stuttering, very effective indeed, and somehow it fits in with what went before, and then a louder forte version of the same [4:33-5:58], now it sounds seriously angry, i like the way the music is repeated for emphasis [5:07+], sounds even better the second time around, right at the end there's time for a rhapsodic version of the opening [8:53-9:22], strings high in the treble, piano tolling away in the bass, it's an inspiring movement, made all the more beautiful by a walk in the park while i was listening to it!.

Here's Domus playing the third movement Andante Con Moto on YouTube.