Szymanowski - Nocturne And Tarantella [Krysa/ Tchekina]

Here's a nice disc i picked up, representing most of Szymanowski's works for violin and piano, it's amazing how many similar discs like this are around, and Szymanowski has a certain way with 'ghostly' melodies, tunes that come back to haunt you, very exotic in many ways, sort of like Scriabin but with more dissonance.

Oleh Krysa is Ukrainian, and is 69 years old, he made this recording in 1995, the Pianist on this recording, Tatiana Tchekina is his wife, the recording is quite reverberant, it somewhat gets on your nerves in fortissimos, too bassy and warm, needs to be more clinical, the front cover photo is a pleasing enough picture.

Ever since i first heard the Three Myths Op30, i was hooked on Szymanowski's soundworld, especially the opening 'The Fountain Of Arethusa', but on this listen it's the Nocturne & Tarantella that i was gripped by, the opening Nocturne is similar in nature to 'The Fountain Of Arethusa', probably why i like it so much, it has the Pianist at extremes of the keyboard, bass rumblings with the left hand, punctuated with odd treble tolling in the right [0:00-0:49], while at the same time the violin has a ghostly and eerie sliding around on the strings, a really lovely opening ethereal effect, and right after the violin plays high in the treble [0:53-1:46], very exotic, later the piano clanging in the treble is so effective, while the violin plays lazily [2:32-3:00], love the excellent hard pizzicato strumming from the violin [3:25-3:34], with the piano also playing loud and clangorous in the treble, the opening returns to some degree [4:04+], and the very closing pages are superb, with the violin sounding like pan pipes or something, [5:10-5:33], Szymanowski's a phenomenal master of the mood, and would have made a great film Composer, the following Tarantella is a tour de force, and as the name suggests is a demented dance, lots of squeaks, shrieks, and stamping pizzicato moments, i like the way the violin plays these loud pizzicato outbursts [3:45-3:58], very pointedly done, and again later sounding like some demented lazy woodwind instrument [4:33-4:45], right at the very end the violin slides down the strings to die [5:31-5:38], a clever ending, and a superb piece of music.

Here's the Nocturne & Tarantella played on YouTube by Anita Wasik.

Martinu - Cello Concertino [Wallfisch/ Belohlavek-Czech Philharmonic]

Here's the first entry into my Blog for Martinu, a Composer i have somewhat of a hard time understanding his soundworld, and the way he layers his compositions, sometimes it's uneasy to follow his thread of ideas, the solution is to keep listening, delving deeper, and gaining a greater familiarity.

Raphael Wallfisch is English, now 58 years old, he has extensively recorded the Cello repertoire, he made this recording in 1991, the booklet front cover is laid out nicely [photography by Hanya Chlala].

The Cello Concertino on this disc lasts almost 14 minutes, it's a fairly short work, almost like a Cello Concerto movement, a strange brew of instruments, a slew of wind instruments, piano and percussion, no strings at all, and Martinu has to be at his most inventive without strings to base a nice melody on, and all of the instruments create a nice percussive intro [0:00-1:15], before the cello entry comes in [1:15+], the whole thing reminds me somewhat of Strauss's Don Quixote, about a third of the way through, the percussion has military drum rolls, while the woodwinds [sounds like clarinets and oboes] have quite a nice short piping tune going [4:14-4:41], this i suppose is not actually a Cello Concertino, but rather a Concertino, that has a fairly central place for the Cello, but unlike a normal Cello Concerto, there are fairly long moments where the cello doesn't feature, halfway through the cello has a wistful tune [7:20-8:04], right at the end there's a nice finale of sorts, a jolly tune where everyone contributes to a rousing recapitulation [13:14-13:48], very much a large chamber sounding piece rather than outright orchestral in nature, but it's a fun and interesting piece, well worth getting to know.

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.