Brahms - Piano Quartet 2 [Domus] 

Another one of Brahms's Piano Quartets from this excellent set by Domus, a month ago i wrote about his First Quartet [15th July 2011], now it's time to turn towards the Second, the Second Quartet is the only one of the three that is written in a major key [in A Major], it's also the longest of the three [nearly 50 minutes on this recording], all of the movements last more than ten minutes, the First Quartet was almost orchestral in nature [Schoenberg made an orchestral version of it], the Second Quartet is more low key and personal. 

The Domus Piano Quartet are a group from England, they get their name from a curious portable dome that they used in their concerts, they were established in 1979 and then disbanded in 1995, the booklet artwork is a painting by Henri Le Sidaner called 'Le Dimanche' [The Sunday], usually i shy away from paintings as CD covers, but this is actually a lovely painting, wonderful light coming in from the back of the girls, a really nice disc set to own. 

The huge first movement Allegro Non Troppo is the best, the opening tune is delightful, something Dvorak would have done, a lovely singing melody for solo piano [0:00-0:12], but taken up by the strings [0:20-0:30], and eventually hammered out by the piano [0:58+], a lovely triptych of presentations, there's something really Slavic about the whole thing, and this whole section explodes in again four minutes in [4:04-4:58+], i'm sure it's actually an exposition repeat, and it's a lovely restatement, there's another restatement two thirds of the way through [10:40+], and again as a sort of coda near the end [15:02+], this time played delicately in the treble, with tinkling piano, everything revolves around this theme, a lovely idea from Brahms.

Here's Ralf Gothoni and friends playing the first movement on YouTube.

Chopin - 21 Nocturnes [Stott] 

Here's a new set of the Chopin Nocturnes by Stott, well ok new to my collection, and i enjoyed these so much, i listened to disc one on the way to Church, and disc two on the way back, it's still August, it's meant to be a summer month, but already there's leaves on the ground, Autumn seems to be coming early this month, and in a real sense these Nocturnes fit in perfectly with the mood while walking through the park. 

Kathryn Stott is an English Pianist, now 52 years old, she recorded a celebrated four disc set of Faure's complete Piano Music, these discs were recorded in 1992, and the Unicorn Kanchana label folded not much later, which is a shame, as this recording and interpretation is a treasure, these discs come in one of those 1 inch 'fatbox' cases, i really do love these, the front cover picture [by Sandra Lousada] is fantastic, a black and white photo, but i guess sepia toned, a dark recording, nice shadows, especially on the keys, very creatively lit, superb dark areas, which highlight all the more the light areas. 

The Nocturnes that truly impressed me were 3-5, 7-8, 10-11, 13, & 16-20, with Nocturne 8 as a sublime experience, over the years i've had different favourites, certainly Nocturne 4 in the early days, but then it developed into Nocturne 7 & 10-11, but i think i've settled on Nocturne 8 as the quintessential piece that says the ideal, it has a beautiful melody, written in D Flat Major, it has a certain sadness to it, a constant tolling / beating left hand, 

Here's Maurizio Pollini playing the Eighth Nocturne on YouTube.

Schumann - Piano Concerto [Tanyel/ Burgos-London Symphony Orchestra] 

Last month i listened to the Grieg Piano Concerto on this disc [14th July 2011], and now it's the turn of the Schumann, i'm starting to get familiar with this disc, and i find Tanyel has some wonderful ideas, a good overall interpretation, and another disc that is slowly becoming a little treasure. 

Seta Tanyel was born in Turkey, and has recorded extensively for Collins and Hyperion, she recorded this disc in 1990, i bought this from a dealer on a website, for £6 i believe, and i don't believe i've seen this disc available anywhere else since, which is a shame, they're lovely performances, the booklet front cover photo is a treasure in itself, showing Tanyel in a creative pose, hand in her hair, lovely skin tones, and that blue background!, it's the cold blue juxtaposing with the warm oranges that really make a statement, a fantastic cover. 

Again the first movement presents itself as a sort of 'concertino within a concerto', there's a fast / slow / fast programme within the first movement, it can actually stand up on its own, which originally it did!, it was only later at the urging of his wife, that Schumann composed the last two movements, i loved this first movement today, the opening oboe melody plays a great part in the Concerto [0:06-0:26], and i believe that Schumann had a certain something towards the oboe, as he composed a fair bit of Chamber music for it, another oboe melody comes in later [3:31-3:40],

Here's Martha Argerich playing the first movement on YouTube.

Brahms - Violin Sonata 3 [Perlman/ Ashkenazy] 

One of the wonderful things about my Blog, is the way in which old music cycles round again in a renewing fashion, the Brahms Violin Sonatas are very well played and discussed in my Blog, roughly 3% of my Blog is dedicated to these three Sonatas!, quite possibly they're the most often reviewed highlights in my Blog, and with a good dozen different discs of them, i'm surprised at the differences of mood and interpretation that each performer can give, this set is my most played and therefore my favourite set, a couple of months ago i wrote about the First Violin Sonata from this pair [18th June 2011], now this Third Sonata really was a lovely experience.

Schubert - Piano Sonata 20 [Lewis] 

And yet again the reverse side of the 'main' work, i played Schubert's Piano Sonata 21 by Lewis a couple of months ago [8th June 2011], Lewis fails to observe the exposition repeats [just like his mentor Brendel], that's why he can squeeze these last two Sonatas on one disc, and this disc is quickly establishing itself as a valuable addition to my growing library / collection. 

Paul Lewis is English, now 39 years of age, he seems to be recording the great Germanic works [Beethoven & Schubert], he recorded this disc in 2002, the front cover is excellent, a picture [by Alvaro Yanez] of Paul Lewis leaning over his piano, treble keys bottom left, nice use of the hands, and it's that juxtaposing of dark background, with the lighted areas that are of highlighted interest, a clever portrait. 

This was an enjoyable Sonata in the hands of Lewis, the second movement Andantino impressed me the most, a slow tolling of a piece, Lewis really does take it slow, and creates a hypnotic funeral dirge of it, the tolling of the bells are really telling, and the first three minutes are mesmerizing under his hands [0:00-2:46], a lovely ebb and flow of slow and not so slow, and of soft and loud, light and dark etc, the central section has some wonderful treble trills and tolls [3:27-3:42], nicely accentuated by Lewis to bring out the colours and dynamics, Lewis also handles the bridge back to the opening phrases so well [5:15-5:41], a superb 'end of the day' feeling, there's a lot to be said for giving a slow interpretation, it really works here, hats off to Paul Lewis!. 

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

Glazunov - Violin Concerto [Josefowicz/ Dutoit-Orchestre Symphonique De Montreal] 

This is the 'B side' if you like, of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, which i played almost six months ago [28th February 2011], the Glazunov is short on the whole, but shouldn't be looked at as merely filler on this disc, i enjoyed getting to know this work a little more. 

Leila Josefowicz is Canadian born, but her parents moved to the United States when she was a child, she made this recording in 1999, and the front photo [by Gerald Forster], is a nice black and white study, violin in hand, bow on strings, the two main performers lettering in red top and bottom, it makes a pleasing visual. 

Well i have to admit i liked the third and final movement the most, it has a certain bravura to it, with blazing trumpets to start, it sounds very Spanish to me, something that Rodrigo would do maybe, or maybe Saint-Saens, but soon descends into Tchaikovsky-isms here and there, the start is brilliant and lively, and certainly a memorable tune, the trumpets have a couple of good fanfare blasts [0:00-0:05 & 0:11-0:16] announcing the main tune, and i like the way the violin launches into a solo bravura variation of this tune [0:22-0:44], complete with odd plucked treble notes, i like the orchestral forte outbursts [0:44-0:55 & 1:53-2:03], a nice loud restatement of the main theme, Glazunov brings in the glockenspiel [3:07+] to great effect, and it runs throughout the rest of the movement, bringing a glittering sparkle to it's already fizzy nature, and very much in the manner of winter in his Seasons Ballet, there's variations galore, the very best one is a very fast violin pizzicato [3:53-4:07], with the piccolo accompanying in the main tune, and of course the glockenspiel making a great contribution in the background, ok forget the Tchaikovsky reference, it's more like Sarasate, lovely frothy bravura, and a great ending to this Violin Concerto. 

Here's Hilary Hahn playing the third movement on YouTube, it catches her at the very end of the cadenza of the middle movement, the third movement starts on 0:33.