Faure - 13 Nocturnes [Collard] 

Faure's piano works are certainly underestimated, if you look at his composition titles, he's certainly a Chopin copyist, and certainly Faure gives Chopin a run for his money with his 13 Nocturnes, against Chopin's 21, of course Chopin wins ultimately, but some of Faure's works would grace Chopin's output, especially his early Nocturnes, his later Nocturnes are more subtle, they don't give up their gems so easily, but if you listen carefully they're still there, and this is a nice two box set, again another one of these fatbox sets, a great way to delve into Faure's piano output. 

Jean-Philippe Collard is French, born in 1948, he recorded these pieces in 1973 when he was 25, considering the age of the recording, these sound fantastic, these box sets in EMI's rouge et noir series are fantastic, and the front cover photograph [by Jacques Sarrat], is absolutely fantastic, a simple enough portrait, but superbly in focus, and high quality, well lit, using a dark background it makes Collard really stand out, and the pose is great too, the lettering is coloured differently, which differentiates things nicely, and even the logo adds that perfect finishing touch.

The Nocturnes i enjoyed the most were 1-2 & 4, and even though probably 4 is my favourite, this time around it was the Nocturne One that really impressed me,. 

Here's Faure's Nocturne One being played on YouTube.

Tchaikovsky - Violin Concerto [Chung/ Dutoit-Orchestra Symphonique De Montreal] 

A lovely coupling of these two most popular Violin Concertos, these were the first two Violin Concertos i ever heard, and it started me on i lifelong search for other wonderful Violin Concertos, and Chung is a great advocate and interpretor, this Concerto is tremendous, and it gets better towards the end. 

Kyung Wha Chung is South Korean, she's now 64, and she recorded this disc in 1981, the booklet photo [by Susesch Bayat], has Chung in a nice pose, the violin looks almost like a viola, plus she looks so young, and her dress looks like a nightdress!, but it's a good visual.

What a great experience this was, the whole thing zings from start to finish, but it's the third movement for me where incredible fireworks take place, . 

Here's Janine Jansen playing the third movement on YouTube.

Bach - The Well Tempered Clavier [Gulda] 

Now this is a phenomenal set of the 48, Gulda is one of my favourite interpreters, there's a gentleness and insight which is amazing, some Pianists throw muscularity into their playing, as if decibels means deepness, there's a simplicity about his playing, just let Bach do the talking, instead of pushing aside Bach and projecting your own ideas into the music, i listened to this set over four days [12 a day], and each day i so looked forward to hearing some more, it's an endless discovery of music, there's so much to take in, so many pieces to fall in love with, on this listen i crossed some new lines, and i now know this great work a smidgen more than i did last week, this set has appeared in my Blog twice before, at the beginning and end of 2011 [2nd December 2011 & 11th January 2011]. 

Friedrich Gulda [1930-2000] was Austrian, he recorded these discs in 1972-1973, it's a wonderful fatbox set of four discs, now re-issued as two volumes of two discs, but this is the original, and presented in this way it's absolutely fantastic, the front cover photograph [by Pim Westerweel], is also an incredible visual statement, a side profile of Gulda, the nearside of his head darkened, but his face lit superbly, a black & white shot showing contours and and outlines, with a jet black background it creates a stunning visual statement, this is a set to be treasured, but ultimately the worth of the set grows as you put some 'listening milage' into it.

There's so much to enjoy here, to even begin to describe the 'discoveries' in this listen is just so overwhelming, the many pieces which were a sure thrill were 1P, 3P, 6-7P, 9-10P, 13P, 17P, 19F, 29-31P, 36P&F, 37P, 39P & 45P [where P = Prelude, and F = Fugue], certainly too many pieces to adequately talk about, so i will just concentrate on three pieces, the three that really touched me the deepest, as you can see from my 'shortlist', the Preludes far outweigh the Fugues, however the three that astounded me the most were the Fugue of 19, and the Prelude & Fugue of 36, so here's a synopsis of both, 

Fugue 19 [BWV 864], Only 1:39 long, and in A Major, of course as a Fugue goes, one voice follows another, then another, and so on, there's a climbing figure right from the start, a single note stab, then up the keyboard we go, it gets more and more complex, until the treble right hand starts running wild [0:40+], and the other hand starts to copy, quite breathtaking really, Gulda paces it really fast, but it works superbly.
Prelude & Fugue 36 [BWV 881], In contrast Gulda plays this Prelude real quiet and slow, and again creates a real magic with it, this one's in F Minor, it's later in the Prelude that it's best section comes out [2:30+ & 4:01], a sort of change into the treble, and the developing of a more lyrical melody, it's a magical moment, the opening notes keep coming back from time to time, and really add to the spell, the Fugue by comparison is really jerky, very repetitive, Bach gets the Keyboardist to constantly stammer on the same note before moving on, it's a lovely effect, i like the way it gently quiets for one of these episodes [0:38-0:48], [& 1:12+ & 2:25+], a great fugue that really weaves a magic.

Debussy - String Quartet [Melos String Quartett] 

This is a lovely disc, coupling together the usual Ravel and Debussy pairings, usually it's the Ravel Quartet i always find superior, but this time listening, i feel i'm developing a new appreciation for the Debussy Quartet, the two Quartets are similar in so many ways, and of course the Ravel was based on the Debussy, both have a dynamic pizzicato second movement, it was good to get to know this Quartet better today. 

The Melos String Quartett is a German Quartet that was active for 40 years, from 1965-2005, they recorded this disc in 1979, the booklet front cover is a great one [picture by Annette Lederer], a colourful picture of the Quartet, large umbrellas in hand, very long grass in the background, and carrying their instruments in cases.

Well i just love all of the pizzicato playing, the second movement really is a true scherzo, brief and playful, here it lasts less than 4 minutes, a combination of pizzicato and bowing, and i just love that high treble plink plink [0:09+], and i just love the twang at [0:10], the way it resonates and dies, also in the first minute i can hear Grieg's 'In The Hall Of The Mountain King', after the pizzicato opening, the music  gravitates more towards bowing [0:58+], there's this lyrical yet sour song from the first violin [2:16-2:34], and right afterwards some lightning bowing from the whole Quartet in turn [2:34-2:43], ending on the cello, nice sonorities here, the pizzicato returns but it's different, i like the ending, a fairly lazy version of the opening tune [3:26-3:50], the whole thing kicks nicely, perfectly placed second in the whole scheme of the Quartet. 

Here's the Cuerteto Casals playing the second movement Assez Vif Et Bien Rythme on YouTube.

Beethoven - Symphony 7 [Ashkenazy-Philharmonia Orchestra] 

This is a fantastic disc, Ashkenazy drives the music hard, it works superbly in the revolutionary opening of the Fifth symphony, but however great that work was to me, and it truly was superb here, the Seventh was a real revelation, especially the opening movement, i don't know why, but the Seventh has had a tendency to take a back seat, probably my middle favourite of the nine, i played this same work roughly a year ago [4th October 2011], and i had the same feelings for it back then. 

Vladimir Ashkenazy is Russian, he's now 75, and he recorded this work in 1983, this is a Taiwanese re-issue of these two Symphonies, and comes with a different front cover, i much prefer this cover, and i bought it on Ebay, from certain foreign sellers you can get these sorts of re-issues not available in your own country.

It was the superb first movement that really got me, so incredibly revolutionary, there's a very long 'introduction' at the beginning [0:00-4:34], most music use introductions to... well introduce the real music!, but for Beethoven here, the intro is real music, i think he enjoyed this intro so much, he didn't want it to stop, so it kept going on and on, some lovely woodwind moments here, and there's a sort of 'bridge' between the intro and the Vivace proper [3:44-5:02], which gains in momentum by the woodwinds, and almost has it's own mini intro itself [4:34+], when the music explodes into the Vivace [5:02+], it's an incredibly satisfying moment, a moment that Beethoven has built up for 5 minutes, a lovely release, the brass come to the fore, . 

Here's Carlos Kleiber conducting the first movement on YouTube, he's so incredibly animated!.

Schubert - Piano Trio 1 [Zukerman/Harrell/ Ashkenazy] 

Schubert's Piano Trio's are fairly neglected in my Blog, i really haven't played these for a while, but when i do, the feelings come flooding back, the Trout and Death and the Maiden easily take centre stage in his Chamber Music output, and rightly so, and so these works can take a bit of a back seat, but Schubert's Trio's are bright and fun, both composed in major keys, there's a certain rhythm and dance to these pieces, and of course with Schubert, some superb tunes. 

Vladimir Ashkenazy is Russian, he's now 75 years old, and he recorded this work in 1996, the front booklet photos [by Vivianne Purdom], are three small black & white pictures, in the background are autumn red leaves, a nice little concept.

The second movement is so beautiful, it's like a Chopin Nocturne in a way, you can feel the night descending at times, especially in the main theme tune, after a short intro by the piano, this gorgeous tune is played with passion by Cellist Lynn Harrell [0:07-0:49], and then the scene is complete when the violin comes in [0:48+], and a short time later the piano gets in on the act by hammering out the theme itself, lots of passion, certainly from Zukerman, who uses lots of rubato, i like the treble chimes from Ashkenazy, the mood changes abruptly [5:17+],.

Here's Ashkenazy / Zukerman / Harrell playing the second movement on YouTube.

Sibelius - Violin Concerto [Mullova/ Ozawa-Boston Symphony Orchestra] 

Well what can i say about yet another version of the Sibelius Violin Concerto, i've always wondered, is there a certain 'saturation point', where you get so familiar with a work that it no longer excites?, this is the fourteenth time that this Concerto has been in my Blog, and the first for this version, i can count seventeen versions i own, to some that might well seem an overkill, but i still find that each one brings a fresh perspective to the work, and certainly Mullova is a Violin superstar, and well worth hearing her interpretation. 

Viktoria Mullova is Russian, she's now 52, and she made this recording in 1985, the front cover photo [by Gianni Viviani] is of course really staged, it would be better if they were just smiling and looking into the camera, but the shot is well done, very good lighting, and the lettering at the top is nicely symmetrical.

Well, looking through my past entries of Sibelius's Violin Concerto, it always seems that the central Adagio Di Molto always shines the brightest in my heart, in listening to this work today, i found each movement the equal of the other, the last movement doesn't get the proper recognition it deserves, i hardly talk about it, after the beautiful slow movement, it certainly breaks that lovely spell when the jaunty start of last movement comes in, maybe a sense of 'sacrilege' in my mind, for me it takes a while to get going, and mainly it's that jauntiness of the violin at the beginning, it's not far off a solo, the orchestra provides almost only a background rhythm [0:00-1:25] the violin really is centre stage, even though the Concerto is in D Minor, the final movement is in D Major, and yet it sounds troubled in many ways, the whole movement has this chugging dance like rhythm to it, technically it's really difficult, a movement of violin fireworks, i like the build up and forte between violin and orchestra [3:24-3:48], notice how the violin slurs down the strings [3:30], that's a good effect, also i like the rasping of some unknown brass instrument [5:02-5:30], i like the high treble interplay that Mullova brings off nicely [6:07-7:21], taking the music almost to the end, the very end is abrupt, a nice finish.

Here's Mullova playing the Concerto on YouTube, the last movement starts at [24:25].