Beethoven - String Quartet 7 [Quartetto Italiano]

Here's my favourite String Quartet of all [though Schubert's 'Death and the Maiden' may give it a run for its money], played by the Quartetto Italiano, in a lovely triple disc boxed set, the Quartetto Italiano are no longer together, disbanding thirty years ago, and yet they still have a phenomenal legacy that is still felt to this day, on this recording the personnel are as follows,

Paolo Borciani - First Violin

Elisa Pegreffi - Second Violin

Piero Farulli - Viola

Franco Rossi - Cello

My favourite movement is the first, nothing beats that irresistible forward momentum surge, but yet this time i really felt the second movement tug at my heart, it's got a lot of tension in it, even anger at some points, one of the noticeable features of this movement, is that many times the tune is passed around each of the players, rather like a plate of sausage rolls are passed around!, everyone dips in and has a go, the violin may start a tune, which the viola continues, and then the cello finishes, or a myriad of other combinations, the interplay is breathtaking at times, or you could liken it to a relay race with the baton passed around.

There's lots to enjoy, the whole movement comes in little bursts here and there, just over a third of the way through, there's this fugue played [3:38-4:25], it starts very forte, but turns into some nice little treble ideas [3:57+], there's some very nice forte interplay later [6:03-6:14], immediately followed by some very strong momentum [6:16-6:34], right at the very end, there's some very nice final thoughts from Beethoven [8:28-8:56], notice a change over of ideas at [8:35], the transition of which is perfectly executed by the Italians, and a final forte statement of the main idea [8:49+], Beethoven is a genius!.

Here's the Highbury Quartet playing the second movement on YouTube.

Strauss - Don Quixote [Maisky & Zimmermann/ Mehta-Berliner Philharmoniker]

I bought this disc mainly for the Dvorak coupling, but also with an eye on the Strauss work too, i must admit that i haven't listened to Don Quixote nearly as much, it's still a work i'm coming to terms with, and still learning to appreciate, so on this hearing it was good that some things fell into place, plus the fact that the work is nicely cued into individual variations/tracks, it means it's easier to know where you're at, and what variation you're on.

The two variations that hit home this time were variation 2 'The Battle With The Sheep', and variation 7 'The Ride Through The Air', both are extremely atmospheric, the bleating of the sheep comes from the brass [track 9, 0:19-1:20], annoyed at first, they become agitated, and then really frightened [1:05-1:07], it's clever the way Strauss makes the brass sound like sheep, the ride through the air uses a wind machine, with flutes and piccolos making up a storm [track 14, 0:00-1:14], and the brass adding to the spectacle, with the rolling timpani in the background, the piece gets more darker at [0:40+], as the brass growl more, again a very descriptive use of the orchestra, i need to develop a further love of some of the other variations, a work which i'm beginning to understand and appreciate.

Here's Tortelier & Kempe playing 'The Battle With The Sheep' on YouTube.

Schumann - Piano Concerto [Barenboim/ Fischer Dieskau-London Philharmonic Orchestra]

This is a great coupling, it makes sense to have Schumann's two best concertos on the same disc, and a Husband and Wife combination is ideal.

I must admit i do like the booklet cover [photo by Reg Wilson], but it's also the colour scheme of red and blue that makes the booklet stand out.

Looks like this concerto has been really popular this month, i wrote about both Vogt [1st June 2010] and Anda [4th June 2010] playing the Schumann, i'm roughly playing it once a month, but three times this month!, hmmn.

I certainly enjoyed the first movement, the recording was made in 1974, but is quite good for its age, maybe it doesn't quite have the same 'air' around each section of the orchestra, so you can pinpoint certain instruments against others, maybe not enough bloom on the recording, because this movement used to be a one movement Fantasy, before Schumann composed the other two movements to make it a Piano Concerto, this first movement has it's very own 'slow movement' section in the middle [4:43-6:31], a delightful respite from the more vigorous music around it, it starts with the piano in gently rolling waves [4:43+], the clarinet has a dialogue with the piano [4:58+, 5:28+ & 5:52+], with also the flute joining in, this is the very best part of this movement, a little later there's some nice flowing music [7:00-8:05] between piano and orchestra, and right at the end there's a coda of sorts [14:43-15:40], with the piano playing some nice triplets, while the woodwind chatter away, a wonderful piece of music.

Here's Daniel Barenboim playing the first movement on YouTube, with Celibidache conducting.

Various Composers - Virtuoso Violin Encores [Vengerov/Golan]

Here's a nice recital of violin encores, nice and varied, though maybe a tad too much Kreisler, it gets Vengerov to show off his Strad!.

The booklet cover is interesting, showing Vengerov in a coat and tails, looking like part of the proper establishment, and certainly that goes along with the music, he's a proper respected Classical Violinist, however he's also wearing a pair of jeans, and maybe this also gives a hint of his musical persona, as he is individual, and at times doesn't do things by the book, maybe he's trying to be Nigel Kennedy!.

The two pieces i liked the most are tracks 5 & 12, the Bloch piece is nice and dark, a nice sorrowful lament, well worth getting to know, but it's the last track, Bazzini's 'Dance Of The Goblins' that's truly a final encore piece to bring the house down, it's almost as if Bazzini composed it with exploring every device and ability that the violin has in mind, it's a great variety of fireworks, and i'm sure it's devilishly hard to learn and play.

Each section starts off with the piano making a short 'fanfare', Vengerov comes in with very fast and virtuosi playing [0:02-0:38], this part is very staccato, lots of notes, little cries and sighs here and there, towards the end there's a dramatic extra virtuoso edge to it, this opening section returns a little later [1:34-2:10], and right at the end it comes back again [3:50+], but it soon turns different, as it turns into the showy bravura finale, there's some wonderful pizzicato from Vengerov [4:45-4:50 & 4:56-5:01], notice the piano in the background playing notes in the highest treble of the keyboard, a lovely effect!, what a showstopper!.

Here's Maxim Vengerov playing the Bazzini on YouTube.

Finzi - Eclogue [Lane/ Handley-Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra]

Here's a really nice disc, having three works that are somewhat off the beaten track, and all three are very much worth listening to.

Piers Lane is Australian, he is now 52, and he mainly records for the Hyperion Classical Label.

Gerald Finzi worked very slow on his compositions, plus he was very critical of his works, and would only release that which he was satisfied with, the Eclogue was actually the middle movement in a projected Piano Concerto, but he never fully composed the outer movements, and so this gorgeous slow movement stands on its own.

Finzi's Eclogue starts off as a solo piano piece, with just the piano playing the first minute [0:00-0:57], very much like Ravel's Piano Concerto in G, and similar in soundworld too, it truly has a stunning beauty about it, there's an innocent simplicity which is touching, the orchestra enters [0:57+], and takes up the piano tune, it meanders as a dialogue between piano and orchestra, it always remains gentle and relaxed, even though you can hear a storm far off, the opening reprises now and again, and it ends as gently as it began, something to truly soothe a troubled heart.

Here's Finzi's Eclogue being played on YouTube.

Brahms - Violin Sonata 2 [Weithaas/Avenhaus]

I wrote about the First Violin Sonata from these two Artists last month [27th May 2010], and so on to the Second Sonata,

This time i was touched by the third movement Allegretto Grazioso,

Here's Akiko Suwanai playing the third movement on YouTube.

Beethoven - Violin Sonata 5 [Nishizaki/ Jando]

Takako Nishizaki is Japanese, she is now 66, she has recorded extensively for Naxos, in the early days of Naxos i bought quite a few of their discs as they were cheap, but i have come to learn that the true worth of a disc is, how many times is it worth re-hearing?, the more you listen to a disc, the more you have invested in it, and the more treasurable it becomes, with this criteria in mind, i now feel that many of my Naxos discs were false economy, and i purged a load from my collection, but this is one i have kept as it has become immensely treasurable, it now resides at No28 in my all time listening list.

Again i found the second movement Adagio very moving, the piano creates a gentle rocking rhythm in the bass, which at first the right hand treble plays the main melody over, but then the violin takes over this main melody [0:42-1:15], the piano returns to take control of the melody [2:15-2:47], this time embellished with all sorts of lovely extras, and again the violin comes in to take over [2:52-3:25], and produce wonderful soaring lines, Nishizaki has a nice sweet tone about her, and Jando is majestic, don't for one moment think that because it's a budget disc, that Naxos has shirked on personnel, violin and piano swap places out front, like some sort of Jazz tag duo, it's a lovely slow movement from the young Beethoven.

Here's Gidon Kremer and Martha Argerich playing the Adagio slow movement on YouTube.