Rodrigo - Fantasia Para Un Gentilhombre [Fernandez/Martinez-English Chamber Orchestra] 

What a nice little disc this is, it's re-issued by Decca in a number of guises, but the original as here, is the best way to acquire this, the visuals are excellent, but i'll speak more of that in the next paragraph, of course Rodrigo's two most popular Guitar Works go well together, but since they only make up roughly 45 minutes of music, the question is what to couple them with?, and it's good to have Castelnuovo-Tedesco's work here, the Rodrigo is justly famous for its quotations from the solo guitar works of Gaspar Sanz, Rodrigo orchestrates them, and adds his own special touch to the four pieces, there's very much a sense of the baroque of yesteryear in the writing, which is very similar to what Respighi did with his Ancient Airs And Dances, the same sort of feel, it's a lovely work regardless of how it was 'mined' from another Composer.

Eduardo Fernandez is Uruguayan, he is now 60, he made this recording in 1985 when he was 33, the front cover is a truly superlative photograph, the photographer is not mentioned in the booklet / back insert, which is a shame, the photo is of a courtyard in Navarra, showing the ancient building, lovely tiled roofs, and an octagonal fountain in the middle, but what really makes the picture are three elements, the sunshine, which seems a little washed out on the foreground wall, the darkness of inside juxtaposed against the light outside. and especially the arch which frames the whole thing so superbly, the colours and the lettering add to the whole thing.

The second movement is so wonderful, it's the slow movement of the work, and the longest at just over 10 minutes, in fact it's almost as long as the other three movements put together,.

Here's Ekachai Jeerakul playing the second movement on YouTube.

Various Artists [The Best Of All Woman] 

These compilation albums are really useful, collecting together many tracks i otherwise wouldn't really bother with, it's a good concept, and there seems to somewhat of a theme, or rather a nice bringing together of like minded songs, no track seems awkward or out of place, and even though there are lots of famous tracks, there are also tracks that aren't exactly popular, it's a great double disc which veers from my usual, a nice bit of escapism if you like, i played this over the park, sitting on a bench and watching the world go by, also i played these discs early last year [22nd January 2011].

Well this compilation came out in 1995, the front cover of course has a picture of a woman on it, a sepia toned black & white shot, i guess a poolside shot considering the wet hair, a nice pose with elbows on knees [well almost], the background is very much washed out, concentrating on the arms and face, the lettering is great, and i just love that pink 'All Woman', and then a smattering of a list of Artists below, nicely well laid out.

The tracks i liked most of all were 9-10, 18, 23, 26 & 30, and i would like to give a short synopsis of each of these tracks,
9 - Joan Armatrading - Love And Affection, A very acoustic track from Armatrading, strumming and plucking guitars, i love the way Armatrading almost ad-libs the vocals, she nicely staccato's the wording, then launches into legato, a nice and effective idea, the song builds up into something really soulful, and a superb saxophone solo [2:51-3:14]. 
10 - Sinead O'Connor - My Special Child, This is a song that i don't know that well, i remember buying a Various Artists package that had her song 'This Is To Mother You' on it, another great song, there's certainly a hidden talent there, the intro is great, a vague tune that is quite haunting, her vocals are nicely ghostly, and they get more serious as the song goes on, halfway through there's a solo for uilleann pipes [a sort of Irish bagpipes], where O'Connor talks over the solo, the best lyrics are at the beginning 'Think about my little girl, her yellow skin and her dark curls'. 
18 - Dinah Washington - Mad About The Boy, An old song from 1963, with an orchestra to back her up, there's a constant trickle / cycle in the piano keys, sounding backward to the point at first i thought it was a harp, and a gentle brushes on the drums, this underpins the whole song, Washington constantly swings from half talking to half singing, and that's just fantastic, i love the way Washington drags out the first word of each verse like a long stutter [0:16], the second one is great [0:42] as the strings come in right afterward [0:47+], a lovely lazy serenading addition, and the piano in the background that just ups the volume, as well as goes up into treble territory [1:16+], that's another lovely addition, but can easily be missed, there's a nice serenading instrumental interlude by the strings [2:01-2:18], this track might be considered easy listening, but there's more than just a simple tune being played. 
23 - Kate Bush - The Man With The Child In His Eyes, A lovely atmospheric opening, just piano and voice [0:00-0:10], that piano is so affecting, the cello comes in [0:11+], and it really creates a mood, the music changes into high strings [0:32+], it's a nice slight change of direction, and the lyrics are great here, epitomizing the whole meaning of the song, 'And suddenly i find myself listening, To a man i've never known before', it's almost Classical in its conception, there's flute [1:10], horn [1:21], and oboe [1:23].
26 - Dorothy Moore - Misty Blue, A wonderfully soulful song, Moore has such a compelling voice, tinkling piano and soft strings as an intro [0:00-0:16], Moore has this ability to add oohh's and mmmm's, and lengthen out her words, and hesitate in the most stunning way, it's that gently twanging guitar that makes the song so affecting [0:19+], the background strings are lovely and swooning, going well with the music and the gist of the lyrics.
30 - Hazel O'Connor - Will You, The 'saxophone track', rather like Baker Street by Gerry Rafferty, it uses a very upfront and central use of the saxophone [played by Wesley McGoogan], the lyrics are fairly banal, but the music slowly builds up and up, the second half of the song is really just a saxophone solo [2:45-4:44], over a constant beat and background strings, there's an 'overblown angry' feel to the solo, the solo develops a real intensity the longer it goes on, and right at the end McGoogan blows and only air comes out! [4:41+], quite possibly the best long saxophone solo in Rock music, but the Gerry Rafferty / Baker Street use of the sax is more memorable / famous.

Jackson Browne [Late For The Sky] 

Ah, another Jackson Browne album, that's two in one month [1st July 2012], with the album I'm Alive, these are the only two studio albums i own of his, in a sense the two pillars of his discography, they're almost 20 years apart, but musically they could be next door in time to each other, but they're written from a perspective of a 26 and 45 year old person respectively, this was the very first Jackson Browne album i bought, it wasn't long after the album was released [of course i bought it on LP vinyl], i discovered Jackson Browne when i heard 'Before The Deluge' playing on the radio, i was so impressed, and yet i feared that at the end of the song they wouldn't say who it was by, or i wouldn't catch it, i rushed out and bought the album, and the rest is history, a start of something big.

Jackson Browne is American, he's now 63, it almost seems i'm catching up with him, like i said he recorded this album when he was 26 in 1974, the front cover photograph gives the album its name [by Bob Seidermann], a bright blue cloudy sky, but a dull enough house / car that a streetlight is needed to see.

It was good to revisit this album again, and to renew my acquaintance with certain songs, the tracks i most enjoyed were 2-3, 6 & 8, i was surprised by tracks 3 & 6, 'Farther On', and 'For A Dancer', there's a sadness of regrettable days passed, but ultimately it's the last track 'Before The Deluge' that moved me, the whole thing seems powered by David Lindley's electric violin, it gives it a lamenting quality, and Jai Winding playing the organ creates a religiosity to the song also, of course the imagery i get from the song is of Noah and the flood, but it's more than that, some have commented that it's about impending nuclear war, my own feelings are it's about Ecology and the planet, and people are travelling in two extremes, one to a simpler way of life 'back to nature', and the other to raping the planet 'forging beauty into power', my take on certain passages are, 'the sand slipped through the opening', means the sands of time trickling through an hourglass ['we only have x number of days to save the planet!, time is running out!'], i love the words in the second verse,

And exchanged love's bright and fragile glow

For the glitter and the rouge

meaning there's a simple quiet beauty in the world too many people don't see, because they're fixated on the flash and noise, right at the end there's a musical outro [4:55-5:47] which lasts nearly a minute, really it's almost a jam session, and prominently features David Lindley's violin, which starts to turn into a nice bit of fiddling as the fade comes in [5:30+], it's a powerful song, and one of Jackson Browne's best sermons to boot.

Here's Before The Deluge being played on YouTube.

Schubert - 3 Klavierstucke [Brendel] 

The third Schubert disc from Brendel in my Blog this month, of Brendel's newer Schubert series, seems like he's getting a lot of exposure, i've got a soft spot for Schubert's Piano Sonata 16, however in listening to this disc it's the 3 Klavierstucke that amazed me more, considered to be Impromptus like his earlier sets, it was originally conceived to contain a fourth piece, to be exactly like the other sets, but the fourth never materialized, these pieces are wonderful, and are worthy to be called Impromptus, and live in that exalted company with them, and Brendel seems to get the very feel of these pieces spot on.

Alfred Brendel is Austrian, he is now 81 years old, the photography for this series was done by Gabriela Brandenstein, all black & white photography, this one shows Brendel with life mask of Schubert.

All three of these pieces are wonderful, but i find the second to be of the highest order, a strange yet simple structure, here's the timings below,

A - 0:00-1:16 [1:16]

B - 1:16-3:33 [2:17]

C - 3:33-4:48 [1:15]

D - 4:48-9:08 [4:20]

E - 9:08-10:36 [1:24]

A, C & E are the short song-like main theme, the glue if you will that holds the stack together, another analogy is like it's a 'double sandwich', where the opening / closing melody are like slices of bread, and the extra middle slice separates the two different main fillings [B & D], i think it's called a 'club sandwich', anyway enough of the food analogy, next i'll be giving you the recipe!, the slices of bread are all the same thickness, but the ingredients / fillings are much more thicker, especially the second one, The opening is a gorgeous little melody, could easily have been used as a theme with a bunch of variations after it, the first 'filling / trio' changes things from Major to Minor, and brings in a sense of turbulence, the staccato trills are stammered in the right hand [1:16-2:12], there's forte and brighter passages, but the return of the main theme is ingenious [3:33-4:48], stated simply just like at the beginning, but somehow it's taken on a new meaning the second time, and then comes another Minor episode in A Flat Minor [4:48-6:14], this one is tremendously fantastic, it has an irresistible rocking rhythm to it, the right hand lies higher up in the treble, and there's a certain mimicking of bells, they're absolutely gorgeous, and then comes a darker section [6:14+], but it soon returns to the opening of this section, the highlight of the whole piece is this ingredient, finally of course the piece returns to the very opening, and yet again the opening melody startles, and it's a great way to finish the piece, Brendel is a master at bringing out the very best in Schubert.

Here's the Second Klavierstucke being played on YouTube, however some of the repeats are missing, that's why a good couple of minutes are shaved off.

Chopin - 27 Etudes [Yokoyama] 

I bought this disc in a second-hand music shop in London in 2003, i love the Chopin Etudes, my second favourite Classical work [Schubert's Impromptus are first], but when i saw this disc, i had never heard of Yokoyama, and it's probably a disc especially made for the Japanese market, and of course i couldn't resist a new set, i'm glad i snapped this up, it's certainly one of my favourite versions of the Chopin Etudes, here's a list of my top nine from most favourite,

1 - Louis Lortie

2 - Boris Berezovsky

3 - Nikolai Lugansky

4 - Yukio Yokoyama

5 - Nikita Magaloff

6 - Andrei Gavrilov

7 - Murray Perahia

8 - Giorgia Tomassi

9 - Vladimir Ashkenazy

Lortie and Berezovsky are head and shoulders above everyone else, this list makes me realize that i need to get and hear Pollini's account, Yokoyama sits at number 4, he is certainly a fine Pianist who serves Chopin very well, it's a shame his other Japanese recordings are not readily available in the West.

Yukio Yokoyama is Japanese, he is now 41, he made this recording in 1992 when he was 21, the booklet cover shows Yokoyama standing in front of his piano, hands in pockets.

On this listen, the Etudes that i found the most revelatory were 1, 4-5, 12 & 23-24, here's a synopsis of each Etude,
Etude 1 - a wonderful start to the set, so relentless, Yokoyama gets the the treble surge just right, the sound of the piano is fantastic, i love the way the bass notes are hammered out, and the ending is nice, those treble notes have a sort of 'end of the day' feel to them.
Etude 4 - Yokoyama throws himself into this one with laser like precision, not as good as Murray Perahia, the lovely way that the right hand plays legato, while the left plays staccato, it's a study in mirror opposites.
Etude 5 - the legato section is played with aplomb, it's a piece that's easy to 'jazz up', and yet i find that if it's played 'straight', then you really get the Chopin in the piece rather than the performer.
Etude 12 - a nice start, a shocking and startling smash of notes, left hand bass goes up and down like waves on the sea, he gets a bit too staccato in places, and doesn't quite pull it off.
Etude 23 - Yokoyama gets the prelude right, and comes in hard with the explosion, on a par with Op10/1, again relentless, lovely treble notes, it's good to have a piano / recording toned just right, lovely low growl in the bass near the end, [this Etude is probably the highlight of my listen].
Etude 24 - sounds somewhat subdued, doesn't have the same oompff as Op10 1 & 12, and yet it's still really compelling.

The links to each Etude are to performances on YouTube of Yokoyama playing, though they're recorded fairly quiet on there.

Dvorak - Symphonic Poems [Kosler-Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra] 

Dvorak's Symphonic Poems have a tendency to be long, The Golden Spinning Wheel isn't far off half an hour long, but unlike say Tone Poems, which capture a mood and a visual feeling for something, Dvorak's works here are like plays without words, just the music to set the scene, there's 'dialogue' in the pages of the score as it were, sometimes i wish there were cue points in recordings to explain exactly what's going on and when, and with this double disc set, all the best works are conveniently brought together in one package, i played this early in my Blog [28th May 2010].

Zdenek Kosler was a Czech conductor, he died in 1995, he made these recordings in 1981 & 1982, now the front cover is a thing of rare beauty [by Vladimir Baca], a picture of a tree, the sun peeking through the branches, a nice study of the trunk, and it has that backlit quality to it, the lettering and logo add to the finished product, a superb visual statement.

On this listen i was wowed at how fantastic The Golden Spinning Wheel sounded,.

Here's Carlos Kalmar conducting The Golden Spinning Wheel on YouTube.