Mahler - Symphony 4 [Ozawa/Kanawa-Boston Symphony Orchestra] 

This is the first time that this disc makes my Blog, not a version i've played a lot, and still a performance that i'm coming to grips with, this entry only makes the thirteenth appearance of Mahler in my Blog in almost three years!, and only the fifth time that this Symphony gets in, this was the very first Mahler Symphony i got into, and at one time i played it like crazy, i remember a very memorable event playing it in Tenby [South Wales], it was just revelatory [it was Karajan / Mathis / Berliner Philharmoniker], ever since i've had such a soft spot for the slow movement, and it didn't fail me today, what a heavenly creation, the last movement is meant to be the 'child's vision of heaven', but it's the movement before that really explains it better, thank you Mahler.

Seiji Ozawa is Japanese, he's now 77, he recorded this disc in 1987, making a full cycle of the Symphonies of Mahler with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the front cover photograph is by Christian Steiner, a nice straightforward enough portrait, the lighting is wonderful, nice shadows, the black background works wonders on the lighted areas, nice use of the hands too, great lettering creates perfection.

Well like i said above, the third movement really came together today, it really hit the spot, it's one of those moments that the music comes very alive, it hit my heart hard, there are just times when it all comes together, and i'm thankful for these moments, it makes all the buying / listening to music worth it, Ozawa takes just over 20 minutes, and the movement is mainly in the key of G Major,,

Here's Leonard Bernstein conducting the third movement on YouTube.

Vivaldi - The Four Seasons [Da Costa/ Schulz-Wiener Concert Verein] 

Saw this disc on Ebay, being sold by someone from Asia, fairly expensive, but i really liked the look of it, so i took the plunge, this is its first outing in my disc player, i was surprised by the good sound, it's very well recorded, well some people are put off by this being so popular, almost treating it as 'classical-lite', and i guess good old Nige Kennedy reinforced those ideas, but for me it is a great work, offering twelve different visual pictures, and it's surprising what different vibes you can get out of the same set up, there's a phenomenal virtuosity going on at times, and yet these are mini pictures, 3 or 4 minutes long, it doesn't takes lots of concentration, and the aural view changes pretty rapidly, this is a great version to consider.

Alexandre Da Costa is Canadian, he's now 33, for a Classical Artist i guess that's still pretty young, he recorded this disc in 2005, the front cover photo is a real treat [by Richard Bull], taking its cue from Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man, we have Da Costa standing in two poses, one within a square, the other within a circle, superimposed on each other, it's a great idea, and to add the violin is a great touch, but also the lettering, in black, white, and orange, works out great too, a really good visual product.

The whole of this work was really satisfying, but i especially enjoyed the first movement of Summer, and the middle movement of winter, and here's a more detailed synopsis of each,

Summer 1 - Marked Allegro Non Troppo, but the introduction is slow and stately [0:00-1:18], also cast in the key of G Minor, but when the real Allegro gets going, it's a splendid vehicle for virtuosity, Da Costa working away feverishly [1:20-1:58], but it lasts barely half a minute before we're into another slow intro / section, and it takes lazy time before it picks up again, but again there's a virtuosity [3:13-3:40] using a device to swing back and forth between fast and slow sections, a sort of roller coaster of a ride, and the thing ends on a virtuosic finale [5:03-5:31], just the sort of thing you need at the start of Summer.
Winter 2 - The dead of Winter i guess, and yet the music certainly isn't bleak, even though it's in the key of F Minor, it's lively and fun, and yes it's written as Largo, but it sounds faster then that, maybe it's because of the fairly fast pizzicato strings in the background, meant to represent icy rain, while i guess the violin is safely indoors by a roaring fire, a lovely tune of contentment, only lasting a little more than 2 minutes [2:03], nothing really changes during the movement, the same tune and constant pizzicato to go along with it.

Bruch - Violin Concerto 1 [Chung/Tennstedt-London Philharmonic Orchestra] 

Only a couple of days ago this Concerto appeared in my Blog with Akiko Suwanai as the Soloist [4th December 2012], and here it is again!, the main tune in the third movement still keeps going round in my head!, it's so good to listen to this again, i don't get bored of it, the trick is to hear something new every time, to notice something that you didn't hear before, or learn something more about the history of the work, the key signature, or whatever, the music is the same, but your head and heart evolve, plus Kyung-Wha Chung is such an excellent Soloist to boot, and this work / disc was also an entry that kicked off my Blog this year [1st January 2012].

Kyung_Wha Chung is South Korean, she is now 64, she recorded this work in 1990, the front cover image [photo by Cindy Palmano] is an excellent portrait, with Chung holding her violin, lovely colours of orange and brown, black background which makes the subject stand out even stronger, i like the highlights on the violin.

Well even though i had the finale going round my head, it was the slow middle movement that i was so enraptured in this time, i guess it's my favourite movement of the three, it's so heavenly, how could a Composer who wrote this not duplicate excellent ideas throughout his works?, the Adagio starts right out of the ending of the first movement, the Concerto is in G Minor, and there's this sense of bittersweet sorrow throughout, the main theme of the Adagio is just irresistible, played very delicately by the solo violin at the start, but unbelievably the ideas get even better!, the violin plays a counter melody to the main one [0:55-1:39], and it's just heartbreaking, how can anyone not fall in love with this Concerto?, the orchestra aren't mere bystanders, and there's moments of tenderness from them too [4:25-4:57], the movement gets into a nice little complexity, and violin and orchestra intertwine in a lovely way, which results in the orchestra pulling out all the stops in a thrilling forte [5:35-6:35], towards the end there's a sweet moment of true tenderness as Chung plays delectably [7:54+], of course there's moments of violin passion too, and Chung takes this theme right into the treble stratosphere [8:16-8:33], it's a great coda from a great central movement, one of the very best in the violin repertoire.

Here's Kyung-Wha Chung playing the breathtaking Adagio middle movement on YouTube.

Mozart - Serenade 10 'Gran Partita' [Marriner -Academy Of Saint Martin In The Fields] 

What a wonderful work this is, how does Mozart do it?, there are other 'similar' works like Schubert's Octet, that just don't work for me, a small bunch of woodwind players automatically has warning bells going off for me, they just don't jive together, so it's all the more refreshing and original when not only does it work, but it works in spades!, the whole thing bubbles along through a myriad of gorgeous tunes and melodies, plus this isn't a 25 minute little work, it's almost 50 minutes long, to create a work on that large a scale, and to keep up tremendous invention so that interest and attention never flags, now that's one amazing work, there's always the problem of having a variety of colour in a work when you limit yourself to fairly similar instruments, but how much i do not miss strings or brass, Marriner gets a fantastic sound out of just 13 instruments, i love this disc, i've had it since 1992, i bought it in London second hand for about £5, it's scratched quite badly, but it played beautifully, found in my Blog two and a half years ago [4th July 2010].

Neville Marriner is English, he seems to be going on forever, he's now 88, and shares the same birthday with me [though not the year], he recorded this work in 1984, the booklet cover shows three shiny woodwind instruments, clarinet, bassoon, and i guess basset horn, i love the gleaming look of the instruments, there's a green theme to the colours.

Three movement stood out from the rest, 2 & 6-7, and it was the wonderful Theme and Variations that i just couldn't help falling in love with, on the back inlay i've written out the timings for the individual variations for this movement, and i'd like to give my feelings on each one here,

Theme [0:00-1:13] - a simple theme, mainly supplied by the clarinets, but already there's that bubbly undercurrent waiting to be exploited.
Variation 1 [1:13-2:27] - the oboes turn things up a notch, sounding so lovely and happy, truly blissful music making.
Variation 2 [2:27-3:43] - everyone seems to get a turn, and i think the bassett horns take over, giving a deeper richer texture, jovial indeed.
Variation 3 [3:43-5:00] - next up it's the bassoons, though they seem to get drowned out, and the clarinets steal in, but the bassoons come back in a wonderful undercurrent.
Variation 4 [5:00-6:18] - a sparse variation, quite staccato in a way, everyone holding back.
Variation 5 [6:18-8:54] - a serene variation, oboes and clarinets dreamily serenade out the main tune, there's such a sense of pastoral-ness, the oboes are so heavenly in their playing [7:19-7:58] underpinned by i believe the bassett horns gently murmuring, now that so heartbreaking, and they play the same serene-ness a third time [8:16-8:54], certainly my favourite variation of the six.
Variation 6 [8:55-9:46] - the last variation is of course more upbeat, the shortest of the six, it's certainly a finale, nice and very bubbly by all the instruments, and the perfect foil for the following final movement.

Here's the sixth movement Theme and Variations conducted by Ivan Meylemans on YouTube.

Bruch - Violin Concerto 1 [Suwanai/Marriner-Academy Of Saint Martin In The Fields] 

I had the main tune of this Concerto going round in my head ages after it finished, i can't quite decide if it's this Concerto, or the Sibelius, or Lalo's Symphonie Espagnole that i find the very best Violin Concerto of all, but this certainly wins for the sheer passion and tender pathos, and it was inspired to give us the other Bruch masterpiece as its companion, the underrated Scottish Fantasy.

Akiko Suwanai is Japanese, i can't believe she's now 40 years old, of course in this booklet photograph of 1996 when she recorded this work, she was only 24, but these Asians sure don't age like the rest of us, and the booklet photo [by Christian Steiner] is a nice tender portrait, she's very slim with waist length black hair, and an angelic face.

The whole of this Concerto was quite a revelation, Beethoven takes roughly 45 minutes to spin his Violin Concerto, Bruch takes almost half that [24 minutes here], and yet in my mind spins something much more substantial, the first movement sounded so sure and tremendous, and the second movement is so gut wrenching, but it was the third movement which really got to me, it's a sort of combination of the first two movements, it is played Allegro like the first movement, but episodes of pure tender power keep coming in, very reminiscent of the second movement, Suwanai plays with lovely virtuosity, and the the fortes by the orchestra are tremendous [1:12-1:37], the eruption of the first strong surge of pathos [2:10-2:27] is so gut wrenching, and Suwanai echoes that tune [2:27-2:52], but sounds in lots of ways like a viola, and the second pathos eruption is just as heart tugging [4:38-4:49], the 'finale' of sorts is a nice virtuoso culmination to the whole thing, a truly great Violin Concerto, Bruch really knows how to tug at your heartstrings, the whole movement is a real roller coaster ride.

Here's Suwanai playing the third movement on YouTube.

Beethoven - Overtures [Harding-Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen] 

The first time i played this disc, it concerned me that Harding pushed his orchestra so hard, these are certainly hard driven readings / interpretations, now i've got used to it, i even find the intensity thrilling, also Harding can be a bit clinical in stops and starts, but there's no dismissing his approach and professionalism, i'm sure he's thought long and hard about the results he wanted, the only thing that caused me concern on this listening, is the sharp sound, where's the warmth?, it sounds like a disc without any bass, it's a shame as everything else seems right, i think he took a page out of the historic performance book, lithe clean textures, fast tempos, maybe a thinner string sound, lots of nice brass, a nice heady mixture, this is a nice regular in my Blog, and this appeared only six months ago [12th May 2012 & 28th April 2011].

Daniel Harding is English, he's now 37 years old, he recorded this disc in 1999 at the young age of 23, his youthful exuberance really shows, the front cover photograph [by Ranald Mackechnie] is a great shot, a well composed portrait, i just love that pose, a serious look on the face, and hands clasped, the background is very interesting also, a white wall and trees beyond, and a small potted tree is the perfect addition, also the lettering is very well laid out, i like the way 'Overtures' is set apart in dark grey, the whole thing works on many levels.

Well this was a thrilling disc, the two Overtures i immensely enjoyed were Coriolan and Egmont, and Coriolan is all a Beethoven piece should be, real drama, phenomenal ideas, and a real sense of universal purpose, Karajan & Jochum [two favourites of mine] play the piece at the 9 minute mark, while Bruggen hits 7:17, much more nearer Harding's 7:22, so you can see which field of play he gravitates toward, the opening war like theme is played in the key of C Minor, Harding plays the opening hammer blows very clinically exacting [0:00-0:28], and straight after the speeds are thrillingly lithe, strong use of the timpani, Harding presents Beethoven as Heavy Metal to a degree, strong rhythms, lean string textures, and those timpani are really hit [2:01-2:04], sounds like the guy is having real fun [Stefan Rapp], the more lyrical theme is in E Flat Major, and these two themes intertwine like a dialogue, i love the way Beethoven welds the two themes together expertly, and the constant hammer blows are tremendous, only in the closing coda pages could Harding have slowed down things more and given us something more tender, as i believe it represents Coriolan's death, there could have been more pathos, but Harding gives it to us fairly straight and matter of fact, nevertheless there's so much here to enjoy, Beethoven sounds so involving.

Here's Carlos Kleiber conducting the Coriolan Overture on YouTube.

Sibelius - Orchestral Works [Jarvi-Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra] 

What a wonderful disc this is, this works on all sorts of levels for me, Sibelius discs of his shorter works on disc are available aplenty, but so many seem poorly programmed, there's discs of his most 'famous' pieces [especially 'Finlandia'], and a lot of these just seem the same programme, this was is excitingly different, with a good mix of famous and lesser known, i'm thankful for getting to know 'The Bard' because of this recording, Sibelius was quite a master at the Tone Poem, and his later Symphonies prove that he was having a hard time with composing in the Symphonic form, but he seemed ideal for these smaller forms, this disc has the added worth of a good quantity of music [71 minutes].

Neeme Jarvi is Estonian, he's now 75, and he recorded this disc not as a programme, but this was culled from a number of other discs, so the recording dates are 1992-1995, the booklet front cover [photo by Sally Mayman] is absolutely fantastic, a black & white shot of a flooded birch grove i guess, very very symmetrical, a sparse shot of no real focus, but almost endless tree trunks, the symmetry works both horizontal and vertical, and for once the obtrusive DG logo is actually a blessing, creating a wonderful dash of colour, the lettering very neatly done, a great visual product.

In playing this disc today, i was thrilled by 'En saga', a great piece with some very inventive rhythms, but even more i was just stunned by the closing piece 'Tapiola', it the longest thing on this disc [just over 20 minutes], a dark and foreboding piece, when Sibelius wrote it, he gave a clue to the psyche of the piece in these words,

Widespread they stand, the Northland's dusky forests

Ancient, mysterious, brooding savage dreams

Within them dwells the forest's mighty God

And wood sprites in the gloom weave magic secrets

Here's Jarvi conducting 'Tapiola' on YouTube.