Bach - Goldberg Variations [Uys] 

This is another disc i enjoyed so much, this is this discs first outing, and there's good and bad, but the good wins the day, i'm so thankful that i have several Pianists to enlighten me on these phenomenal variations, and Tessa Uys adds to that, i saw this disc on Ebay, going fairly cheap, so why not?, the dedication in gold pen on the front would be a bonus if it was only a generic message and signature, but it doesn't really bother me, i guess Ian and Pat just didn't feel the way i do about these discs!.

Tessa Uys [not sure how to pronounce it, maybe 'oo-ees'], was born in South Africa, and this disc was recorded in 2000, the front booklet cover is very nice, Tessa wearing a long flowing ballgown, the lettering is sparse.

So onto the bad points, first of all it's issued on two discs instead of one, roughly 84 minutes of music, so she's fairly slow, my two benchmark recordings are Schiff [72 minutes] and Perahia [74 minutes], but she doesn't sound real slow, just quite thoughtful here and there, usually two discs mean more expense, but i got this for a bargain on Ebay, so it wasn't an issue for me, the recording is not that great considering it's made in 2000, on a South African label, there's a degree of 'analogue' hiss on the recording, and even though this wouldn't be a problem usually, it's the way that the recording has been spliced together, there can be gaps created between some of the variations, and they use 'silence' to fill some of those gaps, rather than 'analogue' hiss, so the end of one variation and the beginning of the next can go, hiss-silence-hiss!, it's so blatantly obvious at points that it's recorded in takes, and all glued together in the studio, it can be a little offputting, and it just shows unprofessionalism by the record company.

So i guess on to the good points, and they're in the interpretation of the music itself, my favourite variations on this listen were 1, 5, 14, 20 & 29, and i'd like to give a little synopsis of each,

Variation 1 - after the slow and quiet Aria theme, the first variation can shock you with surprise, with its invention and rhythm, Uys plays this with excitement.
Variation 5 - this is quite a virtuoso study, full of jagged rhythms, trills all over the keyboard, Uys really does hit her virtuoso stride with this one.
Variation 14 - bass trills, and staggered slashing figures down the keyboard, and lots of treble trills too, a real powerhouse of invention and interest.
Variation 20 - played with understatement at first, with staccato trills, and runs up and down the keyboard.
Variation 29 - very grandiose chords at first, played stiffly, but then there's these runs that sound like a harpsichordist, this is the one variation that Uys sounds as if it's not played on a piano anymore, not my favourite variation, and yet considering how Uys plays it, it's certainly the most individual she plays, plus it's opened up to me the things you can do with this variation, she takes her time over it, but it doesn't sound slow or dragging, just 'stammering' really, so very thrilling.

Here's Glenn Gould playing variation 29 on YouTube.

Bruckner - Symphony 4 [Chailly-Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra] 

Just a word about the booklet / back insert, of course they don't match, this is another couple of discs i've amalgamated into a slimline case [Chailly & Barenboim], Bruckner's Fourth probably remains my most favourite Symphony of his, but others are catching up, and it was good to listen to this again today.

Riccardo Chailly is Italian, now 58 years of age, he made this recording in 1990, the booklet cover [though not actually belonging to this disc] is excellent, taken from Barenboim's Teldec cycle of the complete Symphonies, each shows a planet, and the Fourth shows planet Earth, as if this Symphony is the 'home' Symphony, or the one everyone feels at most 'home' with, or am i reading something into it?, certainly it's his most popular Symphony, it shows the Earth in all its marbled ball glory, the lettering is very good, with the number '4' in pride of place at the top centrally, i really do like the visuals for Barenboim's cycle.

This is yet another opening movement excitement for me, i just love the opening melee of murmuring / throbbing low strings, over which a horn plays a lonely solo [0:00-0:48], what a lovely atmospheric way to start a Symphony, i like the way Bruckner has these 'brass explosions' all over the place [1:56, 4:06 & 8:24], the horns seem to have a prominent place in Bruckner's world, and it's the solo horn that brings the beginning back again, over those throbbing strings [12:05-12:41], but this time a solo flute floats in to take the glory, a rare thing for Bruckner, and more brass fireworks [13:45, 16:00 & 16:57], especially loud, with the violins frantically accompanying, a movement of real power and atmosphere.

Here's Gunter Wand conducting the first movement on YouTube.

Mahler - Symphony 4 [Ameling/Previn-Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra] 

These 'Studio Plus' recordings by EMI are marvelous, what an inspired series it is, i have a number of the very best issues, and yet i still don't know the full catalogue of these discs, not long ago i found this disc on Ebay, i've never seen this disc before, and snapped it up pretty quick, and i haven't seen another copy since, how many more wonderful discs in this series are lurking waiting for me to discover?. 

Andre Previn is almost 82 now, the Symphony was recorded in 1978, it shows a young Mr Previn, close up shot very very nicely laid out, those coloured boxes for the lettering are great, and each one of these issues in this series have a colour scheme, this one is yellow, sandwiched between blue, one of the very best in this series. 

Mahler's Fourth Symphony was the first Mahler Symphony that i got to know, with a cassette tape by Karajan / Mathis on DG, and i would certainly recommend this as a starting point for anyone getting into Mahler, Andre Previn is not a Mahlerite, and apart from the Fifth Symphony, i don't think he has tackled any other Mahler recording, on this disc is Elly Ameling in the fourth movement, she's quite a grown up sounding Soprano, and doesn't quite have that childlike view of heaven. 

For me the long [23 minutes here] beautiful slow third movement is my favourite, however, it was the first movement which affected me the most this time, and just lately i've had a thing about being really caught 'off guard' with first movements, it's as if i just wasn't expecting the thing to grab me by the throat right from the start, 

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

Dvorak - Symphony 9 [Jarvi-Scottish National Orchestra] 

I so much enjoyed this Symphony today, i have over 1600 discs in my collection, and this is one of two discs that are the very best recorded discs i own [the other one is Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov, also by Neeme Jarvi on Chandos by the way], it has absolutely stunning sound, the brass especially is spectacular, Chandos can really get things right, and it's a joy just to listen to this recording to hear the sound alone.

Neeme Jarvi is Estonian, now 73 years old, he has recorded so many discs of everything for Chandos, and many discs for BIS too, he effectively put the Scottish National Orchestra on the map with his many full cycles of recordings, of Dvorak, Scriabin, Prokofiev, and Mahler to name a few, he recorded the full 9 Symphonies of Dvorak, each one released separately, with an Overture as the usual filler, and each disc comes with a booklet that is illustrated by Clare Melinsky, a black and white woodcut, with an extra different colour to add a nice splash [this one in blue], a really nice theme, this recording was made in 1986. 

I was thrilled with the whole of this Symphony, movement after movement is filled with invention and drama, the second movement Adagio is full of nostalgia and beauty, but it was the first movement that made me sit up and listen, it starts off as an Adagio, but then it starts to explode [0:56 & 1:53], with thunderous timpani rolls, those horns introduce the Symphony proper [2:04], and of course it sounds like something out of a Western blockbuster, but for me it's the brass that makes this movement so special, they are so richly caught in the recording, and Dvorak uses the different types of brass to great effect, in a passage near the end, the different brass instruments bray one after another [8:09-8:57], and again nearer the end [11:25-11:54], in some nice forte passages, especially the trumpets are delicious, play loud, sit back and enjoy!.

Here's Herbert Von Karajan conducting the first movement on YouTube.

Mozart - Piano Concerto 20 [Barenboim-English Chamber Orchestra] 

Here's young Mr Barenboim [24 years old], playing Mozart's Piano Concerto 20, just 2 months ago i played another disc of older Mr Barenboim playing the same work [46 years old], [30th January 2011], and it's nice to compare the two, this recording was made in 1967, shows its age somewhat, there's a small degree of hiss in the sound, also there is a lack of bloom and warmth, but Mozart is so compelling in this work, that quickly i don't notice the limitations of the recording.

Daniel Barenboim is Argentinian, born in 1942 and now 68 years old, this recording was made in 1967, i like the front booklet cover, a close up shot of Barenboim at work with his piano, with the logo and the lettering in the dark corners.

The first movement is just a powerhouse of agitated rhythms, written in the key of D Minor, i can certainly hear Mozart's Requiem here [also written in D Minor], i don't know if Mozart wrote it with some sort of idea of death in mind, but also Schubert's String Quartet 14 'Death and the Maiden' is written in D Minor too, and Faure's Requiem too, i'm sure you get the picture!, and there is this dark and mysteriousness to the opening string gestures, the bass string rhythms are great, with the violins carrying the tune, and slowly becoming more frantic [0:00-0:29], and it's the explosion afterward [0:51-0:59] that really excite, and the forte culmination before the piano comes in [1:22-2:05], like the dreaded plague that's been expected, the piano basically plays a solo when it first comes in, but it's when those initial rhythms come back in again [2:52], and the piano joins in with its bass warblings [2:59], that the stage is set perfectly, Mozart really knows how to build a piece in layers of musical satisfaction, there's a brief happier section with both the oboe and bassoon making a solo / duet entries [4:14-4:28], the piano makes some delicious bass notes [7:34-7:42], that jump starts the mysterious rhythms again, and bring about many themes in rondo fashion, it's like the second half of the movement mirrors the first, just before the cadenza, the brass bray out forte [10:43], along with the strings in loud treble daggers, Barenboim uses a cadenza by Edwin Fischer, which is different, but fits in nicely, although fairly long, the ending is actually quite subdued, with bassoon and lower strings having a nice coda feel [14:14-14:29], the whole movements dark mystery and rhythms enchant me.

Here's Mitsuko Uchida playing and conducting the first movement of this Concerto on YouTube, one of my favourite YouTube videos, a lovely small chamber music group.

Rachmaninov - Symphony 2 [Ashkenazy-Concertgebouw Orchestra] 

I had a discussion a while back, with someone about the merits of Rachmaninov versus Ravel, who timewise lived parallel lives, but there the similarity ends, i sided for Rachmaninov, and he sided for Ravel, his Second Symphony was one of the works quoted, and i somewhat embarrassingly admitted i loved it, and yet i recognized it was full of romantic gush, big sweeping string surges, every schmaltzy heart-tug device in the book, you name it, it's almost naive / clichéd to the extreme, and yet... playing it today i love it more than ever!, it has a sweep and grandeur to it, a plot and story line, it's like Rachmaninov's version of Romeo & Juliet set to music, a big screen movie weepie, i must be a big ol' softie romantic at heart!.

Vladimir Ashkenazy is a Russian Pianist and Conductor, born in 1937, he is now in his Seventies, he recorded this Symphony in 1981, this set of the three Symphonies has been re-issued in a slimline double case, and yet these original 'fatbox' three disc sets are a joy to own, i much rather prefer them.

I'm actually surprised how 'even' i enjoyed all the movements of this Symphony today, especially the first movement, it really does have a character to it, it's musical ideas unfold in a marvellous way, there's no re-treading of ground, rather Rachmaninov can create subtle yet significant changes to the piece, which culminates in a very satisfying musical experience, having said all that, it's still the third movement which i found tugged at my heart the most, the clarinet melody at the beginning [0:27-2:30] is just so gorgeous, so moving and atmospheric, the equally affecting string melody right afterwards just adds to the heart-tug of it all [2:30-3:10], the cor anglais and oboe duet a little later is so plangent and melancholy [4:22-4:44 & 5:01-5:17], such an excellent use of individual instruments to character and colour the whole feel of the movement, and later a procession of individual instruments take it in turns to express their opinions [7:29-8:35], the horn [7:29], the violin [7:36], the cor anglais [7:48], the flute [7:56], the oboe [8:08], and the clarinet [8:13], there's a lovely aching high treble passion that comes from the violins [10:42], that culminates in a real moment of wondrous sweet nostalgia [11:09], and it's topped by the melody played in forte by the whole orchestra [11:21], the singing violins are underpinned by the horns, my gosh!, if this doesn't twang your heart, then you haven't got one!.

Here's Vladimir Ashkenazy playing the second movement on YouTube.