Released 2009 by EMI music

The trumpet has largely played a supporting role in most classical music, blaring the occasional brassy fanfare. More often it is associated with jazz and brass bands. So when this recording by Alison Balsom appeared, my curiosity was piqued. How could a brass instrument with only three ‘buttons’ produce such round tender notes spanning a three-octave range?

And yet it does. Miss Balsom’s playing is dexterous and nuanced, and easily steals the show. Trills and octave jumps are surefooted, rhythms precisely delineated and dynamics entirely within context. The occasional intake of breath is audible, but does not detract from the record. The orchestra (the Deutsche Kammerphilharmoniker) is well balanced, enough to support but never so loud as to overwhelm, and is spare enough to reflect the early classical/baroque origins of these works. The technical aspects of the recording have resulted in a rich full sound, in which even the harpsichord can be heard in its rightful place.

The compositions are very typical of their time of composition, brightly glossed and easy to digest. Overall a highly satisfactory purchase.

Here’s a nice site that discusses how the trumpet makes all those notes with only three valves.

I picked up 2007 release from Deutsche Grammophon with great excitement earlier this year. As the first Polish native in 30 years to win the 2005 International Frederick Chopin Piano Competition, Mr. Blechacz caused great excitement, both in his native country and around the world. He followed this up with several well-reviewed recitals and signed a recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon.

My initial impression was highly favourable. Mr. Blechacz shines in the more rapid passages and technically he sounds competent. However, somewhat to my own astonishment, towards the end of the disc, my attention wandered away from the music.

Repeat screenings have diminished my pleasure in this recording, and I have not made it through the entire disc at a single sitting. Largely this stems from a difference in my interpretation of Chopin’s works. To me, Chopin should be fluid and lyrical, at times passionate, vital or pensive. Percussive is not a word I associate with Chopin, and yet many of these Preludes have a grating, forced quality to them (Prelude 4, 9, 20, 22, 24).

The slower Preludes have a lugubrious character, the result of a muddiness from the lower registers (Prelude 2), and missing notes in some of the higher chords (Prelude 6). I found it difficult to distinguish the details of the chord progressions and lower voices, and in other areas, the music loses its forward impetus, bogging down in a haze of sound. I cannot tell if the piano and recording setup was to Mr. Blechacz’s satisfaction, but the sound and voicing is audibly uneven. I disagree with some of the tempi chosen, particularly 4, 6 and 15.

That said, many Preludes continue to enthrall (1, 3, 5, 8, 10, 11, 12, 16), and there is much to appreciate in this new musician. Hopefully his interpretive skills will grow alongside the technical promise that this recording shows.

On a more practical note: I would download this CD from any vendor of your choosing (Deutsche Grammophon, iTunes, what have you), but the flaws in at least a third of the tracks prevent me from recommending a purchase of this in CD format. While it is worth the time to listen to these tracks, and is a fine debut effort, I do not consider this a definitive recording of the Preludes.

A new design is in progress and should be online soon, along with new posts. It is intended that the old site will be available as an archive.

Last night (Thursday, April 20, 2006) Hilary Hahn performed the second concert of her debut with the National Arts Center (NAC) Orchestra. She was in town to perform the Glazunov Violin Concerto in A minor, Op. 82 along-side conductor Arild Remmereit also making his NAC debut (filling in for Pinchas Zukerman who is currently on leave). The orchestra seemed quite comfortable with Remmereit at the helm despite this being their second performance together. Southam Hall certainly wasn’t a full house but there was a good crowd on hand.

The Glazunov concerto is quite a demanding work for the soloist and while rarely included in the repertoire of many orchestras of late this performance was a pleasure. In all I am finding it difficult to classify Ms. Hahn’s interpretation of the work given the relative lack of reference points I have, though I would say that she took a rather conservative approach. Given the nature of this work on this night her approach was dead on.

There is something about her 1864 Vuillaume violin that produces what I find to be the most pleasing sound of any violin I have every heard in person. Its pure warm tone is truly amazing and holds perfectly into the higher registers of the instrument. That said, if there was anything lacking about the performance it was the presence of a more-pronounced-than-usual difference in the sound quality of the soloist’s violin to that of the string section.

The work was played straight through without a pause as expected. The moderato first movement was rhapsodic with both the orchestra and Ms. Hahn in perfect alignment. Remmereit was in solid control and maintained the orchestra at a complementary volume throughout. I love the romanticism of this piece and I found the associated lyricism conveyed in this performance to be quite moving - something that was enhanced by Hahn’s graceful movements. In this light I was struck with the way, during her breaks, she looked around at each section of the orchestra as they were highlighted in the score seemingly enjoying the music, and then resumed her playing quickly and with flawless timing.

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On May 2 at 10PM, the Emmy Award winning PBS series INDEPENDENT LENS will air the television premiere of Daniel Anker’s critically acclaimed, joyous, and inspiring documentary, MUSIC FROM THE INSIDE OUT
The intersection of art and life are at the core of MUSIC FROM THE INSIDE OUT, a musical journey featuring the 105 musicians of The Philadelphia Orchestra. The film focuses on the mystery and magic of music itself, creating a mosaic of the stories, ideas and experiences that form the heart of these musicians lives inside and outside the concert hall.

This should be interesting!

[From: PBS. Thanks Mary]

Encore! with James Conlon is a documentary that will air on PBS starting Sunday, April 2, 10:30pm (A six part series). The program will explores how musicians connect with and indentify with the music. The program follows six finalists from the twelfth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition while exploring contrasting themes of inspiration.

[From: PBS via Kera]

I am in total awe of Chirstopher Nupen’s film that follows the rehersals and subsequent preformance of Schubert’s Trout Quintet in A major by what seems to be the ultimate chamber ensemble captured in a different time and in their twenties at the outset of their extraordinary careers.

The musicians, Itzhak Perlman, Zubin Mehta, Pinchas Zukerman, Jacqueline du Pré, and Daniel Barenboim (the self proclaimed Jewish Musical Mafia) are captured with great authenticity early in their careers. The film is haunting in the way it captures the group -so young - especially Jacqueline du Pré who’s ability and passion is amplified by the knowledge of the tragic future that awaits her. Seeing the young Perlman too, is quite moving - his shear virtuosity, and emotional playing seems so pure as we watch him with the perspective of the years that have passed since the performance.

If you haven’t seen this film recently, or at all. I would highly recommend you check it out as it is a rare chance to see an unrivaled ensemble of talent in a film that captures the essence of being a classical musician in the sixties.

As of late I have become increasingly frustrated by the dwindling classical selection at music selling establishments. I live in Ottawa, Canada a city with a metropolitan area of over one million people and there is only a single music store that has an acceptable classical section where one can find most recent recordings and many popular recordings. Unfortunately even at this the best store in area it is unlikely one will find anything even on the fringes of obscure. For example a few months ago I was looking for “Mendelssohn: The Complete String Quartets” to no avail, previous to that I was after “Glass: Etudes for Piano, Vol. 1, Nos. 1-10″ again no luck. These are not “obscure” recordings by my estimation, but in a city of one million, not available. Probably one in four visits I find what I am looking for.

If the above was the standard shop or the middle of the road store I wouldn’t be complaining but in Ottawa, at any other shop, the classical section ranges from a full shelf, to a single row on a shelf, to nothing at all. But then there is my personal music store pet peeve - The Naxos Shelf. Nothing against Naxos because they do have some good recordings and I applaud them for their dedication to Classical, thank god for companies like them, but in my opinion the shelf does not sufficiently constitute a classical music section. Ten years ago CDs stores often had a completely soundproof area separate from the rest of the store for Classical / New age crowd. I don’t know when it started happening but it seems classical sections are being removed or scaled down, and as a result I buy less music. Logic indicates that this wouldn’t be happening if people were buying but perhaps this is a localized manifestation of Say’s Law (which states that there can be no demand without supply). More study required.

In any event I end up ordering CDs from the Internet that end up costing me $5 - $10 more when shipping is added, not to mention the wasted fuel and time going to the brick and mortar establishments to be disappointed. I wonder if this is the case in other cities or what the situation is like in Europe… If you have some insight feel free to comment.

As of this morning the much revered Andante.com has ceased operations. The site, started in March 2001 aspired to be the number one classical music website on the Internet and a leader in digital downloads of classical music. Andante featured an online store selling the Andante label’s archival CDs, a web magazine with news, reviews, interviews, and essays from a stable of top critics, concert listings and a selection of streaming music files.

Andante was founded by Alain Coblence and Pierre Bergé, a co-founder of Yves Saint Laurent and the former chair of the Paris Opera, and later sold in October 2003 to the French record label Naïve.

In recent months the site experienced significant technical problems leading to days of down time, and infrequent content updates. In the last days the site relyed on archived content - ironically the same content that contributed to the site’s previous success.

[From: Playbill Arts]