In recent days, I have been listening to the following: 1) Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth) (63:12)--Fritz Reiner, cond. Chicago Sym. Orch. with Maureen Forrester, contralto and Richard Lewis, tenor. Recorded 9 NOV 1959 in Orchestra Hall, Chicago, presented here as a newly remastered Hybrid Superaudio CD. My favorite performance of this work is the Bruno Walter, Julius Patzak, Kathleen Ferrier recording from the 1950s. Bruno Walter didnt like it at all, and re-recorded it later. That probably had more to do with the emotional trial of the recording than with a detached assessment of the performance, because Ferrier was dying of cancer at the time and broke down in tears several times during the recording sessions, particularly during the Abschied (Farewell), which is by far the longest movement of the work. This recording by Reiner is my second favorite, mostly because of the contributions of Reiner and, especially, Maureen Forrester, who was one of the great low female voices of all time, the only such singer, in my opinion, who sometimes rivals Janet Baker. 2) A CD of solo and duo piano music by Henri Dutilleux on ECM New Series 2105. Robert Levin, the principal pianist, is accompanied by Ya-Fei Chuang in the one work for piano duet here. Tr. 1 A little nonsensical air (1981) (1:33) Tr. 2-4. Sonate (1946-8) (24:22) Tr 5-6 2 Excerpts from Au gre des ondes (The Airwaves) (1946) (5:97) Tr. 7. Blackbird (1950) (1:31) Tr. 8. All roads lead to Rome (1961) (1:32) Tr. 9. Resonances (1965) (2:10) Tr. 10-14. Figures des Resonances (1950/76) (8:28) * for two pianos Tr. 14. Mii-prelude en eventail (1987) (0:42) Tr. 15-17. 3 Preludes (14:31) Tr. 18- Bergerie (1945) (1:06) Tr. 19-24. Au gre des ondes (6 Petite Pieces for Piano [Along the Waves]) (12:58) Dutilleux piano works sound like a very pleasant little war was going on in Dutilleux heart. On the one hand, he wants to compose uncompromisingly dissonant, modern works, but, OTOH, he has a delightful and absolutely irrepressably lyrical bent. The tension between these two tendencies make this a fascinating album, one of the most interesting albums of solo piano music I have ever encountered. Most of these works, as you can see from the timings, are very short works, many even shorter than your average Top 40 song. Many of these works have something in common with Haydn symphonic works. They seem constructed in sentences. You dont hear, in many of them, a continuous wash of music. You get one short sentence, then a pause, then a second sentence, and so on. Most of these sentences are constructed with a simple melodic line with a little flourish near the end. So, it seems to me that these works, most of them, are etude-like--suitable for, say, beginning piano students toward the end of their first year of study. (I hope Donald reads this.) These works are absolutely charming. Everyone will love them, and I think piano teachers should take a listen, especially, with a view to working these pieces into their pedagogies.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Dec 2014 18:33:55 +0000