Classical Listening This Week

Here’s an excellent review of the album. This isn’t groundbreaking work by any means, but it is certainly an interesting interpretation of work that is considered inferior within the oeuvre of Tchaikovsky’s work. It doesn’t seem like good practice to judge the quality of a piece by the superiority of the composer’s other work. Nonetheless, there are moments in this work that are beautiful and occasionally transcendent. Interestingly, the reviewer above preferred the jauntier, and more lively pieces, whereas I preferred Lim’s soft hand in the more reflective pieces. It is interesting that the final month in the season is an upbeat waltz. Perhaps, this is joy in the older age.

Beautiful recording of Italian Lute music. The complexity feels different from the polyphonic music of Bach of this period. The quick baselines and ornate melodies are delicious listens, but requires some concentration.

I love the music of Arvo Pärt in that it has seeming deep spiritual depth, appreciates and incorporates elements of modernism in classical music while not abandoning tradition. His choral work is often transcendent and this album includes many of his major sacred works. SANSARA does incredible vocal work here and the violas of Fretwork are deeply haunting and gorgeous.

This war album contains deep pathos; you can feel the mourning in the performance of Assez Lent. The composition by Hartmann was produced in exile. While the recording was made in California, you feel transported to Ukraine in the music.

The minimalist compositions are so Steve Reich. I love the propulsive feeling of Shinjuku, the first track on this brief album. Peel is an indie musician as well:

“One by one, streetlights and neon signs flicker into life. This nocturnal world, this Neon world, is a place of mystery where anything is possible. Built around Steve Reich’s monumental Double Sextet, this show interrogates the darker side of our urban dreams, evoking the intrigue and momentum of sleepless nights and crowded streets.

A pair of Manchester Collective commissions lie at the heart of the programme – Hannah Peel’s titular ‘Neon’ is inspired by light and life, fusing layers of live electronics and field recordings from Shinjuku Station in Tokyo with the acoustic performances of the Collective. In her first major chamber commission, Berlin-based Lyra Pramuk presents a sensual world premiere, a meditation on the nature of time, memory and human experience. Elsewhere, Julius Eastman’s much maligned ‘Joy Boy’ presents a totally unique musical world of ‘ticker-tape music’.”

Les Arts Florissants is an incredible Baroque ensemble, and this album is perfect. The vocal performances are incredible, and the period instruments transport you to a French cathedral. The group even made sure to pronounce the Latin texts using a French accent. Incredible album.