Title: Piano Music Performer: Alex Slobodyanik Year: 1999 Length: 21 minutes
Review
Finally something from Schumann which I really enjoyed. A set of very short pieces (which I don't usually enjoy) about childhood. The way this works better for me has to do with the fact that Schumann simply gets a good hook in each piece and runs with it for a short time.
So this is a collection of pieces which never tires and many of them are understandably famous, the delicacy of Traumerei for example could never go unnoticed by anyone.
Maybe I am just starting to warm up to Schumann, maybe it is just a particularly good subject for him, but this was almost a revelation in the context of the list. Some really beautiful stuff.
Final Grade
9/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
Träumerei is one of Schumann's best known pieces. It was the title of a 1944 German biopic on Robert Schumann. Träumerei is the love song for Robert and Clara Schumann in the 1947 Hollywood film Song of Love, starring Katharine Hepburn as Clara Wieck Schumann.
Horowitz plays Traumerei... maybe a a bit too fast:
Title: Fantasy in C, Papillons Performer: Sviatoslav Richter Year: 1961 Length: 32 minutes
Review
Another Schumann piano piece, but this time there is an added layer of interest. This is a case of strong Beethovian influence, particularly obvious in the third movement sonata, but which pervades the work.
This is only natural as the piece was a commission for the erecting of a Beethoven statue in Bonn. So the tributes are natural but Schumann actually does something interesting by updating them for his time.
So as Schumann pieces go this is one of the best up until this time, here Schumann gives himself more time to develop his musical themes with longer movements allowing him to run freer.
Final Grade
8/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
Schumann's interest in music was prompted as a child by the performance of Ignaz Moscheles playing at Carlsbad, and he later developed an interest in the works of Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert and Felix Mendelssohn.
Title: Annees de Pelerinage I-III Performer: Alfred Brendel, Zoltan Kocsis Year: 1986 Length: 2 hours 27 minutes
Review
Maybe my problem is not so much with disjointed piano pieces as it is with Schumann, that's what I immediately though when hearing this recording of Liszt's Annees de Pelerinage.
Actually Liszt's pieces are much longer on average than Schumann's and therefore they do have more space to develop. And when they do develop they are pretty amazing. There are moments where Liszt sounds astoundingly modern, although we can't forget that this work spans forty years, the first batch is already pretty astounding.
Au Lac de Wallenstadt, for example sound almost ambient-like, reminding me of composers of the second half of the 20th century in it's simple melodic line and effective emotional impact. Essential.
Final Grade
9/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
Liszt's complete musical style is evident in this masterwork, which ranges from virtuosic fireworks to sincerely moving emotional statements. His musical maturity can be seen evolving through his experience and travel. The third volume is especially notable as an example of his later style. It was composed well after the first two volumes and displays less showy virtuosity and more harmonic experimentation.
Title: Grande Messe Des Morts, Symphonie Fantastique Performer: Robert Tear, London Philharmonic Orchestra & Choir Year: 1980 Length: 90 minutes
Review
At this moment on the list my favourite composer seems to be without a doubt Hector Berlioz. Even if his presence in the list is small and his albums are far between they always seem to be the ones I look forward to the most.
This was no exception. I was anxiously awaiting this great Requiem with its extensive orchestration including 4 different brass bands and 4 choirs! When it finally came around it was more subdued than I expected but by no means was it a disappointment.
Berlioz's orchestration is innovative throughout, he knows how to keep a mood going and how to reinforce or punctuate it using this extremely powerful orchestra. He is also amazing at using dissonance to reinforce feeling and few things in the 1830s have sounded as modern as the perfect lacrymosa. Amazing.
Final Grade
10/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
In relation to the number of singers and strings, Berlioz indicates in the score that, "The number [of performers] indicated is only relative. If space permits, the chorus may be doubled or tripled, and the orchestra be proportionally increased. But in the event of an exceptionally large chorus, say 700 to 800 voices, the entire chorus should only be used for the Dies Irae, the Tuba Mirum, and the Lacrymosa, the rest of the movements being restricted to 400 voices."
The work premiered with over four hundred performers.
Another sequence of short piano pieces by Robert Schumann. Again this is not my favourite kind of piano piece, I much prefer a more extended genre like the sonata or the concerto.
The problem with this is that Schumann seems to have some good ideas which don't really have time to develop. So it often seems like a missed opportunity. As little songs without words or dances they are quite good.
So another album by Schumann which I did not particularly like but in the end quite enjoyed. Still hoping for better stuff, actually I think this format will be quite good when it comes to the really big sequence of lieder that we will have here.
Final Grade
8/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
Schumann named them after the imaginary Davidsbündler. The pieces are not true dances, but are characteristic pieces, musical dialogues about contemporary music between Schumann's characters Florestan and Eusebius. These respectively represent the impetuous and the lyrical, poetic sides of Schumann's nature. Each piece is ascribed to one or both of them.
Yes, this same recording has been on the list before with a different set of String Quartets by Mendelssohn. I do like Mendelssohn but this collection was really not the best stuff by him.
It feels a bit too backward looking, particularly taking into account the innovative things being done in the piano... in fact it often looks back beyond Beethoven's innovation in this genre.
Nonetheless, it is some pretty nice music to listen to. The whole thing is pervaded by Mendelssohn's trademark sunny disposition, sometimes to a fault. Some lovely stuff here but not much new. Final Grade
7/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
Mendelssohn's first two numbered quartets were published out of order, whilst his next three quartets were published together as Op. 44 and were all dedicated to Crown Prince Gustavus of Sweden.
Title: Les Huguenots Performers: Joan Sutherland Conductor: Richard Bonynge Year: 1969 Length: 4 hours
Review
Meyerbeer brings us one of the most musically interesting operas for a while on this list. The fact that he was filthy rich and therefore able to do what he wanted might factor heavily into this.
Gone are the populisms of Donizetti and Bellini, who, talented as they were, were catering for a very specific audience. Meyerbeer on the other hand is a freer spirit and the orchestration is often surprising.
Where it all falls flat is in the plot which is supremely uninteresting and cliched. Again this is a opera best heard and not seen, in that respect this recording is pretty great and highly recommended.
Final Grade 9/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
Following five years after Meyebeer's own Robert le diable and a year after Fromental Halévy's La Juive, Les Huguenots consolidated the genre of Grand Opera, in which the Paris Opéra would specialise for the next generation, and which became a major box-office attraction for opera houses all over the world.
Hector Berlioz's contemporary account is full of praise: with 'Meyerbeer in command at the first desk [of violins] [...] from beginning to end I found [the orchestral playing] superb in its beauty and refinement [...] The richness of texture in the Pré-aux-Clercs scene [act III] [...] was extraordinary, yet the ear could follow it with such ease that every strand in the composer's complex thought was continually apparent - a marvel of dramatic counterpoint'.
