Lush Life - John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman - Video - It took three years for Billy Strayhorn to compose this jazz standard, a piece that has become his signature composition. When he started to write this he was only 16, an unfathomable fact given the maturity and complexity of the lyric. This performance, featuring Johnny Hartman, is the performance by which all others are measured. His voice and phrasing were never better.
Strauss: Four Last Songs/12 Orchestral Songs - Video
Richard Strauss didn't actually write a piece called "Four Last Songs", the title given by the publisher was really just a statement of fact...These were his four last songs. Even the order was given by the publisher, though it is hard to imagine them placed in any other way. This is a piece, written by an old man at the end of his life, pondering the wonder of life and love as well as the ultimate question of the beyond. To me the ideal recording is yet to be made, but this classic release with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf is a gem. It was recorded at the perfect moment in her life, her voice still quite capable, yet she has gives the kind of performance that only comes through the wisdom of age.
Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet - Helen Callus , Philip Bush - Prokofiev wrote this in the mid 1930's for the Kirov Ballet, but due to pressure on composers from the Soviet Government, it wasn't performed as a complete ballet for several years. Prokofiev and others have used this complete ballet as the basis for several suites and reductions for smaller instrumentation. This Callus performance, scored for viola and piano, is a wonderful example of how Prokofiev's music shines when stripped to its essentials. Even though I wish the engineering on the recording were a bit better, the performance is top notch and well worth a listen.
Janácek: String Quartets - Schoenberg Quartet - For the first time listener it is hard to know what to think of Janacek, especially in his string quartets. These are works written by a man with emotions in full view, sometimes raw and tattered, other times in dreamy bliss. Janacek's love for a married woman 38 years his junior, forms the backdrop of virtually all of his music, but never more than in the Quartet #2, where parts of the music feel as borderline inappropriate as the letters he wrote her. There is an atonality here, but always balanced with themes of unbelievable beauty. I have many recordings of these quartets, but this recording is my favorite performance of these challenging works this year.
Chopin: Preludes Op. 28 - Jean-Francois Latour - Chopin is essential listening. No matter what else you have in your library you simply must have Chopin, and there's no better place to start than with the Preludes Op. 28. (If you don't have any Chopin in your collection now, you'll thank me once you get it!) His music has a simple beauty, always fresh and filled with a love of life, if not necessarily a life of love. I've listened to these pieces countless times, but this fresh new recording stopped me in my tracks.
Guitar Virtuosos Play Bach - Andres Segovia and John Williams - This release features two giants of classical guitar playing some of the most beautiful works for guitar that you could ever imagine, which may seem a little odd since they weren't even written for guitar originally! During the time of Bach there were no guitars as we know them today, though every culture of the day had some sort of variation on an instrument that is clearly a closely related ancestor. Since the guitar as we know it wasn't really established until the 1800's, the great classical guitarists often turn to transcriptions, such as these based on the music of Bach. I highly recommend this discs as an introduction to the classical guitar or as a disc to set the mood for an evening dinner or time by the fire.
Blues de Musicien - Pine Leaf Boys - Now for something completely different, which is something of an understatement considering my choices so far. There is something so raw and melodically adventurous in Cajun music, that my Swedish roots can hardly grasp what the Cajun culture must be like. I was raised on pickled herring. This is a burning hot gumbo! This is toe-tapping music, but it's so much more than that. Around that beat there's some amazing stuff going on here. If you love authentic Cajun, you'll love The Pine Leaf Boys!
Durufle and Faure Requiems - A re-release with David Willcocks, the Choir of King's College and the New Philharmonia Orchestra. Faure once claimed he wrote his Requiem "for fun", something you can't say about most other requiems, and the difference is clear. This is the Requiem of a composer who does not fear his god, a Requiem filled with beauty and hope. This recording of the Faure dates back to the late 60's, but there is no doubt it will be re-released for years to come, as it is simply the best recording out there.
The Best Of Andrea Bocelli Vivere - You know what I love about Andrea Bocelli? His charisma, magic and charm have brought the beauty of opera to a whole new crowd. This guy has sold more opera albums than virtually all of this years singers at The Met combined. You say you don't like opera? Give this disc a try and then we'll talk!
