General – Page 6 – musicophilesblog – From Keith Jarrett to Johannes Brahms

There Must Be An Angel: Mozart – The Weber Sisters

If reading the blog post title you wonder what the connection is between a 1990s Eurythmics title, Mozart, and some sisters called Weber, let me explain.

The angel is simply referring to Sabine Devieilhe, the young soprano on the album I’m about to write about. Not only she looks pretty much like one (see the cover photo below), she really has an angelic voice. Clear, bright, shiny, with a beautiful color and an amazing range.

I first noticed her in her debut recording on Erato, with Alexis Kossenko (previously mentioned for his Telemann recording here), Le Grand Théatre de l’Amour dedicated to Jean-Philippe Rameau.

Mozart: The Weber Sisters (Erato 2015)

Mozart: The Weber Sisters Sabine Devielhe Raphael Pichon Pgymalion Erato 2015

This is Sabine Devileilhe’s second album on Erato, recorded this time with Raphaël Pichon’s ensemble Pygmalion.

I hesitated for quite some time to write about his album as I’m generally not a big fan of “best-of” type albums. I don’t mind them for baroque music as much, as it can be sometimes a bit tedious to go through 3+ hours of an opera seria, but for Mozart and beyond I prefer to listen to the entire opera instead. However, the selection on this particular album includes quite a number of single arias that are not part of a larger opera and are not recorded that often.

Let me briefly explain the Weber Sisters title of his album, as this is kind of a concept album. The most famous Weber sister is Constanze, Mozart’s wife, but actually Mozart was a close friend of the Weber family and as the booklet extensively explains, was at some point in love with the youngest sister, Aloysia, and the middle sister, Josepha, also played an important role in his life.

What music do you get? Well known hits like the famous Queen of the Night aria, or the French song Ah vous dirais-je maman, but also as mentioned previously several lesser known arias. All this is beautifully player by Raphaël Pichon’s ensemble, and Devileilhe’s voice is an absolute pleasure to hear.

This albums was elected among the albums of the year by Classica magazine, and I fully agree that his album is highly recommended.

My rating: 5 stars

You can find it here (Qobuz)

My Top 5 Vocal Jazz Albums of 2015

Following my recent post on my top Classical albums of 2015, let me now follow up with my top 5 Vocal Jazz albums for this year.

Note there are a couple of “only” four star albums here, which means I don’t consider them absolutely essential. That said, I very much like all of the below and would recommend them without hesitation.

Cecile McLorin Salvant: For One To Love (Mack Avenue 2015)

Cecile McLorin Salvant For One To Love MackAvenue 2015

My Jazz album of the year by an outstanding young talent (review here). I’ve seen her live and this was probably one of my best concerts of the year .

Sarah McKenzie: We Could Be Lovers (Impulse 2015)

Sarah McKenzie We Could Be Lovers Impulse 2015

Sarah McKenzie is my other discovery of this year (reviewed here). Less innovative than Cecile McLorin Salvant, she does just old fashioned 1960-style vocal jazz. The thing is, she does it with so much charm and also includes her own originals, I’m convinced we’ll continue hearing from this young artist.

If you can catch her live as I did (see here), go for it, she’s even better live than on this album.

Cassandra Wilson: Coming Forth By Day (Legacy Records 2015)

Cassandra Wilson Coming Forth By Day 2015

I’ve said it before, I have a love-hate relationship with Cassandra Wilson. Quite often, she just gets too close to a style that I just don’t like. On this Billie Holiday album, all is well from my perspective (see my review here).

Melody Gardot: Currency of Man (Universal 2015)

Melody Gardot - Currency of Man

To be fair, this is more Soul than Jazz, but in any case, I really like this album. See my review here.

Autour de Nina (Verve 2015)

Autour de Nina Verve Compilation Sophie Hunger Melody Gardot

A beautiful Nina Simone Tribute album from a variety of artists. One of my favorite vocal jazz albums of the year, reviewed here.

The Nutcracker – Or Why I Sometimes Do Like Tchaikovsky

The Nutcracker

In my previous post on Tchaikovsky’s symphony no. 5 I’ve stated that I don’t like Tchaikovsky very much. However, I must admit he really did some magical (and not in the Disney sense of the word) melodies in his ballets.

Western Christmas traditions now include regular performances of the Nutcracker. The story was originally a German fairy tale of a prince turned into a nutcracker, by E.T.A Hoffmann, later adapted by Alexandre Dumas. Tchaikovsky conducted the premiere in 1892, and both the ballet and the “best-of” excerpt, the suites, are these days among the most famous of his works.

Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker – Simon Rattle – Berliner Philharmoniker (EMI Classics 2010)

Tchaikovsky The Nutcracker Simon Rattle Berliner Philharmoniker EMI Classics

My first version was the legendary one by André Previn with the London Symphony Orchestra (also on EMI). That version is still very nice, so I didn’t look for a new recording for years (I basically listen to this work literally once or twice per year, usually some time in December).

However, two years ago I heard about this relatively new (2010) recording by Rattle on the radio, and I checked it out and I really liked it. Beautiful orchestral colors by the great BPO, and most importantly all the energy that this music really needs (I’m anything but a dancer, but this music makes me want to get up from my sofa and move to it).

You’ll find some excerpts of the recording here, with a nice interview with Sir Simon Rattle and some BPO musicians:

Note that some people say that Russian music can only be played well by Russian conductors, and indeed Gergiev did a great job on his Decca recording with the Kirov orchestra from the 1990s.

But still, Rattle did such a fine version that I doubt I’ll ever buy another Nutcracker again (well, never say never).

My rating: 5 stars

You can buy the CD here, I haven’t found a decent lossless download source.

My Favorite Versions of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio

Christmas Music

Only three weeks left until Christmas. Usually, during this time there are three unavoidable things: Some singer releasing a Christmas album (that reminds me that I need to write a post about my favorite Jazz Christmas albums, watch this space), you hear Wham again on the radio 5 times per day, and most households that have some form of love for classical music play the Christmas oratorio, in a similar frequency to the Last Christmas repetitions on popular radio.

I’m very similar, during the month of December the Oratorio gets played at least 10-20 times. I wonder myself why I still like it. But let’s face it, this is Bach, and you can never get too much Bach.

Listening to this work you’re best of when you speak at least some German, as you get the entire beautiful Christmas story told to you by the Evangelist, but if you don’t, either get the booklet or just enjoy the music

(Side note: I’m not religious, but having grown up in a Western country Christmas has become more of a family tradition than a religious event for me like for many others).

Gardiner / Monteverdi Choir (DG Archiv 1987)

Bach Christmas Oratorio John Eliot Gardiner Monteverdi Choir English Baroque Soloists DG Archiv 1987

Gardiner’s version from 1987 is probably the best known, and it is still my favorite version. I’m not sure if my preference isn’t biased by the fact that I’ve heard it so much over and over again, but Gardiner plays with so much drive and energy, that although I must have heard this hundreds of times, it still doesn’t get boring.

There are obviously many alternatives.

Philippe Herreweghe (Erato 1992)

One of my favorite alternatives around is also a bit older. Philippe Herreweghe’s version is a bit more mellow than Gardiner, but still has all the beauty in both playing and singing.

Bach Christmas Oratorio Philippe Herrweghe Collegium Vocale Ghent Erato

I have listened to a number of more recent versions, but still go back to these two above most of the time. Among the more recent alternatives I’ve tried are Mazaaki Suzuki (polished, but a bit too behaved), Diego Fasolis (really fast, not my cup of tea), and Gramophone’s favorite version, Harnoncourt 2nd version on Deutsche Harmonia Mundi (good but I like both versions above better).

My rating: 4 stars for both (I’m still waiting for the perfect version, but both come pretty close)

You can download the Gardiner here (Qobuz) and the Herreweghe here (Qobuz again)

My Top 5 Classical Albums of 2015

Post no. 100

First something internal: this is my post no. 100, and this blog did celebrate it’s 6 month anniversary some days ago.

I’m positively overwhelmed by the number of visitors and the reaction I’m getting, and I hope you enjoy this blog as much as I do writing it.

Top Albums of the Year

Fellow blogger Jacob Stockinger at his great site The Well Tempered Ear has published some posts on the recent suite of Album of the Year articles by the NY Times, the BBC Music, and the Telegraph.

There are really some great recordings in this list, so I figured, why don’t I do my own?

So here we go, no particular order. I’ll probably follow up with some of my preferred Jazz albums later.

Bach: Cello Suites – David Watkin (Resonus)

David Watkin Bach Cello Suites Resonus

Mentioned here and here on my blog already. I already had a ton of Bach’s Cello Suites, but this is truly an outstanding version. Gramophone called it “definitive”, and they really have a point.

Brahms: Violin Sonatas No. 2 & 3 – Isabelle Faust – Alexander Melnikov (Harmonia Mundi)

Brahms Isabelle Faust Alexander Melnikov Violin Sonatas 2 & 3 Harmonia Mundi 2015

I know I’m an Isabelle Faust fanboy, but this album is again just another outstanding example of her amazing art. Reviewed here.

Igor Levit: Bach Beethoven Rzweski (Sony)

Igor Levit Bach Goldberg Variations Beethoven Diabelli Variations Rzewski The People United Will Never Be Defeated Sony 2015

This young pianist is impressive. Three albums released, all three amazing. Reviewed here.

Leif Ove Andsnes: The Beethoven Journey (Sony)

The Beethoven Journey Leif Ove Andsnes Mahler Chamber Orchestra The Complete Beethoven Concertos Sony 2015

I’ve had the pleasure of hearing him live play nos. 2-4 and can confirm this gets pretty close to my idea on how these concertos should be played these days. I’ve previously written about it here.

Verdi: Aida – Pappano (Warner Classics)

Verdi: Aida Pappanis Anja Harteros Jonas Kaufmann

As mentioned previously, I’m very happy we still get to see this kind of opera performance recorded these days.

So what are your albums of 2015?

Montreux Alexander Live!

Monty Alexander

For whatever reason, although I really like piano trios as every regular reader of my blog will have understood by now, Monty Alexander flew under the radar screen for me until rather recently

Luckily, some other music lovers pointed me to him, and the trigger for purchasing this particular album was fellow Jazz addict JoeWhip’s entry to Audiostream’s Lovely Recordings, a new feature on the site: (The rest of his list is also very much worth exploring, I had a bit more than half of it already and purchased most of the rest after reading the list).

Montreux Alexander Live! (MPS 1985/2014)

Montreux Alexander - The Monty Alexander Trio Live! At The Montreux Festival MPS

What a nice recommendation!

Live albums often are either really good or really dull. The dull ones often just try to hard, or don’t really capture the spirit and feeling of the concert and leave you uninvolved. The good ones are just the opposite.

Luckily, the latter applies here, you feel like you’re actually sitting in the concert and the groove get’s you immediately.

Jeff Hamilton is a great asset obviously, his ability to make any kind of music swing is just outstanding (he also plays, in a very similar style on Ray Brown Live At the Loa, one of my 25 Essential Jazz albums).

John Clayton is not that well known, but he is a Ray Brown pupil and you can hear it.

I can only agree with JoeWhip on his assessment that this is music that will make you smile no matter how down you are.

Recommended.

My rating: 4 stars

You can find it here (Qobuz)

Domine Deus – Mozart’s C-Minor Mass

Mozart’s C-Minor Mass

What is the most beautiful choral work by Mozart? The Requiem? Well, not for me. My favorite is the Great Mass in c-minor K 427.

I had already mentioned it in in my Top 10 music that gives me goose bumps post some time ago.

The music was apparently written for his wife, Constanze, and she also sang the “Et incarnatus est” at the premiere of this work.

For years, my go-to version was also my first, Philippe Herreweghe (yes, I know, he pops up in every second post recently) on Harmonia Mundi, an older recording from 1992, which I bought just after it came out.

I was lucky, this version is absolutely great and still very much worth getting.

However, you should always have more than one version of masterpieces like this, therefore, I recently stumbled upon this 2006 version:

Mozart: Mass in C – Louis Langrée – Le Concert d’Astrée (Erato 2006)

Mozart: Mass in C - Louis Langrée - Le Concert d'Astrée

Le Concert d’Astrée is an excellent Baroque ensemble and usually lead by Emmanuelle Haïm. They play with their usual verve and energy, and bring their historically informed influence, which gives the recording a nice clean sound.

Like the requiem, the mass was never finished. It is unclear why. This version was completed by the conductor, Louis Langrée, and what he did is certainly interesting to hear. This is my only album in my collection by this conductor, who’s recently been appointed in Cincinnati.

My preferred part of the entire work is the Domine Deus, how the two female voices interact here is just magical. And when you get the beautiful voices of the great Nathalie Dessay and Véronique Gens, it gets even better. Both together are really the key reason to get this album.

This recording get’s pretty close to my Herreweghe reference version and is highly recommended.

My rating: 4 stars

You can find the Langrée version here (Qobuz) and Herreweghe here (Qobuz as well)

Mozart: The Weber Sisters (Erato 2015)

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Cecile McLorin Salvant: For One To Love (Mack Avenue 2015)

Sarah McKenzie: We Could Be Lovers (Impulse 2015)

Cassandra Wilson: Coming Forth By Day (Legacy Records 2015)

Melody Gardot: Currency of Man (Universal 2015)

Autour de Nina (Verve 2015)

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The Nutcracker

Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker – Simon Rattle – Berliner Philharmoniker (EMI Classics 2010)

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Christmas Music

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Post no. 100

Top Albums of the Year

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Monty Alexander

Montreux Alexander Live! (MPS 1985/2014)

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Mozart’s C-Minor Mass

Mozart: Mass in C – Louis Langrée – Le Concert d’Astrée (Erato 2006)

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