Category: ****

This is stuff I like, would purchase, and listen to repeatedly. This is most likely going to be the rating you see from me most often, as I usually cannot be bothered to review 1-3 stars albums in detail, and 5 stars, well they are exceptional and rare!

Esbjörn Svensson Trio – Live in London – A Review

Esbjörn Svensson Trio

What – a new album of the famous E.S.T.? Well, obviously not a NEW album by the trio after Svensson passed away way to early in 2008 in a diving accident.

But at least a not yet released album, from a live concert at the Barbican Theatre in London, recorded in 2005, was just released on ACT.

I’ve written previously about their album Live in Hamburg , giving it a 5 star rating. To me, E.S.T. was one of the founding fathers of the modern piano jazz trio, picking up from the tradition of a Bill Evans, that was picked up again by Keith Jarrett, but bringing it into  the 21st century. Many of today’s trios (GoGoPengiun, etc.) wouldn’t sound the same without E.S.T.

Live in London (ACT 2018)

Esbjörn Svensson Trio E.S.T. live in London ACT 2018 24/48

So, we obviously feature the Esbjörn Svensson Trio here, with Svensson himself on piano, as usual quite clearly in charge, Dan Berglund on bass, and Magnus Öström on drums.

Did I say Svensson dominates? Well, this is clearly quite piano driven, with Svensson getting a lot of solo time, but E.S.T. wouldn’t be E.S.T. without the complex rhythms driven by Öström.

And this being E.S.T. at their best time, you’re getting the usual dose of electronic effects, electro-inspired rhythms, and quite long tracks (the longest goes on for 17:32, making this a nice double album for those who still buy CDs) that are characteristic for the trio.

My favourite song probably is Eighty-Eight Days In My Veins from Viaticum, but there really isn’t a single bad track on this album.

While to me, this album doesn’t have the amazing power and refinement of Live In Hamburg that was recorded about two years later, this album is still highly recommended. If you’re into E.S.T. this is a must have, if you like piano trio in general, you should really check it out as well.

My rating: 4 stars

You can find it here (Highresaudio)

 

Vivaldi’s Gloria RV589 with Diego Fasolis, Julia Lezhneva, and Franco Fagio – A Review

My Favorite Vivaldi Work

I recently said that I’m not a particularly huge Vivaldi fan, which got some reactions from my readers defending his work.

To correct my image as a Vivaldi-basher, I’ve already praised Rachel Podger’s recent release of the Four Seasons.

I haven’t written about my favorite Vivaldi piece of all times, the Gloria RV 589 yet. (Well to be fair, it was mentioned here in this early post about what gives goose bumps to my readers).

Gloria RV589

RV589 is commonly known as “The” Vivaldi Gloria, but in fact there are others. But in my personal opinion (which is shared by many music lovers), RV589 beats them all. It may well be the most often performed Vivaldi Choral work.

So, if I like it that much, why didn’t I write about it earlier? Well, simply said, because I haven’t yet found my personal reference version.

The version I “grew up with” is the recording with David Willcocks and the King’s College Choir isn’t a bad starting point actually, in spite of it’s age, dating from the 1960s. Most baroque music from this time is heavy, slow and very far away from today’s standard of the historically informed practice, that I barely listen to it (Karl Richter’s b-minor mass being the occasional exception). Not so Willcocks, he was in a way HIP before it became a thing.

Later I discovered Rinaldo Alessandrini. With his ensemble “Concerto Italiano” he is one of the leading interpreters of HIP Vivaldi.

He’s actually recorded this work twice. Both versions have been released and re-released so many times that it is hard to distinguish them. The easiest way is the playing time.

In his first version, he gets through the initial Gloria in Excelsis Deo in a breathtaking 1:55. The poor strings barely get to follow this breathtaking speed. As much as I appreciate baroque music with a certain drive, this is just TOO fast.

You’re much better of with his second recording featuring Sara Mingardo among his soloists. The same Gloria is still fast, but at 2:10 a bit less Mickey Mouse on speed than the first one. So far, this has been my preferred version, but I still feel more can be done.

Therefore, I was very curious when this new recording was released:

Vivaldi: Gloria – Julia Lezhneva – Franco Fagioli – Diego Fasolis (Decca 2018)

Vivaldi Gloria Julia Lezhneva Diego Fasolis I Barocchisti NIsi Dominus Nulla in Mundo Pax Sincera Decca 2018

I very much liked Russian soprano’s Julia Lezhneva’s early album Alleluia, and also enjoyed her more recent release on arias from Carl Heinrich Graun. I was less of a fan of her release of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater.

Diego Fasolis with his Swiss ensemble I Barocchisti is usually very reliable to give you something at least very enjoyable.

The same here, this version is good. The speed is always appropriate, dynamic, but never overly rushed.

Lezhneva is nicely complemented by Franco Fagioli, an excellent countertenor.

Now, is this version my new reference? Well, it’s hard to put my finger on it, but there is something missing. As with Alessandrini, I feel that still “more” could be done. I’m not a conductor nor a musicologist, otherwise I’d probably find better words. Is it the chorus?Anyhow, in the meantime, I’ll close by saying this is very much recommended, but I’ll keep on looking.

Do you have any versions of the RV589 that I should be checking out? Please share!

My rating: 4 stars

You can find it here (Qobuz) and here (Prestoclassical)

 

Spring is Coming, Just the Right Time For a Beautiful Vivaldi Album

Wow, a month without a post. Well, initially the flu got me, and then I had really busy times at work. I promise, I try to increase my posting frequency again.

Antonio Vivaldi

I’ve said it before, I’m not a big fan of Vivaldi in general. A lot of his music is a bit repetitive to my ears (Stravinsky famously said ” Vivaldi had written the same concerto 400 times”), and overall, I only listen to the four seasons about once per year, and not much beyond this. I try his operas every once in a while, but usually don’t finish the album.

But then again, Vivaldi, especially his concertos, are often just the music one needs for a sunny spring day, with their energy and vibrancy.

So therefore, the other day I decided to get myself a new Vivaldi album to celebrate the arrival of spring.

I’ve previously written about how much I like Giuliano Carmignola’s recording of the Four Seasons, so when I looked for a promising Vivaldi album and I saw this 2016 album, I was intrigued:

Vivaldi: Concerto per Due Violini – Giuliano Carmignola – Amandine Beyer – Gli Incogniti (Harmonia Mundi 2016)

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So, here we have said Carmignola, and on top of that Amandine Beyer, another very well-known baroque violin player. Very promising. I wasn’t always a fan of Beyer, sometimes her sound strikes me as a bit to “thin”, but I’ve been positively surprised by her Pachelbel album.

So how do these two outstanding soloist play together? Well, to make it quick: delightfully! This album is just a pleasure to listen to for all four concertos.

I’m really not the only one recognizing this as an excellent album, it actually received an Editors Choice from Gramophone, a Diapason d’Or, as well several other critics awards.

What about the music? Well, they are Vivaldi violin concertos, so I’m still willing to say, if you’ve heard one, you have a pretty good idea what to expect. Nevertheless, here are some nice gems, like the very nuanced interactions of the two soloists in the Allegro of RV529, so I promise you won’t get bored.

Especially on a sunny spring day!

My rating: 4 stars

You can find it here (Qobuz) and here (HDtracks)

Bach: Mass in B-minor by William Christie and Les Arts Florissants – A Review

William Christie and Les Arts Florissants

William Christie, now at the age of 73, is one of the greatest conductors of the historically informed practice (HIP).

The Baroque Ensemble Les Arts Florissants he founded is among the best period ensembles out there. I’ve written about them several times already, e.g. about their Händel Album Music for Queen Caroline, or their Monteverdi Madrigal recording.

I’ve also had the pleasure of seeing William Christie with his ensemble twice already, once performing Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas at the London Barbican Theatre, and more recently, with Xavier de Maistre at Hamburg’s new Elbphilharmonie.

Bach’s B-Minor Mass BWV 232

I’ve written about this masterpiece twice already, initially about Philippe Herreweghe’s 3rd recording, and later about John Eliot Gardiner’s new recording.

I’ve said previously that this is one of the most important masterpieces ever written, and really never get tired of hearing it. In the liner notes to this album, William Christie calls it “[Bach’s] testament, his epitaph, a legacy to those who would follow him”

Bach: Mass in B-minor – William Christie – Les Arts Florissants (Harmonia Mundi 2018)

J.S. Bach Mass in B-minor William Christie Les Arts Florissants Live in Paris Harmonia Mundi 24/96

This is a very intimate recording (in spite of being live, this was recorded in 2016 at the Philharmonie de Paris). Both singing and playing are very delicate and balanced.

Tempi are relatively fast (especially compared to the old Karl Richter style) but never rushed. To quote Christie again from the liner notes: “Quicker tempi suggest a more physical and dance-like approach to the music“.

Honestly, I really don’t know what to criticize here. I’m a fan of the lighter, more intimate approach, and of the faster tempi. I prefer this even to the very good 2015 Gardiner recording.

It doesn’t kick my all time favorite of Philippe Herreweghe of the throne of “best B-minor ever” for me personally, as the latter just adds a tiny bit more “sparkle”, but this an album really very much worth having.

My rating: 4 stars (actually very close to 5 stars, I just still give the edge to Herreweghe)

You can find it here (Qobuz) and here (Prostudiomasters)

 

 

 

 

Keith Jarrett / Gary Peacock / Jack De Johnette – After The Fall – A Review

The Keith Jarrett Trio

Having Keith Jarrett in the sub-title of my blog, I obviously had to get excited.

Wow, a new recording of the legendary Keith Jarrett Trio?

Well, “new” is relative, we’re actually talking about a live recording from 1998 in New Jersey, that slept in some drawer for now about 20 years.

1998 wasn’t a bad time for Jarrett’s legendary combo, with Gary Peacock on bass and Jack De Johnette on drums. Standards in Norway, one of my favorite live albums ever, was recorded just a year later, so, musically, my expectations were high.

This was also an important moment for Jarrett himself, as he just recovered from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome which stopped him from playing for nearly two years in 1996-1998. In the liner notes, Jarrett calls this concert a “scary experiment”, as it was his first live appearance since the Italian solo concerts (that were also just recently released as A Multitude Of Angels, see my review here).

 

Keith Jarrett / Gary Peacock / Jack DeJohnette – After The Fall (ECM 2018)

 

Keith Jarrett Gary Peacock Jack DeJohnette After The Fall ECM 2018 24 44

And to make it clear, musically, this album is all you could ask for. The tracks on average 8-9 min longs, which is very enjoyable, as the musicians really get to develop the material and interplay.

This is a “double album” (a term that feels a bit silly in the days of downloads and streaming, but in reality it means you get a total of 1h45 of music and pay about the price of two regular albums should you decide to purchase it, so still has some form of meaning).

To mention some individual songs, Scrapple from the Apple is a very groovy bop track. Old Folks is beautiful ballad. And we get standards like Autumn Leaves with very enjoyable solos (unfortunately, like in so many concerts, Jarrett cannot stop himself from “singing” along. If any digital company could ever invent the AI-driven Keith Jarrett/Glenn Gould humming filter, i’d be extremely grateful).

So, where is the but?

Well, very similar to his recently released solo album A Multitude Of Angels, this album wasn’t professionally recorded, but was basically using Jarretts own DAT (Digital Audio Tape recorder).

And as much as I didn’t mind the shoe-box sound created by this recording set-up for Angels, for a trio where you need to better capture the nuances and interplay of three instruments, I find the sound quality a bit off-putting (and this in spite of the fact that this was remastered at the legendary Rainbow Studios in Oslo).

So, in conclusion, as a hard-core Jarrett fan, this is a must have. If you don’t mind the poor sound quality, I can recommend it as well.

However, if you don’t yet own most of his catalogue, there are many other live albums that benefit from the outstanding sound quality that ECM normally is famous for, like Standards in Norway, or Live At Blue Note from 1994 (one of my 25 Essential Jazz Albums), that you may want to check out first.

My rating: 4 stars (1 star taken off for sound quality)

You can find it here (Qobuz) or here (Highresaudio)

Dolce Duello – A Truly Great “Duel” of Cecilia Bartoli and Sol Gabetta

I’m a bit late reviewing this album, it actually already came out some time ago.

In spite of the fact that I’m a big fan of Sol Gabetta (I’ve now seen her live twice, once in Lucerne and once in LA) and Cecilia Bartoli is obviously already a living legend, I presume it was the extremely cheesy cover (see below) that put me off a bit initially, and I kind of ignored it.

But then, this album ended up being a Gramophone Editor´s Choice, and was highly praised by pretty much every reviewer out there.

So I had a closer look.

Cecilia & Sol – Dolce Duello (Decca 2017)

Cecilia & Sol - Dolce Duello - Capella Gabetta - Andrés Gabetta 24/96 Decca 2017

Sol Gabetta is a very talented Cello player from Argentina, who now lives in Switzerland. And does the famous Italian mezzo-soprano Cecila Bartoli really need an intro?

So, what do we get here? Most of the album is a mix of Italian and German baroque arias from Albinoni, Händel, Porpora, or Caldara. This may look like a slightly random selection, they were obviously all chosen to ensure the Cello gets appropriately featured.

And the result is really very touching. The instrumental backing is Sol Gabetta´s own baroque ensemble Cappella Gabetta, with her brother Andrés as Concert Master. You really are drawn in by the purity and beauty of this album. My favorite tracks is track 5, from Händel´s Ode For Saint Cecilia´s Day.

As an add-on, we get a recording of Boccherini´s Cello Concerto. While I kind of like this concerto, I´d actually have preferred to get more of the “duels”. But well, we really can’t complain, this is a beautiful album throughout.

My rating: 4 stars (5 star playing throughout, I’m just not a particular Boccherini fan).

You can find it here (Qobuz) and here (Prostudiomasters)

 

Walking The Line – without Johnny – but with Oscar Peterson!

Happy New Year!

Let me start by wishing all of my readers an excellent and successful 2018!

Oscar Peterson has been one of my earliest Jazz influences, actually, he was on the first Jazz CD I ever bought around the age of 18 (The Oscar Peterson Trio Plays, from 1964, note that the first jazz album I ever bought was on vinyl just some weeks earlier, Keith Jarrett´s My Song). Before that, I thought that Jazz was annoying and chaotic, how wrong I was!

So you can see, my love of the piano trio format dates back many years.

I’ve written about Oscar Peterson three times previously, about two albums from his legendary trio with Ray Brown and Ed Thigpen (Night Train and Plays The Cole Porter Songbook), but have also already mentioned his later work in Germany (Exclusively For My Friends) in my 25 Essential Jazz albums with several different bassist and drummers.

Walking The Line (MPS 1970)

The Oscar Peterson Trio Walking The Line Anniversary Edition Remastered 24 88 MPS 1970

Walking The Line is another album from the collaboration with MPS and the German producer Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer.

With Peterson, we have George Mraz on bass and Ray Price on drums here. The change in personnel really doesn’t impact this album in any way, this is pure Peterson Swing!

Like with many Peterson albums, we do get some standards. The most famous songs here are Teach Me Tonight and All Of You, but the albums starting song from Cole Porter,  Love, you’ll probably also have heard before.

What you may not have heard as much (unless you are from France or you are big fan of the original Thomas Crown Affair) is Michel Legrand´s song The Windmills Of Your Mind.

Michel Legrand is one of the greatest song composers I’m aware of, all the way up there with the giants like Cole Porter. I’ve previously mentioned him in my review of Bill Evans You Must Believe In Spring. I’m very glad he gets featured here as well.

Overall, this is not a must have album, but if you like Peterson, you really won’t regret the purchase. To quote another famous song title, it don’t mean a thing if it ain´t got that swing. Well this album clearly does!

My rating: 4 stars

You’ll find it here (Qobuz) and here (Prostudiomasters)