Album Review – Page 22 – musicophilesblog – From Keith Jarrett to Johannes Brahms

Why Bother Reading Reviews If There Is No Consensus? The Example Of Esfahani’s New Goldberg Variations?

Professional Music Reviews

I’ve been very clear on my blog here that whatever I’m writing is nothing more than my personal view on the music and interpretations I write about.

You’d think that it should be different for professional reviewers. OK, maybe nuances according to individual tastes, but a good album is a good one, and a bad one is bad, right?

Well, I’ve previously given already one example of a Mahler album that received extremly contrasting reviews from two of the most respected classical review magazines out there, UK-based Gramophone, and French Classica.

And here we go again:

Bach: Goldberg Variations – Mahan Esfahani (Deutsche Gramophon 2016)

Bach: Goldberg Variations - Mahan Esfahani (24/48) Deutsche Grammophon 2016

Mahan Esfahani is one of the rising stars on the harpsichord. I’ve briefly mentioned him in my musing’s on the Gramophone Awards 2015, but haven’t properly reviewed any of his albums yet.

I really liked his previous album Time Present And Time Past that went from Scarlatti to Reich.

So I was very curious about his take of the Goldberg Variations. I’ve previously praised Pierre Hantaï on harpsichord and Igor Levit on a modern piano. Both remain favorites of mine, but I have dozens alternatives.

Gramophone and Classica totally disagree

But before I get into my personal assessment, let me get back to my opening comment: How professional reviewers can disagree, in the most drastic possible way.

October Issue Gramophone: “His navigations of the music’s structure […] is carefully considered without sounding in the least bit studied, or different for the sake of being different. His Goldberg Variations clearly belongs […] in all serious Bach collections”. They even gave it a Gramophone Award.

October Issue Classica: “Il donne même l’impression de réinventer le Bach machine à coudre” (he even leaves the impression of reinventing the “sewing machine” Bach style), or “errements d’un jeu qui se laisse aller à un rubato et des manières agacants” (this is a bit harder to translate, but basically they find the same freedom that Gramophone likes above totally annoying), and speak of “La première version post baroque” (the first post-baroque version). Result: 2 out of 5 stars, which is their way of saying “disappointing”.

So what is it? Does a disappointing album belong in all serious Bach collections? I don’t blame you for being confused.

But this is my point, right? You can never use any kind of review individually. You can try to find a magazine (or even better, individual reviewer) that has a similar taste to yours, but then need to make up your own mind.

Side note: This is why I love streaming so much, as you can simply try out new music as much as you want before buying. But please, don’t forget to buy stuff you really like, if you want the musician to make a living.

To close this chapter on reviews, what is helpful if you find “meta-reviews”, that compares and contrast several individual reviewers. If you find consensus among many reviewers, you probably have a higher chance of finding something truly exceptional. Classica every month does just that, unfortunately only comparing French reviewers, they call that table “Les Coups de Coeurs” and summarize the opinions of 6 different French classical music specialists from Le Figaro to France Musique. But I don’t think anybody does this at an international level.

So what do I think about this album?

Now it get’s difficult. Esfahani’s recording is clearly VERY different.

What I love about it is the sound of the harpsichord, a two keyboard reconstruction that has a splendid sound (and isn’t ruined to much by Deutsche Gramophones sound engineers).

About the version? You’d think this is a love or hate recording. Well actually, it isn’t. I’ve now listened to it at least 5 or 6 times, but it doesn’t touch me as much as a Goldberg recording should. I’m just a bit indifferent. I clearly see how this recording is different, and why Esfahani does what he does, but I don’t think this version will get a lot of additional spins on my system. I’d go to Hantaï, or Levit, or Perahia, or, or, or.

My rating: 3 stars

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

Il Canto Delle Montagne – Beautiful Trio Jazz by Thierry Maillard

Streaming

I mentioned before that I subscribe to a streaming subscription. This truly is an amazing music discovery tool. It’s like having a huge record shop (remember those) in your own house and on the go 24/7.

I was late to the game and started streaming less than 18 month ago. How stupid of me.

Well obviously, there’s the issue that artists don’t make enough money from streaming. That’s why I, even if I don’t have to, I end up buying albums from the relevant artists I really like anyhow, and everybody should do the same, or even better, go to see them live if you can.

That said, for browsing and discovering new stuff there is simply nothing better.

Thierry Maillard: Il Canto Delle Montagne

The other day I was going through Qobuz “Nouveautés” on my Iphone (I use their app in French, the translations can occasionally be a bit clunky, although they are getting more international these days). I have the genres set to “Classique “and “Jazz”, so new albums in both categories show up here.

More out of boredom I clicked on a relatively ugly cover, a picture of a mountain scene with the Italian title “Il Canto Delle Montagne”. Even my quite poor Italian tells me this means “The Song of the Mountains” in a pretty ugly font (see below). I was expecting something either very rural or very esoteric.

Thierry Maillard Andre Ceccarelli Dominique di Piazza Il Canto Delle Montagne 24/88 2016 Ilona Records

Then I started playing. And noticed I got a really nice piano trio. I clicked on the album cover to enlarge and finally noticed in small white letters that we’re talking about Thierry Maillard’s latest album.

I knew this French pianist from his 2013 album Beyond the Ocean, which I really liked. OK, so moving from the sea to the mountains now.

Now what should you expect from this album? Well, the easiest is to click on the Youtube link below to get an idea, but basically this is very melodic trio jazz, in the way I realyl like it. André Ceccarelli is a French drum legend, who’s played a lot of jazz but also with pop artists like Sting or Tina Turner. He is one of the best drummers France has to offer.

I must admit I didn’t know Dominique Di Piazza, the French bassist, but it turns out he played with John McLaughlin in the past. He doesn’t limit himself to the traditional upright double bass, but goes into electric bass playing quite a bit.

Therefore, very experienced personnel here, and it shows. They pay a lot of attention to each other, and therefore each of the 16 tracks, are worth discovering. We’re not getting a lot of standards, but originals. Some background reading about the album tells me it was essentially composed after the Bataclan terrorist attacks in Paris. However, there’s no terror in here, just beauty.

My rating: 4 stars

You can find it here (Qobuz)

Oops, He Did It Again: Benjamin Grosvenor with Another Great Album!

Benjamin Grosvenor

I’ve mentioned Benjamin Grosvenor several times already, including here, and here in my comments about last year’s Gramophone Awards. If you read through these reviews and comments, you’ll quickly see I’m a huge fan. This young artist (he’s only 24!) is really spectacular.

So far, I have yet to hear a disappointing album from him.

So my hopes were high when he released his new album, Homages.

Homages (Decca 2016)

Benjamin Grosvenor Homages (24/96) Decca 2016

Grosvenor likes albums mixing several composers around a theme. His last album was called Dances, now we’re talking about Homages.

And we start strongly, with Busoni’s piano setting of the famous Chaconne from Bach’s suites for solo violin. This is rather rarely played, which is a pity, as for once a transcription actually adds something (more often than not, they do not work that well for me). You really get the full bandwidth of this beautiful piece, and the outstanding beauty of Milstein’s legendary interpretation comes to mind, while Busoni’s fireworks around the well known melody really works. This sounds almost like Brahms (who by the way also transcribed the Chaconne, but into a version for left hand only), or actually even occasionally like Rachmaninov. A true showpiece, but without any negative connotation that is usually associated with this term.

From this grandiose opening, we move to another rather unfamiliar music, Mendelssohn’s preludes & fuges op. 35. Mendelssohn was essential for the “rediscovery” of Bach in his time, and you can hear the spirit of Bach in these little-known, but beautiful gems.

From these Bach homages, we move on to more traditional romantic piano music with Chopin and Liszt, an area where Grosvenor feels very much at home.

The booklet tries to give some story around why Chopin’s beloved Barcarolle and parts of Liszt’ Années de Pélérinage are homages as well. I must admit I don’t care that much, I just love his playing.

The Barcarolle op. 60 is one of my all time favorites from Chopin. I heard it some years ago by Krystian Zimerman live, in what remains my personal reference. However, this interpretaion really stands on its own, and I like it a lot.Liszt’s Venezia e Napoli is also really well played.

He closes off with Ravel, as already in his Decca debut, focusing Le Tombeau de Couperin, where the homage aspect is already evident from the title.

I wonder if Grosvenor ever will record e.g. an entire cycle or work, or if he’ll stick to this kind of “concept” album. I wouldn’t be surprised if he sticks to the latter, which is great, because it gets me to discover music I wouldn’t necessarily have discovered without him.

Keep going!

My rating: 4 stars (to clarify: this is absolutely 5 stars playing, but not always essential repertoire)

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

Alice in Grieg’s Wonderland

The usual excuses first

I’ve been crazy busy the last weeks being home on average about 1-2 nights per week, the rest full of business and private travel. Therefore, my blog writing has suffered quite a bit.

And this is not because of a lack of interesting new albums to write about. Well, on Jazz, it partially is, while I do have two reviews upcoming, this site may be a bit disappointing for you currently if you’re more in to Jazz than Classical music. Hope you bear with me.

But with regards to classical, there have been a number of interesting albums released recently, all of which I have planned to write about, including Andreas Staier’s new Schubert Trios, Benjamin Grosvenor’s new release, Adam Laloum getting into Schumann and Schubert, the Chiaroscuro Quartet playing Hadyn, the Belcea Quartet playing Brahms, etc. etc.

OK, so the paragraph above should put enough pressure on me to actually write all these reviews in the next weeks, where hopefully my travel activity should be a bit more measured.

Alice Sara Ott

Alice Sara Ott is a young pianist (born 1988) of German and Japanese origin. She’s recorded already quite a number of albums but the only one I have had on my radar screen so far is her recording of the Complete Waltzes by Chopin. I kind of liked that album, but then again the waltzes are about my least favorite Chopin works relatively speaking, so I didn’t spend much time on it.

Wonderland

Honestly, the title of her latest album put me off a little bit, the wordplay is just a little bit too obvious. But then again, you don’t buy a book for it’s cover, and the same logic should apply for classical albums.

Wonderland Grieg Piano Concerto Lyric Pieces Alice Sara Ott Deutsche Grammophon 2016 24/48

And I’m happy I went further, because this recording of the piano concerto is really worth it.

I’ve previously written about Javier Perianes who did a similar coupling of the piano concerto with the Lyric pieces (see my review here), and this recording, while being quite different, is really at the same level.

If you want to compare the two, Perianes is probably the more energetic, Ott with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the BR symphony takes a more lyrical approach. You’ll get lots of rubato (the concept of “stealing” time to give it back later, i.e. variations of the tempo), with some moments being even extremely slow (already in the opening bars for example).

But unlike the recent recording of the Schumann piano concerto by Melnikov, where I was a bit put off with the slow speed of the third movement, here all slow moments make perfect sense to me. And don’t get me wrong, when the piece needs energy and passion, you’ll get plenty.

Does this version beat my reference version from Leif Ove Andsnes? Well, not exactly, but it is clearly a worthy alternative.

As a “filler”, you don’t get the usual coupling with Schumann, but similar to Perianes, you get a selection of the Lyric pieces, and given that these are little gems, they are very much worth having. To lighten things up a bit more, you even get piano transcriptions of Grieg’s most famous piece, Peer Gynt, in the mix.

My rating: 4 stars

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

Do You Have To Be Italian To Conduct Haydn?

Haydn’s Symphonies

I’ve said it before, I’m generally not a big fan of Haydn’s symphonies. I’m sorry, but quite often they just bore me.

However, these days we see a renaissance of Haydn’s symphonies. I’ve previously written about Ottavio Dantone’s beautiful album on Decca, which I liked a lot. In that blog post I’ve already mentioned that another Italian conductor, Giovanni Antonini, is doing an entire cycle of Haydn symphonies, called Haydn2032.

So let’s have a look at their latest release, vol. 3 in the series.

Haydn 2032 Vol. 3 – Solo e Pensoso – Giovanni Antonini, Il Giardino Armonico (Alpha Classics 2016)

Giovanni Antonini Il Giardino Armonico Haydn 2032 No. 3 Solo e pensoso Alpha Classics 2016

In this volume, we get a colorful mix of symphonies, from very early (4) to the Sturm und Drang era of no. 64. I have absolutely no clue how Antonini decided on the order of his complete cycle, but I appreciate the variety. An album only with very early symphonies would probably not be extremely exciting.

Giovanni Antonini and Il Giardino Armonico, very much like Ottavio Dantone and his Accademia, come from baroque music.

And maybe this is really what “Papa Haydn” needs, the lightness and energy of the historically informed baroque playing style. I guess Haydn has suffered from too many years being played by orchestras that were more used to playing Beethoven and Brahms.

But when you get the Giardino Armonico’s joyful playing, an entire new planet opens up.

Not that this is the first historically informed recording of Haydn, but really this cycle promises to be outstanding.

The playing is top notch. The energy is palpable. And the relatively small size of the Giardino Armonico really lets you rediscover Haydn in a new way.

I’ll make sure to follow future releases of this cycle, and so should you. It is really worth it.

My rating: 4 stars (this is not a rating on the playing, which is 5 stars, but I’m waiting for some of the later symphonies to give the full 5 star rating).

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

Reis/Demuth/Wiltgen: Places in Between – A Review

The Jazz Piano Trio

As regular readers know, I’m always on the lookout for new piano trios, as it is one of my favorite art forms.

The trio I’ll be writing below isn’t new to me, I already discovered them with their previous album, which was simply titled Reis/Demuth/Wiltgen and released on the French label Laborie Jazz.

Reis/Demuth/Wiltgen

The naming of the band isn’t very complicated to explain, as we have Michel Reis on piano, Marc Demuth on bass, and Paul Wiltgen on drums.

All three come from Luxembourg, the small place in the middle of Europe known to most people as a tax haven, and somehow next to Brussels and Strasbourg host to some of the EU institutions. Beyond those clichés it’s actually a beautiful little place.

I really liked their first debut album on Laborie, so I was very curious to hear their latest release, which came out some weeks ago in August.

Places In Between (Double Moon Records 2016)

Reis-Demuth-Wiltgen Places in Between Double Moon 2016

So how do I like it? Well to be honest, I liked their previous album better, I found it more inspiring.

Don’t get me wrong, this is a well done jazz trio album. You can really feel that the three musicians are well connected, this isn’t some collection of stars just put together for one album.

So what’s my issue with it? I guess it’s probably the songs. All are “nice”, but I don’t know, they leave me hungry for more.

More of what? If only I knew. I guess this won’t be the most useful music review I’ve ever written, as I keep rambling without giving you anything concrete. There are nice moments, e.g. the melodic developments on Joule’s Last Glimpse, the light swing of The Story of You and Me, or the excellent drive of Paul Wiltgen on Shai.

And it is really hard to put my finger on it as there’s really nothing wrong with the album.

I’ll just leave it at that and recommend their 2013 album instead, and wait if the new album grows on me. It has happened before.

Reis/Demuth/Wiltgen Laborie Jazz 2013

My rating: 3 stars (could eventually turn into 4 stars, let’s see) for Places In Between, and 4 stars for Reis/Demuth/Wiltgen.

You can download the former album here (Qobuz).

UPDATE Sep 10, 2017: It seems like Places In Between is now hard to find beyond the Itunes store.

Gramophone Awards 2016 – And The Winners Are……

The Gods have spoken

Or to be more precise, the jury at Gramophone has today officially published the winners in each category.

So, how did my little Crystal Ball work this year?

Baroque Instrumental

Here I forecasted a win for Rachel Podger’s Rosary sonatas.

Gramophone seemed to agree. Congratulations to Mrs Podger, well deserved!

Biber: Rosary Sonatas - Rachel Podger Channel Classics 2016 DSD

Baroque Vocal

As documented here, my vote went to Sebastian Daucé.

However, I’m perfectly supportive of the winner as well, congratulations to Les Arts Florissants for their winning Monteverdi album!

Monteverdi: Madrigali vol. 1 Cremona Paul Agnew Les Arts Florissants 2016

Chamber

While my vote would have been for the Quatuor Ebène, the jury went for the Heath Quartet’s Tippett album. Ok, no comment here, it’s just not my cup of tea.

Tippett String Quartets Heath Quartet Wigmore Hall Live

Choral

I just noticed I completely forgot to even mention this section in my previous posts, don’t know what happened here. Well, anyhow, here’s the winner. I haven’t heard it, so no comment from my side.

Schönberg Gurrelieder Markus Stenz Gurrelieder Hyperion

Concerto

As written here, I’d have voted for Trifonov, but the Gramophone Jury liked Vilde Frang’s Britten and Korngold better. Congrats to Mrs Frang, and I’ll leave it at this, given that this album doesn’t really speak to me.

Britten/Korngold Violin Concertos James Gaffigan Frankfurt Radio Symphony James Gaffigan

Contemporary

I didn’t write about this section at all as I’m not really qualified, however, I must admit the winner looks interesting enough that I’ll check it out in more detail:

Hans Abrahamsen : Let me tell you Barbara Hannigan Andris Nelsons Winter & Winter

Early Music

Again a section I completely ignored in my posts.

0822252235227_600

I’ll take time to check this out formally, looks certainly interesting

Instrumental

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

Now we’re back in familiar territory, and while I would have appreciated the recognition for Chamayou’s Ravel, Levit very much deserves this price IMHO.

Opera

My coverage of the Opera section was a bit light, but at least my prediction of the winning album was correct:

Verdi: Aida Pappanis Anja Harteros Jonas Kaufmann

This album really is a must-have.

Orchestral

Very interestingly, here I correctly predicted the winner without even having actively previously listened to any of the nominated albums. Congratulations to Andris Nelsons!

Shostakovich Symphony No. 10 Andris Nelson Boston Symphony Orchestra Deutsche Grammophon 2016 24 96

Recital

Yes, she did it! As I was hoping, Sabine Devieilhe wins in her category. Couldn’t agree more!!!!

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

Solo Vocal

This is another section I completely skipped in my blog post.

For reference, here’s the winning album:

Néère - Hahn, Duparc, Chausson - Véronique Gens Alpha

I really like Véronique Gens, but had only very briefly sampled this album, I’ll make sure to give it a proper listen now.

Summary

Let me virtually brag a bit (sorry!) and say that my crystal ball did a pretty good job this year. Out of 8 categories I wrote about, I got 5 “right”. Not a bad score (insert smiley here). OK, bragging mode off again.

What do you think? Who would you have chosen?

I really appreciate your feedback!

Professional Music Reviews

Bach: Goldberg Variations – Mahan Esfahani (Deutsche Gramophon 2016)

Gramophone and Classica totally disagree

So what do I think about this album?

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Streaming

Thierry Maillard: Il Canto Delle Montagne

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Benjamin Grosvenor

Homages (Decca 2016)

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The usual excuses first

Alice Sara Ott

Wonderland

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Haydn’s Symphonies

Haydn 2032 Vol. 3 – Solo e Pensoso – Giovanni Antonini, Il Giardino Armonico (Alpha Classics 2016)

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The Jazz Piano Trio

Reis/Demuth/Wiltgen

Places In Between (Double Moon Records 2016)

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The Gods have spoken

Baroque Instrumental

Baroque Vocal

Chamber

Choral

Concerto

Contemporary

Early Music

Instrumental

Opera

Orchestral

Recital

Solo Vocal

Summary

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