Current Listening Vol IX [2023]

Jonne Valtonen Fantasy Overture. Circle within a Circle within a Circle
Nobuo Uematsu (arr. Roger Wanamo) Final Fnatasty VI. Symphonic Poem. Born with the Gift of Magic
Nobuo Uematsu, Masashi Hamauzu (arr. Roger Wanamo, Masashi Hamauzu) Final Fnatasty X. Piano Concerto
Nobuo Uematsu (arr. Roger Wanamo) Final Fnatasty X. "Suteki da ne" for piano solo
Nobuo Uematsu (arr. Jonne Valtonen) Final Fnatasty VII. Symphony in Three Movements
Nobuo Uematsu (arr. Jonne Valtonen) Final Fnatasty VII. Continue? Anxiety
Nobuo Uematsu (arr. Roger Wanamo) Final Fnatasty Series. Fight, Fight, Fight!
Katharina Treutler, piano
London Symphony Orchestra / Eckehard Stier
Rec. 2014-2016
X5 Music Group

The arrangers have done a lot more than just bolting together Uematsu's big tunes from various FF soundtracks. One of them even wrote an original overture for this album/concert tour. I think they have genuinely attempted to make these pieces sound like concert hall music, and with moderate success in my opinion.

(I am looking at you Mr. Howard Shore holding on to your precious and doing nothing creative with it!)

Sergei Rachmaninov
Piano Concerto No. 2
Andrei Gavrilov
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Vladimir Ashkenazy
Rec. 1989 Live
EMI

it's amazing how Gavrilov could project such clean notes. He did slow down quite a bit in the solo passages, but I can live with that given the crystalline sound he produced.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Concerto No. 22 K482
Kristian Bezuidenhout
Freiburger Barockorchester
Petra Müllejans
Rec. 2012
Harmonia Mundi

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Concerto No. 9 K271
Kristian Bezuidenhout
Freiburger Barockorchester
Gottfried von der Goltz
Rec. 2021
Harmonia Mundi

Amazing slow movement!

Alberto Ginastera
Violin Concerto
Salvatore Accardo
Hopkins Center Orchestra
Mario di Bonaventura
Rec. 1968 Live
Dynamic

Absolutely stunning!

Richard Strauss
Ein Heldenleben
Berliner Philharmoniker
Herbert von Karajan
Rec. 1985
DG

While Romantic music often emphasizes on a composer's subjective feelings, I am afraid I have always found Ein Heldenleben on the borderline of being pretentious... But I can live with that here because those Berlin brass of yesteryears are really astonishing, not to mention the amazing ensemble!

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Serenade No. 13 K525
The English Concert
Andrew Manze
Rec. 2002
Harmonia Mundi

I could be wrong but I am under the impression that many classical music listeners hate Eine kleine Nachtmusik. I do NOT hate it, but to be honest in fact I did for a very long time. I thought it was pretentious, cry-without-pain, or using a more modern analogy Neymar-doing-a-horizontal-quadruple-Axel-on-grass. (In fact I thought the same for most works written by Mozart or Brahms.) It was also like a reaction of denial to the younger and more innocent me who had once thought it was the most beautiful piece of music ever written. (That was certainly before I discovered Messiaen.)

It was HIP that changed my mind. Gone are the soap-opera romanticization. Only elegance remains. These days I can listen to Mozart and Brahms without having serious allergic attacks. Having said that, it does not have to be HIP for me to find them listenable. There are in fact musicians playing on modern instruments who do not subscribe to soap-opera romanticization. One just have to discover them instead of relying on old-fart critics or marketing slogans produced by record companies.

Also, it is probably fair to say that Eine kleine Nachtmusik is, functionally and essentially, party music. For sure, my dinner guests never complained about it, but then they all think classical music is for relaxation anyway, i.e. background music. (Perhaps that's why I always have the urge to feed them Messiaen instead.) Never mind. My point is, I think functionally it works rather well.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Concerto No. 21 K467
Wiener Philharmoniker
Maurizio Pollini
Rec. 2005 Live
DG

Simple and elegant!

Antonín Dvořák
Slavonic Dances Op. 46 & Op. 72
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Karel Šejna
Rec. 1959
Supraphon

The most elegant Slavonic Dances that I know!

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Concerto No. 25 K503
Melvyn Tan
London Classical Players
Roger Norrington
Rec. 1990
Virgin

Very nice sinfonia concertante (!) with a piano. 😅

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Concerto No. 19 K459
Melvyn Tan
Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra
Nicholas McGegan
Rec. 1995
Harmonia Mundi

I like happy music, something that is so rare these days.

Dmitri Shostakovich
Symphony No. 5
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Leopold Stokowski
Rec. 1964 Live
BBC Legends

Here is a very effective Stokowski showing us strong contrast between brutality and contemplation. A great 5th I say, unless one cannot live with the Stokowski antics, especially in the fluctuation of tempo.

Bohuslav Martinů
Toccata e Due Canzoni H311
Prague Chamber Orchestra
Ondřej Kukal
Rec. 1997
Supraphon

Great to see so much love for Martinů around here recently!

Dmitri Shostakovich
Symphony No. 9
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra
Mariss Jansons
Rec. 1991
EMI

Agile, beautiful and straight. Amazing pianissimo as expected. Great rendering as pure music. Is that a disguise that I cannot see through?

Bohuslav Martinů
Double Concerto for Two String Orchestras, Piano and Timpani H271
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Karel Šejna
Rec. 1958
Supraphon

An intense affair from Šejna in this rightfully legendary recording! There are many great Double Concerto recordings, but here is something indescribable in the air. However, legendary though it is, I will risk my life by saying I don't like the grand slowing down in several parts in the slow movement.

Dmitri Shostakovich
Symphony No. 6
Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
Kirill Kondrashin
Rec. 1967 Live
Altus

Very sharp!

Ludwig van Beethoven
33 Variations on a waltz by Anton Diabelli Op. 120
Ronald Brautigam
Rec. 2015
BIS

Heavenly!

Franz Schubert
Die schöne Müllerin D795
Christopher Maltman
Graham Johnson
Rec. 2010 Live
Wigmore Hall Live

Partly innocent, partly aggressive and partly hysterical, plus an assertive rhythmic drive (although with a fair share of hiccups), and a dose of hopelessness in disguise as resignation at the end, an excellent Die schöne Müllerin this is.

Andrzej Panufnik
Metasinfonia for organ, timpani & strings (Symphony No. 7)
Konzerthausorchester Berlin
Łukasz Borowicz
Rec. 2010
CPO

Cohesive and uncompromising music, but perhaps it could have been a bit more brutal.