Morten Lauridsen: O Magnum Mysterium

Let me say goodbye to 2011, with this moving and utterly beautiful motet written by the American composer Morten Lauridsen, splendidly performed, here, by the Choir Polyphony (Hyperion). 

I do not wish to say anything about it, for it seems that no verbal expression can possibly depict or describe what remains, in essence, unsayable...

Here are the words:

O Magnum Mysterium

et admirabile sacramentum

ut animalia viderent Dominum natum

Beata Virgo cujus viscera

jacentem in praesepio!

meruerunt portare

Dominum Christum

Alleluia!

An english translation (found on Wiki):

O great mystery, and wonderful sacrament, 

that animals should see the new-born Lord, 

lying in a manger! 

Blessed is the Virgin whose womb 

was worthy to bear 

Christ the Lord. 

Alleluia!

My sincere wishes to you all...

David Hill's splendid arrangement of "Silent Night"

Some more details on this splendid  arrangement of the well known Christmas song... 

As I said the other day, it was broadcasted on BBC Radio 3 on the morning of December the 24th, in the "Breakfast Show" presented by Clemency Burton-Hill, a sensitive (and multi-talented!) presenter.  

Here are the names of those who contributed to this recording which, incidentally, was specially made for this program.

BBC Singers, Paul Brough (Conductor).
Solo Tenor: Christopher Bowen 

Baritone: Jamie W. Hall. 

Here is the link, although I am afraid that you won't be able to play it after some time. (It's only available for a week, I think):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0186f1g

 

Christmas Music - Western and Eastern (Byzantine) Carols

Merry Christmas to all the friends of this blog! My very best wishes to you all! 

I was listening to BBC Radio 3 the other day, and I came across this very beautiful rendering of the famous Christmas song, "Silent Night". All I managed to hear was that the transcription was made by David Hill. So, if someone could give me more details about this transcription, I'd be most grateful!

I now remember another lovely Christmas carol which I often used to put on when I was a radio producer. It's called "Star Carol", and is composed by John Rutter. A melodious song, full of joy, light and... lightness!

What else?... Oh, let me not forget our own, Greek traditional christmas carols which my children sang on Xmas day, in our parish church, after the Christmas Liturgy. The melody is typically eastern -  actually this particular song that I have in mind has byzantine roots, so one can easily discern the typical byzantine modes. Here is a decent recording I found on the internet:

My best wishes for Merry Christmas!!!!!

Marc Andre Hamelin's cadenza on Liszt's 2nd Hungarian Rhapsody

This is such a fascinatingly original cadenza! I leave aside the technical bravura (which is, however, extraordinary), I'd like to concentrate on the music: Hamelin achieved to give new breathe to this work which (alas!) has suffered so many mediocre performances. 

His writting is brilliant, his ideas clear and well defined, his melodic choices are utterly original and daring. See how  the main themes of the Rhapsody here interlock  in  such an ingenious way! All in all, a masterpiece, this cadenza! I discovered, today, the score (on youtube) and I was able to admire, once more, the excellent work of this great pianist - undeniably one of the greatest in the world today. 

Here is the score:



 

Volodos Vienna Recital: An interesting review by the "Gramophone"

 I read today an excellent and well informed review written by Hariett Smith in the "Gramophone" magazine - possibly the best magazine on classical music. The review refes to Volodos's live recording of his Vienna Recital. I copy some of excerpts here below. (Needless to say, I agree with every word!)

"You can keep your Lang Langs, your Yuja Wangs, your Evgeny Kissins...I'd swap their collective virtuosity for one evening of Arcadi Volodos's consummate pianism. To my mind, he has produced nothing finer on disc than this live recital, captured in Vienna last spring.
[...]

But with this latest release we're once again reminded that Volodos is a one-off. He has Sokolov's genius for making even the unpianistic pianistic, yet without his occasional eccentricities. He has the steel, combined with the velvety sound, and the sense of a companionable relationship with his instrument of Gilels. Yet there's fire aplenty too -- witness his Dante Sonata, complete with the odd Volodosian touch (you'll recall from earlier discs that he likes to make pieces his own). No one quite achieves the incandescence of Ogdon in this work, as can be seen as well as heard in a terrifying vision of the work on an EMI DVD. But the sense that technically Volodos is in complete command, and that the piano is not in pain -- even at the most extreme moments -- is extraordinarily compelling. And through all the handfuls of notes he never loses sight of the work's form, the imperious left-hand theme that sweeps through the chorale-like texture done with complete assurance.

You couldn't be in Vienna without presenting a waltz or two, and here we get Ravel's skewed take on it (though less skewed than his post-war vision, La valse). Volodos is less perfumed than some -- Thibaudet (Decca) and Bavouzet (Chandos) in their different ways spring to mind -- but there's a wonderful warmth to his sound as well as a sensitivity to the pieces' inner workings that delights. He attains the balance between lyricism and a pungent neo-classicism every bit as effectively as Casadesus in his classic CBS/Sony reading.

Right from the start, this is an uncompromisingly programmed recital, Volodos plunging his audience into the strange hinterland of Scriabin. Whether in the insistent lopsided gait of the Danse languide or the deep-toned Prelude No 16 from Op 11, more sensuous than Pletnev's sharply characterised realisation, he is spellbinding. And in the Seventh Sonata Volodos is still more incense-laden and edgier than Marc-André Hamelin's beautifully etched reading, the sonorous bells building to a cataclysmic climax.

Waldszenen is perhaps the finest jewel here, with Volodos bringing his story-telling genius to every piece. Its outwardly unassuming nature is deceptive, as the many great pianists who've been drawn to it have shown. But Volodos is absolutely up there with the best of them, Richter and Pires included. Just sample the rapt wonder he brings to "Einsame blumen" or the combination of eeriness and an almost Bachian purity of No 4, "Verrufene Stelle". His leave-taking, too, in No 9 couldn't be more poignantly done, without a trace of heart-on-sleeve emoting, which makes the wistfulness all the more eloquent.

The encores are supreme, from Volodos's Bach/Vivaldi Sicilienne, which is informed by a restrained beauty worthy of Gilels, a Tchaikovsky song rendered glorious even without voice yet its piano roulades never taking the limelight, and, finally, a telling return to Scriabin. The engineers have done wonders, in spite of the live conditions, and I'd be surprised if I heard finer piano playing this year.

Brahms 2nd Piano Concerto with Richter: Leinsdorf or Maazel?

There are several recordings of Brahms 2nd PC with Richter. Two of them are in my view the best: one with Erich Leinsdorf and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the other with Lorin Maazel and L' Orchestre de Paris. Richter did not particularly like his Leinsdord recording but he is not to be taken too seriously as he did not like most of his recordings apparently! 

I personally think that both recordings are excellent indeed, but I am particularly fond of the second one (Maazel), for rather subjective reasons: I was at school when someone in my class gave me a cassete with this recording and I fall in love with it! Richter's sound is so identifiable there, so unmistakably his! Maazel has done a splendid job with the orchesta - which is particularly crucial in this concerto, a work that I think could be considered as a "symphony" with the participation of the piano. 

Richter has played this concerto pretty early in his carrier and has performed it dozens of time. (I was thinking the other day, in what ways the approach to a work can evolve, if performed so many times! I normally manage to play a work (in public) two, maximum three, times. How my performance would be after, say, 50 times? I just cannot imagine!). 

Prokofiev and Mozart: a thought while listening to Prokofiev's 2nd Violin Concerto

David Oistrakh plays this Concerto spendidly! (EMI, with the LSO). And, while listening, for some reason, Mozart came to my mind. Mozart and Prokofiev do have something in common - an extremely rare talent to compose beautiful melodies. But, while Prokofiev is for me the personification of inventivenness,  originality and genius, with Mozart I always have this unmistakable feeling of the Divine, which I don't feel with the former's music. A subjective (and therefore possibly wrong) view...

Ravel Piano Concerto: Michelangeli's miracle!

I was listening today to Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G,  in this miraculous Michelangeli’s rendering. What an extraordinarily beautiful concerto! What a harmonious combination of power, rhythmical strictness and melodic poetry!

As regards the Second Movement (Adagio Assai), I think that one would agree that rarely has music managed to express such profound and personal feelings as is the case with this movement. Michelangeli in this famous recording, achieves a musical perfection: the solo melody in the beginning of this movement is marked with such restraint emotion, an emotion, that is, which is not “outstretched” and over-the-top; the great pianist manages to control his sound and, eventually, achieves to eliminate his own presence allowing the sublime melody to speak for itself. Seldom in the recording history has such a prodigious result been achieved.

I have practiced this Concerto in the past and would love to play it at some point; I fear though that this will probably never happen. (I now remember a friend of mine who did play this work and was telling me that she was playing the Adagio Assai with tears in her eyes).

Richter on Rachmaninoff's Prelude

I often read parts of Sviatoslav Richter's diaries (from "Richter the enigma") - and whenever I do, I always find interesting things. Today, I read an entry made in 31.1.1977, about Rachmaninoff's F sharp minor Prelude - one of my favorite. I copy: "R's F sharp minor Prelude is a sombre and poetical piece. Neuhaus thought it was the best of the whole collection. In it you feel the freshness of a Russian evening beside a pond from which mist rises up. Levitanian atmosphere." 

The problem with this piece (as is the case, sadly, with many others - including the G minor prelude) is that it has "suffered" dozens of mediocre performances; I wonder if Richter himslelf has played it, I would be very interested to listen him depicting in sound the image that so beautifully describes above. 

I personally am very fond of Sokolov's live recording of the piece. It manages to set and convey the right atmosphere.

Ennismore Gardens Church Choir...

I put on a CD today, with hymns chanted by the Choir of the Russian Church in Ennismore Gardens, London.  I so vividly remember this church; it's the place where I used to go every Sunday when I was studying in London, some thirteen (!) years ago. 

The music chanted in that church was not, of course, byzantine music, nor was it a typical four-part Russian choir.  I am afraid I don't know exactly the origins of this music, but for sure, it was not "set" music (written in full, I mean) but was chanted quite freely, mostly based on certain "modes" which were different every Sunday (quite like the byzantine music). The choirmaster at the time was Fr Michael Fortunato, a very talented musician, an inspiring director, and an excellent tenor with the sweetest voice.

The music could seem monotonous to those not familiar with its quality; but to me, it could convey the solemnity and spiritual depth of the meanings and of the prayers. There were no strict tempo or rythm indications, which gave the melody a certain freedom of movement, quite unlike anything else I'd heard before.

Now I haven't been to Ennismore Gardens for many years. I know that things have changed dramatically (it's a long and sad story), and I wonder if the music has remained the same. More than a decade after I used to go there, all that I have as a reminescance of this beautiful choir, is this CD, that I bought some years ago...   I feel always quite moved when I listen to it...

Volodos Latest Transcription (Tchaikovsky op.54 no 10)

I've written quite a few times about the Russian pianist Arcadi Volodos. I believe he is one of the really great pianists of our time. I was fortunate enough to hear him live in London, where he performed Prokofiev 2nd Concerto - it was a superb performance. (I always wonder why didn't he ever record this concerto?...)

Anyway, I want to say a few words about his transcriptions, and in particular his latest one - Thaikovsky's "lullaby in a storm" which he played/recorded in his Vienna recital. As I've written in the past, when you write a transcription you must have in mind the instrument you are writing for - its sound and its capacities. Volodos is well aware of that, that is why his transcriptions are, in my view, very succesful from a pianistic point of view.

His latest one, I believe it's probably his best - definitely more mature that the others. It somehow goes deeper than the previous ones, in terms of richness of sound and atmosphere. Volodos takes full advantage of the piano's inherent capacities; he also enriches the score with a multi-dimentional melodic line (one can easily see Rachmaninoff's influence here). The result is a wonderful piece which does not "look" like a transcription at all...

I would very much like to play this piece but I cannot find the score!

The sound of silence...

Last weekend, I went to a remote Greek mountain village called Artotina. It is really in the middle of nowhere, inhabited by thirty or so people during the winter and many more during August.... This, sadly, seems to be the fate of so many Greek villages - to be deserted except for one month a year.
I realised that by simply being there, one gets a clear and distinct feeling of spiritual (and intellectual) freshness. Yet it seems that we (I, at least) are so affected by the busyness of city-life that such feeling cannot and does not last for much longer than a couple of hours after one returns.
No music up there! One evening, we went up to the top (almost!) of the mountain, where I experienced the sound of silence. One could only hear the smooth whistling of the wind accompanied sweetly by the goat bells. Being exposed to so much music throughout the year, I felt that this very "music", this echo of eternity, had a cathartic effect over me... This picture is from there, 1, 800 metres up....

A word on Byzantine music: Doxastikon for the Feast of the Dormition

I've written before about byzantine music but these days I have a very good reason to say a few more things... This music is very different to the western music, for sure, not only in terms of notation, rules etc, but also (and most importantly) in terms of the essense and style of the music; byzantine music does not have any dynamics signs (piano, forte and the like). Often, there is not even a tempo indication (though there is always a rhythm); the qualities of this music are not easily accessible to the listener, one has to discover the inner beauty of this music, the aim of which is to facilitate prayer, not to distract the heart and/or the mind therefrom. We should never forget that this music is, first and foremost, a music to be heard only in the church, during a service - not in a concert hall or for any other occasion. So this music is addressed not to an audience but to God.

For the Orthodox Church, the 15th of August is dedicated to the feast of the Dormition of the Virgin. This is not the place to explain what that means (a google search is enough for anyone interested). What I wanted to say is that, for that feast there is a troparion, a doxastikon dedicated to the Mother of God, which, in my view is possibly the best thing ever composed (by Petros Lambadarios) for that music. The really interesting thing is that this doxastikon is not written in one "mode" but uses all 8 musical "modes" that byzantine music consists of. So, every verse introduces a new sound, and, on that respect, this music is the best introduction to the character and difference of these modes. Here is this doxastikon, performed by the Hellenic Byzantine Choir (as I have said, in my view, the best byzantine choir nowadays) and directed by Lykourgos Angelopoulos - a person who has dedicated his life to researching and teaching this music...
The words of this doxastikon:

Greek: Θεαρχίω νεύματι, πάντοθεν οι θεοφόροι Απόστολοι, υπό νεφών μεταρσίως αιρόμενοι, καταλαβόντες τό πανάχραντον, καί ζωαρχικόν σου σκήνος, εξόχως ησπάζοντο.Αι δέ υπέρτατοι τών ουρανών Δυνάμεις, σύν τώ οικείω Δεσπότή παραγενόμεναι, τό θεοδόχον καί ακραιφνέστατον σώμα προπέμπουσι, τώ δέει κρατούμεναι, υπερκοσμίως δέ προώχοντο, καί αοράτως εβόων, ταίς ανωτέραις ταξιαρχίαις, ιδού η παντάνασσα θεόπαις παραγέγονεν.Άρατε πύλας, καί ταύτην υπερκοσμίως υποδέξασθε, τήν τού αενάου φωτός Μητέρα. Διά ταύτης γάρ η παγγενής τών βροτών σωτηρία γέγονεν, ή ατενίζειν ουκ ισχύομεν, καί ταύτη άξιον γέρας απονέμειν αδύνατον. Ταύτης γάρ τό υπερβάλλον, υπερέχει πάσαν έννοιαν. Διό άχραντε Θεοτόκε, αεί σύν ζωηφόρω Βασιλεί, καί τόκω ζώσα, πρέσβευε διηνεκώς, περιφρουρήσαι καί σώσαι, από πάσης προσβολής εναντίας τήν νεολαίαν σου. Tήν γάρ σήν προστασίαν κεκτήμεθα. Εις τούς αιώνας, αγλαοφανώς μακαρίζοντες.

And an English translation: With a sign by the authority of God, the god-bearing Apostles, having been delivered upon clouds from all around the world and having reached your immaculate and life-delivering body, venerated it resplendently.And the sublime Forces of the Heavens, present along with our Lord, escorted your god-receiving and impeccable relic, filled with awe, preceeding the heavenly procession and resounding invisibly to the Higher Battalions:"Behold, the Queen of all, who bore the God-child, has arrived! Raise the Gates and welcome her celestially, her, the Mother of the eternal Light! Through her came about the deliverance of the entire genre of the mortals. And to gaze upon her surpasses our powers, nor is it possible to offer her a Praise worthy enough. For her excessive glory surmounts every perception."Immaculate Mother of God, you who forever lives along with your life-giving King and son, intercede always so that your people shall be protected and delivered from every assault. For we have been gifted with your protection. Unto the ages of ages, we bless you in all your radiant glory.

On the youtube link here below, one can have an idea of the byzantine notation as well...

Chasse Neige... (2)

Can you believe it? I started looking at the score today! To be honest, I had practiced the piece many years ago but I always hesitated to play it in public for the reasons exposed yesterday. But this time, I have a feeling that something might come out...
Yet one can immediately see that this study requires very special technical skills - especially in order to achieve good and even tremolandi. I also realised that I need to learn the score by heart asap - you risk playing too many wrong notes otherwise.
I am quite curious to see what will come out of this...

By the way, the best performance of the piece I 've ever heard is by Kissin. Unfortunately, I could not find it on youtube; it's an extraordinary recording, one that really goes beyond a "good" or even an "excellent" performance. Kissin does so many interesting and original things and in such a persuasive way. The way, for instance, he achieves the chromatic "wave-effect" around the middle of the piece, is quite unparalleled. I do admire him just for this 3 minutes recording...

Chasse Neige...

I've just listened to an excellent rendering of my beloved etude by Lizst. It's by Berezovsky and it's a live recording from his recital in Roque d'Anthéron (I must say I don't really like this hall). What I liked in this performance is the sustained pathos, the inner energy and the vast richness of his sound-palette. Especially towards the end of the study (last page), one can really sense this infinite, unbearable nostalgy.


I so much want to play this etude; yet it requires such an emotional sacrifice that I am not sure I can offer! Technically it is hard, of course (though not the hardest of the set). But, interpretation wise, I believe it's one of the most difficult. It's one of these pieces one can study forever... (it does sound a bit hopeless, doesn't it?!!)

Concert in Maldon - Essex UK

I am writing this in Tiptree, a village in Essex-UK, where I am staying with some good friends. Yesterday, Frank took me to a very good concert which happened in St Mary's Church, in a beautiful village called Maldon. The concert was part of the "4th Maldon Festival of Arts", and featured the Pegasus Baroque and the Choir of St Mary's performing works by Purcell, Bach and Handel. The highlight of the evening was the Dixit Dominus HWV 232, a wonderful and very demanding work in 8 parts. I copy from the program: "The work requires extraordinary virtuosity from every performer; singers and players alike, and it may be that Handel was simply experimenting to see just how far his musicians could be stretched".

It was such a pleasant surprise to hear this choir, masterfully directed by Colin Baldy: they were singing with passion and joy and they seemed to so much enjoy making music! (I could actually see them smiling!) From a musical point of view, I think they really did their best to face this most challening score. I think that the tempi were a bit on the presto side (especially in Gloria Patri). But the result was an exciting and explosive sound which reverberated around the thick walls of this old church.

The program included also Vergnugte Ruh by Bach (an interesting cantata). I shouldn't forget to mention the accurate and sensitive performance by the young solo counter-tenor Raffaele Pe. He seems to have a very promising career ahead.

In England there are so many wonderful oportunities to hear good music. I really miss that in Greece, I must say. In the UK one can hear music of the highest calibre even in the most remote village of the country...

Paraphrase for piano on the Intermezzo Sinfonico (Cavalleria Rusticana)

Well, I must say I really enjoyed doing this video-recording!

It is indeed a wonderful piece of music and I always thought that all piano transcriptions made so far (at least to my knowledge) seemed to be lacking something, and not to "work" for the piano.
So I made an attempt to write my own transcription, taking the decision to take some freedom with the score, in order (as I explain) to make it sound like a pianistic piece. This, in my view, should be the aim of every transcription... Not easy and very challenging!

Whether this particular one is a success or not, is really up to you to decide!

Here it is:

Shostakovich: Jazz Suite Waltz 2 (Suite for a Variety Orchestra)

At the end of a tiring day, this music set me in a good and relaxed mood... Shostakovich has written some really superb music, and I am particularly fond of his piano music - especially his 48 preludes & fugues; I was actually fortunate enough to perform three of them.

The interesting thing about this Suite is that, although it is generally known as "Jazz Suite no 2", the actual and correct name is "Suite for a Variety Orchestra". The material comes, to a great extent, from another work - a soundtrack written by S. in the 1950s. So, this is mostly recycled material, but it is obvious that S did not just copy the music but developed it in a most creative manner.

This particular waltz (probably the best part of this suite) has a particular ligthness and elegance but this is not the clue to its success; the secret, I think, lies in the melodic line - it has a natural charm, I mean, it comes out so effortlessly, as if no other melodic path or choice is conceivable.

And again, the eternal question - where does a melody come from?

Which hidden force brings it to light?
What kind of instinct "decides" on the way the melodic line will follow?
And what makes one melody more succesful than another?...

Concert in Athenaeum - May 2011

I don't quite know why I got so stressed about this concert. Maybe the reason is that I had so little time to practice - in the end I only managed to practice a maximum of 2 hours daily. (I remember now my RCM days, when I had all the time of the world and I used to practice 4-5 hours a day...).
My program consisted of:
i. Schumann - Kinderszenen, op. 15.
ii. Rachmaninoff - Prelude in F sharp minor, and Etudes Tableaux 0p.33 no 4, and op. 39 no 1 and 6.
iii. Bach - 2nd English Suite in A minor
iv. Prokofiev - a selection of small pieces, including a transcription of "Romance" from Lieutenant Kije.

As an encore, I played a wonderful transcription by Egon Petri, of a Bach's cantata ("May the Sheep Safely Graze").

Around 40 people came, most of them friends and colleagues, and the atmosphere was warm and cosy. It's so strange, one is really stressed the days before the concert, but normally on the day of the concert itself all intense feelings seem to die down. So, when I actually sat on the piano (a beautiful Steinway), I felt quite relaxed.
The concert hall is located in one of the nicest areas of Athens - Thisseion, just opposite the Acropolis, in a street that is now fortunately pedestrianised.

All in all, I think it went ok. Best performance was possibly Prokofiev (I realised once more how at ease I feel with his music despite its technical difficulty).

No more concert in the near future! But I am looking forward to a couple of recordings I'll make for youtube... So... stay tuned!

Let all mortal flesh keep silence...

Holy Week, the deepest and most beautiful week of the year is approaching! In the Orthodox Church, there is such a vast richness of hymns, music, meanings. If only I could even give a hint of all that - but, alas, it's not possible.

Musically speaking, the best example of the profound beauty of so-called Byzantine music is a hymn sung on Great Saturday morning. I think it's an ancient hymn. Here are the words:
Let all mortal flesh keep silence, and with fear and trembling stand; ponder nothing earthly-minded, for the King of kings, the Lord of lords, will give to all the faithful His own self for heavenly food. Rank on rank the host of heaven spreads its vanguard on the way, the Principalities, the Authorities, the Cherubim with countless eyes, the six-winged Seraphim, veil their faces to the presence, as with ceaseless voice they cry: Alleluia

The best version (known to me) is written by Iakovos Protopsaltis and it is sung by the Hellenic Byzantine Choir (directed by Lykourgos Angelopoulos). It's such a moving hymn, especially when put in the particular context of the day and time it is sung. On the other hand, the music is not sentimental, yet it conveys with great power and solemnity a spiritual intensity which, to me, goes beyond feelings.


I know that this music seems very strange to those who are not familiar to its sound. But it's worth spending some time discovering it. And this particular hymn is a very good introduction.

Back to Bach...

After quite a long period of silence, I am so glad to be able to write something again here... It's been (and still is in a way) a difficult period for me. And, at times such as these, one realises the importance of music - the healing power that emanates from the beauty of sound.
The only thing that I really wanted to practise during this period was JS Bach. I am working on the 2nd English Suite (in A minor) which is, in my view, the best of the set. I played it 5 years ago, and I always wanted to play it again. This is the thing with Bach's music: one never grows tired of it; sooner or later, one will come back to it.

The 2nd Suite is a very demanding piece of music, one has to keep the tempo in absolute control, especially in the long introductory prelude. There are some really fascinating moments: the slow, thoughful Sarabande, the playful Bourre II, the exciting Gigue... Let's hope that I'll be able to play it in public soon.

Here is Bouree I and II and the final Gigue, played by Anatoly Vedernikoff in a really excellent recording. I don't know many things about him except that he was a good friend with Richter.