- Location
- La Colle sur Loup
(I don't think this has already been phoenixed yet, I tried searching, apologies if so)
I got back from two weeks in the UK in desperate need of some warmth from my record player, to discover that Pierre Boulez died (yesterday I think). So it was to the cd player for a spin of:
Maurice Pollini - Stravinsky/Prokofiev/Boulez
But I have to confess I cannot really get on with Boulez as a composer. Maybe that magnificent Mahler 3 he conducted will appear later.
Then I listened to this which arrived while I was away:
Choir of Young Believers - This is for the Whites of Your Eyes
Bought on the back of liking the theme for "The Bridge" (Hollow Talk), I rather like the rest of it too.
The lyrics on the other tracks are much easier to decipher (suggesting the ambiguities in Hollow Talk are deliberate). Plenty of strings (cello and violin) and other analogue instruments augmenting a usual rock-band set-up. It's kind of like a Royskopp/Arcade Fire hybrid. No bad thing!
And then this utterly electrifying performance of Beethoven's Violin Concerto op 61 - which was Radio 4's Front Row's record of 2015 (or one of them).
Thomas Gould - Live in Riga
It's music I already have, but my, I can see why it got such rave reviews, he plays it with such depth and soul. I actually checked to see if the recording is quicker than the other one I have (it isn't) because this is sometimes how performers make something seem to come to life (or so it seems to me anyway). Terrific recording, but alas all three of the above are on cd, so the Roksan will not get a dusting tonight...
I got back from two weeks in the UK in desperate need of some warmth from my record player, to discover that Pierre Boulez died (yesterday I think). So it was to the cd player for a spin of:

Maurice Pollini - Stravinsky/Prokofiev/Boulez
But I have to confess I cannot really get on with Boulez as a composer. Maybe that magnificent Mahler 3 he conducted will appear later.
Then I listened to this which arrived while I was away:

Choir of Young Believers - This is for the Whites of Your Eyes
Bought on the back of liking the theme for "The Bridge" (Hollow Talk), I rather like the rest of it too.
The lyrics on the other tracks are much easier to decipher (suggesting the ambiguities in Hollow Talk are deliberate). Plenty of strings (cello and violin) and other analogue instruments augmenting a usual rock-band set-up. It's kind of like a Royskopp/Arcade Fire hybrid. No bad thing!
And then this utterly electrifying performance of Beethoven's Violin Concerto op 61 - which was Radio 4's Front Row's record of 2015 (or one of them).

Thomas Gould - Live in Riga
It's music I already have, but my, I can see why it got such rave reviews, he plays it with such depth and soul. I actually checked to see if the recording is quicker than the other one I have (it isn't) because this is sometimes how performers make something seem to come to life (or so it seems to me anyway). Terrific recording, but alas all three of the above are on cd, so the Roksan will not get a dusting tonight...
Last edited: