Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Piano Sonatas K. 330, 331 'Alla Turca', 332

"Mozart scholars long took it for granted that the three piano sonatas K. 330-332 were written in Paris in the year 1778. However, some twenty years ago, detailed research on the only partly extant autographs made it necessary to revise this dating: both Mozart’s handwriting and the type of paper used point to 1783 as the year of composition. But it is still unclear whether Mozart composed the sonatas in Vienna, where he had been living as a freelance musician since the spring of 1781, or on a trip to Salzburg in the summer and autumn of 1783. The musicologist Alan Tyson, who also undertook the paper research, thought it more likely that they were written during his stay in Salzburg.

"Mozart set out for Salzburg in July 1783, along with his wife Constanze, whom he had married in Vienna on 4 August 1782. Since the wedding had taken place in the absence of both his father and his sister, he was obliged to introduce his wife to his closest relatives at some stage – it is probable that this 'presentation' of Constanze was his main reason for travelling to the city for which he had so little affection. Later commentators have surmised that Mozart’s father and sister gave his wife none too warm a welcome. Yet there can be little truth in this, for during their time there the whole family went to call on acquaintances in Salzburg, and passed the time with excursions, visits to the theatre, and making music together. In the three months or so that he spent in Salzburg, Mozart seems to have composed little, to judge from the fairly solid information we have. It was during this time that he wrote the two Duos for violin and viola K. 423 and K. 424, with which he is supposed to have helped Michael Haydn out of a tight corner. But the 'Mass in C minor, K. 427', specifically intended for performance in Salzburg, remained unfinished. Mozart had already made a start on the composition in the winter of 1782/83, but he wrote only two of the movements that were still lacking while in Salzburg. Perhaps he spent his time there on these three piano sonatas instead. But if he really did compose them in Salzburg, they were apparently not yet finished when he returned to Vienna in November. So much is indicated by the letter he wrote to his father from Vienna on 9 and 12 June 1784 (which incidentally is the only document in the Mozart correspondence in which these sonatas are mentioned): 'Now I have given Artaria for printing the three sonatas for solo keyboard which I once sent my sister, the first in C, the second in A, and the third in F.' If Mozart had already completed the sonatas in Salzburg, he would hardly have had to send them to his sister from Vienna.

"The quotation from this letter also shows that Mozart sent the three works to press together. They were published by the Viennese firm of Artaria in the summer of 1784 as 'Trois Sonates pour le Clavecin ou Pianoforte composèes par W. A. Mozart. Oeuvre. VI.'; the edition was advertised in the 'Wiener Zeitung' of 25 August as a 'novelty'. Mozart certainly conceived the sonatas from the beginning as a homogeneous group of three, that is to say as an 'opus'. Not only did he give the Sonatas K. 330 and K. 332 the respective headings 'Sonate I.' and 'Sonate III.', as can be seen on the extant pages of the autographs, he also coordinated the three works with regard to formal design and characteristics. The tonic keys of the three sonatas stand in a relationship of falling thirds to one another, and each sonata presents a different combination of tempo directions and time signatures in its individual movements. One need go no further than a comparison between the opening movements of the Sonatas K. 330 and K. 332 to realise Mozart’s concern with diversity of artistic resources: whereas K. 330's 'Allegro moderato' in 2/4 begins with a capricious-seeming, diatonic descending phrase, the 3/4 'Allegro' of K.332 starts with a rising melody built on a broken tonic triad, whose cantabile character makes it seem like the second subject of a sonata allegro, rather than the first. The respective themes of the slow movements of these two sonatas offer a similar contrast in design. What is more, the movements' formal layout is quite different: the ternary form of the first sonata's 'Andante cantabile' is answered, in the 'Adagio' of the third, by a sonata form without development. The only thing the two movements have in common is their great wealth of expression.

"At the centre of this trilogy stands K. 331, the most unusual of the sonatas. Not only do its three movements – theme and variations, minuet, rondo finale – represent types that occur in neither of the other two sonatas, but a sonata that opened with a variation movement was at that time something quite new in Vienna. Another special feature is the finale with its flavour of janissary music, the celebrated 'Alla Turca'. Here Mozart takes up once more the Turkish style he had already exploited in his 'Singspiel Die Entführung aus dem Serail, K.384', yet at the same time seems almost to caricature it through stylistic exaggeration. It is interesting to note that, in the first three impressions of the Artaria edition, the Alla Turca bore the unusual tempo marking 'All[e]grino', which was later changed to 'Allegretto'. Without this alteration, not a single tempo indication would have been repeated in the course of the three sonatas' total of nine movements – which was clearly Mozart’s intention.

"With the ingenious layout, sophisticated details and rich substance of his three sonatas K. 330-332, Mozart provided enough to satisfy any connoisseur (Kenner). But above all, he could use this opus 6 as a forceful reminder to the well-off Viennese amateur pianists (Liebhaber), from whom he earned his living as a teacher and performer, that he was also a composer of piano sonatas. Just why these sonatas might be attractive to potential buyers is summed up in a nutshell by an announcement in the 'Staats- und Gelehrten Zeitung des Hamburgischen unpartheyischen Correspondenten' from the year 1785: 'Three splendid sonatas which, if properly played, make an excellent effect.'" (Andreas Friesenhagen, tr. Charles Johnston. From the liner notes.)

Performer: Andreas Staier

1. Piano Sonata In C Major, K. 330: I. Allegro Moderato
2. Piano Sonata In C Major, K. 330: II. Andante Cantabile
3. Piano Sonata In C Major, K. 330: III. Allegretto
4. Piano Sonata In A Major,  K. 331 'Alla Turca': I. Andante Grazioso (Thème Et Variations)
5. Piano Sonata In A Major,  K. 331 'Alla Turca': II. Menuetto - Trio
6. Piano Sonata In A Major,  K. 331 'Alla Turca': III. Alla Turca. Allegretto
7. Piano Sonata In F Major, K. 332: I. Allegro
8. Piano Sonata In F Major, K. 332: II. Adagio
9. Piano Sonata In F Major, K. 332: III. Allegro Assai

flac/16-bit

Richard Wagner - Götterdämmerung

"Wagner’s tetralogy, 'Der Ring des Nibelungen' ('The Ring of the Nibelung') was first performed as a whole in August 1876 at the new Festspielhaus in Bayreuth. The complete cycle consists of a Prologue, 'Das Rheingold' ('The Rhinegold'), followed the next day by 'Die Walküre' ('The Valkyrie'), and then by 'Siegfried', leading up to the final 'Götterdämmerung' ('Twilight of the Gods'). Wagner’s first sketches for the libretto of the fourth projected opera, initially under the title 'Siegfrieds Tod' ('Siegfried’s Death'), and later 'Götterdämmerung' ('Twilight of the Gods'), is dated 1848. To this he found it necessary to add an explanatory prologue, for which he made the first musical sketches in 1850. He interrupted his work in order to draft the three earlier operas of the cycle, then returning to 'Götterdämmerung', in which he now made considerable changes. The first complete draft of the work was written between 1869 and 1872 and the full score was finished in 1874. The work was first heard at Bayreuth in 1876 when the whole of the tetralogy was performed. As before, leading motifs associated with characters, events and ideas in the drama, recur, interwoven to unify the whole conception.

"The sources of the plot were found in Icelandic sagas, the 13th-century Middle High German 'Das Nibelungenlied' and the Old Norse 'Thidreks Saga af Bern', but Wagner had recourse to a wide range of other reading, while the structure of the tetralogy and the underlying theme of the curse owes a strong debt to Aeschylus and Greek tragedy." (Keith Anderson. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic Chorus, Jaap van Zweden, Gun-Brit Barkmin, Daniel Brenna, Shenyang, Eric Halfvarson, Amanda Majeski, Michelle DeYoung

1.1. Vorspiel
1.2. Prolog: 'Welch Licht Leuchtet Dort?'
1.3. Prolog: Zwischenspiel. Tagesgrauen
1.4. Prolog: 'Zu Neuen Taten, Teurer Helde'
1.5. Prolog: 'Mehr Gabst Du, Wunderfrau'
1.6. Prolog: Siegfrieds Rheinfahrt
1.7. Aufzug I, Szene I: 'Nun Hör', Hagen, Sage Mir, Held'
1.8. Aufzug I, Szene I: 'Was Weckst Du Zweifel Und Zwist?'
1.9. Aufzug I, Szene I: 'Vom Rhein Her Tönt Das Horn'

2.1. Aufzug I, Szene II: 'Wer Ist Gibich's Sohn?'
2.2. Aufzug I, Szene II: 'Begrüße Froh, O Held'
2.3. Aufzug I, Szene II: 'Willkommen, Gast, In Gibich's Haus!'
2.4. Aufzug I, Szene II: 'Hast Du, Gunther, Ein Weib?'
2.5. Aufzug I, Szene II: 'Blut-Brüderschaft Schwöre Ein Eid!'
2.6. Aufzug I, Szene II: 'Hier Sitz' Ich Zur Wacht'
2.7. Aufzug I: Zwischenspiel (Entr'acte)
2.8. Aufzug I, Szene III: 'Altgewohntes Geräusch'
2.9. Aufzug I, Szene III: 'Seit Er Von Dir Geschieden'
2.10. Aufzug I, Szene III: 'Da Sann Ich Nach: Von Seiner Seite'
2.11. Aufzug I, Szene III: 'Blitz Und Gewölk, Vom Wind Getragen'
2.12. Aufzug I, Szene III: 'Jetzt Bist Du Mein'

3.1. Aufzug II: Vorspiel
3.2. Aufzug II, Szene I: 'Schläfst Du, Hagen, Mein Sohn?'
3.3. Aufzug II: Zwischenspiel
3.4. Aufzug II, Szene II: 'Hoiho, Hagen! Müder Mann!'
3.5. Aufzug II, Szene III: 'Hoiho! Ihr Gibichs-Mannen, Machet Euch Auf!'
3.6. Aufzug II, Szene IV: 'Heil Dir, Gunther!'
3.7. Aufzug II, Szene IV: 'Brünnhild', Die Hehrste Frau'
3.8. Aufzug II, Szene IV: 'Was Ist Ihr? Ist Sie Entrückt?'
3.9. Aufzug II, Szene IV: 'Achtest Du So Der Eig'nen Ehre?'
3.10. Aufzug II, Szene IV: 'Helle Wehr, Heilige Waffe!'
3.11. Aufzug II, Szene V: 'Welches Unholds List Liegt Hier Verhohlen?'
3.12. Aufzug II, Szene V: 'Dir Hilft Kein Hirn'

4.1. Aufzug III: Vorspiel
4.2. Aufzug III, Szene I: 'Frau Sonne Sendet Lichte Strahlen'
4.3. Aufzug III, Szene I: 'Ich Höre Sein Horn'
4.4. Aufzug III, Szene I: 'Was Leid' Ich Doch Das Karge Lob?'
4.5. Aufzug III, Szene II: 'Hoiho? - Hoihe!'
4.6. Aufzug III, Szene II: 'Mime Hieß Ein Mürrischer Zwerg'
4.7. Aufzug III, Szene II: 'Was Hör' Ich!'
4.8. Aufzug III, Szene II: 'Brünnhilde! Heilige Braut!'
4.9. Aufzug III: Zwischenspiel. Trauermarsch
4.10. Aufzug III, Szene III: 'War Das Sein Horn?'
4.11. Aufzug III, Szene III: 'Schweigt Eures Jammers'
4.12. Aufzug III, Szene III: 'Starke Scheite Schichtet Mir Dort'
4.13. Aufzug III, Szene III: 'Mein Erbe Nun Nehm' Ich Zu Eigen'
4.14. Aufzug III, Szene III: 'Fliegt Heim Ihr Raben!'
4.15. Aufzug III: Schluss

flac/16-bit

Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji - The Complete Songs for Soprano

"Sorabji's mother (Madeleine Mathilde Sorabji, 1874?-1959) seems to have been a soprano of Spanish-Sicilian descent who apparently abandoned a singing career for family reasons. Sorabji's unpublished essay 'Concert Going Memories,' devoted mainly to singers and their art, mentions her having sung the role of Marguerite in a French production of Berlioz's 'Le Damnation de Faust' although he was too young at the time to recall specific details. Sorabji testifies to his mother's encouragement of his attending lieder recitals where he heard some of the great singers of that time, including 'the incomparable Louise Kirkby Lunn,' of whose performance he wrote of the 'utterly unique beauty of (her) voice [...] like purple velvet [...] the incomparable technique and sheer singing mastery, the transcendent distinction and beauty of her performance (which) is as vivid in my memory as it was then' (at least half a century later). Sorabji said that his mother also played piano and organ and gave him his first piano lessons when he was aged about six. There can be little doubt that she also instilled in her only child a love of fine singing which remained with him for the rest of his long life; it is reflected in many of his published reviews and essays. 

"Sorabji was no child prodigy in the conventional sense; whilst he seems to have recognised early on that his future lay in some kind of career in music, its precise directions remained unclear until his early twenties. As a boy, he absorbed large amounts of baroque, classical and romantic repertoire but his enquiring mind also led him to team much about the newest trends in music. Assimilating substantial quantities of contemporary European music was no mean feat in the inward-looking unadventurous environment of Edwardian England, a pre-gramophone age where such work was performed very rarely or not at all. Considered a multi-racial outsider (his father was a Parsi from Bombay), Sorabji must have cut an odd figure in those days, investigating with irrepressible excitement the most recent creations of composers such as Debussy, Rachmaninov, Mahler, Ravel, Bartók, Strauss, Medtner and Schönberg. He conveyed with unremitting enthusiasm the results of his discoveries and endeavoured to persuade various powers-that-were of the urgent need for such music to be heard by English audiences. There was even a story that, when barely 14, the intrepid Sorabji made a solo pilgrimage to Essen to hear the world premiere of Mahler's Sixth Symphony conducted by the composer; when I questioned him on this in the 1970s, he broke into a broad grin, obviously enjoyed the tantalising effect of his deliberate refusal to confirm or deny this rumour and gave away nothing beyond the remark 'Good story, isn't it!'. 

"A gifted pianist but pathologically reluctant performer, Sorabji was unsure what to do with this knowledge; for a time he contemplated a career as a critic and indeed managed to pursue one parallel to his life as a composer until his mid-fifties, contributing articles and reviews to 'The New Age' and 'The New English Weekly' and publishing two books of essays. Around 1915, while planning a book on Ravel, he seemed to stumble accidentally on the idea of composing his own music, a fact all the more remarkable when one considers the sheer prolixity of his output over the following seven decades. As a composer, then, Sorabji was a very late starter; although his first music was composed when he was about the same age as was Beethoven when he published his Op. 1 piano trios, whereas Beethoven had already completed many works before his first publication, it seems that Sorabji wrote nothing at all before the age of 22.

"Given his love of the voice, it might seem curious that he wrote few songs and no stage works, preferring instead to direct the majority of his energies to keyboard writing. Performance of his entire song œuvre would, for example, occupy barely one quarter of that required to present just one of his large piano works, the famous 'Opus Clavicembalisticum'. Sorabji devoted his first two years of composition entirely to songs for voice and piano and to piano concertos. With two exceptions, all his songs are for voice and piano and most feature soprano. 

"Sorabji the song composer seemed particularly drawn to the poetry of the French symbolists and their English contemporaries such as Ernest Dowson. His first ten songs were composed during World War I when his harmonic language had yet to develop into the Busoni- and Szymanowski-influenced yet highly individual one of his maturity. His principal examples at this stage seem to have been Cyril Scott, Scriabin, Ravel, Ornstein and even Roslavets. Although it is uncertain whether his youthful contemporary music researches drew the last of these into his circle of acquaintance, his contemporary writings evidence his awareness of Ornstein's more experimental music, he certainly attended Scriabin's London appearances in 1913 and was later to meet Roussel (and possibly also Ravel) in Paris. (Ornstein was, incidentally, a close contemporary of Sorabji and died only in February 2002).

"A consequence of Sorabji's desire for personal privacy and consequent reclusivity was a reluctance to speak or write about his own music; this accounts for the dearth of recorded interview material. Even in the early days, he devoted little energy to securing performances of his music; only three of the songs written during his 20s reached performance by 1921; others not until the late 1970s and 1990s; only those specified below have received public performance at all. Every song on the present CD is a recorded première.

"Of all Sorabji's articles on singing, singers and vocal repertoire, it is arguably 'The Great French Song Writers' ('Mi Contra Fa', 1947) which points most closely to many of the persuasions in his own song-writing and provides the greatest key to his thinking and ideals as a song composer.  

 

"[...] The 1941 songs almost conclude Sorabji's career as songwriter, although he continued to compose for at least another 40 years. On the strength of his finest contributions to the singer's repertoire, it seems a pity that, for so much of Sorabji's creative life, songwriting appears almost to have assumed the role of what the poet Robert Frost called 'the path not taken'." (Alistair Hinton. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Elizabeth Farnum, Margaret Kampmeier

1. Trois Poèmes: Correspondances

2. Trois Poèmes: Crépuscule Du Soir Mystique

3. Trois Poèmes: Pantomime

4. Chrysilla

5. Roses Du Soir

6. The Poplars

7. L'Heure Exquise

8. Vocalise

9. I Was Not Sorrowful

10. L'Étang

11. Hymne À Aphrodite

12. Apparition

13. (Trois Chants): Le Faune

14. (Trois Chants): Les Chats

15. (Trois Chants): La Dernière Fête Galante

16. Trois Fêtes Galantes: L'Allée

17. Trois Fêtes Galantes: À La Promenade

18. Trois Fêtes Galantes: Dans La Grotte

19. L'Irrémédiable

20. Arabesque

mp3/320kbps

Jan Ladislav Dussek - Sonatas; Fantasia and Fugue

"Dussek settled in two places in turn, both capital cities and major cultural centres: Paris and London. He arrived in Paris in 1786 and remained there till 1789, when he left in the midst of the turmoil produced by the Revolution, his departure motivated by a justified fear that his close contact with Marie Antoinette could have fatal consequences. Like so many fugitives from the political upheaval in France, he headed for London - but returned to Paris again for the last five years of his life. Dussek spent a full ten years in London, making it the longest period he stayed in any one place. And it didn't take him long to become established as one of the city's most prominent musical personalities. It was here that the four piano sonatas on this disc were written. Dussek's op. 31 consisting of a single sonata framed by two piano trios - appeared in 1795 while op. 35 was published in 1797. 

"If Dussek's biography seems to belong more in the 19th century than the 18th, the same is true of his music in many respects. Permeated as they are by heroism and triumphant antitheses, don't the first movements of the C minor and G major sonatas recall the music of Beethoven's middle period? Yet Beethoven had only just published his earliest piano sonatas, op. 2, in 1796, so Dussek can scarcely have been familiar with them. And isn't the first movement of the B-flat sonata reminiscent of Schubert in its rhapsodic approach to sonata form and its fondness for colourful modulations instead of thematic development? Yet 1797 was the year of Schubert's birth! Other features of Dussek's music point even farther into the future: a specific 'salon tone' especially evident in the last movements of op. 31/2, op. 35/1 and op. 34/2 with their hint of Bohemian folk music, takes us into the world of John Field and Chopin, both of whom were to delight Parisian high society with their Polish mazurkas some decades hence. Incidentally, one cannot help but wonder at this stage whether the Paris correspondent of the Leipzig 'Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung,' whose obituary on Dussek is quoted at the beginning of this text, was right to claim Dussek as a German composer without elaborating. For the fact is that the above-mentioned 'salon tone' actually originated in Paris or London rather than in Vienna; and moreover, surprising as it may seem, Vienna was the only major European music centre that the widely traveled virtuoso never visited. We also find a certain casualness about Dussek's compositions which is by no means typically German: consecutive fifths that could easily have been avoided are left as they are, and thematic recapitulations are often robbed of some of their clarity by minor inconsistencies that one can assume to be accidental. I have taken the liberty of doing a little retouching here and there, as I am obviously more pedantic about such matters than the composer... I am also to blame for another alteration to the original: the two movements of the B-flat sonata seem to me to have such a similar rhythm that I have been so bold as to add a brief improvised introduction before the second movement for the sake of variety. Dussek's piano writing is creative in the extreme. In comparison with the clear transparency of pre-1800 Viennese Piano music, Dussek seems altogether modern in the expansive virtuosity and full-voiced character of his writing. We have here a good example of the mutual influence of instrument and perform-er/composer on one another: the pianos of English manufacture that Dussek expressly preferred do indeed allow a much more 'modern' and expansive manner of playing than their Viennese counterparts. Both Dussek's and Clementi's music show clearly the deliberate exploitation of the potential of English pianos. Thus I was particularly fortunate to have the chance to use Jérôme Hantaï's wonderful Broadwood grand for this recording. I should like to offer special thanks to him and also to Christopher Clarke, who restored the instrument and looked after tuning etc. during the recording sessions. I very much hope that the attractive sound of the historic piano will more than compensate the listener for one or two mechanical noises that can be heard in the background. 

"Dussek left London in a hurry in 1800, as much to flee his creditors as to abandon his conjugal obligations. He made a provisional home in Hamburg, from where he undertook several concert tours to enable him to live in the extravagant style to which he was accustomed. But he was no longer a youngster, and longed for a regular, comfortable position. In 1804 he got to know Louis Ferdinand, Prince of Prussia, who engaged him both as music teacher and as musical director. The two of them evidently got on famously, with colleague Louis Spohr shaking his head over nightly bacchanalian 'orgies' (sic!)... This indulgent idyll came to an abrupt end, however, when the Prince fell in the Battle of Saalfeld in 1806. Dussek gave him a moving memorial in his 'Élegie Harmonique', the first notes of which quote the 'Consummatum est' from Haydn's 'Seven Last Words.' - Once again compelled to look elsewhere, Dussek eventually made his way to Paris, in the service of Talleyrand. He knew the city well, having spent several years there when younger, although he had moved to London ahead of the Revolution. That explains 'Le Retour À Paris' - though there is another title too. Joseph Woelfl had written a 'Ne Plus Ultra' sonata, which he saw as the last word in technical difficulty. Dussek accepted the challenge and came back with a twinkle in his eye and 'Plus Ultra.' True enough, I had to do quite a bit of practising on the outer movements... But the work has high musical ambitions too: it must be one of the earliest examples of the great romantic sonata. To end at the beginning: recitals began at that time with free prelude playing. Written down after the event, the result is something like the 'Fantasia and Fugue' in F minor, dedicated to his friend J. B. Cramer. The Fugue should be perceived more as an improvisational essay in free-ranging modulation (like most of his contemporaries' piano fugues) rather than polyphonic exaltation. Father Bach would have been amused by it at best..." (Andreas Staier, tr. Clive R. Williams; J. & M. Berridge. From the liner notes.)

Performer: Andreas Staier

1.1. Piano Sonata In B-Flat Major, Op. 35 No. 1: I. Allegro Moderato E Maestoso

1.2. Piano Sonata In B-Flat Major, Op. 35 No. 1: II. Introduzione

1.3. Piano Sonata In B-Flat Major, Op. 35 No. 1: III. Finale. Allegro Non Troppo Con Spirito

1.4. Piano Sonata In G Major, Op. 35 No. 2: I. Allegro

1.5. Piano Sonata In G Major, Op. 35 No. 2: II. Rondo. Molto Allegro Con Espressione

1.6. Piano Sonata In C Minor, Op. 35 No. 3: I. Allegro Agitato Assai

1.7. Piano Sonata In C Minor, Op. 35 No. 3: II. Adagio Patetico Ed Espressivo

1.8. Piano Sonata In C Minor, Op. 35 No. 3: III. Intermezzo. Presto

1.9. Piano Sonata In C Minor, Op. 35 No. 3: IV. Finale. Allegro Molto

1.10. Piano Sonata In D Major, Op. 31 No. 2: I. Allegro Non Tanto

1.11. Piano Sonata In D Major, Op. 31 No. 2: II. Adagio Con Espressione

1.12. Piano Sonata In D Major, Op. 31 No. 2: III. Pastorale. Allegro Non Troppo

2.1. Fantasia & Fugue, Op. 55: Fantasia

2.2. Fantasia & Fugue, Op. 55: Fugue

2.3. Piano Sonata, Op. 64 'Le Retour À Paris': Allegro Non Troppo Ed Espressivo

2.4. Piano Sonata, Op. 64 'Le Retour À Paris': Molto Adagio Con Anima Ed Espressione

2.5. Piano Sonata, Op. 64 'Le Retour À Paris': Tempo Di Minuetto - Scherzo Quasi Allegro - Trio

2.6. Piano Sonata, Op. 64 'Le Retour À Paris': Finale - Scherzo (Allegro Con Spirito)

2.7. Piano Sonata In F-Sharp Minor, Op. 61 'Elégie Harmonique': Lento Patetico - Tempo Agitato

2.8. Piano Sonata In F-Sharp Minor, Op. 61 'Elégie Harmonique': Tempo Vivace E Con Fuoco Quasi Presto

mp3/320kbps

George Enescu - Octet, Op. 7; Quintet, Op. 29

"[...] The modernist era charged Enescu with stylistic ambiguity, a perception that persists to this day. After his Romanian Poem op. 1, which he wrote in 1897 at the age of 15, and both 'Romanian rhapsodies, op. 11' (1901 and 1902), Enescu was known as a virtuoso violinist and an author of bright, charming compositions with a tinge of Bessarabia. As early as 1900, while, at the age of 19, he was working on the 'Octet, op. 7', Enescu faced the aloofness of the public. It wasn't until nearly four decades later that he was acclaimed as a composer, when experts first recognized as a revelation the mythic opera 'Oedipus, op. 23' (1936). Between the rhapsodies and 'Oedipus', Enescu created three symphonies, a poem, suites, compositions for orchestra and solo instruments, and passionate, irresistibly pictorial chamber music, under which are laid an instrumental mosaic and a flutter of imagination. The conception of each of these pieces seems unmatched. 

"'Something trembles in my heart, without interruption, either day or night,' confessed the composer. The instrumental 'technique of trembling' was noted in fact by attentive critics of 'Oedipus.' It is very much present in the orchestral version of the 'Octet, op. 7' and in the 'Quintet, op. 29' heard on this disc, as well as in that opera. The Octet finale is woven with thumping vitality. Its monotonous motion is both staggeringly malleable and truly magical, which Enescu acutely and astutely felt as early as the dawn of the 20th century. 

"Already in the first bars of the early Octet, one may discern the special 'inside-out,' mirror-like concept of Enescu's method of composing. In this system the main theme acts as a condenser, the point 'not of departure, but of conclusion.' In the later Quintet, a distant relative of both late Scriabin and mature Ravel (and at moments Prokofiev), this concept of musical movement reveals a new facet: a spontaneous and associative methodology that simultaneously deciphers and obscures the original theme. But in the finale, one discovers a striking, extremely expressive highly emotional condensing of what at first seemed just elegant play. Later Enescu would become more sophisticated, philosophical and dramatic. The modal pace of his heterophony became more inventive and similar to the steps of a ropewalker. In the ever more extensive instrumental palette, the boundaries between light and dark became less evident, as did the distinctions of form. Characteristic shades of Romanian folkloric instrumentation tread more softly and cautiously. Now only an attentive listener will notice them, in areas such as the piano part in the Quintet's 'Andante sostenuto e cantabile.' Nevertheless, his music still breathes bits of emotional substance, from hidden passion to introverted sorrow, and a sincere and wonderful solemnity. 

"Enescu shares much with those whose fate led them outside of the artistic mainstream. On the surface, his fate is similar to that of French writer Joris Karl Huysmans or Russian painter Natalia Goncharova: he knew both fame and oblivion; he signed no manifestos and belonged to no particular school; he was plagued by false interpretations and the status of both forerunner and imitator simultaneously; his novelty was subtle yet obstinate; his tenderness, flexibility, luminosity and individuality are all singular, intimately rooted in culture. For the Kremerata Baltica and Gidon Kremer — whose artistic strategy is marked by both a unique understanding of well-known repertoire and also a particular, sensitive and delicate tuning to unconventional material — joined here on the Quintet by Lithuanian-born Andrius Zlabys, one of the most gifted Baltic pianists of today, George Enescu's music is a precious discovery: splendid, mysteriously multi-dimensional and utterly thrilling." (Julia Bederova, tr. Elisabeth Konovalova. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Kremerata Baltica, Gidon Kremer, Andrius Zlabys

1. Octet, Op. 7: I. Très Modéré

2. Octet, Op. 7: II. Très Fougueux

3. Octet, Op. 7: III. Lentement

4. Octet, Op. 7: IV. Moins Vite, Animé, Mouvement De Valse Bien Rythmée

5. Quintet, Op. 29: I. Con Moto Molto Moderato –

6. Quintet, Op. 29: I. Andante Sostenuto E Cantabile

7. Quintet, Op. 29: II. Vivace, Ma Non Troppo –

8. Quintet, Op. 29: II. A Tempo, Un Poco Più Animato

mp3/320kbps

Bass Clarinet

"Romantic expression emerged as an urgent desire and need in music at the beginning of the nineteenth century and introduced sweeping changes and innovations into all the areas constituting the general field of music. 

"The chromatic extension of harmony and melody gradually moved out toward the limits of tonality and necessarily sped up the technical development of the orchestral instrumentarium, especially of the family of wind instruments. The expansion of form, larger dynamic ambitus, and increasing importance of the rhythmic element also required the continuous expansion of the orchestra. This tendency finally culminated in the mingling of new tone colors with the extended tone masses. 

"Mozart's quest for such new tone colors had led him to discover the beauty of the low clarinet registers. He introduced the basset horn, a variant of the alto clarinet, into some of his works. Thus it is not surprising that the romantic period witnessed the addition of a bass instrument to the clarinet family, the youngest of the orchestral wind groups. The bass instruments constructed in French, German, Italian, and Belgian workshops during those years (often independently of each other!) today remind us not so much of bass clarinets proper as of the primitive musical implements of indigenous peoples. 

"The initial design of the bass clarinet, with its bent, doubled wooden tube reminiscent of the bassoon or tangled windings, was nothing short of a monstrosity. Its design notwithstanding, the early bass clarinet was distinguished by a tonal magic that earned it the name of glicibarifono, 'sweet-deep-toner.' The Belgian music scholar Francois Joseph Fétis certified its special tonal qualities at a bass clarinet presentation around 1832, 'At the sight of this huge, downright gigantic instrument most members of the audience believed that they would be hearing harsh and rough tones. Instead they heard full strong, and mellow tones.' 

"Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864), a great name in the field of the grand opera, was so fond of the melodious sound of the bass clarinet that he assigned the instrument a major recitative in his opera Les Huguenots (1836), the first bass clarinet solo in the whole of music history! During the same period the famous Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax (1814-94) developed a model with an elongated tube form, the immediate precursor of today's bass clarinet, and thus paved the way for the instrument's rapid dissemination. In subsequent years there was hardly an opera composer who did not avail himself of the bass clarinet for the heightening of the mood at the major turning points in the action. Richard Wagner and Giuseppe Verdi employed the bass clarinet to create emphases of the greatest intensity. 

"Since the romantic symphonic literature was slower to move away from the traditional orchestral instrumentation, we do not meet with the bass clarinet here until later on. The 'modernists' Berlioz and Liszt, the late romantics, and composers of the twentieth century, however, have fully exploited the tonal diversity of the bass clarinet. Soon its tonal diversity was featured even outside of noble legato passages. The bass clarinet also became in-dispensable in film music. Borrowing on its employment and function in the opera orchestra, the bass clarinet succeeds in heightening even the most electric cinematic suspense. 

"The development of the bass clarinet from a successfully integrated orchestral instrument to an emancipated solo instrument was a gradual one. Most compositions for solo bass clarinet date from the decades after 1950. A few isolated works form the only exceptions: August Klughardt's 'Romanze' (ca. 1890), Francois Rasse's 'Song' (1911), and Othmar Schoeck's 'Sonata for Bass Clarinet and Piano op. 41' (1928)." (From the liner notes. Translated by Susan Marie Praeder.)

Performers: Renata Rusche, Berliner Symphoniker, Neil Varon, Stefan Pintev, Rodrigo Reichel, Thomas Oepen, Christoph Groth, Werner Hagen

1. Othmar Schoeck - Sonata, Op. 41: I. Gemessen

2. Othmar Schoeck - Sonata, Op. 41: II. Bewegt

3. Othmar Schoeck - Sonata, Op. 41: III. Bewegt

4. Olivier Messiaen - 'Abime Des Oiseaux'

5. Frits Celis - 'Da Uno A Cinque', Op. 27: I. Andante Sostenuto - Quasi Berceuse

6. Frits Celis - 'Da Uno A Cinque', Op. 27: II. Molto Agitato - Allegro Con Fuoco - Molto Tranquillo

7. Harald Genzmer - Bass Clarinet Sonata: I. Moderato

8. Harald Genzmer - Bass Clarinet Sonata: II. Presto

9. Harald Genzmer - Bass Clarinet Sonata: III. Intermezzo: Tranquillo

10. Harald Genzmer - Bass Clarinet Sonata: IV. Finale: Vivacissimo, Moderato

11. Dietrich Erdmann - Bass Clarinet Concerto: I. Adagio,Vivace

12. Dietrich Erdmann - Bass Clarinet Concerto: II. Adante, Quasi Sostenuto

13. Dietrich Erdmann - Bass Clarinet Concerto: III. Poco Adagio, Cantabile

14. Dietrich Erdmann - Bass Clarinet Concerto: IV. Allegro Grazioso

mp3/320kbps

The Rita - Lip Line

Unlike other promising new material (see splits with Skin Crime and Bacillus from last year, posted below), this 2019 release on Fall into Void Recs continues Mr. McKinlay's unfaltering obsession with the use of makeup and ballet tutorials from YouTube as source audio for HNW. This isn't to say this isn't an enjoyable release; the stuttering, extremely dense fuzz assault is satisfying in a way that only this project can provide. 

A. Lip Line I
B. Lip Line II

mp3/320kbps

Mlehst - Poacher Turned Gamekeeper Turned Poacher

A three cassette collection from English noise veteran All Brentnall's Mlehst project. Active since 1991, this project has seen something of a renaissance of activity in recent years. This project, released in an edition of 100 on the ever-interesting New Forces label in 2015, appears to be reminiscent of the 12 chapter 'History of Mlehst' series released on Self Abuse Records between 2004 and 2007 in that it is collection of remixes and snippets - although here there seems to be new material thrown in too (it could even all be new, this is only speculation). Brentnall's music tends to be more diverse than straight up harsh noise; he utilises cut-ups and vocal samples as he drags us through his murky mind-sphere. The effect is as jarring as it is fascinating. Mlehst's themes have always drifted between the forlorn and cerebral ('Living Without Feeling' from 1998 or 'The Difficulty in Crossing a Field' from the same year), English historical themes ('A Puritan Am I' or 'OhUaithnin hEoghanain' from 2006 and 'Cairdean Droich Oir' from 2010) and all-out sexual perversion (1995's 'Swollen Inside a Mouth', 2014's 'Cunt Trouble' or 2019's 'Bring Back the Whipp'). All these themes are at play here, it seems, from the darkly pastoral title and track titles like 'St. Simon of Trent', 'Can Such Things Be?' and 'Adversity and Loss Make a Man Wise' juxtaposed with the more (shall we say) visceral 'Anal Beading' and 'Toe Queen.'

A1. Temperance (Remix)
A2. Vilification (Extracts)
A3. Can Such Things Be? (Full Track)
A4. Babas Empty (New Track Remix)
B1. Babas Empty (New Track Remix)
B2. Adversity And Loss Make A Man Wise (Full Track)
B3. Anal Beading (Extract)
B4. Toe Queen (Full Track)

C1. Brigh Gach Cliché (Full Track)
C2. St Simon At Trent (Full Track)
C3. Dreadful Wind And Rain (Remix)
C4. The Blind Mans Ayes (Extract)
D1. Waters Flowing Eastward (Extract)
D2. Tyranny Of Reason (Full Track)
D3. Rope Uncoiling (Full Track)
D4. As A Man Thinketh Not (Extract)

E1. Heogh (New Realization)
E2. Another Cross To Bear (Full Track/Mix)
F1. Aymeric In Cahors (New Realization)
F2. Ringers (New Realization)
F3. Liars Folly (New Realization)

mp3/320kbps

Richard Wagner - Das Rheingold

"Wagner’s tetralogy, 'Der Ring des Nibelungen' ('The Ring of the Nibelung') was first performed as a whole in August 1876 at the new Festspielhaus in Bayreuth. The complete cycle consists of a Prologue, 'Das Rheingold' ('The Rhinegold'), followed the next day by 'Die Walküre' ('The Valkyrie'), and then by 'Siegfried', leading up to the final 'Götterdämmerung' ('Twilight of the Gods'). The texts had been completed byWagner by 1853 and the completion of the music and performance of the whole cycle in a specially created operahouse of novel design represented a summit of creative achievement, the apotheosis of German art. Leading motifs associated with characters, events and ideas in the drama, recur, interwoven to unify the whole conception.

"The sources of the drama were found in Icelandic sagas, the thirteenth-century Middle High German 'Das Nibelungenlied' and the Old Norse 'Thidreks Saga af Bern', but Wagner had recourse to a wide range of other reading, while the structure of the tetralogy and the underlying theme of the curse owes a strong debt to Aeschylus and Greek tragedy. The music of 'Das Rheingold' was completed in 1854 and follows the principles Wagner had laid down in his treatise of 1851, Opera and Drama, principles that he was to follow less rigidly in later works. In his text he made use of a form of Stabreim, the Old High German alliterative verse, familiar to English readers from early English texts. The orchestration of 'Das Rheingold' uses quadruple upper woodwind, three bassoons, eight horns, four tubas, with contra bass tuba, quadruple trumpets and trombones, a percussion section that includes an array of anvils for the Nibelungs, six harps, with a seventh on stage, and a large string section. The score was published in 1864, with a fulsome dedication to dem königlichen Freunde (the royal friend), King Ludwig II of Bavaria, and the work was first performed at the Court and National Theatre in Munich in 1869. Wagner used the occasion to intrigue, from his villa at Triebschen in Switzerland, in order to defeat his Munich opponents in the theatre administration, hoping to be recalled to save a performance from which his protégé, the young Hans Richter, had, on Wagner’s instructions, withdrawn, after the expected problems with the complicated stage machinery involved. In the event the work, on the orders of King Ludwig, who was losing patience, went ahead and was given a successful performance under another conductor." (Keith Anderson. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Jaap van Zweden, Matthias Goerne, Michelle DeYoung

1.1. Vorspiel
1.2. Szene I: 'Weia! Waga! Woge, Du Welle!'
1.3. Szene I: 'Hehe! Ihr Nicker!'
1.4. Szene I: 'Garstig Glatter Glitschiger Glimmer!'
1.5. Szene I: 'Lugt, Schwestern! Die Weckerin Lacht In Den Grund'
1.6. Szene I: 'Nur Wer Der Minne Macht Entsagt'
1.7. Szene I: 'Der Welt Erbe Gewann' Ich Zu Eigen Durch Dich'
1.8. Szene I: 'Haltet Den Räuber!'
1.9. Szene II: Einleitung
1.10. Szene II: 'Wotan! Gemahl! Erwache!'
1.11. Szene II: 'So Schirme Sie Jetzt'
1.12. Szene II: 'Sanft Schloss Schlaf Dein Aug'!'
1.13. Szene II: 'Was Sagst Du Ha! Sinnst Du Verrath'
1.14. Szene II: 'Du Da, Folge Uns Fort!'
1.15. Szene II: 'Endlich Loge! Eiltest Du So'
1.16. Szene II: 'Immer Ist Undank Loges Lohn!'
1.17. Szene II: 'Ein Runenzauber Zwingt Das Gold Zum Reif'
1.18. Szene II: 'Hör', Wotan, Der Harrenden Wort!'
1.19. Szene II: 'Schwester! Brüder! Rettet!'
1.20. Szene II: 'Wotan, Gemahl, Unsel'ger Mann'
1.21. Szene III: Verwandlungsmusik
1.22. Szene III: 'Hehe! Hehe! Hieher! Hieher! Tückischer Zwerg!'

2.1. Szene III: 'Schau, Du Schelm!'
2.2. Szene III: 'Nibelheim Hier: Durch Bleiche Nebel'
2.3. Szene III: 'Nehmt Euch In Acht! Alberich Naht'
2.4. Szene III: 'Die In Linder Lüfte Weh'n Da Oben Ihr Lebt'
2.5. Szene III: 'Ohe! Ohe! Schreckliche Schlange'
2.6. Szene III: 'Dort, Die Kröte, Greife Sie Rasch!'
2.7. Szene IV: 'Da, Vetter, Sitze Du Fest!'
2.8. Szene IV: 'Wohlan, Die Nibelungen Rief Ich Mir Nah''
2.9. Szene IV: 'Gezahlt Hab' Ich; Nun Laßt Mich Zieh'n!'
2.10. Szene IV: 'Ist Er Gelöst'
2.11. Szene IV: 'Lauschtest Du Seinem Liebesgruß'
2.12. Szene IV: 'Lieblichste Schwester, Süsseste Lust!'
2.13. Szene IV: 'Gepflanzt Sind Die Pfähle Nach Pfandes Maß'
2.14. Szene IV: 'Weiche, Wotan, Weiche! Flieh' Des Ringes Fluch!'
2.15. Szene IV: 'Soll Ich Sorgen Und Fürchten'
2.16. Szene IV: 'Halt, Du Gieriger! Gönne Mir Auch Was!'
2.17. Szene IV: 'Nun Blinzle Nach Freias Blick!'
2.18. Szene IV: 'Heda! Heda! Hedo! Zu Mir, Du Geduft!'
2.19. Szene IV: 'Bruder, Hieher! Weise Der Brücke Den Weg!'
2.20. Szene IV: 'Abendlich Strahlt Der Sonne Auge'
2.21. Szene IV: 'So Grüss' Ich Die Burg'
2.22. Szene IV: 'Rheingold! Rheingold! Reines Gold!'

flac/16-bit

Othmar Schoeck - Penthesilea

"He was a quiet artist, a composer who consciously chose to avoid styles and schools. Is the time perhaps now ripe for us to appreciate him not only as a 'pioneer' who set out in completely new directions but also as a 'perfecter'? 

"By 'we' I mean the third generation of music lovers no longer completely under the spell of the Second Viennese School, we who no longer as our fathers — often at the risk of life and liberty — have to contend for Schönberg and his circle, who can finally utter names like Zemlinsky, Schreker, Busoni, Korngold or Schoeck without fear of ridicule, as was the case just ten or twenty years ago. Nothing is more cruel than time: it enshrouds the past. Yet nothing is more just: it allows us to rediscover, to hear and see anew; it turns victory to defeat and corrects misunderstandings. 

"How many of these misunderstandings must be corrected? It would suffice to correct just one — namely, that except for 'Elektra', 'Erwarning', and 'Wozzeck', only second-rate works were composed. He certainly didn't make it easy for us, the 'minor Swiss Lieder composer' Schoeck. Why did he choose Kleist of all people? And why his grimmest work, 'Penthesilea'? Why the bizarre instrumentation: only four solo violins, but a disproportionate number of violas, cellos and double-basses; no harps, instead two pianos, no bassoons, only a bass bassoon, but ten (!) clarinets, four trumpets in the orchestra and three much-used trumpets on stage. A devil's advocate would identify one particular sore spot for the performers: the demands placed on the singers who must move from the sung to the spoken word, and not to dialogue à la 'Fidelio', but to the most demanding Kleist verse — a challenge for even the best stage actors. 

"If I may reply as Schoeck's advocate: Could a director or dramaturge have edited the work more expertly for the stage than Schoeck has? Who could not succumb, after repeated listening, to the austere, yet expressive sound of the orchestra. And on the transition from the sung to the spoken word, Schoeck's friend Hermann Hesse observed that 'throughout the work, with an almost frightening confidence, the finger is placed on the centre, on that point where the experience of the poem converges on a single word or on the vibrations between the words'. Again and again we are confronted — and estranged — by how much more conservative musicians are than writers or artists. There they sit on the treasure of the 'time-proven' and 'familiar', like Fafner guarding the Rheingold. The time has come to add the gold piece 'Penthesilea' to the hoard." (Gerd Albrecht, tr. Lionel Salter. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Symphonieorchester und Chor des ORF, Gerd Albrecht, Helga Dernesch, Jane Marsh, Marjana Lipovšek, Theo Adam

1. 'Was Gilt's? Dort Naht Die Unheilkunde Schon'
2. 'Hetzt Alle Hund' Auf Ihn!'
3. 'Hier, Meine Wackeren Aetolier, Heran!'
4. 'Der Weicht, Ein Schatten, Vom Platz'
5. 'Sie Lebt Nicht Mehr'
6. 'Penthesilea! O Du Träumerin'
7. 'Er Wär' Gefangen Mir?'
8. 'Komm Jetzt, Du Süßer Nereidensohn'
9. 'Wir Treten Jetzt Die Reise Gleich Nach Themiscyra An'
10. 'Argiver Nah'n, Erhebt Euch!'
11. 'Triumph, Triumph!'
12. 'Ein Herold Naht Dir, Königin'
13. 'Ha! Stellt Sie Sich?'
14. 'Entsetzen! O Entsetzen!'
15. Trauermarsch/'Seht! Seht Ihr Frau'n'
16. 'Ach, Prothoe'
17. 'Was Brütet Sie, Die Schreckliche, Wohl Jetzt?'

mp3/320kbps

Richard Strauss / Richard Wagner / Charles Gounod - Recital

"Montserrat Caballé's career, which began with a legendary lucky break, would eventually make her one of Spain's greatest sopranos -- equaled in status and reputation only by fellow Barcelonian Victoria de los Angeles.

"Her full birth name was Maria de Montserrat Viviana Concepción Caballé i Folch. She was named after the famous Catalan monastery of Montserrat. It is said that her parents feared that they would lose her and vowed that if she were born alive and well they would christen her with the monastery's name. She learned singing at her convent school; at the age of eight, she entered the Conservatorio del Liceo in Barcelona. Her most important teachers were Eugenia Kenny, Conchita Badea, and Napoleone Annovazzi. When she graduated in 1954, she won the Liceo's Gold Medal.

"Caballé made her professional debut in Madrid in the oratorio El pesebre (The Manger) by the great Catalan cellist Pau (Pablo) Casals. She then went to Italy, where she received a few minor roles at various houses. In 1956, she joined the Basel Opera; she was working her way through the smaller roles when one of the principal singers took ill and she took over the role of Mimì in Puccini's 'La Bohéme.' Her unqualified success in that part led to promotion to starring roles, including Pamina ('The Magic Flute'), Puccini's 'Tosca', Verdi's 'Aïda', Marta in Eugene d'Albert's 'Tiefland', and the Richard Strauss roles of Arabella, Chrysothemis ('Elektra'), and Salome. She steadily gained a European reputation, singing in Bremen, Milan, Vienna, Barcelona, and Lisbon, taking such diverse roles as Violetta ('La Traviata'), Tatiana ('Yevgeny Onegin'), Dvorák's 'Armida' and 'Rusalka,' and Marie in Berg's 'Wozzeck.' She debuted at La Scala in 1960 as a Flower Maiden in 'Parsifal.' She sang in Mexico City in 1964 as Massenet's 'Manon.'

"In April 20, 1965, on extremely short notice, she substituted for the indisposed Marilyn Horne in a concert performance in Donizetti's 'Lucrezia Borgia', achieving a thunderous success and "overnight" superstardom. She became one of the leading figures in the revival of interest in the bel canto operas of Bellini and Donizetti, many of which were staged especially for her. Caballé's performances as Elizabeth I ('Roberto Devereux') and that monarch's rival Mary Queen of Scots ('Maria Stuarda') are legendary. In 1971, she sang a memorable concert performance of 'Maria Stuarda' in which her fellow Barcelonian José Carreras made his London debut, and after that she helped advance his career. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1965 as Marguerite in 'Faust.' Caballé's career centered around Verdi's important dramatic roles, but also embraced the Marschallin ('Der Rosenkavalier'), the Countess ('Marriage of Figaro'), and Queen Isabella (in the premiere of Leonardo Balada's 'Cristobál Colón' in Barcelona in 1989)." (Biography by Joseph Stephenson for AllMusic. Available in full here.)

Performers: Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Alain Lombard, Montserrat Caballé

1. Richard Strauss - Vier Letzte Lieder: Frühling
2. Richard Strauss - Vier Letzte Lieder: September
3. Richard Strauss - Vier Letzte Lieder: Beim Schlafengehen
4. Richard Strauss - Vier Letzte Lieder: Im Abendrot
5. Richard Wagner - Tristan Und Isolde: Isoldes Tod
6. Richard Wagner - Tannhäuser: 'Froh Grüß'ich Dich, Geliebter Raum!'
7. Richard Wagner - Tannhäuser: 'Almächt'ge Jungfrau-hör Mein Flehen!'
8. Charles Gounod - Faust: 'Il Était Un Roi De Thulé'
9. Charles Gounod - Faust: Récitatif
10. Charles Gounod - Faust: 'Ah! Je Ris De Me Voir Si Belle'

flac/16-bit

Joni Mitchell - Mingus

Recorded in 1979 with a sensational jazz fusion lineup including Jaco Pastorius, Wayner Shorter and Herbie Hancock, this is Mitchell's epitaph for the bassist and bandleader. Throughout are home recordings ('raps'), provided by Mingus's wife, which add a sense of intimacy with the album's subject. Mitchell herself is in excellent form; her cool, languid vocals and lyrics spreading a fine match of humour and cerebral reflection over the often otherworldly backing of the other musicians. Mingus lived to hear every song here except "God Must Be a Boogie Man", and it's certain he approved of this send-off. While the shadow of mortality looms large over this music, it is also a deeply personal celebration of a great man's life.

Performers: Joni Mitchell (gt, vo), Wayne Shorter (s-sx), Herbie Hancock (e-pi), Jaco Pastorius (e-bs), Peter Erskine (dr), Don Alias (cg), Emil Richards (pc)

1. Happy Birthday 1975 (Rap)
2. God Must Be A Boogie Man
3. Funeral (Rap)
4. A Chair In The Sky
5. The Wolf That Lives In Lindsey
6. I's A Muggin' (Rap)
7. Sweet Sucker Dance
8. Coin In The Pocket (Rap)
9. The Dry Cleaner From Des Moines
10. Lucky (Rap)
11. Goodbye Pork Pie Hat

flac/16-bit

Yusef Lateef - Roots Run Deep

Recorded in 2004 and released the year before his death in 2013, 'Roots Run Deep' is an incredibly intimate and haunting collection of music and spoken word, one that is a rare insight into the thoughts of a man with a unique connection to the American musical tradition. The impression is that we are allowed into Lateef's innermost thoughts: whether the fascinatingly jocular musings on 'Cream Puff' or the haunting vocals and lyricism of the theme 'Roots Run Deep'. As the final generation most deeply connected to this music passes on, this look inside the mind of an American musical giant is welcome and to be treasured. Lateef pines on 'Interior Monologue': "There is no escape. Death will overtake us all some day."

Performer: Yusef Lateef (t-sx, fl, pi, vo)

1. Roots Run Deep I
2. Cream Puff
3. Where Is Lester?
4. Motherless Child
5. Goodbye
6. Interior Monologue
7. Roots Run Deep II

flac/16-bit

Gil Scott-Heron - I'm New Here

Scott-Heron's swan song. This was his first recording in thirteen years, and would be his last. There is a stunning immediacy here, as if the man was in some remote way conscious of death's shadow as he recalls his upbringing and lays down a stirring hip-hop rendition of Robert Johnson's 'Me and the Devil'. An excellent comparison would be Yusef Lateef's 'Roots Run Deep', also a collection of spoken and musical material that sounds startlingly fresh and modern, but also possesses a sense of the lingering finality of death. Joni Mitchell's 'Mingus' also comes to mind, for similar reasons. Backing Scott-Heron's husky, wisened vocals is an excellent mixture of urbane contemporary production provided by XL Recordings chief Richard Russell. Interestingly, this album now has two remixed releases: Jamie xx's even more modern 'We're New Here' and Makaya McCraven's 'We're New Again', which has a more nostalgic vintage feel. Both speak to the continuing relevance of this album (and Scott-Heron himself) in contemporary music.

1. On Coming From A Broken Home (Part 1)
2. Me And The Devil
3. I'm New Here
4. Your Soul And Mine
5. Parents (Interlude)
6. Ill Take Care Of You
7. Being Blessed (Interlude)
8. Where Did The Night Go
9. I Was Guided (Interlude)
10. New York Is Killing Me
11. Certain Things (Interlude)
12. Running
13. The Crutch
14. I've Been Me (Interlude)
15. On Coming From A Broken Home (Part 2)

flac/16-bit

Bill Evans - Explorations

"Explorations was recorded at a point when Evans was still dividing time between his own band and various sessions for others. But what sessions: through the winter of ’60-’61, he was called on to contribute to now classic albums like 'The Great Kai & J.J.' and 'The Kai Winding Trombone Choir', and Oliver Nelson’s groundbreaking exercise in substitute harmony, 'Blues and The Abstract Truth'—all three for Creed Taylor’s Impulse Records. For Riverside, Evans’s home label, he appeared on Cannonball Adderley’s 'Know What I Mean?'—the pianist’s 'moody delicacy' a focal point on a reunion of two members of Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue sextet that, on the title track, revisited modal territory.

"Though Evans underplayed his own flexibility ('I think it was a good thing I didn’t have a great aptitude for mimicry [...] because I had to build my own musical style,' he commented in 1960), he proved his ability to step outside his own style and ably handle a wide, musical range—especially on the Johnson-Winding album. But when it came to his own group, Evans’s sound and approach was his own by '61. His piano style had fully matured, as had the interplay of the trio. The road had helped. Evans had kept up a steady flow of work in and outside of New York City through the previous year. Upon entering Bell Sound’s studio on February 2, 1961, producer Orrin Keepnews immediately noted the three had 'made giant strides towards the goal of becoming a three-voice unit rather than a piano player and his accompanists [...] [Bill’s] interweaving with Scotty and the freedom this truly unusual bassist was afforded were very much up front.'

"Despite a couple of troublesome issues—a simmering argument between Evans and LaFaro, a lingering headache bothering Evans—the date went smoothly. The choice of material was typical of the pianist. He liked to balance old and new, with an 'emphasis on the reworking of standard tunes,' Keepnews recalls.

"Evans revived a few ballads that many might have dismissed as overplayed or trite—'How Deep Is the Ocean?,' 'Sweet and Lovely'—revealing new harmonic and emotional possibilities in their oft-played themes. He favored vocal numbers popular during his teens and twenties—like 'The Boy Next Door' and 'Beautiful Love'—and introduced a melody not yet part of the modern jazz canon: 'Haunted Heart.' He also turned to tunes from his personal circle, including Earl Zindars’s 'Elsa' (which he also brought to Adderley’s 'Know What I Mean?' project), Miles Davis’s 'Nardis' (originally recorded on Adderley’s Riverside debut in 1958), and John Carisi’s blues number 'Israel' (covered by Davis’s legendary 'Birth of the Cool' ensemble in 1949.)

"Looking back, Keepnews marvels at 'the relaxed pace that predominates here. 'The performances do, as a whole, share a laid-back energy, yet closer inspection reveals the approach to tempo to be subtly varied, often within the same performance. Energy rises and ebbs throughout. Motian crackles and with the deliberative feel of a painter’s strokes, defines both swing and structure. Evans reveals his growing reliance on, and adept use of block chords. Check out how LaFaro subtly shifts the mood when he steps forward on 'Beautiful Love,' or shares the wheel with Evans on the giddily upbeat 'Sweet and Lovely.' Or his extended solo on 'Nardis,' an exemplar of full-range flexibility on bass—then check his long, legato notes that support Evans’s ensuing statement.

"Other tracks merit repeated listening: The refined bebop flavor and hip contours of 'Israel'; small surprise it was chosen to open the album. The slowly unveiled melody of 'Haunted Heart,' dazzling in its simplicity as Evans feels his way through it, avoiding needless embellishment or sentimentality. The way he jumps into his own inventions right at the start of 'How Deep Is The Ocean?,' getting around to clearly stating the melody at the end.

"Keepnews recalls that 'Evans was full of openly expressed negative feelings during the date,' and admits 'I felt equally negative [...] Although I kept insisting that the music sounded just fine, that was mostly pep talk.' Weeks later, when the two sat down to playback the tracks and plan the album, 'we were equally surprised when later listening proved my words to have been accurate,' Keepnews adds." (Ashley Kahn. From the liner notes to the 2011 OJC reissue.)

Performers: Bill Evans (pi), Scott LaFaro (bs), Paul Motian (dr)

1. Israel
2. Haunted Heart
3. Beautiful Love
4. Elsa
5. Nardis
6. How Deep Is The Ocean
7. I Wish I Knew
8. Sweet And Lovely

flac/16-bit

Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth - Mecca and the Soul Brother

The masterwork of this duo, 1992's 'Mecca and the Soul Brother' shows both DJ Pete Rock and MC C.L. Smooth in peak form. C.L.'s delivery is incredibly fluid, reminiscent of a time when New York rap wasn't dominated by Rakim's style. The beats, however, are the real centrepiece here: Pete Rock's command of samples and turntablism is as incredible to witness as it is smooth, natural and effortless. There is a sense of fun and good times on this album; more serious than Jungle Brothers perhaps but not overwhelmed by themes of crime and social disarray as hip-hop albums would increasingly be towards the middle of the decade. The album is peppered with snippets and freestyle sessions that have real energy and fun flowing through them.

1. Return Of The Mecca
2. For Pete's Sake
3. Ghettos Of The Mind
4. Lots Of Lovin
5. Act Like You Know
6. Straighten It Out
7. Soul Brother #1
8. Wig Out
9. Anger In The Nation
10. They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)
11. On And On
12. It's Like That
13. Can't Front On Me
14. The Basement
15. If It Ain't Rough, It Ain't Right
16. Skinz

flac/16-bit

Jeru the Damaja - The Sun Rises in the East

1994 could easily be considered a high water mark in the development of hip-hop. The right configuration of talent and competition, the viability of sample-based music, the ever-growing popularity of the style combined with crime problems that meant a sense of gritty reality didn't have to be reached for meant that several classic albums were released that year. This album could easily take pride of place next to New York classics like Nas's 'Illmatic' or The Notorious B.I.G.'s 'Ready to Die'. Jeru's delivery is razor sharp and has real punch; combined with DJ Premier's insanely gritty and tight production it doesn't seem like he can fail. Premier's unrivaled talent for DJing, sampling and boom bap drums are on full display here, and he shows a sense of minimalism that's uniquely satisfying. There's no doubt Jeru is the star here, but this is definitely a collaboration between the two artists.

1. Intro (Life)
2. D. Original
3. Brooklyn Took It
4. Perverted Monks In Tha House (Skit)
5. Mental Stamina
6. Da Bichez
7. You Can't Stop The Prophet
8. Perverted Monks In Tha House (Theme)
9. Ain't The Devil Happy
10. My Mind Spray
11. Come Clean
12. Jungle Music
13. Statik

flac/16-bit

Richard Wagner - Lohengrin

"Act I. A plain on the banks of the River Scheldt, near Antwerp. King Henry ('the Fowler') of Saxony has come to Antwerp to persuade the Brabantines to join him in defending Germany against an imminent attack by the Hungarians. Realising that there is tension among the Brabantines, the King calls on Telramund, a noble, to explain its cause. He says that the previous Duke of Brabant, on his deathbed, entrusted his two children to Telramund's care. The son, Gottfried, disappeared one day when he and his sister Elsa were alone. Telramund has accused Elsa of having killed her brother so that she can claim the dukedom; he has therefore renounced Elsa's hand and married Ortrud, through whose noble descent he claims to be ruler. The King orders a trial and Elsa is summoned. 

"Elsa cannot answer the King's questions but she describes a dream in which a knight in shining armour came to her aid. The King rules that the case will be resolved by combat between Telramund and whoever will be Elsa's champion. The King's herald twice sounds a summons, but no one steps forward. A swan appears, drawing a boat in which stands a knight; he steps ashore, bids farewell to the swan and offers to fight on Elsa's behalf. If he wins, they will many, but on condition that she promises never to ask him his name or origin. The knight overpowers Telramund but spares his life. Everyone except Telramund and Ortrud applaud his success. 

"Act II. In the fortress of Antwerp. Telramund blames Ortrud and her evil sorcery for his loss of honour and banishment from Brabant. Ortrud tells him that the knight's power can be overcome only if Elsa can be induced to ask him the forbidden questions or if he is wounded. The couple swear vengeance. 

"Elsa appears on a balcony. Ortrud sends Telramund away and appeals to Elsa's friendship. While Elsa is coming down to talk to her, Ortrud calls on profane gods for help. Gradually she sows seeds of distrust in Elsa's mind, undermining Elsa's faith in the knight.

"A herald announces that Telramund is banished and that the knight will many Elsa, become the Protector of Brabant and lead his men to battle in Germany. Four disaffected nobles (friends of Telramund), angry at the prospect, conceal Telramund.

"The wedding processions assemble. As Elsa is about to enter the minster, Ortrud comes forward and angrily claims that Elsa is taking Ortrud's rightful place. She taunts Elsa for not knowing the knight's name and lineage and accuses him of having defeated Telramund by supernatural means. The knight arrives with the King and tries to comfort Elsa. Telramund rushes forward, repeats Ortrud's accusation and demands to know the knight's name. The knight refuses to answer and sees that Elsa is disturbed. Ortrud and Telramund exult in her anguish; Elsa expresses her desire to know the knight's secrets; the knight prays to heaven for Elsa's protection. He drives Telramund and Ortrud away. The people hail Elsa, and the bridal couple proceed to the minster. As she enters, Elsa sees Ortrud making a threatening gesture.

"Act III. The bridal chamber. The knight and Elsa are led in by ladies and nobles. Alone, they express their love; but when the knight calls Elsa by her name she is saddened by not knowing his. Her torment increases. Hearing that her husband has forsaken happiness in his previous life, she fears he will want to return to it. In spite of his pleas, she demands to know his name. 

"At that moment, Telramund and his four followers break in and the knight kills Telramund with a single blow. He tells Elsa that their happiness is now lost, orders that Telramund's body be taken to the king and instructs that Elsa should be led to him too; there he will reveal his secret.

"A plain on the banks of the River Scheldt. The King and nobles are assembling to march to battle. Telramund's four accomplices bear his body in; Elsa arrives, followed by the knight. He tells the King that he cannot lead the army to war and that Elsa has broken her vow. He reveals that he is a knight of the Holy Grail, from Monsalvat; its guardian knights have supernatural powers provided their identity remains unknown. His father was Parsifal and his own name is Lohengrin. He reproaches Elsa, who begs him to stay, and predicts victory for the German armies. Her pleas are echoed by the King and the people. 

"The swan approaches, drawing the boat. Lohengrin bids Elsa farewell and hands her his sword, horn and ring, to give to Gottfried should he return. Suddenly Ortrud appears. She tells Elsa it was she who transformed Gottfried into a swan, the one now drawing Lohengrin's boat; had Lohengrin been able to stay he could have returned Gottfried to human form. Lohengrin falls to his knees in prayer. Suddenly a white dove descends over the boat. The swan submerges and reappears as Gottfried, whom Lohengrin proclaims the Duke of Brabant. The dove tows Lohengrin's boat away. As Elsa watches him disappear, she sinks lifeless to the ground in her brothers arms." (Alison Latham. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Orchester und Chor der Bayreuther Festspiele, Andris Nelsons, George Zeppenfeld, Klaus Florian Vogt, Annette Dasch, Jukka Rasilainen, Petra Lang, Samuel Youn

1.1. Vorspiel
1.2. Aufzug I, Szene I: 'Hört, Grafen, Edle, Freie Von Brabant!'
1.3. Aufzug I, Szene I: 'Dank, König, Dir, Dass Du Zu Richten Kamst!'
1.4. Aufzug I, Szene I: 'Welch' Fürchterliche Klage Sprichst Du Aus!'
1.5. Aufzug I, Szene II: 'Seht Bin! Sie Naht, Die Hart Beklagte!'
1.6. Aufzug I, Szene II: 'Einsam In Trüben Tagen'
1.7. Aufzug I, Szene II: 'Friedrich, Du Ehrenwerter Mann'
1.8. Aufzug I, Szene II: 'Des Bitters Will Ich Wahren'
1.9. Aufzug I, Szene II: 'Wer Hier Im Gotteskampf Zu Streiten Kam'/Szene III: 'Gegrüßt, Du Gottgesandter Held'
1.10. Aufzug I, Szene III: 'Nun Sei Bedankt, Mein Heber Schwan!'
1.11. Aufzug I, Szene III: 'Heil, König Heinrich!'
1.12. Aufzug I, Szene III: 'Wenn Ich Im Kampfe Für Dich Siege'
1.13. Aufzug I, Szene III: 'Nun Hört Euch, Volk Und Edlen, Mach' Ich Kund'
1.14. Aufzug I, Szene III: 'Nun Höret Mich, And Achtet Wohl'
1.15. Aufzug I, Szene III: 'Mein Herr Und Gott, Nun Ruf' Ich Dich'
1.16. Aufzug I, Szene III: 'Durch Gottes Sieg Ist Jetzt Dein Leben Mein'
1.17. Aufzug I, Szene III: Applaus
1.18. Aufzug II: Einleitung
1.19. Aufzug II, Szene I: 'Erhebe Dich, Genossin Meiner Schmach'
1.20. Aufzug II, Szene I: 'Was Macht Dich In So Wilder Klage Doch Vergeh'n?'

2.1. Aufzug II, Szene I: 'Entsetzlich! Wie Tönt Aus Deinem Munde Furchtbar Der Name'
2.2. Aufzug II, Szene I: 'Du Wilde Seherin! Wie Willst Du Doch'
2.3. Aufzug II, Szene I: 'Der Rache Werk Sei Nun Beschworen'
2.4. Aufzug II, Szene II: 'Euch Lüften, Die Mein Klagen'
2.5. Aufzug II, Szene II: 'Elsa!'/'Wer Ruft? Wie Schauerlich Und Klagend Ertönt Mein Name Durch Die Nacht?'
2.6. Aufzug II, Szene II: 'Entweihte Götter! Helft Jetzt Meiner Rache!'
2.7. Aufzug II, Szene II: 'Ortrud, Wo Bist Du?'
2.8. Aufzug II, Szene II: 'Du Ärmste Kannst Wohl Nie Ermessen'
2.9. Aufzug II, Szene II: 'So Zieht Das Unheil In Dies Haus!'
2.10. Aufzug II, Szene III: Morgenlied/'Im Früh’n Versammelt Uns Der Ruf'
2.11. Aufzug II, Szene III: 'Des Königs Wort Und Will’ Tu’ Ich Euch Kund'
2.12. Aufzug II, Szene III: 'Nun Hört! Dem Lande Will Er Uns Entführen?'
2.13. Aufzug II, Szene IV: Prozession/'Gesegnet Soll Sie Schreiten'
2.14. Aufzug II, Szene IV: 'Zurück, Elsa! Nicht Länger Will Ich Dulden'
2.15. Aufzug II, Szene V: 'Heil! Heil Dem König!'
2.16. Aufzug II, Szene V: 'O König! Trugbetörte Fürsten! Haltet Ein!'
2.17. Aufzug II, Szene V: 'Welch’ Ein Geheimnis Muß Der Held Bewahren?'
2.18. Aufzug II, Szene V: 'Mein Held Entgeg’ne Kühn Dem Ungetreuen!'
2.19. Aufzug II, Szene V: 'In Deiner Hand, In Deiner Treu’ Liegt Alles Glückes Pfand!'

3.1. Aufzug III: Vorspiel
3.2. Aufzug III, Szene I: 'Treulich Geführt, Ziehet Dahin'
3.3. Aufzug III, Szene II: 'Das Süße Lied Verhallt, Wir Sind Allein'
3.4. Aufzug III, Szene II: 'Wie Hehr Erkenn’ Ich Unsrer Liebe Wesen!'
3.5. Aufzug III, Szene II: 'Atmest Du Nicht Mit Mir Die Süssen Düfte?'
3.6. Aufzug III, Szene II: 'Ach, Könnt Ich Deiner Wert Erscheinen!'
3.7. Aufzug III, Szene II: 'Höchstes Vertrau’n Hast Du Mir Schon Zu Danken'
3.8. Aufzug III, Szene II: 'Hilf Gott, Was Muss Ich Hören!'
3.9. Aufzug III, Szene II: 'Hörtest Du Nichts? Vernahmest Du Kein Kommen?'
3.10. Aufzug III, Szene II: 'Tragt Den Erschlagnen Vor Des Königs Gericht!'
3.11. Aufzug III, Szene III: Sonnenaufgang/'Heil, König Heinrich!'
3.12. Aufzug III, Szene III: 'Was Bringen Die? Was Tun Sie Kund?'
3.13. Aufzug III, Szene III: 'Mein Herr Und König, Laß Dir Melden'
3.14. Aufzug III, Szene III: 'In Fernem Land, Unnahbar Eu’ren Schritten'
3.15. Aufzug III, Szene III: 'Mir Schwankt Der Boden! Welche Nacht!'
3.16. Aufzug III, Szene III: 'Mein Lieber Schwan!'
3.17. Aufzug III, Szene III: 'Weh! Weh! Du Edler, Holder Mann!'

flac/16-bit

Richard Strauss - Vier Letzte Lieder

"Richard Strauss was a boy of six when he wrote his first song, and an old man of 84 when he completed his last. In the intervening years he made a hugely successful career as a composer of symphonies, songs and operas, a master orchestrator and conductor. But it was the marriage of music and poetry – especially with the sound of the soprano voice in mind – to which he always returned, and his gloriously serene and transcendent Four Last Songs, written a year before his death, was to be his epitaph. 

"In 1948, Strauss felt himself slowing down. There was a new world order, he was old, and he felt tainted by the tribulations of the Second World War and the unfortunate appropriation of his music by the Third Reich. His individual, lushly Romantic style of composition was increasingly seen as old-fashioned in a post-war musical world that had rejected tonality. He’d even gone as far as making the self-deprecating remark: 'I may not be a first-rate composer, but I am a first-class second-rate composer!'

"However, he was not yet ready to put down his pen – his imagination had been caught by a piece by the lyric poet Josef von Eichendorff, 'Im Abendrot' ('In the Evening Glow'), and he set to work turning it into an orchestral song. It was to be the final song in the set that became known as the 'Four Last Songs', and within five months it was followed by 'Spring', 'September' and 'Going To Sleep'. 

"Into them Strauss poured the most fundamental aspects of his musical personality – a rainbow of orchestral colour, radiant lyricism and his life-long love affair with the soprano voice. And it was as if his life had come full circle: during 'Im Abendrot', he quotes from his tone-poem 'Tod Und Verklärung' ('Death And Transfiguration'), written in his 20s. A year later, as he lay fatally ill from a series of heart attacks, he calmly claimed, 'Dying is just like I composed it in 'Tod und Verklärung'.' 

"Strauss’s last wish was that his swansong should be premiered by the Wagnerian soprano, Kirsten Flagstad. Sadly, he died eight months before his wish came true. The 'Four Last Songs' was first heard in London in May 1950, performed by Flagstad, the Philharmonia and Wilhelm Furtwängler. It is the apotheosis of Strauss’s life and work: a man who, having lived to the full, contemplates eternity with perfect equanimity." (From the Classic FM website. Link here.)

Performers: Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan, Anna Tomowa-Sintow

1. Vier Letzte Lieder: Frühling
2. Vier Letzte Lieder: September
3. Vier Letzte Lieder: Beim Schlafengehen
4. Vier Letzte Lieder: Im Abendrot
5. Die Heiligen Drei Konige Aus Morgenland, Op. 56 No. 6
6. Cappricio, Op. 85: Mondschein-Musik
7. Cappricio, Op. 85: Monolog Der Gräfin

flac/16-bit

Richard Wagner - Tannhäuser

"The minstrel Heinrich von Ofterdingen, known as Tannhäuser, has been living as a willing captive and lover of Venus. Following the bacchanalian orgy, in which his desires are finally satiated, Tannhäuser wakes from his dream; he longs for freedom and the simple joys of earthly life. Reproaching him for his ingratitude, the love goddess urges him to sing his hymn to Venus, but at the end of both stanzas Tannhauser pleads to be allowed to leave. Venus tries to charm him into staying, but he only pleads harder and she eventually reluctantly yields, prophesying that he will one day return to her in desperation. Tannhauser declares that his salvation lies only in the Virgin Mary; Venus and her domains vanish. 

"Tannhäuser finds himself in the vicinity of the Wartburg, the residence of the Landgrave. A young shepherd's simple greeting to the spring is followed by the chant of an advancing procession of pilgrims; the shepherd greets them, and Tannhauser, inspired, praises the wonders of God. As the procession passes, Tannhäuser begins to feel the weight of his own sin. The Landgrave and his companions arrive. Upon recognising Tannhäuser, they are unsure how to greet him — does he return as friend or foe? Wolfram quickly dismisses their uncertainty, however, and the group joyfully welcomes their long-lost comrade. Tannhauser wishes to continue on his journey, but the others plead him to stay, with Wolfram's cry of 'Bleib bei Elisabeth!' stopping Tannhäuser in his tracks. Explaining that Tannhauser's song has won the heart of Elisabeth, the Landgrave's beautiful niece, who has suffered greatly during his absence, Wolfram and the others successfully persuade Tannhäuser to return to The Hall of Song, the Wartburg Elisabeth rejoices over Tannhäuser's imminent return, joyfully greeting the hall, which she has not entered since his departure. Wolfram enters with Tannhäuser; Elisabeth recalls Tannhäuser's earlier minstrelsy, describing the conflicting emotions that his song aroused in her and reliving the pain of his departure. Tannhäuser, enraptured, hails the power of love, and the two ecstatically sing God's praises. 

"Tannhäuser and Wolfram depart. The Landgrave arrives, welcoming his niece back to the Hall but finding her unwilling to reveal her feelings to him. Guests assemble for the song contest and the minstrels enter. The Landgrave announces that the challenge of the contest is to fathom the true essence of love - the worthiest contender will receive his prize from Elisabeth herself. Wolfram is the first to try, delivering an idealized tribute to Elisabeth and comparing the purity of love to a fountain which should never be sullied, but Tannhäuser, whose soul is still possessed by Venus, retorts that the highest love in fact resides in the pleasure of the senses. Walther then tries his luck, then Biterolf, then Wolfram again, but Tannhäuser scorns each of their attempts with heightened passion answering Wolfram's second invocation with his hymn to Venus. The guests are incensed, but Elisabeth intervenes dramatically with 'Haltet ein!', imploring mercy and atonement for Tannhäuser. Tannhäuser is overcome with remorse, and Elisabeth's intervention is likened to that of an angel. The Landgrave tells Tannhäuser that his only hope of salvation is to join the band of pilgrims preparing to journey to Rome. 

"Elisabeth prays for Tannhäuser's salvation, with Wolfram observing her unnoticed. Both are alerted by the pilgrims' return from Rome — Elisabeth searches among them for Tannhäuser, but he is not there. Broken, she prays to the Virgin to receive her soul in heaven so that she might intercede for her beloved. Wolfram asks if he might not bear her company, but she silently communicates that she must fulfil her duty alone. She returns to the Wartburg, and Wolfram, seized by a presentiment of her death, asks the evening star to guide her on her way.

"Tannhäuser staggers in, ragged and exhausted. Wolfram, who at first mistakes him for a wandering pilgrim, questions why he returns unpardoned to the Wartburg, and Tannhäuser narrates his pilgrimage to Rome: that, in spite of his abject penitence, the Pope refused to grant him absolution, explaining that Tannhäuser's time in the Venusberg means he can no more be forgiven than the Pope's staff can sprout leaves. Tannhäuser now intends to retum to the Venusberg, and Venus herself appears, tempting him back to her realm. Wolfram is horrified, and a struggle for Tannhäuser's soul ensues, with Wolfram's cry of 'Elisabeth!' breaking the enchantment. At that moment a procession enters bearing Elisabeth's body; Venus disappears and Tannhäuser falls to the ground. As he lies dying, calling on the saint to intercede for him, a chorus of pilgrims enter and recount a miracle: the Pope's staff has blossomed. Tannhäuser's soul is saved." (Synopsis by WLP, Ltd. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Orchester und Chor der Bayreuther Festspiele, Axel Kober, Torsten Kerl, Camilla Nylund, Michelle Breedt, Markus Eiche, Kwangchul Youn

1.1. Ouvertüre
1.2. Aufzug I, Szene I: 'Naht Euch Dem Strande!'
1.3. Aufzug I, Szene II: 'Geliebter, Sag’, Wo Weilt Dein Sinn?'
1.4. Aufzug I, Szene II: 'Dir Töne Lob! Die Wunder Sei’n Gepriesen'
1.5. Aufzug I, Szene II: 'Dank Deiner Huld! Gepriesen Sei Dein Lieben!'
1.6. Aufzug I, Szene II: 'Geliebter, Komm! Sieh Dort Die Grotte'
1.7. Aufzug I, Szene II: 'Stets Soll Nur Dir, Nur Dir Mein Lied Ertönen!'
1.8. Aufzug I, Szene II: 'Zieh Hin, Wahnsinniger, Zieh Hin!'
1.9. Aufzug I, Szene II: 'Ach, Schöne Göttin, Lebe Wohl!'
1.10. Aufzug I, Szene III: 'Frau Holda Kam Aus Dem Berg Hervor'
1.11. Aufzug I, Szene III: 'Zu Dir Wall’ Ich, Mein Jesus Christ'
1.12. Aufzug I, Szene IV: 'Wer Ist Dort In Brünstigem Gebete?'
1.13. Aufzug I, Szene IV: 'Als Du In Kühnem Sange Uns Bestrittest'

2.1. Aufzug II: Orchestereinleitung/Szene I: 'Dich, Teure Halle, Grüß’ Ich Wieder'
2.2. Aufzug II, Szene II: 'Dort Ist Sie; Nahe Dich Ihr Ungestört!'/'Der Sänger Klugen Weisen Lauscht’ Ich Sonst Gern Und Viel'
2.3. Aufzug II, Szene II: 'Den Gott Der Liebe Sollst Du Preisen'
2.4. Aufzug II, Szene III: 'Dich Treff ’ich Hier In Dieser Halle, Die So Lange Du Gemieden?'
2.5. Aufzug II, Szene IV: Einzug Der Gäste
2.6. Aufzug II, Szene IV: 'Freudig Begrüßen Wir Die Edle Halle'
2.7. Aufzug II, Szene IV: 'Gar Viel Und Schön Ward Hier In Dieser Halle Von Euch, Ihr Lieben Sänger, Schon Gesungen'
2.8. Aufzug II, Szene IV: 'Blick’ Ich Umher In Diesem Edlen Kreise'
2.9. Aufzug II, Szene IV: 'Auch Ich Darf Mich So Glücklich Nennen Zu Schaun, Was, Wolfram, Du Geschaut!'
2.10. Aufzug II, Szene IV: 'Den Bronnen, Den Uns Wolfram Nannte, Ihn Schaut Auch Meines Geistes Licht'
2.11. Aufzug II, Szene IV: 'O Walther, Der Du Also Sangest, Du Hast Die Liebe Arg Entstellt!'
2.12. Aufzug II, Szene IV: 'Heraus Zum Kampfe Mit Uns Allen!'
2.13. Aufzug II, Szene IV: 'O Himmel, Lass Dich Jetzt Erflehen, Gib Meinem Lied Der Weihe Preis!'
2.14. Aufzug II, Szene IV: 'Ha, Der Verruchte! Fliehet Ihn!'
2.15. Aufzug II, Szene IV: 'Der Unglücksel’ge, Den Gefangen'
2.16. Aufzug II, Szene IV: 'Weh! Weh Mir Unglücksel’gem!'
2.17. Aufzug II, Szene IV: 'Ein Furchtbares Verbrechen Ward Begangen'
2.18. Aufzug II, Szene IV: 'Versammelt Sind Aus Meinen Landen Bußfert’ge Pilger'

3.1. Aufzug III: Orchestereinleitung ('Tannhäusers Pilgerfahrt')
3.2. Aufzug III, Szene I: 'Wohl Wußt’ Ich Hier Sie Im Gebet Zu Finden (Wolfram, Ältere Pilger, Elisabeth)
3.3. Aufzug III, Szene I: 'Beglückt Darf Nun Dich, O Heimat, Ich Schauen'
3.4. Aufzug III, Szene I: 'Allmächt’ge Jungfrau, Hör Mein Flehen!'
3.5. Aufzug III, Szene II: 'Wie Todesahnung Dämmrung Deckt Die Lande'
3.6. Aufzug III, Szene II: 'O Du, Mein Holder Abendstern'
3.7. Aufzug III, Szene III: 'Ich Hörte Harfenschlag, Wie Klanger Traurig!'
3.8. Aufzug III, Szene III: 'Inbrunst Im Herzen, Wie Kein Büßer Noch Sie Je Gefühlt'
3.9. Aufzug III, Szene III: 'Dahin Zog’s Mich, Wo Ich Der Wonn’und Lust So Viel Genoss An Ihrer Warmen Brust!'
3.10. Aufzug III, Szene III: 'Willkommen, Ungetreuer Mann!'/'Der Seele Heil, Die Nun Entflohn'
3.11. Aufzug III, Szene III: 'Heil! Heil! Der Gnade Wunder Heil!'

flac/16-bit