Manos Hatzidakis: "Waltz of Lost Dreams"

Henryk Górecki: Symphony No. 3 ("of Sorrowful Songs")

Henryk Gorecki
Symphony No.3, Op.36
(Symphony of Sorrowful Songs)

Zofia Kilanowicz, soprano
Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra
Antoni Wit

Richard Wagner: Symphony in C Major

(No information available)

1. Sostenuto e maestoso - Allegro con brio
2. Andante ma non troppo, un poco maestoso
3. Allegro assai
4. Allegro molto e vivace

Note: The YouTube user Michael Canales wrote an interesting comment on this Symphony:

Proof that Wagner was a great composer at a very young age, who just kept getting better and better as time went on. BTW for those making a big deal out of Wagner's article "Judaism in Music" it should be kept in this context. When Wagner sent this score to Mendelssohn it was carelessly ignored by the latter and the full original score is lost forever. The parts themselves were discovered late in Wagner's life and the world premiere was Christmas 1882 conducted by the composer, his very last effort on the podium. He was pissed off at Mendelssohn for losing the score and never forgave him. Hence the ugly comments about Mendelssohn in that article.The jabs at Meyerbeer are much easier to explain. Meyerbeer was basically the Andrew Lloyd Webber of the 19th century and controlled the entire Parisian operatic scene. His idea of "helping" the young Wagner, the youthful genius who wrote this work, was to get him jobs as a hack copyist and arranger for composers we now have forgotten. Later Meyerbeer did actually help Wagner by recommending Rienzi to the theater in Dresden, far away from Paris of course, where the young genius would not be a threat to Meyerbeer and the Parisian establishment. Meyerbeer also played a sinister hand in the "Jockey Club" protests against Tannhauser in the Paris production of 1861. Meyerbeer's reputation has been sanitized by the horrors of WWII just as Wagner's has been stained, but the truth is that Meyerbeer kept Wagner down in Paris, and Wagner never forgave him for it. Hence, yet again the insults in the article. There is more to that article than just crude antisemitism. 

Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No.2, Op.18 - Anna Fedorova

So, here is what happened to Baby Jennifer!

It may sound incredible, but it’s true: The most popular post in a blog devoted to music turned out to be one related to cinema! Our readers may remember a post titled: “What Ever Happened to Baby Jennifer (Lawn)?” (A review article with a similar title was published on IMDb.) Finally, there is an answer to this question. Most important, it was given by “baby” Jennifer herself, thus its authenticity can hardly be disputed!

Read the article

In case you can read Greek, here also are two articles of my own, published in a major news site in Greece:

http://www.aixmi.gr/index.php/tromerhalithiafhmismenh/

http://www.aixmi.gr/index.php/jennifer-lawn/

I have to confess that the whole matter enrages me! If this is not the very definition of child abuse, I wonder what is... Fortunately, Jennifer (a very intelligent person, as far as I can tell) finally overcame this horrible experience and went on living a normal life. From what I read, I know that today she is a very successful, top-ranking person in a major insurance company. She is happily married in Paris and (according to a picture I saw on F/B) she has a beautiful baby! As for the viewers of “that” haunting film, we can only exclaim at the cynicism of the movie industry. How much sacrifice can be made in the name of Art, after all?

Bernard Herrmann: Vertigo (Full Soundtrack)

Vertigo - Soundtrack by Bernard Herrmann (1958)

Track Listing:

01 - Prelude and Rooftop - 0:00
02 - Scotty Trails Madeline - 04:56 *
03 - Carlotta's Portrait - 13:20
04 - The Bay - 15:56
05 - By the Fireside - 19:05
06 - The Forest - 22:45
07 - The Beach - 26:11
08 - The Dream - 29:39
09 - Farewell and The Tower - 32:23
10 - The Nightmare and Dawn - 39:06
11 - The Letter - 43:19
12 - Goodnight and The Park - 47:13
13 - Scene d'Amour - 50:23
14 - The Necklace, The Return and Finale - 55:32

* (including: Madeline's First Appearance, Madeline's Car, The Flower Shop, The Alleyway, The Mission, Graveyard and Tombstone)

Henry Mancini: "Too Little Time"

“Winter Journey” at the Greek Festival 2014

By Thanassis Vavlidas

14/7/2014, “Winter Journey” in the Summer (D. Mitropoulos Concert Hall at Megaron Moussikis of Athens – Greek Festival 2014)

In its summer program, Greek Festival 2014 included only a few concerts of classical and contemporary (not pop) music. However, all concerts were more or less of high quality as far as interpretation standards are concerned.

Hans Zender (Wiesbaden 1936 - ) is an esteemed German composer and conductor who composed, under the title “Winterreise - eine komponierte interpretation for tenor and small orchestra” (1993), a new version of the well-known song cycle composed by Franz Schubert in 1827, one year before his death. The cycle was published as Opus 89 in 1828 and was based on 24 poems written by Wilhelm Mueller, who followed the romantic style of his time, paying much attention to the inner self and its sentimental reflections to Nature. This cycle is considered as a “colossal peak in art song” and audiences always confirm its great appeal.

Hans Zender’s version managed to filter the romantic spirit of the cycle into a summary of the twentieth century’s conquests concerning the art of composition. He also managed to produce a transcription from piano to a small orchestra, although he changed a few key tones and created new sounds. One of Zender’s aims was the accurate description of natural, as well as psychological, phenomena through these new sounds. And although one might object to the need for such an expression of the original composer’s feelings, we must admit that these sounds revealed new paths to the wanderer of music. Zender’s composition was recorded for the first time by RCA with Hans Peter Blochwitz (tenor) and the Ensemble Modern, the composer himself conducting.

At the concert we attended in July, the famous Greek conductor Theodoros Kourentzis collaborated with the Afro–American tenor Keith Stonum and the music group “Kyklos Ensemble” which was founded in 2013 and consists of experienced Greek musicians. “Kyklos Ensemble” has already given performances of classical and avant–garde music and is taking part in educational programs. The conductor, Th. Kourentzis, is currently living in Russia. He is the artistic director of the Opera House of Perm and the principal conductor of the orchestra “MusicAeterna”.

The collaboration of the above-mentioned musicians led to an interpretation of high level, which has undoubtedly imposed new standards for the performers of such music in Greece. It was obvious from the start that accuracy and clarity were the main characteristics of their interpretation. The conductor took care of every single detail and no mistake was detected, even when some of the musicians had to change positions playing from different sides of the music hall.

Keith Stonum (tenor) also sang with clarity and his voice seemed to be closer to the original score’s demands. But he did not hesitate to use a... loudspeaker when there was a need to emphasize on extreme desperation arising from the verses!

The verses were translated by the poet Alexandros Issaris and the translation was shown, with adequate synchronization, on a board above the musicians.

We are confident that conductor Kourentzis can perform even the most complicated contemporary compositions and make them attractive to a wider audience, since his great abilities are combined with a strong image promotion.

Thanassis Vavlidas
Member of the “Union of drama and music Greek critics”

Rachmaninov - The Rock, Symphonic Fantasia Op. 7

National Philharmonic of Russia
Dir. Dmitriy Vasilyev

Rachmaninov - Symphonic Dances Op.45

Radio Filharmonisch Orkest o.l.v. Edward Gardner

Schubert: Symphony No.9 / Sawallisch - Wiener Philharmoniker

Toru Takemitsu: Requiem for Strings

(No information available)

A. Piazzolla 'Oblivion' - Arabella Steinbacher

Astor Piazzolla: 'Oblivion'

Wurttembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn
Conductor: Ruben Gazarian
Viola: Arabella Steinbacher

Weilburger Schlosskonzerte 2007
Live recording, 14 July 2007

Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto - Arabella Steinbacher

P. I. Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D major, op.35

Arabella Steinbacher - Violin
Vladimir Fedoseyev - Conductor
Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra (Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra)

25/9/2011, Musikverein Saal, Vienna, Austria.

Elgar: Enigma Variations

Edward Elgar composed his Variations on an Original Theme for Orchestra ("Enigma"), Op. 36, commonly referred to as the Enigma Variations, in 1898–99. It is a set of fourteen variations on a hidden "theme" that is, in Elgar's words, "not played". It is Elgar's best-known large-scale composition, for both the music itself and the enigma behind it.

Elgar dedicated the piece to "my friends pictured within", each variation being an affectionate portrayal of one of his circle of close acquaintances. The people portrayed in the variations include Elgar's wife Alice, Augustus J. Jaeger and Elgar himself. The enigma is the hidden theme, which has been the subject of much speculation. Various musicians have proposed theories for what melody it could be, although Elgar did not say that that his "theme" was a melody. The enigma could be something else, such as a symbol or a literary theme. Elgar accepted none of the solutions proposed in his lifetime, and took the secret with him to the grave.

After its 1899 London premiere, the piece achieved popularity and was performed internationally. It has been recorded over 60 times.

Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934)
Enigma Variations, Op. 36
Silicon Valley Symphony
Michael Paul Gibson

“City Lives”: Fascinating Music Theater by Alexandros Mouzas

By Thanassis Vavlidas

9/5/2014, “City Lives”: Fascinating Music Theater by Alexandros Mouzas (Athens Concert Hall known as Megaron Moussikis of Athens)

Music Theater is one of the newest operatic forms, which flourished during the second half of the twentieth century and still gives birth to remarkable compositions. Kurt Weil and Bertold Brecht could be considered as the European forerunners of this form. Maurizio Kagel, Peter Maxwell Davies and Yannis Christou are held in great esteem for having presented the first and most successful pieces of this form. Quite recently we attended the performance of “Miss Donnithorne’s Maggot” and “Vesalii Icones” by P. M. Davies at Megaron Moussikis of Athens. The composer Alexandros Mouzas was responsible for the artistic supervision of this production. It cannot be considered as a coincidence that three months later, Mouzas presented a fine example of this form entitled “City Lives”. Apparently, he must have been working on this composition for a long time. It consists of eight parts, each of which presents an aspect of city life in relation to important factors affecting it:

1. Introduction
2. Street Life
3. Social Life
4. Money Life
5. Media Life
6. Early Life
7. Inner Life
8. After Life

The composer himself wrote a functional and rather philosophical libretto based on the ideas of modern intellectuals such as Castells, Simmel, McLuhan and Auge (Introduction), which is epitomized by the phrase: “Foreigners in the global village”. Extracts from Hugo, Baudelaire, Barthelemy, Mead, Bakhtin, Gergen, Giddens, Sennet, Bauman, Old Testament, Apocalypse, Koran, Tibetan Bible of the Dead, Kybalion, Ars Moriendi, Financial newspapers and Fairy tales can be traced among the phrases of the libretto. The performance was supported by rather overloaded theatrical scenery, as well as by images (video art, animation, digital painting and sketches) created by Viki Betsou and Alexia Othonaiou. The images sometimes tended to exclusively attract our attention but they functioned quite well with music, especially in the Introduction and in the four last parts.

The musical part took advantage of several styles such as jazz, minimalism, theatrical songs, lyrical parts and religious music, all filtered through the personal style of the composer who managed to create the universe of city life without missing his main point. The singers Myrsini Margariti, Artemis Bogri (sopranos), Maria Vlachopoulou (mezzo soprano) and Tassos Apostolou (bass) were quite expressive and accurate, although they had to overcome frequent changes of scenes and costumes. However, the intensity of music did not always give space for their voices, especially at Street Life and Money Life. The conductor Andreas Tselikas seemed to follow closely the instructions of the composer. He successfully coordinated the singers with “Ergon Ensemble”, a group of musicians specializing in modern music and Music Theater (“Ergon Ensemble” had also taken part in the performance of P. M. Davies’ compositions three months earlier). The composer himself participated in the group by creating special sound effects through the computer.

Our city life has been enriched with new sounds!

Thanassis Vavlidas
Member of the “Union of drama and music Greek critics”

Mendelssohn: Double Piano Concerto in A-Flat Major

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Concerto for Two Pianos in A-Flat Major

Pianos: Love Derwinger & Roland Pöntinen.
The Nieuw Sinfonietta Amsterdam, cond. Lev Markiz.

An early masterpiece by Mendelssohn and -unjustly- a relatively unknown work!

Elgar - Symphony No. 1 (Proms 2012)

Edward Elgar - Symphony No. 1 in A flat major

BBC Symphony Orchestra
Martyn Brabbins conductor

Royal Albert Hall, 29 August 2012

Tosca, Act II (Callas - Gobbi)

Maria Callas - best Tosca ever - and Tito Gobbi - best Scarpia ever - in a superb 1964 production of Giacomo Puccini's "Tosca" at Covent Garden. Here is Act II of the opera. What an acting by Callas and Gobbi!

Tosca: Maria Callas
Cavaradossi: Renato Cioni
Scarpia: Tito Gobbi

The orchestra and chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Dir. Carlo Felice Cillario

Stage Director: Franco Zeffirelli

French avant-garde at the beginning of two centuries

By Thanassis Vavlidas

17/2/2014, Athens State Orchestra in connection with Paris (“Onassis Cultural Center” known as “Stegi Grammaton ke Technon”)

The musical avant–garde in France and, in particular, Paris at the beginning of both the 20th and the 21st century was the underlying subject of the compositions performed by the Athens State Orchestra on 17th of February. This concert inaugurated the collaboration of the Orchestra with the “Onassis Cultural Center”. At the beginning of the program, the pianist Titos Gouvelis vividly presented a brief analysis of the compositions.

The first composition, “Incompatible(s) IX for large orchestra” (dedicated to Nikos Mamangakis) was commissioned by the Orchestra and was performed for the first time worldwide. The Greek composer Nikolas Tzortzis (1978- ) studied music in France and currently lives there. The influence of Peter Eotvos’s example is obvious – the piece is also dedicated to him and to Konrad Stahl, who gave the composer the opportunity to stay at Edenkoben and write this piece. Original sound effects derive from the different position of some instruments like the clarinets in the orchestra, or from instruments consistently playing high notes. The third part, which comprehensively represents the composer’s ideas, is the most interesting one.

The second composition performed was the “Piano Concerto for the left hand” by Maurice Ravel (1875 – 1937). The work was commissioned by the Austrian pianist Paul Wittgenstein (1887 – 1961) who was wounded during World War I and lost his right arm. Ravel was inspired by the technical challenges of the project. As the distinguished French composer stated, “In a work of this kind it is essential to give the impression of a texture no thinner than that of a part written for both hands”. Wittgenstein himself stated, “Only much later, after I’d studied the concerto for months, did I become fascinated by it and realized what a great work it was”. In 1933, Wittgenstein played the work in concert for the first time. Stefanos Thomopoulos, the concerto’s pianist at this present performance, who has also worked in France for many years, succeeded in transmitting to the audience the stylistic mixture of jazz influences and dramatic elements with excessive clarity well supported by the orchestra.

The third composition was a pleasant surprise: “Rage in the heaven city” by Raphael Cendo (1975 - ). The composer, who studied music in Paris and followed a class of computerized music at IRCAM, has developed his own theory about music: “The phenomenon of satiation in the acoustic field is an excess of material, of energy, of movements, of timbre.” The piece is written for big symphonic orchestra and is dedicated to Fausto Romitelli, an Italian composer who died prematurely. It is mainly a piece of phasmatic music where the sounds remind us of the voices coming from whales, seagulls and wild birds, much like the “Cantus arcticus” by Einojuhani Rautavaara. The conductor Vassilis Christopoulos managed to bring on the surface the virtues of the piece and tame the sounds of wind instruments, which have a significant role in the piece.

Last but not least was the composition of Igor Stravinsky, “The Firebird Suite” (1919 version). Stravinsky (1882 – 1971) wrote this piece between 1909 and 1910 for the famous Sergei Diaghilev’s “Ballets Russes Company” for its 1910 Paris season performances. The ballet is based on Russian folk tales of the magical glowing bird that can be both a blessing and a curse for its owner. Based on the Russian tradition and adopting the style of Rimsky–Korsakoff’s orchestration, Stravinsky managed to present a new orchestral sound with new harmonies and complicated rhythms. Athens State Orchestra’s conductor did his best to conceal some difficulties that arose during the performance. Nevertheless, we certainly felt the pleasant odor of the piece.

Thanassis Vavlidas
Member of the “Union of drama and music Greek critics”

Rachmaninoff and Weinberg in style!

By Thanassis Vavlidas

14/12/2013, Kremer - Dirvanauskaite - Buniatishvili (Athens Concert Hall, known as Megaron Moussikis of Athens).

The concert of these three well-known and highly estimated music interpreters could be entitled “Fascinating music for piano with participation of strings”. By saying this, we by no means underestimate the contribution of strings (violin and cello). However, the role of the piano is more than essential in the pieces by Rachmaninoff and, to a similar degree, in the piece by Weinberg also.

Gidon Kremer (Riga, 1947- ) is famous for his technical brilliance and his commitment both to classical and modern compositions (violin). In 1997 he founded the “Kremerata Baltica” Orchestra and he organized many tours all over the world. Giedre Dirvanauskaite (founding member of the “Kremerata Baltica”) has recorded and performed many classical and new pieces in collaboration with G. Kremer and his Orchestra (cello). The youngest of the interpreters is K. Buniatishvili (Tiflis, 1987- ), a multi-awarded pianist, who is adding extra value to classical concerts (piano).

The concert program itself was fascinating. It included both “trio elegiaques” by Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 – 1943) and the “piano trio opus 24” by Mieczyslaw Weinberg (1919 – 1996) in between. The “trio elegiaque No.1” is written in the form of sonata and is completed in a single movement. Its first performance, with the composer himself in the piano, was a significant event for Rachmaninoff since it was the first time he performed out of the Conservatory. The intensity and clarity of the piano part is somehow undermining the sound balance with the strings throughout the piece. The pianist, with her rather tough touché, did not try to dull this impression but the strings succeeded in transmitting to the audience the composition’s fully emotional evolution.

The “trio elegiaque No. 2” was dedicated to the memory of Tchaikovsky whom the composer respected and admired. The structure of the piece is quite similar to the trio that Tchaikovsky wrote in memory of his friend, Nikolai Rubinstein. This piece received from the three interpreters a performance with an extraordinary range of expression. Their coordination led to a fine result that brought on the surface the dramatic phrases of the piano, the contrasts between the three instruments and a suppressed lamentation coming from the strings.

Mieczyslaw Weinberg is less known in Greece, although he is a great Russian composer of Polish-Jewish origins, known also as Moisei Samuilovich Vaynberg. Like many of his compositions, his “piano trio opus 24” is a programmatic piece, which succeeded in condensing different music styles from medieval ages to twentieth century in a way that they seem to be integrated in a form with solid structure and alternating expressions. As far as musical style is concerned, the final elegiac diminuendo connects this composition with Rachmaninoff’s trios. The interpreters took advantage of the composition’s multistylistic possibilities, thus creating a poetic atmosphere that was interrupted by loud exclamations. Sometimes we were reminded of Shostakovich, who had collaborated on many occasions with Weinberg, but the latter’s style is unique. We want to mention here the strings’ approach that created, during the lyrical parts, an emotional upgrade without extreme passion.

Having listened to these fine musicians and having appreciated their perfect collaboration, we need not wonder why modern composers dedicate to them, and entrust them with, their compositions...

Thanassis Vavlidas
Member of the “Union of drama and music Greek critics”