One of these days I may get to do something else with my leisure
time besides listen to music. When that happens, I am considering all
the great old movies I never got to see - or old favorites I'd like to
see again. There are entire genres of film I'd love to explore in
greater depth. I know my cousin was an Alfred Hitchcock fanatic. I ended
up inheriting his collection of Hitchcock movies that I have yet to
check out. As it is - unless the topic is of particular interest I just
can't bring myself to watch movies or even TV for that matter. The last
thing I watched was the new Jaco Pastorious documentary and it was
excellent - yet I waited a pretty long time to unseal the DVD I bought
months ago to finally sit down and watch. There are plenty of other kinds of films I like - especially old,
low-budget Sci-Fi stuff like the old black and white Flash Gordon
films. I remember seeing these things as a kid and it was obvious to
me how kooky the ideas of "the world of the future" looked
in those films. Even the TV shows like the original Star Trek were so
bizarre - that was part of the fun!
Modern classical - or perhaps I should say 20th Century music - can
sometimes display the same aesthetic - wacky modernism. Kind of like
"futuristic fins" on the backs of cars from the 50s and 60s. Elements serving no
real purpose except to create an illusion of "the future" in the
present. Yet, ideas about the future are always grounded in the
realities of the present - until subtle forces beyond the control of
anyone push us all ahead into the reality of new times. Who could have
imagined the sweeping influence of Henry Ford on the landscape -
geographically, economically and even politically - at the dawn of the
20th Century? Certainly not the artist who rendered his idea of what New
York City would look like in 1999 from a 1909 perspective. I love this
crazy drawing - see here:
Notice how the
artist makes every bridge look like the Brooklyn Bridge and all the tall
buildings are rendered in that heavy, gothic-like architectural style.
Interesting to note that the sprawling, congested qualities evident in
the drawing are not so far off the mark - though Central Park does a
good job of breaking up the urban madness in reality (did this artist
figure progress would triumph over vegetation?). In some ways, the
artist over-dramatized humanity's gallop into the urban experience. Yet,
the drawing captures important elements that have come to pass -
airships flying high above the metropolis and the continued importance
of the New York harbor (along with the increasing need for bridges to
connect the different boroughs). However, the influence of the
automobile is totally missing from this image - as 1909 would have been
just a tad early to predict the rise of car culture in the United States
(or anywhere for that matter).
Music
of the early 20th Century was also rooted firmly in the forms and
traditions of the 19th Century. Even some of the wildest music was
only as wild as the available instruments could allow it to be (which
is not to understate the bravery of the art - catch an earful of
Charles Ives if in doubt). I do wonder though how confident the
composers may have been that humans would be immersed in, say,
12-tone styled music by the late 20th Century (if we are talking
about Arnold Schoenberg and the Second Vienna School composers).
Perhaps that was not an accurate prediction of future music, yet I
think the concept of strict tonality has been circumvented by enough
current pop music of today to argue for a non-academic though still
fundamental shift away from rigid tonal structures. Tambre and "vibe"
seem to resonate more with modern music people than the 88 notes on
the piano. Composition is no longer limited to the bass and treble
clef regions on staff paper. Digital pastiche is far more common and
accessible. Virtual is in - acoustical is out (or can be
replicated so closely as to render the human input moot - keeping
overhead costs down in the process).
This entry will have its share of "modern" sounds, though I want to share some recent finds I've been exited about for a while now. A few years ago I found this Nonesuch LP with a composition by the composer Faure titled "Ballade for Piano and Orchestra".
I really enjoyed this piece, but the LP was not in the best of shape and proved to be a tough item to find a replacement copy of. So I kept my eyes peeled for a better one - to no avail for a few years. Not only is this particular record a tough score in my neck of the woods - this particular piece does not seem to be too popular either. I looked for CDs containing this piece and came up pretty dry. So imagine my relief to discover a performance of Faure's "Ballade" by Earl Wild on this nifty reissue LP:
I find Earl Wild's playing very enjoyable - his recording of "Rhapsody in Blue" for RCA is a benchmark / landmark recording that belongs in any music fan's collection.So I knew well enough to scoop up this LP and the results are fine
indeed! Yet, that Nonesuch LP still has a kind of “magic mojo”
missing from the Earl Wild record. Both performances are quality
stuff, but there are enough differences in style, approach and
recording values to distinguish the two versions from each other
significantly. So I will keep an eye out for a replacement copy of
the Nonesuch record. In the meantime, I recently came across these
two solo piano records featuring works by Faure performed by pianist
Albert Ferber.
Now this is a name I have never come across and the the discs were
pressed in West Germany (such as it was in 1979). These are
re-pressings of previously released material and some interesting
ephemera found within the covers suggested these issues were an
improvement over the originals. In fact, the previous owner had
written a letter to a UK publication – Classics Magazine – in the
early 90s pleading for a CD reissue of these recordings and placed
his letter in the record jacket (a response letter was placed inside
LP Volume 2). The previous owner must have had quite an ear since
the music found on these records is spectacular – and I'm not
easily won over (or even mildly entertained) by solo piano music
usually. Were these recordings ever issued on CD? If so I would
probably pick them up if I found them – not that the records I
found were in bad shape, but sometimes CDs are a great way to hear
solo piano music due to quiet parts that vinyl isn't always kind to
(if surface noise is too intrusive). No matter what the format, I
will heartily recommend these discs to anyone regardless if you've
heard of Faure or not.
That really is the best kind of listening experience – when a
recording / performance can win you over and transcend expectations.
The same was true of this RCA 70s reissue LP of a Reiner / Chicago
album titled “Great Music of Spain”.
I knew I didn't have this
material on CD or on the older LP pressing and just added it to
whatever pile of other classical LPs I was rescuing that day, not
really giving it much thought. When I finally got around to taking it
out for a spin – WOW! Maybe I'm not much of an audiophile, but this
reissue made me sit up and take notice of the sound. The music is excellent too, of course. All this reminds me of a
rather long, but thorough article I read awhile ago and recently rediscovered about
some patterns relating to record labels, sound quality and the whole
“original pressing versus reissue” debate. This article pretty
much sums up – in so many, many words – quite a few of my own
findings though my research has been fairly limited by comparison.
The Reiner reissue is a simple illustration that great sound can be
found on reissues – and even on jazz and rock reissues (somewhat
contrary to the article posted). I deal with those genres more on my
other blog here:
http://catchagroove-kaiser.blogspot.com/
As it happens, I recently stumbled into a nice pile of vintage RCA
stereo LPs – quite a few Living Stereos here:
These all were marked by their previous owner with a stamp
presumably designed for his local photography business. I'm a bit
loathe to provide a picture to reveal his full name, etc......even
though I reckon he has since passed on. At any rate, he kept his LPs
clean and had great taste! Probably the crown jewel was the famous
Reiner / Bartok LP:
There was another Bartok album as well along with some of the more
popular titles – some “shaded dogs”, some “white dogs”.
All
of the records from this collection appear to have been purchased in
the mid-60s (confirmed by some dates from the owner's business
stamps). I am still plowing through these and have yet to be
disappointed by any that have graced the turntable so far.
Speaking of Bartok, I also found this curious red vinyl pressing
of a Concerto for Orchestra recording conducted by Ormandy with the
Philadelphia Orchestra for RCA in the early 80s. Overall the
performance is enjoyable and the liner notes are fun to read since
the focus is on how great the “new” digital recording techniques
are. One of the interesting byproducts of the digital revolution was
the return of some pretty dynamic recordings. Indeed, I have some LPs
and CDs from the early 80s where the dynamic range is quite
pronounced to fairly dramatic effect. Of course, this aesthetic was
possible during the golden age of analog, but the trend moved away
from truly hi-fi to compromised, “normalized” sound (see the
above link for way more on this topic – if you don't know already).
Of course, part of my fascination with the “serious” music
world runs in tandem to the topic of sound quality and the various
recording techniques and media offered – discs, tapes, et al. In
fact, I've realized my “surround / quad” listening has taken a
bit of a backseat (mainly due to lifestyle rather than technology
deficiencies). That doesn't stop me from dragging home the odd
quadraphonic LP (or 12......) here and there. Perhaps a return to
quad will be next year's theme. I could do quite a few months of
straight quad listening with just the classical titles I've put
together.........eeesh! And I'd sure love to get an earful of the
quad version of this late 20
th Century classic:
I have Switched - On Bach with the original, “constipated Bach”
cover too! Ha!
What I didn't know was the existence of a “human” counterpart
LP – the selections from the famous Moog album played by human
performers – same pieces in the same order as the electronic “hit”
- this time titled, what else? Switched-OFF Bach.
This cover is merely a closeup of the “staid” Bach cover image
used for the Switched-On Bach LP we all know and love. The human
performers here include the likes of Glenn Gould and other
contemporaries. I wonder if there will ever be another surprise “hit”
classical release again?
Moving a bit backwards in time technology-wise, I was very excited
to find a nice copy of one of my “holy grail” albums – in fact
THE FIRST long-playing, 33&1/3 album released by Columbia: ML
4001 !!
I found this along with a few other records from the first batch
released by Columbia in 1948 as part of the ushering-in of the new
vinyl LP format. From a sound quality standpoint, these records are
far from audiophile, but they are historically interesting. In fact,
it would be really interesting to hear what these same recordings
sound like on their 78 RPM counterparts. Which I am also capable of
doing more frequently now that I rigged this Pro-Ject Debut turntable
to play 78s. I also outfitted the Ortofon cart with the appropriate
needle which sounds great!
I haven't gotten to this version of the Grand Canyon Suite yet. At
the moment I'm playing this recording by the Oslo Philharmonic (which I
also have on open reel tape) – which is such a spirited performance
it is the benchmark for me (and sounds great too). Highly
recommended!
Until next time – KEEP SEEKING AND LISTENING!!
