Some records you take just for the cover alone... Like
this 45RPM that once was a supplement with the Dutch ladies magazine
"Margriet". I have several records on this label, mostly VOX
re-issues, but non have that wonderful late 1950's romantic flair on it... What
is she staring at? What does she think? Why is that candle there?? Well, in the
end, 10 Eurocents well spend... :-) Greek pianist Rena Kyriakou (1917-1994) easily
glides through the piano lollipops by Beethoven (für Elise!), Schumann, Liszt
and Brahms, can’t go wrong there… Hope you will enjoy this curiosity!
zondag 27 november 2011
zaterdag 12 november 2011
My all time favorite classical LP: Helene Boschi Plays Mozart
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Recently,
Dutch classical music station Radio 4 had an “Edison day” to commemorate the
80th anniversary of phonograph inventor Thomas Alva Edison. The broadcast
itself was a little disappointing, only a few items had connection with the
theme and a collector who wanted to play a two minute wax cylinder on the show
was asked to shut down the machine after 30 seconds… It made a rather hilarious
part of the broadcast, and hey, show some courage there on Edison day! Anyway,
there was an intriguing red wire theme through the broadcast, which was he
question “what is your favorite classical LP?” It prompted me to think about
it, and all the usual suspects passed by; Glenn Gould’s Goldberg variations, Mravrinski’s
Shostakovich or even Bruckner Six by Otto Klemperer… But… The one I came up
with in the end was something completely different. It’s Mozart’s 22nd piano
concerto, played by the Swiss pianist Helene Boschi (1917-1990). From the
moment she steps in the arena (after the introduction with some awesome Czech wind
players) you have the feeling that the concerto has to be played like this and not in any other way. It’s
played so unbelievably natural and “right”, that from the moment I first put
the stylus in the groove of this 1953 LP, I was completely blown away by it. The
weird thing is, to my knowledge, it has never been re-issued on cd… Well, judge
for yourself, I have transferred the LP (about a quarter inch thick, tha good
old Supraphon pressings…) and put the MP3’s online. Rightmouseclick to download. As a bonus, I added an interview
I had with the Dutch Teleac radio program “Hoe? Zo!” about the transfer of this
LP. It’s in Dutch, but you hear some examples of the “before” and “after”
treatment of the crackles and pops… Enjoy the performance!
woensdag 9 november 2011
Hey! I'm not nice... (but I can sing)
There are these artists
who just aren’t that “nice”. An acquaintance of mine wanted to have Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
autograph on an authentic 1940’s picture of her. She took the photo and said
she looked awful on it. He later found the picture back under the table, torn…
She was a terrific singer. Elly Ney adored Adolf Hitler and was appointed to be
his official “Kammermusikerin”. In letters to friends she complained that Jews were treated too polite in Nazi Germany… She was a terrific pianist. In
the light of these two examples Dutch soprano Jo Vincent doesn’t come off that
bad… She had a mouth and was not
afraid to use it. She was nosy, interfered with just about everything in the
life of her pupils and when in 1960 she was asked her opinion on Dutch TV about
then popular singer Mieke Telkamp she replied that “she didn’t sing, she just
shouted in a microphone”… Beside the fact that I am not a big of a Mieke
Telkamp fan, it’s quite tactless to say that before an audience of about a
million people. Straightforward, honest maybe, but also a bit rude… Yet, Jo Vincent
was an awesome singer. Here is a 1927 recording of her, made when she was 29
years old. A very atmospheric performance of Franz Schubert’s “Du bist die Ruh”,
with Maurice van Ijzer on the tingly (hey, authentic 1927!) piano.
Follow this link! ->
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdqLXbplC7I
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