Faure Piano Quartets and Quintets Brad Mehldau

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Streaming Classical (22-7): Faure Chamber Music and Brad Mehldau
Basic Repertoire (22-2): Faure Piano Quartets and Quintets

I wasn’t planning on writing this article, but an unusual liner note prompted me to do this.

Gabriel Faure is one of the most enigmatic composer there is. Even most seasoned classical listeners are challenged by his music. It’s tonal, increasingly chromatic as he aged, but many will often ask, among the constantly shifting vistas and textures, where’s the melody or development? Certainly I did, but as I grew older, many beautiful passages just enticed me. I’m not musically trained, but having listened to classical music for such a long time has amply trained me in listening vertically - while I cannot tell you what chords and harmony are at play, I can appreciate them.

Imagine my surprise when I streamed via NML a recent French Aparte release of Faure’s chamber music. Somehow the playing did not quite agree with me, but I was ecstatic when I read the liner note (unlike most streaming services, this is a sterling feature of NML), written by none other than prominent jazz pianist Brad Mehldau (I even used to have one of his early CDs). This really astonished me. Keith Jarrett playing Bach and Shostakovich, yes, but a jazz musician making a case for Faure? Such ephemeral and intransigent music appreciated by a jazz musician. Now I’m really curious and I’m going to stream some of Mehldau’s recent works later. First, though, some of my thoughts on Faure.

Faure is foremost a pianist. So, his piano works have received the Lion’s share of attention. Be that as it may, offhand can you name even one major pianist who has a Faure piece in his/her recital (likely a nocturne or bacarolle)? Blank! This is a niche. But there is good reason. Most Faure performances are bland. The demand for subtle articulation allied to outing of passion trip most musicians. Which is why Germaine Thyssens-Valentin’s Nocturnes (Testament) still reign supreme (and by a far margin). Another Faure issue that I really appreciate is truly a dark-horse, by the young Dutch pianist Minaar (Challenge), whom I avidly follow.

A Survey of the Piano Quartets and Quintets
Aside from his best known Violin Sonata No 1, for me I am most enamored of his Piano Quartets and Quintets. These are pinnacles of the chamber literature but far less known than those by Dvorak, Brahms and even Schumann.

The Piano Quartet is a notoriously difficult formation to record and balance, and hence the piano quintets of those aforementioned composers are much better known than their piano quartets. In the case of Faure, I rank his Piano Quartets with Brahms at the top. The Piano Quintets are late works that inhabit a less obviously romantic world. When it comes to chamber works, I usually find, no matter how good the intention, ad-hoc ensembles (even studded with stars) don’t usually match up to seasoned regular ensembles. So it is with Faure. In most of the cycles below, the same pianist will play the Piano Quartets with some colleagues, but will play with a String Quartet for the Piano Quintets. The results are clear - the Piano Quintets usually come off rather well, but results for the Piano Quartets are more mixed.

For the longest time, I had a hard time assimilating Faure, UNTIL I bought an LP by the Quintetto Faure di Roma (Claves) of the 2 Piano Quintets. That sounded so right, so refined (yet with fire, unlike those English performances touted by the press), that I became an instant convert. In fact, that album (though with Italian musicians, the estimable Pina Camirelli among them) remains a benchmark. I just streamed the Quartetto Faure di Roma’s Piano Quartets on the same label, and they are cut from the same cloth. I assume they are basically the same musicians. Now, they are not to be confused with the Quartetto di Roma (sans the word Faure) nor the short-lived Quatour Faure (on DG). Sample the very beautiful slow movements of these 2 Piano Quartets and you shall be hooked.

And so I was triggered into a Faure phase. I streamed and sampled many French performances of the 4 works with piano and strings. Does birth right confer an advantage? Maybe yes and no, but what is obvious is that everybody does it differently - contrary to myth, there is no uniform style, nor do some of the playing fit into the traditional view of Faure’s world as sepia and half-lit.

Erato, of course, has the largest number of accounts. The playing of Quatour Bernede has pleasing old-fashioned warmth and directness but I find the legendary Samson Francois somewhat brash (as he’s prone to be). Sonically this is surpassed by several later accounts on the same label. I very much like the older account with the excellent Jean Hubeau at the piano: the Piano Quartets’ musicians include the great cellist Andre Navarra, and his playing in the slow movements are just spellbinding; the Quintets are with the Via Nova Quartet. This is now one of my references, next to the Italians mentioned above. Then there is a very good chamber music set anchored around around the Capucon brothers, violist Gerard Causse and Quatour Ebene, where the piano duties are shared by the excellent Michel Dalberto (I became a fan after I heard him in HK; you should sample his big Erato box) and Nicholas Angelich (who is admired even by Argerich; his Brahms recordings you should investigate; it’s sad that he had recently passed at an early age). Despite the star studded cast, this is a good set and a good place to start to investigate Faure’s chamber works. And then there is the old set anchored around Jean-Phillips Collard, who is supposedly a Faure expert (recorded much solo piano for Erato and French EMI). No less a figure as Horowitz once consulted him on how to play Faure. Despite all this, I have never taken to Collard and the one time I heard him live in HK was dreadful (maybe he was sick?). In this set, the Quintets with the Parenin Quartet definitely sound more coherent to me than the Quartets.

Moving beyond Erato, veteran Pascal Roge and Ysaye Quartet (Decca) give very elegant performances that are reference grade, in excellent sound of course. Unlike other compilations, here the Quartets are played by members of the Ysaye, so the whole set has unusual coherence On the enterprising label Alpha there is a recent comprehensive set of Chamber Music with Piano, anchored around Eric Le Sage, but, despite stars (some also appear on some of the other accounts noted above) somehow I find it not quite congenial. The piano sound can verge on the monochromatic and harsh side. In the Quartets I find the playing of Daishin Kashimoto (concertmaster of the BPO) to be a bore, more like sight-reading; much better the Quintets with the Quatour Ebene.

Historic If you have no bias towards mono sound (in many ways it’s really quite decent, indeed preferable to some of the digitally recorded sound above), you must listen to the aforementioned Thyssens-Valentin in this repertoire (Edition Andre Charlin). The Quartet No.1 (no No. 2 in this set) serves as a model on how to play the music with impeccable style (the supporting players, all unknown to me, simply play with her as one breathing organism). The Quintets with the ORTF Quartet are just as great.

And now for Brad Mehldau's Notes on Faure (from Aparte Liner Notes)

Fauré – Catcher of dreams
Brad Mehldau

Any new recording of Fauré’s chamber music is always welcome. There are many more fresh insights for us to discover. On this recording, the depth of these musicians’ understanding, and the generous engagement with the deep emotion in the music is immediately apparent. As someone who has wrestled with Fauré’s Piano Nocturnes for years, it strikes me that the challenge is not to avoid being saccharine or overwrought, the way it might be with so called Romantic composers (how much utility does this term have for Fauré?). On the contrary: the challenge is to really go “all the way in” to the music, and not shy away from its singular, sometimes all-consuming vision. Fauré…the great underrated composer, the quiet giant. My discovery of him as a developing jazz musician was independent of Ravel and Debussy – two other French titans more commonly associated with jazz. On my path, he was a bridge between something more German – certainly Schumann and Brahms – and something as of yet unknown on the other side. His oeuvre is unquestionably “French” in character, yet also essentially unclassifiable. One could say that Fauré ends with Fauré, in the same way some speak of Brahms. I do not explicitly hear his influence in a continuing direct lineage, although I may be wrong about that. Yet: I hear his spirit in music outside the classical realm – in the saudade feeling of Antônio Carlos Jobim, in the nostalgic melancholy that embedded in many of Leo Ferré’s chansons, or in the wistful music of Michel Legrand, for example. I really believe that Fauré’s music is still of the future, in a way that other composers who straddled the nineteenth and twentieth centuries are not. His chamber music in particular, included here, is a stone as of yet only partially unturned. In any case, Fauré presents a bridge to much of the music I compose and improvise, music commonly called jazz. What has influenced me most is his harmonic palette, unlike any other: strange, enchanting, at times inexplicable, even confounding. You look at what’s on the page in some passages, and you say, “How did he get from point A to point B?”. Some will disagree, but for me, Fauré is essentially a harmonist, notwithstanding his melodic gift. We find this in his slow movements most strikingly: the long, languorous melodies, played in octaves by the strings, are more like canopies that stretch over and protect the fruit below.

There is little variation in melodic activity, for example, throughout the development in the third movement of the Piano Quintet op. 115 included here. Rather, it is the harmony that perpetually unfolds, climbing here, descending here, and climbing again, finally to reach moments of ecstasy. The melody itself, like many of Fauré’s, is largely in stepwise motion, which lends to it both pliability and simplicity. These kind of slow-moving melodies from Fauré – often too slow to sing, if you’re one who fancies singing along – are not always show-stoppers in their own right. Instead, we are mostly likely drawn into the deeply saturated, intoxicating chromaticism they allow for in the harmony. A commentator like Charles Rosen found weakness in this, searching in vain for something sturdy as a basis for the kind of motific melodic development Beethoven exemplified. Yet if motific development is essentially a narrative tool, what makes Fauré so singular, or even iconoclastic, is that we don’t look as much to the melody to tell the story. It is certainly there, but it is not in the forefront, announcing its own primacy. This lends an inconspicuousness to his music – for me, a beautiful kind of mystery – that may be related to his less visible status in the pantheon of composers. All well and good, I say. Once you know about Fauré, there is no turning back. He quietly and steadily seduces you. The story he tells sticks on you; you cannot shake it. You have been initiated.

You might know of “dream catchers.” Made of cloth, they hang above our bed at night, and capture the ether of our dreams as it emenates outwards from our consciousness. They are used in some spiritual traditions, variously, for protection, or perhaps revelation. My favorite music from Fauré, like the slow third movement of the second Piano Quartet op. 45 included here, often has the quality of a dream – one of those ecstatic kind of dreams in which something was revealed, the kind of dream like he evoked in his famous song, “Après un rêve.” His music can transmit that feeling right before it all slips away, just upon awakening. It is somewhere between the two. Fauré is a dream catcher.

July 2021

I also found a comment by Aaron Copland on Faure's famous piano work, Theme and Variations:

“...How many pianists, I wonder, have not regretted that the composer disdained the easy triumph of closing on the brilliant, dashing tenth variation. No, poor souls, they must turn the page and play that last, enigmatic (and most beautiful) one, which seems to leave the audience with so little desire to applaud...”

Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra

Click pics to enlarge: Top, Principals Winds; Clarinet, Zuo Cheng 左丞; Bassoon, Hsieh Ming-Ching 谢明静; Flute (assistant P) Rao Dan 饶丹; Oboe, Cui Xiaozheng 崔晓峥. In my view, the SZSO winds are fabulous and coherent, a feeling I never get with the HKPO, despite individual excellence.

Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra Recorded Concerts
Letter from Shenzhen (22-7): Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra
Streaming Classical (22-6): SZSO Videos

It has been a frustrating few months for the SZ concertgoer. Ever since Hong Kong’s massive Covid Fifth Wave (Omicron) started and spilled over into China, Shenzhen has gone into constant cycles of alert: massive testing mode, imposition of restrictions, and cancellation of concerts, including 2 that I most look forward to, Bruckner 7th and 4th. :-(

So nothing for a while, but suddenly, for the past weeks, SZSO has gone active on the internet, and in quick succession offered many recorded concerts for streaming. The programs so far overlap with but do not exactly match those of the canceled concerts. So some of these were planned anew and carried out expediently, and many are works the orchestra had played before. These were recorded mostly not in their main performing venue, the Shenzhen Concert Hall, but in an unspecified hall, likely their headquarter in SZ (Luohu area).

The administration of the SZSO exasperates me. These concerts were announced almost last minute on their Official Account (公众号) on wechat, and one better subscribes to it to receive the news. Incidentally, they seem to have finally revamped their long dilapidated Official Webpage, and it looks better than before (here and here), but I have little faith they will keep it consistently updated (China has basically abandoned the web and focused on smart phones apps - many things can be found only through cellphone apps and wechat official accounts).

These videos were recorded live without an audience, and cast on Bilibili.com (which I use, as I have its app on my Windows laptop) or Wechat and 小红书, usually at the concert time of 8 pm. Some become permanently available later, some are not - there’s no rationale to it (perhaps some are held back because the conductor is not satisfied? I wonder). Here are archived videos and here is the Live Room (only when there is a cast). I am not sure the links will work; if not try searching in Chinese 深圳交响乐团 ). Here are a few I listened to:

4/17 Conductor Lin Daye 林大叶
2012 winner of the prestigious Solti International Competition, Lin is Musical Director of the SZSO. So far I have been very happy with him, live as well as, as we shall see, virtually. This Mahler is creme de la creme.

Concert started with a (Chinese Award Winning) tone poem of veteran Ye Xiaogang (美丽乡村), which SZSO had played before and available on Bilibili. (I am indifferent to the vast number of tone poems by modern composers, which come with meaningless notes in concert). And then, Mahler Symphony No.1, in a Titanic performance (punt intended)! The orchestra was well nigh perfect, and amazingly thoroughly into the idiom. Interestingly, Lin adhered to the Viennese orchestral placement, with divided violins, and the brass stood up for the rousing finale. And the orchestral playing had more than a little Viennese feeling to it, especially the beautiful strings. Lin has again proven himself as a excellent Mahlerian (I attended his very good M5, each of the 5 movements irritatingly available separately on Bilibili: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5; note the Hall is not the Shenzhen Concert Hall, but the Bay Opera Concert Hall). This performance of the M1 was much more impressive than Jaap van Zweden 10 years ago (I watched his RTHK Telecast with the HKPO before attending his concert with the NYPO).

I “attended” this concert “together” with shidi, Andrew (in HK). I am glad he scrambled last minute and enjoyed it! While listening, we were texting on wechat, commenting in real time on aspects of performance (and the great looking ladies) - it was simply great, and he said next time he’s going to have wine and nuts around. Try this with a friend! Even over distance, we had this camaraderie feeling, not easy to come by these days!

The great Mahler is now available on Bilibili for viewing (here). I urge you to do so.

4/14 Conductor Lin Daye
Concert opened with Bruch Violin Concerto No.1. Soloist Wu Qian 吴倩, a SZ local, was better than her performance of a year ago (here). Orchestral contribution was excellent. Amazingly, I found out she’s now one of the tutti first violins! Perhaps the experience has already helped her. In the Mahler 1st video (link above) she can be seen behind the concertmaster, next to a beautiful lady with pony-tail.

Then followed, amen for making up for the canceled concert, the Bruckner Symphony No.4. Just like the Mahler (above), it was a highly satisfying, thoroughly idiomatic performance. The difficult 4th movement was structurally sound and well controlled. Bravo!

This concert is unfortunately not available for replay at the moment on Bilibili.com. I wonder why!

3/4 Conductor Huang Yi 黄屹
This young conductor (bio here) has risen incredibly fast in China. He’s now one of the Principal Conductors of China Philharmonic, Chief Conductor of the National Ballet Symphony Orchestra (Beijing) and Artistic Director of the Nie Er 聂耳Symphony Orchestra (Kunming).

Concert started with a well turned Stravinsky Pulcinella Suite. The neoclassical style continued with Francaix’s excellent but little played L’Horloge de Flore for Oboe and Orchestra, expertly played by veteran Oboist Chen Qing 陈擎 (now head 团长of the Quanzhou Symphony). Then followed a disciplined Brahms 4th, ending a highly satisfying concert.

The Stravinsky is available on Bilibili (here) whereas the Francaix is not. The Brahms is not either, but the last 2 movements are available in an educational program (here, with a host introducing the pieces, sort of like a pre-concert talk; likely shot just before the performance of the whole symphony). Cut out the other stuff and start at 36:45.

June 2021

Duly impressed by the young conductor, I searched for other videos. Lo and behold, there was a concert last year  (here), which I regret I had missed! Damn! It started with Wagner Meistersinger Overture, which I had heard the SZSO play under their former director, Ehwald (here). At 17’ came the Saint Saens Violin Concerto No.3 (don’t know who’s the competent soloist). But the real meat came at 59’ for Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Most of us know this warhorse inside out, and I can say nothing much has perked up my ears this past decade, but the way Huang judiciously point and punctuate the music here and there is mightily impressive. One of the best accounts I have heard for a long time.

Hungry for more, I dug out his Dvorak Symphony No.9 with the Kunming Symphony (here). The video is subpar and the orchestra made mistakes (so not for everyone) but the overall narrative and flow was impressive. A young man to watch!

4/6 Conductor Lin Daye
Concert started with Haydn Trumpet Concerto (here), perfectly played by the Principal, but a little more smiling would not be amiss (lack of audience is probably worst for a soloist). Then came a chaste and properly turned Prokofiev Classical Symphony (here). It showed off the strings, anchored by the excellent playing of Concertmaster Guo Shuai 郭帅. Last was Copland Apalachian Spring (here), which was decently played, but lacking a little in a sense of the theater to bring it completely to life. For Lin, a good concert but not on the level of his Mahler and Bruckner, or Strauss.

Most of the above I watched at the designated “Live” Cast hour. And then I went back and streamed a few more.

4/2 Conductor Liu Min 刘明
This reduced orchestra concert displayed unusually mature Mozart playing. You would be amazed how many western orchestras often cannot do Mozart with style as good as livered here! The ensemble is really small for the lovely Divertimento No. 11 in D K251 (here). More strings were employed (just the right number for me) for one of Mozart’s best symphonies, the sunny Symphony No. 29 (here). In between is the Piano Concerto No. 12 in A (here). Veteran pianist Yuan Fang 袁芳 is a SZ fixture (often as host in interviews and pre-concert talks). She played simply and directly. The whole thing is intimate and very enjoyable.

2/25 Conductor Zhao Xiaoou 赵晓鸥
The young conductor is associate professor at the Shanghai Conservatory and director of the (very important) Music Middle School under the Conservatory (like the Juilliard Pre-College). Kodaly Dances of Galanta was very well played and enjoyable. Most importantly, it had a good Hungarian and Gypsy flavor, so often missing in performances and recordings. As with most of the modern works, Shi Yongkang’s Memento for French Horn and Orchestra (played steadily by Gu Cong) was dispensable for me. Fortunately, concert ended on a high note with Dvorak Symphony No. 8, which was given a fluid performance of considerable merit. It balanced classical virtues with passion when needed. Everything just flowed naturally (starts at 35:26).

I am not sure readers in HK or the West can access these videos, but I have culled some of the best ones here, and I hope someone can enjoy.

The incomparablePrincipal Cellist, Karen Kocharyan

Unfaltering Principal Horn XuYiqi 徐毅奇

Concertmaster Guo Shuai 郭帅

Audionet Audioplan Lumin Holo Spring Watson Emerson Analog

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Letter from Hong Kong (22-4): E Lo goes on revenge visits

Home Visit (22-2): Audionet, Audioplan, Lumin, Holo Spring, Watson Emerson Analog

Due to COVID pandemic in HK, home visits have been almost non existent. Lately, COVID cases are steadily in decline and I took this opportunity to visit my long time audio buddy Kwong.

We are all for spending wisely and we both are cheapskates who dig cheap tweaks.

He lives in a village flat with a decent and spacious, rectangular living room ideal for hifi listening. After all these years, his core equipment was originally based on the Audionet ART CDP and SAM int. amp and the lesser known but reputable Audioplan mini tower Kontrast III with internal silver wiring. Later, he added both a super tweeter and a cheap but highly effective Roger ASB 100 subwoofer. Also an Audionet AMP3 was added for bi-amping: the super tweeter  LCY 100K MK1 and loudspeaker tweeters were driven by the amp section of SAM and the loudspeaker bass woofer by AMP3.

More recently, he added Lumin A1 Streamer and Holo Spring 1 fully moded DAC, using AES connection, which is the preferred way.

He is also using the monster Longyu Magic 5000 power re-conditioner and Rayaudio's power regenerator. Power supply of A1 was being upgraded by Ray. He is very particular in treating electricity right!

For IC and speaker wires, he uses mostly Gotham. Power cords are Ray's DIY.

I also brought along my Wattson Emerson Analog (WEA) to compare against his Lumin/Holo combo.

What I heard was a really top quality system. The sound is smooth, analog and superbly detailed, yet musical, with a wide and deep soundstage and accurate timbre. Bass department is no slouch, rounded, taut, ripe with impact. This 4 way system is actually competitive with many large floorstanding speakers!

WEA face off with A1/Holo combo I think there is no clear winner. Both are smooth, analog sounding, with great detail retrieval but different presentation. The WEA was slightly more upfront and immediate, with more defined instrumental outline, and background was a tad darker. The A1/Holo was a bit more laid back, but equally musical, with ripe and authoritative bass and natural midrange! Of coz, their brand new tag for the latter was over 60k combined! Even Kwong was initially surprised on how good WEA was when it was first hooked up. He even  thought it was even better than his A1/Holo, but of coz with more serious listening, there was no clear winner and that each of the two setups had its own forte!

Holo Spring fully modified R2R NOS Mode

Lumin A1 streamer (you can forget about its internal DAC

LONGYU power re-conditioner helped shape a solid foundation

LCY 100K MK1 Super tweeter gives all the air in the top end

Songs played through Tidal:

Bass drops (Nened Vasilic), great demo for plucked bass, yet entertaining.
Birds and the Bees (Jim Hall and Pat Metheny Live), Jim's guitar is so slick, like matured claret.
Madiba's Drive (Antonio Forcione), musical, hifi and joyful Afro tune!
These Bones (Fairfield Four), the bass voice is so... bassy and throaty lol.
Cherry (Masaharu Fukuyama), great voice and the guitar is so realistic. Great melodies.
Japanese Roots (Take Dake, Neptune Kaizan), great hifi demo, yet interesting music.
At James Infirmary (Baba Blues), the guitar, his voice and the penetrating sax are so raw, yet genuine and with anger.
It had to be you (David Gris and Martin Taylor), Gris' dobro has so much attack and realism.
Practical Arrangement (Emil Scholsberg), such genuine voices.
Mon Soleil (Ashley Park), Ashley's got great talent in both acting and singing!
Over the Rainbow (Live, Melody Gardot), always so sexy; lazy voice, great interpretation and reinvention.
I will Survive (Live, Musica Nuda), raw voice and bouncy bass.
Limit to your love (James Blake), showcasing crazy low bass test track.
Day O (Live at Carnergie Hall, Harry Belafonte), better than CD, but not LP.
Practice Love (jazz version) (JJ Lin), the bass can really carve sharp turns!
Visit me if you have time off (Chen Guo) male speech is so magnetic, his voice is not even the main theme of the song...

Bob Dylan and Wong Kar Wai

Click pics to enlarge.

Read and Forward: Bob Dylan Deep Focus

I am a Dylan fan, mostly. His album Oh Mercy (produced by the expert Daniel Lanois), which I have both on vinyl and in CD, had been featured in this blog many times. I even played it for a few fellow audiophiles. Incidentally, among my friends in HK or NYC I have yet to come across another one playing any Dylan album.

Is there something Bob Dylan could not do? He is a poet but only now do I know he paints well too! He has an art show named Deep Focus (here, ArtReview here). The paintings all derive from movies.

Two of his pictures are based on one of Wong Kar Wai's best films, Happy Together (wiki, poster below), featuring Tong Leung (above, pic from ArtReview) and Leslie Cheung (below, from Halcyon Gallery cited above).

Incidentally, for the audiophile, Wong's films always have interesting soundtracks. One of the better known is 2046 (original CD pic below), which is a good soundtrack but not at all a good film (I'd say gangrenous by his lofty standards). 

Easter

Letter from Shenzhen (22-6): Easter

This coming Sunday is Easter. Having been colonial British, and with a large Christian population, Hong Kong still includes Good Friday (today) and Easter Monday as public holidays, so it's a long weekend. In the past, many combine this with a few day's leave and fly off to other countries for a vacation. Now...sigh...

Just a few days ago, a fellow HKer, a well-being coach soon to return to HK, asked me through wechat whether there is Easter holiday in the PRC. I was surprised by the naivete, and said, no Christian holidays (including Christmas), no Buddha Birthday (also a HK holiday), nothing but state related holidays.

This year's Easter will be horrible for many Orthodox Christians, which is next week on the Julian Calendar. Certainly for all Ukranians still in their country or in exile. It will also be horrible for many of the Russian soldiers on the frontline and their families. Let's hope there shall be a truce by then.

An Easter Egg in my new DIY ground box (article to come)

 

Montreal Audio Fest 2022 KLH

Read and Forward: Montreal Audio Fest 2022

For years, when I was in Hong Kong, I covered the local audio show. I wrote them up in this blog for the readers, but personally it was just for looking at the gears, not for sound. Most displays just sound awful and the music played lousy. But the Hong Kong Show was cheap to attend (around USD 10, and you get a CD for it). Hence, I was never interested in shelling out a lot of money to attend a show when I was back in the US (it would cost a lot more).

Neither do I actively follow show reports on the internet. But as a subscriber to the Stereophile Newsletter, I get fed some show reports (yes, even here I get them), and the latest one is on the Montreal Audio Fest 2022 (Stereophile, it is in reverse order, but that hardly matters). I like the way Stereophile does show reports, more pics and details than any other magazine (not that I find most of the stuff interesting). This latest one I find a good read, just as I did for the Capital Audio Show earlier. Boy, I'd love to be in Montreal again - together with Quebec, just stylish! And good food.

KLH The article that I found most interesting are the ones on the relaunched Model 5 and Model 3 (pic below from Stereophile). Please also note that the KLH 5 was formally revied by Ken Micallef earlier (here). Although I bought my first system when I was a student in 1973 and upgraded a few times (chronicled here), I didn't really become an audiophile until the start of the 90's. KLH, Advent and AR were around when I started out but they were too expensive for a student. Over the years of course I got to hear some vintage samples, and some were good and some bad. What I like about these modern versions is that KLH uses paper for woofer and midrange, a wise decision. I am curious how well they will sell. In recent years, big old fashioned boxes like these have not been in vogue, but with the vinyl renaissance in full swing, maybe the retro big boxes are once again fashionable (if you have the room). From the official website, the only regional dealer listed is in HK, which usually also serves China. I wonder if I can get to hear then in Shenzhen but I am not betting on it.

Western Electric 755, TA 4189A

Click pic to enlarge. right, Vincent's NAD's. Next to WE, beauty and the beast...

Home Visits (22-1): Western Electric

Letter from Hong Kong (22-3): icefox sends goodies

Regular readers know that when I was in Hong Kong, my friend icefox often acted as my taskmaster, making me work hard. This man knows virtually everyone, especially the ones worth knowing (not at all in the majority). He knows almost all the WE players in HK and the greater Guangzhou area and is a constant source of good information. He recently sent me the videos below, which I hope you will enjoy. Much of the music will be unfamiliar but I think that's not so important.

Note: Although I am not in HK, icefox is, and that was where all this info was related to me via wechat.

HK: Vincent's WE 755 We have met Vincent before. Not so long before I left HK in 2018 I chronicled his WE systems and Altec 604 (here). He has changed from the Altec 604 to the WE 755. In this video, however, unlike before, he's not using the WE 133 replica amp (using all genuine parts) but an NAD 3020 (or 3020A). In the video, the NAD is in the back and the WE133 in the front are not used. Bluetooth was source and speaker cable Belden 9497. I of course asked which NAD is better and he said there is not much difference. As for the heart of the matter, most importantly, icefox said "...(this is) the simplest nice sounding WE system I have ever heard...this combo puts a lot of big but poorly executed WE horn systems to shame!" and that's a lot coming from him! icefox said:"... the 133 sounds nice too but when you consider what NAD 3020 could do, it's such a gigantic bargain vs those expensive tubes that one requires to operate the 133..." And now, he even said this!!!!!!!! "when you have a WE speaker, the WE amp is not mandatory!" The Cabinet Now, this is very important. I have heard plenty of 755's, from Alnico WE and early Altec's to later ferrite Altec's. It is still the most iconic fullrange. But, often the sound is sub-par. In my experience, most, if not all, modern cabinets do not sound good (just as in the case of Lowther). If it's MDF, you can just totally forget about it. To avoid the trappings of a bix, some use open baffle, but that has its own can of worms. In this case, Vincent's are housed in original Altec 618 cabinets (literature at bottom), which is a solution adopted by many. But, as icefox says, not all 618 cabinets are created equal (many are DIY's of widely varying qualities). Vincent's apparently are particularly fine specimens.

Taipei: Mr Han's WE TA-4189A 台北韩先生 He is an acquanitance of icefox. I have even less info on this. Suffice to say, this is a pair of fullrange Field Coil WE (power supply at bottom of article), driven with WE 94C amps, fed by Studer A730 directly, no preamp. This is Mr. Han's second system, his main being WE 15A (not available this time).

China: Foshan (Guangdong) 佛山西电镖 This is the WE Replica of the fellow who makes close replicas of WE stuff, including Vincent's 133. Think along the lines of Line Magnetic.

Well, I cannot thank icefox enough for these footages, which I hope you will enjoy!

Sibelius Bacewicz Dido Gershwin

Streaming Classical (22-5): Sibelius, Bacewicz, Dido, Gershwin

Klaus Makela The name is completely new to me, and what a surprise! At the age of 26, the Finn is already at the helm of the Oslo PO (following Vasily Petrenko) and Orchestre de Paris (following Paavo Jarvi)! He has signed an exclusive contract with Decca (only the third conductor to do so, after Solti and Chailly) and the first release is a Sibelius Symphony cycle with the Oslo. This is brand new, and so far critical reception is limited to the UK. Most highly praised it (the Gramophone review is particularly insightful, a good example of the reviewer’s art). But there are dissents. The Guardian was negative. For my taste, while I understand the latter’s complaint of episodic treatment, I think he misses the point. Although Makela can micromanage and stretch things a bit, his excellent rhythmic articulation, careful dynamic scaling, and the utterly beguiling coloristic playing of the Oslo seem almost operatic, Wagnerian, and hold one’s attention all the way, with the strings and winds and brass seemingly coming after you in wave after wave, and that is what Sibelius (or, for that matter, Bruckner) is about. Not so long ago, I heard Oslo live (incidentally, Sibelius) and marveled at their refinement, and here they rose to even greater heights (higher than those achieved by Jansons and Petrenko). True, Makela’s meticulous treatment surely emphasizes Sibelius as a modernist, though in general the big moments are not remiss, even for the romantically inclined. Consider the Finale of the 2nd and Largo of the 4th, such great music that if you do not get goose pimples or get swept off your feet the performance is not good enough (and most are not). No fear, here they are delivered! As the Guardian critic alluded to, it is true the finale of 5th (which is next to 2nd in popularity) is not as romantic in its peroration as some (say, LSO/Gibson, RCA/Decca, long an audiophile staple, and still available in 200 gm LP), but Makela is not without merit as he positions it much closer to the more economically aesthete sound world of the 6th. In this cycle, as a whole,, Sibelius is neither hot youth at the start nor older barren landscape at his end, but constantly shifting in minutiae, sometimes more sensuous and vocal, sometimes questioning, but not all all sentimental. Although it may disappoint those who look for grand gestures and Tchaikovskian inklings, it is a highly refreshing cycle, unlike any other, and I have heard them all. I have no doubt this is my favorite complete cycle now, bar none, especially as it is abetted by Decca’s glorious sound (and bargain pricing). The great thing is, for some reason Decca has loaded the entire cycle on to youtube, and you can listen for yourself. But I’d want the CD set! In passing, his compatriot Matthias Rouvali, who has recorded No. 1 (I like it) and 2 (Alpha; the latter deemed CD from Hell by Classicstoday), seems to have hit a pause button. I actually don’t overly mind the indulgence of Rouvali, but Makela is less imposing on the orchestra, more refreshing and breathing together with his orchestra - more visionary. Marvelous young man! Incidentally, Makela has many full videos on youtube, all works that I like, and I plan to stream them all. I just streamed the 2021 Bruckner 9th (Orchestre de Paris) and it was very good, impressive for one so young. I must say the OdP played with fire and idiomatically - sign of chemistry (and that Paavo Jarvi had done a good job previously)!

Johan Dalene BIS has championed this Swedish violinist, whose playing is quite refined. His latest release is a stunner. Befitting his being Carl Nielsen competition winner, his account of his stylistically elusive concerto is simply the best I have heard (most are pedestrian in comparison). Bravo! And the Sibelius coupling is also very fine. Kudos!

First Desk Ladies There are now many women-led String Quartets, even completely female ensembles. But my benchmarks have not changed. For a long time, I have preferred the Artemis (Erato) and the Belcea (EMI). The former had long changed its leader, from the formidable Natalia Prischepenko to the excellent Vineta Sareika, but the ensemble sound had taken a different direction, softened noticeably. For me, while still tops, they lack a little the fire they had before. But I have to give it to the group that they are one of the few to list previous formations (so many just erase the past). In contrast, the Belcea has retained its leader, Corina, and remain formidable. Their latest release of the Brahms Sextets (Alpha) is like over-indulgence. Adding to the immaculate ensemble of the Belcea two soloists and chamber musicians of the highest order, the incomparable violist Tabea Zimmermann and star cellist Jean-Quihen Queyras, and the result is the best version of these works for me, with more inner details than any other, yet with a refined texture. Marvelous! Incidentally, the latter two are half of the great Arcanto Quartet (featuring one of my favorite violinists, Antje Weithaas; make sure you stream their excellent recordings on Harmonia Mundi).

Uniwersytet Muzyczny Fryderyka Chopina (Frederic Chopin Music University; UMFC) This is a complete surprise from the left field. I have never heard of this label, but recently I found many items uploaded to NML. And, boy, the quality of the playing! Most are associated with the University and well versed in chamber music. The Jakowicz’s Father Krzysztof is an eminent Polish Violinist and faculty at the University and had recorded extensively over the years. I first streamed his Faure Sonata No. 1 (Dux, 2008) and was mightily impressed. Although this work is a personal favorite, not many (listener and performer; among the latter is Kyung Wha Chung) can get into this sonata. He is 1959 winner of the Ysaye Competition. Warner had acquired the old Poliskie Nagrania vault and had put out a few of his early albums. A Szymanowski and Ysaye disc from 1969 (!) impresses for its musical understanding, even if the remastered sound leaves something to be desired. His tighter tone has stayed similar over the years but the older recording just sound too thin. His Bach and Mozart from the same period are stylistically very good. His son, Jakub, is featured on the same label in an excellent Prokofiev Violin Sonata disc, which is deliberately highly expressive (most big names play “cleaner” but much colder). He took lessons from his father, but his tone is completely different, fuller (this is the opposite of Igor and David Oistrakh). His recordings of Schubert and Bacewicz are just superb (Polskie Radio). Of note is that he is now a member of the superb Zehetmair Quartet (all their ECM recordings are worthwhile, particularly the unrivaled Bartok/Hindemeth and Schumann).

Grazina Bacewicz This composer, long deceased, is currently enjoying a renaissance, with recordings pouring forth. IMHO, she is much under-rated, and those who like Prokofiev and beyond will take to her very well, as I do (Weinberg is another current fad, but I think Bacewicz is an even stronger composer). She was an accomplished violinist as well as pianist, and wrote profusely for these instruments. I first encountered her in her String Quartets, superbly performed by the Silesian String Quartet (Chandos). Then I bought the excellent Krystian Zimerman disc of her Piano Sonata No.2 and Piano Quintets (DG). Incidentally, the first violinist on that disc, Kaja Danczowska, is a superb violinist who had appeared long ago with a very young Zimerman on an excellent Szymanowski and Franck disc (DG), which I have on LP! These I have all recommended before. When it comes to Bacewicz' Violin Sonatas, I compared No. 5, one of her best, and I definitely prefer Jakowicz to those who came before (Piotr Plawner/Ewa Kupiec on Hanssler and Annabelle Berthome-Reynolds/Ivan Donchev on MUSO). Great music. I am at most near midway in my exploration of her oeuvres, and I relish it all the way. As previously recommended, her Violin Concertos are also superbly performed by Joanna Kurkowicz (Chandos).

Bach and Baroque, with a Backward Glance I begin most of my days with Bach, and I really cannot live without him! I have probably listened to every version of the Brandenburg Concertos, from Horenstein and Klemperer to the many current period instrument bands. With Bach, it’s almost never a waste of time - the music takes care of itself, no matter how it is performed. Given the current period instrument practice, which I like (last one I recommended was Halubek), it seems almost anachronistic to encounter more traditional treatments. Although the little known Capella Savaria (Hungaroton) is period-inclined, it is almost old-fashioned in its sonority, with a whacking bass line that I find oddly appealing. All its recordings, from Telemann to Mozart and Schubert, offer pleasure, not the extremes that are in vogue now. Back to Poland, the team of Pawel Losakiewicz and Lilliana Stawarz just stunned me in their old-fashioned musicality. Their Bach Violin Sonatas and Telemann (UMFC) and transcribed Scarlatti Sonatas (Dux) reward many a listening session. This now stand with my previous favorite, the period Schayegh/Halubek (Glossa), though the two are very different in style. Mind you, some of the greatest violinists have attempted this repertory to lesser effects (David Oistrakh and Josef Suk come to mind). Lastly, a disc of Bach Keyboard Concertos by a Polish team led by Marcin Swiatkiewicz offers sublimely vibrant playing (Channel Classics). Transcriptions Bach is for sure the most transcribed composer, as he was of his contemporaries. Recently I have streamed Polish DuoAccosphere (2 accordions), Dutch Loeki Stardust (4 recorders) and Ensemble Calefax (Reed Quintet). All very good and explore if you will, but they are likely appealing to smaller number of people than this Bach devourer.

If you think somehow this review is tilted towards Polish musicians, you are not mistaken. This is part of my journey exploring the Slavic people’s contributions (a lifelong pursuit, long before the current conflicts). So many deserve greater recognition! In fact, I have an article on Polish musicians in the pipeline, but given my semi-compulsive nature it will be a while as too many are worthwhile.

Dido and Aeneas Well, this is one of my absolute favorites. From eons ago, I have had multiple LP versions of this gem and I have heard them all. Great as some of the singing was (particularly Janet Baker), they were often hampered by the old fashioned orchestra playing, which cannot hold a candle to current versions in style. Just a day ago, I learned from MusicWeb (excellent and detailed info) of a new video of this opera from Naxos (I don't often do video) by one of my favorite period opera ensembles, the venerable Les Arts Florissants under William Christie, and eagerly searched for it. Miraculously, the entire performance is available from Chinese Bilibili, and I gobbled it up. For the longest time, I have had a dilemma: Dido is too difficult to express and kind Belinda has stolen the limelight. This is no joke - even in Tristan and Isolde, Brangane is more easily expressed than Isolde. Given the ultra-compactness of the opera, there is simply not much time for Dido to express herself, and she's required to turn on a dime, as in her final rejection of Aeneas. Tough job for the singers as well as directors. I watched this whole thing and find it musically just superb. The orchestra cannot be faulted and the chorus is even more beguiling, utterly transparent and often moving, especially in the Epilogue. The video was shot in the opulent Opera Comique. A delight.

Crossovers? Crossovers have a bad name, and in most cases deservedly so. But some astute classical musicians have chosen well. A case in point is the aforementioned Loeki Stardust Quartet, who on Extra Time (Decca) played Misty, Michelle, Scrapple from the Apple (Charlie Parker), Pink Panther and The Shadow of your smile. Interesting. Even better is the aforementioned Calefax Reed Quintet, whose jazzy take on Purcell, Dido and Aeneazz (Pentatone) was my album of 2019. Their earlier Roaring Twenties (Challenge) features cabaret style music, Weill and others, with singer Cora Burggraaf, and a transcirption of Gershwin’s An American in Paris. I have previously recommended Multi-Persona Barbara Hannigan’s Crazy Girl Crazy (Alpha), and her most recent Dance with me with the same band, the versatile Ludwig Orchestra (Alpha) is a delight and will surely please those with even the most peripheral interest in ballroom music. 

For classical fans, I have saved the most unusual for last. Now, this one is a seismic stunner: The immortal Sviastolav Richter played Gershwin’s Concerto in F at the 1993 Schwetzinger Festival (SWR Classic). Woww! I am speechless! Catch up!

Below is youtube Dido's Lament from the said production. Superb singing!