Perlman on Paganini, Tone and brilliance

It may look like quite a leap the jump from Beethoven's Piano Concertos to Paganini, yet this is about another titan among the great soloists of our time: Itzhak Perlman. For Paganini fans and for Perlman fans as well these two names aer strongly linked through the great recording of Paganini Caprices by Perlman. However it is not the subject of our meeting today. The subject comes from the recording of Paganini Violin Concerto No. 1.

Most likely one of the greatest achievements of Paganini, the composer, this concerto is a very interesting mix of virtuosity, pure energy, and tenderness. It is, as such a very difficult piece for the interpreter as well as for the listener. Play like a madman and you loose its soul and it becomes tiring. Don't take it seriously and it makes no sense. The technical difficulty is self-implied, given the composer, yet the emotional difficulty is hidden and even more demanding. In 1972, the year of this recording, Perlman was at the height of his powers and a profound musician as you know him. Consequently, this recording is a great spectacle. The technical fireworks are displayed with high energy and enthusiasm, while the lingering passages are exposed with great sensibility. It's in this passages that Perlman produces an intoxicating tone from his wonderful violin. It is this tone that is the landmark of this recording. Full-bodied, round, powerful and soul-filling tone. I remember him in the movie on the great violinists of the last century comparing the piano and violin playing, noting that a violinist has to work to produce the tone that for the piano is implied. He is without a shadow of a doubt one of the greatest craftsmen in this field that ever lived. And it is the way he puts this gorgeous tone in the service of profoundly meaningful music-making that makes this recording the best, as far as I am concerned.

The filling of this cd is another great recording that displays the same qualities: Carmen Fantasie by Sarasate. It is again a great achievement. Energy, spirit, technical show-off, profound understanding of this very emotional piece. It is, for many, the reason to buy this cd. One of the few very best if not the very best recording.

As it's all about hearing his violin in the best possible way allow me to suggest to you the remastering JVC made of this recording. The XRCD that resulted has the best possible sound a regular cd can have and I recommend you find the xrcd version of the recording to enjoy the music and the music-making to its fullest.

Beethoven Piano Concertos - Two cycles

Once again, dear friends, we come back to Beethoven Piano Concertos. No wonder, as such genius-filled masterpieces speak differently each day and even more so at different age. Even more so as all the pianists that reached the climax of their artistic power try to penetrate the world of these masterpieces and bring Beethoven's soul to light.

In the continous wondering through archives of recorded music I came across two complete cycles from two living giants of our time: Murray Perahia and Alfred Brendel. The temptation was to great to put these two head to head as a couple of very interesting differences emerge at a closer look. Murray Perahia is at full maturity and comes with an impecable record of recording classics (his Mozart cycle is a landmark). Alfred Brendel is enjoying a glorious sunset and has all the insight and experience that only a full and accomplished life can give you. Perahia's is his first take on these magnificent works, while Brendel is at his third, the one of full maturity.

My intention is not to make an anatomical dissection of each concert. Instead I would like to share with you the overall "feeling" of each set and try to grasp the untouchables that make them so unique in themselves and so different from each other. The first thing you notice is the compeltely different setup that each conductor creates for their soloists. On one side you have Haitink, with a long history of great cycles on his portfolio (the great one with Claudio Arrau should be in every collection), creates a roman cathedral of sound (Hegel said beautifully and extremely inspired that architecture is frozen music) classic to the bones and with a cold crisp mind that doesn't allow any emotional getaway. On the other side is Rattle, that finds spirit and emotion in every bar and allows music to sing of human experiences in the most profound and "classical" way. It's like building musically Sagrada Familia withholding nothing back. With great orchestras to match their impeccable conception (Royal Concertgebouw and Wiener Philharmoniker respectively) the stage is set for the full manifestation of their soloists creative prowess.

A magnificent tour the force on both sides they couldn't be more different nor more true to Beethoven's music. Perahia is displaying in perfect technique all the lines and reliefs of Beethoven's music. Everything is in right place perfectly finished and leaving no room for improvement. And while building like a great master mason of ancient times he manages to bring forth with utter power of conviction all the inner humanity that Beethoven engraved in his music. A mastery achievement I hope you agree with me. And when you think that nothing else can be said in every concert along comes Brendel's mind blowing account of these works. He starts from the other end. He puts together every bit of human emotion and piece of mind building, at times with spine chilling freedom of creation, an entire world that makes sense and is so soul searching. he's life work with these masterpieces gives the liberty to nuance to molecular levels every musical idea in the all so clear construction that takes form under your amazed eyes as music unfolds. In the end you have the same intense feeling of Beethoven being in the same room with you. Almost the same effect in both cycles but with such a different approach.

It is so conforting to have the mature and complete version of the conception of two great musicians at the end of their carrers, Haitink in one set and Brendel in the other. It is equally conforting to know that this great music will have more to say in the future in the hands of Perahia and Rattle, as I am pretty sure that they will come back to these works again.

Harman Kardon Citation, absolute music

The search for the perfect interpretation of a masterpiece is, for many, paralleled by the search of that combination of audio gear that will bring that recording to life. I come back with a review of music making machines as I feel they deserve it.

It all started with the pretty lucky acquisition of a Harman Kardon Citation Seventeen. When I first saw it the almost fourty years of age were pretty obvious on this glorious machine until I touched and turned a couple of times the volume knob. The feeling of perfectly spaced steps spoke about a machine that made history. The work needed to make it look young once again wasn't much and soon it sat in the company of valuable team mates (the likes of Sony TA-N80ES and Infinity Rennaisance 90) and made music in a way I couldn't think possible. Unbelievable all the way. I will not go on and blab in all sorts of "audiophile" terms. I will only tell you that there is one word that describes this machine almost perfectly: space. Amazingly wide space and a gorgeous clean air filling it. It trasnports you immediately in the middle of a beautiful garden with no walls in sight and places with surgical precision all the instruments of a recording at their designated places. And they sound so natural as being happy of being liberated. It is like it is disolving itself in music and music is all that's left.
Absolute timbre fidelity, efortless dynamics, the ease of adding new instruments to a larger than life sonic picture were so effective that music became instanly a drug. You needed your continous intravenous dose in order to be able to keep going.

Needless to say that impressed to the bones by the work of Matty Ottala and Sidney Harman back in the days I made a pledge to bring along him a worthy family member to work their magic as they're supposed to. After intense detectivistic work and with mandatory percent of luck I managed to find a Harman Kardon Citation Twelve Deluxe in pristine condition. The joy was second just to the impatience of finally putting them together. But that day came and the equation of happiness finally had a solution. And what a solution this is. It is indeed a wonderful brother of the Seventeen. They share the same qualities. The twelve just takes that amazing space with every detail that seventeen so beautifully recreates and pushes them to forward with the authority and self-confidence of a great conductor. But donn't get me wrong. It is as "invisible" as its broher. You are not aware it's there. It just takes the gorgeous musical universe its brother creates and magnifies it in a completely undistorted manner. And it does it with the same unbelievable ease and lack of strain. Every nuance, every bit of directional energy, every single note, no matter what produces it is propelled so naturally.

Needless to say that from the moment the Harman Kardon family reunited in my listening setup music became as necessary as air and I rediscover the essence of the genius that went into the great musical masterpieces and their interpreters.