The Whole Music Experience

Cèdric Tiberghien Chopin Mazurkas, Polonaise-Fantaisie, Scherzo and Nocturne Harmonia Mundi Listening to a Chopin piece feels like the equivalent to luxuriating in a delicious cup of tea. The Romantic era Polish composer/pianist’s compositions alternating between introspective and invigorating. His work centered on one instrument, the piano for the most part and this deeply expressive music can and does rival bigger orchestrated works of the Romantic Era. Perhaps Chopin represented the microcosm in relation to the macrocosm or the individual in relation to the whole. Even the piano/composer virtuoso Franz Liszt praised his contemporary. In the CD liner notes, Lizst cites, “…By restricting himself to the exclusive framework of the piano, Chopin has in our view demonstrated one of the most essential qualities for an author: a sure appreciation of form in which he is capable of excelling.” A half a century after Chopin composed his music, French Impressionist composer Maur...

Ravi Shankar Raga (A Film Journey into the Soul of India) Archival DVD 1971/2010 East Meets West Music/Harmonia Mundi When you think about it, times haven’t changed all that much since the late 1960s. Sure, the 1960s and 70s were littered with drugs, drop-out mentality and multimedia distractions in contrast to today’s distractions including the Internet, I-Pads and other digital devices, the same problem remains which is the lack of attention spans and impatience. Traditions that were revived in the 1950s and 60s through the return to cultural roots re-emerged with world music, but again we are faced with the digital distractions, including drum machines and synthetic instruments wedded to more traditional acoustic ones. One of Pandit Ravi Shankar’s regrets from the 1960s, portrayed in the 1971 documentary Raga (A Film Journey into the Soul of India) was the distractions and impatience found in people from the West. But even in India, he laments about one of his Indian ...

Anna Prohaska and Bernarda Fink Akademie Fur Alte Musik Berlin Giovanni Battista Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater Harmonia Mundi Easily one of my favorite classical music recordings for 2010, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater performed by the baroque orchestra Akademie Fur Alte Musik Berlin with soprano Anna Prohaska and alto Bernarda Fink hailing from the pianto genre. Antonio Vivaldi’s Sinfonia RV 169 (“Al Santo Sepolcro”) and Pietro Antonio Locatelli’s Concerto #4 (“Il Pianto d’Arianna”) frame Pergolesi’s masterpiece. We are also treated to Pergolesi’s Salve Regina for 2 voices. I have listened to this recording several times now and it grows in beauty and power with each listen. Stabat Mater revolves around Mother Mary and the tragic loss of her son Jesus Christ, but the tragic theme expands outward and encompasses all mothers who have lost their children prematurely and through tragic means. This could include the anguish of losing a son or daughter to war, inju...