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"Northern Chopin"-Grieg Piano Concerto in A minor Opus 16

The Nordic countries in Europe normally stands out from people in continental Europe just by being themselves perhaps due to the relatively harsher weather they are subjected to as well as the intimacy they have with nature. Edvard Grieg, a Norwegian composer is noted for two things in my view. Firstly, a large portion of his compositions are either for Piano or based on the Piano that some scholars nick named him the 'Chopin of the North' perhaps like Chopin, he is also a pianist that writes lots of piano based music. Secondly, his unique harmonic skills in infusing Nordic Folk songs into his compisitions in an elegant manner to qualify as main stream classical music. Classical music is used loosely here to refer to music that pass or surpass the theoretical sandbox of musical laws rather than the classical era that pre-dates the romantic era.

My reason for choosing to write on this piece is in line with my aim of creating or keeping interest in classical music alive in Singapore. It saddens me to see shops reducing their classical music sections or doing away with it altogether. Some of you might think it is strange as Grieg is not a household name along the lines of Bach, Beethoven, Brahms or the triple Bs. However, many of us would have heard excerpts of this piece as it is widely used as background music in numerous shows with acknowledgements of it so miniscule that we will surely miss it one way or another. Most do not even bother as copyrights to this piece has expired as Grieg has died for more than 70 years now. Arvid Vollsnes is of the opinion that there are more recordings of this piano concerto than any piano concertos written during the Romantic era. I beg to differ as Google it and you will find that it is most probably either Tchaikovsky or Rachmaninov Piano Concertos that occupies this spot and definitely not Grieg. Perhaps it is true in the Nordic part of the world.

Like Beethoven fifth symphony, Grieg Piano Concerto have a very distinct introduction. In the case of Beethoven, some scholars termed it as death knocking on the door. We cannot be totally sure about this as Beethoven himself did not explain the passage. For Grieg, the introduction is what I would term as surprising reality staring at your face. I got this notion from noticing film directors penchant for using this introduction to inject an element of surprise, fear, reality and almost exclusively in a negative sense. Like most minor keyed pieces, it is like starting a painting on a dark canvas metaphorically speaking. The examples are far too many to quote and do keep a look out for it.

In addition to the signature introduction, the first movement also have a too definite ending. It is not uncommon for hear a premature applause or two from the audience at this juncture mistaking it for an end to the paino concerto as the first movement is over 10 minutes. I would like to think that it is mostly a positive premature applause as opposed to a sarcastic applause that they have heard enough rubbish from the performers.

The second movement has a quieter entrance compared to the first movement and also a daring departure from the minor key to a contrasting major key. Most of the opinion that the second movement is thematically an island by itself but try putting on your thematic development facility and stretched your imagination a little further and you can most probably hear the thematic linkages between the 2 movements. This is a very unconventional posture and I am ready for volleys of canon from main stream opinion leaders.

The third and final movement takes a surprising detour to a Rondo like form away from the ABA form in the first two movements but it is done very cleverly by the composer to back link it to the theme of the first movement and leading it to a well resolved finale.

I though that there were only two versions of the Piano Concerto; the original (1868) and the final (1907). To my surprise, there are a total of seven principal versions. Most modern rendition is based on the Final (1907) version. You can still find recordings of the original (1868) version. For the other five versions sandwiched in between, I have not been able to lay my finger on them. Perhaps it is out there somewhere.

With an Opus number of 6, I would think that this Piano Concerto must have been done earlier in Grieg composing career but Opus 6 was assigned to the original version when Grieg was in his twenties with a wife and an infant in tow. The final version was autographed six weeks before Grieg death. This piece of music must have occupied a special sentimentality for Grieg to make life long revisions perhaps as a quest for musical nirvana or it is his favorite composition.

After rummaging through my collection and borrowed or stole some from my friends, I finally assembled the following recordings of this Piano Concerto.

Original Version (1868)

1. Derwinder/Hirokami/Norrkopping Symphony Orchestra

Final Version (1907)

1.Knardahl/Ingebretsen/Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

2.Richter/Matacic/Monte Carlo National Opera Orchestra

3.O'hara/Judd/Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

4.Ogawa/Rudd/Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra (Bergen premiered this piece)

5.Perahia/Davis/Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks

The differential between the Original and Final version lies mainly in the orchestration and only small changes were made in the solo piano part. I could not lay my hands on any of the sandwiched versions to make a comparison.

Of the six renditions listed above, it is not surprising that the one by Richter stands out from the rest. Not only is the dynamic range between ppp and fff being more pronounced, the emotive force is also the strongest without compromising too much on technical correctness. This should not be surprising as Richter has publicly aired his view that he plays what he likes and does not care about the audience. I take it not as a prima donna with a bad attitude but perhaps Richter has discovered that by playing for himself, it will enable him to deliver the best music to his audience. Not many might agree as Richter has quite a character like last minute no show even on very special performances for the diplomatic corp.

Other giants in the list are Perahia who made his name in his Mozart and Beethoven interpretations and Knardahl who is noted for her interpretation of Nordic works. From my listening sessions, the renditions of these two giants sounded a bit main stream with little differential. Perhaps for more popular pieces like this Grieg Piano Concerto, the differential between the great and the greatest is so small that differentiating them calls for skills beyond my reach.

Happy listening.

Cheers,,,, Pete aka lkypeter

Safe Harbor

Please note that information contained in these pages are of a personal nature and does not necessarily reflect that of any companies, organizations or individuals. In addition, some of these opinions are of a forward looking nature. Lastly the facts and opinions contained in these pages might not have been verified for correctness, so please use with caution. Happy Reading. Copy Rights of all contents in this blog belongs to Peter Lye unless stated otherwise.

Paganini Violin Concerto No. 1 Opus 6

Italians are renowned for their flair in design and the Germans for fine engineering. Furniture wise, we normally have great looking Italian pieces that sometimes lacked functionality and durability. German furniture on their hand are normally well engineered and durable but might not be as appealing to the eyes compared to Italian pieces in general. So it would be great to have the Italian conceptualize the design and the Germans to engineer and build it. Why the comparison about furniture on a piece of musical work? I have on hand a great Italian masterpiece in Paganini Violin Concerto No. 1 Opus 6 but my favorite rendition thus far is by solo violinist Hilary Hahn who is of Germanic stock. Could be a marriage made in heaven if you consider the combination of Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Japanese conductor Eiji Oue in the same breathe. Swedish being associated mostly with safety like Volvo car ( although Volvo car now belongs to Ford ) and Japanese for their consistent quality of their produce.

Noticed that I have not keyed the title as there are some interesting angle as it can be in either D major or a combination of D major for the soloist and E flat for the orchestra as originally envisioned by Paganini. He originally wrote the orchestra score in E flat major and the soloist part in D major but have the soloist tune his violin half a semitone higher to match with the orchestra. Paganini did not state the reason for doing so but contemporary opinions being either he felt that E flat major being more appropriate tonality wise or because the soloist part is more easily executed in the key of D major. Almost all modern interpretations are done on D major for both the solo violinist and the orchestra.

With the violin being one of the instruments Paganini plays, it is therefore not a surprise that this piece was written with quite a fair emphasis on the solo violinist especially in the first and last movements. The total time for the piece is about 36 minutes with the middle movement occupying only about 5 plus minutes and the longest first movement of about 21 plus minutes. To attain a fuller enjoyment, I would recommend both listening and watching it as the solo violin portions contain a good dose of showmanship ( meaning in both gender ) like double stops in which the solo violinist have to bow on 2 strings simultaneously and portions of the piece that takes the soloists to almost the end of the upper register of the scale for violin and quick alternating notes between the first and last string of the violin.

I have always loved the lower middle registers of the violin where at the hands of a good violiniss and a good violon makes for a very unique tonality which I can only describe as very tunefully close to the human voice. Some like this portion to be played with vibrato but I beg to differ as I love the more ancient playing style with less or no vibrato. This is also one of my reason for preferring Hanh's rendition with less vibrato.

The piece promises lots of cadenza where the soloist is at their own devices with the orchestra silent. Having said that, this is certainly not a sonata disguised as a concerto but the more tuneful blending between the orchestra and the soloist is more prevalent in the brass and woodwind portions with a good dose of accentuation from the percussion group. The string section is mostly deployed in a more harmonic support manner in my opinion.

As this is my first writing on Paganini, it would be good to note that like most warm blooded Italian being more southernly geographically, his life is not short on excitement and uniqueness especially on the romantic front as he was ever quoted saying he is not handsome but when women hear him play, they would come crawling to his feet. Gambling was also one of his many favorite vices. Later in life, he even attempted to make money out of his gambling habit by opening a casino but it lead to financial ruin for him personally and he had to wind it up. The juiciest rumor is about his alleged pact with the devil to grant him special musical talent in exchange for something sinister. It does not help that when asked about it, he was quoted at replying how else could he be so good musically. I am of the opinion that this is most probably an egotistical and mischievous reply not to be taken seriously as he has quite a flamboyant and sanguine character. This alleged rumor could also be one of the reasons why his body was denied a timely decent Catholic burial until a few decades later.

Before penning off, some of the other more noted renditions of this work you might want to listen to besides my favorite by Hahn/Oue/Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra are:

1.Accardo/Dutoit/London Philharmonic

2.Grumiaux/Bellugi/National Orchestra de la Opera Monte Carlo

3.Perlman/Foster/Royal Philharmonic

4.Rabin/Gossens/Philharmonia Orchestra

5.Menuhin/Monteux/Orchestra National de Paris

Happy reading, listening and watching hopefully in that order.

Cheers,,,,, Pete aka lkypeter

Safe Harbor. Please note that information contained in these pages are of a personal nature and does not necessarily reflect that of any companies, organizations or individuals. In addition, some of these opinions are of a forward looking nature. Lastly the facts and opinions contained in these pages might not have been verified for correctness, so please use with caution. Happy Reading. Peter Lye

The Middle Child Sonata-Beethoven Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 3 Opus 69

Having laid off writing for a period, a dash of inspiration hits me after listening to this popular and tuneful Sonata. This Sonata occupies the mid-point of the five Sonatas Beethoven wrote for this genre. It is unique in more ways than one besides acting as a bridge between Beethoven's first 2 and last 2 Sonatas that are stylistically quite different. One possible reason being that Beethoven took about 10 years to complete these 5 Sonatas as oppose to about 3 years to complete his 9 violin sonatas.

I shall be a bit adventurous and indulgent to nick named this Sonata as a "Middle Child" Sonata. My reasoning (whether they hold water or not as I consider myself too novice and amateurish in classical music compared to the many esteemed scholars as this is hobby craft and strictly pro-bono in my case) is manifold other than numeracy if you could hold your horses on your comments and read on first.

Of the 5 sonatas Beethoven wrote for this genre, only the 3rd has 4 movements instead of the usual cookie cutter 3 movements. A Scherzo was added as the second movement and this additional movement is no incidental movement as Beethoven has sprinkled it with a number of notables. Instead of a slower or more contemplative movement after the vociferous first movement, this movement is lively without being attention seeking. It nicely continues to develop the theme introduced in the first movement in a very Beethoven manner like he did for his 5th Symphony which was written around the same time. He also put in a gymnastic for the pianist by introducing a changing of hands in the tied note which should be a visual feat for the audience especially for the more visual pianist of our time like the legendary Lang Lang. One of Beethoven's pupil Czerny noted that this was most probably added to create a vibrato effect on the tied note. Of the recordings I have heard so far, only the Hardwood/Berner stated specifically in their liner notes that they are playing according to this notation. Many modern pianists would most probably skip this notation as it is not only more difficult to execute on modern day piano but makes little difference on modern day piano as I am made to understand. On listening to the Hardwood/Berner recording I could not hear the difference but I am only an amateur. If you were to listen till mid way into the second movement, there is a longish single note written to test the cellist's skill and patience as it is also tempered with a vibrato. Must be some tired fingers on the left hand for the cellist for what would seems like an eternity.

Thematic development in this piece is so obvious of Beethoven's work from this period of his life onwards starting perhaps with his 5th Symphony where his art is most finely honed in my opinion. The simple theme from the first movement is fashioned into numerous connected forms that will baffle many. This is most probably further proof that this Sonata is most probably conceived in his mind between his 5th and 6th symphonies other than the Opus numbering suggesting so.

Beethoven is also a master in switching between an aggressive to melancholic tuneful serenity all within the same movement. This is quite evident for the 3rd movement of this Sonata as it starts like a slow boat to China but moves gracefully between melancholy and aggressive but in a less pronounced manner than in his 5th and 9th symphonies. Beethoven might have been a jack the rabbit motor fan if he were to be alive now as his pieces sometimes behave typical of hard ABS braking followed by sudden and strong acceleration forces but leaving his passengers in a magic carpet like ride without being nauseous. All these seems a bit contradictory but have a good listen and you will sase out what I mean.

This Sonata has no clear delineation between soloist and accompanist and this could be deliberate either to elicit the best out of both the cellist and pianist or to set the stage for a struggle between them. Even if Beethoven were to have the intention of setting the stage for a fight between the cellist and pianist, the fight must have been done so with the liquidity and graceful movements of ballet dancers. I have not decided myself on this matter after hearing quite a few versions repeatedly. Would highlight 3 versions where this is more obvious as the pairing is like a pairing of equal musical giants.

1.Rostropovich/Richter (1961)

2.Maisky/Argerich (1997)

3.DuPre/Barenboim (1970)

Rostropovich was vocal enough to warrant losing his entry permit back to his Russia motherland after migrating to US. It was only with a change in Russian leadership that paved the way for his return back to Russia and I am glad that he managed to spend his final moments on earth back in his Russia motherland. He is also the musician that played spontaneously at the Berlin wall when it came crumbling down knowing that it would further complicate his possibility of returning to Russia. As for Richter, he has said it openly that he only play pieces that he likes and not for his audiences when asked why he did not want to complete the recording of all 5 Beethoven's piano concertos. He has also done things like having Stalin walk out half way through his performance as a mark of disapproval of him but he said he was lucky that he did not 'disappear' like many who cross the path of Stalin have a habit of doing so. Many of us did not notice that more people died during the communist revolution in Russia than number of Jews that were murdered during the Holocaust. On the contrary, he was one of the pianist that was performing during Stalin funereal. Richter himself remarked that this must have been a joke of sort as he did not get Stalin approval when he was alive but did so in his death. I have listened to this version of recording but did not sense any struggle for limelight and the two giants seems to gel so wonderfully together. What a surprise.

Maisky himself has also served about 18 months in prison or what they term as re-education camp for god knows what the reason is and thereafter was welcomed into the arms of Israel. He was also a student of Rostropovich. His equal in this case comes from Argentina. Argerich is very talented but has a fast and furious temperament and at about 30% of her concerts were no show for the most trivial of reasons. She blends her spirit with the music and is not straight jacketed by technicalities but have a healthy respect for it. This version makes for interesting listening as you can hear the challenge for lime light in all 4 movements between Maisky and Argerich but it was done so tastefully that it makes for very spirited listening. Perhaps, this was the interpretation Beethoveen intended.

DuPre and Barenboim is a husband and wife teaming but lets not guess who wears the pants at home. DuPre was a highly regarded cellist during her short and challenging life on earth of about 50 years due to multiple sclerosis. DuPre's fame and her health challenges could well be a formulae or excuse for unruly behavior but she is just the opposite as fellow performers, conductors, studio staff have good things to say about her gentle and joyful demeanor. Barenboim is a notable pianist and conductor himself and also a very intelligent and good at managing talented musician. In this recording, I believe that Barenboim had played more or less a supportive part but not without putting himself on the pedestal when the part calls for it without out living his welcome on the pedestal.

Before I pen off, it is widely held belief that the middle child in the family is normally the forgotten child and thus it is not uncommon for middle child to go after the lime light on every available opportunity in my opinion. This is my reason for naming it thus. Other versions worth listening to are:

1.DuPre/Stephen Bishop (1965)

2.Wispelwey/Lazic (2004)

3.Hardwood/Berner (2006)

Good weekend.

Cheers,,,,,, Pete

Brahms Sonata Opus 78-The Godson Sonata

There has been some confusion about this sonata as it seems to be bipolar namewise as it has two names. It was orginally a violin sonata keyed in G major but was later transcribed into a cello sonata keyed in D major. Hope that clears the air on the mystical naming for this sonata and this is why I left the key out in the title.

Although this article is about Johannes Brahms compsition, you will find me kaing references to the Schumann family as the sonata was written as a dedication to then recent passing of Schumann's son Felix Schumann who is also Brahms' godson due to tuberculosis. I have taken the liberty of naming this sonata as "The Godson Sonata" and hope that both Johannes Brahms and Felix Schumann will not turn in their final resting places as it is well intentioned to promote this beautiful sonata and get more people to gain an interest in this beautiful sonata.

Felix Schumann is the off spring of the famous Robert Schumann and his wife Clara Schumann. The dedication of this sonata is evidenced by a letter from Johannes Brahms to Clara Schumann as Robert Schumann had already passed on and not because of his secret love for Clara Schumann as some music historian postulate it to be in my humble opinion. It has been a tumultous time for the Schumanns as they have seen 3 succeeding deaths within a short space of a few years. It started with Robert Schumann and followed by their son Felix Schumann and thereafter their daughter Julie. To add to this, their youngest son Ludwig Schumann was also struck with the same mental illness that beseiged his father and had to be put into a mental asylum like his dad.

Inspite of these sad events, Clara Schumann has stood by the Schumann family faithfully as she has done for her husband Robert Schumann when he was alive. I would love to have a wife like Clara Schumann's character of unwavering love and dexerity. Both Robert and Clara also shared a common interest in music and Clara Schumann has written some music although not as popular as her husband.

Although there has been whisperings in the history department of musicology that Brahms and Clara were an item towards the end of Robert Schumann sojurn on earth and thereafter but I beg to differ. I accept that there is enough evidence on hand to make a case that Brahms like Clara romantically but little or no evidence of Clara recipocating his advances. I find this to be quite intriguing as Brahms is noted for leaving little or no trace of his work in progress manuscripts which he deligently destroyed leaving us mostly only his final renditions and yet he left enough evidence to point to his romantic interest in Clara. This cannot be a Freudian slip on the part of Brahms but a purposeful declaration on the part of Brahms.

Between the original Violin Sonata No. 1 in G major Opus 78 and the transcription as Sonata for cello and piano in D major, I actually much prefered the later one as I personally find that the cello is better in transmitting such emotions. It has been a controversial topic as to who did the transcription. The famed cellist Janos Starker commented that no one but the composer himself could have the audacity to have made the modifications to one of Brahms work. Horst Scholz however maintained that the transcription was the work of a Leipzig conductor Paul Klengel who is the brother of cellist Julius Klengel whom Brahms admired greatly. There is consensus that the cello transcription was published in 1897; the year that Brahms passed away.

I have a total of 6 rendition in my humble collection and 3 are for violin and 3 for cello.

The cello renditions are as follows:

1.Brahms Sonatas Op.38 Op.78 Op120 Nr1 by Pieter Wispelwey & Dejan Lazic-Channel Classics SACD-CCS-SA24707

This is my favourite of them all as Wisepelwey played it in a very emotive manner and the Pianist Lazic just work so well as a team as they have done various recordings together on a number of occassion. There is very little competition for the limelight between the two. Not to be missed.

2.Brahms Cello Sonata-Pontinen & Thedeen by Torleif Thedeen & Roland Pontinen - BIS-SACD-1606

This recording is done at a more leisurely pace and also paint a weekend type of feeling unlike the Wisepelwey & Lazic which is played in a more seriou note.

3.ArtistsRepertoires-Janos Starker ; Shigeo Noriko-BMG Classics LC00316
I think Janos Starker needs no introduction and his signature thick tonality of the cello is very evident in this recording. In terms of tonality, this piece is a must have. Janos seems to overshadow the pianist Noriko but overall not too bad a combination.

Actually I should have done the Violin rendition first as this sonata was first conceived for the violin but I love the cello too much and have put the cart before the horse.

1.Brahms-Sonata-Horn Trio Vieuxtemp Ballade-Grumiaux-Arthur Grumiaux,Gyorgy Seebok, Francis Orval, Dinorah Varsi-Pentatone 5186 155
Grumiaux playing on this piece was fabously expressive and yet controlled and not a runaway. His nose for precision is evident in this recording like his other recording.

2.Brahms Violin Sonatas-Anne-Sophie Mutter & Alexis Weissenberg EMI CLASSICS 7243 5 74560 2 9
This recording done in 1983 when Anne Sophie was probably dealing with sickness and eventual death of her first husband whom she had all her biological children with. I can sense a certain thinge of anger in her playing perhaps reflective of her situation then. Sometimes an artist emotional state gets translated into their playing.

3. Johannes Brahms-Complete Chamber Music-Disc 11 of 12 Hyperion CDS 44341-Krysia Osostowicz & Susan Tomes
This recording was part of my effort to collect the complete Brahms music but I am still far away. Of the 6, I think this is most probably the only one not recorded in a studio but a hall or church as I can hear the reverb of the room. The playing is very exact and there is nothing I can fault on but at the sametime, I could not finger an appropriate word of praise for the artist as well.

Cheers,,,,, Pete aka lkypeter

Reprise-"Waves of worry over freight rate fall"

Straits Times senior correspondent Goh Eng Yeow had pretty good newsprint given that his above captioned article occupied half of the last page of the friday 2nd July 2010 edition of the paper. I gave the article more than a once over as I find the topic intriguing and the reporting could perhaps do with a slightly more balanced view than make the fall in the Baltic Dry Index as a plausible sign of slowing down of China's economy. Eng Yeow has done well in listing some factors that make the Baltic Dry Index a good leading indicator of China's economic growth like:

1. The Baltic Dry Index is not a tradeable index and therefore a more transparent indicator. I whole heartedly agree with remisier Alan Goh on this point but perhaps we should also consider that not being tradeable could also make it less reflective indicator due to a smaller market and lower denominator also and whether 41% drop was seasonally adjusted as well.

2. A similar pattern in late 2007 and mid 2008. The fact that both events happened together does not proof a co-related event. Perhaps it should also be mentioned that the service component of China's economy has most probably occupied a larger share of her GDP as it is quite a norm when a country progresses economically and economically surely China has progressed without a shadow of doubt. As the services share of the economy takes more centre-stage, the Index is also likely to be a weaker indicator as services are less co-related to the index.

3. While it is rightly stated that new export orders fell by more than 2% point after adjusting for seasonally lower February output, this might not be a very good causative argument firstly because US is still the largest trading partner as compared to EU. Secondly, China has slowly but surely been increasing her trade with former Soviet Union eastern bloc countries as well as Soviet Union as well especially in the area of energy related sector especially in natural gas which will reduce China dependance on oil for to meeting her energy needs.

4. Perhaps the recent action by China to allow RMB to have a wider band could have affected cost parity to come into play and therefore augmenting the argument that the Index has gone down in-spite of lower import cost for China to import now than previously.

On the whole, I would like to credit Eng Yeow for the good write-up as well as sounding the bulge horn call for a possible nightmarish event that is likely to happen and hope that he takes my comments positively.

Cheers,,,, Pete aka lkypeter

Last Words-Mozart Piano Concerto No 27 in B flat major K595

This writing started with a dear friend who wanted to loan a CD of pianist Emil Gilels having heard his rendition of Rachmaninov Predule No 23 Op 5 on uTube. I found that I only have a single CD of this pianist and in it was Emil Gilels playing Mozart Piano Concerto No 27 with Karl Bohm conducting the Vienna Symphonic Orchestra. It jogged my memory that this piece was one of my favorites as I have 6 variations of this piece in my collection just that time did not permit me to explore the circumstances behind this piece. With some time on hand, I decided to listen to all 6 versions and surprised me that this piece is normally performed with the pianist as the prima dona of sort with the pianist playing the role of the soloist and conductor in some of the circumstances. So there is no question on who rules the stage.

I am listening to all the 6 versions as I pen this and it surprises me that my collection consisted of many famous pianist.

1. Emil Gilels with Karl Bohm conducting Vienna Symphonic Orchestra (Time Magazine Supplement)

2. Mitsuko Uchida with Jeffrey Tate conducting English Chamber Orchestra-Philips 475 7306

3.Christoph Eschenbach playing and conducting London Philharmonic Orchestra-EMI 0946 3 81793 2 0

4.Daniel Barenboim playing and conducting English Chamber Orchestra-EMI 7243 5 86632 2 8

5.Rudolf Serkin with Claudo Abbado conducting English Symphony Orchestra-DG 445 516-2

6.Peter Schmalfuss and Stanislav Bogunia conducting Westbohmisches Staatorchester Marienbald

You can see from above that there is a mixture between separate and combined soloists/conductor and this makes for interesting listening session.

Child prodigy Mozart started piano lessons at 4 and was already performing publicly from between the ages 6-8 but died at a tender age of 35 after leaving a legacy of about 600 compositions. Some say that it is the life in your years that matters more than the years in your life. Of this he left us with a total of 27 piano concertos but the first 4 is generally regarded as amalgamation of other works by other composers. Another interesting point being that his piano concertos covers almost an entire spectrum of his life from his childhood to the year of his death in 1791.

It is believed that Mozart has always had a very bad commotion about his Requiem as it was his belief that its completion is likely to mark his final days on earth but it was actually this piano concerto to have this infamy not that this is piano concerto is his last compisition as there are more to follow. He is likely to have completed the piece around January 1791 and he premiered the concerto himself around March 1791 and died in December 1791. Although this concerto is keyed in the major scale and have a reasonable dosage of gayness, the second movement would reveal a veneer of melancholy especially in the slower portion of the second movement. The final movement also seems to end on a certain finality as if to signify his final concerto.

Although Mozart is known to be sloppy and fickle minded in his concertos normally leaving the cadenzas little much than an empty sheet. For this concerto, the cadenzas in both the first and last movements were very well documented and perhaps that he has a pre-motion that this might be his last piano concerto and wanted to have it documented properly for posterity.

Mozart also made contribution to the concerto genre by breaking the traditional mould of alternation between the soloist and orchestra with the orchestra having a very minor accompaniment part. Mozart not only added many more instruments like the famous clarinet concerto K622, he also broke away from the old mould and created interesting harmony for the soloist and the orchestra to blend rather than alternate. This influence is to be continued by later composers like Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov and we have Mozart to thank for this development.

Finale Mozart and though you were to die rather inappropriately for your part in music development in the form of a re-cycled casket and a pauper's mass grave, we salute your contribution.

Cheers,,,,,Peter Lye aka lkypeter

Safe Harbor. Please note that information contained in these pages are of a personal nature and does not necessarily reflect that of any companies, organizations or individuals. In addition, some of these opinions are of a forward looking nature. Lastly the facts and opinions contained in these pages might not have been verified for correctness, so please use with caution. Happy Reading. Peter Lye

Channel Classics-Making of a SACD

I came across this video produced by Channel Classics on how a SACD recording is made and was totally surprised that the storage drive used is a Western Digital external disk storage.

Do look out for it at 4:37 into the 20 minutes video and you can see it.

BTW, Channel Classics is one of the labels on my list of better recording quality and perhaps we audiophiles have taken things too far in our purist sound.

No pun intended. Just an observation. I am also using Western Digital drives on my MacMini as well at home. So comforting.

Beethoven Piano Concerto No 5 in E-flat major Op 73 Emperor

I did a write up on Beethoven's 1st Piano Concerto not too long ago and thought that it would be appropriate to write about his 5th or last Piano Concerto as it is also one of the recorded to death pieces having been recorded by many artists both established as well as green shoots genre. In the Anglophile world, it is also commonly referred to as the Emperor piece and this arose my curiosity as I remembered that Beethoven who was to dedicate his Symphony number 3 to Napoleon Bonaparte was angry enough at the news of Napoleon declaring himself as Emperor to rename the piece to Eroica instead. There is some period between Eroica Symphony and Emperor Piano Concerto as the former carries an opus number of 55 whereas the latter was assigned an opus number of 73. The opus number roughly reflects the chronological order in terms of date of the work being published and does not necessarily reflect the time the composer started or completed the work actually. Putting this aside, I can think of why the name Emperor as Beethoven might have gotten used to the idea of Napoleon making himself emperor or perhaps pragmatism rules the day even for eccentric tempered Beethoven as Napoleon's campaign has walked over much of Austria where he largely lives. One thing is definite that Beethoven did not dedicate this piece to Napoleon as it was clearly addressed to Archduke Rudolf.

Actually Beethoven did not meant the Emperor Piano Concerto to be his last as there is evidenced pointing to fragments of work in progress on the 6th Piano Concerto but too little of the Piano or Orchestration parts exists for modern day Beethoven scholars to piece together a respectable Piano Concerto. It is also at this period that his hearing has almost been reduced to nil and much of the composing is done through his mental perception rather than auditory perception of his work. I was interacting with a customer in a hifi shop today and I advised him that hifi is a hobby that is best enjoyed younger as our hearing sensitivity decline with age.

Beethoven is not as tightly associated with piano music as Chopin where every single piece of his features the piano either in major or minor roles. To Beethoven, the piano is a convenient platform to test the orchestration for his symphonies, concertos etc. All being said, Beethoven did a strange thing by having the solo piano start the piece for almost 2 minutes before the orchestra joins in. This is not very common in classical era works but was sometimes used by composers in the romantic era like Tchaikovsky in his piano concerto and Mendelssohn in his violin concerto. To me, there is no question here that the soloist is meant to be the star of the piece rather than the orchestra.

Although this piece consists of the template 3 movements concerto tradition, it is sometimes mistaken as a 2 movement piece as movements 2 and 3 is connected by a single bassoon note. This technique is also used by some other composers perhaps to ensure that the less musically inclined audience does not disturb the continuity of the piece by clapping in between movements.

I shall refrain from making a comparison of the various recordings as I have not done enough comparative listening to do justice and shall only list the pieces I have listened to in writing this review.

1. Piere-Laurent Aimard with Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting Chamber Orchestra of Europe

2. Christian Zacharias with Hans Vonk conducting Staatskapelle Dresden

3. Alfred Brendel with Zubin Mehta conducting Vienna Symphony Orchestra

4. Artur Pizarro with Charles Mackerras conducting Scottish Chamber Orchestra

5. Steffan Viader with Barry Wordsworth conducting Capella Istropolitana

6. Vladmir Ashkenazy with Zubin Metha conducting Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

As I related to some of my friends, my motivation for writing about classical music is to help propagate classical music to the next generation as it would be a waste if classical music declines starting with my generation. I have not succeeded in getting my two children interested in classical music but I do hope that they will someday.

Economic Tsunami

I had a great week in the altruistic dimension of my life this week as I had the good luck of spending time with 2 persons of considerable intellectual capabilities but none of them are ladies not that I am a sexist. On a more serious note, we spoke about many things that does not interest most Singaporean which are chasing after their noble 5 Cs of which I am not at the moment. As I watch the turbulence on Wall Street gyrating up and down on both sides of the Atlantic, I begin to ask myself are there certain patterns or attributable causes and my simple mind began to wonder into dangerous water and I thought I hit on some ideas that could be novel in my limited knowledge but might have been professed by someone else before me.

The first trend is on the eastern end of the Atlantic, we began to see failures on the corporate front starting with the CDO and cumulating into the meltdown of Lehman Brothers and government funded rescue using the TARP funds as the too big to fail maxim took charge and Captain Obama even said that "...at this hour, it is not possible for the government to do too much." in his state of the union address and rallying support for the TARP scheme into FEDS. FEDS have been pursuing a inflation targeted monetary policy since the days of Greenspan and thereafter onto Uncle Ben insisting that this is the right long term move. However, when Wall Street failure hit Main Street and the population at large like the 2 of the 3 biggest auto makers; General Motors and Chrysler sparing Ford into likely bankruptcies if no rescue plan was in place. However, on the western seaboard of the Atlantic, Europe seems to have an easier time until the PIGS ( Portugal, Italy, Greece, Spain ) suffered a sovereign debt issue.

The stark difference could perhaps due to the nature of the retirement funding. In USA, retirement is generally funded privately by companies whereas in more socialistic Europe, it is generally funded by the government. With a rapidly aging population, retirement IOUs are beginning to experience their first few years of negative cash flow as there are less taxpayers in Europe while retirement funding by companies is eroding their competitive edge in USA. I shall stay quiet on the intentions of the Singapore government but look at the trend of policy changes with regards to CPF and also read our PM May day address more carefully and you will hear something said about CPF ordinary, special and retirement accounts. (The Great Singapore CPF (pension) Discussion) With the post war baby boom generation hitting retirement, we have a definite Economic Tsunami at hand whether you are of monetarists or fiscal persuasion. At the end of the day, input must equal output in the long run. My view is that USA is now buffered against a sovereign debt crisis but it could be a matter of time if Obama does not practice more budgetary discipline. China is already the largest holder of American T Bills displacing Japan.

The second is the velocity in which government aid has been administered. In USA, there 9 regional Federal Reserve Banks together with the FEDS in Washington, they can make monetary policy independent of executive and political influence. In fact, The Economists once had an article on who the FEDS are accountable to. Such a mechanism, though not the most consensus seeking allows for quick and independent decisions to be made. Over in Eurozone, the ECB is an animal with a very different DNA from that of FEDS. Decisions are made by consensus and voting by the member states whose representatives have to watch their back as they cast their vote because of the need to ensure they make the correct populist move which might not necessarily be the right for Europe as a whole. German voters are asking why must they pay for Greece's ill fiscal discipline of not keeping deficit to less than 3% of GDP if they themselves swallowed the bitter pill that followed the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Greek voters are against cut in government budgets as they feel that fiscal discipline in this economic climate is equivalent to swallowing a cyanide pill that will kill the country. Since history of money, only Argentina has defaulted as a nation and I do not think any country want to have hold the title of being runner's up chronologically. Oops, some are of the opinion that when USA axed the exchangeability of US$ for gold during Nixon's watch, it is technically a country default but I would not argue this point here.

Thirdly, US$ has existed for a long time and in my limited knowledge however the Euro was only created in recent history in 1999. The US$ was created out of necessity because of the political amalgamation of the states whereas the Euro was created as one of the many milestones that proof that a truly single European Union (EU) coined in Maastricht is attainable. Thereafter, there were some progress with two notable signs which are the creation of the Euro sans without the participation of some countries like UK and the increasing membership of EU. A monetary union without a political union is like putting the cart before the horse and it is only a matter of time before it crashes as predicted by many even before the 1999 inauguration of the Euro.

Fourthly, there has been speculation in two of the largest Euro countries why not get out of the burning house of Euro instead of trying to doze the fire. If the creation of the Euro is analogous to scaling K2, its reversal would be a taller order than scaling Everest. Although there are some automatic mechanism in place like the PIGS countries are finding it more costly to raise money through government bonds that are still denominated on the Euro, their higher CDS price would make it comparatively more expensive for Greece than for Germany to raise money using bonds. However, the spill over effects of the strength or weakness of the Euro against the major currencies will also mean that countries outside of PIGS in Euro zone are impacted by the actions or inactions of the PIGS. My prediction is that the monetary union tension would spill into the political and perhaps later the military arena with dire consequences. Although the first two world wars can be attributed to many reasons but economic tension has never been absent from this platitude of reasons for the start of both world wars.

Last but no least, the twin deficits that Obama is faced with will not disappear into thin air and it is only a matter of time before it hits American shores and pockets in a more drastic manner even if Obama believes that the entire world will share in its burden as US$ is widely held and transacted. Sanity,justice or rule of quantification (if I may borrow from my friend) will prevail finally.

Cheers,,,,,Peter Lye aka lkypeter

Melancholic Piano Music-Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 14 ‘Moonlight Sonata’ in C# minor Op. 27/2

I have recently written a review of a fairly melancholic piano piece by Chopin on his Nocturne No. 20 in C# minor and it not any co-incidence that it is keyed in minor. I also wrote a review on Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major as I was quite into piano music of late and my thoughts were to write a review on Beethoven’s last piano concerto which is No.5 but his Piano Sonata No. 14 “Moonlight Sonata” caught my fancy as a good twining between Chopin Nocturne No. 20 and Beethoven piano sonata no. 14 first movement is almost similar to Chopin nocturne No. 20.
Firstly both pieces are keyed in C# minor and to my ears that are not very trained in classical, I sometimes mistaken one for the other. I would not say that they might have got the idea from each other as there was about a good 30 years between the composition; Beethoven composed his around 1800-1801 and Chopin did his around 1830. I would rather use the word that Chopin might have been influenced by Beethoven if I were to reason it chronologically. The strange thing is that Beethoven lived mainly in the classical era and Chopin witnessed the start of the Romantic era and I was wondering how did such a romantic music come out of Beethoven in 1830? He might have been branded as someone ahead of his time fashion wise and this might not been a good thing.
Secondly, the dark C# minor canvas against which the two pieces were written against makes the music very suitable for listening in a dimly lit room to accentuate the mood. A good glass of Shiraz with a long finish could make the experience. Actually Nocturne translated into English is night. What struck me was the entire Chopin piece was draped in the dark and yet you feel a certain closure at the end of the piece and this is in my mind the very signature of a grand master. The same can be said about Beethoven first movement. There were times that I was almost moved to tears but I was taught from a young age that only girls cry and boys never do.
I thought it relevant to say a few things about the circumstances surrounding Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 14 before I get carried away by the second and third movement. The piece was actually sort of ao commissioned piece and was dedicated to Countess Giulietta Guiccardi but not in the strictest sense a commissioned piece if we think along the lines of the many commissioned pieces that Haydn did and was handsomely rewarded for it. The dedication came after the completion of the piece unlike a commissioned piece for which the composer is told of the occasion in which the music would be used for and what type of structure it should roughly have. The Beethoven must have been an almost plain canvas leaving Beethoven a lot of leeway for his imagination and creativity to turn it into a work of art. This piece was aptly numbered Opus 27/2 because it was either meant to be co-joined together with his Sonata No. 13 as a set or the work of the music publisher to market it as a value for money set since Beethoven most probably handed two pieces to his publisher at around the same time. Your guess is most probably as good as mine on this. I have not listened to his Sonata No. 13 to make an opinionated call here; perhaps later. The name ‘Moonlight Sonata’ was not in the original manuscript as Beethoven most probably did not intend to name the piece. Many Beethoven experts believed that it was Ludwig Rellstab that christened it ‘Moonlight Sonata’.
At the end of the first movement which was in ¾ time signature, the second movement not only changes the time signature to 4/4 but was also uplifted us into a different mood. If we pen the first movement as emotionally melancholic, the very short second movement brings us into the cerebral plentitude of deep contemplative thoughts after the emotionally moving first movement and when we come to the third movement, we can plainly see why the second movement serves as a bridge to bring the Sonata to a closure in the third movement.
The third movement as compared to the first movement is liken to hell and heaven or heaven and hell as the more normal expression. The very first note of the third movement is in a strong definite piano forte chord and continues its explosive display right to the end of the entire piece. It was as if Beethoven has seen the light at the end of the tunnel and I think this piece might also qualify as a piano technician nightmare with the strong and heavy chording. A caution for listeners; if you kept your volume at the same level as when you started the first movement and is in the habit of louder listening, the third movement can blow your system away as it is LOUD by any standard.
I normally would do a comparison of the various versions that I have listened but in this case, I would just merely list them for your reference as I am totally blown away by Beethoven.
1.Beethoven Complete Piano Sonatas-Paul Lewis-Harmonia Mundi HMX 2901902.11-Disc 7 Tracks 9-11

2.Beethoven Piano Sonatas-Artur Pizarro-Linn Records SACD CKD244-Tracks 4-6

3.Beethoven Complete Piano Sonatas-Bernard Roberts-Nimbus 1774-Disc 10 Tracks 5-7

4.Beethoven Piano Sonatas Volume 1-Gerard Willems-ABC Classics 4650772-Disc 2 Tracks 1-3

5.Beethoven Sonatas 8, 14 & 23-Daniel Barenboim-EMI 0724356697621-Tracks 4-6

6.Simply Beethoven-Bruno Leonardo Gelber-Simply(Denon) 36-Disc 2 Tracks

7.Ultimate Beethoven-Claudio Arrau-Decca B000ICMF5I–Disc 5 Track 7-9

Cheers,,,,Peter Lye aka lkypeter