Music to my ears
What the classical world has been listening to this month
Simon Keenlyside Baritone
I’m knee deep in Debussy at the moment – Pelléas et Mélisande is one of my favourite pieces of music on the planet. But I’m working so hard on that that I actually clear my head most mornings with JS Bach, and always have done. I had some headphones made, for my motorcycle, and they’re really good. I also love the piano – perhaps it’s because I’m a Lieder singer – and at the moment I’m mining Clifford Curzon and Solomon, but my go-to would be Horowitz.
We went to Romania to premiere a fantastic new piece by Jonathan Dove and I had ten hours in a car to get to Ba au. I told my wonderful driver about my interest in Romanian folk music. He smiled, and for ten hours I got an education in the difference between Romanian folk and gypsy music. He had a rotten old car with a cracked windscreen, but he had a lovely music system and introduced me to all sorts of people.
Jazz has been a life-long love. My father took me to Oscar Peterson concerts when I was a child – he didn’t really like blues, but I love it. I think it’s because of the quality of a great blues voice, and the texts – traditional blues has just fantastic stories and it isn’t always miserable, it’s often very fun. I haven’t got a favourite, because I’m such a devotee. I’ve got 2,000 CDS at home and devour the sleeve notes.
And also…
I have lived and worked from a motorhome, with a motorcycle, for the last six years now. Since
I’ve been married and had kids, I’ve only worked seven months a year, but that’s still seven months away. But at least I’m living on a mountainside, or in a forest, and I’ve got my hobbies: I’ve got my wood-carving stuff, fishing and walking. I do read, but really the marrow of my life is being outside in nature, and everything that entails.
Simon Keenlyside joins the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra for the UK premiere of Jonathan Dove’s ‘Exile’ on 9 December
Christian-pierre La Marca Cellist
I discovered Rameau quite late in life. Like Vivaldi, his writing feels very modern to me – it feels like rock ‘n’ roll from the past. But there’s also a real poetry to it. Rameau didn’t really write for the cello, so he was a real gap in my music education. As a result, everything is fresh and new to me, and I really enjoy Víkingur Ólafsson’s piano transcriptions of his music on his 2020 album. The sound engineering is so precise, with the microphones placed so close to the piano. It’s a very modern recording style.
Gustavo Dudamel recently came to conduct the gala opening concert of his first season with the Opéra national de Paris. It was so exciting to hear the orchestra play so differently under him – I’m fascinated by his sheer energy. There was a line-up of singers who performed famous arias, and I am always touched by the human voice, particularly as a cellist. The energy of the air, as well as the way we create phrases, is always trying to replicate the human voice.
‘It was so exciting to hear the orchestra play so differently under Dudamel’
On a slightly different note, I’ve been listening to Billie Eilish’s latest album, Happier Than Ever. There’s a dark side to her music, which she leans into. Every song has its own character and does something completely different, while also showing her unique style throughout. There are more electronic influences than her first album, but there’s still such truth in her music, which is really powerful.
And also…
I recently worked with the filmmaker and photographer Yann Arthus-bertrand, whose book of aerial photography,
The Earth from the Air, is just amazing. His work around the preservation of our environment is so important and he really defends the causes we should be defending. Christian-pierre La Marca’s ‘Wonderful World’ is out now on the Naïve label
Carly Paoli Soprano
I’ve recently become a huge fan of Sammy Davis Jnr, mainly because he’s such an incredible storyteller – he makes a lot clever choices musically that depict the colour of what he’s singing about, and he has an amazing range too. I really love his interpretation of ‘Where or When’, performed live at the Copa Room in Las Vegas. I absolutely love all of the Rat Pack in general, and I think their songs are just utterly timeless.
I listen to Barbra Streisand singing ‘Happy Days Are Here Again’ constantly and I never grow tired of it. Again, it’s a live recording. It’s an amazing performance that makes you feel great when you hear the applause coming in at the end. I think it’s also a very apt message for the way we are all feeling at the moment. Streisand has one of those voices that could never be background music – it’s velvety but, when she really opens up, also a thrilling sound too.
David Phelps is the most incredible Christian gospel singer I’ve ever heard. He’s the kind of tenor that you have to brace yourself for – his voice is both stonkingly powerful and goes straight to the heart. He’s recently released ‘Song for sinners’ which has a slightly different feel from any of the other repertoire that he has released before. It’s a really interesting listen.
And also…
I’ve been spending a lot of time at my family home in the very heel of Italy and have been able to pick up a few cookery skills while there. I’ve been learning one of their delicacies called a pasticciotti Leccese – it’s a little pastry that you eat for breakfast and is filled with crème patissière which is usually made fresh that morning. It’s a double-whammy of calories, so it’s probably best that I don’t make them too often!
Carly Paoli’s latest album, ‘Carly Paoli & Friends’, is out now on the Abiah label