Music to my ears
What the classical world has been listening to this month
Andrew Gourlay conductor
In the summer, I went to the Berlin Philharmonic’s BBC Prom of Richard Strauss’s
Don Juan and Death and Transfiguration, and Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony, conducted by Kirill Petrenko. It was the first time I’d seen Petrenko, and I have to say I was hugely impressed by the warmth and purity of his conducting and, of course, by the extraordinary quality of the orchestra in this repertoire. I came away from it feeling so positive.
An album I’ve had going round on a loop for months now is Ahmad Jamal’s 1958 At the Pershing: But Not for Me. It’s an incredibly uplifting disc and I find that his solos on all of the tracks convey the sheer fun and enjoyment that he seems to get from playing. I’ve recently moved house, and it has kept me relatively sane while I’ve been shifting boxes and unpacking all sorts of heavy items!
My most recent discovery is Vels Trio, a Uk-based band that sits in a cross-genre space within the jazz world. I’ve been particularly enjoying their Yellow Ochre EP – it was the wild climax of the track called ‘Godzilla’ that first drew me in. They’re quite a young band, and I think there’s a lot of potential there for opening up new musical avenues – though they’re a fairly standard jazz trio line-up, their use of electronica spreads out into hip hop and other styles.
And also… I wasn’t sure I’d enjoy John Carreyrou’s Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup but I’d read some good reviews so gave it a go. It is a totally compelling book and tells the most extraordinary real-life current affairs story that most people know nothing about. I won’t give anything away, but it’s well worth a read. Andrew Gourlay and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León’s new disc of Rachmaninov will be reviewed in a future issue
Karen Cargill mezzo-soprano
The guitarist Sean Shibe is a great friend of mine and my husband’s, and we’ve known him since he was quite young. His new album softloud is like a full meal: it opens with small vignettes of Scottish tunes and closes with an extraordinary work for nine bagpipes. I love dance music and this track reminds me of that genre – it makes me feel like I’m reliving my youth! Sean is so sure of himself as an artist, and this is a fascinating piece of work.
I always return to JS Bach. My go-to recording is countertenor Andreas Scholl’s disc of Bach cantatas, conducted by Philippe Herreweghe. It’s a palate cleanser – it’s so clean. It can be hectic travelling around as a musician, and listening to this recording helps me take a moment for everything to align. Scholl’s voice was what made me fall in love with countertenors.
Kamasi Washington’s album Heaven and Earth is the ideal bridge for me, because he crosses so many different styles: it’s jazz, but sounds a lot like funk, and he uses a lot of retro ’70s and hip hop sounds. I’m a latecomer to
Ahmad Jamal has kept me sane while I’ve been shifting boxes and unpacking
jazz – I just didn’t understand its structure. It all changed when I went to see Joe Locke, the jazz vibraphonist, in New York. I was completely taken over by the genre, and it was so exciting to be carried along with what they were playing.
And also… When I was in
Madrid recently, my husband and I took our son to a f lamenco performance. He comes to my concerts, but thinks of it as the thing that takes his mum away from home, so we’re trying to find new ways of introducing him to music. He was mesmerised by the guitarists. It was a thrilling atmosphere, with such visceral singing. We were so high when we left. Karen Cargill sings in Berlioz’s L’enfance du Christ at the Barbican, 17 December. See p68
Thibaut Garcia guitarist
Because I’ve recently recorded a disc of JS Bach, I’ve been immersing myself in his musical world. One album that I really like is the Pygmalion ensemble’s spectacular recording of his Missae Breves. Though I am not a religious believer, when I hear this music I find it not only very powerful but also very touching – whenever I listen to it, I have goosebumps within 20 seconds and they stay with me throughout the whole disc.
Another superb Bach disc is pianist Maria João Pires’s recording of the French Suite
No. 2 in C minor. She plays it with incredible elegance, but what I particularly like about her performance is that she takes the time to listen to and enjoy every single note and to say things about the music. This is quite a rare quality, but so admirable. With the vocal aspect of Pygmalion’s recording and the instrumental aspect of this one, I enjoy two different sides of Bach.
Webern is a composer who didn’t write for the guitar, so I’ve never been that familiar with his music. His Langsamer Satz is a piece that I discovered relatively recently at a concert given by the Arod Quartet, and I fell in love with it – it is very moving, with a warm, woody texture. It’s a very interesting work. The Arod Quartet haven’t recorded it yet, so I have been listening to the disc by the Diotima Quartet which is wonderfully expressive.
And also… Ever since I studied in Paris, I’ve been very interested in contemporary dance. I recently saw Rosas Danst Rosas by the Belgian choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and it was absolutely incredible. One thing I find fascinating about dance is how the use of certain lighting can create a different feel – I think classical music could learn from this.
Thibaut Garcia’s new disc,
‘Bach Inspirations’, will be reviewed next month