JohnOfPatmos

DeRank ™: 1,37

DeAge™ : 7588 days • Here since 31 august 2005

Love Contact

Bonnie "Prince" Billy Summer In The Southeast

12 dec 05

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Thank you all for the much-appreciated comments... for now, I’ll leave you with a few samples, JoP ;)

Franz Schubert Improvvisi D899 e D935 (Murray Perahia)

12 dec 05

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Ah, I'm listening to Schubert's "Winterreise" with the great Fischer-Dieskau... Bravo Mullah for bringing back Murray Perahia, one of my favorite pianists. Here on DeB we already have Gould, Argerich, Keith Jarrett, Benedetti Michelangeli... We need to talk soon about Sviatoslav Richter (maybe with the Clavier-Übung) and, why not, Alfred Brendel (who accompanies good Fischer-Dieskau in the Winterreise in the edition I have). Hello everyone, JoP

Jan Garbarek & Hilliard Ensemble Live @ Bari, 5 Dicembre 2005

11 dec 05

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Always excellent choices, Lello. "Officium" is a piece of today’s music history, but when you want to clone the jewels, you end up with "Mnemosyne," a double CD that, in my case, is little more than a decorative item (even though there’s a "Remember me my dear" that alone is worth the price of the album). Hello everyone, JoP

Claudio Lolli Extranei

10 dec 05

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Perplexed, I had my suspicions about your identity since Beethoven's Seventh... Anyway, come on, a nice 4 for the good Claudio Lolli can be given, don't you think? Sincerely yours - after a long absence - JoP. PS Well done Francesco.

Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Sinfonie n° 3 "Scozzese" e n° 4 "Italiana"

10 dec 05

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Don't worry, Mullah, I’m still here... ;) And thank you for the adjective "great," which, believe me, is entirely undeserved ;) In fact, I’m coming back to DeB after almost a month of "unjustified absence" and I truly realize that I've missed out on many beautiful reviews... Oh well, it's time to start over. I just sent in a review and I’m very pleased to see the ever-excellent Grasshopper at the top of today’s homepage, a sure bet for mastery and quality. However, I fundamentally agree with Hal on Mendelssohn. I appreciate him, but I don't love him. I do listen to his organ sonatas quite often, though. Good Felix deserves undeniable recognition for his fundamental work in rediscovering "Giovanni Sebastiano," particularly the monumental "Passione Secondo Matteo." Hello everyone ;) JoP

Johannes Brahms 4 Ballate, 2 Rapsodie e 10 Intermezzi per pianoforte (Glenn Gould)

25 nov 05

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Well, since I have a somewhat baroque sensibility, I'm afraid I have in mind some philological performances of baroque music that are lethal... For example, Telemann, who is a great composer but unfortunately today is still buried under (boring and "literal") performances that strip away much of its brilliance (which is certainly there). As for Bach, the question is truly eternal. But... were Karl Richter's passions with Peter Schreier as the Evangelist "faithful," for instance? Or is it more accurate to read the detachments like Ton Koopman? I wouldn’t have any doubts about this (first choice, of course...) Anyway, I really like Gulda... just like this discussion sparked by josi_, after all ;) Hello everyone, JoP

Johannes Brahms 4 Ballate, 2 Rapsodie e 10 Intermezzi per pianoforte (Glenn Gould)

25 nov 05

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Josi_, I’m responding to your call. I definitely prefer "personal" interpretations. Fidelity to the score is a myth, in my opinion, that needs to be debunked. Of course, that doesn’t mean one should invent or improvise on Brahms or Bach or Beethoven, but… damn! There are certain classical CDs out there that sound like they were played by a MIDI sequencer!!! Speaking of Gould, I remember hearing a few years ago a performance of the fifth Brandenburg concerto where he played the piano and interpreted that mythical cadenza in a very personal way. Extraordinary!

Hanne Hukkelberg Little Things

25 nov 05

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Very cool! I had no idea it existed, but as a warm lover of the chilly north, I have to check it out... Thanks for the tip, Lello! JoP

Johannes Brahms 4 Ballate, 2 Rapsodie e 10 Intermezzi per pianoforte (Glenn Gould)

23 nov 05

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And the constant perfection is also of Grasshopper. It deserves great credit for having rediscovered the perhaps lesser-known side of Glenn Gould: his troubled relationship with romantic piano playing. GG said he "sat too low" to give the romantic page the right sound. This Brahms, however, proves the opposite. Even if it perhaps makes the romantic music more "baroque," which may not please the ultra-pure romantics (I obviously am not among them...). Well, now that Glenn Gould is on DeB with Bach and Brahms, I truly hope he will soon arrive with Hindemith or Richard Strauss as well ;)) Hello everyone, JoP

Gianmaria Testa Lampo

23 nov 05

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How can you not love this album to madness? Especially for me, who lives in the fog every day (at least in autumn-winter)... "Lampo" is a stunning song, almost a manifesto of love ("Ah, if life is now/ it won't say no to itself..."). "Polvere di Gesso" is another extraordinary proof... a song with brushstrokes of Led Zeppelin, as Gianmaria himself said when he came to play here in my Pavia... I confess I don't really love "Gli amanti di Roma," which I find a bit too sweet, with its rocking and dreamy waltz rhythm. But maybe things that are too similar to ourselves end up not pleasing us ;) Last but not least... simply extraordinary cover.