As you may be aware, I’ve posted my personal ‘best of the year’ lists ever since I started writing here in 2016, and each time I’ve felt moved to mention the parlous state both of the UK and of the world in general. This last year saw no improvement on either front, which means that … Continue reading My best movies, music, books, etc, of 2023
Back in the 1990s, when I was film editor at Time Out, the magazine’s classical music critic suggested, at one of our weekly editorial meetings, that he interview an eminent British composer. I can no longer recall whether the proposal was to mark a new composition or a significant anniversary, but I vividly remember the … Continue reading Two Thomases and Tabakova: three new musical delights
Not so long ago, I wrote in appreciation of the lovely new album by Nils Økland and Sigbjørn Apeland. It wasn’t the first time I’ve enthused about Nordic music and, as I’m about to prove, it wasn’t the last. There’s something special about the way many musicians from the Nordic countries blend folk, jazz, formally … Continue reading Beyond Folk, Beyond Jazz: two terrific albums from Norway
It’s fair to say that Nils Økland is not a name that will be familiar to many people. But I’ve written about him here before, and judging by the number of people who read that post he evidently has a substantial band of followers – and quite rightly so. The Norwegian composer, bandleader and violinist … Continue reading More Norwegian Good: Nils Økland and Sigbjørn Apeland
Since 2018, when the Danish String Quartet released their first Prism CD, I have been eagerly awaiting the fifth and final album in the series, and at last it is here. The Quartet’s idea for the string of releases was simple, as announced on the back cover of each of the CDs: ‘Lines of connection … Continue reading Great Beethoven and More: Music through a Danish Prism
In December 2021 I was moved to write expressing my enthusiasm for a new album by Graham Collier (pictured above) – new only in terms of the disc’s release, since the British bassist-composer had died a decade previously; the music – a jazz suite in five parts – had actually been recorded (for the first … Continue reading But Is It Jazz? (Three recent releases…)
It was my friend Nick James who introduced me to the pianistic brilliance of András Schiff, pointing out that the playing I’d hear on the birthday gift he’d bought me – the Hungarian’s 2001 concert recording of the Goldberg Variations – would be rather different from Glenn Gould’s renowned recordings of Bach’s masterpiece. Certainly, I … Continue reading Bach at the keyboard: András Schiff’s latest gem
Over the last few years I've occasionally posted recommendations for recent BluRay/DVD releases and CDs that might prove useful for anyone wondering what to buy as gifts for Christmas. Since they seem to have been fairly popular posts, I thought I’d do it again – and I’ve even added in a couple of books this … Continue reading Just in time for Christmas, part 2: classic movies, new music releases and books…
Sometimes a musical blast from the past is so exhilarating, I feel moved to share my enthusiasm; such has been the case, in the last few years, with releases or re-releases of works by major jazz figures like John Coltrane, Charlie Haden, Paul Bley, Graham Collier and Mike Westbrook. So I’ve been delighted by the … Continue reading Just in Time for Christmas: Some Great Jazz Revisited
There have been quite a few extremely rewarding ‘classical’ releases on CD in recent weeks, ranging from Robert Levin’s seven-disc set of the complete Mozart piano sonatas performed on the composer’s very own fortepiano (ECM), through Igor Levit’s selection of pieces by Liszt, Wagner, Mahler and Henze on Tristan (Sony) and Christian Immler and Andreas … Continue reading Giving Voice: Heiner Goebbels’ ‘A House of Call’
notes and observations by Geoff Andrew 