The late, great Cacho Tirao.
Watch this to the end to see him joined by Astor Piazzolla.
Another Adios Nonino
Aubade
Put together a world class guitarist, a renowned composer and a famous luthier, mix together with a pinch of local colour and you will probably get something like this short film by Henry Astor.
It pools the talents of Xuefei Yang, Bill Lovelady and Paul Fisher.
Centred on the Cotswolds where both Paul and Bill live and work, the film charts the creation of a guitar (made from rare and beautiful lacewood) and the writing of a solo guitar piece (Aubade).
Fei is the common factor as she discovers Paul’s instrument and explores Bill’s piece as he writes it.
Appropriately the film gets its premiere in Paul Fisher’s home town of Chipping Norton, in the glorious theatre on February 12th, followed by a live recital by Fei. It is all a very local affair, but with international stars.
Here is the blurb:
Aubade is a documentary film following three contemporary talents in the classical guitar world as they unite on a creative journey. From legendary luthier Paul Fischer, who lives in Chipping Norton, to prolific and accomplished composer William Lovelady and guitar virtuoso Xuefei Yang, the film captures the art and dedication required to build a classical guitar and to compose and perform at the highest levels. As part of the evening, Xuefei Yang will perform music from the film as well as from her new album.
The first half of the evening will be the film screening. The second will be Xuefei Yang playing.
Here is the trailer
For those of you who missed this, it will probably be aired on Sky Arts later this year. There will also be a DVD available.
Oh, and the recorded music is by John Taylor, so quite a gifted production then!
Granados plays Granados
Years ago I had an LP of Granados playing his own music, which I seem to have “mislaid” so I was overjoyed when I found a CD with recordings of Albeniz, Malats and Granados amongst others, and, unlike the supposed recording of Tarrega in the last post, these are pretty well verified. If you play any of the music of these composers at all, it is well worth picking up.
It is called “The Catalan Piano Tradition” and reissued on VAI 1001.
On this CD are several recordings of Granados playing his own music transferred from 78s which he made around 1912. The playing is fresh and virtuosic in a restrained kind of way, giving a good insight into Granados’ style.
Lately, I came across this, which was actually recorded on a piano roll and transferred to a Steinway using Welter Vorsetze in 1962-63.
I found the phrasing and interpretation, despite some suspect notes, a bit of a revelation, and I hope you will too.
Interestingly enough, there is also a video of Evangelos Assimakopoulos (of the duo Evangelos and Liza)playing the same piece on the guitar, with a similar phrasing.
Is this how Tarrega sounded?
Came across this, purporting to be a wax cylinder recording of Tarrega, complete with some kind of commentary. Thanks to Jorge Orozco for putting this on Youtube.
Fascinating, and instructive … if genuine.
Huge crackle warning ….!
Jorge Caballero -Warming up Part 2
Warming up , continued…
Rather important information – needs careful attention despite the inherent dryness of the subject! Do make sure you see the first part.
Could be useful if you have focal dystonia.
10 habits of successful musicians
Generally I’m not a big fan of articles with the above phrasing, but some of this might be helpful, especially points 6 and 7.
American cellist David Finckel embarks on a series of seminars – entitled Being a Musician – at Stony Brook University, New York on 3 February. Here, he identifies the important habits of those musicians who have built and maintained successful careers
1. Know thyself
2. Be an artist
3. Keep learning
4. Work on your performance
5. Make friends
6. Visualise possible lives
7. Ask not what the industry can do for you…
8. Lead by example
9. Give back
10. Stay the course
Touch Wood in a Japanese Forest with Bach
Go to the woods of Kyushu, Japan.
Engineer a massive marimba to run down the slope of a forested hill. Take a wooden ball, place it at the top of said instrument, and push it. What do you get? Bach’s treatment of a traditional church hymn! Namely, “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring.”
and here is how it was done-
A spectacular feat of engineering and creativity. And just guess what inspired its making?
Some time ago, I had the idea of having a railing which you could run a stick along, which would play a tune in the same way, and the railing turned into a maze. (You would be able to find your way out by “playing” the tune. Managed to get the local council interested and even had a park lined up, but alas, the funding fell through!
This is just a lovely idea and brought to my attention by Eli Kassner – thanks Eli!
PS If your Japanese is up to it, here is a TED talk from the creator behind the project. Shake your mind!
Bream fest continues at the BBC
This time, it’s an archive of Julian Bream on Desert Island Discs first broadcast: Sat 09 Jul 1983 on BBC Radio 4.
This excerpt of 32 minutes from a venerable British institution has this to say:
Julian Bream first played the guitar on radio in Children’s Hour when he was only 13. This led to guest appearances in a series on the Light Programme, and so his career took off. Before long he also took up the lute and played his part in the revival of interest in early music. In conversation with Roy Plomley, he talks about his long career and chooses the eight records he would take to the mythical island.
Julian Bream’s eclectic choice (including Purcell, Dowland, Benny Goodman, the Beatles, Django Reinhardt and Schubert) is particularly revealing about his musical character as are his comments on the music and his early life.
Another gem from the archive, well worth a half hour of your time and featuring the series creator, Roy Plomley.
Importantly, there seems to be no time or geographic limit on the download.
Desert Island Discs FAQ
Jorge Caballero on warming up
The first of three videos on the concept and practice behind a seemingly simple warmup exercise.
Intrigued.
And here are some audio samples of that technique in action.
Yet even more Bream at the BBC
I know there has been rather a lot of Bream on telly recently (just look at the related links below), but if you live in the UK, you owe it to yourself to watch this marvellous programme if you are one of the two or three guitarists who didn’t see it tonight.
The programme consisted mainly of complete performances of music played by Julian Bream on BBC TV over the last 40 years or so and shows his wide influence on the acceptance of the guitar as well as the revival of the renaissance lute. Also, his playing on live TV is magical.
Highlights for me were the 3rd movement of Malcolm Arnold’s concerto conducted by the composer, the Bream consort playing Byrd, Bream and George Malcolm, Bream and Williams playing Albeniz and Bream and Yussef Allie playing Nuages.
Well, OK most of it…
There is also a sense of a passing age seeing the two retired maestros Bream and Williams knocking the spots off most modern duos.
The link to playback is still active until 31stJanuary, so go get it if you haven’t seen it already!
I hope the BBC make this more widely available.
Other archive programmes so far include Menuhin at the BBC and Tortelier at the BBC.
Here is a bit about the programme
Petroc Trelawney presents the last in his series exploring the great classical stars through the BBC film archive. He spotlights the legendary British guitarist Julian Bream. Now 80 years old, Bream’s life and music were richly documented through regular appearances on television from the 1960s to the 1980s. Performances include Malcolm Arnold’s Guitar Concerto conducted by the composer, duets with John Williams, hot jazz, classical transcriptions and lute music performed with Bream’s own Early Music Consort.