Best Of 2017: Classical

The word “classical” is just shorthand for the vast array of (mostly) composed music that stems from that tradition, a mere iceberg’s tip of which I was able to cover throughout the year. If you missed those posts, I list them and the albums they included below (aside from those I included in The Top 25), all of which are among the best of the year. Following that is a brief look at some other incredible recordings bequeathed to us in 2017.

Record Roundup: Strings And Things
Melia Watras - 26

Rupert Boyd & Laura Metcalf - Boyd Meets Girl
Sebastien Llinares - Erik Satie
Cornelius Dufallo - Journaling 2
Yaron Deutsch - Pierluigi Billone: Sgorgo Y, N & Oo

Record Roundup: On The Cutting Edge
Phong Tran - Initiate
Scott Wollschleger - Soft Aberration

Brooklyn Rider - Spontaneous Symbols

Piano Players

Leif Ove Andsnes: Sibelius The Swedish giant is mostly associated with the epic sweep of his symphonies, tone poems, and THAT violin concerto. Leave it to Andsnes to dig deep and find a wealth of solo piano music to further round out our picture of the composer. And if you’re expecting sketchy juvenalia, take note of the fact that these pieces span Sibelius’s whole career, from the cheery Opus 5 Impromptus to the Funf Skizzen (OK, it means "five sketches") of Opus 114, which find him elaborating on folk-like melodies with sophisticated sparkle. As you would expect, Andsnes plays everything with total command and a well-modulated warmth in a sonically perfect recording. The year’s essential Sibelius album. 

Rafal Blechacz - Johann Sebastian Bach If you want to wind me up, get me talking about the endless recordings of canonical works, many of which already have several brilliant interpretations from which to choose. Then someone like Blechacz comes along, on Deutsche Gramophon no less (yellow banner and all), playing such a well-conceived program of Bach and playing it so goddamned beautifully that my walls come tumbling down. Even if you have an aversion to Bach on modern piano, I urge you to check Blechacz out in the Italian Concerto, Partitas 1 and 3, and the shorter works here. There is command of tempo and timbre, as you would expect, but also spontaneity, warmth, and even joy, all of which make the music feel new. Blechacz is not as young as he looks, so I wondered why I had been unaware of him, even though he has won multiple competitions and was only the second Polish pianist in history to get an exclusive contract with DG. It comes down to repertoire, as he made his name in Chopin, which is never going to get my attention. This record is so astonishing, however, that I might just give Chopin another try.

Hauschka - What If Instead of turning his elaborately prepared piano toward Cage-ian abstraction, Volker Bertelmann, who performs as Hauschka, constructs propulsive little art-pop miniatures filled with all kinds of spine-tingling flourishes and emotional echoes. What If finds him developing his techniques further and also improving the recording of his handmade sonics to an almost three-dimensional degree, making for perhaps his most consistent album yet. I've heard other prepared pianists and they all try to be Hauschka - just stick with the original!

Sarah Cahill - Eighty Trips Around The Sun: Music By And For Terry Riley As the title hints, Cahill conceived this four-disc set as an 80th birthday tribute to Riley and it is a gift indeed. Featuring the first commercial recordings of his puckish early opus, Two Pieces, along with world premieres of pieces by his son Gyan Riley and a raft of other luminaries including Pauline Oliveros and Evan Ziporyn, this is a fully stocked treasure trove of keyboard goodness. Cahill is the ideal person to have put this together as she not only has the technique and concentration to show off the music at its best, but her working relationship with Riley spans more than a decade of commissions and performances. In short, she gets him, and is a persuasive and passionate advocate for his music and the way it has influenced composers for decades. Oliveros is definitely one of those and it is her A Trilling Piece For Terry that closes out the set, taking up all of disc four. This improvisational work is here performed as a duet with Samuel Adams, and every part of the piano is coaxed into participating resulting in a thrilling traversal of possibilities that you will want to experience more than once. There's over three hours of listening on Cahill's magnum opus, and a host of moods, so I recommend taking your time with the whole collection, which should prove definitive.

Choral Creations

The Crossing and International Contemporary Ensemble - Seven Responses This massive undertaking finds one of our finest vocal ensembles commissioning seven new works in "response" to the same number of cantatas in Buxtehude's Membra Jesu Nostri, a 17th century monolith of religious music. But you don't need to be a believer to fall for these works by Caroline Shaw, David T. Little, Pelle Gudmunsen-Holmgreen, Hans Thomalla, Santa Ratniece, Lewis Spratlan and Anna Thorvaldsdottir. It was the latter that caught my eye when the album came out, recalling her marvelous work for Skylark's Crossing Over, and she doesn't disappoint here. Her contribution is the 10-minute Ad Genua, where fragmented strings seem to stake out a moonlit clearing for the voices to occupy in almost ghostly fashion. There's a hint of Ligeti here, as there is elsewhere on Seven Responses, and fantastic solo singing by Maren Montalbano-Brehm, a mezzo who is one of The Crossing's secret weapons.

Donald Nally, the conductor, is also a critical factor, keeping perfect balance between the voices and the complex soundscapes of the music played expertly by ICE. While the overall mood is one of nuanced contemplation, Little's dress in magic amulets, dark, from My feet, is a shock to the system with bold, dramatic gestures straight out of the Trent Reznor playbook. But that variety is key to keeping us involved as the the scale of the thing, at nearly two hours, is demanding. Stay the course, however, and you'll find the rewards are many. The Crossing's album of John Luther Adams' Canticles Of The Holy Wind is also a fascinating listen and I'm looking forward to catching up with their other 2017 releases, featuring music by Ted Hearne and Edie Hill.

Trondheim Vokalensemble and Symphony Orchestra - Ståle Kleiberg: Mass For Modern Man Grammy-nominated classical music is a mixed bag if ever there was one, but I have found it a good source to catch up on things I missed. If you want to go spelunking yourself, check out this playlist which includes nearly all of it. That's how I came across this somewhat conservative but emotionally engaging work, which strives to cover the issues of "modern man" with movements revolving around refugees, bereavement after losing a child, and even loss of faith. While the lyrics in English translation are admittedly clunky, the work succeeds on sheer feel thanks to the convincing performance by the Trondheim singers and players. Give a listen and then watch the Grammys to see if LL Cool J will have to learn how to pronounce "Trondheim Vokalensemble."

Chamber Explorations

Cadillac Moon Ensemble - Conrad Winslow: The Perfect Nothing Catalog The inspiration for the title piece on this wonderful collection of Winslow's compositions is Frank Traynor's store/gallery/art installation of the same name and there is almost the sense of moving through various rooms of random stuff as you listen to the seven movements. Footsteps, boxes falling, distorted electronics and little tunes crop up, each shift in texture, tone, melody and rhythm leading you through the cabinet of curiosities cooked up by Winslow and his collaborators, which includes producer Aaron Roche, himself a guitarist and songwriter. Roche also plays on the final work, Benediction, a quirky and atmospheric miniature for guitar and piano, demonstrating a sure hand in a technically demanding piece. Ellipsis is the other short work on the album and was composed for vibraphone and "electronics resonance" - but I also hear voices, and I don't think they're in my head! Abiding Shapes features all of Cadillac Moon, a unique ensemble of flute, violin, cello and percussion, and has Winslow composing using sawtooth, sine, and square waves, which are usually associated with electronic instruments. Somehow it comes together very musically, with even a hint of forms from the "old weird America" of folk music. Both Winslow and Cadillac Moon were new to me but this extraordinary album has put them solidly among my favorites of those making music that seems truly new and of our time.

American Contemporary Music Ensemble - Thrive on Routine I may be in the minority here - or maybe I'm just a Stan for John Luther Adams - but the distance in how captivated I am by In A Treeless Place Only Snow, his contribution to this superbly performed and recorded collection, and the other works has only grown since it was released. But listen for yourself and trust ACME's instincts before mine before making up your own mind.

Molly Joyce - Lean Back And Release This EP got a lot of people excited earlier this year and rightly so. Joyce shows a versatile and confident touch on these two pieces for solo violin and prerecorded electronics, each one developing from minimal material into something deep and involving. The performances by Adrianna Mateo and Monica Germino are highly persuasive and I suspect we will be hearing much more from Molly Joyce in the future.

Jasper String Quartet - Unbound This excellent quartet has long played newer music alongside canonical works but on Unbound they jump into the 21st Century feet first and perform seven pieces by living composers. I think they found the water to their liking as these are fantastic performances of well-curated works by Caroline Shaw, Missy Mazzoli, Annie Gosfield, Judd Greenstein, David Lang, Donnacha Dennehy, and Ted Hearne. The Sono Luminus recording is - as usual - perfect, with a close but not clinical acoustic that puts you in the center of the music, which is alternately spacey, fun, folksy and severe. Unbound easily takes its place as one of 2017's essential string quartet releases, alongside Brooklyn Rider's terrific Spontaneous Symbols and the Del Sol String Quartet's instant classic, Dark Queen Mantra.

Orchestra For One

Australian Chamber Orchestra - Jonny Greenwood: Water "And I should raise in the east/A glass of water/Where any-angled light/Would congregate endlessly" - that's the final couplet of Philip Larkin's poem, Water, which is where Greenwood, also the lead guitarist in Radiohead, gained inspiration for this sparkling piece. Alternately lush and jagged across its nearly 16-minute span, Water has a narrative thrust, which is unsurprising when you consider all of Greenwood's stellar work for Paul Thomas Anderson movies such as The Master and Inherent Vice. The piece also shows Greenwood developing as an orchestrator and he makes good use of the texture and power of the ACO's strings. I do have to complain - loudly - about the orchestra's decision to pair the piece with the umpteenth recording of Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik, which even he was probably sick of as the ink dried on the manuscript. Benjamin Britten's Four Sea Interludes, which is not underrepresented by any means, would have made a more apropos companion. And Greenwood's beautiful work is priced at "album only" if you want to buy it on MP3 - argh. Stream Water, though, and if you become a fan of Greenwood's work you can join me in eagerly awaiting the soundtrack to Anderson's Phantom Thread, which will have more of his polished and intriguing music.

Holiday Hangover

I saw Easter candy in a store the other day, but that doesn't mean you have to stop listening to seasonal tunes. Christmas comes every year, in any case, and we're always looking for something new to play amidst the Bing Crosby classics. When guests pile into your house for Wassail and you're needing something whimsical that might satisfy everyone, try Imagine Christmas, in which artists from the Sono Luminus family put their own spin in familiar tunes, my favorite being ACME's (yes) imaginative take on Silent Night, a most unexpected delight. For the quiet moments before bed on Christmas Eve, there's nothing better than Winter's Night by the Skylark Vocal Ensemble, a truly glorious album of sublime choral music based around Hugo Distler's seven variations of the hymn Es ist ein Ros Entsprungen. This is one you can play any time of year, especially when you find yourself exclaiming "Serenity now!"

Listen to tracks from all of the albums below and if you're still seeking more new sounds, catch up with dozens of albums in the 2017 Archive (Classical) playlist. Whatever happens next year, you can keep track of what catches my ear in Of Note In 2018 (Classical).

Coming soon: More Best Of 2017 featuring: Hip Hop, R&B and Reggae, Electronic, and Rock, Folk, etc.

You may also enjoy:
Best Of 2017: The Top 25
Best Of 2017: Out Of The Past
Cage Tudor Rauschenberg MoMA
Best Of 2016: Classical

Pianos In Context

Beethoven was a pirate. He was all too happy to sell the same work over and over to different publishers in order to reap more revenue from his compositions. One could imagine that were he alive today he would have no problem with multiple recordings of his pieces, as long as he got a cut. But from the listener's point of view, there's always the potential for over-saturation when it comes to music composed centuries ago: How many virtuoso and brilliantly recorded performances of Mozart or Beethoven do we actually need?

Of course, the interpretive possibilities are endless for anything written before the dawn of recording, but it helps to have something extra for me to re-engage with works that are well-represented in the catalogs of every label. Hence, context.

In the case of Leif Ove Andsnes's new recording of Beethoven's Piano Concertos Nos. 2 &; 4, this is his second release under the rubric The Beethoven Journey. Like the first, which included Piano Concertos 1 & 3, this features the Mahler Chamber Orchestra with Andsnes conducting from the keyboard.

In truth, beyond making "the composer's music the centerpiece of my life as a performer and recording artist," Andsnes has not created any grand structure on which to hang his exploration of Beethoven's music for keyboard and orchestra, which will eventually culminate in a disc of the fifth concerto coupled with the Choral Fantasy. One could even get a whiff of marketing behind the whole thing. But stop sniffing and put the damned disc on, or do whatever you have to do to hear it.

When you do, you will experience some of the most sheerly sublime music-making imaginable. Especially in Piano Concerto No. 2, the transparency of texture, the rhythmic articulation, and the continuity of line put into focus everything you could want from these works. Andsnes seems to demonstrate a stylish self-effacement, managing not to insert himself in an obvious way between the listener and the notes on the page.

While there is no claim to "authenticity" behind Andsnes's approach, the choice of a chamber orchestra was a wise one, avoiding the encrustations of doubled instruments and allowing Beethoven's sparkle to shine through. And there is plenty of sparkle, most notably in the earlier of the two works. About ten years separates the composition of the two concertos and there is a marked difference, with a slightly squarer sound to No. 4, with its big tuttis and sections of churning drama. It seems a bit more "professional," with the merest diminishment in the sense of discovery and joy.

But overall, this is fantastic sounding stuff, flawlessly performed and recorded, and can surely hold its own next any of the great recordings that I've heard. Old Ludwig Van himself might have let the license to this recording go for less than his usual rate, delighted as he would be to hear his music so well presented.

Having grown up in the rock era, I make a distinction between recordings and records, with the former being a more straightforward presentation of the music and the latter involving studio techniques, sequencing or some other kind of artistic intervention between the performance and the listening experience. Perhaps also because of the times in which I grew up, I tend to enter into a closer relationship with records over recordings.The Andsnes Beethoven is most definitely a recording, but David Greilsammer's spectacular Scarlatti: Cage: Sonatas is a record - and one of the best of 2014 so far.

Juxtaposition is a fairly common strategy in the world of classical music as a way of injecting new life into old repertoire but rarely has it been employed so well. Greilsammer picked up on the connection between Domenico Scarlatti and John Cage, both as seekers of the new - inventors, he calls them - and men simultaneously in and out of their times.

The program is uncomplicated: Greilsammer carefully selected eight of the more than 550(!) Scarlatti keyboard sonatas and half of the 16 sonatas from Cage's Sonatas and Interludes and goes back and forth between the two composers in a sequence of his own devising. He performs both men's work on modern instruments, although naturally Cage's music is played on a piano that has been prepared with screws, nails and other items.

A beautifully rounded performance of Scarlatti's Sonata in D Minor, K. 213, starts off the album, it's crepuscular introduction seeming to rise out of the ether itself. Greilsammer's mastery of dynamics and the warm tone of the recording makes for a performance so assured and convincing that I can hardly believe he managed to shave 90 seconds off the length of Ivo Pogorelich's benchmark recording. How can it not sound frantic? And then Cage's Sonata XVI & XV starts up, placing stars in the same sky Scarlatti gazed upon over 200 years earlier - and I swoon.

That's the record - startling consonances and dissonances across time, all presented as beautiful music, no ideology in sight. The lack of pedantry should convince listeners from both sides of the fence to hear both Baroque and avant garde sounds as Greilsammer does, as dessert not medicine.

This is not the first time Greilsammer has pursued the "compare and contrast" method of making a record. In 2012 he released Baroque Conversations, which combined a variety of Baroque era piano music alongside modern works. While the playing was as articulate and expert as it is here, it felt like a bit of a stunt. Not so here - focusing on two composers helps and there is real artistry in the sequencing this time around. For example, Greilsammer wisely holds the big block chords of Cage's Sonata I until the middle of the collection, forming a sturdy backbone to the album. And just when you think Cage is the only one who gets to stomp around the playroom, along comes Scarlatti's D Minor, K. 175 a couple of tracks later, throwing bizarre chords left and right and having a high old time - you will, too.

For a sampling of the sounds from Scarlatti: Cage: Sonatas check out this video with David Greilsammer literally swiveling between the conventional piano and the prepared one to play bits of the sonatas. 

A Blog Is Born: Best of 2009

Back in December 2008 I promised my brother-in-law (and myself) that I would finally launch this blog in 2009. So here it is, just under the wire: anearful about music, popular culture and whatever else is on my mind. And what better way to launch this blog than with a look back at 2009?

The criteria for the Top Ten is obvious - my favorite records from the year, the ones I unconditionally think are the best. Next time I will cover the Other Ten - other records from the year that gave me much pleasure but are flawed in some way.

The Top Ten of 2009

1. BLK JKS/After Robots - If the ability to astonish over and over again is not a prerequisite for greatness, maybe it should be. After hearing them live on WNYC's Soundcheck, I fell in love with their reverb-drenched EP, Mystery, and found myself slack-jawed at their titanic SXSW concert as broadcast on All Songs Considered. The album shows them taking their Hendrix-Dub-Prog-South African blend to a deeper, richer place. The brilliant horns add a new dimension and, while there is less reverb than on their debut, they still find ways to explode in tsunamis of sound that are nearly overwhelming, releasing the tension like a gun battle in a John Woo movie. Johannesburg spawned a monster. Download a free "Mystery Megamix" and get more background here

2. Patrick Watson/Wooden Arms - Watson shows a level of craft that is positively old-fashioned on this record. First, he writes songs with exquisite melodies and deep emotional connection. Then he constructs arrangements that hearken back to Kurt Weill and Tom Waits but with a gauzy warmth all his own. Finally, he and an array of expert accompanists pour their heart and soul into the gorgeously produced versions heard here. Not convinced? See and hear here and hear here.

3. Arctic Monkeys/Humbug - The young rock classicists expand their sound somewhat on their third album. Some songs are slower and more expansive and the influence of Alex Turner's foray into 60's pop (The Last Shadow Puppets) is clear. Not to fear, though, there's still plenty of the jagged post-punk funk that made their rep back in 2007. I know there were two producers and that one was Josh Homme of the fairly mediocre Queens Of The Stone Age. I know that some was recorded near the Joshua Tree monument and some in NYC. I read Mojo, so I know even more than that but all these details are ultimately irrelevant in the face of the immense pleasure found on Humbug. With the slow death and atomization of the Strokes (memo to Julian Casablancas: your "Phrazes" aren't catching), the Monkeys take their place as the best four person guitar group out there. Simply a great band - long may they reign. To catch up, view their "Web Transmission" here.

4. Mulatu Astatke & The Heliocentrics/Inspiration Information 3 - I first became aware of the wondrous world of Mulatu through a Studio 360 piece on the Either/Orchestra, who have devoted themselves to his music for the last few years. I downloaded the volume of Ethiopiques that features him and was sold. The sinuous melodies, Monk-like harmonies and stinging guitar licks are instantly enthralling when layered on the off-kilter rhythms that are somewhere between 60's pop and James Brown funk. This collection, part of a series of shotgun collaborations, pairs him with the Heliocentrics, a British eclectica band. Man, does it work. Funkier than a mosquiter's tweeter but not in any way that Ike Turner would recognize. Sympathetic drones underly some songs, gradually revealing themselves through the dub-informed production and occasionally a head-solo-head structure makes you think this is a jazz record. But it ain't - it's a one off, and the star is Mulatu's unique sound-world. Get some in your life today.

5. Holly Miranda/Sleep On Fire (EP) - Holly is my favorite new discovery this year and I owe it all to the New York Times. Somehow fascinated by this article (blame it on the TV On The Radio connection) I sought her music out online and became addicted to her MySpace page, which has a generous helping of music. I also found a link to the amazing Slow Burn Treason on Kanye West's blog and was able to feed my addiction on my iPod. I friended her on MySpace and sent her a message, offering to pay for Slow Burn Treason. I quickly realized I had a serious problem and then sought counseling. The prescription was more Holly Miranda so I eagerly purchased this EP, which came in a hand-addressed envelope. The personal touch is definitely part of the charm but Holly's music can more than stand up to the vicissitudes of the wider musical world. She creates a sound that is both tough and ethereal, like a wraith singing an Appalachian ballad on the dark side of the moon (Pink Floyd reference intentional) - and her songs have the sturdy underpinnings of old folk songs, solid structures for her to spin a universe of atmosphere and emotion around. The "album" I'm really celebrating here is self-made: my playlist that includes the EP, Slow Burn Treason, a couple of other tracks she was giving away free on her blog and her new single. Her full-length is due in February - expect it on my list, and many others, at the end of 2010.

6. Christopher Tignor/Core Memory Unwound - With a title like that, you would expect there to be a complex process behind this music and not a little compositional rigor. And you may be right. I prefer to just let myself be engulfed in the beauty of Tignor's lush yet spare sounds, a grand-nephew of Brian Eno's On Land or Discreet Music. It's ambient but rewards careful attention as well. This is an album for the first hour of work if there ever was one. I just learned that Tignor is the musical director of a group called Slow Six so there is more to explore, including a new album coming out on January 26.

7. Vieux Farka Toure/Fondo - What I heard of his debut was tentative and firmly in his father's shadow. When your father is Ali Farka Toure, that's perfectly understandable but while I could sympathize (and even relate) to his father issues, it did not make me want to buy or hear the record. Fondo is another story entirely. Confident, expansive, joyful - it is here that he stakes his claim to greatness. His guitar lines are liquid, cocky yet relaxed, and his vocals are sweet and knowing. His band is strong and never hits a false note but he is the dominant figure on this album. Sure, the collabo with Toumani Diabate is to be expected, but who cares when it is so gorgeous. Somehow, Fondo respects Toure's legacy while tromping all over it at the same time. This is just the beginning for this Malian prince. Sample some here. Other Roads: Fondo Remixed just dropped as well and has some great re-imaginings of cuts from Fondo.

8. Leif Ove Andsnes/Shadows of Silence - As soon as I heard him on WNYC's Soundcheck discussing this album (along with his multimedia approach to Pictures At An Exhibition), I knew this fascinating album was going to be among the year's best. I was not disappointed. Along with introducing me to the work of Marc-Andre Dalbevie and Gyorgy Kurtag, the collection features what may be the most convincing recording of a Witold Lutoslawski piece ever. I have yet to do a side-by-side comparison, but this performance of Lutoslawski's piano concerto seems to outdo Krystian Zimerman's - and the work was dedicated to him. It is wonderful to hear this supremely talented pianist broadening his palette - and expanding our minds in the process. This video gives a taste of the sounds and the process.

9. Wilco/Wilco (The Album) - After the stripped down pastoralism of Sky Blue Sky, it was hard to figure out where Wilco was going to go. Though there were some beautiful songs on the record, it had the feeling of a cul de sac and was their first record that did not represent a substantial expansion of their sound. In a way this album is the second. They return to many of the sounds and strategies that characterized what we can now call "the Jay Bennet era" but rather than being a drawback that is the strength of this album. Simply put, it is a work of very deep mastery - of songwriting, singing and playing. From Glen Kotche's bells on Everlasting Everything to Nels Cline's guitar on, well, everything, all the current members make excellent contributions. And Tweedy does try a few new tricks - the humor on Wilco (The Song) and the gradually unhinged vocals of Bull Black Nova. Just a wonderful record and once again we're left wondering - where will they go from here?

10. Mastodon/Crack The Skye - This is a non-stop storm of songs, played by this hard-living quartet like their lives depended on it. Working with Brendan O'Brien was inspired - he brings a clarity and even swing to the sound without softening it at all. You can hear every virtuoso note - just before it blows a hole in your skull. The story behind the record - a mash-up of out-of-body travel, Stephen Hawking's cosmology, Czarist Russia, and the suicide of Drummer/Vocalist/Songwriter Brann Dailor's sister, Skye. Make of all that what you will, if you can catch your breath. I ended up buying the deluxe edition, which features instrumental versions of all the songs. Usually I just let it run, soaking up the aural adrenaline. With Metallica as elder statesmen, Mastodon are the metal band of the current era. When they come up with their own Enter Sandman, the sky may actually crack from the impact.

Damn, that was long winded. I had a lot to say after confining my thoughts to 140 character Tweets all year!

In two weeks: The Other Ten and assorted highlights from 2009.