For those of you wondering where I've been, I rolled a rather long album last Sunday, and I've only just now completed it. It is actually three 'albums' in one, but my general rule is if it comes in the same jewel case, it counts as one review.
In the past I've done the rating as a whole, but from here on, I'll break it out by record for the rating. If this creates a strange accounting error at the end of the Odyssey, so be it. I'm a writer, not a book-keeper.
So without further ado, here it (they) is (are).
Disc 241 is...Symphony 1, 2 and 3
Artist: Sergei Rachmaninoff
Year of Release: 1896 (Symphony 1), 1908 (Symphony 2) and 1936 (Symphony 3)
What’s Up With The Cover?: Not much. If this is a famous piece of art, the name of it escapes me. I sincerely hope it is not a famous piece of art or that if it is, some pretentious jerk paid too much for it at some long forgotten auction.
How I Came To Know It: Therein lies a tale. It is the tale of a girl - a girl long in my past, but a girl nonetheless.
In my early twenties I briefly dated a classically trained musician. We often talked music, and one night she decided she would introduce me to Rachmaninoff. She came over to my apartment and turned out all the lights. Then she had me solemnly swear to not say a single thing for the entire time we listened to "Symphony No. 2" in the dark, because (as she told me) that was how classical music should be appreciated.
I readily obliged, and we sat there for the rougly 48 minutes it took to hear the whole song, me dutifully making no sound. To this day I am convinced that the reason many people don't enjoy classical music is they won't take the time to just sit and listen to it in the dark, and not let themselves be distracted. It is meant to be heard that way, but sadly is often put on as background noise.
I didn't date that girl long, and don't know where she ended up. However, I still owe her for introducing me to Rachmaninoff in particular, and helping to open my ears to classical music in such an inspiring way.
How It Stacks Up: I only have this one album, but since it has all three of his major symphonies on it, I'll rank them in the following order: No. 2, No. 3 then No 1.
Rating: 3 stars (Symphony No. 1), 4 stars (Symphonies 2 and 3)
Rachmaninoff is another great Russian composer, in the same style as Tchaikovsky, who I have reviewed on A Creative Maelstrom twice prior. Rachmaninoff lived from 1873 to 1943 and as a young man actually knew Tchaikovsky, which is very cool.
I don't properly know how to review classical music (hence the anecdotal fill throughout) - I'm simply not trained well enough to know what is going on for sure, or why. However, I do know what I enjoy, and I enjoyed these symphonies very much over the last four days.
"Symphony No. 1" is the weakest, and seems a little obvious and clunky in places, but considering Rachmaninoff wrote it when he was 23, I think we can give him a break.
By far the best Symphony (and most famous) is "No. 2" (written in 1908). Funnily enough, the CD I have is two discs, and I got it cheap because "Symphony No. 2" is split up between them. The guy at A&B sound where I bought it said that it was a great recording, with a strong orchestra (Philadelphia) but because of this little hiccup was much cheaper, since it was the song most people were buying it for. Back then the cheapness factor was a strong consideration, and now I can just burn it whole onto a new disc, so it doesn't really matter anyway.
"Symphony No 3" (1936) is almost as good as No. 2 but doesn't pack the same wow factor. It is still amazing, but I strongly suspect Rachmaninoff of doing the classical music version of noodling in places. I do like the title of the second movement in "Symphony No. 3", "Adagio ma non troppo" which I think translates roughly as "in a slow tempo, but not too slow". That is my kind of preciseness!
All three have that bombastic 'heavy metal' feel I get from Tchaikovsky, but it is mixed in with a quiet whimsy that makes me think of lounging under a big beach umbrella on the French Riviera in the twenties, particularly "Symphony No. 3". I don't know why that comes to mind, but it does.
Tacked on the end of the album is a short composition called "Vocalise" which I could've done without, but I guess they figured they had room.
Overall, Rachmaninoff has become one of my favourite composers, and I was glad to spend a few days with him. Therefore I hope it won't seem to impolite when I say I hope my next roll is some good old fashioned rock and roll.
Best tracks: Symphony No. 2
In the past I've done the rating as a whole, but from here on, I'll break it out by record for the rating. If this creates a strange accounting error at the end of the Odyssey, so be it. I'm a writer, not a book-keeper.
So without further ado, here it (they) is (are).
Disc 241 is...Symphony 1, 2 and 3
Artist: Sergei RachmaninoffYear of Release: 1896 (Symphony 1), 1908 (Symphony 2) and 1936 (Symphony 3)
What’s Up With The Cover?: Not much. If this is a famous piece of art, the name of it escapes me. I sincerely hope it is not a famous piece of art or that if it is, some pretentious jerk paid too much for it at some long forgotten auction.
How I Came To Know It: Therein lies a tale. It is the tale of a girl - a girl long in my past, but a girl nonetheless.
In my early twenties I briefly dated a classically trained musician. We often talked music, and one night she decided she would introduce me to Rachmaninoff. She came over to my apartment and turned out all the lights. Then she had me solemnly swear to not say a single thing for the entire time we listened to "Symphony No. 2" in the dark, because (as she told me) that was how classical music should be appreciated.
I readily obliged, and we sat there for the rougly 48 minutes it took to hear the whole song, me dutifully making no sound. To this day I am convinced that the reason many people don't enjoy classical music is they won't take the time to just sit and listen to it in the dark, and not let themselves be distracted. It is meant to be heard that way, but sadly is often put on as background noise.
I didn't date that girl long, and don't know where she ended up. However, I still owe her for introducing me to Rachmaninoff in particular, and helping to open my ears to classical music in such an inspiring way.
How It Stacks Up: I only have this one album, but since it has all three of his major symphonies on it, I'll rank them in the following order: No. 2, No. 3 then No 1.
Rating: 3 stars (Symphony No. 1), 4 stars (Symphonies 2 and 3)
Rachmaninoff is another great Russian composer, in the same style as Tchaikovsky, who I have reviewed on A Creative Maelstrom twice prior. Rachmaninoff lived from 1873 to 1943 and as a young man actually knew Tchaikovsky, which is very cool.
I don't properly know how to review classical music (hence the anecdotal fill throughout) - I'm simply not trained well enough to know what is going on for sure, or why. However, I do know what I enjoy, and I enjoyed these symphonies very much over the last four days.
"Symphony No. 1" is the weakest, and seems a little obvious and clunky in places, but considering Rachmaninoff wrote it when he was 23, I think we can give him a break.
By far the best Symphony (and most famous) is "No. 2" (written in 1908). Funnily enough, the CD I have is two discs, and I got it cheap because "Symphony No. 2" is split up between them. The guy at A&B sound where I bought it said that it was a great recording, with a strong orchestra (Philadelphia) but because of this little hiccup was much cheaper, since it was the song most people were buying it for. Back then the cheapness factor was a strong consideration, and now I can just burn it whole onto a new disc, so it doesn't really matter anyway.
"Symphony No 3" (1936) is almost as good as No. 2 but doesn't pack the same wow factor. It is still amazing, but I strongly suspect Rachmaninoff of doing the classical music version of noodling in places. I do like the title of the second movement in "Symphony No. 3", "Adagio ma non troppo" which I think translates roughly as "in a slow tempo, but not too slow". That is my kind of preciseness!
All three have that bombastic 'heavy metal' feel I get from Tchaikovsky, but it is mixed in with a quiet whimsy that makes me think of lounging under a big beach umbrella on the French Riviera in the twenties, particularly "Symphony No. 3". I don't know why that comes to mind, but it does.
Tacked on the end of the album is a short composition called "Vocalise" which I could've done without, but I guess they figured they had room.
Overall, Rachmaninoff has become one of my favourite composers, and I was glad to spend a few days with him. Therefore I hope it won't seem to impolite when I say I hope my next roll is some good old fashioned rock and roll.
Best tracks: Symphony No. 2
1 comment:
I believe the artwork is "Lakeside at Montreux" by Geoff Halpin.
- Casey
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